BALMORAL CASTLE ‘Macaroni Au Gratin...’ A Menu Card in French

Small cream card embossed with the rare personal cipher of George VI and Queen Elizabeth in gilt (reserved for private use); gold edges and the menu. The text has been printed by an unknown process.

August 22 1938 was the 5th birthday of the monarch’s youngest daughter, Princess Margaret. That summer saw the first Royal family gathering at Balmoral after the previous year’s Coronation of George VI and the Royal family, along with the young princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret, arrived at Aberdeen by sea for their annual visit on August 4th - apparently thrilling the two little girls. Despite a semblance of normality the threat of war was already looming and Prime Minister Nevil Chamberlain would visit Balmoral several times that summer to brief the King on the German threat to Czechoslovakia.