Princess Margaret's NZ wedding present on sale

Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones. File picture / Bay of Plenty Times

New Zealand's wedding gift to Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon in 1960 is being sold off by her children.

But the Queen has intervened to ask Lord Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto, the late Princess Margaret's children, to donate the proceeds from the pair of silver models of kiwi -- and another 46 state gifts -- to charity.

According to senior royal sources, the Queen was determined to prevent embarrassing accusations that members of the Royal family have "cashed in" on gifts when they were given to the recipient as a representative of the state.

The two silver kiwi -- lot 452 in a sale to be held on Wednesday by Christie's auction house -- are expected to sell for around £600 ($1745) to £900 ($2615), the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.

It quoted a spokesman for the New Zealand High Commission in London as saying: "We are pleased that the proceeds from our gift are going to a good cause."

The state gifts have been put up for sale with 750 other valuables belonging to Princess Margaret at a London auction and are expected to fetch up to £5 million.

The newspaper reported that after the Queen's intervention, Lord Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto had decided that the Stroke Association, and other charities, would benefit from the proceeds of the two kiwi and other state gifts.

Princess Margaret died in 2002, leaving £7.6 million ($22.1 million) to her children.

Lord Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto said the sale was to pay off inheritance taxes of more than £3 million ($8.7 million) on her estate.

Princess Margaret's former husband, Lord Snowdon, reportedly disapproved of the sale, which included the tiara Princess Margaret wore on her wedding day and a diamond brooch that belonged to the late Queen Mother.

It is the first time that the private collection of a reigning monarch's sibling has gone on public sale.

- NZPA