Everything
Royal
Alicia
Carroll (Feb. 2014)
Semi Retiring
Reductions on inventory
All commemoratives being removed from website
"everythingroyal.com"
and donated to charity.
After 4 decades it's time to slow down
Traveling yearly between east coast residence and Los Angeles,
transporting inventory has become a chore.
All high end inventory ie:
Hand written letters,
Signed Christmas cards,
Gifts given or received by a Royal Family member,
etc will remain on "everythingroyal.com" website.
Charities Charities
The Everything Royal
company was started because of a love of British history from
Queen Victoria to the present family members. All we know about
history is from a book, a photo or a letter. This is a vast and
wonderful collection. When reading the following articles, please
remember, this collection consists of thousands of books, newspapers,
magazines, postcards, commemorative items, letters, Christmas
cards, photographs, gifts & more.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Letters from Prince
Charles to American foundation show he DIDN'T take a back seat
in fundraising despite courtiers' claims as 'cash in Fortnum's
bag' row rages on
Letters show Prince Charles' involvement in raising money for
his foundation
Clarence House has said he was at an arm's length from securing
donations
By CAROLINE GRAHAM and KATE MANSEY FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
A collection of letters the Prince of Wales wrote to the former
head of his American foundation has thrown fresh light on his
controversial fundraising activities.
The cache shows
how closely involved Charles was in trying to secure contributions
from wealthy donors, in contrast to official assertions from Clarence
House that he kept himself at arm’s length from such decisions.
Written in his characteristically
clear but spidery handwriting, the correspondence with Robert
Higdon, when he was managing director of the Prince of Wales Foundation
USA, has been put up for sale by a leading collector of Royal
memorabilia.
The 19 letters show
he took a close interest in the fundraising, even taking time
on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve to write about tactics.
In one, he complains
about throwing a Clarence House dinner for potential donors before
they had pledged any money, saying: ‘I fear I was not amused
as, of course, it was a total waste of my time!’
A number of letters
up for auction from Prince Charles show that he was involved in
trying to secure contributions from wealthy donors, despite Clarence
House saying he was only involved from a distance
Previously Charles’s
courtiers have issued statements insisting his charities ‘operate
independently of the Prince himself in relation to all decisions
around fundraising’ and that it is the trustees who ‘are
responsible for all operational and governance duties’.
Last week, it was
revealed that the Prince had received £2.58 million in cash
from a Qatari sheik, including one payment of €1 million
in a suitcase delivered to him personally at Clarence House in
2015 and another cash donation made in bags from upmarket grocer
Fortnum & Mason.
All the money was
handed to Coutts bank and deposited in the accounts for his charitable
organisation, the Prince of Wales Fund, and there is no suggestion
of wrongdoing. The Prince’s office now say a cash payment
‘would not happen again’.
Mr Higdon ran the
Washington-based Prince of Wales Foundation from 1997 to 2011.
He raised millions for the charity but his high salary –
a reported £500,000 a year – attracted criticism. Further
controversy came over his introduction of American fundraising
methods into what had previously been a rather staid – and
controlled – Royal world.
The 19 letters offered
for sale at $3,500 (£3,000) each, were written between 1997
and 2008. In one, dated December 31, 2008, the Prince bemoans
the fact that wealthy philanthropist Lee Annenberg, the widow
of Walter Annenberg, a former US ambassador to Britain, had donated
only $100,000 (£82,000) towards a visitor’s centre
at the Castle of Mey, the late Queen Mother’s Scottish estate.
He wrote: ‘As
you can imagine... trustees are very sad a bit more help wasn’t
possible, particularly in view of Walter’s great affection
for my grandmother... I hate being a bore about this but I must
just make one final plea to see if we could get a bit nearer to
the $1.4 million that [was] hoped for? Forgive my pestering, especially
at New Year, but I feel I owe it to my darling grandmother to
do as fine a job as possible with this building.’
Prince Charles wrote
letters to Robert Higdon, the managing director of the Prince
of Wales Foundation USA from 1997 to 2011
The prince reportedly accepted the donations for his charity the
Prince of Wales¿s Charitable Fund (PWCF) from Sheikh Hamad
bin Jassim between 2011 and 2015
In another letter, dated June 21, 1997, and written on notepaper
from his private Gloucestershire residence Highgrove House, he
praises Mr Higdon for organising a dinner where all the charitable
donations were made in advance.
Charles wrote: ‘I
can’t tell you what a difference it made to my morale to
know, in advance, that the money had already been raised!’
He also wrote about
a conversation he had after dinner with two guests who ‘mentioned
what vast amounts of personal wealth are waiting to be tapped...’
In the same letter
the Prince reveals one guest ‘muttered something about having
no children to leave all his money to & how interested he
was in my foundation’. And he talks about raising money by
selling prints of his watercolours.
The letters include
a memorandum dated August 14, 2004, in which the Prince expresses
his frustration at having to attend dinners without having secured
charitable donations up front.
‘I only wish
they would listen to you as regards not holding dinners unless
people have committed to help in advance,’ he told Mr Higdon.
‘When I hear that this was the case recently for the dinner
I had to give at Clarence House, I fear I was not amused as, of
course, it was a total waste of my time!’
The Los Angeles-based top royal memorabilia dealer who put the
letters on sale, Alicia Carroll, purchased the letters from the
estate of Mr Higdon shortly after his death in 2018 aged just
58. They are now published in full on her Everything Royal website
and have been sent to her 92,000 email subscribers.
Mr Higdon, who was
hired to boost Prince Charles’s profile with American benefactors,
had previously worked with the US branch of Margaret Thatcher’s
foundation. He also worked with Charles’s former valet Michael
Fawcett who is now at the centre of a police probe into revelations
in The Mail on Sunday that he offered to help a Saudi tycoon obtain
both British citizenship and a knighthood.
A Clarence House
spokesman said: ‘The Prince naturally encourages his charities
to deliver their objectives, transforming the lives of millions
of people. But decisions on whether to accept donations are a
matter for the charity concerned and not the Prince himself.’
___________________________________________________________________________________
November 7, 2015
I have never seen,
met, spoken to, emailed or sent texts to James Hewitt.
I received a call from a dealer in Los Angeles several months
ago while on summer holiday in Ohio. This dealer stated "he
represented James Hewitt who was offering to sell 8 handwritten
letters and 26 cards from Princess Diana."
I said I had a buyer and asked for a price. I was told $150,000.00.
I said my client wouldn't buy without seeing the cards and letters.
The dealer stated I could see the originals at his bank in Los
Angeles. He then sent me "overnight delivery" photocopies
of the items being offered. It turns out he did not have originals
and said in the event of a sale, I would pick the items up in
person in England.
I found it strange the letters were all handwritten and signed
by Diana and (I was told came with original envelopes). However,
all but 2-3 of the cards were signed with an X and no original
envelopes. I found this odd as I have for the past 30 years, owned,
read and sold literally hundreds of Diana handwritten signed letters,
signed cards, signed Christmas cards, signed photos and odd gift
tags here and there. I have NEVER seen anything from Diana signed
with an X. I have sold items from the time Diana was 15-16 to
her untimely death in 1997.
When questioned the dealer stated Diana was afraid the cards would
fall into the wrong hands! What? She sent 60 "romantic"
handwritten letters Hewitt kept with original envelopes yet, Diana
was afraid to send a simple card!!
I am not saying Hewitt was being dishonest or selling anything
not authentic, but, I do find it ODD I have never seen anything
from Diana signed with an X. It left me feeling uneasy. The dealer
went back to Hewitt (so he said) with my concerns. It turned out,
the dealer had no communication with Hewitt and was dealing with
a middle man.
I had many emails from the dealer stating he was having trouble
contacting Hewitt. I was uncomfortable and said neither myself
nor my client was any longer interested.
I received an email staying Hewitt was "reassessing"
whatever that means.
I received a call from Caroline Graham of The Mail on Sunday.
I have known Caroline for many years. I answered all her questions.
I did not want my name linked to Hewitt. As I have said, I have
never seen, met, spoken to, emailed or sent texts James Hewitt.
Alicia Carroll 11/072015
The following is the link
to the Mail On Sunday article.
By CAROLINE GRAHAM
IN LOS ANGELES and ADAM LUCK and TIM WALKER FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
PUBLISHED: 17:27 EST, 7 November 2015 | UPDATED: 10:21 EST, 8
November 2015
Private letters written by Princess Diana and Prince William to
her former lover James Hewitt have been secretly offered for sale
in America, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3308681/James-Hewitt-caught-secretly-selling-Diana-William-letters-highest-bidder-America.html
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Opinion Pages
June 1, 2012 12:36 PM
Why Do Americans
Love Royalty?
Is it the pomp and circumstance? The celebrities? Or something
else?
Why are Americans so obsessed with the British monarchy?
Why is the British
royal family the most famous family in the world and admired by
so many in the United States?
The answer: Princess Diana.
Associated Press
Alicia Carroll is the owner of Everything Royal,
a dealer specializing in English and Russian royal family commemoratives
and memorabilia.
Diana, Princess
of Wales, in a portrait taken by Lord Snowdon in 1982. Princess
Diana,
15 years after her death, is still one of the most famous people
of all time.
Before she came on the scene in 1980,
very few people in the U.S. paid attention to the royals or could
tell you the name of the queen of England.
Diana changed all that.
Here in the U.S.,
our celebrities -- entertainers, actors, athletes, musicians,
even politicians -- leave much to be desired.
Meanwhile, millions of people go to England every year for one
reason: they want to seethe Queen and Buckingham Palace.
By contrast, millions come to the U.S. every year, but, it's not
to see the White House. They come to see Mickey Mouse.
Princess Diana was
a breath of fresh air. She married her prince and moved into a
castle.
And even though she didn't live happily ever after,
she touched people with her support for numerous worthy charities
and with her very human flaws and vulnerabilities.
