An NBC News report, including a video story, also in various versions at ITV News and Mail Online, all report that a “Thai princess stripped the shelves and rang up around $40,000 through the tills of an English antiques center during an eight-hour shopping spree…”.
Battlesbridge antique dealers in the English county of Essex, said “Royal Consort Princess Srirasmi of Thailand scooped up hundreds of items and paid for them — on the spot and in cash – during her visit on Friday.”
Reportedly “accompanied by the Thai Ambassador Kitti Wasinondh, 15 assistants and the royal physician,” Srirasmi, the official consort of Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, is said to have “purchased a variety of antiques, including china tea sets, silverware and oil lamps.” One dealer explained that the “princess was just choosing things that took her fancy. … Very decorative items — but masses and masses of it…”. The dealers said that most items purchased were priced between $15 and $60, suggesting a Bargain Hunt rather than an Antiques Roadshow.
Apparently the royal consort “arrived unannounced in a 15-vehicle motorcade and spent the next eight hours snapping up” her treasure trove. The convoy included “chauffeur-driven limousines with blacked-out windows, a mini bus and vans.” One of the reports states that Srirasmi “immediately set about selecting items before an army of assistants labelled them and packed them into boxes.” One dealer was cleaned out of Lladro figurines. Another dealer said she bought “more than 100 items at her store alone.” These items included “solid silver and porcelain tea sets, Royal Worcester china and Tupton Ware ceramics, Royal Doulton figurines and more than 30 oil lamps.”
One of the reports states that by “the time the princess and her entourage swept out of Battlesbridge in blacked-out limousines, most of the shelves in the antiques market were left bare…”. On that last word, one of the reports explains: “Princess Srirasmi hit the headlines in November 2009, when a home video was released on Wikileaks showing her topless at a family party.”
Regular readers will recall that back in early July, with Vajiralongkorn, Srirasmi spent several thousand dollars at another antiques location in Britain. Then we posted about the buying trip:
The White Lion Antique Centre in Hartley Wintney was closed to the public as Vajiralongkorn and Srirasmi had their scones and bought a bit of the store’s inventory. The story states the couple bought “300 items of bone china.” That’s be just a bit of change for the scion of the world’s richest monarchy.
[...] earlier shopping stories, see here, here, and [...]
[...] earlier shopping stories, see here, here, and [...]