Lee Child: Excluding property, what is the most expensive thing you have ever bought?

The question

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

The Guardian's weekly The Q&A repeatedly uses this standing prompt, with minor contractions and word-order variation.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

A painting by Renoir, paid for by demanding a huge fee for a screenwriting deal with a producer I didn’t want to work for. The movie was never made.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 June 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

Terry O'Neill British photographer

A Rolex; I’m not a big spender.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 January 2017 source ↗

Charlotte Church Welsh singer-songwriter and actress

When I was 18, I bought a boat for a million pounds and sold it a year later for just over half the price.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 July 2022 source ↗

Ronald Harwood South African playwright and novelist

A Mercedes S Class.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 November 2016 source ↗

Douglas Stuart Scottish fashion designer and novelist

My creative freedom. I was the creative director of a large fashion brand when I packed it all in to pursue my writing.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 April 2023 source ↗