A Minor royal under the hammer

THE COUNTESS of Wessex’s old Morris Minor is to go up for sale at auction.

Sophie’s first car – a maroon 1968 Morris Minor 1000 Saloon – was bought for her in 1988 by her then boyfriend Jeremy Barkley when she was known as Sophie Rhys-Jones. The Countess, who previously worked in PR, married the Earl of Wessex in 1999.

The vehicle is being sold by Bonhams auction house at a collectors’ motorcars sale at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate on Wednesday, November 12. It is expected to fetch between £5,000 and £7,000.

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The Morris Minor is a British economy car that debuted at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, in 1948.

It was designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis and more than 1.3 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1972. They included two-door saloons, convertibles and a wood-framed estate called Traveller, plus pick-up and truck variants.