Family row ahead of George Michael memorabilia auction featuring Faith guitar

The auction and its lots

Sworders will sell 32 lots from the collection of Siobhan Bailey, George Michael's personal assistant, on Thursday, 29 October, under the title 'Faith & Fame: A Personal George Michael Collection'. The sale takes place at Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex, northeast of London. The centrepiece is the guitar Michael played in the video for 'Faith', an original 1940s Gretsch Synchromatic 160 seen in the 1987 release. A valuation of between 60,000 and 120,000 pounds has been reported for that instrument. Other lots include a Filofax diary from the 1988 Faith tour with handwritten notes by Bailey, a signed photograph of the pop duo Wham, and a message signed by Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.

A dispute over the estate

Siobhan Bailey died suddenly of natural causes in 2014, aged 56. She was in the process of divorcing Ian Belcher, but the two were still legally married and she left no will, so her estate passed to him. Her brother, Gerard Bailey, says she had begun drafting a will shortly before her death that would have left the items to her nieces and nephews, but that it was never registered. Gerard accepts that Belcher has the legal right to sell, yet he argues the sale runs against his sister's wishes and her reserved nature. He also says that had she lived a few more weeks, Belcher would not have counted as her closest relative. Gerard says the guitar was a gift from Michael to his sister. Belcher and Sworders have declined to comment on the dispute.

The brother's objections

In a letter to the auction house, which the BBC has seen, Gerard Bailey argues that the sale breaches his sister's privacy. He calls the use of her name to promote the auction dishonourable and says that profiting from her belongings is shameful. He has asked that the auction be cancelled or, if it goes ahead, that it be presented in Belcher's name rather than Siobhan's. Gerard is especially distressed that the catalogue includes his sister's personal diary and notes she received from Michael. He recalls that she was proud of the gold and platinum discs she received, though modest about them:

“I know she was proud of the various personalised gold and platinum discs she got, though she was very modest about it all.”

Michael and his assistant

Bailey began working as Michael's personal assistant in 1984, the year the pop duo Wham had its first chart-topper, and she stayed in the role for about 20 years. The guitar is tied to the launch of Michael's solo career, and 'Faith', from his debut solo album of the same title, spent four weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. Gerard says his sister avoided the limelight and guarded the singer's privacy despite the attention of tabloid journalists. Michael died in 2016, and the auction is scheduled for Thursday, 29 October.