A pistol held by Sean Connery as James Bond in a poster to promote the 1963 film From Russia With Love has sold at auction for £277,250.
The Walther air pistol fetched more than 10 times its estimate of £15,000-£20,000 at Christie's in London on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a rare Darth Vader costume made for Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back failed to sell.
It had been expected to fetch up to £230,000.
The costume, which was being sold by a private collector from the US who acquired it in 2003, was believed to have been the first complete Vader costume to be offered at auction.
Another James Bond pistol, that appeared in 1974 film The Man With The Golden Gun, sold for £15,000.
Last month an American car enthusiast paid £2.6m to buy a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 - complete with revolving number plates, ejector seat and bullet-proof shield - featured in Bond films Goldfinger and Thunderball.
Among the other items sold at Thursday's Popular Culture: Film and Entertainment auction was a dinosaur model from the 1933 King Kong film that went for £25,000.
A metal box that contained the glowing red eye of the computer HAL from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey sold for £17,500
A pair of trunks worn by Christopher Reeve in the 1984 film Superman III failed to sell.
BBC © MMX
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic (Western and Eastern Rites), Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox churches. He is immortalized in the tale of Saint George and the Dragon and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His memorial is celebrated on 23 April, and he is regarded as one of the most prominent military saints.
Many Patronages of Saint George exist around the world, including: Aragon, Catalonia, England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Iraq, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Serbia and Russia, as well as a number of cities and a wide range of professions, organizations and disease sufferers.
As a highly celebrated saint in both the Western and Eastern Christian churches, a large number of Patronages of Saint George exist throughout the world.
The country of Georgia, where devotions to the saint date back to the fourth century, is not named after him, but a large number of towns and cities around the world are. Georgia is the anglicised version of Gurj, derived from the Persian word for the people in that territory. Geographer Vakhushti Bagrationi wrote that there are 365 Orthodox churches in Georgia named after Saint George according to the number of days in a year.
St. George is the patron saint of England; his cross forms the national flag of England, and features within the Union Jack of the United Kingdom. Traces of the cult of Saint George in England predate the Norman Conquest in the eleventh century by the fourteenth century. The saint had been declared both the patron saint and the protector of the royal family.
(Adapted from www.wikipedia.com)
As Usual, click on a link to see what the word means
The couple, both 28, will marry next spring or summer after he proposed while on holiday in Kenya in October.
The prince said: "The timing is right now." His brother Harry said he would be gaining a sister.
William gave Kate his mother's engagement ring, saying: "It was right to put the two together."
Speaking as they stood arm-in-arm before photographers, and later as they gave a TV interview, Prince William said giving Kate his mother Diana's distinctive sapphire and diamond engagement ring was "my way of making sure my mother didn't miss out on today and the excitement".
He stressed that no-one was "trying to fill my mother's shoes". Miss Middleton paid tribute to the princess as an "inspirational woman".
She admitted joining the Royal Family was a "daunting prospect" but she added: "Hopefully I'll take it in my stride."
Ring 'in rucksack'The Prince would not be drawn on whether he went down on one knee to propose, but, as the couple laughed, Miss Middleton said: "It was very romantic, and it was very personal."
The couple met while they were students at St Andrews University, Fife.
Speaking about their relatively long courtship, William said: "I didn't realise it was a race, otherwise I probably would have been a lot quicker.
"The time is right now. We're both very, very happy and I'm very glad that I have done it."
Miss Middleton added: "We have been going out a long time. We had spoken about our future and it just seemed the natural step for both of us."
Prince William told how he carried the ring around in the royal rucksack for about three weeks before he chose the right time to propose.
He said he knew he would be in trouble if he lost it, so he held onto it tightly.
And he revealed he asked Kate's father for her hand in marriage after he asked her.
"I thought if I ask Kate first then he can't really say no," he said.
Prince Harry's spokesman released a statement late on Tuesday after the prince had returned from flying training in Hampshire.
"I am delighted that my brother has popped the question. It means I get a sister, which I have always wanted," the statement read.
The couple will marry in London in 2011 and live in north Wales, where Prince William, second in line the throne, is serving with the RAF.
They said they hoped to have children. Miss Middleton said a close-knit family was important: "I hope we will be able to have a happy family ourselves.
Smiling, Prince William added: "I think we'll take it one step at a time. We'll sort of get over the marriage first and then maybe look at the kids. But obviously we want a family."
BBC © MMX
A poor man had so many children that he had already asked everyone in the world to be godfather, and when still another child was born, no one else was left whom he could invite. He knew not what to do, and, in his perplexity, he lay down and fell asleep. Then he dreamt that he was to go outside the gate, and ask the first person he met to be godfather. When he awoke, he determined to obey his dream, and went outside the gate, and asked the first person who came up to him to be godfather. The stranger presented him with a little glass of water, and said, this is a wonderful water, with it you can heal the sick, only you must see where death is standing. If he is standing by the patient's head, give the patient some of the water and he will be healed, but if death is standing by his feet, all trouble will be in vain, for the sick man must die. From this time forth, the man could always say whether a patient could be saved or not, and became famous for his skill, and earned a great deal of money. Once he was called in to the child of the king, and when he entered, he saw death standing by the child's head and cured it with the water, and he did the same a second time, but the third time death was standing by its feet, and then he knew the child had to die. Once the man thought he would visit the godfather, and tell him how he had succeeded with the water. But when he entered the house, the strangest things were going on within. On the first flight of stairs, the broom and shovel were disputing, and knocking each other about violently. He asked them, where does the godfather live. The broom replied, one flight of stairs higher up. When he came to the second flight, he saw a heap of dead fingers lying. He asked, where does the godfather live. One of the fingers replied, one flight of stairs higher. On the third flight lay a heap of dead heads, which again directed him to the flight beyond. On the fourth flight, he saw fishes on the fire, which frizzled in pans and baked themselves. They, too, said, one flight of stairs higher. And when he had ascended the fifth, he came to the door of a room and peeped through the keyhole, and there he saw the godfather who had a pair of long horns. When he opened the door and went in, the godfather got into bed in a great hurry and covered himself up. Then said the man, sir godfather, what a strange house-hold you have. When I came to your first flight of stairs, the shovel and broom were quarreling, and beating each other violently. How stupid you are, said the godfather. That was the boy and the maid talking to each other. But on the second flight I saw dead fingers lying. Oh, how silly you are. Those were some roots of scorzonera. On the third flight lay a heap of dead men's heads. Foolish man, those were cabbages. On the fourth flight I saw fishes in a pan, which were hissing and baking themselves. When he had said that, the fishes came and served themselves up. And when I got to the fifth flight, I peeped through the keyhole of a door, and there, godfather, I saw you and you had long, long horns. Oh, that is not true. The man became alarmed, and ran out, and if he had not, who knows what the godfather would have done to him.