Collecting Royal Memorabilia

This week what stands out most in my mind is my recent addiction to eBay. I've been collecting royal books for many years at a very slow and deliberate pace. I collect books because they sate my appetite for information about my favorite subject and my love of reading. During the twelve years I lived in South Florida and the subsequent three that my daughter remained in DeLand to finish college, I would scour the used book stores for hours on end looking for a book that would shed some insight on one of my favorite historic figures. DeLand being home to Stetson University, Desiree's alma mater, has two excellent used bookstores. In both places I managed to get many of the volumes that I treasure. For example, I purchased the hard cover "Pax Britannica Trilogy" by James Morrison (YES!), one I've told you about before, "Queen Mary's Photograph Albums" edited by Christopher Warwick and another favorite classic, "The Little Princesses" by Marion Crawford.

Of course when searching a book store one must have a nose for books. I like to think I do. I just love books! The smell of them, the feel of them, the anticipation of all they hold have been an obsession of mine since I was four years old and received a copy of "The Cat in the Hat" from Aunt Mary and Uncle Bob Kelly. Learning to read that book was one of the highlights of my life, though my mother swears I didn't read it at four - I recited it. No matter, I believed that I was reading it and it's my story! It was in about the sixth grade that I learned I loved periodical literature as I discovered reprints of Liberty magazine, which told the romantic Hollywood tales of stars like Gable and Lombard. When I was thirteen I saw part one of the movie "Desiree" starring Jean Simmons, Marlon Brando and Charlton Heston. I feigned illness a second day in order to see part two and then managed to acquire a used copy of "Desiree" by Ann Marie Selinko - my first royal book.

Since moving to Southern Connecticut four years ago, I've really missed all the bookstore scouring. About the only place I've found that has very reasonably priced used books is the Friends of the Library bookshop. What's a book lover to do? Enter the Internet. I started by signing up for accounts with Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com and Border Books.com. They are wonderful, but they just didn't sate the treasure hunting part of the personal bookstore scouring I used to do. Enter half.com. Wow! I could search by subject. I could see how many volumes were available, what the asking prices were, what the condition was, etc. After ordering several volumes I was further surprised to find that I really enjoy having a package waiting on my steps in the evenings. All was going well until a co-worker told me to try eBay. He said it was an auction and I'd love it.

Well I did register with eBay and it is exciting! I've only been a member for about six weeks now and have spent more money than I care to admit. I also don't care to admit that sometimes I pay more in shipping than I do for the paraphernalia. That's right, I said paraphernalia meaning I'm not just buying books anymore. Oh, no why would I just buy books when I can log in and type 'Duchess of Windsor' and see a huge selection of old magazine and Kenneth J. Lane reproductions of her jewelry, which I already own several pieces of? What I wouldn't give to get another copy of the wedding bracelet. I LOVE that bracelet. I place my bid. 'You have been outbid by another bidder.' How can that be? I bid again. 'You have been outbid by another bidder.' Wait a minute here, there is something fishy about this, I tell myself. Then I read the 'de-structions' - which is what instructions inevitably turn into in my hands. Oh, now I get it! I can bid as much over the asking price as I like. If someone else comes in with the next incremental bid, which is lower than my bid, they are automatically outbid. This is great because if I put $50.00 in when the current bid is $9.99, I'll still be the highest bidder until the competition puts in $51.00. Great, I'm putting $50.00 in! For three days I monitor that auction like a hawk. On the fourth night, I come home, log in expecting to be the winner and low and behold, the other bidder won MY bracelet for $51.00! Oh my competitive nature has just been called out of retirement! I'll not lose the next item to a sneaky wait 'til the last minute bidder, I vow.

Each night I scour the pages. I search for other jewelry by Kenneth J. Lane or I search for 'Princess Diana' and find 1632 items listed. Then I learn can narrow the search to say, "Princess Diana Plates' and find 174 items listed. I do have a Bradford Exchange 'Diana, a Rose Everlasting' plate with a music box attached. It was a gift and I was curious to see if it was offered hoping to find a current value. Well, there are plenty of Princess Diana plates! There are the Bradford Exchange collector's plates, there are the Franklin Mint plates, there's the Ralph Lauren plate, the Diana and Charles Engagement Plate, the Prince and Princess of Wales wedding plate, the Diana and William plate, the Diana and Charles Ribbon plate - to name a few.

Then I wondered what would happen if I searched for 'Queen Elizabeth'. Nearly 600 items, a nice showing for nearly 50 years on the throne. Of course that does include Queen Elizabeth I items and Queen Elizabeth and King George VI items and even a few Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother items. What if we put in 'Queen Elizabeth Plates'? It might be nice to have one. There is a Queen Elizabeth Rose after all. Maybe the plate won't be musical, but it would make the other plate not look so solitary. Wow! There must be 100 plates available. There's the Princess Elizabeth Plate - way out of my price range. The Queen Elizabeth II coronation plates - many styles and prices to choose from. Wow! $12.99 for a 1953 numbered plate with a beautiful portrait of Her Majesty standing in front of a red drape with Buckingham Palace visible through the drape. How could I NOT bid on that?

