CHURCHILL, Winston S.

£6,500 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Autograph letter signed, to Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, enclosing his wedding gift. Churchill writes to his niece Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, presenting money as a wedding gift shortly before her marriage to Anthony Eden. "We hope you will buy some souvenir of us with part of it. We send it with our best love & good wishes for your happiness. Your affectionate uncle, Winston S. Churchill".Clarissa was at Chartwell on 10 August; the envelope has no stamp and Churchill evidently handed it directly to her. The next day, John Colville recorded his own hope that "marriage will change her and will also help to calm the vain and occasionally hysterical Eden. Churchill feels avuncular to his orphaned niece, gave her a cheque for £500 and told me he thought she had a most unusual personality" (Colville, p. 653).Eden was Churchill's de facto Deputy Prime Minister, former wartime Foreign Secretary, and future successor as Prime Minister. Clarissa married Eden at Caxton Hall on 14 August. The reception followed at 10 Downing Street, where Churchill made a speech. The union of the Churchill and Eden families attracted great press interest and large crowds.

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