A red bike that was given to Diana, Princess of Wales as a child and was kept by the Spencer family’s housekeeper is set to fetch around $53,000 at auction. The ‘Tracker’ bike was ridden by Lady Diana Spencer during the 1970s at the Spencer family estate in Northamptonshire. The classic ‘Chopper’ bicycle for kids, which was extremely popular in the 1970s. Diana’s father Earl Spencer eventually sold his daughter’s bike at an auction for $35.00 to a housekeeper, who kept it as a memento. It was acquired by a toy museum in 2007 after the housekeeper passed away and put into a display for the princess. It retains all of its original features, including the vinyl saddle which looks like a banana seat, gear lever, brakes, coiled rear suspension tires and chrome mudguards The sad thing is, later Diana’s royal advisers deemed it ‘unfit for a princess’ calling it the ‘shame bike’, and ordered her to stop riding it. The bike sat in a garage for 27 years… It goes up for sale on July 24th ….Ed
Source: ANTONIA PAGET MAILONLINE/Photo: Matt Brown
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