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George Michael's Faith guitar sells for £234k at Essex auction

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 30 Oct, 07:39 · Archive

A guitar played by George Michael in the Faith music video sold for £234,480 at an Essex auction on Thursday.

A guitar played by George Michael in the music video for Faith has sold for £234,480 at Sworders auction house in Stansted Mountfitchet on Thursday. The instrument dramatically exceeded expectations and sold to an anonymous UK-based buyer bidding online.

The collection belonged to Siobhan Bailey, George Michael's former personal assistant, who worked for the singer for 20 years and died in 2014. The auction has prompted a family dispute. Ms Bailey was in the process of divorcing her widower Ian Belcher when she died and did not leave a will, meaning the collection passed to him. Mr Belcher put the archive up for sale.

Ms Bailey's brother Gerard told the BBC that his sister 'would be horrified at the prospect of the auction being held in her name and that her personal, cherished possessions are being sold off to the highest bidder'. Mr Bailey accepted that Mr Belcher had the legal right to sell the collection but claimed his sister had been drafting a will intending to leave the items to her nieces and nephews. In a letter to Sworders, Mr Bailey said the family considered the auction a 'breach of his sister's privacy' and objected to the use of her name in connection with the sale.

George Michael's Faith guitar sells for £234k at Essex auction
Image: Brentwood Guardian

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How it is being reported

In this story: George Michael · Siobhan Bailey · Gerard Bailey · Ian Belcher · Sworders · Stansted Mountfitchet

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