Prue was trained at her last school in typing and shorthand, and took a job in the Foreign Office, and later the male-dominated MI6, where she worked alongside Kim Philby, who was later discovered to be a KGB double agent. She met her husband, who was in the Grenadier Guards, in 1946 at a dance which she attended in a dress she had made from curtains, an example of her practicality and resourcefulness combined with the realities of post-war rationing. Eric’s uncle, Sir Arthur Penn GCVO MC, was a close friend of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother and it was through Eric that she came to know both the then Princess Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret, the beginning of a lifelong friendship. The Queen Mother and the then Princess Elizabeth attended the Penns' wedding at St. Mark’s Church, Mayfair, in January 1947. The couple had three children, two sons and a daughter, and Lady Penn was one of the godmothers to Princess Margaret’s daughter Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones.
Sir Eric formally entered the royal household in 1960, on the encouragement of Sir Arthur and at the request of The Queen, and was appointed Assistant Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office. He was promoted to Comptroller in 1964 and served in the role until 1981, when he retired.
In addition to Sternfield House, their home in Saxmundham Suffolk, the couple also had an apartment in St. James’s Palace, but always maintained a close connection with Scotland. In 1994, Lady Penn became lady-in-waiting to the Queen Mother, a role in which she remained until her death in 2002.
Even during her later years, she remained close with the royals, attending Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday party in 2016 and had a phone conversation her just ten days before she died. Lady Penn spent much of her later years at her home in the East Neuk of Fife and was appointed LVO in the 2002 demise honours list.
This long life of service is reflected both directly, and indirectly, in the collection offered on the 4th December. Lots 5 & 6, diamond brooches bearing the cyphers of Queen Elizabeth II and King George VI, respectively, as well as lot 7, a diamond Grenadier Guards sweetheart brooch; mark milestones in Lady Penn’s and Sir Eric’s professional lives at the place and in the military.
However, more subtle references to her personal friendship with Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth II can be found in lot 15, a beautiful 18ct gold and diamond leaf brooch by Andrew Grima. Grima was a firm favourite with the Royal family, many of his pieces featured in the collection of the late Queen and her sister; and being in such proximity to these beautiful jewels meant Lady Penn also developed an eye for his refined style and beautiful craftsmanship.
