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Robbie Williams has said he bought Eric Morecambe’s glasses and pipe because he has always seen the comedian as an “uncle of sorts”.
The singer said he cried “happy, childlike tears” after submitting the top bid last month with a final offer of £20,000.
This far exceeded the £2,000 to £4,000 estimate.
In an Instagram post featuring photos of Williams using the glasses and pipe, he said he treated himself to the items ahead of his 51st birthday.
The Angels singer recalled appointing Mike, a member of his team who handles his digital presence, to be “chief bidder” as he was in Los Angeles about to board a plane as the auction got under way.
“As it happens, I got to watch the lot being auctioned live. My iPhone and Mike’s iPhone acting like walkie-talkies,” he wrote.
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“‘What should I do Ayd’s?’ I nervously kept asking my wife. ‘Keep bidding’ Ayda says with the steely determination of someone bursting through an electronics store door on Black Friday.
“‘Keep going Mike’ I say. This vignette of conversation would repeat itself several times over the next 10 minutes.”
Des O’Connor (right) with Eric Morecambe, in the Wellington Hospital, London, 1978
Once he won the bidding war, Williams said he cried “happy, childlike tears”.
“You see, I guess we all need friends-we-never-meet from off the telly. Eric has always been mine. An uncle of sorts,” he wrote.
“To the very core of me, Eric Morecambe’s spirit has been salve for my soul. How Eric made me feel is how I want to make people feel.
“What a gift to be able to create such joy and have that joy be present just by thinking of them.”
The imitation tortoiseshell glasses by Metzler, said to be synonymous with Morecambe’s sharp wit and comedic persona, were sold alongside his Barling briar pipe and two black-and-white photographs of him with the spectacles.
Hanson Auctioneers offered Morecambe’s belongings in 700 lots on January 10 and 11, more than 40 years after the comic died of a heart attack aged 58 in 1984.