Even Queen Elizabeth
was amazed at the attention Diana brought to the royal family.
With the wedding
of Prince William and Catherine Middleton,
the monarchy has a new generation of royal watchers.
Hopefully, they will not disappoint us.
On this, the 60th
anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's reign, I say: Long live the queen!
An Evening with
the Royals - Doc Zone | CBC-TV
An Evening with the Royals
Thursday March 31, 2011 at 8 pm on CBC TV
Join CBC for “An
Evening with the Royals” as we take a look at the media and
marketing frenzy surrounding the royal family, especially with
the upcoming wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Marketing the Monarchy
(at 8 pm on CBC-TV) – Prince William and Kate Middleton's
upcoming wedding has sparked a worldwide marketing frenzy. The
pending nuptials are expected to flood the economy with over a
billion dollars of merchandise - a sales bonanza not seen since
the wedding of Charles and Diana. And it's not just the Brits;
monarchy fans all over the globe are opening their wallets for
a piece of history from $10 plates to $5,000 paperweights.
At factories across
England, manufacturers are spinning out their porcelain cups,
mugs, and plates at breakneck speed. Five thousand miles away
in Yiwu, China, jewellery dealer Fu Xuxian began making replicas
of the engagement ring just days after the announcement. And souvenir
shops across London are trying to keep up with the consumer demand
for anything and everything William and Kate.
This documentary takes viewers
into the lucrative world of marketing the royals. We'll meet top
royal memorabilia broker Alicia Carroll, who is the first stop
for serious collectors. Carroll, who lives in Beverly Hills, possesses
- and has sold - some of the rarest and most sought after items
on the market ranging from Princess Diana's personal address book
to the love letters Prince Charles wrote to his former Canadian
lover. As a big-time dealer, she has moved millions of dollars
in royal merchandise.
Everything
Royal owner, Alicia Carroll
Making money off memorabilia is one thing, but the crown jewel
of marketing comes in the form of a Royal Warrant. Royal Warrant
holders carry the official seal of approval from the Queen herself.
From Hunter boots to Burberry to Twinings Tea to Kimberly Clark
toilet paper, these companies are cashing in on the cache of belonging
to an exclusive court of brands. Membership is an arduous and
complicated process and can be revoked. At any time.
But the power of
the Palace doesn't stop there. It extends its dominion further
to determine what wares are allowed to bear their royal image.
Plates, carpets, and cushions are permitted. Tea towels? Not so
much. When it was the discovered that the Palace was attempting
a ban on Kate and William tea towels, Brits were outraged, placing
this unassuming household item in the centre of a battle royale.
Marketing the Monarchy
is a whirlwind journey through time that maps the growing fascination
with all things majestic. Even in the Middle Ages, memorabilia
such as medallions, ceramics and tapestries were best-sellers
at royal events. In 1649 a unique (and rather macabre) souvenir
unfolded from the execution of Charles 1st: eager collectors dipped
their handkerchiefs in the king's blood. Royal fans looking for
something with a bit more material could always snap up a (very
large) pair of Queen Victoria's bloomers, which recently sold
for over $7500 USD.
Join us as we take
you through the fascinating world of retailing the royals. Savvy
marketers, discriminating collectors, and a big dose of palace
intrigue will guarantee that you see "the wedding of the
century" in a whole new light.
The British Royal
family has always had a love/hate relationship with the media.
From Edward VIII’s abdication from the throne in 1936 to
marry an American divorcee, the very public and controversial
divorce between Prince Charles and Princess Diana and in more
recent times, Fergie, Duchess of York caught on tape by a tabloid
promising business access to her ex-husband Prince Andrew in exchange
for money.
For paparazzi, the chase is on to capture unauthorized revealing
photos or text messages by any means necessary. These spark bidding
wars among the tabloids and the payouts are enormous.
Princess Diana was
notably the most sought after Royal. She has graced the cover
of countless magazines…did you know Lady Di has appeared
on the cover of People magazine 57 times? However, her untimely
death while being chased by paparazzi in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel
in Paris brought heightened public awareness to the dangers associated
with aggressive paparazzi.
Constant media scrutiny
and tabloid stories have raised the ire of many, including Prince
William. On the heels of their engagement announcement, Prince
William is said to be observing a ‘zero tolerance’ policy
toward paparazzi and intends to counteract any extreme cases of
privacy invasion with legal action.
Throughout their courtship, Kate Middleton has expressed frustration
with the harassment she endured from photographers. At one time,
she appealed to the Press Complaints Commission when photographers
would camp outside of her home in London. In 2010, Kate was awarded
$8,000 (Can.) £5,000 for breach of privacy when photos surfaced
of her playing tennis during a Christmas holiday.
Chasing the Royals
explores the Monarchy’s constant battle for the right to
privacy against the paparazzi’s dogged pursuit to expose
their personal exploits. What will the future hold for the next
generation of Royals as they attempt to maintain ‘normalcy’
while living in the public eye.
The
Toronto Star
thestar.com
Canadian girlfriend's love
letters to Prince Charles re-listed on eBay
Mar 22, 2009 04:41 PM Adrian Morrow staff reporter
Six love letters
from Prince Charles to a Canadian girlfriend have been re-listed
on eBay, after the man who recently bought them defaulted on his
payment.
The letters, originally
listed earlier this month, sold for their $30,000 asking price
to a bidder from Orlando, Fla., the seller, Alicia Carroll, said
today. When she tried to contact the man, she says he never returned
her phone calls or responded to her emails or invoices.
"I've never
had a bad cheque, I've never had a bad customer," said Carroll,
who runs Everything Royal, a company that has been selling memorabilia
of the British ruling family for decades. "I've never had
a bogus buyer."
The purported buyer
has not returned the Star's phone calls. The letters were re-listed
on eBay Saturday for the same asking price as before. As of this
afternoon, they haven't received any bids.
Carroll says she
received 3 offers to buy the entire set, but the bidder from Orlando
was the only one who offered her the asking price of $30,000.
She says she turned down a bidder who offered her about $10,000
less.
Users of eBay are
expected to follow a user agreement that stipulates they must
pay for anything they purchase via the site, and Carroll says
she is considering contacting the district attorney's office in
Orlando to see if she can take legal action against the man who
won't pay. "It's just not nice not to contact someone,"
Carroll said. "I would have appreciated it if he had called
me.
The letters were
written in 1976 and 1980, and addressed to "Janet" —
reportedly Janet Jenkins, a Toronto woman then living in Montreal.
She met the heir to the throne in 1975 while she was working in
the British consulate there.
"What a pity
you can't see my ship," Charles writes in one letter dated
March 23, 1976, while serving in the Royal Navy. "(It) doesn't
go to exciting places like Montreal where ladies live behind bushes
in order to pounce on unsuspecting naval officers."
In a letter written
just over three months later, he tells her, "I wish I could
come roaring across the Atlantic to make you feel less lonely."
In the final letter,
dated June 8, 1980 — less than a year before he married Diana
Spencer — he says that he is being pressured into finding
a wife and jokes that, "I still think my solution of marrying
a girl from each Commonwealth country is the best one."
The prince couldn't
marry Jenkins because she was older than him and had been engaged
before.
Carroll, who says
she obtained the letters about 10 years ago from Jenkins, is selling
them as she tries to run down her company's inventory before she
retires.
"I've been
doing this for a long time," she said. "It's not exciting
anymore. Unless Prince William gets married — then it'll
bring a whole new generation in."
Dispute surrounds
sale of Prince Charles love letters
Last Updated: Friday, March 6, 2009 | 1:02 PM ET Comments27Recommend24CBC
News
Six love letters
written by Prince Charles to a woman in Montreal during the 1970s
are for sale on eBay, although a dispute is brewing over who exactly
owns the letters. Written between 1976 and 1980, the letters were
sent from Charles to a British-born woman, Janet Jenkins, who
worked for the British consulate in the city. They are listed
for sale on the auction website for $30,000 US and offer a glimpse
into the romantic life of the bachelor prince.
In one letter dated
Mar. 23, 1976, Charles wrote to Jenkins from a ship. "I only
wish I hadn't had to rush off to catch a train and thereby ruin
a gloriously cozy evening. What a pity you can't see my ship —
very different from an aircraft carrier and much less entertaining,
and doesn't go to exciting places like Montreal where ladies live
behind bushes in order to pounce on unsuspecting naval officers."
A year before his 1981 marriage to Diana, Charles wrote: "My
new private secretary is horrified by the idea of ladies in hotel
rooms during foreign visits. I can see that I shall just have
to get married as soon as possible and then all these people might
relax a little … ! I still think my solution of marrying
a girl from each Commonwealth county is the best one."
Another letter is
signed "love and a vast hug." Jenkins surprised by eBay
posting
Jenkins, who spoke to CBC News from Toronto on Friday, said she
gave the letters to a woman who had contacted her from Los Angeles.
The woman, Alicia Carroll, wanted to display them in a museum,
said Jenkins. "I was very excited about that. She has hundreds
of other letters and so on from people … so it was going
to be a very interesting place," she said.
However, Jenkins
said Carroll, who sells royal memorabilia through her company,
Everything Royal, has refused to return the letters. "In
the last seven years I have written so many emails, contacted
her, phoned her and now I see they're on eBay for sale, which
is very annoying," she said. Jenkins said she hasn't ruled
out legal action to try to get the letters back. "I have
looked at legal action to see if we can stop her from doing this.
At this point it’s very new. I had no idea until today —
literally — when I read it in the newspaper. It was all new
to me," she said.
Jenkins sold me
letters, says seller However, Carroll disputes Jenkins's account,
telling CBC News that Jenkins first contacted her to sell the
letters because she needed money at the time. "Mrs. Jenkins
sold me these letters more than seven years ago after tracking
me down through an article written about me," said Carroll
in an email. "She sold the letters to me as she needed funds
at the time." "If she is now embarrassed by the letters
becoming public, I am sorry. She knew when I purchased the letters,
I would be reselling them." Carroll said she is in the process
of closing her memorabilia shop and selling her inventory. The
letters from Charles are historically significant because he is
the future king of England, she said.
