So thank you with all my heart darling, for your unfailing sweetness & thoughtfulness; and the darling children are a perpetual joy, so I am very grateful.
With much love to Philip, I was so sad to see him only for a minute, but he looked so well, & I long to hear more of his trip.
Your very loving
Mummy
13 September 1954 to Arthur Penn
Birkhall
My dear Arthur
[…] Thank you so very much for your last survey of the financial front. I am so grateful for all the trouble you are taking, & for the thought you have given to the many problems. […]
I don’t think that Mey will be very heavy – one must spread it out, and anyway I am praying for that.
So let’s hope for the best.
Perhaps an old person will leave me a million, what fun we’d have!
I am so looking forward to seeing you here,
Yours ever,
Elizabeth R
26 September 1954 to the Marchioness of Salisbury
The House of the Northern Gate
Dunnet
Caithness
Darling Betty,
I was wafted away on Friday morning, fresh from the delightful sophistication of a Rattigan* evening, straight into the sea & sky atmosphere of far away Caithness. I am writing in a little white room with the sea on three sides of the house, the wind, I am sorry to say, banging & whistling at the windows, the sea & sky blue & wild, and every moment of my delicious evening with you very clear in my mind. I enjoyed it all so very much, and am more touched than I can say by your sweet kindness in taking me to the theatre, and that heavenly dinner, & such nice people, & oh, what a pleasure it all was. Thank you a thousand times, I enjoyed every moment; from seeing Bobbety’s face when he saw the foie gras, the wonderful eternal thrill of seeing the curtains go up, the excellent brilliant play, Mr Rattigan’s round face, arriving at your lovely house, Mr Foster’s enthralling stories of murder, eating far too much very good food, sitting in your drawing room after dinner surrounded by those glorious gay flowers, and the joy of being with you both. Oh, it was fun.
Your loving friend
Elizabeth R
In October 1954 the Queen Mother embarked, in the Queen Elizabeth, on a tour of the US and Canada. The main purpose of the trip was the presentation of funds raised in memory of the King for the training of young people from the Commonwealth in the USA. In New York she stayed with the British Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Sir Pierson Dixon, and his wife, in their official home in Riverdale. In Washington she stayed at the residence of the British Ambassador, Sir Roger Makins, and his wife. On her return Winston Churchill wrote to her saying, ‘The maintenance, and continuous improvement, of friendship between the English-speaking peoples, and more especially the friendship between these islands and the great North American democracies, is the safeguard of the future. Your Majesty has made a notable contribution to this end.’*
5 November 1954 to Queen Elizabeth II
The White House
Washington
My Darling Lilibet
This is really the first opportunity I have had of putting pen to paper, as we have been dashing and rushing without stopping, & I have often sat down & picked up a pen, & then, knock on the door, can I speak to you for a minute! You know how it is.
I think that New York went off all right. The Dixons were very kind, & it made all the difference staying with them, tho’ it was about 25 minutes from the city. A very nice house, & how wonderful the American bathroom things are – millions of towels, large, medium, small, tiny, face flannels, in great profusion, and of course taken away at once if you even pick one up!
I find the whole thing a most tremendous effort, & it really is ghastly not having any family to laugh with. I have never been on a trip before alone, & it is hell.
Everybody is so kind, but very foreign – tho’ I do like the Americans very much. The main thing I have found that is wrong, is, that I have no equerry. It really is absolutely vital, and I can’t tell you how often I have longed for dear Patrick [Plunket].* Will you tell him how much I miss him, not only his work, but himself! Oliver [Harvey, her Private Secretary] is desperately busy coping with programmes & idiotic speeches & things like that, & I never realized how much one depended on someone to arrange & do liaison with all these protocol minded people.
The Pajama Game† was wonderful – very good tunes & I wish Margaret had come too.
I went shopping one day which was rather funny. The press came to the first shop, & I kept on meeting Eve Perrick round every counter! At the next one, a surging crowd of excited ladies filled the whole place, & about fifty policemen not only kept them away, but successfully made it impossible to see the goods! We got into a lift, & stopped it half way up & held a conference for about five minutes, Jean & me, 2 secret service people, four N.Y. policemen & the manager! We decided to make a run for it, & as we got out on a top floor, the doors of the other lift opened, & a mad rush of ladies roared out. It was exactly like a Marx brothers film, & I must say terribly funny. We eventually found a haven in a ‘Boutique’, & the hungry hordes were barred out.
I have never hated anything so much as the two big dinners, Columbia University, & the English Speaking Union. One sits on a dais, having dinner under a terrible glare of television & film lights, & you know how much I hate eating in public. It really is a nightmare, & they give one gigantic bits of meat, bigger than this sheet of paper, practically raw, & then instead of gravy, they pour a little blood over it. Oh boy (I always think of Margaret).
I had a very nice evening with the Douglases,* & then flew here yesterday. It’s all very different to the Roosevelts – terribly protocol, and faintly stiff. The security is fantastic, I have some very nice secret service people – they are just like nannies, & look after one, & look also faintly disapproving or rather loving. I’d like to have one or two to bring home.
