A range of items that belonged to Margaret Thatcher are to be sold at auction after the Victoria and Albert (V&A) museum turned down an offer to exhibit her clothes.
Dresses, jewellery and handbags which became synonymous with the late prime minster’s public persona are to be sold off in the auction by Christie’s next month.
The V&A, which has one of the largest fashion collections in the world and has enjoyed particular success in recent years with exhibitions such as the one featuring clothing worn by David Bowie, confirmed on Monday that it had been offered items from Thatcher’s wardrobe.
It said in a statement: “The V&A politely declined the offer of Baroness Thatcher’s clothes, feeling that these records of Britain’s political history were best suited to another collection which would focus on their intrinsic social historical value.
“The museum is responsible for chronicling fashionable dress and its collecting policy tends to focus on acquiring examples of outstanding aesthetic or technical quality.”
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Christie’s confirmed that it would be providing further details on Tuesday morning in the UK. The auction house has been the conduit in the past for sales of Thatcher-related items. A number of her suits and dresses which went to auction in 2012 were bought by an anonymous bidder in South Korea.
The outfits sold on that occasion were those worn by her at the beginning of her career – when, in the words of a Christie’s expert, she acquired her ‘milk snatcher’ tag.
Other items associated with Thatcher include twin-sets and pearls. Watchers of television news clips in the run-up to Britain’s referendum on EU membership are likely to become familiar with her sweater made up of the flags of the nine Common Market countries, accompanying her call then for “a big Yes vote for Europe”.
