EDWARD VIII, PRINCE OF WALES: A LETTER ADDRESSED TO FREDA DUDLEY WARD
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20th January 1919, within the letter Edward reflects candidly on the death of his youngest brother Prince John, paternal uncle to Queen Elizabeth II, the letter and envelope encased within a blonde oak frame, 52cm high x 40cm wide Prince John died at the age of thirteen from an epileptic fit, a condition he had endured from a young age. He spent his final years away from the public eye at Sandringham estate. His condition being disclosed to the public only after his death.
The letter reads:
'20th January, Headquarters R.A. F., Spa
I’m in a fever, beloved one, as I arrived here about 4:00 P.M. to find a wire from H.M. to say that my youngest brother [John] had died & that I wasn’t to go to Paris; I wired back to say that I was returning to England at once for a few days which I thought was a good move & should have arrived in London tomorrow, Tuesday evening . . . So of course I didn’t finish this letter last night as I had great & wonderful hopes of seeing TOI tomorrow evening if the goddess of fortune had been kind to us . . .
I’m so miserable darling as I’ve just got another wire from H.M. telling me not to return to England, though not to go to Paris & just to carry on visiting DIVS!! Isn’t it all to heartbreaking & of course my little brother’s death plunges me into mourning; don’t think me very cold-hearted, sweetheart, but I’ve told you all about that little brother, darling, & how he was an epileptic & might have gone West any day!!
He's been practically shut up for the last 2 years anyhow, so no-one has ever seen him except the family & then only once or twice a year & his death is the greatest relief imaginable & what we've always silently prayed for; but to be plunged into mourning for this is the limit just as the war is over which cuts parties etc. right out!! [...]
Now I've got to resume trekking from DIV to DIV without this precious glimpse or even Paris or any form of respite & I'm so stale that I've become a completer dud than ever [...].
My family should return to London first week in February which will be all right for MOI & what does all the mourning in the world matter to TOI et MOI? I'm terribly sorry for my sister, who was going to a lot of parties in February, though somehow I don't think this mourning will last very long, as I think the funeral was today; it looks to me as if as little as possible was being made of it all & I only hope so. No-one would be more cut up if any of my other 3 brothers were to die than I should be, but this poor boy had become more of an animal than anything else & was only a brother in the flesh & nothing else!! [...]
H.M.'s wire this morning was just about the biggest disappointment of your E's life except when he (or somebody at Windsor Castle) asked TOI to dinner there the last night of my August leave!! [...]
I.S.Y.C.T.N.N.O.M.A.E.A.A.O.Y. & Bless TOI for ever & ever'
