A new collection of private letters from Princess Diana to two of her best friends is up for auction.
32 letters sent by the late Queen to Susie and Tarek Kassem around the time of her divorce from King Charles in August 1996 were auctioned off by Lay’s Auctioneers.
In 1992, after 11 years of marriage, the couple divorced, which became final four years later. Diana died the following year at the age of 37 in a car accident in Paris. The house describes these letters as “amazing”, “secret” and “very intimate”, and they have been treasured for over 25 years by Susie & Tarek Kassem, who were close friends with Diana, Princess of Wales.
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They reflect the unique and devoted bond they shared with the most extraordinary ladies they had ever met. The Kassems do not want to entrust their children or grandchildren with ownership of these critical documents in 2023.
They decided to sell the letters and donate the proceeds to some of the causes that Susie and Diana cared deeply about. Lay’s published a photo of one of the letters, dated February 17, 1996, and written on Kensington Palace letterhead with Diana’s royal code.
Princess Diana’s personal letters to friends from when she divorced Charles are up for auction. pic.twitter.com/TYe4afUjqa
— Access Hollywood (@accesshollywood) February 2, 2023
The king wrote the note: “Dear Susie, I appreciate everything you said to me on the phone tonight. You have no idea of the happiness and confidence you and Tarek have brought to my life, and I consider Tarek and both of you very fortunate. “Love, Diana,” she said as her last words before adding an X for a kiss.
The Princess apologized to her friends in another card, shared by The Times on April 28, 1996, for canceling their plans to attend the opera because of her stress. “I am going through a challenging moment and there is a lot of pressure on me from all sides.
Sometimes it’s just too hard to hold your head up, and today I wish this divorce happens because the potential costs are so high, she wrote. According to Lay’s Auctioneers, the couple chose to make these items public “to give other individuals the chance to get their hands on a souvenir of the princess, thereby supporting charities that were important to her.”
But none of those factors were mentioned by name. The statement read: “The Kassems have preserved some of their more private and confidential letters, but this collection of more than 30 notes and note cards in particular captures Diana’s hot and caring manner beautifully and delightfully.
Although she was under a lot of stress in times of public sadness, her strength of character and generosity and funny nature still shone through in some of the letters. According to Lay’s Auctioneers conclusion, the correspondence was written by one of the most notable and influential women of the 20th century and describes one of her closest connections during the last two years of her life.
Recently, Princess Diana’s purple velvet Victor Edelstein dress went up for auction and raised $604,800. The Princess of Wales chose to auction 79 of her cocktail and evening dresses in the early 1990s, apparently after consultation with her son prince william.
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The proceeds went to the AIDS Crisis Trust and the Royal Marsden Hospital, of which she was president for eight years. One of those outfits was the Edelstein, a Diana favorite that she wore for several official photos.
The outfit went up for auction at Sotheby’s last week as part of their “The One” sale, highlighting key items from throughout human history. It sold for $604,800, considerably more than the auction house’s expected $80,000 to $120,000. It had previously sold for $24,150.
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