It’s a record! Eric Clapton’s Layla album artwork sells for £2million – almost 33 times its estimate

It’s a fascinating part of pop history and as such was expected to fetch a princely sum of up to £60,000.

But the original artwork for Eric Clapton’s Layla album has sold for an astonishing £1.9 million, which – rather appropriately for something associated with a old long player record – was 33 times its estimate.

The artwork was among a £3 million treasure trove sold by Pattie Boyd, who was famously at the centre of a love triangle with Clapton and her husband, former Beatle George Harrison.

Also going under the hammer was Clapton’s first letter pursuing her in 1970. In it he writes: ‘What I wish to ask you is if you still love your husband, or if you have another lover?’ It asks that she reply by letter rather than on the phone as it is ‘much safer’ and is signed: ‘All my love, E’.

Boyd thought the letter was from a crazed fan and even showed it to her then-husband. Only when Clapton phoned later did she realise it was from the guitar legend – who wrote the song Layla about her. She divorced Harrison after a decade in 1977 and married Clapton in 1979. The letter fetched more than £107,000.

The original artwork for Eric Clapton’s Layla album has sold for an astonishing £1.9 million

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Another handwritten love letter from Clapton in January 1971, which had a £10,000 to £15,000 estimate, sold for £119,700

Another handwritten love letter from Clapton in January 1971, which had a £10,000 to £15,000 estimate, sold for £119,700. But the sale’s biggest surprise was the artwork on the cover of Clapton’s Derek And The Dominos’ 1970 album Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs – a painting called La Fille Au Bouquet, by French-Danish painter Emile Frandsen.

After the sale, Boyd, who turned 80 last week, said: ‘I am completely blown away by the enthusiasm of international bidders for these special treasures that I have always loved. I am so happy new hearts will now enjoy them, as they enter into their next chapters.’

The entire collection, which is on display at Christie’s London headquarters until Thursday, sold for a total of £2,818,184.