Beschreibung:

The most self-effacing of men, he found unexpected fame at 82 when he wrote to commiserate with the Queen on what he called her “annus horribilis”: the year 1992, which saw the collapse of the marriages of three of her four children and culminated in the partial destruction by fire of Windsor Castle. A few days later, at a Guildhall luncheon to mark the 40th anniversary of her reign, she quoted Ford’s Latinity to poignant effect and the phrase passed into the history books ... A little above medium height, with sharply cut features and a forbidding pair of eyebrows, Edward Ford carried the sombre uniform of his office with elegance and dignity: black coat, striped trousers, starched linen, jewelled tie pin, bowler hat and umbrella. Yet it was only in the physical sense that he could be described as a stuffed shirt.’ Sir Edward Ford’s obituary in The Daily Telegraph, 21 November 2006, refers. ‘The most self-effacing of men, he found unexpected fame at 82 when he wrote to commiserate with the Queen on what he called her “annus horribilis”: the year 1992, which saw the collapse of the marriages of three of her four children and culminated in the partial destruction by fire of Windsor Castle. A few days later, at a Guildhall luncheon to mark the 40th anniversary of her reign, she quoted Ford’s Latinity to poignant effect and the phrase passed into the history books ... A little above medium height, with sharply cut features and a forbidding pair of eyebrows, Edward Ford carried the sombre uniform of his office with elegance and dignity: black coat, striped trousers, starched linen, jewelled tie pin, bowler hat and umbrella. Yet it was only in the physical sense that he could be described as a stuffed shirt.’ Sir Edward Ford’s obituary in The Daily Telegraph, 21 November 2006, refers. The important Royal Household G.C.V.O., K.C.B. group of fourteen awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edward Ford, late Grenadier Guards, Assistant Private Secretary to George VI (1946-52) and the Queen (1952-67) Having lent gallant service to the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards at the desperate defence of Warneton and at Dunkirk - for which he was mentioned in despatches - Ford won a second “mention” for his services as a Brigade Major in North Africa and Italy, latterly on attachment to the 24th Guards Brigade His subsequent career in the royal household encompassed some momentous chapters in British history, from the death of George VI to the Suez crisis: it fell to Ford in February 1952 to break the news of King George VI’s death in person, first to Winston Churchill at 10 Downing Street, then to Queen Mary at Marlborough House - ‘the telephone, it seems, was considered too insecure an instrument to convey so momentous a message’ The Royal Victorian Order, G.C.V.O., Knight Grand Cross set of insignia, comprising sash badge, silver-gilt and enamel, and breast star, silver, silver-gilt and enamel centre, the reverses officially numbered ‘1113’, in its Collingwood case of issue; The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, K.C.B. (Civil) Knight Commander’s set of insignia, comprising neck badge, silver-gilt, hallmarks for London 1949, breast star, silver, gold, silver-gilt and enamel centre, in its Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company case of issue; The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Officer’s breast badge, silvered metal and enamel; 1939-45 Star; Africa Star, clasp, 1st Army; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, M.I.D. oak palm; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Palestine 1945-48 (Lt. Col. E. W. S. Ford, Gren. Gds.); Coronation 1953; Jubilee 1977; Army Emergency Reserve Decoration, E.II.R., undated, mounted court-style as worn, generally good very fine or better (14) £4000-5000 Footnote G.C.V.O. London Gazette 15 June 1998. K.C.B. London Gazette 1 January 1967. Edward William Spencer Ford was born at Repton in July 1910, the son of the Very Reverend Lionel Ford, successively headmaster of Repton and of Harrow, and Dean of York (1926-32). His mother was