Princess Di's Audi set for £60,000 auction

Silverstone Auctions is billing its forthcoming sale as the Jewels in the Crown auction, and indeed connections with royalty – both real and imagined – distinguish many of the cars.

Most interest will centre on a car many of us will remember seeing pictures of in our newspapers as the late Diana, Princess of Wales, drove through London, often with Princes William and Harry aboard and invariably with the top down. The 1994 Audi Cabriolet – an automatic, 2.3 finished in Gomera Pearl with Parchment leather and cream carpets – is estimated to make between £50,000 and £60,000.

There are two cars used by the Queen in the sale. The big guide price – £215-235,000 – goes to the 2012 Mulsanne that Bentley produced especially for Her Majesty for the 2012 Diamond Jubilee tour of Great Britain. The car’s place in history is also assured by being the Bentley that conveyed the Queen to her only Cabinet Meeting at 10 Downing Street in the same year. It’s Barnato Green, has inlaid royal crests, is fully armoured… and comes with blue flashing lights.

In some ways more interesting – and certainly more affordable, with a guide price of £50-60,000 – is Y694CDU, the 2001 Daimler Supercharged V8 saloon that the Queen chose herself and used extensively, travelling (and driving) more than 11,000 miles in it.  Her personal spec included a special armrest to hold her handbag.

A 1980 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II, formerly owned by Princess Margaret, is estimated at between £90-110,000. Other royal automotive connections include an ex-Qatari royal family 1984 Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible (£100-120,000), and a 1988 Mercedes-Benz 560 SEL formerly the property of King Hussein and Queen Noor of Jordan (£25-30,000).

Rock royalty is represented in the sale by Sir Elton John’s 2005 Rolls-Royce Phantom (£135-155,000) and Will Young’s 1987 Bristol Brigand (£50-60,000). The political elite has one of the “Jewels in the Crown” too, with the 1972 Fiat 500 L that then-PM David Cameron bought for his wife Samantha as a surprise birthday present (guide: £18-22,000).

And for arch celebrity spotters…yes, you can even bid for the late Michael Winner’s 1976 Bentley T1 (£40-50,000).

Silverstone Auctions’ Nick Whale tells us: “We are anticipating a huge amount of interest in these cars from across the globe.”