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Auction: 1008 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 40

The G.C.V.O., K.C.B. Group of Six to Sir Francis Henry Laking, Surgeon-Apothecary in Ordinary to Queen Victoria, and Physician in Ordinary to King Edward VII and King George V a) The Royal Victorian Order, Knight Grand Cross (G.C.V.O.) set of Insignia, sash Badge, 72mm, silver-gilt and enamel, reverse officially numbered ´20´; Star, 90mm, silver, silver-gilt, and enamel, with gold retaining pin, reverse officially numbered ´20´, extremely fine, with a short section of sash riband for display purposes b) The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Civil Division, Knight Commander´s (K.C.B.) Star, 75mm, silver, silver-gilt, and enamel, with gold retaining pin c) Jubilee 1887, silver, with 1897 Bar d) Coronation 1902, silver e) Coronation 1911 f) Norway, Kingdom, Haakon VII Coronation Medal 1906, silver, lacquered, extremely fine, with the recipient´s miniature awards, the K.C.B. not represented, and the original ´Spy´ Portrait of Sir Francis Laking, mounted in a glazed frame (7) Estimate £ 1,800-2,200 G.C.V.O. London Gazette 22.8.1902 Sir Francis Henry Laking, Bart., K.C.V.O. K.C.V.O. London Gazette 27.9.1898 Sir Francis Henry Laking, M.D. ´In recognition of his services in connection with the recent accident met with by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.´ K.C.B. London Gazette 3.6.1910 Sir Francis Henry Laking, Bart, G.C.V.O., M.D. Sir Francis Henry Laking, Bt., G.C.V.O., K.C.B., was born in Kensington, London, in January 1847, the son of Francis William Laking, Esq., and was educated at St. George´s Hospital and at Heidelberg, taking the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1869. Appointed Surgeon-Apothecary in Ordinary to Queen Victoria, he was Knighted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace, in July 1893 (London Gazette 11.7.1893), and in 1898 was created a Knight Commander of the newly-instituted Royal Victorian Order. Following the accession of King Edward VII in 1901, he was appointed one of three Physicians in Ordinary to the King. Raised to a Baronetcy of the United Kingdom in July 1902 (London Gazette 25.7.1902), he continued as Physician in Ordinary to the King following the accession of King George V in 1910. In the opinion of the Sergeant Surgeon to the Court, Sir Frederick Treeves, Laking represented ´in appearance and bearing a fine realization of the esteemed physician; his immaculate dress, his kindly face, his quiet voice, and the old world dignity of his manner, all helped to form a conception of a type that could not well be improved upon.´ Sir Francis Laking died at home in St. James´s, London, in May, 1914. Sir Francis Laking was portrayed by ´Spy´ (Sir Leslie Ward) as ´The King´s Physician´ in his famous and long-running series of caricatures for Vanity Fair, appearing in the magazine on the 19th February 1903.

Sold for
£3,300