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.
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 rumored special thread (need to confirm this). So, “Memorial Fund Princess” we would classify as its own unique style.
Rarest Beans 