My dear Archbishop
It was so very kind of you to write me such a charming letter for Xmas, and I was indeed delighted to receive it. I love to have your Benediction for ourselves & for our children for the coming year. I hope that it will be a happier one for many people in this land, and their happiness will certainly make us happier. One cannot help worrying over the misery & hardship suffered by so many good people, and their courage in facing hardship is the thing that I admire most in them. It is a great example to all of us luxurious minded creatures – not you, but us, I mean! Everything seems to be so much better everywhere.
With every possible good wish for 1934, & with again so many thanks for your kind thought of us at Xmas.
I am
Yours always affec:
Elizabeth
31 January 1934 to Duff Cooper
145 Piccadilly
Dear Mr Duff Cooper
It was so kind of you to send me the essays of Max Beerbohm,* and I have read ‘King George the Fourth’ with great enjoyment, and much satisfaction. I read everything that I can lay hands on which has anything to say about that attractive old naughty, & it was a joy to realise that Mr Beerbohm was a cordial admirer of ‘a swaying figure & a wine-red face.’
Thank you so very much.
Also I would wish to thank you for giving us supper after that most charming disappointment of a play that we saw last week.
I could have talked so much, but perhaps the E ….. y† is not an encouraging place for anything but light conversation! The little house in Windsor Park that we live in now, was the last ‘favoured residence’ of George IV, and although it was practically demolished by Queen Adelaide after old Naughty died, we still have one deliciously Gothic & expensive room left – the last one built by order of G.IV.
With again my grateful thanks for the Book.
I am, Yours very sincerely,
Elizabeth
28 July 1934 to D’Arcy Osborne
The Royal Lodge
My dear D’Arcy,
It is so sad that you were not able to come here this summer for your reunions, and all your friends have missed you sadly. It is the first time for many years that I have failed to mix you a White Lady, and I do hope that you will soon be with us again.
Don’t come until October, because we shall all be out of London – though of course you could come & stay with us which would be nice, because then we could talk & talk – & talk.
London has been very gay these past few months – many balls every night, and a few very grand & much appreciated affairs.
The fact that people enjoy a ‘show’ once again is a very good sign I think, and tiaras are worn almost as a matter of course! A few years ago people were embarrassed and unhappy if they glimpsed a diamond or ate quails in company, which was a shame and a stupid feeling really – as it had no relation to one’s misery at the poverty and sadness of the people of this country. And yet I suppose on second thoughts that this was the right feeling, & is perhaps one of the reasons for our triumph as the only civilised country in Europe today.
There was a lovely ball at Syon given by the Duchess of Northumberland. The house was floodlit & the garden looked quite perfect, & exactly like a Canaletto of London, with exquisite little figures strolling in front of an eighteenth century house. It was delicious to watch.
The opera went well, & the Russian Ballet is having a great success in Covent Garden. I do wish that you were here, because I would so like to go with you. I have been several times and it is beautifully done. I know that you would like it.
How is America? The only news lately has been of Dillinger* – all the papers (except the Times) had huge pictures of his dead body which filled all stolid Englishmen with horror, and today huge pictures of poor little Dollfuss* lying in state – that was a tragedy.
I have been wishing to write to you for many moons and because I cannot put pen to paper does not mean that I don’t think of you often & with affection. I have been very busy this last 3 months, and am looking forward to going to Scotland in about 10 days’ time.
Next week I am going to Cowes to race with the King, which I rather enjoy – I like the feel of yacht racing – it is very exciting and very peaceful. No noise, except the creak of the sails & the water rushing by – and a glow of health after a few days at sea!!
I must go, & do tell me when you are coming home again,
Yours very sincerely,
Elizabeth
The Duchess was a lover of the arts, especially ballet, giving her support to the Camargo Society for the Production of Ballet from the early 1930s. She would later tell Eric Anderson that ‘going way back I did see Pavlova.† I suppose I must have been nine or ten and luckily my mother thought it was a good thing to go. And she was doing the Swan, I think, and Karsavina.‡ I remember it so vividly, you know. This wonderfully graceful little creature.’
6 August 1934 to King George V
145 Piccadilly
My dearest Papa
I do so want to thank you for my perfect few days with you in the Yacht. I enjoyed myself very much indeed last year, and this year I was just as happy. In fact it was all quite blissful, and I am so grateful to you for having me to stay and for giving me such a wonderful few days.
I was so sad that it was only possible to race one day, but I enjoyed that day madly, and was thrilled to hear of your marvellous win on my birthday. I only wish that I could have been there; I expect that I would have blown up with excitement! It is very odd, but nothing in the whole year gives me such pleasure as my few days at Cowes. I feel quite different, & so happy. Of course the fact of sailing is enough to explain this effect on me. The excitement, & the wonderful peace of a day in the Britannia – no noise, but the creaking of the sails, & the cooing voice of Sir Philip [Hunloke],* softly inviting the crew to Lee-o! And there is something so exhilarating about the elements, the sea & the wind & the sun, and one feels far away from the horrors of modern civilization with its noise and eternal hurry.
I had a very good passage to Portsmouth in the destroyer, & was chaperoned most beautifully by the Commander-in-Chief, who placed me in my train in a very successful manner.