Meanwhile I still have the vendetta of trying to outbid somebody on a piece of Duchess of Windsor jewelry when the chance arrives. Oh I'm sneaky. I place a bid for $5.00 higher and watch every day. On the fourth day, I note the auction will end while I'm at work. I'm not going to be out done. I open the window with the bracelet in it and leave it minimized for easy access. Then I make an appointment in Microsoft Outlook to 'bid on bracelet'. The alarm goes off 15 minutes before the auction ends. I'm still the winner and I didn't have to spend a penny more! I set the alarm to snooze until five minutes before the auction ends. The alarm goes off, I maximize the window and OH NO!! The other bidder has outbid me by $.50! Thank God I had the sense to set the snooze. Well, I go to place the bid and find that I'm not signed in. I know my username is Bessiewallis, but what in the H-E double toothpicks is my password. UGH! I find the password in my email, type it in with my bid, hit the button and… AUCTION ENDED! NOOOOOOOO!! I cry. How can this be? I had a plan!!

Well, now I'm addicted. I've got to win something! My God, I've got to win something. Well, I did bid on that plate. I'll have to have multiple bids in if I'm ever going to win. Okay, what would I like to bid on, Diana stamps and how about another plate? Great, there are a few books that I don't have and now I've read even more 'destructions' and I'm setting up my eBay page to watch these auctions. Every night I'm scanning and bidding, scanning and bidding. I'm up 'til one o'clock in the morning checking out all the Windsor pages I can find. One night I came home and low and behold, the auction for the Queen Elizabeth II plate was over and I won!! I actually won!! Cool.

Next day I'm off to the credit union and send out the cashier's check. Go home that night and low and behold, I'd won two more! I'm still scanning, I'm still bidding, and I'm back at the credit union the next day for two more money orders. This goes on each day for almost two weeks. I realize I'm addicted. I say to the teller on Monday, "I'm addicted to eBay. I'm addicted to the thrill of out thinking the other bidders so I can win. I've won bids for $21.25 because I figured $20.00 is about all anyone would spend on the item so I add the $1.25 so that they'll give up before they hit $22.00. I don't know which is more of a sign I'm addicted the fact that I've purchased three copies of 'A King's Story" when I already have a hard copy and a soft copy at home or the fact that I just bid $27.25 on Princess Diana stamps. What am I going to do with these stamps? I don't collect stamps. I don't know anything about stamps. WHAT am I doing spending $35.00 after shipping for stamps?"

Of course the teller doesn't answer me. The next day and two days later I'm back at the credit union. The teller says, "I thought you weren't going to buy anything from eBay anymore?" "Well," I meekly say, "I haven't bid on anything in two days. These are just from things I've just won from bids I've previously placed. I'll probably be back once more, maybe twice." That night I log onto eBay JUST to check on the current status of my bids. Well, I bid on other valuable things I can't live without - like another Queen Elizabeth plate and a pair of Kenneth J. Lane Duchess of Windsor Door Knocker Earrings. Then I bid on a few books. Well, I didn't get the earrings, but I did get the books - oh and another set of stamps. Now what can I do? I can't show my face in the credit union.

Thinking fast, I make a list of needed checks, get exact change and ask a woman I work with to go to the credit union and get the cashier's checks for me. She agrees. When she comes back to my desk ten minutes later she says, "Is there something you want to tell me?" I say, "No. Why?" She replies, "Eileen, the teller said I thought she wasn't going to buy anything anymore." I'm red. "You told the teller it was for me? I asked you not to." She replies, "You can't get cashiers checks unless you have an account and I don't, so I told her to look up yours." "OH MY GOD!" I utter, "Do you know if there is such a thing as eBay Anonymous?" "Don't be ridiculous." She says, "Just don't log on and you won't spend your money."

Well, I logged on again - JUST to check my auctions in progress and ended up bidding on a commemorative cover that was framed. That's like a STAMP on a special envelope. (Obviously I DO collect stamps.) I order a Kenneth J. Lane brooch with matching earrings that has nothing to do with the Duchess of Windsor, a magazine that I don't own, a Queen Elizabeth II Coronation scarf and two out of print books. I win all auctions. In shame, I send my sister who is a full time mother to four children under four with twins who are less than four months old to the post office to get money orders so I don't have to go back to the credit union. That is really low. 

Finally, I realize I have two choices, I can just admit I'm addicted and never log on again or just ignore what other people think and keep ordering. As my dream is to be a real royal reporter, buy a brick building, live on the top floor and make the bottom floors into a library and museum with the street level floor for parking, I choose option two. Noting what I've spent this month, I've also decided that I'm going to make a monthly 'eBay' budget expenditure. Realizing how little there is left in the budget for another expense; I've decided that perhaps I'll have to SELL some of my royal items on eBay. For example, I have three EXTRA copies of 'A King's Story'… I'm hoping that selling is not as addicting as buying!

All the best,