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Auction: 8016 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Militaria
Lot: 277

The G.C.V.O., K.C.B. Group of Twelve to Lieutenant-Colonel E.W.S. Ford, Grenadier Guards, Later Assistant Private Secretary to H.M. King George VI, and H.M. The Queen, And The Correspondent Who Wrote to The Queen Describing 1992 As Her ´Annus Horribilis´ a) The Royal Victorian Order, Knight Grand Cross (G.C.V.O.) set of Insignia, sash Badge, 70mm, silver-gilt and enamel, reverse officially numbered ´1113´; Star, 86mm, silver, silver-gilt, and enamel, reverse officially numbered ´1113´, with full sash and evening dress section of riband, in Collingwood, London, case of issue b) The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Civil Division, Knight Commander´s (K.C.B.) set of Insignia, neck Badge, 57mm x 38mm, silver-gilt (Hallmarks for London 1949); Star, 76mm, silver, silver-gilt, and enamel, with gold retaining pin, with miniature width riband, in Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company, London, case of issue c) The Most Venerable Order of St. John, Officer´s breast Badge, 41mm, silver and enamel d) 1939-1945 Star e) Africa Star, with 1st Army Bar f) Italy Star g) Defence and War Medals, M.I.D. Oakleaf h) General Service 1918-62, G.VI.R., one clasp, Palestine 1945-48 (Lt. Col. E.W.S. Ford Gren Gds.) i) Coronation 1953 j) Jubilee 1977 k) Army Emergency Reserve Decoration, silver and silver-gilt, with ´Army Emergency Reserve´ top riband bar, about extremely fine, the medals mounted court style as worn and housed in a Spink and Son, London, fitted case; with the related miniature awards, housed in a separate Spink and Son, London, fitted case, and an additional Coronation 1953 medal, mounted on bow riband, in card box of issue (15) Estimate £ 3,800-4,200 G.C.V.O. London Gazette 1.1.1998 Sir Edward William Spencer Ford, K.C.B., K.C.V.O. K.C.V.O. London Gazette 13.6.1957 Major Edward William Spencer Ford, C.B., M.V.O. M.V.O. IV Class London Gazette 1.1.1949 Major Edward William Spencer Ford K.C.B. London Gazette 1.1.1967 Sir Edward William Spencer Ford, K.C.V.O., C.B., Assistant Private Secretary to the Queen. C.B. London Gazette 5.6.1952 Major Edward William Spencer Ford, M.V.O., Assistant Private Secretary to the Queen. Officer, Order of St. John London Gazette 8.10.1976 Sir Edward William Spencer Ford, K.C.B., K.C.V.O. Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edward William Spencer Ford, G.C.V.O., K.C.B., born 24.7.1910, the son of the Very Reverend Lionel Ford, Head Master of Harrow and Dean of York; educated at Eton and New College, Oxford; Tutor to H.M. King Farouk of Egypt, 1936-37; called to the Bar, Middle Temple, 1937; Commissioned Second Lieutenant, Grenadier Guards, 1.6.1936; Lieutenant, 1.6.1939; served in France and Belgium 1939-40 (Mentioned in Despatches); Tunisia and Italy 1943-44 (Mentioned in Despatches); Captain and Temporary Major, 26.2.1942; Brigade Major 10th Infantry and 24th Guards Brigades; Instructor at Staff College, Haifa, 1944-45 The War over, Ford was appointed Assistant Private Secretary to H.M. the King, 1946; following the King´´s death in February 1952 it fell to Ford to break the news in person to the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and to Queen Mary; he remained at Buckingham Palace as Assistant Private Secretary to H.M. the Queen, 1952-67, and was appointed Extra Equerry to the Queen, 6.12.1955; Appointed High Sherriff of Northamptonshire, 1970, and a Deputy Lieutenant of Northamptonshire, 5.10.1972; Knight of the Order of St. John, 1976; Appointed Secretary and Registrar of the Order of Merit, 1975: he was instrumental in changing the regulations of the Order, requiring the insignia to be returned to the Central Chancery on the death of the recipient, but was unable to persuade the Queen to accord the Order of Merit a higher place than the G.C.B. in the table of precedence. In 1992 he wrote to the Queen to commiserate with her on what he termed her "annus horribilis"; a few days later she quoted him at a Guildhall luncheon, and the phrase passed into the history books. Appointed G.C.V.O. in 1998, Sir Edward Ford finally retired in 2003, and died 19.11.2006.

Sold for
£4,200