Queen Elizabeth Wrote About Charles As A Toddler In An Unearthed Letter To Her Midwife

When Queen Elizabeth was a new mom back in 1950, she wrote a letter to her midwife about her life with her two children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne. That letter is now up for auction, giving royal fans a glimpse into the monarch’s life as a mother. And here’s what we learned; she was just like the rest of us. She was occupied by thoughts of her kids and their habits. What they’re eating, how much fresh air they’re getting, that kind of thing.

Queen Elizabeth’s handwritten letter to her midwife Helen Rowe, who she wrote to as “Rowie” in keeping with the royal habit of giving everyone nicknames, has gone up for auction at RR Auction. The letter was written in October 1950, when her son Prince Charles was 2 years old and daughter Princess Anne was just 2 months old, and included sweet details from their life at Queen Elizabeth’s favorite property, Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

The 24-year-old mom of two opened up in the sweet letter about feeling “much stronger already” at Balmoral, where it seems she was convalescing after Princess Anne’s birth. And spending time with her toddler son, who sounds like he was getting lots of attention from his mom. “Charles is getting fatter as he has an enormous appetite and takes a great deal of exercise,” Queen Elizabeth, who was still Princess Elizabeth at the time, wrote in her letter, going on to admit she has a tough time saying “no” to her son.

“I find it extremely difficult to explain it away when he looks at something he can’t reach and then turns his back meaningly on me and says, ‘Mummy, lift!’”

The future monarch also went on to note that Prince Charles “enjoyed the train journey far more than Anne, who wasn’t too keen on the rattling to begin with,” which makes sense as Princess Anne was still just a baby. “But she has steadily been putting on weight up here and has got lovely pink cheeks after she has been out. The sugar in her foods is gradually going up, and she doesn’t seem to be nearly so ravenous, often sleeping right up to bottle time.”

It’s incredibly endearing to see that Queen Elizabeth had the same concerns as so many of us when she was a new mom. She wanted her kids to be well fed, wanted them to sleep, and had a tough time saying no. Even if she was parenting at a castle.