"These letters
are harmless, romantic letters written more than 30 years ago
from a young man enamoured with her," she said.
Charles won't be
upset, says Jenkins Jenkins, who has spoken publicly about her
relationship with Charles in the past, said she doesn't think
the public revelations of the private correspondence would embarrass
the prince. "He's a very charming, wonderful man to know
and I think that, you know, at least the parts that she is showing
on eBay are not embarrassing for anyone," she said.
Jenkins described
the prince, now married to Camilla, as "charming and very,
very handsome." They remained in contact until he married
Camilla in 2005, she said.
"We received
Christmas cards and so on from both of them and remained friends
over the years," she said.
Jenkins said she
doesn't think Charles will be bothered by the release of the letters.
"I think they’re so used to having things done like
this that I would not think he would give it a second thought
at this point other than being very annoyed," she said.
A statement from
Prince Charles's office at Clarence House offered a "no comment"
on the matter.
THE
SUN
Love notes by Charles
for saleBy DUNCAN LARCOMBE
Royal Correspondent
Published: 06 Mar
2009
PRINCE Charles’s love letters to a girlfriend were put up
for sale on auction website eBay yesterday.
One of the six notes to Janet Jenkins was written in 1980 —
just a year before he married Diana.
Charles, then 26,
and Welsh-born Janet, 30, met in 1975 when she was a receptionist
at the British consulate in Montreal, Canada.
Prince
Charles ... in 1977
Suggesting a tryst,
Charles writes: “I would have thought your apartment is the
quietest place. “If we went out the press would be on to
it in a flash and that would be misery.” Writing about failed
marriages, he says: “Making a mistake like that is, frankly,
something which concerns me enormously.”
In the last seven-page
letter, he writes on Windsor Castle paper: “My new private
secretary is horrified by the idea of ladies in hotels during
foreign visits. “I shall just have to get married as soon
as possible and then all these people might relax a little! “I
still think my solution of marrying a girl from each Commonwealth
country is the best one.”
One of the notes
says he found an excuse to visit her — while watching sister
Princess Anne compete at the Montreal Olympics.
The letters have
an auction starting price of £25,000. It is thought Janet
sold them to LA-based collector Alicia Carroll, whose firm is
closing after 30 years.
Janet, of Toronto,
has said she first slept with Charles as guards waited outside
her flat. She has also claimed they last made love in 1992. Charles
and Diana separated in December that year. She once said: “The
letters show him to be a deeply sensitive, compassionate man.”
Clarence House refused
to comment yesterday.
Intimate notes written
by Prince Charles to Welsh love up for saleSEND TO A FRIEND6 MARCH
2009
Love letters penned by Prince Charles to a former girlfriend went
up for sale this week on internet auction site eBay.
Six notes written
by the future king between 1976 and 1980 to Wales-born Janet Jenkins,
whom he met in 1975 when she worked as a receptionist at the British
consulate in Montreal, are to go under the hammer, with a starting
price of £25,000.
Giving a rare and
intimate insight into the young royal, who was 26 when he first
met 30-year-old Janet, the letters include Charles' fears of marrying
the wrong girl and his frustrations with the press.
Referring to choosing
the wrong life partner he writes: "Making a mistake like
that is, frankly, something which concerns me enormously."
Deciding on where
to rendezvouz also had its problems. "I would have thought
your apartment is the quietest place," the 60-year-old writes
in one. "If we went out the press would be on it in a flash
and that would be misery."
In the final seven-page
note, written on official Windsor Castle paper, he says: "My
new private secretary is horrified by the idea of ladies in hotel
rooms during foreign visits. I shall just have to get married
as soon as possible and then all these people might relax a little!"
To read all articles
on the sale of Prince Charles romantic letters, go to Google,
type in Prince Charles letters for sale
GLOBE
Tim Miles newstip@globefl.com
October 24, 2005
Steamy letters written by Prince Charles to a Canadian girlfriend
have sparked a furious royal row between the heir to the throne
and his new wife Camilla.
The jealous Duchess
of Cornwall went berserk when she discovered that six letters
were for sale by Internet auctioneers on eBay with a $72,000.00
price tag, and screamed at Charles, "How many other women
are out there you haven't told me about?" Cringing Charles
whimpered, "Darling, it was all a long time ago ...it was
just a fling." But the Queen-In-Waiting shot back, "We
were sleeping together then, in case you'd forgotten.
Royal memorabilia
collector Alicia Carroll, who is selling the letters says, "They
are significant because they are written at a time when Charles
claims his only TRUE love was Camilla Parker-Bowles."
Five of the letters
were penned in 1976, when Charles was a junior navel officer with
"a girl in every port," and one was sent in 1980, a
year before he married Princess Diana. Even though he married
Diana and fathered two sons, Charles remained under Camilla's
spell and even made secret calls to her on his honeymoon. And
she was secretly cheating on her henpecked husband Andrew Parker-Bowles,
who she divorced in 1995.
In the 1980 love
letter, Charles moans about not being able to sneak women into
his hotel rooms while on tours for fear of being caught by the
press. An earlier letter tells how he longs to spend more time
with the woman and another says he hopes they can be together
when his ship visits Canada. It reads, " I wish I could come
roaring across the Atlantic to make you less lonely." And
referring to the pressure on him to wed, he complains, "
I will just have to get married and then all these people will
relax a little." Says a royal insider, Even thought Camilla
was married at the time, she was cheating with Charles and believed
him when he said she was his true love. "Their affair started
in 1972 after they met during a polo match and never waned. They
finally married this year. "Camilla realizes the letters
were just evidence of a youthful affair but she’s the jealous
type and now realizes that she wasn't the only “mistress”
in Charles' life.
"They had a
screaming match and Camilla, who always wins arguments because
Charles is such a wimp, told him, "I thought we had something
very special." The feud. puts added strain on the royal couple's
official tour of the U.S. next month, when security advisers expect
them to face angry demonstrations by people still loyal to Diana.
There will be various protests, " says Alan Berry, head of
the Diana Circle, a group formed to protect the late princess'
legacy. "And it won't be just our members who are against
all this." "There are other organizations and Diana
fan clubs that are opposed (to Charles and Camilla's union). "
We don't believe Charles is even legally married anyway because
of law preventing members of the royal family from getting married
in civil ceremonies."
Proof of Camilla's
long hold on Charles
March 7, 2005 Richard
www.dailymail.co.uk/richardkay
Any lingering doubts about Camilla Parker Bowles’s long influence
over the Prince of Wales is about to emerge in a so-far unseen
letter in the Prince’s hand. In it Charles writes with extraordinary
candor of the woman who will finally become his wife next month
— 33 years after they first fell in love — as ‘my
professional advisor. What makes the letter all the more intriguing
is that it was written some six months before Charles’s engagement
to the then Lady Diana Spencer — but after their courtship
had begun. It is compelling evidence of Mrs Parker Bowles’s
role in Charles’s life that so troubled Princess Diana.
Now the three-page handwritten letter, which the Prince wrote
on the Royal Yacht Britannia in August 1980, is being put up for
sale, with a reserve price of almost £22,000. It is being
sold by a U.S.-based royal collector, Alicia Carroll, who tells
me that since Charles and Camilla’s engagement she has had
more than 200 inquiries from around the world for memorabilia
relating to the couple. ‘Having read the entire letter, it
wouldn't surprise me if Camilla, in her capacity as his professional
advisor, had orchestrated the wedding between Charles and Diana,
knowing full well that they would be able to continue their affair
afterwards,’ she says. That, of course, was the conclusion
Diana also reached. ‘People thought Diana was going to be
a push-over, but they underestimated her,’ says Carroll.
Meanwhile, another timely letter — this one can be yours
for a mere £6,000 — throws embarrassing light on the
Prince’s current tour of New Zealand.
Writing home to friends in 1981, during a previous trip Down Under,
Charles complains vehemently about his royal duties: ‘The
real problem is keeping up my enthusiasm on each new day because
I am beginning to get fed up with the amount of nonsensical rubbish
I take all day and every day. If one more NZ [New Zealand] child
asks me what its like to be a Prince, I shall go demented.’
THE BBC will use the occasion of the royal wedding to broadcast
a Money Programme investigation into the running of the Diana
memorial fund. It will allege that the fund, which has famously
been embroiled in costly litigation over Diana dolls in America,
has wasted many of the public donations that poured in after her
death
HOW AMERICAN DEALER
SOLD DIANA ADDRESS BOOK FOR 40,000 POUNDS
By Caroline Graham
in Los Angeles and Paul Henderson in London
Princess Diana's
private address book, packed with the names of some of the most
powerful and influential people in the world, has ended up in
the hands of a private collector, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The 44 page book, bound in embossed blue leather, was sold earlier
this year for 40,000 pounds by an American dealer in royal memorabilia
to a millionaire socialite in Japan. It contains scores of home
numbers and addresses for Diana's closet friends and contacts,
and testifies to the extraordinary range of her social circle. There are numerous entries for
her lover, Dodi Fayed and his Father, Harrod's owner Mohammed
Fayed. Other famous names include US Secretary of State Colin
Powell, Margaret Thatcher, Michael Barrymore, Lord Attenborough
who was a father figure to her and pop singer Bryan Adams.
Diana's astrologer Debbie Frank and faith healer Rita Rogers
are listed along side society jeweler Theo Fennell. The
US millionaire Teddy Forstmann; once rumored to be a lover, Elton
John and Henry and Nancy Kissinger are also featured as is her
favorite photographer Marion Testino and the late designer Gianni
Versace.
