ROYALTY - EDWARD (PRINCE OF WALES) Series of thirteen autograph letters signed ('E', 'Edward'), eight to Sir Henry Launcelot Aubrey-Fletcher, 6th Bt., ('My dear Flick', 'My dear old Flick') and five to Fletcher's wife Mary ('Dear Mrs Fletcher'), the first two enthusiastically asking him for a signed photograph ('...I hope you don't mind my asking!!...'), thanking him for his great kindness and for a dress sash ('...I shall be more than proud to wear it...') and expressing his misery at being left behind whilst the battalion goes to the front, sending a gift and a photograph of himself via his wife ('...I did not think you would want to take it out in the 'rucksack'!!!!!!...'), subsequent letters dealing with his frustration and loneliness at being left behind doing King's Guard duty ('...the stink of the dead men, added to the wet & mud must be foul. I feel more of a shit than ever leading this soft life in London but as you know it is not my fault... what a bloody awful existence mine is!...'), his fellow soldiers ('...2 out of a dozen who are not bad, but the rest are out & out shits... very much of the type of those 3 Sandhurst chaps who joined us at Warley... I haven't many friends...'), on Fletcher's wound ('...What a bore for you having a piece of shrapnel still in your face...'), the death of mutual friends, two written from France ('...I have twice been well within range... only 1 mile from the trenches... not much chance of seeing anything really exciting... The men coming out from the trenches are in an awful state... a wash & sleep soon puts them right...'), the last written after the battle of Neuve Chapelle ('...bloody awful... 'entre nous' there has been some 'bungling'!!... Whether they were misdirected or their orders were misunderstood I don't know but the fact remains apparently that the Batt. marched straight into a most murderous shell fire!!...') and listing casualties ('...3 days severe fighting & the price is over 1000 casualties...'), ending by exclaiming '...Oh!! This bloody war!...'; the letters to Mrs Fletcher speak of her husband's many kindnesses, reiterating his wish to be at '...the firing line... once across the Channel lots of things are possible...', and commenting on news from her husband, with five autograph envelopes, c.40 pages, dust-staining, marks and creases, two heavily mottled with burn holes, 8vo (200 x 125mm. and smaller), Wellington Barracks, Buckingham Palace, York Cottage, 'Buckhouse', St Omer, 13 September 1914 to 13 March 1915 Footnotes: 'I FEEL MORE OF A SHIT THAN EVER... OH!! THIS BLOODY WAR!': CANDID CORRESPONDENCE FROM EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES, REVEALS FRUSTRATION WITH HIS ROYAL POSITION DURING WORLD WAR ONE. From these letters it seems that Prince Edward met the recipient, Sir Henry Launcelot Aubrey Fletcher of the Grenadier Guards, just five weeks before the first letter of our correspondence. It would appear that the older man became rather a mentor and friend during that time, and Edward's letters speak much of his many kindnesses and support. The Prince's frustration and self-loathing at being left behind is much in evidence here and is revealed to both Aubrey-Fletcher and his wife, although he does temper his language somewhat for feminine ears. When he is finally sent to British HQ in St Omer, however, he is frustrated to feel the same restrictions he was under in London. Particularly striking in this group is his candid letter written after the battle of Neuve Chapelle on 13 March 1915 when, angry at the enormous casualties suffered, he reveals that it was the result of 'bungling' and poor communication - '...Oh!! This bloody war!...' he ends in exasperation. Throughout his life, Edward, later Duke of Windsor, spoke very publicly about his resentment of the restrictions afforded him by his birthright, and these letters are no exception. Sir Henry Launcelot Aubrey Fletcher (1887-1969) of Chilton House, Aylesbury, was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford and served in the First Battalion, Grenadier Guards, in the First and Second World wars. In the First War he was wounded twice, was awarded the DSO and Croix de Guerre, and ended the war on the staff of the Guards Division as a Lieutenant-Colonel. Inspired to write after hearing a lecture whilst in France given by a guardsman who had recuperated by writing detective stories, Aubrey-Fletcher became a successful and prolific writer of detective fiction under the name Henry Wade (Wade being his mother's maiden name). Much admired by Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, who was a close friend, he was one of the founder members of the Detection Club and has been called the 'father of the English police procedural' with titles such as The Hanging Captain, A Dying Fall, and Mist on the Saltings, although his work is now largely forgotten (Crispin Black, 'Henry Wade... A Short Literary Appreciation', guardsmagazine.com). For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing