The 24-karat gold Wii ordered for the Queen of England is up for auction with a starting price of 1900 euros

The Queen of England could have played Big Family Games with this 24 carat gold plated Nintendo Wii which was intended for her. Elizabeth II, however, never had this pleasure, and if you are not a member of the British royal family, you can now become the owner of this console.

Developed by THQ in 2009, the console was to be received by the Queen of England and was part of a communications ploy to promote the mini-game series Big Family Games. Unfortunately, the company may not have inquired enough about the policy of gifts allowed within the grounds of Buckingham Palace and that attempt ended in failure. The gold Wii was never able to cross the threshold of the British Royal Palace “due to the Palace’s correspondence team’s very strict policy on gifts” and “for security reasons” according to Kotaku. After THQ went bankrupt in 2013, the golden console passed through several hands and its current owner, Donny Fillerup, has been trying to sell it since late last year. He had first put it up for sale on eBay but the site blocked his ad, deeming the price of the item too high compared to that of other items usually offered for sale. It is now the Goldin house that takes care of the auction.

The announcement on Goldin’s site reads: “Here we present to you the ultimate Wii collector’s item, commissioned especially for Her Majesty The Queen herself as part of a (somewhat wacky and ultimately unsuccessful), ‘The Golden Wii’. Both the console and the controller are plated with 24 carat gold. They both have minor wear from handling, with the controller showing scattered chips on the gold plating. The bundle includes the console, a controller, a copy of BIG Family Games, a sensor bar and all necessary cables”. It is possible to bid for the “golden Wii” on the Goldin site until next May 21, the closing date of the sale. The starting price is 1900 euros.