A sweet letter written by King Charles to his poorly ‘granny’ in 1955 when he was only six years old has been discovered in a loft – together with a copy of the Queen’s 1956 Christmas speech!
The letter on Buckingham Palace notepaper, dated March 15, 1955, reads,’Dear Granny, I am sorry that you are ill. I hope you will be better soon’. The flipside of the page reads,’Lots of love from Charles’. Underneath the large, neat handwriting is a childlike mixture of colourful doodle art and kisses.
The extraordinary find was made during a Christmas break clear-out by a couple who live near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire – and they were gob-smacked. They had no idea the royal letter existed.
The seller, a 49-year-old farm manager, said: “We finally had the time to look through a big box file that my mother had given to us. It turned out it had belonged to my late grandad Roland Stockdale.
“It contained lots of royal memorabilia, including a letter from Prince Charles to his grandmother. My wife said ‘wow, look at that!’ We were pretty gobsmacked but we weren’t sure whether anyone would be interested in it.
“My grandad passed away in his 70s in 1983 and the folder was inherited by my dad, who subsequently passed it to my mum over 10 years ago. She never had chance to look through it and gave it to my wife and I.
“Finally, at Christmas we had a bit of time to look through my grandad’s folder. For the last 30 to 40 years it’s been gathering dust inside various lofts.
“The royal memorabilia was a surprise but there is a simple explanation. My grandad, originally a farm worker from Carlisle, moved to London to find work and got a job with the Metropolitan Police. He went on to work for the Queen’s personal protection force during the 1950s. The file includes pictures of him in the Information Room in Scotland Yard in 1952.
“I was told he was originally involved in helping to protect the Queen Mother but he probably worked with several royals over time.”
Roland was also highly regarded by William Tallon, or ‘Backstairs Billy’, the Queen Mother’s devoted servant as correspondence in the collection is from him. It includes a postcard sent to Roland in January, 1983 from Sandringham which begins ‘Dear Sarg, Queen Elizabeth told me this morning that you are not well…’
A few weeks later on February 7, 1983 Tallon offered his condolences to Mrs Stockdale following Roland’s death. A letter to her on Clarence House headed paper reads, ‘I am so dreadfully sorry to hear … of your very sad loss and the family have all my deepest sympathy at this awful moment in time. I always thought most highly of Ron (the best and kindest Sgt we ever had). I only hope that all was peaceful at the end and that he didn’t have to suffer’.
The seller said: “My grandad was a man of few words and never really spoke about his time working with the royal family but he was clearly well thought of.
“I have absolutely no idea how he came to have the letter written by King Charles when he was a boy. It’s one of many things he kept. The file includes royal menus, an invitation to a dance at Balmoral Castle for his wife Audrey Stockdale, a note signed by the Queen Mother and a George VI Memorial Westminster booklet from October 21, 1955.”
Another surprising discovery in the collection, which will be offered by Hansons Auctioneers on March 7, is a booklet entitled ‘The Words of Her Majesty The Queen, Christmas Day Nineteen Hundred and Fifty-Six’. It is a copy of the Queen’s 1956 Christmas broadcast which she delivered live from her study in Sandringham, Norfolk.
Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Actioneers, said: “These rare royal finds are remarkable, even more so when you consider the family had no idea they had them in their care for around 40 years.
“We all hang on to items throughout our life, such as cards and letters. Roland did the same and, like the vast majority of us, never thought to mention them to his family.
“He was clearly a devoted royal servant who treasured any snippet of royal memorabilia offered to him. It is clear from the tone of the correspondence that the royal family held Roland in high regard for his kindness.
“It has long been normal practice for members of the royal family to gave away small keepsakes and personal mementos to valued servants. Such was the warmth felt for Roland, it appears the Queen Mother allowed him to keep one or two special items.
“The childhood letter from King Charles, written with painstaking care on lined paper, is heart-warming. Amid recent royal family rifts it is lovely to see a simple demonstration of affection sent from a boy to his granny.”
The get well letter from Prince Charles has an estimate £2,000-£3,000 while the Queen’s Christmas Day Speech, privately printed and very scarce, is guided at £100-£200. Other items include three small gift tags signed by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, circa 1960, £300-£500; a note card inscribed and signed by the Queen Mother, £100-£150 and two letters by Backstairs Billy, £50-£80.
The items will be offered in Hansons Auctioneers’ March 7 Library Auction.
To find out more, email charles@adrian
Picture credit. Image of Charles in letter montage: Credit Library and Archives Canada, e010949328 / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, e010949328, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
