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Six love letters written by a young Prince Charles to a woman in Canada three decades ago have been put up for sale on Internet auction site eBay, the seller told reporters Friday.
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Six love letters written by a young Prince Charles to a woman in Canada three decades ago have been put up for sale on Internet auction site eBay, the seller told reporters Friday.
Alicia Carroll, who runs Los Angeles-based royal memorabilia dealership Everything Royal, said the heir to the British throne had written the letters to Montreal-based Janet Jenkins between 1976 and 1980.
The letters, which are being sold for 30,000 dollars, were bought by Carroll in 2002 when she was contacted by Jenkins, who worked at the British Consulate in Montreal when she met the young prince.
In one letter dated June 8, 1980 -- only eight months before Charles announced his engagement to the future Princess Diana -- Charles wrote of the pressures of having to find a bride.
"I can see that I shall just have to get married as soon as possible and then all these people might relax a little ...! I still think my solution of marrying a girl from each commonwealth country is the best one," he said.
"Don't worry -- whatever happens I will make sure you are given early warning," he writes, signing off "with much love, Charles."
Carroll told the reporters that the letters were historically significant because they were from "a man who is going to be the king of England."
"There's nothing salacious in them. They're 30-year-old letters written by a man enamored with a young lady," Carroll said. "There's nothing provocative in them. They're just romantic letters from a man to his girlfriend."
Carroll said she has had "four or five" offers for the letters but says she will take them off the market if no bidder meets the asking price.
But she rejected criticism from the former owner of the letters, who told Canadian television Friday she had expected the correspondence to end up in a museum.
"I was surprised to discover this morning they are back on eBay," Jenkins said. "I hope nobody buys them, actually."
Carroll dismissed Jenkins's comments.
"I bought them directly from her," Carroll said. "I'm sorry she's embarrassed they're up for sale. I've had them seven years and I'm a businesswoman and she knew they were for resale.
"If she's embarrassed why would she want the letters in a museum where millions of people could go daily and read them? It would be better to see them sold to a private collector."
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(Agencies)
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據(jù)悉,英國(guó)王儲(chǔ)查爾斯30年前寫(xiě)給一名加拿大女子的六封情書(shū)近日在eBay網(wǎng)上被拍賣(mài)。
據(jù)情書(shū)賣(mài)家、來(lái)自洛杉磯“Everything Royal”皇家紀(jì)念品銷售行的老板艾麗西婭?卡羅爾介紹,英國(guó)王位繼承人、查爾斯王儲(chǔ)于1976年至1980年間寫(xiě)就的這六封情書(shū)是給加拿大蒙特利爾姑娘珍妮特?詹金斯的。
卡羅爾于2002年從詹金斯處購(gòu)得這些情書(shū),眼下這些情書(shū)在網(wǎng)上的賣(mài)價(jià)達(dá)3萬(wàn)美元。當(dāng)年詹金斯結(jié)識(shí)年輕的查爾斯時(shí)正在英國(guó)駐蒙特利爾總領(lǐng)事館工作。
在1980年6月8日的一封情書(shū)中,查爾斯傾訴了自己必須結(jié)婚的壓力,此時(shí)距查爾斯宣布與戴安娜王妃訂婚僅有八個(gè)月的時(shí)間。
查爾斯在信中寫(xiě)道:“我很清楚我必須得盡快結(jié)婚,只有這樣才能讓所有人都松口氣……我還是覺(jué)得我的方案最好,那就是從每個(gè)英聯(lián)邦國(guó)家各娶一個(gè)姑娘?!?/font>
他寫(xiě)道:“不必?fù)?dān)心,不管發(fā)生什么,我都會(huì)第一時(shí)間通知你”,落款是“非常愛(ài)你的查爾斯“。
卡羅爾告訴記者,這些信非常具有歷史意義,因?yàn)樗鼈兂鲎浴拔磥?lái)的英國(guó)國(guó)王”之筆。
卡羅爾說(shuō):“信中沒(méi)有任何低俗的內(nèi)容,只是一個(gè)30歲的年輕人寫(xiě)給心上人的信,也沒(méi)有挑逗性的內(nèi)容,只是小伙子寫(xiě)給心愛(ài)姑娘的浪漫情書(shū)。”
卡羅爾稱目前已有“四五個(gè)”競(jìng)拍者,但如果沒(méi)有人出到報(bào)價(jià)的水平,她將撤拍。
但她反駁了來(lái)自情書(shū)前主人的批評(píng)言論。詹金斯于上周五接受加拿大電視臺(tái)采訪時(shí)稱,她原本期望這些情書(shū)能被博物館收藏。
詹金斯說(shuō):“今天早晨我發(fā)現(xiàn)情書(shū)在ebay上被拍賣(mài)時(shí)非常驚訝。我真希望沒(méi)有人買(mǎi)?!?/font>
卡羅爾反駁了詹金斯的言論。
卡羅爾說(shuō):“我直接從她那里買(mǎi)得情書(shū)。我很抱歉拍賣(mài)情書(shū)令她難堪。我收藏這封情書(shū)已有七年的時(shí)間了,我是個(gè)商人,她應(yīng)該知道這些情書(shū)還會(huì)被出售?!?/font>
“如果她感到難堪,為什么還想讓那么多的人每天去博物館參觀瀏覽那些情書(shū)呢?那還不如賣(mài)給私人收藏者?!?/font>
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