Princess Elizabeth's drawing for Peter Pan author JM Barrie for sale
October 11, 2023Unseen drawing by a young Princess Elizabeth that was sent to Peter Pan author JM Barrie – and was called ‘very poor’ by the Queen Mother in an apologetic letter – emerges for sale
- The crayon picture was sent to Barrie along with letter from the Queen Mother
- Drawing could be a depiction of Great Ormond Street Hospital’s new building
A never-before-seen drawing by a young Princess Elizabeth for Peter Pan author JM Barrie has emerged for sale almost a century later.
The crayon picture of a building with lots of windows was sent to Barrie along with an apologetic letter from Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
In it she harshly called the drawing ‘very poor’ and said ‘Elizabeth insisted on putting in a roof with lots of little windows for the nurserymaid’.
It is thought the drawing could be the late Queen’s childhood vision of what Great Ormond Street Hospital’s new Southwood Building should look like.
Barrie is known to have had a strong bond with the royal family in the 1930s and had also gifted the copyright for Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital.
A never-before-seen drawing by a young Princess Elizabeth for Peter Pan author JM Barrie has emerged for sale almost a century later. The crayon picture of a house with lots of windows was sent to Barrie along with an apologetic letter from Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother
A young Princess Elizabeth is seen with her mother after the coronation of her father King George Vi in 1937
The Southwood Building was officially opened by King George VI and the Queen Mother in 1938.
There is no date on the letter but it is thought it was written in the early 1930s when Princess Elizabeth would have been aged between four and six.
The letterhead says it was sent from 145 Piccadilly, which was the family’s London townhouse home before Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 and they moved to Buckingham Palace when Elizabeth’s father became king.
Sir James Barrie attended Princess Margaret’s third birthday party in 1933 and used a couple of lines she had said to him in a play he wrote called The Boy David (1936).
It has also been reported he read stories to the two young princesses.
The letter mentions a charity dinner Barrie was attending, possibly for the hospital, and the Queen Mother asks Barrie not to appeal in Princess Elizabeth’s name.
The Queen Mother wrote: ‘I expect that you only wish to say that she drew a picture for you of what the hospital should look like’.
Barrie is known to have had a strong bond with the royal family in the 1930s and had also gifted the copyright for Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital
The Queen Mother wrote to the author from her then home, 145 Piccaddilly in central London. It is believed to ahve been written in the early 1930s
She apologised for her daughter’s ‘very poor’ drawing of ‘the hospital’
The dinner she referred to could be the fundraising banquet for Great Ormond Street Hospital that was held in the author’s honour in December 1930.
In the letter the Queen Mother mentions having met Cynthia, believed to refer to Lady Cynthia Asquith, Barrie’s private secretary.
Apart from the Peter Pan works, he left most of his estate to her after he died.
Cynthia was also the editor for a book of short stories in aid of the Princess Elizabeth Hospital for Children, which was published sometime in the 1930s and included a story by Barrie.
The letter accompanying the drawing reads in full: ‘My dear Sir James, I am so sorry that I did not realise that you were making your speech tonight, and am hurriedly sending round a very poor house, I fear.
‘Elizabeth insisted on putting in a roof with lots of little windows for the nurserymaid.
‘Please Sir James will you not appeal in her name at all, as I have such difficulties over it, and I am not sure what it is that you wish to say.
‘It is not that I would not feel proud to have her name mentioned by you, only I have had trouble over keeping her name apart from charities etc.
‘But I expect that you only wish to say that she drew a picture for you of what the hospital should look like.
‘Please forgive me for saying all this, but you can imagine what trouble I get into!
‘However, I hope that this very poor drawing may be of little use – I write this in great haste after having met Cynthia who told me your dinner is tonight. I am yours sincerely, Elizabeth.’
She also wrote a note in the margin saying ‘if you can manage it – will you not let the press photograph this’.
The intriguing letter and drawing were part of the collection of American Anglophile William Rasch and are now being sold by Everard Auctions of Savannah, Georgia, where they are expected to fetch £4,000.
The four-page signed letter and holograph envelope is in good condition, with light wear to the edges.
King George VI and the Queen Mother are seen on a tour of Great Ormond Street Hospital in October 1938, when they opened the institution’s Southwood Building
Queen Elizabeth talks to patients at great Ormond Street during her visit
Amanda Everard, from the auction house, said: ‘The owner was a real Anglophile, he had lots of British royal related items – photographs and signatures – he purchased a lot from British dealers.
‘He collected from 1976 through to his death eight years ago.
‘We are thrilled to have his collection, it was so special to go through all these documents and discover this letter.
‘There’s no date to it, but we guess it must be around 1932 based on the drawing style.
‘The Queen Mother seems a little embarrassed and the way it’s written is quite funny. It was clearly written in haste, trying to get this little picture to him.
‘I do feel a little bad because she says in the letter not to let the press see it.
‘This is a super interesting document linking a mother and daughter, albeit a princess and Queen at the time, with James Barrie, the author of Peter Pan.
‘But it’s so sweet, the drawing could have been done by any of our children and shows the human side to royalty.’
The letter and drawing will be sold on October 19.
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