Lady Angela Oswald, a former lady-in-waiting to the Queen Mother, has described the late Queen Elizabeth as 'extraordinarily kind', but her experience with HM Revenue and Customs has been far less favourable. The 87-year-old aristocrat and former courtier was left distressed by 'threatening' letters from HMRC that wrongly accused her of failing to pay £15,300 in stamp duty.
'I was terrified to receive a demand for alleged non-payment of stamp duty – plus added interest for alleged non-payment in time,' she said. 'Luckily my daughter provided proof of my innocence – that the stamp duty had indeed been paid, many months earlier and in good time.' Despite providing conclusive evidence, the taxman continued to badger her. 'I still received two further threatening demands, then silence and subsequently no apology for having had false allegations made against me,' she added.
Lady Angela, the youngest daughter of the 6th Marquess of Exeter, resides in King's Lynn near King Charles's Sandringham estate in Norfolk. Her husband of 63 years, Sir Michael Oswald, died five years ago at age 86. He was Queen Elizabeth's horse racing adviser and manager of the Royal Stud for nearly 30 years. Their children are son William and daughter Katherine.
Relieved after her ordeal, Lady Angela confirmed that HMRC eventually 'stopped sending anything' but 'never acknowledged the error'. She expressed concern for others: 'If I hadn't been lucky enough to have a son and daughter who can cope with these sorts of affairs – if I'd just been on my own, a vulnerable person – I might have been so frightened receiving that demand that I might have just paid. It's been sorted out as far as I'm concerned, but I'm worried about how many other people have suffered from this.'
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