Today at lunch, a huge cake arrived, & Mrs Eisenhower said that it had been sent to me, & specially baked, & added, quite naturally, ‘of course the secret service men were there to check all the ingredients, & watch every bit of the baking’. Isn’t it extraordinary. There are some bad characters about I guess.
Oh, what about Landau? I want to get Charles [Moore] on the telephone & hear about the race – I imagine it was very very heavy.
Darling, how are you – I am looking forward madly to returning home – is Honey all right? I do hope he is quite well. And the darlings.
Your very loving
Mummy
PS Very best love to Philip
13 November 1954 to Princess Margaret
Government House
Ottawa
My Darling Margaret,
I thought of you a lot in Virginia. They are so nice. […] I longed for you to be there & hear their Southern drawls. Miiiighty kind, mam, they say, taking longer than you can believe to say ‘mighty’. […]
The Americans were very nice & welcoming, they are very warm hearted, & know our family so well. It’s really rather ghastly how much they look to us to lead in family life etc, & they know Charles and Anne better than I do! […] Lots of enquiries after you – the Press were terribly nice about you – the only one of us who hasn’t been to US they say rather sadly! […]
Your very loving
Mummy
17 January 1955 to Sir Alan Lascelles
Sandringham
My dear Tommy,
Thank you so much for your nice and very amusing letter. I would love to hear Shane Leslie’s son lecture on Flying Saucers,* as I adore hearing about the glorious god-like beings that step out and converse so sweetly with strangers. It’s such an amusing madness, and has grown to such beautiful proportions, and what is extraordinary too, is the fact that these people from Venus or wherever they come from are so NICE. They are kind & benign and loving, & presumably, good. It’s all most encouraging!
Many thanks also for your comment
s on my possible visit to the Loire. I have always wanted to visit the Chateaux, & it would be so delicious to go to France without any real time-table or set programme. I shall come to you for advice & information if I may. […]
Yours v. sincerely,
Elizabeth R
9 September 1955 to Princess Margaret
Birkhall
My Darling Margaret,
I sometimes wonder whether you quite realise how much I hate having to point out the more difficult and occasionally horrid problems which arise when discussing your future.*
It would be so much easier to gloss them over, but I feel such a deep sense of responsibility as your only living parent, and I seem to be the only person who can point them out, and you can imagine what anguish it causes me.
I suppose that every mother wants her child to be happy, and
Iknow what a miserable & worrying time you are having, torn by so many difficult constitutional & moral problems.
I think about it and you all the time, and because I have to talk over the horrid things does not mean that I don’t suffer with you, or that one’s love is any less.
I have wanted to write this for a long time, as it is a thing which might sound embarrassing if said. Your very loving Mummy
11October 1955 to Princess Margaret
The Castle of Mey
My Darling Margaret
It is so difficult talking of anything personal on the telephone, because one feels that so many people are listening most eagerly.
But I did want to say darling, that I know what a great decision you have to make fairly soon, & to beg you to look at it from every angle, and to be quite sure that you don’t marry somebody because you are sorry for them. Marriage is such a momentous step and so intimate, and it is far, far better to be a little cruel & say ‘no’ to marriage unless you are quite quite sure.
Some people make wonderful friends & confidants, & not such successful husbands and there is so much giving in a happy marriage, & sometimes real sacrifice, & it must be on both sides.
When I said ‘sorry’ for somebody earlier in the letter, I meant sorry for their devotion & patience, not for them themselves. You know what I mean.
Poor Peter has had a ghastly time, but I am sure that he would agree that a marriage could not be truly happy unless both were prepared to face the extraordinary difficulties of a very difficult situation with clear consciences.
Oh, I do feel for you darling – it is so hard that you should have to go through so much agony of mind.*
Your very loving Mummy
29 October 1955 to Rachel Bowes Lyon
Clarence House
Darling Rachel
I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed my delicious little visit to you & David.
It came at a moment when I had been dreadfully worried and harassed, and it was wonderful to be able to relax & talk normally for even 24 hours. Thank you, more than I can say, for your kindness, & gentle understanding.
I know that you realise the anguish of all we have been through with Margaret, & it was very comforting to be with you & David, and I can never thank you enough.
Your very loving & grateful sister in law
Elizabeth
23 January 1956 to Queen Elizabeth II
Clarence House
My Darling Lilibet
I wish that I could tell you how much I loved being with you all at Sandringham, or how touched and enchanted I am by your angelic kindness & thoughtfulness.
The time I spend there at Christmas is a real joy, and gives me so much courage for the rest of the year.
