Attractive set of five Christmas gift tags from Queen Elizabeth II, ranging in size from 3.25 x 2.25 to 3.25 x 4, each hand-signed and inscribed in ballpoint or ink, “Peggy, Happy Christmas, from Elizabeth R.,” who adds a New Year’s greeting to one gift tag. In overall fine condition.
The recipient of these tags, Peggy Hoath, was the Queen’s dresser from 1958 until her retirement in 1998. She was very close to Queen Elizabeth II and accompanied her on royal travels. Hoath resided at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle and even stayed at Sandringham and Balmoral Castle during holiday seasons. So much of a fixture was Hoath, that she appeared as a character in the popular television series The Crown.
Per an article from The Daily Mail: ‘[Hoath] arrived at Buckingham Palace as a seamstress after being spotted working for royal couturier Norman Hartnell, where she worked on the new sovereign’s famous coronation gown. Her brother, Raymond Heyward recalled how the monarch’s legendary ‘gatekeeper,’ Margaret ‘Bobo’ McDonald, asked to borrow her to take on the Queen’s high-profile tour to Canada in 1959 when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and needed to regularly adjust her outfits. The monarch was so impressed by Miss Hoath that she poached her when they returned. ‘The Queen was a very glamorous figure and Peggy’s advice and eye for detail proved invaluable,’ a royal insider said.’
