Diana notes no longer under the hammer

Two handwritten letters from Diana, Princess of Wales, to her stepmother will no longer go under the hammer in Northamptonshire, an auctioneer said.

One of them revealed Diana’s joy at ‘slipping’ in and out of Sandringham the Christmas before she married Charles

The letters, written in December 1980 and January 1981, were due to be sold as part of an Antiques and Collectables sale in Northamptonshire – where the Spencer family’s Althorp Estate is.

One of them revealed Diana’s joy at “slipping” in and out of Sandringham the Christmas before she married Charles.

It also referred to how much she was looking forward to a trip to Australia, which she went on in February 1981, as well as a mention of a woman she refers only to as “she”.

But the missives, which were being sold by a private vendor who used to work for the Spencer family, have now been withdrawn from the sale after Raine, Countess Spencer contacted auctioneers J.P. Humberts.

One of the letters, written on January 18 1981, refers to a Christmas spent at Sandringham before Prince Charles and Diana were married in July 1981.

Another letter, written on headed notepaper on December 28, 1980, thanked Raine for her gifts to Diana.

Both letters were written from 60, Coleherne Court in London – the flat Diana lived in before her marriage.

The letters and other items had been taken to the auctioneers by a private vendor who did not want to be identified but had worked for the Spencer family.

A separate item of royal background remains in the sale, set to take place on February 22 and 23 ­– a small wooden box containing a floral cake decoration said to be from a cake cut by Queen Victoria at her grandson’s wedding.