George Michael memorabilia auction draws family objection

A collection of 32 George Michael memorabilia lots, including the guitar featured in his “Faith” video, is scheduled to go under the hammer on October 29, with the sale prompting objections from the late singer’s former personal assistant’s brother. The items are being auctioned by Sworders on behalf of Ian Belcher, Siobhan Bailey’s widower and the person who inherited her estate after her death in 2014. The guitar, a Gretsch Synchromatic 160 seen in the 1987 video, is estimated to sell for between £60,000 and £120,000. The wider collection is expected to raise more than £200,000, according to the auction listing. It includes photographs signed and inscribed to Bailey, gold and platinum music awards, tour material and personal notes. Gerard Bailey told the BBC that his sister would have been horrified by the auction and wanted her possessions to remain with her family. He says she had begun preparing a will that would have left the items to her nieces and nephews, but died before it was registered. The reports state that she died without a registered will and that her estate passed to Belcher, who was still legally her husband at the time. Gerard Bailey has asked that the...