Churchill Cigar Stub At Auction

A stub of cigar smoked by Sir Winston Churchill will be auctioned and is expected to fetch thousands of pounds.

12:36 15 June 2015

Sir Winston Churchill smoked a cigar while recovering from a broken hip in hospital back in 1962. The stub of cigar is expected to fetch thousands of pounds when it will be auctioned in October. The wartime Prime Minister spent several weeks at a private patients’ wing in Middlesex Hospital after fracturing his hip while on a holiday in Monte Carlo in 1962. 

 

The 87-year-old was able to puff happily on a cigar at the hospital in a time before health and safety restrictions. The stub was collected by a student nurse in a “Middlesex Hospital soiled dressing disposal bag” where it has been kept ever since. 

 

Dukes' auctioneer Timothy Medhurst said: "It is not surprising that Churchill's cigar smoking in his hospital bed was widely recorded - this cigar marks a pivotal moment for Sir Winston Churchill.

 

"Churchill had already experienced many injuries and to have such a devastating injury occur at such an old age was a threat to his stalwart 'British Bulldog' image.

 

"This injury in 1962 was also a poignant moment in Churchill's personal life – his beloved poodle Rufus II died whilst he was in hospital recovering.

 

"The cigar is something we all associate with Churchill, one of the greatest leaders in history."