Letters of Patent – Baroness O’Neill

We were recently asked to frame this “Letters Patent” complete with the rather large (and heavy) seal and the coat of arms.

Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title or status to a person or corporation.

This honour was awarded to one of our regular customers, Teresa, who has been nominated to sit as a peer in the House of Lords and has been awarded a life peerage and bestowed with the title of Baroness O’Neill of Bexley OBE by King Charles III and was one of his first since his succession.

The customer wanted a navy blue frame that was not deep enough to accommodate the seal. In order to satisfy her wishes, we came up with a solution where we used two frames back-to-back, in order to create the required depth for the seal. The seal and the scroll were on a heavy parchment paper (with a mind of its own – and its mind was to curl up!) which was folded over at the base, to which the seal was attached with a cord.

The scroll was then held in place by a window mount and the seal was surface mounted with clear acrylic clips to a back mount, with an aperture for the crest of arms.

A spacer (or “fillet”) was then used to keep the glass away from touching the seal.

This collection of items did require some careful planning and great care was needed in handling the scroll and seal, but we feel our efforts were rewarded by our solution.  It looks simple and straightforward, displaying the items neatly and robustly.

Great credit to Indika the framer for a job very well done.

Needless to say, Baroness O’Neill was delighted with the result.