Handwritten letter penned by Queen Elizabeth II as a child sells for 25k at auction

"A childhood letter penned by the late Queen Elizabeth II when she was around 10-years-old has sold for 25,000 at auction in Kent. The single-page letter, addressed to Beatrice Stillman, the head housemaid at Royal Lodge in Windsor, was expected to sell for 4,000. Charles Hanson of Hansons Auctioneers said the response to the sale was wild."

"In the letter, believed to be written between 1936 and 1940, the late queen said that she hoped that 'the birds are well, and the gold-fish haven't died.' She also talked about the primroses she had picked, and requested they be shared among the staff at Royal Lodge. The note is signed: Love from Elizabeth."

"It was written while the late Queen was at Praa Sands, and was one of several addressed to Ms Stillman that were discovered in 2024. The archives had been passed on to Jean Westacott, Ms Stillman's niece, and were found in a suitcase under her bed by her family after she died."

A handwritten letter from young Queen Elizabeth II, written between 1936 and 1940 when she was around 10 years old, sold at auction in Kent for £25,000, far surpassing its anticipated £4,000 value. The single-page letter was addressed to Beatrice Stillman, head housemaid at Royal Lodge in Windsor, and contained personal observations about the household's birds, goldfish, and primroses the young princess had picked. The letter was signed "Love from Elizabeth." The correspondence was discovered in 2024 among archived letters passed to Jean Westacott, Ms. Stillman's niece, found in a suitcase under her bed after Westacott's death. Auctioneers described the sale response as exceptionally enthusiastic.

Read at www.independent.co.uk