Titanic Survivor's 'Prophetic' Letter Fetches £300,000 at Auction

Mon Oct 20 2025 05:58:40 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

A handwritten letter penned days before the Titanic's tragic sinking breaks auction records.

The auction of a Titanic passenger's letter, written days before the infamous ship sank, has astounded collectors when it sold for £300,000, significantly exceeding its estimated value.

In a remarkable turn of events at an auction in Wiltshire, a letter from Colonel Archibald Gracie, a Titanic passenger, was sold for a staggering £300,000 ($400,000). The letter, dated 10 April 1912, caught the eyes of bidders in a competitive atmosphere, ultimately selling for five times its anticipated price of £60,000.

Described as "prophetic," Gracie's letter mentioned his intention to "await my journey's end" concerning opinions about the Titanic. He composed this correspondence shortly after boarding the ship in Southampton, only days before its tragic fate when it struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic on 15 April 1912. Gracie was one of approximately 2,200 individuals aboard the ill-fated vessel, where more than 1,500 tragically lost their lives.

The letter was written from cabin C51 and was sent when the Titanic stopped in Queenstown, Ireland, on 11 April, receiving a London postmark the following day. The auctioneer, Henry Aldridge and Son, noted that this sale marks the highest price ever for items written onboard the ship.

Colonel Gracie's personal account of the sinking, which includes surviving by clinging to an overturned lifeboat in frigid waters, has gained notoriety, and his literary contributions, particularly "The Truth About The Titanic," shed light on the harrowing experience. Despite surviving, Gracie faced lasting health issues due to hypothermia and injuries. He succumbed to complications from diabetes two days after falling into a coma on 2 December 1912.