It is probaby little known that at the end of 1992 Ivy Benson was being
considered for an "Honour" in the Queens Birthday List,
for her wonderful contribution over 50 years to music.

We have three interesting letters concerning this event dated November 1992
and January and February 1993. The first one(November 1992)
was from a very close friend of Ivy's named Martyn Heinburg,
sent to various members of the band, asking if they would support
his intention of proposing Ivy's name being put forward.

The second, from the Cabinet Office indicates that many letters
of support were provided and that things were going forward.

It is very sad to say that only a few short weeks after the dates on these
letters, Ivy passed away, and the deserved Honour was never presented.
I believe that some advance notice is usually given to propective
recipients, and I hope that Ivy was aware of possibility of this deserved award.

Please click to see the Letters - Letter 1; Letter 2; Letter 3.

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