Jewels of British princess sold for $18 million

LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) Jewellery once owned by Princess Margaret, the late sister of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, fetched nearly 10 million pounds (18.41 million dollar) at auction today.

The figure was far higher than had been expected. Some of the smaller of the 192 lots to go under the hammer at Christie's raised around 100 times more than their estimated value.

The items included Princess Margaret's wedding tiara, which sold for 926,400 pounds.

Margaret's son and daughter have put her jewellery, furniture and paintings on sale to cover an inheritance tax bill of up to four million pounds they faced after Margaret's death in 2002 aged 71.

Christies have described the auction as the biggest of British royal memorabilia in 20 years.

The items ranged from the tiara, which she wore at her ill-fated wedding to Lord Snowdon, to a glass crucifix given to her by the Queen Mother.

More items are due to be sold on Wednesday, pushing the total auction price even higher.

REUTERS DH RAI0309