Dorothy’s ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland sell for nearly £22MILLION – more than NINE times more than they were predicted – nearly 20 years after they were dramatically stolen

Ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ were sold for £22 million pounds last night – nearly 20 years after they were stolen from a Minnesota museum.

The shoes were expected to sell for more than £2.3million ($3million). Dallas-based auctioneers Heritage Auctions said the web page for last night’s online auction had received over 50,000 views.

Online bidding, which opened last month, stood at $1.55 million before live bidding began late Saturday afternoon. In a dramatic auction the price quickly soared – reaching the incredible ceiling of $28million, almost £21million.

The slippers were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when a career criminal used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case.

Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018. The thief was prosecuted and sentenced earlier this year.

The shoes were returned in February to memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum. They were one of several pairs that Garland wore during the filming of the 1939 classic.

Among those bidding will be the Judy Garland Museum, after its home city raised money at its annual Judy Garland festival to supplement the $100,000 pledged by Minnesota lawmakers to help the museum purchase the slippers.

Judy Garland played Dorothy in MGM’s 1939 original adaptation

Garland wearing one of the pairs of ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz

Dorothy’s slippers in Frank E Baum’s original 1900 novel were in fact silver. However filmmakers chose the iconic ruby colour to show off the new Technicolor process used in the movie.

‘The Wizard of Oz’ story has gained new attention in recent weeks following the release of the movie ‘Wicked,’ an adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical, a prequel of sorts that reimagines the character of the Wicked Witch of the West.

The auction also includes other memorabilia from the original film, including a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the original Wicked Witch of the West.

Other items among the auction’s 188 lots include the outfit worn by Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone and the original Wilson, the volleyball from the Tom Hanks film Castaway, which carries a starting bid of $100,000, or £78,000.