Poignant letters written by Prince Philip after his uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten was murdered by the IRA and another from Margaret Thatcher following the Brighton bombing have gone up for sale.
Lord Mountbatten was killed by the terror group while fishing in his boat in County Sligo, Ireland, in 1979, and in a letter to a well-wisher shortly afterwards Philip wrote of his hope that the ‘wave of revulsion’ at the atrocity would bring a ‘change of heart’ among men of violence.
Five years later, Mrs Thatcher was lucky to survive an assassination plot when the Grand Hotel in Brighton was bombed during the Conservative Party conference, prompting her to tell a journalist that ‘evil must not prevail’.
Lord Mountbatten was killed by the terror group while fishing in his boat in County Sligo, Ireland, in 1979, and in the letter on September 13, 1979 Philip writes to the actor Lionel Jeffries of his hope that the ‘wave of revulsion’ at the atrocity would bring a ‘change of heart’ among men of violence
Five years later, Mrs Thatcher was lucky to survive an assassination plot when the Grand Hotel in Brighton was bombed during the Conservative Party conference. On October 15, 1984, she wrote to journalist Monty Modlyn to say that ‘evil must not prevail’
Both notes were handwritten and sent in response to messages of condolence from well-wishers.
Lord Mountbatten, a WWII naval hero who served as Supreme Allied Commander of the South East Asia Command, was killed on August 27, 1979 by a radio-controlled bomb that had been attached to his fishing boat the previous day.
The 79-year-old was Philip’s uncle, and mentored the royal when he arrived in England from Greece in 1928 to attend Cheam School and later advised him to enrol at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth aged 18, where he would meet the 14-year-old Princess Elizabeth.
After the attack Mountbatten was pulled alive from the water by fishermen, but died from his injuries before being brought to shore. Three other people, including two teenage boys, were killed, with the other five people on board seriously injured.
Following the atrocity, Philip received a letter of sympathy from the actor Lionel Jeffries, who starred in 1960s films Murder Ahoy!, Camelot and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
In his reply, dated September 13, 1979, he wrote: ‘I am most grateful to you for your thoughtful letter of sympathy.
‘Let us hope that the great wave of revulsion against this senseless act of terrorism may yet help to bring a change of heart in those who believe that violence and brutality are the only solutions to their problems.’
The letter has been consigned for sale from a descendant of Jeffries, who died in 2010.
Lionel Jeffries also wrote to Princess Margaret following Lord Mountbatten’s assassination and received a reply from her lady-in-waiting on September 17, 1979
Prince Philip with Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace after their engagement was announced on July 10, 1947 (left) and Lord Mountbatten in his Naval uniform in 1959. It is not clear where the photo was taken
Jeffries sent similar letters to other Royals following Mountbatten’s death, receiving replies on behalf of the Queen, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, which are also being sold.
Lord Mountbatten’s death in what the IRA called a ‘military operation’ was one of the most notorious events of the Troubles and sent shockwaves through the royal family.
A great-grandson of Queen Victoria, he was a distant cousin of the current Queen and also served as a much-loved mentor to Prince Charles, who considered him an ‘Honorary Grandfather’.
Charles would say of Lord Mountbatten, ‘I admire him almost more than anybody else I know’. He is believed to be the reason Prince William used the name ‘Louis’ for his children, both for Prince Louis and as Prince George’s third name.
The IRA struck again on October 12, 1984, when Margaret Thatcher was staying at the Grand Hotel in Brighton for the Conservative party conference.
The Prime Minister narrowly escaped the blast but five people were killed, including sitting Conservative MP Sir Anthony Berry. There were 31 others injured, including Trade and Industry Secretary Lord Tebbit, whose wife, Margaret, was left permanently disabled.
A courtier also wrote to Mr Jeffries when he sent a letter of sympathy to the Queen following Lord Mountbatten’s assassination
Pictured are replies to Mr Jeffries’ condolences from the Queen Mother’s lady-in-waiting on September 11, 1979 (left) while on the right is another letter from an aide of the Prince of Wales written on the same day
Montague ‘Monty’ Modlyn, one of the journalists covering the conference, wrote a letter of sympathy three days after the attack to Mrs Thatcher, who was clearly touched and produced a hand-written reply on 10 Downing Street letterhead paper.
She wrote: ‘It was very good of you both to be at Brighton for the closing speech. The enormity of what happened is just coming home to us. But evil must not prevail.’
The letter has been consigned by a private autograph collector who came into possession of it after Mr Modlyn’s death in 1994.
Chris Albury, specialist at Dominic Winter, said: ‘The IRA assassination attempt was horrific with five deaths and dozens more at the hotel injured in the blast.
‘It looks like this letter was going to be a typed letter but that after the first sentence Mrs Thatcher suddenly felt compelled to handwrite the rest.
‘The letter from Prince Philip is the most personal and revealing and expresses his revulsion to this senseless act of terrorism.
‘It’s not that common to come across such personal letters from Prince Philip for sale so this one will be more desirable, and coming from the Jeffries family has good provenance.’
The sale of the letters, which are expected to fetch a combined £650, takes place on May 28.
The letters are now being sold with auctioneers Dominic Winter, of Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
Margaret Thatcher sits at her desk in her office at 10 Downing Street in 1987, two years after the Brighton bombing shocked the nation