Magna Carta auctioned for £10.6m

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Dated 1297, it was one of just 17 copies of the document still in existence and the only one in private hands.

The royal document, described as "the most important document in the world", sold for 21,321,000 dollars (£10.6m) when it went under the hammer at Sotheby's in New York.

The Magna Carta, which is Latin for Great Charter, was initially issued in 1215 but not confirmed as English law until 1297.

David Redden, vice-chairman of Sotheby's, said it was "the most important document in the world".

"The 1297 Magna Carta became the operative version, the one that was entered into English common law and became the law of the land," he said.

"The Magna Carta is the first rung on the ladder to freedom... This document symbolises mankind's eternal quest for freedom. It is a talisman of liberty."

Originally written because of disagreements between King John and the English barons about the rights of the king, it required him to renounce certain rights, respect specified legal procedures and accept that his will could be bound by the law.

Arguably the most famous document in existence, the Magna Carta states that no man is above the law and enshrines the right against unlawful imprisonment, the right to a speedy trial and the right to a trial by a jury of one's peers.

The document belonged to the Brudenell family of Northamptonshire from the late 14th or early 15th centuries. It went to the US when it was purchased by the Perot Foundation - set up by American businessman and former presidential candidate Ross Perot - in 1984.