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It was a wedding that captivated the world – in 1981, Lady Diana Spencer said “I do” Prince Charlesto be the princess of wales and bringing youth and glamor to the British royal family.
After more than 40 years of marriage and several years after the marriage ended, royal fans will be able to buy a rare slice of that historic day — or perhaps a sip of it.
Danish auction house Brun Rasmussen is auctioning off this Thursday a special magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 Champagne, which was specially crafted for the occasion.
“This is the first time I’ve seen it,” Thomas Rosendahl, head of the auction house’s wine department, said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
He added, “It’s really rare and a bottle with royal provenance.” “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Prince Charles, now King Charles III, married Lady Diana Spencer on 29 July 1981 at St Paul’s Cathedral, London. The ceremony was followed by a grand reception at Buckingham Palace.
Charles and Diana separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. A year later, he and partner dodgy benefits Died in a high-speed car accident in Paris.
The champagne was a limited-edition wedding release, created to celebrate the union.
A unique label reads: “Specially sent to honor the marriage of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. 29 July 1981.”
Rosendahl says only 12 were made and they were intended to be opened on the same day. It is not known what happened to the others, perhaps they were given as gifts to guests.
“It was a celebration from Dom Pérignon to the wedding,” explains Rosendahl.
“They also … found normal bottles that were served at the wedding, but these bottles were either forgotten or put away.”
Little was disclosed about the seller. Rosendahl said only that it was a Danish collector who had previously purchased the bottle from a London wine merchant.
The bottle is expected to be worth up to 600,000 Danish kroner (about 81,000 euros or $93,000) when it goes under the hammer at Brunn Rasmussen’s auction house in Lyngby, 12 kilometers (7½ miles) north of Copenhagen.
Rosendahl said that “a lot of wine collectors” have contacted him and asked him about the Magnum, its origins and how it is stored. And tests show it’s still drinkable.
“There are a lot of collectors out there for royal memorabilia, special memorabilia from Lady Diana’s wedding. So, it could be a collector of royal memorabilia, or it could be a collector of wine,” he said.
Henrik Smidt, fine wine manager at Danish wine merchant Kjaer & Sommerfelt in Copenhagen, expects the magnum to fetch a high price.
“You have the combination of one of the most famous marriages of all time, Lady Diana and Prince Charles. A Dom Pérignon, one of the most famous brands in the world, from a very rare vintage,” Smidt said. “All wine connoisseurs, all wine collectors would love to have Dom Pérignon in their cellar.”
He said, “My guess is that this bottle of wine will not be bought by a wine connoisseur, but probably by a collector of royal artefacts or possibly a museum.”