A history fan has revealed how the Queen Consort sent him a personal letter after he found a photo of her great-great grandmother and sent it to her at Clarence House.
Camilla, 75, wrote back to Adam Simpson-York, from Ipswich, to thank him for sending her the photograph of her relative Edrica Faulkner, penning a typed letter with her handwritten signature on it.
The royal commented in the letter, that arrived on headed notepaper bearing the Clarence House crest, that she thought her ancestor looked ‘a bit sad’ in the sepia-tinged snap.
Simpson-York runs the Facebook page Medals Going Home, where he reunites families with their ancestors’ war medals and forgotten heirlooms.
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A right royal response! Amateur historian Adam Simpson-York, from Ipswich, scours eBay for heirlooms and photos and then tries to reunite families with them – and after he found a photo that he thought showed the great-great grandmother of the Queen Consort, he was shocked to receive a reply from her
He spends hours scouring eBay and other sites looking for treasure and then researches the items in the hope of finding modern-day relatives to give them to.
And on January 3rd, he spotted a picture that caught his eye on the auction site, buying it an hour later for just £9.95.
The amateur historian said he didn’t initially know there was a royal connection but when he saw the photo had the name Edrica Faulkner on it, a quick Google search revealed the link to Camilla, who was born Camilla Rosemary Shand in July 1947.
The sepia snap of Edrica Faulkner that Simpson-York picked up on eBay for around £10, after making the connection with Camilla, he sent the photo to her
After making the decision to send it to Clarence House, he was amazed when the Queen Consort herself replied.
He said: ‘This is most definitely the best item yet that I have rehomed – I’m not sure I’ll be able to top rehoming an item to Queen Consort Camilla. But it just goes to show you that it’s amazing what you can find on eBay.
A few weeks after he sent the photo, he revealed on his Facebook page Medals Going Home that the Queen Consort had responded with a typed letter and handwritten signature
Simpson-York added: ‘I loved the personal touch to her reply. It’s a great feeling to know she took the time to look at it and it’s even more exciting that she’d never seen it before.
‘Hopefully it was a nice surprise for her. I imagine there is a royal archive that it would go into.’
Camilla’s parents were the British Army officer-turned-businessman Major Bruce Shand and his wife The Hon. Rosalind Cubitt, daughter of Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe.
The back of the photograph reveals the identity of the subject – with the Shand surname added in brackets. Camilla’s father was former British Army officer Major Bruce Shand
Edrica Faulkner is the Queen Consort’s great-great grandmother on her father’s side and lived between 1822 and 1890.
Not much is known about her, except she was apparently the daughter of an itinerant painter, but she married Hugh Morton Shand in 1857 and they had three sons, including Alexander Faulkner Shand, Camilla’s great grandfather.
Mr Simpson-York, 37, who works as a postman by day, set up Medals Going Home on Facebook to pass the time during the Coronavirus lockdowns.
He initially bought a random medal on eBay to see what he could discover about its original owner.
Since then he has reunited families with their relatives’ photos, postcards, binoculars, domino sets and even reunited one person with their long lost dad.
The dad-of-two says his boys Reuben, 13, and Tate, nine, love his hobby and help where they can.
Royal stamp: The historian says he wasn’t expecting a reply and was surprised to the see the Crown’s marking on the ‘private and confidential’ letter on January 16th
Speaking about his first sight of the picture of Edrica, Mr Simpson-York said: ‘I just had the name on the back, so I put it into Ancestry and instantly knew from the results that it was someone of some importance.
‘I messaged a couple of people who had done family trees with her in and I received a response saying that there is a royal connection.
‘Then I used Google to do some searching and very quickly realised the connection was to Camilla.
‘As soon as I realised who it was I bought it with the intention of sending it to her. It’s what I do.
‘It is also a great story and was worth the wait to see how excited my boys were when the reply came through.
‘I was definitely being excitedly impatient and was starting to give up hope.’
But on January 16, an envelope arrived with the Buckingham Palace stamp on the front.
Excitedly the family tore open the letter, which said: ‘Many thanks for the photograph of my great great grandmother.
‘It is the first time I have ever seen her picture, I must say she looks a bit sad in it!’
It was signed ‘with best wishes, Camilla.’
The Royal family did not wish to comment on the letter.