Money & investment

Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?

209 answers answered between 2003 and 2026 one of 25 in The Q&A

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

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Read by field Everyone Science and medicine 2 Arts and letters 179 Politics and public life 10 Business and finance 7 Technology 1 Sport 10

Read by age Any age Before thirty 4 In their thirties 35 In their forties 43 In their fifties 42 In their sixties 41 Seventy and beyond 30

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Ronald Harwood South African playwright and novelist

A Mercedes S Class.

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

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 ↗

Tim Rice English lyricist and author

A painting by Tamara de Lempicka.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 March 2017 source ↗

Martin Sheen American actor

Shares in The Way, which turned out to be the best movie I have done. Written and directed by my son Emilio, it’s a father-son story about the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 March 2017 source ↗

Edward Fox British actor

Probably a suit. If you buy a good suit, it lasts beyond your lifetime.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 April 2017 source ↗

Ronnie Wood English rock musician

Paintings and guitars. I have Picasso prints and one Rembrandt etching.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 September 2017 source ↗

Patricia Hodge English actress

My piano, a boudoir grand. I’ve played since I was six.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 September 2018 source ↗

Julie Andrews English actress, singer and author

I saw a very expensive painting by a wonderful American painter called Charles Burchfield. I really loved it – it hit me in the solar plexus – and I thought if I did three extra concerts on tour, I might be able to afford it. And I did.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 October 2019 source ↗

Madhur Jaffrey Actress, cook, and TV host

A 19th-century ebony and cane chair from the Raj period.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 February 2021 source ↗

Don Warrington British actor

A 1956 Selmer silver alto saxophone.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 February 2022 source ↗

Rose Tremain English writer

A cream suit from Chanel that cost almost as much as a small car.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 April 2022 source ↗

Julian Lloyd Webber British cellist and conductor

My cello. At the time, in 1983, it was £192,500.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2023 source ↗

Tony Christie

Around 1972, I bought a Rolls-Royce to treat myself after finally achieving success. The year before, I had three hits: Las Vegas, I Did What I Did for Maria and Amarillo.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 January 2024 source ↗

Esther Rantzen