Christie's auction opposed

Christie's auction opposed

BANGKOK (DPA): A Thai princess who says she is heir to hundreds of royal letters to be auctioned by Christie's later this month has flown to London to try to stop the sale, news reports said yesterday.

Christie's sale of autographed letters and manuscripts set for Nov. 29 includes more than 400 letters written by members of the Thai royal family a century ago, including one of the country's most revered monarchs, King Chulalongkorn.

Thailand's Fine Arts Department had earlier announced it had set aside 500,000 baht (US$20,000) to bid for the letters.

Khunying Narisa Chakrabongse, granddaughter of Prince Chakrabongse, whose correspondence is also in the collection, is requesting that Christie's stop the sale because the "letters were missing", according to her private secretary, Paisal Piammettawat.