Queen Mother’s Cot in Essex sale

A cot that is believed to have cradled the Queen Mother soon after her birth is to be sold in an Essex saleroom next week.

The cot is part of a collection of items from the nursery at St Paul’s Walden Bury in Hertfordshire, the childhood home of the Royal family at the start of the 20th century. It is believed that the Queen Mother was born in the property on August 4, 1900

The collection includes a Victorian child’s cot, the iron frame with patent adjustable height mechanism by GH Needham; a Victorian doll’s pram and a Victorian mahogany high chair, with a separate base for drawing up to the dining table.

The items were gifted to Peter McRorie, a butler at the Bowes-Lyon home.

Following a brief stint in military service during WWI (when he was injured during a gassing and was invalided out), McRorie returned to the family home in Walden Bury to continue his duties as butler. There, he served during the early years of two of the Royal Princesses in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

His wife would later relate that Princess Margaret would sing him a song in return for a chocolate.

McRorie was gifted the three items by the family during his service when they were replaced by more modern versions, and he consequently used them for his own daughter, the current vendor.

The lot will go under the hammer in Day One of The Fine Interiors Auction at Sworders Fine Art on December 4, carrying an auction estimate of £300-400.