You Can Say That If You Like

Belgravia apartment in building where Diana, Princess of Wales’ maternal grandmother lived, plotted and died for sale for a sum 165% higher than it sold for in 2003

The residence of brewery baron and Unionist politician The Rt. Hon. George Younger, 1^st Viscount Younger of Leckie (1851 – 1929) in the 1920s, 36 Eaton Square in Belgravia is the key building in what is often termed “London’s most sought after residential address”.

Later the home of Ruth Roche, The Rt. Hon. The Lady Fermoy, DCVO, OBE (1908 – 1993), a first and second floor maisonette within this Grosvenor Estates owned building is currently for sale through Knight Frank for £7.95 million ($9.90 million, €9.38 million or درهم36.38 million).

Sold last for £3 million in December 2003 (the equivalent of £4.4 million, $5.5 million, €5.2 million or درهم20.1 million today), the 2,230 square foot flat offered is held on a lease with 54 years remaining. This could be extended to 144 years by separate negotiation and presently the space is arranged to provide a double height entrance hallway, a large drawing room with a 12’8” ceiling height and access to a balcony, a dining room, a small kitchen, a study, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a utility room and a cloakroom.

A confidante of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother and the maternal grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales, Lady Fermoy gave up her career as a pianist on marriage and became an Extra Woman of the Bedchamber in 1956. Though she is said to have engineered the union between her granddaughter and the Prince of Wales, when asked she always remarked: “You can say that if you like – but it simply wouldn’t be true”.

Lady Fermoy died at 36 Eaton Square on 6^th July 1993, aged 84.