H.R.H. Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (1897-1...

Estimate

£50 - £80

H.R.H. Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (1897-1965, only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary) - An important letter addressed to her son Gerald Lascelles dated February 9th 1936, a couple of weeks after the death of King George V, on Buckingham Palace headed paper includes the following: 'I motored with Uncle Charles and Grannie [Queen Mary] to the Royal Pavilion at Aldershot to pay Uncle Harry and Aunt Alice [Duke and Duchess of Gloucester] a visit...Daddy and I went to Windsor to see all the wreaths round St George's Chapel, a really lovely sight; I believe there were between 3 and 4000 wreaths in all - Uncles David [the Duke of Windsor who at that time was King Edward VIII], Bertie [George VI] and George [Duke of Kent] and Aunts Marina and Elizabeth have either lunched or dinner every other day' and later 'Uncle David is not going on a holiday to either Cornwall or Devon as far as I know.' Another letter dated February 15th 1937 reads '...did a great deal of sightseeing with Uncle David - you will be interested to hear that you are to be one of Grannie's pages at the Coronation, it is most kind of her to ask you. George is to be one of Uncle Bertie's.' [the coronation of George VI after the abdication of Edward VIII].
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PROVENANCE:
Private collection of Angela Lascelles (wife of The Hon. Gerald Lascelles, First Cousin of Queen Elizabeth II) and thence by descent.