Baroness Thatcher's handbag

A handbag belonging to British Forces Foundation President, Baroness Margaret Thatcher, fetched £25,000 when it went under the hammer at Christies. The money made from the sale will be split equally among The BFF and two other charities nominated by the former Prime Minister herself. The black glossy leather bag, owned by Baroness Thatcher for more than 30 years, was pictured in a photograph taken as she walked alongside then US president Ronald Reagan during her visit to the United States in 1985. The lot was among a number of highly prized items sold by amateur auctioneer and author Lord Archer for charitable causes. It was bought by an unnamed Cypriot who is understood to have been a student in Britain during Lady Thatcher's tenure as prime minister. The Cypriot, a private buyer, is said to be a "great admirer" of the former Conservative leader. As the auction at Christie's headquarters in central London concluded, Lord Archer said: "The handbag makes you automatically think of Margaret Thatcher. Someone has captured this and will have, frankly, a historic document for the rest of their lives." Lady Thatcher's daughter Carol, who joined bidders in the packed sale room, said her mother was "longing to know" how much the bag had raised for her "carefully chosen" charities. "I hope that the highest bidder knows that if he's into handbagging, he's got a weapon with quite a track record. After all, my mother invented the verb 'to handbag'," she said. Sharing the proceeds of the handbag lot with The BFF was the mental health charity Combat Stress, and Debra, an organisation dedicated to helping those with the genetic skin blistering condition epidermolysis bullosa. Along with funds raised by lot 216, Lord Archer, a former Conservative party chairman, amassed £12,500 for Lawrence Dallaglio's match ball from England's victorious 2003 Rugby World Cup final. Lord Archer donated a treasure of his own – a stopwatch which timed Roger Bannister's sub-four-minute mile. Among the other lots on sale were a Fender Telecaster guitar given by Eric Clapton, which fetched £15,000 and an Andy Warhol sketch of the late Princess Diana. The sale of 18 lots raised £402,100 for various charities, Christie's said. Among those who donated were Formula One's Bernie Ecclestone, whose VIP guest passes to the Monaco grand prix went for £34,850, and Sir Michael Parkinson, whose cricket bat signed by the victorious 2005 Ashes squad raised £6,250.