Counting One's Blessings

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Counting One's Blessings Page 29

by William Shawcross


  The Captain of the ship seems very nice & capable. We have not seen much of him as he is always on the Bridge owing to this annoying fog.

  I found boxes & boxes of lovely flowers here, which kind people had sent, and some of them are on the ice, & will be fresh again in a few days.

  There was one little thing that I quite forgot to tell you before I left, and that is, that Margaret gets very tired sometimes after those lovely visits that you take them [on] – she is so much smaller than Lilibet, & will never give up! So I wondered whether you would be very kind Mama, and if it is a picture gallery or large museum or something tiring, to tell Alah to take her home after an hour or so – I don’t think that she will mind very much, and I do want her to grow, & not to get overtired with trying to keep up with her sister!

  I do trust that things in Europe will settle down, & that there will be no major crises whilst Bertie is away.

  I am starting to read the unexpurgated edition of ‘Mein Kampf’* – it is very soap-box, but very interesting. Have you read it Mama?

  I see on the news bulletin today, that David is going to broadcast to America this evening.† I do wonder whether this is true, and if it is, how troublesome of him to choose such a moment.

  I will write again from Canada, & shall hope to write a more interesting letter than this! But life at sea is fairly monotonous as you know – better that it should be I suppose! There are lots of icebergs nearer Canada – so perhaps we shall see one – only see I trust!

  With all my love darling Mama, ever your loving d-in-law

  Elizabeth

  PS Forgive my bad hand-writing – there is a great deal of vibration.

  13 May 1939 to Princess Elizabeth

  RMS Empress of Australia

  My Darling Lilibet

  Here we are creeping along at about one mile per hour, & occasionally stopping altogether, for the 3rd day running! You can imagine how horrid it is – one cannot see more than a few yards, and the sea is full of icebergs as big as Glamis, & things called ‘growlers’ – which are icebergs mostly under water with only a very small amount of ice showing on the surface. We shall be late arriving in Canada, and it is going to be very difficult to fit everything in, and avoid disappointing people. It is very cold – rather like the coldest, dampest day at Sandringham – double it and add some icebergs, & then you can imagine a little of what it is like!

  It is really a great anxiety being hung up here for so long, and the last thing that we expected. However, everybody is keeping cheerful, and the little band played Umbrellas, umbrellas,* etc today which helped to cheer me up.

  I like to think of you and Margaret at Royal Lodge this weekend – I wonder if the garden is looking pretty, and if there are any Rhodies out in the wood.

  Do ask Lord Wigram if he found a place for my Daphnes† – I sent him a message to ask him to very kindly select somewhere sheltered.

  Do ask Alah if I ever mentioned to her that there is going to be an exhibition of personal furniture this summer at dear old 145 Piccadilly, and I promised to lend something from the nursery. Perhaps the little grandmother clock would do, and that little chair that you used to have. A very hard one covered in chintz!

  We are all trying to behave like Guides & ‘smile under difficulties’ – and as whatever the conversation [it] usually comes back to ice & fog, it gets a little worn sometimes.

  I do hope that you are enjoying your Saturday evenings with Mr Marten* – try & learn as much as you can from him, & mark how he brings the human element into all his history – of course history is made by ordinary humans, & one must not forget that.

  Well, my darling, I am longing to see you both again, & I send you lots & lots of kisses and some pats for Dooks – Your very very loving Mummy

  23 May 1939 to Princess Elizabeth

  In the Train just after passing along the shore of Lake Superior

  My Darling Lilibet

  I am afraid that I never had one single minute in Ottawa to write to you, and this is the first opportunity on the train. All day we have been passing through lovely wild country. Rather like Scotland on a large scale. Great rivers & locks and pine woods, and for hours right along the Great Lake. It was bright blue, with many little wooded islands. This train is so rocky that I don’t believe that you will be able to read a word.

  We go round curves at full speed!

  Papa & I have had a wonderful welcome everywhere we have been.

  The French people in Quebec & Ottawa were wonderfully loyal; & [in] Montreal there must have been 2000000 people, all very enthusiastic & glad to have an excuse to show their feelings. Yesterday in Toronto it was the same, and we feel so glad that we were able to come here, & give the people an opportunity to show how British they are. (Oh this train!)

  Today we have stopped to water the engine at various little places, usually consisting of a few wooden houses and a store. The people are so nice – they seem to be nearly all Scotch!

  May 24th

  We have stopped for the night at a little place called Kemnay in Manitoba half way across Canada. We spent the day in Winnipeg, a large town where all the business is done for the thousands of miles of farms round about. It rained in the morning, but cleared up in the afternoon, when we drove 28 miles, with cheering people & children all the way! Papa & I are bearing up very well. Tho’ we are working very hard – from morning to night, we go in open cars & the good air keeps us well.

  The train stops at little stations to get water or coal or ice, & there is always a crowd, & we go out & talk to the people. Yesterday there were some Indians with a baby in its wooden cradle, & always someone from Scotland! Usually Forfar or Glamis!

  I am able to write much better now that the train is at a standstill – we have been travelling since Sunday and are getting quite used to the train.

  I am absolutely longing to see you and Margaret again. What a hug you’ll get when I get home. I wonder what Dookie will say!

  I have had two delightful letters from you my darling. Thank you so very much. I am afraid that mine will be very slow in coming, as the distances are so great. What fun the Panda sounds.* I would love to see it.

  Canada is a very beautiful country – I hope that you will see it some day. The people are very English – they think the same as we all do – luckily!

  I am so sleepy & tired after our long day, that I think I must go to bed.

  So good-night darling, from

  Your very very loving

  Mummy

  27 May 1939 to Princess Elizabeth

  Banff Springs Hotel

  My Darling Lilibet

  Here we are at Banff, in the middle of magnificent great mountains, & a river running just below the Hotel. We got here last night in time for dinner, a lovely evening, and like all Canadian houses the Hotel was boiling! We opened every window, and I expect all the poor habitants will get pneumonia!

  This morning we climbed a mountain nearby which took about 50 minutes. It was very like Balmoral only much bigger, & the pine trees smelt delicious in the hot sun. This afternoon Papa & I went for a buggy ride!! ‘Thanks for the buggy ride’ etc. Two nice grey horses & we rolled along on high old wheels – very wobbly but great fun.

  After tea we went off in a car, & the first thing we saw was a great black shape in a little lake – a moose feeding on the water lily bulbs. Were we not lucky? Then we saw some beavers working at their dam – you remember Grey Wolf’s* film? They do such wonderful things, & we watched them for some time. I did so wish that you & Margaret were with us then, as I know you would have loved them. Oh, & this morning we saw two baby black bears! They were so sweet, & not very shy.

  It has been a great relief to get away from roaring crowds and incessant noise even tho’ one is glad that the people are pleased to see us. Tomorrow morning we start off again. Church at 9.30 in the little church here, & then off to Lake Louise to catch the train.

  At Calgary yesterday we saw a lot of Indians, and quite a lot
of cowboys on ‘bucking broncos’ who came dashing along with us.

  Papa & I are bearing up very well on the whole, tho’ we have had a very hard ten days travelling, with very long drives in open cars through huge crowds. The next fortnight will be very hard work, but it is worth while, for one feels how important it is that the people here should see their King, & not have him only as a symbol. There is so little time to write, and I am afraid that my letters are badly expressed scribbles.

  Please thank Alah and Miss Crawford for their nice letters. I was very glad to get them.

  The mountains here are so high, that if you were looking out of the nursery window at B.P., you would have to raise your eyes to the sky to see the tops. It is very beautiful I must say.

  Well my darling, I am sure that you are being wonderfully kind & thoughtful for other people, and I am sure that Margaret is too. You mustn’t forget that she is really very little, & sometimes you must control yourself when she is a little teasing. I know it is difficult, but you can do it, & I know you will.

  I long to see you both again – days pass quickly please, and with many kisses & love to darling Margaret, Your very very loving Mummy

  PS A nice pat for Dookie please. In one of the papers here there was a picture of you & M with Dookie, & it said ‘an old Corgi of uncertain temper’!! Poor old Dookie.

  1 June 1939 to Queen Mary

  Jasper Park Lodge

  Alberta

  My Darling Mama

  Bertie & I were deeply concerned when we heard the news of your horrible accident,* and we are so relieved to hear that you are going on well. I expect that you will feel the shock afterwards, and I do hope that you will be very very careful and take a real rest. It must have been absolutely terrifying, and thank God nobody was very badly hurt. You would have been touched to hear of all the anxious inquiries from all sorts & kinds of people here. At little wayside stations, Lord Mayors, politicians, everybody wanted to know how you were getting on. […]

  We have had a most touching reception everywhere – it has really been wonderful and most moving. All Canada is very pleased at the way the French Canadians received us, and are hopeful that the visit will bring lasting results in uniting the country. They are terribly divided in many ways – and the provincial Governments especially are jealous and suspicious of the Federal Government. But they are so young that I expect they will achieve unity in the end.

  We spent a pleasant 2 nights in Victoria staying with the Lieutenant-Governor. They are charming people, and were such good hosts.

  The trouble with these long days in the train, is that we stop very often for water, ice etc, and there are always crowds waiting, and one gets very little quiet.

  In Ottawa we had a reception for all the journalists who are travelling with us in the pilot train – about 80 of them! They are really very nice, and were so shy and polite! The Americans are particularly easy and pleasant, and have been amazed I believe at the whole affair. Of course they have no idea of our Constitution or how the Monarchy works, and were surprised & delighted to find that we were ordinary & fairly polite people with a big job of work.

  We have very long drives through the big towns, and I must say, we get very bored & tired, but both feel very well and so encouraged to feel the strength of feeling for the Empire here. More & more one feels that the hope of the world lies in the unity, sanity & strength for good in the British Empire – freedom is worth dying for.

  We look forward so much to seeing you again before very long, and I do pray that you will feel no ill effects of your horrible accident.

