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Up to 350 "historic and personal lots" related to Thatcher
are on offer, and include Britain's only woman prime minister's
wedding dress, her red prime ministerial dispatch bag and a
figure of an eagle given to her by former U.S. president Ronald
Reagan.
Also in the auction is the blue woolen suit she wore when she
delivered the famous "no, no, no" speech in parliament against
greater central control in Europe 25 years ago.
One part of the sale, with 150 of the items, will be held at
auctioneer Christie's London showroom, with estimates ranging
from 200 to 180,000 pounds. A separate online sale with another
200 items, which began on Dec. 3 will run until Wednesday.
Known as the "Iron Lady", Thatcher was Britain's longest-serving
prime minister of the 20th century.
She favored well-cut suits in strong colors, smart handbags and
silk scarves, which became synonymous with term "power
dressing."
Her handbags were an essential part of the ensemble and even
entered the political vocabulary of the time as figurative
accessories to her uncompromising approach, especially where
European leaders were concerned.
The term "handbagging" was coined by fellow Conservative Member
of Parliament Julian Critchley to describe her style in cabinet
meetings, the Oxford English Dictionary says, defining it as an
action by a woman to "verbally attack or crush (a person or
idea) ruthlessly and forcefully".
Thatcher's jewelry will also be up for auction, including an
emerald and diamond necklace and a diamond flower brooch which
she often wore on official outings.
The auction was announced after London's Victoria & Albert
Museum (V&A), Britain's main repository of historic clothes,
said that talks about adding items from her wardrobe to its
collection had led nowhere.
(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang; editing by Stephen Addison)
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