Culture Talk

Should a PA's private archive of George Michael be sold at all?

Read the GONOM post on the Faith guitar. £180,000, way above the £60k–£120k estimate, so good news for the seller. But the bit that's stuck with me is the family row.

The collection belonged to Siobhan Bailey, his personal assistant for about two decades, who died in 2014. Her widower put it up for sale. Her brother says she wouldn't have wanted it sold. Both of them are presumably speaking from love for the same person.

I'm a bit skeptical of the 'it belongs to the fans' argument you see online, because the alternative isn't a public museum, it's a cupboard. But I'm also not comfortable with the idea that someone's private keepsakes become lots once they're gone. Where would you draw the line?