Description:

Queen Elizabeth II of England
[Windsor Castle, Windsor, England], April 18, 1943
16-Year-Old Princess Elizabeth Mentions Her 1st Solo Royal Appearance at 1943 Grenadier Guard Inspection: "I thought they looked a magnificent lot of men"
ALS

A 2pp autograph letter signed by Princess Elizabeth (1926-2022), the future Queen Elizabeth II, as "Elizabeth" on the second page. April 18, 1943. [Windsor Castle, Windsor, England.] Inscribed on stationery featuring an elaborate red-embossed "Windsor Castle" letterhead. Expected wear including flattened transmittal folds, some split and discretely repaired. Toning, with a few areas of isolated abrasions, and red ink ghost impressions recto. Else very good to near fine. 4.75" x 5.625." Provenance: Ex-Kenneth Rendell, 1969.

The subject of this letter is Princess Elizabeth's first momentous solo public appearance at the age of 16. Princess Elizabeth had been named as an honorary colonel of the Grenadier Guards regiment - the most senior infantry regiment in the British Army - in early 1942. On April 13, 1943, just a week before her 17th birthday, she reviewed a tank battalion (almost certainly the 4th battalion of the Grenadier Guards) at the Southern Command, at Salisbury Plain. There, she reviewed the troop, greeted officers and Eton cadets, and even clambered into a tank turret to see how it functioned. Contemporary newspapers reported how graceful and confident the young princess was. She wore a "utility" turquoise dress suit and jacket and a wide-brimmed hat, her only adornments being a gold Grenadier Guards regimental cap badge and a diamond lapel pin presented to her on her 16th birthday by the Grenadier Guards a year earlier.

Princess Elizabeth addressed this letter to one "Arthur" whom we strongly suspect referred to Captain Arthur Penn (1886-1960). There is actually a double connection which strengthens this assertion. First, Penn had been a member of the royal household since 1937, and was then serving as private secretary to Queen Elizabeth, Princess Elizabeth's mother. Second, during World War II, Penn served as a regimental adjutant in the Grenadier Guards. The Court Circular section of the "Daily Telegraph" issued on April 14, 1943 states that one "Capt. Arthur Penn" escorted Princess Elizabeth to the Grenadier Guards review the day earlier. Thus it makes sense that, a few days after the memorable event, Princess Elizabeth would write him a few lines recalling it.

In this letter, Princess Elizabeth shares how much she enjoyed reviewing the "4th Battalion." During World War II, the Grenadier Guards had six active service battalions. Some of these battalions, like the 4th, had been converted from infantry to armored. The 4th had been raised between October 1940 and October 1941. It would later see action in Normandy and Germany in 1944-1945.

Princess Elizabeth wrote in full, with original usage:

"18th April 1943.

Dear Arthur,

Yea, yea, I think it would be a very good idea for the Sergeant's Men at Pirbright.

I did so enjoy my visit to the 4th Battalion, they were all so nice and I thought they looked a magnificent lot of men.

Thank you also very much for sending Col. Clive's address, I will try and write to him as soon as I can. I am also going very refined way, not NAY NAY. Very disappointing.

Yours very sincerely

Elizabeth."

Being Colonel of the Grenadier Guards was just one of many ways that Princess Elizabeth contributed to the war effort. She spoke in morale-boosting radio broadcasts, knitted sweaters for servicemen, marched along with the Buckingham Palace Girl Guides, and maintained a victory garden. Most vitally, she made numerous public appearances in England during a time when some had advocated the princesses' evacuation to Canada. Elizabeth and her family certainly embraced the "we're all in this together" patriotism that endeared them to the British wartime public. In 1945, Princess Elizabeth joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service as an honorary subaltern, eventually attaining the rank of honorary junior commander. Perhaps her peeking "under the hood" at the 4th Battalion tanks inspired her later training as a driver and mechanic.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 4.75" x 5.625"
  • Medium: ALS

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