London was too horrible, & I kept on thinking of you sailing in Britannia with deep envy.
I can never thank you enough dearest Papa for all your angelic goodness to me – & also I must send my grateful thanks for my lovely birthday presents. I am indeed a lucky creature.
With all my love, and 1000 thanks for my heavenly week at Cowes,
I am, dearest Papa,
Always your loving & dutiful daughter-in-law
Elizabeth
18 August 1934 to the Hon. Richard Molyneux
PRIVATE AND STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL IF THAT IS POSSIBLE FOR DICK
Gannochy*
Edzell
CLUB BUSINESS
My dear Dick
As Treasurer of the Windsor Wets I think that you should know that I have decided to make Lady [Magdalen] Eldon (spouse of our valued Secretary) an honorary Lady Member of the Club. And no interference from you please. It’s quite time that I took the reins again I can see.
Well, aqua vitae non aqua pura still holds good, & I hope that you will have a good week here & will live up to the motto of the Club. Elizabeth (Patroness)
23 February 1935 to Duff Cooper
145 Piccadilly
Dear Mr Duff Cooper
Thank you so very much for remembering to send me Mr Belloc’s† most touching ‘Ballade of Illegal Ornaments’ – The right feeling of anger is in it, and it made me want to cry when I read it this morning. What a good poet he is – it is wonderful to be able to know the fundamental things, and to be able to write about them so beautifully.
I have copied it, and so return to you the copy you kindly sent me, with my grateful thanks and a tear or two.
Yours v. sincerely
Elizabeth
1 April 1935 to Clare Vyner
The Royal Lodge
; My dear Clare,
How nice of you to write and thank for dinner. It was angelic of you & Doris to come. […]
I have been so worked up by your wonderful scheme for settling unemployed, that I have written to our friend the riveter in Sunderland & offered him a job here with us.* The man with children. I do think that it’s up to people like us who can afford to dine at a restaurant & go to a night club to try & employ as many as we can. Oh dear – it makes one furious & despairing that one can’t do more. Anyway, nobody has done more than you, and it is a real bright spot in life that you have done such a good work. I do hope that I shall be able to see your settlement soon. I would like to very much. […]
If I ever meet a rich man, I am going to tactfully bring up the subject of the one good amateur scheme that I know – or perhaps not ‘amateur’ but non-government – most important. […]
Goodbye and many thanks for your letter.
Yours,
E
27 June 1935 to Duff Cooper
145 Piccadilly
Dear Mr Duff Cooper
Forgive me please, for having been so long in writing to thank you for the most enchanting books that I have ever read, but I wished so much to have read a little before attempting to convey my gratitude to you in words.
And having now finished the first volume, I feel incapable of expressing what I feel – if only I could write you a little poem, ‘as the wings of the dove beat softly in the air, so is my heart stirred by your offering’ is lame – but indeed my heart is grateful and I do thank you for giving me such real pleasure.
I have been very busy lately, and unable to read much, but the first volume of the ‘Tale of Genji’* is a joy, and I am now in the middle of the second book. It has been an eye-opener to me – the simplicity & beauty of Murasaki’s language is wonderful. ‘Her construction is in fact classical; elegance, symmetry, restraint’ says the Introduction to ‘The Sacred Tree,’ and I am so pleased to think that I can look forward to four more volumes. Thank you a thousand times for such a lovely present.
Yours very sincerely,
Elizabeth
5 August 1935 to Queen Mary
The Royal Lodge
Darling Mama
We were both so sad at leaving yesterday, and I hadn’t enjoyed myself so much since last Cowes! The whole week is such a perfect rest in every way, and I do so love sailing in the Britannia. Thank you a thousand times for all your kindness and angelicness – I adore being with you always, and this last week was perfect. It is such a complete change to get away from telephones, letters, & the eternal questions that ruin one’s life in one’s own home, and I feel ten times better than when we left London last Tuesday.
We got back here at 5 o’clock which made a very easy journey – left Portsmouth at 3.25, & got home in good time for tea, and found the children waiting with their presents, & little bouquets of flowers that they had picked themselves. They are looking so well after their week here – London is very trying towards the end of July, & they were looking rather white when I left last Tuesday.
Bertie & I are taking on a man from Sunderland in Durham to work in the wood & garden, & he arrived here this evening. He is a most excellent type of superior artisan, & he has been out of work for seven years. It is such a tragedy, & his gratitude is touching. We felt that it would be a useful act, & this man is an ex-soldier who was badly wounded in the arm – I wish that one could do more for the poor things.
Margaret Rose came up to me today, & after looking at me very affectionately, & giving me a sweet kiss said, ‘Mummy darling, I really do believe that I love Papa much more than I do you’! I felt very small!
It was delicious seeing Mary Beaufort* for a minute yesterday, she is an angel & I wish that we met more often. This house is singing with mosquitoes and I am rather glad to be leaving tomorrow as the biting insects are very bad.
I must stop this letter, as I fear I am boring you with tittle-tattle.
