Lady Violet Catherine 'Letty' Manners (24 April 1888 – 23 December 1971) was the fourth of the five children of Henry John Brinsley Manners, Marquess of Granby, who on the death of his father in 1906 succeeded as 8^th Duke of Rutland, and his wife, (Marion Margaret) Violet, daughter of Col. The Hon. Charles Hugh Lindsay and granddaughter of James Lindsay, 24^th Earl of Crawford. Her two sisters were Lady (Victoria) Marjorie Harriet Manners (1883-1946), who married Charles Paget, 6^th Marquess of Anglesey, and Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners (1892-1986), who in 1919 married the Conservative party politician and diplomat, Alfred Duff Cooper, created Viscount Norwich in 1952. All three sisters were striking beauties, talented and well known in society. Lady Diana Cooper, a favourite photographs' model, became familiar through her film and stage work, particularly as the Madonna in the 1924 revival and subsequent tours of Max Reinhardt's The Miracle.

Lady Violet's marriage on 1 February 1911 at St. Margaret's, Westminster to Hugo Francis Charteris, later Lord Elcho (28 December 1884 – 23 April 1916), eldest son of Hugo Richard Charteris, 11^th Earl of Wemyss and his wife, Mary Constance, a daughter of the Hon. Percy Scawen Wyndham, was one of the events of that year's social calendar. It was widely reported in the Press, especial interest being paid to the bride's outfit.

'Like the dresses of her attendants, her own wedding gown struck a mediæval note, with the splendid peacock with out-spread tail, which figures in the Rutland coat of arms, blazoned in gold at one corner of the long train, a great gold swan, the Wemyss crest, at the other. The train itself was of fairylike lightness, though the effect of the gold brocaded with while velvet was magnificent.

The dress was of ivory charmeuse with corsage and tunic of old English point lace, the tunic falling nearly to the foot of the dress and caught at the waist with gold. The old lace veil thrown back from the face was filleted in cap fashion, with green leaves massed together and starred with orange blossoms. The beautiful [ruby and diamond] brooch which was Queen Alexandra's gift was worn, together with a [long] diamond chain, the gift of her father. A sheaf of Madonna lilies made a fitting bouquet for a bride who might have stepped from an old picture.'

It is clear that the Duchess of Rutland, an artist and sculptor, who had been a member of The Souls (as had Lady Violet's new parents-in-law and other members of their circle), had an important hand in her daughter's wedding arrangements.

'The bridesmaids were Lady Marjorie Manners and Lady Diana Manners (sisters of the bride), the Hon. Mary Charteris and the Hon. Irene Charteris (sisters of the bridegroom), Miss Nancy Lindsay and Miss Elizabeth Manners (cousins of the bride), the Hon. Irene Lawley (daughter of Lord and Lady Westlock), and Miss Felicity Tree (daughter of [the celebrated actor manager] Sir Herbert and Lady Beerbohm Tree). Most people know Botticelli's picture ''Primavera,'' in the original or in its re-productions, and those in the Church who had seen it were quick to note that the central figure in that vision of springtide had inspired the idea carried out in the dress of Lady Violet's attendants. The simply-fashioned dresses were of crepe-de-chine, in the colour of old parchment, just faintly tinged with the rosy pink of the lining powdered over the surface, and exquisitely wrought by hand with flowers and leaves in their natural colours, looking as if they had been thrown carelessly on to the dress. Beneath these overdresses, which were belted with gold embroidery, showed a petticoat of velvet in a soft shade of old rose. The head-dresses, copied from one in a Botticelli's picture [sic], consisted of a short veil of parchment-coloured tulle, wrought at the border with gold and filleted with red roses, so as to form a graceful cap. The roses, bunched above the ears and forming a half-wreath at the back, proved remarkably becoming to the young wearers.

'The two little girls who completed the bridal group were the bride's cousins – Miss Nancy Lindsay and Miss Elizabeth Manners. Their frocks, which were fashioned in quaint.mes diæval style, were of shot pink and white ninon, and had grey turn-over collars. Their cap-like veils were filleted with red roses, and like the grown-up bridesmaids each carried a sheaf of red roses, and wore an enamel plaque pendant.' (Grantham Journal, Grantham, Saturday, 4 February 1911, p. 3)

The pendants were of special interest and caught the eye of a reporter from The Daily Mirror, which in its early days was aimed at a female readership. In fact, the paper's manifesto, published in its first edition of 2 November 1903, stated that, the paper was to be 'no mere bulletin of fashions, but a reflection of women's interests, women's thought, women's work. The sane and healthy occupations of domestic life, and the developments of art and science in the design and arrangements of the home of all classes, the daily news of the world, the interests of literature and art. . . .' And to attract its first readers' attention, the first page was covered in advertisements submitted by a few of London's first dressmakers and milliners: Paquin Ltd., Redfern, Debenham & Freebody, Peter Robinson Ltd., and Victory's Furs, as well as by Tiffany & Co. soliciting visitors to view its stock of precious stones, jewellery, silverware and Favrile glass.

The reporter was shown the pendants, which had been designed by the Duchess of Rutland herself. They 'consist of what might be described as flat slabs of jade or lapazuli [sic], mounted in gold. They are of oblong form, and varying in size, the smaller ones being intended for the child bridesmaids. The largest pendant is about 2in. by 1 ¾ in., and the smallest 2in. by 1in. Engraved on each pendant is the motto: ''Ego Sum Lætitia'' (''I am joy'').' The actual maker of these pieces was 'a little old man with white hair,' a working jeweller by the name of Charles Tree (1848-1929), no relation to Sir Herbert, whose quaint premises, 'which may justly be described as an old curiosity shop,' was at 109 Walton Street, Chelsea. In conclusion, the The Daily Mirror stated that 'Mrs. Tree [Esther Joice Tree, née Kleinmann, 1843-1922] was nursery governess to the Duchess when the latter was a little girl, and has found in her a lifelong friend' and that Mr. Tree had been winding the Duke's clocks at the Rutlands' Arlington Street house for forty years. (The Daily Mirror, London, Friday, 27 January 1911, p. 5c)

The pendants' motto, 'Ego Sum Laetitia,' while translating literally as 'I am joy,' was also an allusion to the married couple; Lord Elcho was 'Ego' to his intimates and Lady Violet was familiarly known as 'Letty' (Laetitia). Thus 'Ego Sum Laetitia' also means 'Ego is Laetitia.'

Lady Violet and her husband, Lord Elcho, had two sons: (Francis) David Charteris (19 January 1912 – 12 December 2008), who succeeded as 12^th Earl of Wemyss upon the death of his grandfather in 1937; and Lt.-Col. Martin Michael Charles Charteris, Baron Charteris of Amisfield (7 September 1913 – 23 December 1999), who was Private Secretary to H.M. The Queen from 1972 and 1977 and afterwards Provost of Eton College.