PRINCESS MARGARET: (1930-2002) Countess of Snowdon, younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II. An excellent A.L.S., Margaret, two pages, 8vo, Clarence House, London, 5th March 1960, to Lady Fermoy (‘Dear Ruth’). The Princess thanks her correspondent for the good wishes upon the news of her engagement, continuing, 'We are both blissfully happy and Tony wants to send his love remembering the many muddy miles you strode with us in January!' further revealing, 'It's wonderful no one guessed the reason of his visit and I only wish you'd been in on the M.I.5 arrangements by which he was whisked into the Queen's room to ask the vital permission!' A letter of fine content. Accompanied by the original envelope hand addressed by Princess Margaret and signed by her with her initial (‘M’) to the lower left corner. VG
Ruth Sylvia Roche (1908-1993) Baroness Fermoy. British Aristocrat, Lady-in-Waiting, friend and confidante of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the maternal grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Antony Armstrong-Jones (1930-2017) 1st Earl of Snowdon. British Photographer and film maker, husband to Princess Margaret from 1960-78.
As the present letter suggests, Princess Margaret’s announcement of her engagement to Antony Armstrong-Jones, which took place on 26th February 1960, caught the press by surprise as the couple had taken care to conceal the romance from reporters. Their wedding took place almost exactly two months after the present letter was written, on 6th May 1960, at Westminster Abbey. The ceremony was the first royal wedding to be broadcast on television.