Titanic: Badge given to Norfolk maid before sinking to be auctioned

A badge given by a steward to a close female friend aboard the Titanic in "a real life Jack and Rose" shortly before the ship sank is expected to fetch up to £60,000 at auction.

The steward handed his White Star Line badge to Roberta Maioni, 20, from Norwich, who was on board the ship as the maid to a first-class passenger.

She survived the sinking on 15 April 1912, but the steward perished.

The badge and other memorabilia will be actioned in Wiltshire later this month.

Henry Aldridge and Son auction house in Devizes, Wiltshire, originally sold the badge and other items associated with Ms Maioni to a private collector after they were put up for sale by her family in 1999.

Some of the items are now back on the market.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge compared the story to James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster film Titanic in which Rose, played by Kate Winslet, falls in love with the poverty-stricken artist Jack, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, aboard the ship.

The relationship between the steward, whose name is not known, and the lady's maid was "quite literally a real-life Jack and Rose story", Mr Aldridge said.

Although they did not have evidence that the pair were lovers, Mr Aldridge said, according to Miss Maioni's descendants there was "a relationship between them".

On its website, the auction house said the pair met on board Titanic and when the ship struck the iceberg "the steward sought Roberta out".

"He escorted her from her cabin to lifeboat number eight and made sure that she was safe.

"As he did so he handed her the white star-shaped badge that was on his uniform to remember him by, as it tragically turned out.

"Just like DiCaprio's character Jack, the young steward died in the disaster."

After the disaster, Miss Maioni wrote an account of what happened on that fateful night, saying: "I was about to get up when a steward came and said, 'Miss, we have struck an iceberg but I don't think there's any danger. Should there be, I'll come back and let you know'.

"In a few minutes the steward was back again, telling me not to be afraid but to dress quickly, put on my life belt and go on deck."

In her account she said she joked with the steward and did not realise the seriousness of the situation.

However, she later said that from her lifeboat she "heard the terrible cries of the 1,200 men, women and children left upon [Titanic]. And then came an awful silence - more terrible than the sound that had gone before".

Mr Aldridge said: "During her lifetime Roberta is said to have told her family about how she survived the Titanic and about the young cabin steward she met on board.

"She is said to have fallen in love with him - and he with her.

"Although she never revealed his name to anyone - maybe because she was married by that time - she kept hold of this little brooch."

Roberta Maioni died in 1963 at the age of 71.

The White Star badge, her writings and other Titanic memorabilia will be auctioned in Devizes on 23 April.

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