LONDON.- A letter penned by Diana, Princess of Wales in which she discusses her marital strife comes for sale in London this month. The letter, in a handwritten envelope addressed to a Mrs Cotton, comes for sale at Chiswick Auctions on Valentine’s Day, February 14.

Letters written by Princess Diana are not too uncommon at auction, but head of sale Valentina Borghi says this one is of particular interest as “such a personal and intimate content is quite remarkable as it references directly that famous quote ‘there were three people in this marriage’”. The letter reads simply ‘"If only life were so simple. It is my dearest wish. Sadly the reality is I am one of three people in a triangle’. It is written on a single sheet of Kensington Palace headed note paper and dated 11 May 1995 – over six months before the famous BBC Panorama interview in which Diana publicly discussed her relationship with Charles, Prince of Wales and the reasons for their subsequent separation.

The identity of Mrs Cotton, someone with whom Diana could share such personal information, is currently unknown. “I am afraid the vendor bought the letter from a dealer some time ago with very little additional information” says Valentina Borghi. “So far we have not been able to identify Mrs Cotton but are hoping someone out there will know who she is.” The auction house has given the letter an estimate of £1,800 - £2,200 but are hopeful it may bring more.

Do you still have that picture I left with you 20 years ago? Monet writes to his landlord about important early work

A letter written by Claude Monet to his Paris landlord apologising for an outsize painting stored for almost 20 years, comes for sale at auction this month. The two-page handwritten letter was written from Monet’s home at Giverny on January 10, 1884 enquiring after his unfinished early painting Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe. It is expected to bring £4000-6000 as part of Chiswick Auctions’ sale of Autographs and Memorabilia on February 14.

As a promising young artist looking to make a breakthrough at the Paris Salon with a large-scale oil, Monet had begun painting an 11-figure scene in response to the 1863 work of the same title by Édouard Manet.

Monet had hoped his Le déjeuner sur l'herbe would be ready in time for exhibition in 1866 but ultimately could not finish it in a timely manner. It remained unfinished and today only a central and left panel survive.

After moving the Giverny, Monet wrote to his landlord Alexandre Flament saying: "I have meant to write to you for a long time about my belongings that are still with you and especially about my large painting that is probably very troublesome for you because of its size. Can you please be so kind as to give me news about the painting because I am now better paid here and I believe it would be possible for me to relieve you from keeping it.’

Monet did get the picture back. A photograph taken in 1920 shows the artist with Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe in his large studio at Giverny.