Antiques Roadshow star Bunny Campione announces her husband has died aged 91
Antiques roadshow favorite Bunny Campione has announced the sad news that her husband, Major Iain Grahame, has died aged 91.
During his time with the King’s African Rifles, Grahame had Idi Amin, the future dictator of Uganda, under his command.
He then visited Uganda with his second wife Didy, who, to the horror of those present, asked Amin to remove the fake VC from his chest.
Amin obeyed – perhaps one of the reasons why Grahame was sent back to Uganda after Amin ordered the execution of Denis Hills, a British writer who had described him as a “black Nero” and a “village tyrant”. Here too, Grahame – and Hills – survived.
His first meeting with Bunny was unfortunate: they drove around a corner on a country road and ran into each other.
Sad: Antiques Roadshow favorite Bunny Campione (pictured in 2007) has announced the sad news that her husband, Major Iain Grahame, has died aged 91
But many years later they met again. Love blossomed and they married in 2002.
Bunny, 77, born Carolyn Fisher, rose to fame on Antiques Roadshow after joining the series in 1987.
She also worked at Sotheby’s and Christie’s in London for 23 years before starting her own business, Campione Fine Art.
Last week, an Antiques Roadshow guest was amazed at the “ridiculous” value of his damaged watch.
The BBC show returned with a brand new series on Sunday night, with the antiques experts traveling to Swanage Pier and the seafront.
Among the treasures on display was a rare Omega watch that suffered the unfortunate fate of being run over by a lawnmower.
However, expert Richard Price was quick to reassure the owner that the watch was salvageable and valuable.
He said, “As you know, this was the first watch to be worn on the moon, but there’s an unfortunate word in the watchmaking industry for something that’s in very poor condition.” We call it run-down, and that It’s pretty run down here. How did it get to this state?’
While in the King’s African Rifles, Grahame had under his command Idi Amin, later the dictator of Uganda (the Ugandan leader is pictured with his wife and seven children and Major Iain Grahame at far left).
Wow! Last week, an Antiques Roadshow guest was amazed at the “ridiculous” value of his damaged watch
The guest then explained, “Unfortunately, it went through my lawnmower.” We had a break-in and they must have thrown it on the grass when leaving. My wife later found it in the compost bin.
He added, “I bought it in either late 1965 or early 1966 and it was used at the time.”
Despite the damage, expert Richard confirmed the watch would still be worth thousands if the couple had it repaired.
He said: ‘Assuming you can get these pieces in good condition with this strap, I would estimate they retail for around £18,000 to £20,000.’ And the strap alone is worth £3,000.’
The male guest said, “I’m amazed, I’m excited, I mean, I came here convinced that it’s basically beyond repair, a bit of crap actually.” “My son will be thrilled because he wants to inherit it.”