INVREF#CL8-16

This is an official condolence reply letter from Buckingham Palace dated September 28, 1979. It was sent to a Mrs. A. Padberg following her message of sympathy regarding the assassination of Lord Mountbatten. 

Key Contextual Details

• The Event: Lord Louis Mountbatten—uncle to Prince Philip and second cousin to Queen Elizabeth II—was assassinated by the IRA on August 27, 1979, when a bomb destroyed his fishing boat in Mullaghmore, Ireland. 

• The Message: The letter uses the traditional formulaic language of the British Royal Household: "I am commanded by The Queen to thank you for your kind message...". This indicates that the monarch acknowledged the condolence message and directed her staff to send a formal response. 

• The Signee: The document is hand addressed and hand-signed at the bottom by the Queen's Private Secretary Sir William Heseltine acting on her behalf. 

About the assassination of Lord Mountbatten retired British statesman and cousin to Queen Elizabeth II, was assassinated on 27 August 1979 off the coast of Mullaghmore, Ireland. Thomas McMahon, an Irish republican and a volunteer for the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), planted a bomb on Mountbatten's boat, the cabin cruiser Shadow V, during Mountbatten's annual summer trip to Classiebawn Castle, his house on the Mullaghmore Peninsula.

The IRA had planned the attack for several months. A bomb team, which included McMahon, constructed a device containing fifty pounds (23 kg) of the explosive gelignite. McMahon placed this on Shadow V on the night of 26 August 1979 before he and his accomplice, Francis McGirl, drove away. They were arrested during a routine stop eighty miles (130 km) from Mullaghmore. McGirl did not have the papers to prove his identity or ownership of the car, and so both men were held by the Garda Síochána, the Irish police force.

The bomb was detonated less than two hours later, killing Mountbatten, his grandson Nicholas and Nicholas's grandmother Doreen. Also killed was Paul Maxwell, a boy who was crewing for Mountbatten. Three other passengers were severely injured. When news of the bombing broke, McMahon and McGirl were charged. Five hours after the bomb went off, the IRA ambushed a British Army patrol with two roadside bombs, killing eighteen British soldiers. The attacks were condemned by world leaders and by the media in both the UK and Ireland.

Buyer pays shipping. See photos for more details.