Princess Diana: Auction to sell furnishings from prep school

Princess Diana attended the school from the age of nine and returned for a visit in 1989

Furnishings used by Diana, Princess of Wales, when she was at a preparatory school will be sold at auction.

The items were once housed at Riddlesworth Hall School, near Thetford in Norfolk, where Princess Diana was a pupil in the 1970s.

Highlights of the auction include three Victorian cases of English birds by a Norwich taxidermist.

The sale will be held at auctioneer Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, on 30 January.

The furnishings were made available for sale after Riddlesworth Hall school, which Diana attended following her parents' divorce, closed in April 2023.

Riddlesworth Hall is on the site of a former stately home in Norfolk

The 18th Century country house opened as an independent girl's school in 1946 but "unprecedented financial challenges" were blamed for its closure.

The young Lady Diana Spencer boarded there for three years from 1970-73, between the ages of nine and 12.

Sworders said the stuffed prey, garden and game birds carried an estimate of up to £2,000.

The table from the school can extend to more than 6m (20ft)

Three Victorian cases of English birds by renowned Norwich taxidermist Thomas Gunn will be auctioned

A large refectory table dating back to circa 1900 with claw and ball feet and eight leaves allowing it to extend to more than 6m (20ft) was guided at £1,000 to £1,500.

A pair of armchairs, upholstered in leather, were expected to make as much as £800, Sworders said.