Screen-Matched Indiana Jones Bullwhip Presented to Prince Charles Heads to Auction at Heritage

Hero prop from The Last Crusade, gifted by Lucasfilm at the 1989 London Royal Premiere, offered July 16-18 DOWNLOAD DIGITAL PRESS KIT DALLAS, Texas (June 25, 2025) — One of the most recognizable and revered artifacts from the Indiana Jones franchise — a screen-matched bullwhip used by Harrison Ford in 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade — is hitting the block for the first time at Heritage’s Hollywood and Entertainment Auction taking place July 16-18. The whip, a hand-braided 12-foot David Morgan kangaroo leather model, was gifted to then-Prince Charles at the film’s 1989 Royal Charity Premiere in London by the film’s producers. It was later passed along by Princess Diana and, by further descent, comes to Heritage from a confidential consignor. A letter of authenticity from Lucasfilm Ltd., addressed to St. James’s Palace and postmarked from San Rafael, California, confirms its origin and presentation. “This isn’t just any whip. It’s the whip,” says Joe Maddalena, Executive Vice President of Heritage Auctions. “It was carried by Harrison Ford onscreen in the Grail Temple sequence, then gifted to royalty and stored for decades with its history intact. It’s a crown jewel of action-adventure cinema.” Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was the third installment in the legendary franchise created by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Its blend of heart, humor, and history, not to mention the on-screen chemistry between Ford and co-star Sean Connery, helped solidify Indiana Jones as one of the most enduring characters in film history. The whip, of course, is central to that iconography. Screen-matched to multiple key scenes, the whip appears during the climactic Grail Temple sequence as Indy faces the deadly final trials and ultimately heals his father (Connery) with the Holy Grail. Expert analysis by Indiana Jones whip authority Daniel Borton confirms its match through distinctive features — including curvature, plaiting patterns, the placement of the two-pass turk’s head knot, and the exposed leather strand beneath it — all of which align with close-up shots in the film. The bullwhip is in good production-used condition, with studio-applied weathering and natural wear consistent with other Last Crusade hero whips. A near-identical example from the film resides in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. This whip is a rare convergence of blockbuster storytelling, elite provenance, and Hollywood craft. “Indiana Jones is a defining character of modern cinema,” Maddalena says, “and this is one of the few screen-used, studio-authenticated hero props from the series known to exist.” The whip will be on public view at Heritage Auctions’ Beverly Hills gallery June 25 through July 15, leading up to the three-day auction event. For more information or to register to bid, please go here. Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world's largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Heritage also enjoys the highest Online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet's most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 2 million registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of 7,000,000 past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit. For breaking stories, follow us: HA.com/Facebook and HA.com/Twitter . Link to this release or view prior press releases . Hi-Res images available: Christina Rees, Director of Communications 214-409-1341; CRees@HA.com