Margaret Thatcher suits sell for £73,000 at Christie's

The suits were all worn by Baroness Thatcher when she was education minister in the 1970s

A jade green wool suit worn by Margaret Thatcher on the day she was confirmed as Tory party leader in February 1975 has sold at auction for £25,000.

It was among seven outfits worn by Baroness Thatcher in the 1970s to go under the hammer at Christie's in London.

An anonymous purchaser bought the suit while an online bidder in South Korea snapped up the six other items.

The lots sold by a private collector went for a total of £73,125.

An Asprey handbag carried by Baroness Thatcher when meeting US President Ronald Reagan in 1985 raised £25,000 at a charity auction last year.

But the suits are thought to be the first of her clothes to be sold at a public auction - and had been given a guide price of between £1,000 and £1,500 each.

Ahead of the auction, Pat Frost, head of the textiles department at Christie's, described the sale as a "one-off opportunity".

"These outfits were worn at the beginning of her career, when she got the 'milk snatcher' tag, and were part of important moments like her introduction as leader at the Conservative Party conference," she said.

Lady Thatcher wore the light green suit the day she was confirmed as leader of the Conservatives

The jade green suit was by British designer Mansfield.

The other lots included a striking yellow dress with navy trim that she wore at her first party conference as leader in 1975.

A number of the other suits were worn during television or radio appearances.

A peach outfit was worn in a BBC Analysis programme in 1971 in which Baroness Thatcher discussed the importance of cleansing and moisturising with Sue MacGregor.

A navy suit was worn in an episode of Val Meets the VIPs, with former Blue Peter presenter Valerie Singleton, and a second green suit on a 1972 edition of Panorama called Women in Politics.

Olympic medals

The items were sold as part of Christie's "London Sale", a one-off themed auction held to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics.

Other items included an original Routemaster double-decker bus from 1966, which was sold for £67,250.

An Olympics section of the sale included a medal from the first modern Games held in Athens in 1896, which sold for £25,000. The silver medal - gold medals were not handed out until the 1904 games in St Louis - was never awarded due to the cancellation of the boating events as a result of bad weather.

A British winner's solid gold medal from the first London Olympics in 1908 fetched £17,500 and an original London 1948 Olympic torch sold for £6,875.