Thirty-seven letters written by Britain's World War II prime minister Winston Churchill to his lover Pamela Plowden were sold at auction for 291,000 pounds.

The statue of former British prime minister Winston Churchill in London's parliament square. Thirty-seven letters written by Britain's World War II prime minister Winston Churchill to his lover Pamela Plowden were sold at auction for 291,000 pounds. [AFP]

The letters span 63 years and begin with passionate love letters from the future prime minister, then mature into an affectionate correspondence between friends before, during and after the war.

An anonymous bidder paid 77,675 pounds, Christie's auction house announced. The winning bid is more than three times its estimate, for a letter dated March 6, 1899 posted from Calcutta in British-ruled India.

After Plowden's father Sir Trevor Chichele-Plowden had refused Churchill his daughter's hand in marriage, the future British leader wrote to her:

"Were I a dreamer of dreams... I would say... marry me and I conquer the world and lay it at your feet... for marriage two conditions are necessary: money and consentment of both parties. One certainly, both probably are absent."

Churchill, who at the time was serving in Calcutta as a young officer, assured Plowden in the letter dated 1899 that he would allow no-one to see what he had written.

"Of course no human eye will read your letter. I destroy all paper records.

My memory is my archives and it will guard no document more carefully," he said.

Meanwhile, a letter of condolence sent to Plowden after her second son was killed in action during World War II fetched 62,140 pounds -- more than twice its estimate.

The correspondence, dated July 19, 1942 said:

"My heart bleeds for you... both your gallant and splendid sons... have given their lives... heroes have not given their lives without a purpose being fulfilled."

Churchill met Plowden, a renowned society beauty in Hyderabad, India, when he was in his early twenties, and it is thought that they were informally engaged. But she went on to marry Victor, Earl of Lytton, the son of a viceroy of India.

In a separate Christie's auction in London late Tuesday, the hearse used in Churchill's state funeral was sold for 5,875 pounds, organisers said.

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