Brother of George Michael's assistant says she 'would be horrified' as her estranged husband prepares to auction the Faith guitar

George Michael's iconic 1940s Gretsch Synchromatic 160 guitar, played in the 'Faith' video, goes under the hammer at Sworders auctioneers today with an estimate of £120,000, after Michael gifted it to his long-time personal assistant Siobhan Bailey. Bailey died in 2014 while in the process of divorcing Ian Belcher, leaving no registered will, meaning her entire estate — including the 32-lot memorabilia collection — passed legally to Belcher.

Siobhan's brother Gerard Bailey claims she had been drafting a will intended to leave the items to her nieces and nephews, but died before that document was ever registered.

In a letter to Sworders, Gerard called the sale a 'breach of privacy' and Belcher's 'misuse of my sister's name' frankly dishonourable.

Sworders describes the collection as memorabilia from Michael's 'long-time personal assistant and trusted confidante' — the use of Siobhan's name Gerard calls 'disingenuous and wholly unethical'.