A rare letter from the Queen to her midwife gushing over the ‘good as gold’ newborn Prince Edward has been unearthed.
The handwritten message, written in 1964, sees the monarch talking about her ‘wonderful’ baby and telling how he ‘makes everyone happy’.
Edward, the Queen’s fourth and youngest child, was born on March 10 at Buckingham Palace and five months later his proud mother said he was ‘good as gold, trying to sit up and weighing 15 lbs 12 oz’.
The one-page handwritten letter, signed ‘Elizabeth R’ on Buckingham Palace letterhead, is dated August 5, 1964 and due to be sold by Boston-based RR Auction.
Written from Eastbourne, Sussex, the letter to ‘Rowie,’ her midwife Helen Rowe, says: ‘I am terribly sorry we never got in touch with you before you left London.
Baby prince: Edward, the Queen’s fourth and youngest child, was born on March 10 and his proud mother said he was ‘good as gold, trying to sit up and weighing 15 lbs 12 oz’
‘The baby is flourishing’: The one-page handwritten letter, signed ‘Elizabeth R’ on Buckingham Palace letterhead, is dated August 5, 1964 and due to be sold by Boston-based RR Auction
‘Mabel was ill in bed when you wrote, and I confess I misread your letter in a great hurry and remembered the wrong day you put down, and when I was away at Arundel last week, I suddenly was reminded of your letter and of course it was too late by then!
‘The baby is wonderful—good as gold, trying to sit up and weighing 15 lbs 12!
‘He smiles and giggles at everyone, and makes everyone happy! Charles, I’m thankful to say, is better but very frail as yet. I hope we see you when we return in October.’
The letter is being sold with its original mailing envelope, addressed by the queen, who adds her initials next to her personal stamp, ‘ER.’
At the time of Edward’s birth, the 15-year-old Prince of Wales was convalescing from a bout of pneumonia after having been taken ill during a camping trip with other boys from Gordonstoun School.
Midwife Helen Rowe was present for the births of all four of Queen Elizabeth II’s children, as well as for the offspring of other British elite and royalty (pictured here with a newborn Prince Andrew and his siblings Charles and Anne)
Proud mother: The handwritten message, written in 1964, sees the monarch talking about her ‘wonderful’ baby and telling how he ‘makes everyone happy’
A trainee at King’s College Hospital, London, who later transferred to the Middlesex Hospital for Midwifery, Sister Helen Rowe was Britain’s most famous midwife.
Rowe was present for the births of all four of Queen Elizabeth II’s children, as well as for the children of other British elite and royalty.
According to her 1966 obituary in the Glasgow Herald, she disliked the limelight. After a royal birth she would slip quietly away to her home, entering and leaving such places as Buckingham Palace by side doors.
A second letter is to Mabel Anderson, who was nanny to all four of Elizabeth’s children; she retired in 1981 after 32 years of service.
This letter, also up for auction, is to Mabel Anderson, nanny to all four of Elizabeth’s children; she retired in 1981 after 32 years. The Queen says: ‘Goodness, what fun it is to have a baby in the house again!’ and talks about how Prince Andrew is ‘fascinated’ by his baby brother
Also included in the Royal section of the auction is a Queen Elizabeth letter stating, ‘Goodness, what fun it is to have a baby in the house again!’
The one-page letter signed ‘Lilibet,’ on Buckingham Palace letterhead, March 23, 1964 – just two weeks after Edward’s birth.
It says: ‘What lovely flowers arrived from you today! It was extremely kind of you to send them when all my others had faded and gone, thank you very much indeed for the thoughts and for your congratulations.
‘The baby is flourishing and gaining weight splendidly—he is a great joy to us all, especially to Andrew who is completely fascinated by him.
‘In fact he considers him his own property, even telling Charles and Anne to “come and see my baby!” Goodness, what fun it is to have a baby in the house again!’