  With all my love darling Mama, ever your loving daughter in law

  Elizabeth

  5 June 1939 to Princess Elizabeth

  In the Train, Ontario

  My Darling Lilibet

  Here we are flying along round terrific corners through quite wild and untouched country – along the side of beautiful lakes & thousands of miles of woods & bush. We left the cultivated land the day before yesterday, & have been travelling hard & without stopping except for little places where we water & coal. There are usually a large bunch of children who have probably come over a hundred miles by canoe down the lakes, as there are no roads up here. Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a place with no roads, only trails through the woods with the railway as the only link with civilization.

  June 6th

  We have been almost continually ‘on show’ all today, passing through a very thickly populated part of Canada after Toronto, and at every hour there are thousands & thousands of people waiting at the various stops. They are so happy to have ‘the King’ with them, & sometimes I have tears in my eyes when one sees the emotion in their faces. It means so much to them to see the Sovereign who they are so loyal to.

  Tomorrow night we cross into the United States – I will try & write a line from there, tho’ I fear that every single moment will be occupied.

  I was so glad to get your darling letter today. I do hope that the colds are better, and am getting more & more excited at the thought of seeing you both again! I should like you both to come down to Southampton to meet us. Would you like to do this?

  I think that you would like to see the ‘Empress of Britain’ coming slowly in – will you tell Alec* to arrange this please? Get him to come & see you – it will be all arranged already I expect.

  Well, goodbye my darling Lilibet, I have so loved all your sweet & well written letters, from your

  Very very loving

  Mummy

  On 8 June, the King and Queen arrived by train in Washington DC in an overpowering heatwave. They were the guests of President and Mrs Roosevelt and their task, as they saw it, was to try to win American backing for Britain’s cause in the imminent war against Germany. It was not easy; in 1935 Congress had passed the Neutrality Act, specifically designed to keep the US out of any European war, and isolationism was popular in the United States. From Washington the King and Queen travelled to New York City and then to the Roosevelts’ country home, Hyde Park, in upstate New York. Everywhere, they were well received. Later, the Queen recalled, ‘It was the first time an English King had ever been to the United States … We didn’t quite know what sort of attention we would have, but they were tremendously welcoming. It was very valuable because the King was able to talk to Roosevelt. Endless night talks they had, because Hitler was looming then. In fact it was so close that we were going in a battleship, and had to change to a liner in case it was wanted. It was as close as that.’

  11 June 1939 to Queen Mary

  Hyde Park

  On the Hudson, N.Y.

  My Darling Mama,

  I feel that I must write you one hurried line from this house before we leave tonight, to tell you of the great kindness & hospitality of the Roosevelt family towards ourselves. They are such a charming & united family, and living so like English people when they come to their country house.

  We arrived in Washington in the most stupendous heat! I really don’t know how we got through those 2 days of continuous functions mostly out of doors, as it really was ghastly. It is very damp heat, & one could hardly breathe. However everybody was very very kind & welcoming, & made us feel quite ‘at home’. Yesterday we had a very long day in New York & the Fair, where of course we only saw our Pavilion (quite good & very interesting historically), Ireland, Africa, Canada, Australia etc. Some of the Pavilions looked very good – especially the Soviet! and Italy, but otherwise one big Fair looks much like another I believe. Everybody seemed genuinely pleased to see us, and at moments one really feels that one is at home in England! Especially here, where we arrived about 8 last night. One might be in an average English country house, with a wide hall, & big sitting rooms & rather small hot bedrooms.

  Old Mrs R has the greatest affection & admiration for you Mama, & last night at dinner the President proposed your health in the most touching terms & quite impromptu addressing himself to his own Mother who was sitting opposite him. It was so nice & friendly, &
of course I found tears coming into my eyes!

  Today we went to Church in the little village Church. The service is exactly the same as ours down to every word, & they even had the prayers for the King & the Royal Family. I could not help thinking how curious it sounded, & yet how natural. It was just the sort of situation you would have appreciated – the drama of this happening in these days.

  Then after church we had luncheon at little tables on the verandah of Mr R’s little house near here. The tables were spread about under the trees, & he had all his own farm servants, gardeners etc at tables to right & left. It was a very friendly affair, and quite cool & pleasant. Afterwards we went to Mrs R’s own little house, where Bertie & the President & the sons bathed, whilst I sat in a chair in the shade watching them, & enjoying the first peaceful moment for many weeks. The President drove us himself in his car – he has some arrangement, as of course he is utterly paralysed about the legs. He is such a delightful man, and very good company. The sons are charming too, & the daughters-in-law pretty & very good mannered.

  Imust say that they have all such lovely manners – easy & polished, & not shy.

  I haven’t got much time left before dressing for dinner, so will end hoping with all my heart that the effects of your horrible accident have left you.

  So longing to see you again, ever your devoted daughter in law

  Elizabeth

  PS My complexion is ruined!

  11June 1939 to Princess Elizabeth

  Hyde Park

  On the Hudson, N.Y.

  My Darling Lilibet

  It was such fun talking to you both on the telephone today, and directly after we had spoken we went off for a picnic luncheon.

  There were a lot of people there, and we all sat at little tables under the trees round the house, and had all our food on one plate – a little salmon, some turkey, some ham, lettuce, beans & HOT DOGS too! […]

 

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