over she’d often walk off and leave it there. Many’s the journey of hers I’ve had to retrace looking for one.
Another accessory that was in constant use when I first joined her was fans. She had a beautiful collection from many countries. The feathers that looked so gorgeous with their tortoiseshell handles needed great care to keep them fresh and clean. It seemed a shame when they went out of fashion. I think her ladyship missed them because she used them to great theatrical effect when she was talking to visitors and friends. Eventually, I’m glad to say, she gave them to Miss Joyce Grenfell, the actress, who is a niece and a friend as well. Yet another accessory of that time which also followed fans into retirement was lace. Lady Astor had a most beautiful collection which I was able to learn from. It was eventually all boxed up and put away though I did keep some to use on her black velvet dresses, coffee-coloured collars and turned-back cuffs, rather as they were worn in King Charles’s time. Lace had to be cleaned most carefully and ours was always sent to a specialist cleaner.
Of all the things committed to my charge the jewellery caused me the most concern. When I first joined her ladyship I was given a list of all that she owned and I had to sign for it. It ran to about five pages of foolscap; I’ve got it to this day and nothing will make me part with it. It now shows where every piece went to and to whom it went. It has proved very useful even since her ladyship’s death and it will always serve to give me a clean bill of health. It really is extraordinary when you think that I, a servant earning £75 a year, should be given the care of jewels whose value ran into hundreds of thousands of pounds. I alone knew the combination number of the safe. I expect there was a copy of it kept in the office but her ladyship could never remember it, which was fortunate for me since she couldn’t take anything without my knowing about it, and although she wouldn’t thank me for saying so she had a very poor memory over certain things. The very valuable pieces were of course kept in the bank in St James’s Square; this was a condition imposed by the insurance people, but I was sent to collect anything as it was required, and again had to sign for it. What would have happened if I had lost anything I don’t know, it’s something I don’t like to think about, but it would have been a long time before they could have got its worth back out of my wages; I should have had to have lived to be as old as Methuselah!
Perhaps the most valuable of all her ladyship’s jewellery was the Sancy diamond. Its history fascinated me as much as the diamond itself. It was bought in Constantinople in 1570 by the Seigneur de Sancy, French Ambassador to Turkey; an almond-shaped beauty faceted Indian fashion on both sides. When Sancy became French Ambassador in Britain, King Henry IV of Navarre asked to borrow it. Sancy agreed and sent a messenger with it. He never arrived. His body was found, but not the diamond. Sancy, believing in the boy’s loyalty, explored further, and it was discovered that he had swallowed the jewel. It was later sold to James I of England, then to Cardinal Mazarin and then to Louis XIV. After the French Revolution it went to Russia and finally William Waldorf Astor bought it for her ladyship. When I used to handle it I thought of all the places it had been, particularly the messenger’s stomach. Talk about Jonah and the whale! It caused a bit of excitement while it was with the Astors, and me a few anxious moments. When war was declared in 1939 his lordship decided that everything of value should be moved from London to Maidenhead. Mr Lee came to me and said, ‘I’ve just had a message from Lord Astor saying would you take the Sancy diamond to Cliveden when you next go.’
‘It’s in the bank,’ I said.
‘No it isn’t. His lordship’s cleared the bank and he says you must have it.’
Well, I was
Another accessory that was in constant use when I first joined her was fans. She had a beautiful collection from many countries. The feathers that looked so gorgeous with their tortoiseshell handles needed great care to keep them fresh and clean. It seemed a shame when they went out of fashion. I think her ladyship missed them because she used them to great theatrical effect when she was talking to visitors and friends. Eventually, I’m glad to say, she gave them to Miss Joyce Grenfell, the actress, who is a niece and a friend as well. Yet another accessory of that time which also followed fans into retirement was lace. Lady Astor had a most beautiful collection which I was able to learn from. It was eventually all boxed up and put away though I did keep some to use on her black velvet dresses, coffee-coloured collars and turned-back cuffs, rather as they were worn in King Charles’s time. Lace had to be cleaned most carefully and ours was always sent to a specialist cleaner.
Of all the things committed to my charge the jewellery caused me the most concern. When I first joined her ladyship I was given a list of all that she owned and I had to sign for it. It ran to about five pages of foolscap; I’ve got it to this day and nothing will make me part with it. It now shows where every piece went to and to whom it went. It has proved very useful even since her ladyship’s death and it will always serve to give me a clean bill of health. It really is extraordinary when you think that I, a servant earning £75 a year, should be given the care of jewels whose value ran into hundreds of thousands of pounds. I alone knew the combination number of the safe. I expect there was a copy of it kept in the office but her ladyship could never remember it, which was fortunate for me since she couldn’t take anything without my knowing about it, and although she wouldn’t thank me for saying so she had a very poor memory over certain things. The very valuable pieces were of course kept in the bank in St James’s Square; this was a condition imposed by the insurance people, but I was sent to collect anything as it was required, and again had to sign for it. What would have happened if I had lost anything I don’t know, it’s something I don’t like to think about, but it would have been a long time before they could have got its worth back out of my wages; I should have had to have lived to be as old as Methuselah!
Perhaps the most valuable of all her ladyship’s jewellery was the Sancy diamond. Its history fascinated me as much as the diamond itself. It was bought in Constantinople in 1570 by the Seigneur de Sancy, French Ambassador to Turkey; an almond-shaped beauty faceted Indian fashion on both sides. When Sancy became French Ambassador in Britain, King Henry IV of Navarre asked to borrow it. Sancy agreed and sent a messenger with it. He never arrived. His body was found, but not the diamond. Sancy, believing in the boy’s loyalty, explored further, and it was discovered that he had swallowed the jewel. It was later sold to James I of England, then to Cardinal Mazarin and then to Louis XIV. After the French Revolution it went to Russia and finally William Waldorf Astor bought it for her ladyship. When I used to handle it I thought of all the places it had been, particularly the messenger’s stomach. Talk about Jonah and the whale! It caused a bit of excitement while it was with the Astors, and me a few anxious moments. When war was declared in 1939 his lordship decided that everything of value should be moved from London to Maidenhead. Mr Lee came to me and said, ‘I’ve just had a message from Lord Astor saying would you take the Sancy diamond to Cliveden when you next go.’
‘It’s in the bank,’ I said.
‘No it isn’t. His lordship’s cleared the bank and he says you must have it.’
Well, I was
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