It appears Diana
compiled the book in the months before her death, clearly transferring
many numbers at the same time from an earlier list. Other, newer, numbers and addresses
are added in different inks-but all in her distinctive looping
hand. The volume is embossed with her personal crest with a crown
atop a capitol D. A hand writing expert confirmed last
week that the volume was genuine. The book is one of the most
intimate royal artifacts ever to be exposed to the public gaze,
and it's emergence onto the open market will alarm courtiers.
They will be intrigued, too, by the role in the affair played
by Paul Burrell-Diana's famous Rock-for it is known that the ex-butler
once had possession of an address book of hers, only for it to
mysteriously disappear.
In his memoirs,
"A Royal Duty", Burrell says, he read form the address
book while keeping vigil next to the Princess after her fatal
accident. He then
described how the book - which he says had a green cover, in contrast
to the book sold to the collector- disappeared after he went to
work for The Diana Memorial Fund. "The Princess's
leather bound green address book had been left on my desk in a
locked room, separate from the main general office at Millbank
Tower," he says." Then one day during the infancy of
the Memorial Fund, the address book went missing. It contained
the names and numbers of all the Princess's friends. It was a
directory of her life, the book I had read to her during the all
night vigil." He reported it missing. "The police
were not called", he writes. "There was not even an
internal inquiry. Contact with the Princess's circle had been
denied to me. "
A Mail on Sunday
investigation has established that the book sold to the Japanese
collector this year was acquired by Alicia Carroll, a specialist
broker in royal memorabilia based in Los Angeles. But how did
the volume find it's way to her?
This newspaper approached
Carroll after learning the address book had been offered for sale.
She told our reporter that she had taken possession of the address
book in the belief that it had been given as a keepsake by Paul
Burrell to Vanessa Corringham, a former press officer at the Diana
Memorial Fund, and that Corringham had decided to sell it through
an intermediary.
The newspapers was
shown what purported to be a letter of authentication from Vanessa
Corringham, which says: "Dear Miss Carroll, This is to confirm
that I was given the Princess of Wales address book by Paul Burrell
when we both worked for the Princess's Memorial Fund. It was presented
to me by Paul as a "thank you" keepsake for the duties
I carried out for the fund at what was a difficult and sensitive
time."
The Mail on Sunday
has established that the intermediary was Adam Helliker, Vanessa
Corringham's former boyfriend. Helliker has been diary editor
of The Mail on Sunday for the past two years since arriving from
the Sunday Telegraph, where he had been editor of the Mandrake
Column. Carroll
says, " Adam ring me up and said his ex-girlfriend Vanessa
Corringham, had Princess Diana's private address and she wanted
to sell it." Helliker confirmed to senior executives
at The Mail on Sunday last week that he had sold the address book
to Carroll and she had paid 25,000 into his bank account.
He explained that he had conducted the sale on behalf of Vanessa
Corringham, who did not want to make the deal herself for fear
of embarrassment. He said his former girlfriend had supplied
the letter of authenticity. However, when it was pointed out that
the letter was written from an old address he used to share with
Corringham and that hand writing bore a remarkable similarity
to his own, he changed his story.
Helliker said he
had written the letter himself on Corringham's behalf and with
her approval-again-in order to save her embarrassment. He said
he had paid all the proceeds he had relieved from the sale to
Corringham in cash.
Vanessa Corringham
categorically disputes Hellikers story. When approached by The
Mail on Sunday on Friday night, she seemed genuinely astonished
to be told that the address book had been sold. She said that
although Helliker was a good friend of hers, she had no knowledge
of the sale and no knowledge of any letter of authenticity. Although at one stage the book
had been in her possession, there is no suggestion that she had
obtained it improperly.
In a statement to
The Mail on Sunday yesterday, she said , " I confirm that
Adam's sale of the address book was made without my approval or
prior knowledge. The first I knew of it was when you explained
what had happened yesterday evening. My husband tells me you have been told that the
proceeds of the sale "or some part of them" have been
paid to me in cash, this is quite untrue. "
Yesterday The Mail
on Sunday also spoke to Paul Burrell. Shown a copy of the address
book sold to Alicia Carroll, he declared, " listen I am completely
innocent." He
immediately recognized Diana's handwriting but could not confirm
it was the book that went missing from his office at the Memorial
Fund as the Princess had more than one. He recognized his
own hand writing on the first page where it read, "HRH"
and gave a seven digit phone number assigned to the princess at
Kensington Palace. He said he wrote it in for her, as her number
was changed frequently for security reason. He was emphatic that
the rest of the book was in Diana's hand. Mr. Burrell insisted
that he never gave Diana's address book to Vanessa Corringham
or Adam Helliker and that he had never hear of Alicia Carroll.
He said, "the
address book was in my possession at the Memorial fund in Millbank
Tower. It went missing. It was in my possession because I was
the only person who had access to the Princess's diary, her address
book and her notes, and they needed that to establish the Memorial
Fund."
In a Royal Duty,
Burrell said the leather book address book, which had been left
on his desk, had a green cover. The one sold to Alicia Carroll
had a dark blue cover. Burrell did not know about the discrepancy
when asked about the color. He thought for a moment and replied,
" I think it was either green or dark blue. She "the
Princess", changed the color every time she got a new address
book: she was bored with the last color. It was always the same
design, hardback; with a "D" and coronet at the front.
"
Neither Diana's
sister Lady Sarah Mc Corquodale nor brother Earl Spencer would
comment.
Yesterday afternoon,
in a further interview, Adam Helliker admitted that Vanessa Corringham
had no knowledge of his sale of the book and retracted his earlier
story. He admitted he had not paid her any of the money he had
received from Alicia Carroll. He indicated that the address book
had come into his possession while he was living with Vanessa
Corringham and she had left it with him when the couple separated.
He insisted Corringham had obtained the book honestly.
Last night a Mail
on Sunday spokesman said, "Adam Helliker has been dismissed
from his position. as Mail on Sunday diary editor and has left
the company.
Roundabout story
of dubious Diana deal that did for a diarist
By Tom Leonard
(Filed: 08/07/2004)
Journalism is certainly
no exception to the adage that what goes around, comes around.
But rarely has that circular journey been quite as dramatic as
the Mail on Sunday's investigation into how an American dealer
came by an old address book that once belonged to Diana, Princess
of Wales.
The hunt that began
in the MoS's Kensington offices for the person who had sold the
book to a Los Angeles dealer (who sold it on to a Japanese collector
for £40,000) ended precisely where it started.
Adam Helliker: diarist
The princess has supplied the Mail titles with a rich seam of
stories for years, and last weekend's MoS was no exception. Two
pages were given up to what appeared to be a textbook example
of the "the Diana mementos pillaged by cynical looters"
variety.
This article promised
to reveal the provenance of a book "packed with the names
of some of the most powerful and influential people in the world".
First, the story
suggested that the 44-page blue, leather-bound tome might be related
to an address book that had "mysteriously disappeared"
from the possession of the former royal butler Paul Burrell. Whether
they were the same book or not, the MoS was able to reveal that
the blue one had been acquired this year by Alicia Carroll, an
LA-based specialist broker in royal memorabilia.
The late Princess Diana and Alicia Carroll
Carroll told the
paper that she had been led to believe that Burrell had given
it as a keepsake to Vanessa Corringham, a former press officer
for the Diana Memorial Fund. Corringham, she said, had then decided
to sell it through an intermediary. There was even a letter of
authentification, apparently signed by the ex-press officer.
Then, in a plot twist at which even Jeffrey Archer would have
blanched, the paper revealed that the "intermediary"
was none other than the Mail on Sunday's own diarist, Adam Helliker.
According to Carroll, he told her that Corringham - his ex-girlfriend
- wanted to sell it but did not want the potential embarrassment
of handling the transaction. So the dealer paid the proceeds direct
to Helliker.
However, the article
continued, Corringham denied all knowledge of the sale. It also
emerged that Helliker had written the authentication himself.
According to the
MoS, the 44-year-old diarist then retracted his earlier story
and admitted that his former girlfriend had told the truth.
The epilogue to
this most bizarre expose was provided by an MoS spokesman, whose
curt announcement that Helliker had been "dismissed from
his position" was clearly intended to draw a line under the
affair.
If only. Yesterday,
Helliker instructed lawyers to sue his former employer for unfair
dismissal, arguing that the paper had failed to follow the correct
procedures in sacking him. He told The Telegraph that he felt
"very angry - they have defamed me".
He'd had no inkling
of the approaching storm, he said, until he was summoned to see
the editor, Peter Wright, for what he assumed would be their usual
Friday afternoon meeting to discuss the contents of his column.
It wasn't. Mr Wright was waiting with the managing editor, John
Wellington.
"Wright said:
'Do you recognize any of these?' - and he started shoving documents
over his desk: all sorts of things, like phone transcripts and
my bank details, saying: 'Did you sell this?' " continued
Helliker. "And I said: 'Yes, but you didn't have to go to
these lengths.' I never made a secret of it."
Helliker - who joined
the paper on a six-figure salary two years ago after writing the
Mandrake diary on The Telegraph - was suspended. The next day,
he was summoned to another meeting with senior executives, at
which he was told that the paper planned to publish a story about
the controversy.
His letter of dismissal
for gross misconduct - delivered later that day - gave various
reasons. You have "failed in your primary function by not
informing the editor of an important news story", it said,
and shown "reckless disregard for this newspaper's reputation".
It also accused him of lying to the editor.
Helliker contests
the assumption that he had a duty to tell the paper about the
diary. "The principal reason they sacked me was for not informing
them of a newsworthy item - but it is a private matter. Both Vanessa
and I have great respect for [Diana's] memory. I don't mean to
sound pompous, but the MoS couldn't be trusted with something
like that.
"The MoS pays
lots of money and they consider they own your life. The feeling
is that anything you do in your personal life is fair game for
them - which I don't accept."
