A work contract signed by Diana Spencer two years before she married the then Prince of Wales is expected to fetch thousands of dollars at auction in the United Kingdom. The document was filled out in black ink by the 17-year-old in May 1979. She completed the application form for the elite nanny agency Solve Your Problem Ltd. According to the BBC, it thought she deliberately listed her date of birth as 1960 instead of 1961 to “get a quicker job, or receive more pay”. 

The document, which is expected to fetch $10,000, is thought to be the late princess’ first official work contract. Andrew Stowe, from Auctioneum Ltd, said, “This is an incredibly important piece of history. Getting your first job is a big moment in anyone’s life, let alone when that person becomes one of the most famous figures of the 20th Century,” Mr Stowe continued, per the BBC. 

Speaking of Princess Diana’s altered date of birth, Mr Stowe added, “Our client had always been told that this was done deliberately, in order that Diana would appear older and therefore more likely to secure a job with the agency, or at least a higher rate of pay! It could, of course, just be a simple oversight!”

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In the contract, the young woman did not disclose what kind of work she was looking for or how much she expected to get paid, but that she was seeking employment “as soon as possible”. The document was filled just a few weeks after teenage Lady Diana Spencer moved to London. Her address is listed as Cadogan Place SW1, where she temporarily lived before moving to her own London flat at Colherne Court, Kensington, a few months later.

The document is thought to be Princess Diana’s first official work contract to undertake various short-term jobs as a nanny, mother’s help and child carer. Prior to this, in 1978 she had worked for friends and family, in an unofficial capacity, and some of them are noted as referees on the contract.

Princess Diana was considered to be one of the most famous women in the world with both her charity work and private life making headlines. She died in a car crash in August 1997, when her sons Prince William and Prince Harry were aged just 15 and 12.