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| Buyer pays £5,750 for abdication pen |
The fountain pen used by Edward VIII to sign away his life as King has fetched £5,750 at auction.
An anonymous bidder put in the final offer by telephone to Bonhams & Brooks in Knightsbridge, London.
The pen, a Waterman's "Ideal-Desk Model" in its original box, was snapped up within minutes by the mystery buyer who outbid two others.
Edward's signature on the Instrument of Abdication on December 10, 1936, sealed the end of his 325-day reign, freeing him to marry divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Later on the same day, Edward, who became Duke of Windsor, gave the pen to Leonard Osbourn, the comptroller at his home, Fort Belvedere.
Also sold at the auction was a collection of seven issues of the Daily Mirror from the last few days of the abdication crisis of 1936.
Bundled with an Edward VIII souvenir book, they went for £51.75 to an anonymous buyer.
Story filed: 13:13 Tuesday 11th September 2001
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