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Official Description & Notes

This pen was held and used by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for the opening of the Royal Air Force Museum on the 15th of November 1972.

This object was donated by Group Captain Peter Clubbe, OBE RAF (Ret'd), Officer Commanding Royal Air Force Hendon in 1972-75, in 1993 to mark the twenty-first anniversary of the opening of the Museum. He recalled the following.

“Why such an inconspicuous pen?

Headquarters Maintenance Command had loaned an ornate silver pen stand and quill pen to be used at the Royal Opening. About 1.00pm on the day a very flustered Flight Lieutenant i/c Ceremony arrived in my office with the news that the Palace had advised that the Queen would not use a quill pen. What was he to do? (The Queen was due to arrive at 3.00pm). I advised him that he could either go up and down the Edgware Road looking for a replacement pen (with most of the shops closed for lunch) or he could take my new pen from my office desk.

He took my pen! It has not been used since.”

This artefact resides in our Stafford store as part of our Reserve Collection, with thousands of other objects. It was chosen by our Curator of Reserve Collections, Ewen Cameron. We have big plans to move our reserve collection to the RAF Museum Midlands site.

To adopt this artefact, please visit our website at: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/support-us/adopt-an-artefact/