BID UP, BID ON UP

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, is not resting too peacefully at the moment, what with his mortal remains still in a freezer somewhere like a forgotten Cornetto at the bottom of an idle newsagent's freezer. His family, obviously big respecters of the whole dignity of death thing, are still squabbling over his estate, hence his flirtation with the chiller cabinet. Now his family have decided to go the whole hog and start to auction off any item that bears his name or even things he might have touched once.

So in August, Christies will be auctioning off such glamorous items as cancelled cheques, some socks and a pairs of underpants. The legal bills are still mounting and his estate still owes a large amount of taxes, with the tax bill for this year to date already reaching the £800,000 mark, hence the inglorious sale of his knicker drawer.

His final wife (though she may not have been legally married to the cheeky old goat) Tomi Rae Hyni Brown is fuming, as she's claiming some of the items are hers, though it's hard to see how she can complain about his thermal vests going under the hammer.

If you fancy bidding on a pair of Durango leather boots with rhinestones, or maybe a letter to Princess Diana written on the back of an airline ticket, the full list of items for sale is here.

Or you could just have a little bit of dignity and ignore the whole shoddy affair.