A British collectibles dealer is selling an extraordinary personal letter from the Queen to an old friend.
Reeling from the death of her father, George VI, Princess Elizabeth, aged just 25, had to grow up quickly in 1952.
Although George VI’s health problems were well known, he was just 56 when he died. Elizabeth was a young mother with two children under four.
She was about to become Queen of one of world’s great powers at a time of great change. Her father had been crowned Emperor of India, she would be the head of the Commonwealth.
But this letter is a long way from the pomp and circumstance of official Royal life.
Paul Fraser, Chairman of Paul Fraser Collectibles, who are selling the letter, explains.
“When you understand the details. The nuance. The history. This becomes one of the most moving royal objects I’ve ever offered,” he says.
The letter is written to Miss “Woggs”. She is Ethel Taylor, a housekeeper at a house near Hyde Park, with whom Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret became close after regular meetings in the park, where Miss Taylor walked her employer’s dog, Woggles.
Bordered in black to mark its solemnity, the letter illuminates the Queen’s personality and childhood. Image courtesy of Paul Fraser Collectibles.
Miss Taylor has, like many, many others, sent her sympathies on the passing of George VI. She received a personal reply.
Mr Fraser adds: “The Queen’s genuinely warm and unpretentious character comes across in these lines. 16 years after they last met, she still calls Mrs Taylor by her nickname.
“It’s a window too into Elizabeth’s relatively normal upbringing. She was never meant to be Queen. But her uncle Edward VIII’s abdication in 1936 changed everything.”
The letter, says Mr Fraser, is handwritten by the queen, making it “vanishingly rare”, with “the most relaxed, most natural handwriting I’ve ever seen in a letter from the Queen.”
A rare, early example of the Queen’s signature as monarch, R for Regina. Image courtesy of Paul Fraser Collectibles.
A very early example of the Queen signing as monarch, with the R for Regina, that signals her status as one of the most powerful women in the world.
But, as Mr Fraser says: “This isn’t official correspondence. This is the Queen’s genuine character. This has the feel of a woman writing to an old friend – which is exactly what it is.”
The British Royal Family has a huge fanbase, and a vibrant collecting scene.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 added a premium to items associated with her, with good-quality, signed items doubling in value.
This letter, a revealing and historic document, is listed for sale at the Paul Fraser Collectibles website now.
