This is a very special Princess Bear. Back in December of 1997, Ty produced 24 Princess bears to be auctioned for a charity event at Kensington Palace. All proceeds of the silent auction went to The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. The very original run Princess Bears were used. The bear itself is signed in gold ink and numbered out of 24 examples. The piece also came with a special certificate of authenticity card, also signed and numbered by Ty in gold. Additionally, these bears are rumored to have been sewn with unique silver colored thread – making them unique from other production princess bears (which had purple colored thread). This is in a similar light to the violet employee teddies, that were sewn with magenta thread. This further sets this bear as its own unique style. Note – we are still trying to confirm this.
Rarity Tier: ELITE Rare
With only 24 of this piece made, it squarely qualifies as an elite rare piece. To our recollection, one of these has never hit public auction. A fair number of these did make it to collecting hands, with a pretty penny paid. But a number ended up with non hobbyists who had a greater interest in assisting with the memorial fund’s proceeds. There are perhaps 6-12 known examples in deep collections. While this blog does not normally include “regular” pieces that were signed after release (signed decade bears), these bears left Ty signed and were created specifically to be auctioned, with special thread. So, “Memorial Fund Princess” we would classify as its own unique style.
Rarest Beans 