Helliker insisted
that he had believed Carroll was buying the book for a museum
of Diana artifacts that she had talked about setting up. He also
said he had documentary evidence to prove it. Did he say this
to the MoS? No, he said, "they didn't give me time".
Meanwhile, insiders
at the paper denied that the documentary evidence which Wright
produced at the meeting consisted of illegally obtained bank details
and phone transcripts. It was, they claimed, a record of Carroll's
payment to Helliker and her account of various phone conversations
she had with him.
Helliker conceded
that he hadn't told his bosses that he planned to give the money
to "something worthwhile", though he won't say what.
Informed sources on the paper say that, in fact, the diarist told
Wright that he had spent the money on building work.
Helliker wouldn't
say why he had changed his story. All will be revealed if he has
to go to court, he promised.
He also refused
to discuss how he had obtained the book, saying he was trying
to protect a "third party". He still maintains that
Burrell gave it to Corringham - though Burrell denies this. As
to how the paper stumbled on the story in the first place, sources
say it received a tip that an address book belonging to Diana
had turned up in California and been sold to a private collector
there. Was it the same one that Burrell had mentioned in his autobiography
as having been stolen, asked executives.
Wright's reaction
on learning of Helliker's involvement was, say insiders, one of
"horror" and "incredulity that anyone could be
so stupid".
Still, why did he
have to publicize it? The obvious answer - and one that Helliker
says his superiors mentioned - was that they suspected another
newspaper would find out and present the tale less sympathetically.
MoS chiefs are understood
to be confident about their legal position. One said: "If
Adam wants to go into a witness box and explain how he got hold
of this, and how he has given three different stories about the
transaction, then let him."
In the meantime,
Private Eye has already trawled up a list of scathing things that
Helliker has written in the past about those who have traded on
Diana's legacy. (It missed his prescient article, published 10
days ago, headlined: Knives out for royal pilferers).
Would the diarist,
the magazine asked, follow his judgment on James Hewitt, who -
Helliker wrote - had "done the decent thing" and gone
abroad? "No," said Helliker. "I'm not quite in
the same league as Hewitt."
The address book
is hardly as revealing as Diana's love letters, he argues. It
is, he believes, only one of five or six of the princess's address
books in existence - and not the one that Burrell lost. "The
MoS seems to think this one is the Holy Grail. But frankly most
of the numbers are old."
Tribune
-Chronicle
Warren Tribune Chronicle,
Warren, Ohio
Area Woman Makes
A Royal Success
by Burton Cole
August 27, 2003
Lets not kid ourselves. For all that cynicism that pervades this
age of fallen angels, we want to believe in fairy tales.
Alicia Carroll's banking on it.
She has, over the
past 30 years collected a vast amount of letters, clothing, jewelry,
mugs, busts, dolls and other artifacts pertaining to the British
royal family. Her collection has grown to become one of the largest
private collections of royal memorabilia in the United States
and possibly World-Wide. It's a venture that came about as Americans
became enchanted with the story of a little girl who grew up to
marry the prince. "In the 50s we had heroes and heroines.
We really did: Carroll said. Now your children have no heroes.
So when a fresh
faced former nanny and kindergarten teacher with a pure record
married the prince on July 29, 1981, in a wedding that seemed
to come straight out of a fairy tale, a world starved for heroes
lapped it up. Even though her marriage had fallen apart by then,
when Princess Diana died in a car crash nearly seven years ago
people were glued to their televisions, even people who couldn't
previously tell you the Queen's names. "My aunt and uncle
are not royal watchers, but they watched the funeral," Carroll
said.
Carroll's own fairy
tale began when having graduated from private school in Buffalo,
New York, she traveled to Los Angeles and became an actress.
Over the following
years, Carroll took a number of acting roles, the last being a
recurring role on "General Hospital" ."I did a
lot of TV work. Then you get tired of getting up at 4 and 5 am
and having no life, she said. "So, I worked in real estate
for a few years. I wanted to do something new and exciting. It
was either marry someone with money, or --. The or was answered
20+ years ago by watching the fascination of the day. "At
the time, TV was full of Charles and Diana. I wondered if anyone
would buy an item pertaining to royalty. .I went to a newsstand
and bought everything I could find about Charles and Diana. I
took $20,000.00 from my savings, went to England and bought your
basic cup and saucer with the Queen's photo on them. I came back
and sold my $20,000.00 in inventory for 100,000.00.
Everything Royal
was born!
A star business was born. Carroll named it Everything Royal and
started issuing a catalog and built a Website at everythingroyal.com.
I started by buying out several companies who were in the business
I had just started. I just said, I'll take you're whole inventory.
I started advertising in the British magazines. "I have over
the years accumulated one of the the largest private collections
of royal commemoratives, especially of Charles and Diana.
Among many write-ups
in newspapers and magazines Carroll created a sensation in London
last November in the Mail on Sunday newspaper when she exposed
a network of dealers trafficking in goods pilfered from the Palace.
She told about items she was offered, letters, dinnerware, gift
tags and even Princess Diana's nail clippings by disloyal and
dishonest royal family staff members. She informed the palace
and was ignored. She said staff and palace friends rang her phone
off the hook with offers just hours after Diana's death.
Since the expose, the royals are running checks on royal goods
being sold to dealers such as Carroll. Not that she's on a first
hand basis with the family but they certainly know of Everything
Royal and her name. After she's read so many of their letters
and books and seen so many pictures and personal items, Carroll
pretty much does know the royal family. Now she wants to introduce
others to the world of royalty. A majority of her vast collection
is now being offered for sale via catalog and on the Internet.
To see the Everything Royal collection, go to http://www.everythingroyal.com
The Mail On Sunday
November 17, 2002, By Caroline Graham and Ian Gallagher
DEALER REVEALS ONE MILLION POUND TRADE IN ROYAL TREASURE
THEY EVEN SOLD HER NAIL CLIPPINGS
WORLD EXCLUSIVE, BEVERLY HILLS COLLECTOR REVEALS HOW SHE PAID
ONE MILLION POUNDS TO ROYAL RELATIVES AND SERVANTS - AND HOW WHEN
SHE REPORTED FEARS OVER THEFT, THE PALACE DID NOTHING.
A covert network
of Palace servants and international dealers who trade in stolen
royal artifacts is sensationally exposed today by the Mail on
Sunday. The scale of the trade - which is systematic and highly
organized - is laid bare by Alicia Carroll, America's foremost
dealer in intimate royal letters, gifts and memorabilia. She told
this newspaper yesterday how she has marketed items worth three
million
pounds, many of them clearly pilfered, and retains a collection
worth another three million pounds.
She had, for example,
acquired affectionate letters from Princess Diana to Prince William
costing 26,500 pounds, and many other highly personal communications
between members of the Royal family.
Her revelations reveal the level of disloyalty within the staff
quarters of the Royal palaces. Equally agonizing for the royals,
Ms. Carroll discloses that many other items have not been stolen,
but sold to dealers for easy money by family members and friends.
Carroll admitted, however, that many items were obtained dishonestly.
"It's time the British public knew the truth about what has
gone on. People who deal in Royal memorabilia like me have never
spoken about the fact we know a lot of these items are stolen
because it would not be good for business. But they are stolen."
Carroll's vast collection
- plates, busts, dolls, postcards, photographs and puzzles - is
housed in a vast warehouse outside her Beverly Hills home. She
has long been fascinated with the Royal Family and started collecting
memorabilia as a hobby before setting up her company 20 plus years
ago. The trade in Royal items came under scrutiny both during
and after the trial of Paul Burrell, who was cleared of plundering
Diana’s personal belongings from Kensington Palace. It has
since led to the promise of an inquiry into allegations that Michael
Fawcett, Prince Charles personal consultant, was discretely allowed
to sell unwanted gifts and take some of the proceeds. But the
sheer scale of the covert market uncovered by The Mail on Sunday
will shock many.
The Los Angeles-based
dealer revealed that David Griffin, the Princess head chauffeur,
was a main supplier of items- although his were acquired legitimately
- he recruited other servants. Items were then sold on by American
middleman . Griffin sold a lock of the Princess's hair - which
she gave to him in a birthday card - just six months after she
died, boasting at the time that it was 100% genuine. Ms. Carroll
claims that she alerted Buckingham Palace and police when offered
items that were obviously pilfered, but officials , she said ,
were not interested. Some of the items believed stolen have included
a check signed by George VI to the Queen Mother. There were cards
from the Queen Mother to Lord Linley and , incredibly, notes sent
to family and friends by Prince William and Prince Harry in appreciation
for the support shown after their mother's death. Ms. Carroll
said, "Buckingham Palace turned a blind eye to it. With everything
that has come out of it makes you wonder whether the royals let
the pilfering continue because they had other skeletons they were
trying to keep in the closet. They did nothing . They just didn't
seem to care. As well as the Linley cards, I was offered a check
signed by King George VI to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother,
along with a stack of blank checks belonging to the king. The
person who took them probably thought no one would miss them.
I reported that to the Palace too, but nothing happened.
According to Ms.
Carroll, it was the American autograph dealer, who offered her
the Linley Christmas cards. She said, I was sure they were stolen.
I am certain neither the Queen Mother nor David Linley sold them,
so they must have been taken. The dealert old me they came from
directly inside the Palace. Unsure of who to contact in England,
she called a friend, royal portrait artist Richard Stone. Mr.
Stone confirmed to the Mail on Sunday, " I rang Sir Robert
Fellows, then the Queen's private secretary , and told him. The
Queen's lawyers then called me and I told them Alicia thought
she had been offered stolen items. Alicia faxed me illustrations
of the items and I passed those on to the lawyers then David Linely
called me directly and asked me for all the details of the items,
which I gave him. I didn't hear anything after that conversation.
Some of the transactions, those involving gifts which have been
given directly to a servant or a friend and later sold - are not
illegal.