Thank you again darling Mama for such a divine week, ever your devoted daughter in law
Elizabeth
1 October 1935 to Duff Cooper
Birkhall
Dear Mr Duff Cooper
It was so kind of you to send me ‘Haig’,* and to write in it for me. I have been reading it with great interest and delight, and I think that it is very clever of you to make it so fascinating. It must have been a great work, and I cannot imagine how you did it in such a short time.
The few critics have been quite idiotic in writing about the book. Their only cry being ‘why is it not more sensational,’ which is too foolish to even speak about. The only people I have seen up here who have read it, are the King & one or two tough Scottish Majors & Captains (ex), & they are all enthusiastic. Being sane because they do not live too much in cities they are grateful to you for giving a true picture of Haig, & for writing a very difficult book so brilliantly. I do hope that you are pleased with its reception & great success. Are you calm about it, or are you a cauldron, seething and boiling?
I hope that you will forgive me for not writing before, but I wished to read anyway part of the book before sending you my grateful thanks for your kindness in sending it to me. I was so pleased to have it before it came out in the shops.
The Archbishop of Canterbury came to luncheon with me here, and instead of the comfortable heart to hearter that I had been looking forward to after luncheon, he pounced on your book with a cry of joy, & then there was silence only punctuated by ‘ah those were the days’ (he was at Oxford with Haig) & ‘dear old so & so’ & other old-time remarks – not at all the sort of thing that had been expected by his lonely and forgotten hostess.
I am still reading ‘Genji’ with great enjoyment, & lent the first volume to the local Minister here who gobbled it up and asked for more! I shall always be grateful to you for having given me so much pleasure with Talleyrand, Genji & Haig. What a nice party they would make.
‘The desolate autumn hurries through the fields apace, to nodding flowers the wind’s cold breath betrays’ and soon we must leave this peaceful place & return to London. It is so lovely now, the birches are turning from silver to gold, the air is cold & the sun shines, so that I am sorry to go.
I hope that you have had a peaceful & happy time, & are feeling well.
With again my very grateful thanks.
I am, Yours very sincerely,
Elizabeth
The Duchess of York had another severe bout of influenza over Christmas 1935. She had to remain in bed at The Royal Lodge while her husband and daughters went to Sandringham for the Royal Family’s traditional celebration. It was King George V’s last Christmas.
29 December 1935 to Princess Elizabeth
The Royal Lodge
My Darling Lilibet
It seems such a long time since I last saw you and Margaret, and I do hope that I shall be allowed to get up in a day or two, and then I shall soon be with you.
I hope that you are having a lovely time at Sandringham, and being very polite to everybody. Mind you answer very nicely when you are asked questions, even though they may be silly ones!
Do you manage to practise the piano a little bit?
Dookie* is very well, and sends his love & a big lick. […]
I have got a very nice Nurse, and she gives me a good wash every day in bed. I haven’t been so clean for years! Please give Alah my love, I hope that she is being good. Give Margaret some GREAT BIG KISSES from me, and a great many to your darling self.
Goodbye angel, from your very loving Mummy
29December 1935 to the Hon. Sir Richard Molyneux
The Royal Lodge
My dear Dick
Thank you so much for your letter. I am so glad that you missed us at Xmas, tho’ I daresay you all managed to be pretty gay & pretty tight all right. I say, what do you think of CHAMPAGNE stripes on a CLARET ground for the Club Tie?
Have you had to wear your long snow boots yet?
I am much better, but th
e doctor told me this morning that I can’t get up just yet. It is too sickening, but apparently I’ve had that old fashioned flu that has pneumonia with it, and it’s very slow to get rid of. I expect that when I am well again I shall be VERY well. Oh Boy. Well, be good if you can, which I doubt, and I should stay away from Abyssinia if I were you just for a bit. I know it’s very tempting, but make it one of your New Year resolutions & stick to it. I couldn’t give you better advice – remember what happened last time.
A very happy New Year to you from your suffering President Elizabeth.
PS Is it true that you have been sold with the house in Charles Street? Rather cunning of you Dick.
30December 1935 to King George V
The Royal Lodge
My dearest Papa
I was so delighted to receive your lovely Xmas card this morning, with your kind message inside. It is quite the most charming card that I have seen, and will be a wonderful souvenir of that never-to-be-forgotten day in Westminster Hall. I thought it almost the most moving ceremony of the many Jubilee celebrations – in fact, it was the most moving, and I am so glad to have such a nice picture of a wonderful moment.*
I do hope that you are having better weather at Sandringham than we are here. It has poured with rain all today again, and last night there was a noise like a terrific crash of thunder, which turned out to be one of the best beeches falling down. It has spoilt another good beech, & I expect it is the heavy rain after a long drought which had loosened the roots. So sad to lose good trees.
I am feeling so much better the last two or three days, and it is sickening how slowly this lung business is ‘clearing up’. I believe it is always very slow. I am longing to come & get well at Sandringham. I feel that the good bracing air will work wonders, and soon make me well. One gets so weak in bed, but I shall have some massage in a few days to try & coax some muscles to work!
I do hope that you have kept well, and are able to get some shooting. I am so glad that the children are being good. I am pining to see them again. […]
Counting One's Blessings Page 21