Greek royal auction begins despite legal warning

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) An auction of Greek royal treasures went ahead as planned today despite warnings from Athens that buyers could face legal action unless the auctioneers showed the works were legally taken out of Greece.

Culture Minister George Voulgarakis said Greece had asked British courts to force Christie's to say how it obtained the collection of more than 850 lots including silverware from across Europe, paintings, furniture and Faberge items.

''It has been going really well. The room is packed. There are many bidders on the phones and the Internet,'' a spokeswoman for Christie's said. ''Lots of items are going at above estimate.'' Greece had asked Christie's to shelve the auction until it explained how it obtained the collection of King George I, who ruled Greece from 1863 until 1913. Some Faberge items were forecast to fetch up to 250,000 pounds (496,000 dollars).

The auction house insists all the works were legally obtained and said it saw no reason to cancel the sale of the collection, which comes from the summer palace of Tatoi in Greece and was released to ex-king Constantine in 1991.

According to the ex-king's Web site, the items were the personal property of members of the Greek royal family, which was closely related to many of Europe's crowned heads, and were no longer in his possession.

It was common prractice among Europe's ruling families to exchange rare and valuable gifts.

Constantine fled Greece after briefly cooperating with the 1967-1974 military junta and lived in exile for decades.

In 1991, the then ruling conservatives allowed him to export the contents of Tatoi.

Voulgarakis said Greece was only interested in items illegally exported and would be satisfied if Christie's proved their legal origin.

Greek lawyers in London handed Christie's a letter saying they were obliged to inform potential buyers of the risks involved, the ministry said in a statement.

''You are solely responsible of ensuring that all potential buyers know ... of our clients' strong reservations,'' said the letter, released by the ministry.

The sale will end on Thursday.

REUTERS SI ND2140