This month she followed in her late mother’s footsteps by being announced as the new president of the Royal Ballet School.
Lady Sarah Chatto, 60, takes up the role almost 70 years after the late Princess Margaret became president of the prestigious institution in 1956.
But her new position is far from a mere formality, as Lady Sarah follows in her mother’s footsteps and is a dance and ballet enthusiast.
Adorable photographs taken by her father, photographer Lord Snowdon, in October 1974, when Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones was 10, show her enjoying a ballet class.
The Daily Mail reported at the time how the young royal, dressed in a leotard and elegant ballet slippers, took lessons every Monday evening in Hammersmith, west London.
Lady Sarah Chatto at a ballet class in Hammersmith, west London, in 1974. The image was taken by her father, Lord Snowdon. She was receiving instruction from Dame Ninette de Valois, the founder of the Royal Ballet School
Lady Sarah, pictured above at Royal Ascot earlier this month, was recently appointed as the new president of the Royal Ballet School.
For the photo shoot, Lady Sarah had the best teacher any little girl could imagine: dance icon and founder of the Royal Ballet School, Dame Ninette de Valois.
Dame Ninette was seen testing Lady Sarah by placing her arms and legs in the correct positions.
The Mail report said: “After the personal lesson, Dame Ninette placed the young dancer in the hands of former Royal Ballet dancer Miss Nora Roche.
‘Princess Margaret, who was also a young ballet dancer, did not have to encourage her daughter to attend classes. She loves to dance.
‘But before any lesson begins, the shoes have to be tied securely, which is no easy task with so much pink ribbon to wrap around little ankles.
—But it’s all worth it. Miss Roche gives Lady Sarah lessons for an hour a week. An hour of lessons that Lady Sarah looks forward to all week…
Lady Sarah Chatto (left) seen at a ballet class in Hammersmith, west London, in 1974. The image was taken by her father, the Earl of Snowdon.
Lady Ninette de Valois corrects Lady Sarah’s posture during her lesson with the dance icon
Lady Sarah with her mother, Princess Margaret, her father, Lord Snowdon, and her brother David in 1974
Lady Sarah takes a photograph with her father in Windsor in 1978
Lady Sarah receives a bouquet from dance students when she was Vice President of the Royal Ballet School, 2009
Daily Mail report from October 1974 revealing Lady Sarah’s ballet lesson
Lady Sarah took over as President of the Royal Ballet School after King Charles resigned from the role and became a patron.
She previously served as Vice President since 2004.
During her tenure as President, Princess Margaret regularly attended performances by both students of the school and professionals from the Royal Ballet Company.
Lady Sarah, Princess Margaret’s only daughter, has long been a supporter of the arts.
Her interest was fostered in part by her late father, who divorced Margaret in 1978, when Lady Sarah was 14, after 18 years of marriage.
Lady Sarah studied at Camberwell School of Art and then at the Royal Academy Schools.
He spent two years with his father in India when he was working as a photographer for the 1984 film A Passage to India.
The royal has long been a respected artist in her own right and her work is regularly displayed in exhibitions and at London’s Redfern Gallery.
