5,750 for that door

THE SCRUFFY blue front door seen in the film Notting Hill fetched 5,750 today.

It was sold by Caroline Freud, estranged wife of PR spinmaster Matthew Freud. Her house, in Westbourne Park Road, used to be the home of Richard Curtis, screenwriter and producer of the film, starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Curtis wrote a letter of authenticity including the words: "It was behind this door that William and Anna (the characters played by Grant and Roberts) first kissed."

After Mrs Freud bought the house she discovered she was living in a tourist attraction, having to fight through crowds of visitors having their photographs taken outside. The paint-chipped door with brass fittings was unscrewed and another fitted.

The door was bought for sentimental reasons by an antiques dealer who had a stall in nearby Portobello Road market for 30 years.

The door will now go to her new home in Devon.

The surprise of the auction, at Christie's in South Kensington, was the bullwhip used by Harrison Ford in all three Indiana Jones films. The 8ft 10in whip had been estimated at 6,000 but sold for 27,600.

The new owner is Anthony Pugliese III, an American fan.

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