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The item is part of a collection of Nelson
memorabilia that is up for sale, which includes weapons, his
"grog chest" and personal letters. It features in a sale of
Royal and aristocratic heirlooms being held by auction house
Sotheby's.
The 86 cm by 92 cm flag fragment (34 inches by 36 inches),
dubbed "The Victory Jack", has an estimated price of between
80,000 and 100,000 pounds. ($108,000-$135,000)
"The flag has a wonderful story," Gabriel Heaton, specialist for
books and manuscripts at Sotheby's told Reuters.
"It was used as part of the great ceremonial funeral of Nelson
after his death at the battle. And pieces of it were broken up
and kept by the loyal sailors who had lost their very, very
deeply loved commander."
The last surviving complete Union Jack flag flown at the battle
fetched 384,000 pounds in 2009, more than twenty times its
estimated price.
The battle of Trafalgar was a naval clash that took place in
1805, and saw the British defeat a numerically superior French
and Spanish fleet. Nelson was fatally wounded during the battle,
which cemented his status as a national hero in Britain.
($1 = 0.7405 pounds)
(Reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Mark Hanrahan in London;
Editing by Peter Graff)
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