Typewritten, it appears to come from the then Queen and is addressed in informal terms to Crawfie. She eventually succumbed to cancer and died alone in a nursing home - but not before passing on a number of key documents to her solicitor, Bruce Russell, with instructions that they should be released once they could no longer hurt those involved.Īmong them is a letter, never seen before, which forms a central part of the programme to be broadcast tomorrow evening. In fact, the deal was brokered with the Palace by the Foreign Office, who believed the magazine articles would be good for Anglo-American relations.Ĭhildless and separated in later life from the famous sisters she had cared for, Crawfie attempted to commit suicide twice, nearly succeeding in the late Eighties. The revelations came to light as a result of research carried out for a Channel 4 documentary and have been criticised this weekend by Lord St John of Fawsley, the royal commentator, as a 'strange kind of birthday present' for the Queen Mother, who will be 100 on 4 August.Ĭrawford, or 'Crawfie' as the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret both knew her, was an intimate companion of the royal family for 17 years, but was ostracised for supposedly selling her story to the press without the permission of her former employers.

But she was rebuffed by her royal employers.Now held by Crawford's solicitor, the private papers show that the Queen Mother was secretly involved in a government plan to sell anecdotes about her daughters' childhood to an American magazine - a publicity stunt for which the nanny was pilloried for the rest of her life. 'As her youth drained away, and with it her chance of romance and a family of her own, she attempted several times to leave.

She added: 'Her knowledge of psychology meant Crawfie understood this, but there was little reciprocal empathy. 'It’s a touching glimpse of our composed monarch as a vulnerable girl, desperate to impose order on a world beyond her control.' 'She would set her brogues just so, laces ruler-straight, and even get out of bed in the night to check their position. 'At night she would only go to bed after grooming and 'feeding' more than 30 separate toy horses. Ms Holden writes: 'In writing my book, I was able to draw on her fascinating insights, such as Princess Elizabeth exhibiting signs of what could be called obsessive compulsion today.'

Princess Elizabeth and Margaret's lives underwent a dramatic change following the abdication of their uncle Edward VIII and their father's sudden succession to the throne.Ĭrawfie was with the Princesses during this stressful time as lived with them when they were based Windsor Castle during the Second World War.ĭuring this time, Ms Holden claims the Governess applied her knowledge of child psychology to the two young princesses and found Princess Elizabeth to exhibit potential signs of Obsessive Compulsion.

The little princess marion crawford