Robbie Williams has revealed he shed “happy, childlike tears” after winning the auction for comedy legend Eric Morecambe’s iconic imitation tortoiseshell Metzler glasses and pipe.
The items were part of an auction in January that featured a lifetime of showbiz memorabilia and personal belongings from Morecambe’s former home, Brachefield, in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.
Estimated to fetch between £2,000 and £4,000, the glasses and pipe sold for an astonishing £20,000.
Williams treated himself to the prized possessions ahead of his 51st birthday.
In a heartfelt post on social media, Williams shared his deep connection with Morecambe: “I guess we all need friends-we-never-meet from off the telly. Eric has always been mine. An uncle of sorts.”
The singer, who has been promoting his semi-autobiographical film Better Man, revealed he was in Los Angeles and about to board a plane when the bidding began.
He appointed a member of his team to be the “chief bidder” while watching much of the auction online.
His wife, Ayda Field Williams, urged him to “keep bidding” whenever he had second thoughts.
When he won the auction, Williams was overcome with emotion.
“Eric, you were and are the very best of the very best. That sunshine you asked for, you gave to me,” he wrote.
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise formed one of Britain’s most beloved comedy double acts after meeting in 1940 at the age of 14.
Despite struggling through lean years on the theatre circuit, they eventually became television legends.
By 1977, their Christmas BBC special drew 28 million viewers, a remarkable feat when the UK only had three TV channels.
Morecambe passed away in 1984 at the age of 58. After his widow, Joan, died in March at the age of 97, the family decided to auction off the contents of their home.
Their daughter, Gail Stuart, explained the family’s decision: “When mum died, it felt like the end of an era, and we decided it could be the start of a new one. I’ve had so many fans message me with what they’d got at the auction, and it’s just fabulous.”
More than 800 items went under the hammer, giving fans the chance to own a piece of comedy history.
For Robbie Williams, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring home a treasured connection to one of his lifelong heroes.
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