According to Ms
Carroll, Princess Diana's cousin, Joanna Tuffnell sent her husband
Peter from their home in Wales to Los Angeles with "boxes"
of memorabilia which Alicia bought for thousands of dollars. They
included the Order of Service for Diana’s funeral and a set
of place mats, emblazoned with copies of Prince Charles watercolors
given as a gift to Diana's grandmother Ruth, Lady Fermoy. Mrs.
Tuffnell, the daughter of Diana's aunt Mary, told the Mail on
Sunday: "That was my husband. It was actually quite confidential.
I don't think I can say anything. Are you going to use my name?
It is all a bit of a shock."
Ms. Carroll says
her telephone was ringing off the hook, in the days after Diana
died in a Paris car crash. I had servants calling me and offering
me her clothing and private pictures. But when I asked for names
and phone numbers to verify where the stuff was coming from, they
would hang up on me. Even Christmas tags - among them one from
The Queen to Prince Philip signed, "With fondest love, Lilibet
- were offered for sale.
Ms Carroll said, "There is a network of people inside the
Palace on the lookout for cards and gift tags because they are
worth thousands to a collector. I think the servants and aides
took the attitude that they could systematically steal and nothing
would happen. So they did. Often they would respond to adverts
in the Times placed by dealers posing as collectors and offering
up to one thousand pounds for individual cards and letters. But
according to Ms. Carroll, many of the servants are well aware
of the main dealers and contact them directly.
According to Carroll,
the phone started ringing immediately after Diana's death. One
call she received was from a man with an English accent offering
to sell Diana's dresses, hats, shoes, blouses and purses as well
as a silver cake server and picture frames. She had seen Paul
Burrell on the Oprah Winfrey show and wondered if it was him.
I thought I recognized the voice but my friends said , "Oh
Alicia, it couldn't be." When the Burrell trial started,
Alicia called Scotland Yard about her suspicious call. I asked
them if they checked Paul Burrell's phone records. The detective
rang me back the next morning and said they didn't have the time
to check phone records.
Intriguingly, an american autograph dealer told The Mail on Sunday
that he was contacted six months before by an FBI agent who wanted
to quiz him on behalf of British authorities about Burrell. "I
didn't know who Burrell was at the time. The name didn't mean
anything to me and I don't remember ever talking to him. The FBI
seemed satisfied and I didn't hear from them again. I do have
other contacts in the Royal household and I'm the main guy for
Royal autographs so it is possible he would have known about me.
"
Ms. Carroll did
much of her business with a London based dealer who sold her a
letter from Princess Diana to Wombat, Diana's pet name for William.
Some letters from Diana to Wombat were listed as suspected stolen
items by the prosecution in the Burrell trial - though these are
not the ones Ms. Carroll bought. Ms Carroll said, at the time
I was not suspicious. I actually had two Wombat letters.
One
I knew the origin of - it was when William was sent a sweater
at his first school. He threw the box away and a classmate pulled
the note from Diana out of the trash and gave it to his mother.
She kept it for 15 years and called me when she was going through
a divorce and needed the money, I bought it and sold it to a collector
. The note was very sweet and was all about how Diana hoped he
was being a good boy at school and she hoped he liked his new
classmates. In July 2000 she bought another wombat latter from
the London based dealer. She said she paid 26,000 pounds. It was
a letter about how Diana was glad William was doing well at school
and how Mummy and Daddy missed him.
She added, after
Prince Charles's apartments were robbed, I had a call from a man
with an Italian accent offering to sell me some cufflinks belonging
to Edward VIII. Again, I called the Palace and left a message
saying I was being offered what I thought was stolen property
but no one returned my call. Then I called Scotland yard. But
again, no one rang me back.
Carroll showed the
Mail On Sunday a note on palace letterhead which Griffin wrote
to her stressing that the items he had sold were genuine. In it,
Griffin promised to tell other servants about the her, saying,
I have put the word around for you. Ms Carroll described Griffin’s
attempt to sell a lock of Diana's hair as disgusting.
Last night Griffin admitted selling the lock of hair, which he
said Diana had sent him as a joke. He said he teased her saying,
it wasn't her natural color. He said, I haven't done anything
wrong and when the Palace looked into allegations I was exonerated.
He said he received about 11,000 pounds for a collection of Diana
cards and the hair. Ms Carroll said it is obvious from the letter
that Mr. Griffin was soliciting other servants inside the palace.
The Griffin letter ends with the warning, Remember, This letter
is for your eyes only!!!!
Monday 18 November
2002 05:03pm
ROYAL GOODS FOR SALE Servants passed royal items to collectors
By Tom Rapson And Aidan Mcgurran
BELOW-stairs staff have been selling off royal goods worth millions
of pounds, it was claimed yesterday. One US dealer claims she
was offered Diana's fingernail clippings by one employee. And
a royal chauffeur admits netting £11,000 for a lock of the
late princess's hair and a batch of private cards written by Diana.
Even fringe members
of the Royal Family and friends have made thousands from selling
off mementoes and gifts, claims US collector Alicia Carroll. The
scale of the sell-offs will stun the Palace, and the inquiry being
carried out by Prince Charles's private secretary Sir Michael
Peat. Sir Michael's remit includes probing the sale of gifts by
staff after it was claimed the Prince of Wales' personal assistant
Michael Fawcett was allowed to sell unwanted royal gifts and keep
some of the profit.
But according to
Beverly Hills dealer Alicia the organized trade goes far deeper
than at first thought. She claims some of the memorabilia offered
by palace servants was stolen. She said: "It is time the
British public knew the truth about what has gone on. People who
deal in royal memorabilia have never spoken about the fact we
know a lot of these items are stolen because it would not be good
for business. But they are stolen."
One fixer who buys
royal cast-offs lives 40 miles from Sandringham. He claims he
is the main outlet for servants wanting to make cash from unwanted
gifts given to them by the royals. Norfolk-based dealer claims
he is the biggest go-between in the cash-for-gifts trade. Claiming
he was doing nothing wrong - said: "I get quite a few of
the staff who get in contact. It is up the road. Anyone on the
Sandringham estate who wants to dispose, they usually get in touch
with me." He is currently advertising a £95,000 diamond
ring given to Diana on her 24th birthday. He is also offering
a wrought-iron garden seat with Charles and Diana's initials,
given to them as a wedding present, for £12,000. He recently
sold for £48,000 Diana's Ford Escort - which used to sport
a silver frog bonnet-mascot - given to her by her sister Sarah
McCorquodale as an engagement present in 1981. The life-size mascot
is now said to sit on his desk. He was not available for comment
yesterday.
An ex-Highgrove
head gardener is said to have sold 16 items given to him by Prince
Charles. The gardener, who worked at Charles's Gloucestershire
house between 1985 and 1991, claims he sold the bench and a leather
wallet with the Prince of Wales' emblem in an auction job lot
for £4,500. He was not available yesterday at his home near
Norwich.
Alicia said US collectors
pay a fortune for royal memorabilia. She says she has been offered
cheques signed by George VI to the Queen Mother, cards from the
Queen Mother to Viscount Linley and notes sent from Princes William
and Harry to friends thanking them for their support after their
mother's death.
Alicia said she
informed Buckingham Palace and was contacted by the Queen's solicitors,
but no action was taken. The selling of gifts is not illegal.
MPs consider inquiry
as servants are accused of looting royal gifts
Jamie Wilson
Monday November 18, 2002
The Guardian
Members of the House
of Commons public accounts committee are discussing whether to
launch their own inquiry into the royal cash for gifts scandal
as more details emerged at the weekend of the alleged trade in
artifacts by palace staff. Ian Davidson, a Labour committee member,
said it was important to find out if gifts given to the royal
family on official trips funded by the taxpayer had been sold
off, and the money retained rather than being used to offset the
costs of travel. "We would certainly be very concerned about
any gifts that may have been sold off from official visits,"
he said.
The possible inquiry
comes after Sir Michael Peat, Prince Charles's private secretary,
announced last week he would be holding an internal inquiry into
allegations emerging from the collapse of the Paul Burrell theft
trial, including claims that senior staff had sold royal gifts
for cash. Further allegations of skullduggery among palace servants
emerged in the Sunday newspapers. Alicia Carroll, described in
the Mail on Sunday as the world's top dealer in royal family artifacts,
accused palace servants of systematically pilfering memorabilia
worth millions of pounds.
Ms Carroll, whose
business is based in California, said she had acquired personal
letters from Princess Diana to Prince William, costing £26,500,
as well as other communications between members of the royal family.
On one occasion, it was claimed, she was even offered Princess
Diana's nail clippings. She told the newspaper that as well as
sellers approaching her directly, she also dealt with a small,
secretive ring of dealers. Ms Carroll claimed to have warned Buckingham
Palace about two items she believed were stolen - a collection
of letters from the Queen Mother to Lord Linley and a pair of
cufflinks belonging to Edward VIII, but the palace had "turned
a blind eye". But a dealer at the center of claims in the
Sunday Times that he had sold gifts on behalf of palace staff
yesterday denied any impropriety in the trade in royal memorabilia.
One British dealer
who specializes in selling royal artifacts to Americans, said:
"The paper has inferred that everything is done underhand,
when it is not." He said a wallet he sold to a Sunday Times
reporter for £250, said to have belonged to Prince Charles,
had been bought at auction from a former gardener at Highgrove.
"[The gardener] never made any secret he was selling a whole
load of stuff, in fact there was a big piece in the local paper
at the time. It was all open and above board. I am possibly the
largest dealer in the UK, and I have never been approached with
anything that I thought was untoward. They have made a mountain
out of a molehill."
The St James's Palace
inquiry is likely to focus on the role of Michael Fawcett, the
prince's personal consultant, who is said to have sold off unwanted
gifts.
Mr Fawcett, a former
valet who has risen through the ranks to become one the most trusted
and influential members of the prince's staff, was nicknamed "Fawcett
the Fence" in royal circles. He is reported to have kept
between 10% and 20% of the proceeds. Prince Charles yesterday
won a court order banning the Glasgow-based Sunday Mail from publishing
details of a book written by a former royal housekeeper.
