Personal letters written by Princess Diana have been revealed to the public.
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The notes were penned to one of her servants and have been shown ahead of an auction of his possessions.
In one of the letters, written a week after her son Prince William’s birth in 1982, Diana thanks William Tallon, commonly known as ‘Backstairs Billy’, for all his “lovely presents” and describes her emotions, writing: “We are not sure at the moment what has hit us, except a very strong pair of lungs.
“Both parents are making little sense, we just seem to spend most of our time gazing at this tiny person!”
The letter is one of eight between the princess and Backstairs Billy, who died last November at the age of 72.
Over the five decades he worked for the royal family, he kept every letter, photograph, gift and memento, including hundreds of photographs, scrapbooks, gifts and medals.
Although he refused to profit from his position, one of the conditions of his will was that they would be auctioned off and given to the beneficiaries
of his estate.
Auctioneer James Grinter said the letters themselves should fetch between UKP500 and UKP1,500.
But he commented: “They are very difficult things to value because they are so personal.”
Among the collection of 694 items – which are expected to fetch hundreds of thousands of pounds – are letters and instruction notes from the late Queen Mother.
