Next week, Spink will be carrying out a sale of pieces relating to Edward VIII under the heading 'Portraits of a Prince'. It will be mainly a coins and currency sale with around 250 lots on offer from a single collection: that of Joseph S Giordano.
However, we thought we'd take a look at one of the best medal lots in the sale: the set of eight medals belonging to Jack Horace Crisp.
Crisp's medals were the result not of exemplary military service, but devotion to the Royal family and especially to the Prince. However, the future king's valet (and butler, taking on the role briefly after another long serving Royal employee felt he had to leave).
The selection consists of: a Defence Medal 1939-45, Royal Victorian Medal, with E.VIII.R. cypher, silver Jubilee 1935, Coronation 1937, Coronation 1953, Jubilee 1977, Royal Household Long and Faithful Service, dated 1919-39, with 'Thirty Years' Bar (Crisp, Horace Jack) Denmark, Frederick IX, King's Medal of Recompense, 'gold' with crown.
 Jack Crisp's medals |
Of most interest as an exceptional piece of Royal memorabilia, the group's most notable piece is the Royal Victorian Medal, as only two are ever thought to have been awarded bearing King Edward's mark.
Crisp is notable being a key source of information on the state of Edward and his family, especially about the period in the run-up to his abdication. Crisp painted a picture of Wallis Simpsons as simply appalling, claiming that she once went around Fort Belvedere breaking the tip off every pencil in sight, thereby forcing the servants to sharpen each and every one of them again.
Edward asked Crisp to join him for his exile in the Caribbean, but Crisp declined, making him the last of many servants to leave Edward's employ in Britain following the confirmation of his marriage plans.
Crisp was re-employed as a Page of the Presence by King George VI, and afterwards a Page of the Chambers, and he finished his career as a Steward to H M Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, at Clarence House.
The medals are expected to achieve £6,000-10,000 in Spink's sale, which takes place on October 21 in London.
- Click here for all the latest Medals and Memorabilia news
