A handwritten letter penned by the late Queen Elizabeth II as a girl sold for £25,000 in Kent today <feb 27> – smashing its guide price of £2,000-£4,000.
The doodle-filled note sparked an online battle between would-be buyers in America and the UK, before selling to a father from Essex who bought it for his six-year-old daughter.
Justin Matthews, from Hansons Auctioneers’ Penshurst saleroom, said: “It was an amazing result. When I first saw the letter, it gave me goosebumps.
“In 37 years in the business I had never seen anything like it and sure enough it went on to attract worldwide interest. We had bids from all around the UK and world, including Hong Kong, but we were delighted the determination of the buyer meant it stayed in the UK.”
The buyer from Southend, who didn’t want to be named, said he wasn’t a monarchist but bought the letter to inspire his young daughter.
He said: “If I can encourage my daughter to be as respectful to everyone around her as the girl who wrote that letter, then it’s £25,000 well spent. In fact it would be the best investment in her education I could make.”
He said he had been touched by the letter’s contents having seen it on a news website and paid for it using money earmarked for a new kitchen – admitting he might now be “cooking on a Bunsen burner”.
He called the purchase “a moment of madness” which he didn’t regret and now plans to frame the letter and hang it in his daughter’s room.
The one-page note, including well-drawn doodles of dogs, horses, children and highwaymen, was addressed to Beatrice Stillman who in 1936 became the head housemaid at Royal Lodge in Windsor.
It was discovered in a suitcase two years ago by her great nephew William Westacott a farmer from Sevenoaks.
Mr Westacott, who attended the auction with his wife and daughter, said: “I am stunned and overjoyed by the result, and delighted to see how much excitement the letter evoked from so many people all over the world.”
The letter was written by the young princess, aged around 10, while on holiday in Praa Sands in Cornwall. In it she asks “If the birds are well, and the gold-fish haven’t died.”
The letter reads:
Sea Side, Sea Mead, Praa Sands
Dear Beatrice,
I am sending you some primroses we picked, wild. There are some pale pink ones as well as the yellow. It is very lovely here. We can go down on to the beach from the garden. I hope the birds are well, and the gold-fish haven’t died. Will you please give Cootie (Miss Coote I mean) and Mrs Wade some of the primroses to share. Jock is very well and happy here. Nanny and Joanna send their love to you.
Love from Elizabeth.
Charles Hanson, who was on the rostrum, said: “A great result for King and country! This is one of the most remarkable letters written by this country’s longest serving monarch and it was a privilege to sell it. Bidding was intense and I commend the buyer for keeping the letter in this country. A truly great sale.”
The letter was part of a larger archive of royal memorabilia including Christmas cards owned by Beatrice Stillman including one lot of ration books and signed photographs which raced past its guide price of £50-£80 to sell for £3,600.
Stillman joined the royal household in 1936 when Princess Elizabeth was 10 and Princess Margaret, six.
The relationship was clearly a warm one, sparking a lifelong correspondence between the Queen Mother and Beatrice, who went on to marry Alfred Twyman, a gardener at Windsor Castle, in 1946.
