ELIZABETH THE QUEEN MOTHER: (1900-2002) Queen Consort of King George VI. A fine A.L.S., Elizabeth R, two pages, 8vo, Craigowan, Balmoral, 24th May 1980, to The Dowager Lady Fermoy. The Queen Mother thanks her correspondent ‘a thousand times’ for their ‘touching & infinitely understanding letter’ and continues to remark ‘Elizabeth was something special in my life - you see I was only ten when she was born, & it was a relationship which bridged the generations’, further adding ‘Now there are only the Queen & you who I want to be with, so I must be thankful’. The Queen Mother concludes by writing ‘It has been rather ghastly here for various reasons, but surrounded by exquisite beauty, and millions of huge dark blue violets, & cowslips & primroses & anemones - very comforting'. Accompanied by the original Registered envelope hand addressed by The Queen Mother and signed by her with her initials (‘ER’) to the lower left corner. A couple of small water stains slightly affect the text and signature to the envelope. VG
Ruth Sylvia Roche (1908-1993) Baroness Fermoy. British Aristocrat, Lady-in-Waiting, friend and confidante of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the maternal grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.
The 'Elizabeth' referred to in the present letter is presumably The Hon. Mary Elizabeth Elphinstone (1911-1980), a niece to the Queen Mother and first cousin to Queen Elizabeth II, who had passed away on 16th May 1980, shortly before the present letter was written.