The feeling of being together with you & Philip & the darling children is a wonderful help, and I felt a different person when I left last week. One of the things I love best is when you pop in to my room to say good morning! It is the nicest thing I know, & those sort of moments which I miss so terribly, and one feels soothed & uplifted by such sweetness on the part of one’s child! The familiar outings such as getting into the Ford to go shooting, feeding the bantams, walking home from Church, staring at horses, the films, the meals, the servants all make one feel ‘belonging’ again, and I can never thank you & Philip enough for your heavenly kindness and understanding towards your very very loving
Mummy
PS The race was rather disappointing on Saturday, as at one moment it all looked so hopeful. But it was a wonderful race, & I wish you could have been there.
7 February 1956 to Queen Elizabeth II
Clarence House
My Darling Lilibet
I was just sitting down to write to you, when your heavenly letter arrived, for which I thank you a thousand times. It was wonderful hearing your news, and I do feel so deeply for you over the ghastly climate. It must make you feel so exhausted, and I do hope that the heat won’t get you down too much.
You are approaching the half way mark which is encouraging – and the visit is being such a marvellous success, tho’ I fear at a cost to yourself and Philip. […]
I am ‘doing a Granny’, and taking them [the children] to see a small Exhibition at the Imperial Institute today. It is about Nigeria,* & I expect that they will be as bored as you & Margaret were when Granny dragged you round museums! I promise they won’t be long tho’, and it might be well arranged.
Last week was very very cold, & the colder it got, the cooler the central heating here became, & by the time the coldest day for 100 years arrived the heating went off altogether.
When you were gasping in Nigeria, we were trembling with cold here! I heard that Elizabeth Arden was over for a few days, so I saw her, & of course we talked purely horses! I was amused to see in the paper the next day, that when some journalist asked her why she trained with Cecil, she answered, ‘Because the Captain is tops – doesn’t he train for the Queen’ – which seemed an adequate reason!
Margaret & I went to Holy Communion yesterday morning, & we had special prayers for you & a very nice one about Papa.
Well, darling, I fear this is a scrappy and dull letter, especially compared [with] yours which was glowing in colours & interesting items, but it brings you both a very great deal of love, & prayers that you won’t get too done in by the heat. I will write again,
from your very very loving
Mummy
Mummy is so easy to write that I sometimes put in too much Mummmmy.
28 March 1956 to Peter Cazalet
Clarence House
My dear Peter,
I am sending you this little box as a memento of that terrible & yet glorious day last Saturday.*
Glorious because of Devon Loch’s magnificent performance, & terrible because of that unprecedented disaster when victory seemed so sure. I know that you & I will always feel an ache about it all, as will poor Francis, and the only slight consolation is that Devon Loch is now the hero of the day!
I feel rather agonized, don’t you, but it was a great comfort to be able to talk it all over with you afterwards, & we must now pray that such a gallant horse will go on to another great race, perhaps next year.
I looked at the television this evening, & there was a nice picture of Devon Loch, looking extremely distinguished & splendid! I have had several letters asking for photographs of ‘a great horse’, which is quite touching, and I only hope that he won’t be given too much weight.
I am sure that you know how very deeply I feel for you. I am beginning to learn more of the immense amount of thought & work that goes into the preparation of a horse for racing, and I can understand a little of the anguish you must have felt at such a cruel blow.
Once again, I send my heartfelt sympathy to you & all in the stable, & we won’t be done in by this, & will just keep on trying – for another day.
Ever yours sincerely,
Elizabeth R
12 April 1956 to Queen Elizabeth II
The Royal Lodge
My Darling Lilibet
I did so love my week at Windsor, and send millions of thanks for so much sweetnes
s & thought and care for your venerable parent. It is always a wonderful joy to be at Windsor which I love very deeply, and where every corner & object has a memory for me. One knows the pictures so well, and to see & enjoy them again, gives a nice feeling of continuity, and I never tire of admiring the Castle from every angle. But specially it was a treat to be with you & the children, and I loved the outings to Frogmore & the polo, & felt so happy to have the companionship of family, again.
You can’t imagine how deadly everything is when one is alone – When one is young one feels that life goes on for ever, & I was utterly happy with Papa & you & Margaret. That is why I feel that it would be so marvellous if you thought of having more children – Charles & Anne will so soon be much older, & it would be so good for them too.
I longed for more children, but somehow everything seemed against us – do give it much thought darling, & forgive me for mentioning it.
With again all my most loving thanks for my heavenly week, always your very loving
Mummy
14 October 1956 to Sir D’Arcy Osborne
Invercauld*
My dear D’Arcy,
It was so kind of you to remember to send me that enchanting French book, & I have enjoyed it immensely. Thank you very much. I am so grateful. I do wish you could have been here this week. After the horrid weather, which you sampled, & which went on without interruption for day after day, suddenly unbelievable glory came to Deeside. On Monday, the sun came out – the hills turned blue, & the birches became so gold that one can only stare & wonder & be grateful. I have looked & looked & stared all this week, and longed for a friend who would also stare & enjoy. The birches really do look like the fireworks called ‘Golden rain’, and I don’t think that one could see a lovelier sight.
Counting One's Blessings Page 53
