A deeply personal letter written by Queen Elizabeth II shortly after Prince Edward’s birth has resurfaced, revealing the late monarch’s life as a young mother and the happiness that filled the royal household in 1964.
Written from Buckingham Palace on April 1 that year, the handwritten letter was sent to the Queen’s close friend, concert pianist Marion Stein, Countess of Harewood, just weeks after Edward’s arrival.
In the warm correspondence, Elizabeth described her youngest son as “thriving” and revealed how thrilled the family were to have a baby in nursery again.
“It is a great joy to have a baby in the nursery again,” the Queen wrote, adding that her older children, Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew, were all “delighted” to have their new little brother.
The two-page letter, which is expected to fetch around £1,000 at auction, presents a side of the monarch rarely seen by the public.
Away from official duties and affairs of state, the film shows a mother sharing news of her family with a trusted friend.
The Queen also displayed her characteristic humor in the note. Apologizing for taking the time to respond, she blamed “a very large pile of correspondence” before joking about the cold British spring weather by referring to Stein’s recent trip to Russia.
“It must have still been extremely cold there,” she writes, “although this country seems to be doing its best to copy it at the moment.”
The letter was addressed to Marion Stein, a famous Austrian-born pianist whose friendship with the Queen spanned decades.
Stein’s remarkable life saw her rise to prominence in British cultural circles, first through her marriage to George Lascelles, the 7th Earl of Harewood, and then to Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe.
Their enduring friendship was formally recognized in 2008 when the Queen appointed Stein a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to music.
Auction specialist Richard Davie described the correspondence as a rare and intimate insight into Elizabeth’s private world.
“It shows the Queen not as a monarch, but as a devoted mother,” he said. “Her affectionate observations, humor and warmth make her remarkably approachable.”
The discovery comes shortly after the publication of another letter from the same year, written by the Queen to Sister Helen Rowe, affectionately known as ‘Rowie’, who helped care for her throughout her four pregnancies.
In this note, written when Edward was five months old, Elizabeth proudly described her youngest child as “wonderful” and “good as gold”, revealing that he weighed an impressive 15 pounds 12 ounces.
“He smiles and laughs at everyone and makes everyone happy!” she wrote.
The letter also offered an update on Prince Charles, then 15, who was recovering from pneumonia after a camping trip.
Although relieved by his progress, the Queen admitted he remained “still very fragile”.
