A BOXED set of Fabergé cutlery, together with an archive detailing its royal history, sold for £20,000 at Christchurch, Dorset, auction house Bulstrodes on March 2.
The champlevé enamel suite was a gift from Princess Alix of Hesse (later Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna) to a Mrs Allen, who was a hotelier at Cathcart House in the spa town of Harrogate. Mrs Allen had given birth to twins during the princess’ visit to take ‘the cure’ as a treatment for her sciatica.
The princess took this as a good omen for her forthcoming marriage to Nicholas, asking to be godmother to the children and that they be named Alix and Nicholas.