24 January 1941
Sandringham Norfolk
Dear Mrs Pitt,
Your letter about your mother has caused me some considerable entertainment in these very dark times. His Majesty saw it himself when he came into the office yesterday, and it certainly did raise his spirits. He remembers his father, the late King, mentioning a persistent correspondent named Mrs McCosh, who even wrote to him about dog mess on the Esplanade at Ryde. She must be your mother. He has therefore authorised me to compose the letter which will go directly to your mother under separate cover, and which, I trust, will arrive in the same post as this. Obviously the order cannot have any official signs of validity, but I shall seal it and make sure that it displays the best possible flourishes.
Yours truly,
J. J. Wilberforce
Senior secretary
Sandringham
Norfolk
His Majesty King George the Sixth by the Grace of God King of England Scotland and Ireland Emperor of India and of the Dominions of Canada and Australia and of his other domains Defender of the Faith etc etc by these presents ordains requires and commands that his beloved servant Mrs Hamilton McCosh of Court Road Eltham shall without fail let or hindrance and invariably obey her daughter Mrs Daniel Pitt when required by the said Mrs Daniel Pitt to take shelter on the occasions of enemy attack so that the said Mrs Hamilton McCosh may continue safely in the service of His Majesty to the end of her natural life.
Le Roi le veult.