Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Polar Medal has left the UK

SIR Ernest Shackleton’s £1.8 million Polar Medal has quietly left the UK after the Government failed to find a British buyer, the Sun on Sunday can reveal.

He was one of the most famous explorers of all time making his name in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

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Ernest Shackleton’s medals[/caption]

The Anglo-Irish adventurer went on three expeditions to the South Pole. The Polar Medal is given to individuals for outstanding service in the field of polar research.

An export bar was placed on the silver badge which Rishi Sunak’s Government said was the last of his medals still in the UK. But it ran out in the summer after no British buyer came forward.

It was privately sold to a trust which gifted it to a Canterbury Museum in New Zealand in July.

It is in storage until it goes on public display in 2029.

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The ‘HMS Endurance’ caught in the ice in the Weddell Sea of the Antarctic during Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, circa 1915. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)[/caption]

Andrew Hochhauser KC, Chairman of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, said: “The Reviewing Committee always hope that items deemed nationally significant find homes in UK museums and galleries.

“Unfortunately, this wasn’t possible for Sir Ernest’s Polar Medal during the export bar period, which meant the international sale had to proceed.

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Sir Ernest Shackleton, one of the great explorers of the day, arrives in New York from his latest Antarctic expedition. He leaves next Tuesday for England to rejoin the Navy. (Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images)[/caption]

“The Committee is dedicated to continuing the important work of keeping national treasures in the UK and accessible for the public to enjoy.”