Antiques Roadshow guessed stunned by value of items with royal link

Antiques Roadshow guest left stunned by huge value of a tiny gold pill box and marble container with a royal connection

An Antiques Roadshow guest was left open-mouthed when it was revealed how much some former royal treasures were valued at during Sunday’s episode.

A female guest attended the roadshow at Belmont House in Kent and brought her items to expert John Benjamin to take a look at.

She explained how the items – a gold egg-shaped pill box and a round container – belonged to her grandmother, although they previously had a royal connection having been linked to the late Princess Margaret.

The famous auction house Christies had previously sold the items which once belonged to the late Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon in 2006, four years after she died having suffered a stroke.

On the BBC show, the guest told how her grandmother had travelled the world to locations such as New York and Singapore to find such items, with the expert insisting she had done the right thing as they definitely had some value. 

Shocked: An Antiques Roadshow guest was left open-mouthed when it was revealed how much some former royal treasures were valued at during Sunday’s episode

Enquiries: A female guest attended the roadshow at Belmont House in Kent and brought her items to expert John Benjamin (pictured) to take a look at

The guest said: ‘To be able to see these is incredibly special. To know and think what Princess Margaret would have used them for as well.’

Expert John said he had been at the original auction, describing it as ‘a staggering auction with wonderful items’.

He went on to reveal the sums that the items had sold for, with the gold item which was engraved with Princess Margaret’s personal monogram, going for £4,200.

It was engraved with: ‘Presented to Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret, by De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited, 18th April 1947.’

John went on: ‘Right, now I’ve done a bit of homework to establish what was paid for them in the auction in 2006.

Referring to the gold, egg-shaped box, he said: ‘This little Cartier box, pill box, whatever you want to call it, sold at the auction for £4,200.

‘This box here, this rather heavy box, that sold for £9,000, so it begs the question, what are they worth today?’

He continued: ‘I’m going to give you a very broad estimate of value, I think that the gold egg – £4,200 in 2006, I’m going to say between £10,000 – £20,000 today.

Royal connection: She explained how the items – a gold pill box and a round container – belonged to her grandmother, although they were once owned by the late Princess Margaret

Royal family: Auction house Christies had previously sold the items which once belonged to the late Princess Margaret in 2006, four years after she died after a stroke (Princess Margaret pictured in 1960)

‘The box, it sold for £9,000 then, £20,000 – £40,000 today. I think these are absolutely fabulous, thank you.’

It comes after another Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned earlier this month by the true value of a diamond brooch given to her by an ex, that she wasn’t even sure was real. 

Antiques expert Joanna Hardy met with the owner of a jewellery collection in a classic episode that aired on Sunday. 

Joanna met with the guest, in Portchester Castle in Hampshire and said to her: ‘There were two comments you made when you saw me laying out your jewels here.

‘One was, “Gosh, I haven’t seen these in a very long time” and the second thing was that you were hoping they were all real.’

The owner said. ‘So I seriously hope they are real!’

Joanna asked the guest how she came to own the items. 

She said they had been given to her by an old boyfriend and Joanna joked: ‘He might be watching thinking, “Why did I give her all those?”‘

Among the eclectic collection were a pair of ruby earrings and a 1920s Rolex.

But the guest said: ‘I don’t wear any of this. I feel really bad that I don’t wear any of it. I haven’t even got them out the cupboard for a very long time.’

Joanna’s eye fixed on a pair of brooches made of real diamonds and she confirmed: ‘They’re all real, everything is real,’ much to the lady’s relief.

Wow! It comes after another Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned earlier this month by the true value of diamond brooch given to her by an ex that she thought was fake

Jewels: The guest said the jewellery had been given to her by an old boyfriend and Joanna joked: ‘He might be watching thinking, “Why did I give her all those?”‘

The expert then paid special attention to a sapphire brooch embellished with the flag of the Royal London Yacht Club, noting that it was ‘beautifully made.’

Joanna revealed the diamond brooch would fetch between £3,000-4,000 at auction while the sapphire flag brooch was worth £3,000.

She added that the collection would add up to about £13-15k altogether at auction.  

The guest replied. ‘ Golly! And I didn’t even know if it was real so that’s really impressive. Thank you, Wow!’

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