A Louis Vuitton trunk with exceptional Royal provenance dating to the early-1900s has auctioned for £5,200 ($8,204) at an auction in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK.
The Louis Vuitton trunk was gifted to Princess Stella of Kapurthala (pictured top right) when she married Maharajah Rajah Jagatjit Singh in 1907.
The Maharajah spotted Anita Degado Briones, born to a poor family in Malaga, Spain, during a parade to mark the weeding of King Alfonso XIII in Madrid in 1906.
He soon after called for 16-year-old Anita's hand in marriage and she became Princess Stella of Kapurthala.
 Princess Stella of Kapurthala's Louis Vuitton trunk |
The Princess was presented with 40 pieces of Louis Vuitton luggage during the couple's Bombay honeymoon. This luggage was then taken with the Royal couple as they travelled around the globe.
The Maharajah and Princess Stella's travels lasted throughout their 18-year marriage, and Stella later continued to travel as a divorcee.
Needless to say, this Louis Vuitton trunk has a lot of history behind it. According to the auctioneer, the trunk attracted fierce bidding. It eventually sold to an American collector.
"How it came to the UK, I have no idea," auctioneer Terry Woodcock told local newspaper the Lincolnshire Echo. "But it was a chap in Nottingham who contacted us about selling it."
