Newark woman receives message of thanks from the Queen in response to heartfelt letter

A woman has received a letter of thanks from the Queen in response to a letter sharing memories of the late Duke of Edinburgh.

Marie Haswell, of Newark, wrote to the Queen to express her sympathy following the death of her husband, Prince Philip, and to share a story of the time she had met him.

Marie met the Duke while working in London and, in her letter, told the story of the time she spent with him.

She said: “I worked in the EC3 area of London and [the place I worked] was called the Metropolitan Bonded Warehouse. They did all the wines an spirits at the time.

“I was messing about with a machine because I think we had just got the gin bottles through, and I had a bucket of glue and he actually wanted to carry it for me and I said no sir you mustn’t do that. He said don’t call me sir, call me the Duke ­— and he actually carried the bucket of glue outside and emptied it for me.

“He was very jolly and just down to earth. He didn’t want anybody to bow to him or curtsey.

“They were cleaning the area at the time, when I walked in that morning, I said ‘oh gosh, it’s that clean you would think the Queen was coming’. So they said to me, the next best thing Marie.

“All of a sudden he was standing behind me and he said ‘its me’.”

Marie later moved to Newark, where she continued to pursue her passion for singing and writing alongside her work in hotels and hospitals.

In her letter, Marie also included a poem called Ageless, which she wrote with the Queen in mind.

Marie added: “When she lost the Duke I thought about her and I wanted to do this for her.

“I lost my husband 14 years ago and I never really recovered because he was my soulmate, and you loose somebody you love so much. I felt for her.”

In response to her letter, Marie received a card with a message of thanks from the Queen.

“I want to show everyone how nice she is,” Marie said.

“People think she’s disconnected as the Queen, but she has got a heart. We are honoured to have her.”

Marie has other fond memories of the royal family, from watching the coronation and marvelling at the new Queen’s carriage while at school, to meeting Prince Charles and Princess Anne in a sweetshop.

She has also previously sent a copy of her CD, You’ve Got a Friend, to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who also sent her a message in response.