Lady Sarah Chatto made a touching sartorial nod to her mother, Princess Margaret, during a surprise appearance at the Royal Ascot this week.
Born in 1964, Lady Sarah is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister, Princess Margaret, and her then-husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones (who became the 1st Earl of Snowdon after his marriage).
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While she was known for her close relationship with the late monarch, she tends to live largely out of the public eye and very rarely makes public appearances alongside other members of the royal family. Yet this week, she joined other senior members of the royal family at Ascot, beaming as she sat alongside Princess Anne for the royal carriage procession.
Dressed in a vibrant blue dress and matching wide-brimmed hat, Lady Sarah was the epitome of elegance for the occasion. But perhaps most poignantly, the mother-of-two opted to wear Princess Margaret's jewels for the outing. Sweeping her dark hair behind her ears, Lady Sarah revealed Princess Margaret’s Diamond Star Earrings, which she inherited from her mother's collection after her death in 2002. She also pinned a glittering star brooch to her chest.
Sarah's brother David, formerly Viscount Linley, inherited their father’s title on his death. Both Lady Sarah and her brother enjoyed a close relationship with Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh and their four children growing up. The Queen was even described as a ‘surrogate mother’ to Lady Sarah following the death of Princess Margaret.
Their fringe position within the Royal Family grants Lady Sarah and her two sons a level of anonymity not afforded to more senior family members.
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Lady Sarah stepped into the spotlight in 1973, when she was a nine-year-old bridesmaid for her cousin, Princess Anne at her wedding to Captain Mark Phillips; and again for that of King Charles III (then Prince Charles), and the late Diana, Princess of Wales in 1981 . She also joined her mother and brother for an official royal trip in 1987, when Princess Margaret visited Hong Kong with her two children.
Sarah married Daniel Chatto on 14 July 1994 at St Stephen’s Walbrook in London, in an intimate ceremony that accommodated just 200 guests.
Lady Sarah, meanwhile, continues to work as an artist to this day. Represented by the Redfern Gallery, designer and curator Patrick Kinmonth has dubbed her work ‘a profound contemplation of the world she seeks to know and the method she has mastered.’ She has been honoured with awards including the Winsor & Newton Prize in 1988 and the Creswick Landscape Prize in 1990, regularly exhibiting at both the Redfern Gallery and open exhibitions. In the Redfern Gallery’s most recent solo show of her new paintings and watercolours, over three-quarters of her pieces were sold, largely consisting of expressive landscapes and natural forms rendered in rich, earthy colours. Lady Sarah Chatto has also been a champion for other areas of the arts, becoming vice president of the Royal Ballet (for which her mother was once president) in 2004.
