Napoleon's hair goes under hammer

One of the letters was written from Buckingham Palace

A lock of Napoleon's hair and a piece of his coffin are to go under the hammer at an auction in Shropshire.

The lock of black hair, which is contained in an envelope, together with a number of letters, is expected to fetch between £2,000 and £3,000.

It is believed the lock is one of several which were cut off when he died and given to his most ardent admirers.

Auctioneer Mullock Madeley will also be selling a piece of Napoleon's coffin at the auction on 15 April.

A spokesman from the Ludlow auctioneer said that when Napoleon Bonaparte died in 1824 he was buried on the South Atlantic island of St Helena, but he was later exhumed and his body was returned to Paris.

"It is possible that the wood from the shell of the coffin was retained in St Helena and this small artefact was made from it," he said.

The artefact is expected to fetch between £700 and £1,000.

The spokesman said the letters, written by Napoleon Bonaparte's grandson Napoleon III, were mainly written while he was in exile to England to his friends the Marquis and Marchioness of Donegal.

However, one of the letters was written from Buckingham Palace during the Crimean War period when he was in alliance with England.

"It is somewhat ironic that after all the historic events of his grandfather's attempts to invade England, it was Napoleon III who should be writing friendly letters to British friends from Buckingham Palace," he said.