Costumes and Props From ‘The Crown’ Head to Auction

Fans of The Crown will soon have the opportunity to own a piece of the royal drama as Bonhams is auctioning off a range of items from the Netflix series, which ended its six-season run in December.

More than 300 lots are currently available for online bidding through Feb. 8, and an additional 160 will go under the hammer during a live sale at Bonhams’ London headquarters on Feb. 7.

Since its debut in late 2016, The Crown has captivated viewers around the world with its visually stunning approach and dramatic portrayal of the British royal family’s tales of heartbreak. Throughout the show’s 60 episodes, viewers followed the twists and turns of the royals.

“The iconic costumes, props, and set pieces from The Crown are extensively researched and made with truly impressive attention to detail by master craftspeople,” Charlie Thomas, Bonhams U.K. group director for house sales and private and iconic collections, said in a statement. “Not only is this an incredible opportunity to own pieces from the landmark show, it is also the closest anyone can come to owning the real thing—be it the facade of 10 Downing Street or Princess Diana’s engagement ring.”

Claire Foy (as The Queen): Full-length teal ballgown, featured in the promotional poster (© Netflix 2020, Inc.) and pale gold satin pointed heels. Season 2 Episode 1 and Episode 4. Estimate: £3,000-5,000
Composite: Courtesy of Bonhams / Netflix

Highlights of the auction include recreations of Princess Diana’s iconic items, such as the sapphire engagement ring that actress Emma Corrin debuted as Diana in season 4 (presale estimate: £2,000 (US$2,537) to £3,000); the revenge dress actress Elizabeth Debicki wore as Diana during her split from then-Prince Charles in season 5 (estimate: £8,000 to £12,000); and the leopard swimsuit Debicki sported in season 6 while on vacation during Charles’ 50th birthday party for then-Camilla Parker Bowles (estimate: £800 to £1,000).

Emma Corrin (as Lady Diana Spencer): Engagement announcement, engagement ring. Estimate: £2,000-3,000. (Film still © Netflix 2020, Inc.)
Composite: Courtesy of Bonhams / Netflix

Expected to fetch the highest prices are a pair of life-size replicas from the set: the Gold State Coach, which is estimated to sell for between £30,000 and £50,000, and a facade of 10 Downing Street, the British prime minister’s office and residence (estimate: £20,000 to £30,000).

Described by Bonhams as a “rococo masterpiece,” the actual royal coach was built in 1762 for King George III and has been used at every coronation since 1831, when King William IV succeeded to the throne.

“We wanted to make something special, and Netflix had the money, ambition, and ability to go the whole hog. The Gold State Coach is fabulous,” said Andy Harries, CEO Left Bank Pictures and executive producer of The Crown, in the auction notes.

Gene D’Cruze, the series’ head of construction, said the items for sale are among the most impressive and accurate recreations ever committed to film.

Elizabeth Debicki (as Princess Diana): The ‘Revenge dress’, custom-made off-the-shoulder black cocktail dress. Season 5 Episode 5. Estimate: £8,000-12,000. (Film still © Netflix 2020, Inc.)
Composite: Courtesy of Bonhams / Netflix

“I’ve built every single set on every series—more than 1,000 of them—and employed 140 people. It’s all done old-school. I’ve done 80 TV series, but The Crown is the best—best production, best art department, best locations, best series, best people,” said D’Cruze in the auction notes. “I especially love the 10 Downing Street facade. Most sets only last six months, but this stood for seven years.”

Proceeds from the live auction will go toward establishing a new scholarship for students at the National Film and Television School (NTFS). According to the auction house, the program will support students at the globally renowned school over the next 20 years.

“The Crown’s huge global success has much to do with working with the best creative and production talent in this country and we want to invest the proceeds of this magnificent auction into the next generation of film and TV talent,” said Harries in a statement.

A special exhibition of items from the auction has been on a global tour—having already appeared in New York, Los Angeles, and Paris—and will remain on display at Bonhams London through Feb 5.

