Rare Dom Pérignon champagne from Charles and Diana’s wedding fails to sell during Denmark auction

It was a wedding that captivated the world — in 1981, Lady Diana Spencer said “I will” to Prince Charles, becoming Princess of Wales and bringing youth and glamour to Britain’s royal family. More than four decades later, a rare piece of that historic day failed to find a new owner at auction.

A magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne, specially produced for Charles and Diana’s royal wedding, went under the hammer Thursday at Bruun Rasmussen’s auction house in Lyngby, north of Copenhagen. Despite significant public interest, the bottle remained unsold as bids failed to reach the auction house’s minimum price.

“The bids did not reach the desired minimum price, and therefore it was unfortunately not sold,” explained auction house spokesperson Kirstine Dam Frihed. “We had of course hoped that it would sell at the estimated value, especially considering the great public interest it received.”

The champagne had been expected to fetch up to 600,000 Danish kroner (approximately €81,000 or $93,000). The bottle features a unique label reading: “Specially shipped to honor the marriage of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. 29 July 1981.”

Thomas Rosendahl, head of the auction house’s wine department, described the bottle as “really, really rare and a bottle with that royal provenance.” According to Rosendahl, only 12 of these special magnums were produced for the occasion, with this particular bottle having been acquired by a Danish collector from a London wine merchant.

“It was a celebration from Dom Pérignon to the wedding,” Rosendahl explained. “They also got normal bottles that were served at the wedding, but these bottles were just forgotten or kept away.” The fate of the other 11 magnums remains unknown, with speculation that they may have been gifted to wedding guests.

The royal wedding that this champagne commemorates took place at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral on July 29, 1981, followed by a lavish reception at Buckingham Palace. It was a union that would later unravel publicly, with Charles and Diana separating in 1992 before finalizing their divorce in 1996. Tragically, Diana died alongside her companion Dodi Fayed in a high-speed car crash in Paris in 1997. Prince Charles has since become King Charles III following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

Prior to the auction, Henrik Smidt, fine wine manager at Danish wine merchant Kjaer and Sommerfeldt in Copenhagen, had predicted substantial interest in the lot due to its unique combination of royal heritage and fine wine pedigree.

“You have the combination of one of the most famous weddings ever, Lady Diana and Prince Charles. A Dom Pérignon, one of the most famous brands in the world from a very rare vintage,” Smidt noted. “All wine connoisseurs, all wine collectors would love to have Dom Pérignon in their cellar.”

Despite remaining unopened for over 40 years, tests suggest the champagne is still drinkable. However, Smidt had correctly anticipated that the bottle’s primary value lay in its historical significance rather than its contents. “My guess is that it will not be a wine connoisseur who will buy this bottle of wine, more likely a collector of royal artifacts or even potentially a museum,” he had predicted.

The auction house received numerous inquiries from wine collectors worldwide interested in the magnum’s provenance and storage conditions. While the champagne ultimately failed to sell in this auction, its rarity and connection to one of the most memorable royal events of the 20th century ensure it remains a valuable collector’s item.

The auction house has not disclosed whether the bottle will be re-listed in a future sale or what minimum price would be required to secure this liquid piece of royal history.