Thatcher’s model of HMS Victory up for £50,000 at auction
Thatcher’s model of HMS Victory up for £50,000 at auction
Lily ShanagherFri, May 8, 2026 at 11:48 AM UTC
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The model measures 23in high by 23in wide and was built from boxwood - Sloane Street Auctions, SWNS
A model of Horatio Nelson’s flagship given to Margaret Thatcher is to go on sale at auction for £50,000.
The replica of HMS Victory was presented to the late prime minister in 1983 by Commandant Paul-Louis Weiller, a French industrialist and philanthropist, as a token of his admiration for her.
The model, which is expected to be sold for an estimated £30,000-£50,000 by Sloane Street Auctions on May 21, was made in around 1800 by French prisoners of war a few years before the Battle of Trafalgar. It measures 23in high by 23in wide and was built from boxwood.
The model was made in around 1800 by French prisoners of war - Sloane Street Auctions, SWNS
It is the latest in a string of consignments to Sloane Street Auctions from Thatcher’s family since late 2024. The first sale, which included furniture and personal effects from the late prime minister’s London home, raised more than £250,000.
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Weiller was presented in 1989 with the Grand Croix de la Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest honour.
He was a pioneer of commercial aviation, founding airline companies and joining the board of Air France.
Daniel Hunt, the founder of Sloane Street Auctions, said: “These sort of pieces would have been a natural fit for Christie’s South Kensington in its day, but now that has gone, we find that consignors tend to come to us, so we are delighted to play our part in keeping this tradition of higher end works coming to London beyond the confines of Bond Street and St James.
“It is also a happy coincidence that our auctioneer, Hugh Edmeades, was Christie’s South Kensington’s former chairman.”
Source: “AOL Money”
