Queen Mother’s cot and pram to be sold by butler’s daughter

THE Queen Mother’s pram and cot, which were passed on to her family’s butler after she outgrew them, are to be sold at auction.

The Victorian items, along with a high chair, are believed to have been used by the infant Elizabeth Boweslyon in the early 1900s at her family’s country home, St Paul’s Walden Bury, Herts.

They were later given to a butler, Peter Mcrorie, and were used by generations of children in his family.

Mr Mcrorie’s daughter, Theatis Brett, 85, has now put them up for sale.

She said her father, who died in 1935, had spoken highly of his time in the service of the Queen Mother’s family.

He recalled the Queen and Princess Margaret as young children and described them as “very friendly girls”.

Princess Margaret would even sing him a song in return for a chocolate.

Mrs Brett said: “I was born at St Paul’s Walden Bury myself but have no memory of living there. The items were used by the children, and when they outgrew them, they were given to him.

“Since then, they have been passed down and used by every generation of our family, but now the grandchildren are grown up, we have no one to use them.”

Auctioneers Sworders, of Stansted, Essex, say the items, expected to fetch £400 at auction tomorrow, have been well looked after and had a “fantastic story”.

Emma Mccann, a spokesman for Sworders, said: “Anything to do with the royals will always have appeal, and as quite niche items, we’d expect them to go to some sort of collector of memorabilia.”