Queen Elizabeth II: Nursery gets letter day before her death

Nursery pupils received a letter from the Queen the day before she died

Nursery pupils were overjoyed to open a letter from the Queen after they wrote to tell her of their Jubilee plans.

The royal missive arrived at Footsteps Day Nursery in Llanbradach, Caerphilly county, on 7 September.

The next day, at 18:30 BST, Buckingham Palace announced Britain's longest-reigning monarch had died.

The children had each written to the Queen in May and were amazed to receive correspondence from Balmoral.

Footsteps boss Lucy Rowles called the letter "very special".

Signed by a lady-in-waiting, it thanked the youngsters for their "splendid letters and pictures".

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"The Queen was glad to hear from you and, although unable to reply to you personally, Her Majesty was pleased to hear of the party you were planning to celebrate this special event," the note said.

"Her Majesty hopes you all had a very happy time at the festivities and I am to thank you again for your messages of good wishes to the Queen."

The youngsters each wrote an individual letter to the late monarch

Ms Rowles said: "It just gives us a happy memory in what is obviously a very sad time. And makes it personal to us.

"When we think of the Queen, we think of our personal message. Something to cherish."

In their letters to the Queen the children told her they were going to celebrate with a tea party and wished the 96-year-old well.

"They were telling her about their tea party they were going to be having to celebrate and just wishing her well, hoping she had a good time on her celebrations," Ms Rowles added.

The children were amazed when they received a reply from Balmoral thanking them for getting in touch

The nursery will now hang the letter on the wall.

"It's been stored safely and ready to get a nice frame to be displayed in the nursery, pride of place," said Ms Rowles.

The nursery owner said death could be a difficult topic to discuss with children but they have been trying to help them understand what has happened.

"Death and everything can be an upsetting topic, as it is for adults," she said.

"But to be able to link it now to this happy memory that we've got can make it slightly easier."

She said the nursery would be closed on Monday for the Queen's funeral.