An Auctioneer’s Lot: Discover why

An Auctioneer’s Lot

A baby’s blanket crocheted by Elizabeth II’s grandmother, Queen Mary, was the star lot of Charles Hanson’s recent Platinum Jubilee sale

As a staunch royalist I couldn’t let this year’s Platinum Jubilee pass me by without paying homage to the Queen. I’m hugely grateful for her devotion to duty and Britain’s rich regal history. In addition, I’m forever grateful that royal finds have put Hansons on the map. Back in 2008, three years after I opened my first saleroom in Derbyshire, a pair of Queen Victoria’s 50in-waist bloomers sold for £4,500, sparking huge publicity.

In 2020, we found another pair, together with a skirt, bodice, stockings and leather boots belonging to Queen Victoria. After languishing in a Norfolk wardrobe for 100 years, they sold for more than £17,000. Most of the items were secured for £14,000 by Historic Royal Palaces and are now part of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection.

In the same year, we sold a lifetime collection of private letters and cards from members of the British royal family, including Prince Charles and Princess Diana, consigned by Princess Alexandra of Kent’s personal maid.

Treasured possession

So I was intrigued to see what Hansons’ Platinum Jubilee auction would uncover. I was not disappointed. One lot came about after I received an email from a family whose grandmother, Kathleen Pritchard, wanted to sell her most treasured possession – a baby blanket made by Queen Mary in the 1930s – for charity.

Queen Mary (1867-1953), the wife of George V, was the mother of kings Edward VIII and George VI, and the grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II. Devoted to public service, when WWI broke out, she instituted food rationing at the palace and frequently visited wounded servicemen with her husband. She was dismayed when her eldest son Edward abdicated to marry his American mistress, Wallis Simpson, but supported her next son, Albert Frederick Arthur George, (known as Bertie) when he ascended the throne as George VI in 1936. Queen Mary died aged 85 only 10 weeks before her granddaughter’s coronation.

Queen Mary had crocheted the blanket to be given to the winner of a competition. It sold on May 26 for £400, still bearing its original ‘1st prize’ tag and a handwritten note on Marlborough House headed paper saying ‘Made by Her Majesty, Queen Mary, 1938’.

Top Charles Hanson in 2020 with a previous royal lot

Above Queen Mary, grandmother of the current monarch, was the queen from 1910-1936

Below right The pink blanket was hand crocheted by Queen Mary in 1938

‘Devoted to public service, when WWI broke out, Queen Mary instituted food rationing at the palace and frequently visited wounded servicemen with her husband’

Competition prize

Its current owner Kathleen, 83, from Rainham in Essex, inherited the blanket from her mum Florence who won the blanket in the competition organised by the London mother and baby clinic where Kathleen was born.

Two royal blankets were up for grabs – pink for a girl and blue for a boy. Florence won the pink one for her new daughter to whom she gave the middle name Mary, after the queen. The tiny blanket meant so much to the family they even took it unused into bomb shelters during WWII.

I was thrilled when fellow staunch royalist Kathleen, now a retired machinist with seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren of her own, made the lengthy trip to Hansons’ Derbyshire saleroom with her family to deliver the blanket. She told me it was her mother’s most precious possession. It was never used but kept boxed up in a draw and given to Kathleen after she married.

Ukrainian appeal

As Kathleen had been extremely saddened by the Ukraine conflict, the idea emerged to sell the royal blanket to help war-torn children. It seemed particularly fitting to choose Save the Children’s Ukraine appeal as Princess Anne is patron. Queen Mary was Anne’s great grandmother and the connection warmed Kathleen’s heart.

It was a privilege to help Kathleen celebrate her royal heirloom and raise money for an important cause.

I hope Hansons helped to spread a little royal joy in this special year.

Items are invited for Hansons’ summer fine art auction. For a valuation email Isabel Murtough, imurtough@ hansonsauctioneers.co.uk or call 01283 733988.