(26 Jun 1996) English/Nat
A mystery buyer has bought the Lordship of Wimbledon for a record price of 188-thousand pounds (250-thousand U-S dollars).
The title, put on sale by the brother of the Princess of Wales, went to an unnamed buyer who bid by telephone.
There's been much speculation that German tennis star Boris Becker could be the anonymous caller.
It will be another 11 days before this year's "King" of Wimbledon is known.
But there's growing speculation that Boris Becker could have snapped up the title of Lord of Wimbledon.
On sale at a London auction house Wednesday were five titles put up by Earl Spencer, the brother of the Princess of Wales.
It's thought he's trying to raise 78-thousand pounds (110-thousand U-S dollars) towards the upkeep of his 121-room stately home.
One of the titles up for sale was the Wimbledon title.
It originally belonged to the archbishops of Canterbury until the Reformation in the 1530s when it was seized by Henry VIII.
It remained in the hands of the Crown for 130 years when it was sold to the Earl of Bristol, whose trustees then sold it to a director of the South Sea Company.
When the South Sea bubble "burst" in 1720, the title was sold to Sarah Churchill, wife of famous general John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough.
The Lordship of the Manor passed to John Spencer, father to the first Earl of Spencer in 1744, in whose hands it remained ever since.
The title wasn't sold at a bargain price.
During a volley of bidding, the price rose from 20-thousand pounds (30-thousand U-S dollars) to 171-thousand pounds (210-thousand U-S dollars).
Including the buyer's premium that's over 181-thousand pounds (230-thousand U-S dollars).
For much of the sale, two telephone bidders monopolised the bidding.
The identity of the successful buyer is not yet known and auctioneer Robert Smith gave little away.
SOUNDBITE:
It was one of those titles that's how long's a piece of cat gut if you take my meaning. So 171 is a very good price though, very pleased with it.
(Q: Can you tell us who bought it?)
I'm not allowed to. They're going to make their own arrangements.
(Q: What happens to the person who acquires it?)
Well they become Lord of Wimbledon. How they may use the title in conjunction with presumably publicity and promotion is another matter. But certainly I would have thought that the kind of publicity that the purchaser's going to get out of this is worth considerably more than what he's just paid for it."
SUPER CAPTION: Robert Smith, Auctioneer
London-based Manorial Auctioneers had estimated that the title would go for between 35 and 50-thousand pounds (55 and 75 thousand dollars).
And the sale beat the existing 110-thousand pounds (165-thousand US dollars) record for a title, which was held by the Lordship of Stratford-upon-Avon.
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