Princess stuff to Di for
PUSSSYKATT
and CORKY SIEMASZKO in New York
NY DAILY NEWS WRITERS
The biggest collection of the late Princess Diana's memorabilia outside London
just may be in the West Side apartment of an eccentric Manhattan psychologist.
Dianaphiles who have been inside Dr. William Swift's W. 76th St. apartment said
it's brimming with Diana's duds, books, private letters and other artifacts.
The Web site for HRH Autographs, Swift's Internet collectibles company, only
hints at what's hidden behind the door, they say.
"He only put a fraction of what he has on the Web site," said Allan Hubby, who
designed the site. "His apartment is full of Diana memorabilia."
A veritable shrine to Diana? "You could say that," he said.
Swift was not eager to show off his stuff - or explain how he came by it.
"There have been plenty of lies, plenty of misinformation," a man claiming to
be Swift's spokesman said.
Another man at Swift's office on E. 72nd St. shooed reporters away with a
terse, "Bye-bye!"
Swift's role as an eccentric collector and purchaser of royal memorabilia
surfaced in October during the London trial of British butler Paul Burrell, who
had been accused of smuggling Diana items out of Kensington Palace and stashing
them in the attic of his house in Cheshire.
The trials of Burrell and another royal butler, Harold Brown, who also worked
for Diana and for Princess Margaret, both collapsed after Queen Elizabeth
suddenly remembered that Burrell had told her he had taken some of Diana's
papers for "safekeeping."
But before the Burrell case fell apart, the jury heard a bizarre story about
two men who went to Kensington Palace not long after Diana's death in 1997.
They were greeted by Harold Brown and handed a bag containing three hats and a
shawl.
As one of the men vamped around in an ivory-colored hat with a feather - known
as Diana's engagement hat - he was told to be careful because it was Brown's
"retirement fund."
Brown was selling the hat and other Diana items to "a wealthy eccentric in New
York [who] would buy anything at all that was to do with the princess," and had
a "shrine" to Diana in his apartment, according to a statement read in court.
The judge at Burrell's trial barred prosecutors from releasing the name of the
collector. But sources close to the case told the Daily News it was Swift, who
met Brown 20 years ago at a postcard show in London.
In the investigation of the butlers, Swift was questioned by Scotland Yard
about items he bought from royal flunkeys.
On his Web site, Swift says he has "rare items from Prince Charles, the late
Princess Diana and other family members."
Among other things, Swift is peddling an official portrait of Charles and
Diana's wedding party (signed by Diana) for $6,500. Portraits of the couple
from 1984 and 1985 sell for $3,700 and $3,500 respectively. He's also offering
a 21-year-old piece of the royal couple's wedding cake for $2,500.
"This good size piece of wedding cake comes with a special presentation box
with the date of the wedding and intertwined C & D initials and a presentation
card from the prince and princess," the Web site boasts.
Swift is well-known among collectors of royal memorabilia and wrote several
articles for Majesty magazine in which his enthusiasm for Diana came through
loud and clear. In a September 2001 article, he revisited the White House
dinner President Ronald and First Lady Nancy Reagan threw, at which Diana
danced with actor John Travolta.
"The Princess' dance with actor John Travolta remains one of the highlights in
20th-century White House social history," Swift wrote.
"He has a knowledge of royal matters," said Joe Little, managing editor of
Majesty magazine. "Obviously as an American he could write from an American
perspective."
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