Sunday November
17, 07:31 AM
For sale -- Diana's nail clippings
LONDON (Reuters) - Staff
of the embattled royals have fueled a trade in memorabilia, offering
everything from the late Princess Diana's fingernail clippings
to royal letters, according to tabloid newspapers.
The allegations,
from a number of sources, marked a new twist to the saga that
began with the collapse of the trial of Diana's former butler
Paul Burrell earlier this month.
Burrell's newspaper
memoirs, which he says he published to clear his name after the
aborted trial, have emboldened other royal servants to talk to
the press, resulting in a string of seedy stories that have plunged
the royal household into crisis.
One of the few people
whose fingernail clippings are worth money -- the late Princess
Diana. REUTERS/Ian Waldie
Californian collector
Alicia Carroll told the Mail on Sunday: "There is a network
of people inside the palaces on the lookout for cards and gift
tags because they are worth thousands to a collector."
Apart from fingernail
clippings, Carroll described a trade in everything from locks
of hair to "Wombat letters" -- letters written by Diana
to Prince William by his pet name "Wombat". Carroll
said after Diana died in a Paris car crash in 1997, her phone
was "ringing off the hook" with offers. "The money
that was changing hands at the time was scary," she said,
adding that she had sold one "Wombat letter" for 32,000
pounds.
"This is not
the interview I gave. Had they wanted to do a story about Janet
Jenkins, Prince Charles and a 30 year old romance, they should
have interviewed Janet Jenkins and HRH Prince Charles. This article
was to be about my collection, my feelings and sentiments regarding
the royals trying to erase Diana from history and their attempts
to thrust Camilla Parker Bowles into the limelight. The most significant
parts of the letters which talked about the pressures from the
press and family on Charles to find a wife as soon as possible
and his frustrations with royal duties were never touched on.
Alicia Carroll 9/9/2002"
Tuesday 10 September
2002 02:34:52pm
CHARLES' LETTERS TO SECRET GIRLFRIEND Exclusive By Jane Kerr Royal
Reporter
LOVE letters from Prince Charles reveal details of the secret
five-year affair he started after being dumped by Camilla.
The prince, then
26, met 30-year-old Janet Jenkins in Canada in 1975 and they became
lovers the following year. Excited Charles wrote a four-page letter
telling Janet he had found an excuse to fly to see her - while
his sister, Princess Anne, competed in the Montreal Olympics.
He said: "If
you could bear to see me I would have thought your apartment is
the quietest place. If we went anywhere out the press would be
on to it in a flash and that would be misery.
"It will be
something marvelous to look forward to as far as I'm concerned
and I can't wait to see you again."
Charles's long-time
love Camilla Shand had married Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973.
Janet, originally
from Wales, was a receptionist at the British consulate in Montreal.
She has claimed they first made love in her apartment while the
prince's security guards waited outside.
At the end of 1976,
Charles wrote: "It was marvelous to hear your voice again
the other day from the Ritz. "I am desperate being unable
to see you."
In 1980, he was
complaining about how royal protocol restricted their secret trysts
while he was on tour: "My new private secretary is horrified
by the idea of ladies in hotels during foreign tours so even if
you had been in Canada and able to come to Vancouver I dare say
I would have had a frightful struggle!"
Charles was a year
away from marrying 19-year-old Diana. Janet had just got divorced.
He wrote: "I so hope you have recovered from the traumatic
business of marriage and divorce - such a short time. Thank goodness
you discovered the mistake early enough and didn't start a family.
Making a mistake like that is, frankly, something which concerns
me enormously."
Twice-divorced Janet,
who lives in Toronto and has a teenaged son, has claimed that
although the affair ended earlier, she slept with Charles at Highgrove
in July 1992. Six of about 15 love letters sent to her by the
prince have surfaced through Alicia Carroll, an American collector
based in Los Angeles.
Janet said last
night: "The letters show him to be a deeply sensitive, compassionate
man." But Mrs Carroll said: "He can't say Camilla was
the great love of his life when he was writing these kind of letters
to Janet not long after they'd broken up."
Daily Mirror London
Friday 19 July 2002 11:08:50am
CHARLES LETTER MOANS
ABOUT ROYAL DUTIES
EXCLUSIVE By Jane
Kerr, Royal Reporter
A LETTER by Prince Charles moaning about his duties on a royal
tour is to be auctioned.
Writing to a friend,
he complains: "The real problem is keeping up my enthusiasm
on each new day because I am beginning to get fed up with the
amount of nonsensical rubbish I take all day and every day. "If
one more NZ (New Zealand) child asks me what it's like to be prince
I shall go demented." He ends: "Will you visit me when
they strap me in a white apron and deposit me in some institution?"
The sulky letter,
in which he also attacks "kindless" remarks about his
tumbles off polo ponies, was sent in 1981, a few months before
his wedding to Diana Spencer.
It is one of 112
letters written by Charles, the Queen, Diana and other royals
to be sold, probably in New York later this year. A handwritten
note from Charles in August 1980, less than a year before his
wedding, betrays his closeness to Camilla Parker Bowles. Referring
to a vet giving a tranquilizer to a horse, Charles says: "My
professional adviser (Camilla!) tells me that it was probably
needed before being turned out in the field."
The letters are
being sold by American businesswoman Alicia Carroll, who has collected
a vast array of royal memorabilia, even slices of Diana's wedding
cake. In one letter, the princess spells out her unhappiness,
despite being pregnant with her first child, William. She tells
a relative: "I don't like complaining, but it's not that
great at the moment, probably because there is such a lot going
on my way after three months. "Hubby is on a cloud saying
how marvelous he is and clever. I spend a lot of time reminding
him that I'm the one carrying it. But it doesn't make any difference."
But she is much happier after the arrival of Harry. She writes:
"William adores his brother. I can't quite believe I am a
mother-of-two."
Another glimpse
of life at the palace comes on a gift tag from the Queen to her
husband. It reads: "To Philip, fondest love, from Lilibet"
- the royals' pet name for her.
Ms Carroll bought
most of the letters from relatives, friends and staff of the royals.
She says some needed the money and promises not to sell the most
personal letters. She said: "Some were written by Diana when
her marriage was breaking up. People write things in the heat
of the moment they don't mean. I'd never do anything to embarrass
the royals."
-THE Duchy of Cornwall,
the landed estate which provides Prince Charles's income, saw
profits rise by 4.7 per cent last year to £7.8 million,
despite foot and mouth.
Wednesday, 26 June, 2002, 10:22 GMT 11:22 UK Prince's letters
to be auctioned
About 300 Royal
items to be auctioned in US this year
A letter written
by the Prince of Wales complaining over relentless questioning
about life as a royal is to be auctioned. The letter was sent
in 1981 when he was on tour of New Zealand. In it he says: ''If
one more child asks me what it's like to be a prince I shall go
demented.'' The eight-page note, handwritten on Buckingham Palace
paper, is one of 300 royal items to be sold at auction in the
US later this year. William doted on Harry as a baby, Diana's
letter says
The items, including
letters from Diana, Princess of Wales after her honeymoon and
the birth of Prince Harry, give a rare insight into royal life.
Writing to a friend, Charles complains: "The real problem
is keeping up my enthusiasm on each new day because I am beginning
to get fed up with the amount of nonsensical rubbish I take all
day and every day. "If one more NZ child asks me what it's
like to be a prince I shall go demented." He finishes the
letter: "Will you visit me when they strap me in a white
apron and deposit me in some institution?" Another letter
by the Prince refers to Camilla Parker Bowles. Penned in August
1980, less than a year before he married Diana, Charles refers
to a vet tranquilizing a horse. He says: "My professional
adviser (Camilla!) tells me that it was probably needed before
being turned out in the field."
Other items in the
auction include a note written by Diana after her honeymoon to
a former member of staff from her family home who became a friend.
She says: "We had a wonderful honeymoon catching up on all
that lack of sleep, and just being together made everything so
perfect." American businesswoman Alicia Carroll, who is selling
the collection, said: "Diana gave so many people gifts, letters
and cards. "If she had written you 50 letters, and you needed
money for something, it would not be so bad to sell five or 10
of them. "That's how I have been collecting them." Mrs
Parker Bowles mentioned in Charles' letter before his wedding
Ms Carroll, who
runs a web site called everythingroyal.com, said she had 10,000
royal items and wanted to sell some of them. But some items she
has promised to never show. "I have six letters that will
never see the light of day, because I would not do anything to
offend the Royal Family," she says. "I will probably
burn them one day." One of Diana's letters expected to be
in the auction was written after the birth of Prince Harry. She
tells a friend: "The reaction to his birth has totally overwhelmed
us and we can hardly breathe for the mass of flowers that have
arrived. "William adores his little brother and spends the
entire time pouring an endless supply of hugs and kisses on Harry,
and we are hardly allowed near. "I cannot quite believe I
am now a mother-of-two."
HELLO MAGAZINE Sunday,
July 7, 2002
26 JUNE 2002
A collection of intimate missives written by members of the Royal
family, including the late Princess Diana, is to go on sale by
auction probably in New York later in the year.
The correspondence,
which comprises 112 letters, plus a gift tag from the Queen to
her husband, is being sold by American businesswomen Alicia Carroll.
Alicia is the owner of a large body of royal memorabilia, which
even includes slices of Charles and Diana's wedding cake.
One letter, written
three months into the late Princess's first pregnancy, gives an
insight into the mother-to-be’s state of mind at the time.
“I don't like complaining, but it's not that great at the
moment, probably because there's so much going my way at the moment,”
she wrote. “Hubby is on a cloud saying how marvelous he is
and clever. I spend a lot of time reminding him that I'm the one
carrying it. But it doesn't make any difference.”
