A touching letter from five-year-old King Charles expressing his love for his ‘dear daddy’ has sold at auction for £5,700.
The young prince wrote to Prince Philip in 1954 while he and the Queen were on a royal tour of Australia.
They were gone for almost two months and it’s clear how much Charles missed his father.
He wrote in capital letters on Buckingham Palace letterhead: ‘Dear Dad, I want to see you on the ship. Love from Charles.’
The back of the second page is covered by a series of crosses representing affectionate hugs and kisses.
One of young King Charles’s first letters expressing his love for his ‘dear papa’ has come to light 70 years later (pictured)
The five-year-old wrote to Prince Philip in 1954 while on a royal tour of Australia with the Queen.
The Queen was making her first royal tour of Australia, the first time a monarch had visited a distant territory.
She and Philip arrived in Sydney Harbor aboard the SS Gothic in February 1954 and traveled around the country for 58 days.
Charles and Princess Anne, who was three years old at the time, remained 10,000 miles away at their home in London.
The letter came up for sale from a private collection at International Autograph Auctions Europe in Malaga, Spain.
An undisclosed buyer paid a hammer price of £4,600 (€5,500), with auctioneers’ fees taking the final figure to £5,740 (€6,875).
Pictured: Charles being lifted by his father Philip, in the grounds of Windlesham Moor, the country house in Surrey.
Auctioneer Richard Davie said: “It is quite extraordinary that letters from British monarchs written at such a young age should appear at auction.”
‘The only other similar example I have previously offered was a letter written by Queen Victoria at the age of seven.
‘The letter is particularly charming as it demonstrates how much the future king missed his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, and, as has been well documented, Charles and Prince Philip did not always enjoy the warmest and closest family relationships.
“The letter at least shows that in his early years Prince Charles had affectionate regard for his father, and closes with a series of circles and crosses drawn beneath his signature, representing hugs and kisses.”
In 1970, the Queen and Philip were accompanied by Charles and Anne on a tour of Australia to commemorate the bicentenary of Captain James Cook’s sailing up the east coast of Australia in 1770.
Pictured: Philip and Charles during a visit to Dorset in October 2016.
In 1988, royal biographer Penny Juror said that Philip and Charles “did not speak to each other like normal father and son.”
Addressing their different personalities in a 2016 interview with Gyles Brandreth, Philip said: “Charles is a romantic and I’m a pragmatist.”
In 1970, the Queen and Philip were accompanied by Charles and Anne on a tour of Australia to commemorate the bicentenary of Captain James Cook’s sailing up the east coast of Australia in 1770.
In 1988, royal biographer Penny Juror said that Philip and Charles “did not speak to each other like normal father and son.”
Addressing their different personalities in a 2016 interview with Gyles Brandreth, Philip said: “Charles is a romantic and I’m a pragmatist.”
The sale of the cards will take place at the end of this month, on September 25.
Talking to him radio timesGyles Brandreth previously revealed comments the duke made to him about reported differences with his eldest son, Prince Charles.
Recalling the conversation that took place a few years ago before Charles married Camilla, he revealed: “He’s a romantic,” he said, “and I’m a pragmatist. That means we see things differently.”
He paused before adding, with a shrug, “And because I don’t see things the way a romantic would, I’m insensitive.”
However, Brandreth noted that the relationship between father and son seemed to have grown closer in Philip’s later years.
He noted that the Duke seemed particularly grateful to Charles for organizing a family party at Windsor Castle to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday and took it upon himself to congratulate him on its success.
Brandreth also opened up about the secrets of the Queen’s long-lasting partnership with the Duke of Edinburgh, saying the key to their lasting union was the fact that he makes her laugh.
However, the writer who has followed the couple for more than 40 years revealed that their personalities are very different.
The duke was more outgoing than his wife, while she was the more patient in society.
Their marriage certainly stood the test of time, from their wedding day in 1947, considering their family history.
Only one of the Queen’s children, Prince Edward, has managed to maintain a successful marriage that did not end in divorce.
Prince Charles divorced his wife Lady Diana in 1996, four years after their separation.
Prince Andrew’s union with Sarah Ferguson ended in 1996 after a decade of marriage and Princess Anne separated from her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, when her daughter Zara was 11.
Despite this, Brandreth said that the couple is not known for displays of affection and that they have never been seen holding hands in public. He attributed it to the “stoic values” of his generation.
