LONDON (AP).- Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has donated one of her famous handbags to a charity auction.

Christie's auction house says Wednesday the boxy black leather Asprey bag will be sold on June 27 at an auction hosted by author Jeffrey Archer.

The bag was on Thatcher's arm during Cold War negotiations with former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

The former Conservative leader was famously responsible as the origins of the word "handbagging," which referred to her uncompromising style.

The auction house says Thatcher has selected to donate the proceeds of the sale to a British charity working with people with a genetic skin condition.


Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.