Gold is one of the market’s go-to hedges in rocky times. Don’t forget that gold miners’ stocks are too.

The stock market’s gains in 2026 belie the rocky macroeconomic picture: elevated inflation, heightened geopolitical tensions, and jitters about the artificial-intelligence trade. That backdrop, in theory, should be the time for gold to shine. Instead, the price of the yellow metal has tumbled more than 5% so far, after last year’s blistering 65% rally. In part, the U.S. dollar’s recovery has stymied gold, which benefited from the greenback’s weakness in 2025.

Even with the precious metal’s recent weakness, gold mining stocks could be the best way to profit from this year’s uncertainty.

Gold miners “are a valuable hedge against macro risks that would likely be damaging for equities,” BCA Research’s Noah Weisberger and Rishabh Shah wrote this week.

Concerns about the Federal Reserve’s next moves to tackle inflation, the increasingly crowded AI trade, and steep valuations for tech stocks are just some of the drivers that could help gold’s price get on even footing— and lead to even bigger gains for miner stocks.

These stocks’ prices tend to outpace gold’s moves, because the companies have fixed operational costs. So when gold’s price rallies, their profit margins soar, and vice versa. For instance, the VanEck Gold Miners GDX +7.39% exchange-traded fund has fallen 11% this year as the metal has slumped.

Now, gold’s price just needs to stabilize to help miners’ stocks take off, and that seems to be happening. The precious metal has recently found support above the $4,000 level, and has stuck in a narrow range since the end of June. But its price rose ever so slightly in July, ending a four-month losing streak for the metal. Technical analysis also suggests that gold is due for a comeback.

Barron’s recently wrote that the pullbacks for both gold miners and the metal itself are overdone. Senior technical analyst Doug Busch noted that the VanEck ETF is on the “verge of a breakout” and has the potential to hit $11o in early 2027, up more than 40% from its current price.

Gold miners also have more than their role as a market hedge going for them. Their fundamentals are solid, too, says Chris Mancini, portfolio co-manager of the Gabelli Gold Fund.

“Precious metals miners are generating substantial amounts of free cash flow given profit margins of over $2,000 per ounce, and are returning this cash to shareholders through buybacks and dividends,” he said in an email.

“Buying the miners is a cheap way to get exposure to the price of gold,” he added. His fund owns Newmont NEM +6.71%, a Barron’s stock pick last year, and Agnico Eagle Mines as top holdings, as well as miners Northern Star Resources, Endeavour Mining, and Kinross Gold K+8.59%.

Miners are better businesses than they used to be, the BCA team added.

“Capex is more disciplined, margins are high and rising…and they are largely independent of the AI story,” Weisberger, BCA’s head of equities, and Shah, a senior analyst, wrote.

That last part is key. AI is disrupting the software industry and many other services and information-oriented businesses, and investors have piled into AI stocks. But ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and other large-language models aren’t going to replace the need to mine for metals.

“Equity portfolios can benefit from exposure to quality that is uncorrelated to AI risk, and gold miners fit the bill,” the BCA team said.

They recommend that investors buy the VanEck Gold Miners ETF, which owns top miners such as Agnico, Barrick Mining ABX +7.24%, and Newmont.

An important bonus for big gold miners’ stocks is that their valuations are attractive after the gold’s pullback, too. The VanEck ETF is now trading at just a little more than nine times next year’s earnings estimates. That’s a big discount to its five-year average price-to-earnings ratio of 14, according to FactSet.

What’s more, the ETF is currently valued at a more than 50% discount to the S&P 500 SPX -0.17%, which is trading for about 19 times earnings estimates for 2027. Mining stocks have typically traded at just a 25% discount to the broader market over the past five years. So there is significant upside for the group if valuations move back toward normal levels.

One factor that complicates mining stocks as a market hedge, of course, is if stocks bounce back, which has been the case so far in August.

But both the market and economic outlooks remain cloudy, and investors remain nervous about the Fed’s next moves and AI stocks. Gold miners should do just fine, even if the anxious mood on Wall Street persists.