In an earlier letter
written by her husband to a friend to during a 1981 trip to New
Zealand just before his nuptials, Charles also revealed that life
as a royal is not always a rosy one. “If one more NZ child
asks me what it's like to be prince I shall go demented,”
he penned. “Will you visit me when they strap me in a white
apron and deposit me in some institution?”
Also included in
the items offered for sale is a gift tag addressed to Philip with
fondest love from Lilibet”, a reference to the British monarchs
pet name among members of the royal family.
According to Alicia,
other letters of an even more personal nature – including
some written by Diana when her marriage to Charles was in difficulty
– will not be included in the auction. “People write
things in the heat of the moment that they don't mean,” she
said. “I’d never do anything to embarrass the royals.”
Among the items to be auctioned
off is a gift tag addressed from the Queen to her husband Prince
Philip which reads: "fondest love from Lilibet"
One of the letters by Charles, written in 1981, reveals his disenchantment
at that time with the constant pressures of his role. “If
one more NZ child asks me what it’s like to be prince I shall
go demented,” he wrote
FROM PRESS ASSOCIATION:
Hi Alicia,
Thanks for your help and sorry to have kept you up. Here is the
story I wrote for the Press Association news wire, which is the
UK's national news agency (the British equivalent of Reuters).
Please keep me on your mailing list for any further news.
Regards,
Sam.
My email: sam_greenhill@pa.press.net
(Over 2,600 US newspapers
ran an article from this press release)
PRINCE'S LETTERS
TO BE AUCTIONED
By Sam Greenhill, PA News
A letter by the
Prince of Wales moaning that if one more child asks what it is
like to be a royal I shall go demented is to be auctioned. The
missive was sent in 1981 when the Prince was on a tour of New
Zealand. Writing to a friend, Charles complains: The real problem
is keeping up my enthusiasm on each new day because I am beginning
to get fed up with the amount of nonsensical rubbish I take all
day and every day. If one more NZ child asks me what it's like
to be a prince I shall go demented. He finishes the letter: Will
you visit me when they strap me in a white apron and deposit me
in some institution?
The eight-page note, handwritten on Buckingham Palace paper, is
one of about 300 royal items to be sold at auction in the US later
this year.
Another letter by
the Prince refers to Camilla Parker Bowles. Penned in August 1980,
less than a year before he married Diana, Charles refers to a
vet tranquilizing a horse and says: My professional adviser (Camilla!)
tells me that it was probably needed before being turned out in
the field.
Other items in the auction include a note written by Diana after
her honeymoon. She tells a former member of staff from her family
home who became a friend: We had a wonderful honeymoon catching
up on all that lack of sleep, and just being together made everything
so perfect.
American businesswoman Alicia Carroll, who is selling the collection,
said: Diana gave so many people gifts, letters and cards. If she
had written you 50 letters, and you needed money for something,
it would not be so bad to sell five or 10 of them. That's how
I have been collecting them.
Ms Carroll, who runs a web site called everythingroyal.com, said
she had 10,000 royal items and wanted to sell some of them. But
some items she has promised to never show. I have six letters
that will never see the light of day, because I would not do anything
to offend the Royal Family. I will probably burn them one day.
One of Diana's letters expected to be in the auction was written
after the birth of Prince Harry. She tells a friend: The reaction
to his birth has totally overwhelmed us and we can hardly breathe
for the mass of flowers that have arrived.William adores his little
brother and spends the entire time pouring an endless supply of
hugs and kisses on Harry, and we are hardly allowed near. I can't
quite believe I am now a mother-of-two.
end
NEW ZEALAND NEWSPAPER
AND TV
Prince's letter
complains about NZ
An American businesswoman auctioning a letter penned by Prince
Charles in which he complains about his experiences in New Zealand
says it is not a reflection on the country.
Prince Charles wrote
the letter to a friend while in this country in 1981.
In it he says he
will go demented if one more New Zealand child asks him what it
is like to be a prince. He also complains about endless facetious
remarks about his falling off horses during polo matches.
The letter is being
sold in New York by an American businesswoman, Alicia Carroll.
She says his remarks
were made while the Prince was tired, and could have been written
anywhere in the world at that time.
Carroll says it
was a very hard time for Prince Charles as neither he nor his
new wife Princess Diana were prepared for the global adulation
they received.
Published on June
27, 2002 ONE News source from TVNZ, RNZ, Reuters and
YOUNGSTOWN VINDICATOR
NEWSPAPER
Online Edition
Youngstown, Ohio
Royal family collection to be auctioned Friday, July 5, 2002
The collection includes some personal letters that will not be
sold.
By AMY HOUSLEY VINDICATOR
TRUMBULL STAFF
A former Ohio woman
is making news with her collection of royal memorabilia. Alicia
Carroll will auction off her personal collection. She operates
Everything Royal, a business in Los Angeles that specializes in
selling those types of items. No date or site have been chosen.
Carroll became interested
in the memorabilia years ago because of the amount of exposure
the royal family received. She describes the catalogs of memorabilia
she found at that time as "pathetic." After deciding
she could do better, she advertised a catalog she hadn't even
put together yet. She had an overwhelming response of requests,
which launched her into the business.
Carroll made contacts
in England and began collecting. With the demand in the United
States, she had little trouble selling here. She also built up
her personal collection, which includes bracelets that belonged
to Princess Diana, a box from the wedding cake of Diana and Prince
Charles and personal letters. "I remember the day I got my
first letter," Carroll said, reflecting on her early days
of collecting. She said that now, "it's time to let someone
else enjoy them."
She had hoped to
open a museum but the cost was prohibitive. An alternative she
also considered was traveling with her collection, but the cost
and the demands of traveling prevented it. Continuing business
Everything Royal makes about $500,000 each year. The business
will continue, even though Carroll will be selling her personal
collection, valued in the millions. "Now's the time to do
it," Carroll said of her plans for the auction.
Since word of the
auction got out, the press response has been overwhelming. She's
hoping the added exposure will attract a private buyer for the
collection, which she would like to keep together.
One letter generating
a lot of interest was written by Charles dated less than a year
before he married Diana. In it, he makes a reference to Camilla
Parker Bowles, the woman who is blamed for breaking up the royal
marriage.
Some of the other
letters in the collection include ones written by Diana after
her honeymoon and around the time of the births of her sons, Princes
William and Harry.
Carroll said she
has four letters she will never sell because of the personal nature
of the contents. She also plans to keep one of Diana's bracelets
and some photos. "It's very hard to part with the things.
I wouldn't do anything to offend the royal family,"
Saturday, July 6,
2002
Copyright © 2001, The Vindicator
Cleveland Plain
Dealer Sarah Crump 07/10/02
Los Angeles businesswoman
Alicia Carroll became big news once the British press got wind
that she owned a letter Prince Charles wrote to a friend calling
Camilla Parker Bowles "my professional adviser."
The handwritten
note the prince sent to a friend in 1981, a few months before
his wedding, refers to a Bowles recommendation about a royal polo
pony. The note is one of the rare times Charles refers to his
relationship with Bowles, who has been rumored to be a longtime
love interest.
Carroll, who grew
up in Ohio, has gathered thousands of royalty items that she markets
on her Web site, www.everythingroyal.com. However, she hopes a
collector will buy her entire private collection of 56 letters
penned by Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Diana and other royals,
as well as hundreds of keepsakes including a souvenir box that
once held a bit of the Queen Mum's 1923 wedding cake.
Want a rare autographed
photo of Queen Mary holding baby Elizabeth, the future queen?
Carroll's got it. A portion of the rose bouquet a young attendant
carried in the wedding of Lady Diana and Prince Charles? Carroll
has that, too.
At the top of a
serious collector's list would be Diana's letters, written after
her honeymoon and the birth of each of her two sons.
But Carroll has
four very personal royal letters she vows will never leave her
hands. "They are letters that were written in anger. I wouldn't
even read them to my mother." Carroll keeps them in her safe
for now. Someday, "when I am very, very brave, I will burn
them."
To reach this Plain
Dealer reporter: scrump@plaind.com,
216-999-5478
Florida Today, Sunday
June 30, 2002
People Watch - Royal letters for sale
A letter by Prince
Charles complaining that children's questions during a royal tour
threatened to drive him "demented" is among a collection
of royal letters to be auctioned by an American businesswoman
this year.
Los Angeles based
Alicia Carroll announced she plans to sell some 300 letters from
her royal collection of around 10,000 royal items on her web site.
In Charles 1981
letter, sent to a friend from New Zealand, he states, " The
real problem is keeping up my enthusiasm on each new day because
I am getting fed up with the amount of nonsensical rubbish I take
all day and every day," he writes, "If one more NZ child
asks me what it's like to be a prince I shall go demented." The eight page note , hand written
on Buckingham paper, concludes, "Will you visit me when they
strap me in a white apron and deposit me in some institution?"
Another letter from
Charles refers to his longtime companion, Camilla Parker Bowles.
Written in August 1980, less than a year before he married Lady
Diana Spencer, Charles refers to a vet tranquilizing a horse and
says, " My professional advisor (Camilla) tells me that is
was probably needed before being turned out in the field."
Carroll's website
is www.everythingroyal.com.
The Press Democrat
People
Friday, June 28,
2002 Santa Rose, California
Kids ruffle royalty
A letter by Prince
Charles complaining that children's questions during a royal tour
threatened to drive him "demented" is among a collection
of royal letters that Los Angeles business woman Alicia Carroll
plans to auction later this year.
" The real
problem is keeping up my enthusiasm on each new day because I
am beginning to get fed up with the amount of nonsensical rubbish
I take all day and every day, " he writes in a 1981 letter
to a friend from New Zealand. "If one more NZ child asks
me what it's like to be a prince I shall go demented."
The eight page note
concludes, "Will you visit me when they strap me in a white
apron and deposit me in some institution?"
End
Everything
Royal Home Page