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. |
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."
據悉，英國王儲查爾斯30年前寫給一名加拿大女子的六封情書近日在eBay網上被拍賣。
據情書賣家、來自洛杉磯「Everything Royal」皇家紀念品銷售行的老闆艾麗西婭•卡羅爾介紹，英國王位繼承人、查爾斯王儲於1976年至1980年間寫就的這六封情書是給加拿大蒙特婁姑娘珍妮特•詹金斯的。
卡羅爾於2002年從詹金斯處購得這些情書，眼下這些情書在網上的賣價達3萬美元。當年詹金斯結識年輕的查爾斯時正在英國駐蒙特婁總領事館工作。
在1980年6月8日的一封情書中，查爾斯傾訴了自己必須結婚的壓力，此時距查爾斯宣布與黛安娜王妃訂婚僅有八個月的時間。
查爾斯在信中寫道：「我很清楚我必須得儘快結婚，只有這樣才能讓所有人都鬆口氣……我還是覺得我的方案最好，那就是從每個大英國協國家各娶一個姑娘。」
他寫道：「不必擔心，不管發生什麼，我都會第一時間通知你」，落款是「非常愛你的查爾斯「。
卡羅爾告訴記者，這些信非常具有歷史意義，因為它們出自「未來的英國國王」之筆。
卡羅爾說：「信中沒有任何低俗的內容，只是一個30歲的年輕人寫給心上人的信，也沒有挑逗性的內容，只是小夥子寫給心愛姑娘的浪漫情書。」
卡羅爾稱目前已有「四五個」競拍者，但如果沒有人出到報價的水平，她將撤拍。
但她反駁了來自情書前主人的批評言論。詹金斯於上周五接受加拿大電視臺採訪時稱，她原本期望這些情書能被博物館收藏。
詹金斯說：「今天早晨我發現情書在ebay上被拍賣時非常驚訝。我真希望沒有人買。」
卡羅爾反駁了詹金斯的言論。
卡羅爾說：「我直接從她那裡買得情書。我很抱歉拍賣情書令她難堪。我收藏這封情書已有七年的時間了，我是個商人，她應該知道這些情書還會被出售。」
「如果她感到難堪，為什麼還想讓那麼多的人每天去博物館參觀瀏覽那些情書呢？那還不如賣給私人收藏者。」
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（實習生許雅寧 英語點津姍姍編輯）