Charlotte Jane "Lala" Bill (9 December 1875 – 13 December 1964) was an English

nanny A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...

to the children of the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

and Duchess of York, later King George V and Queen Mary. She was most closely involved with the couple's youngest child, Prince John, whom she nursed devotedly from 1905 until his death in 1919.Van Der Kiste, p. 44

Employment

Bill began her employment as the under-nurse to the York children. Working under the head nurse, she was shocked at the nurse's treatment of the royal children. The nurse appeared to resent every new addition to the nursery and neglected the second son, Bertie, later

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

, to the point that he became ill.Van Der Kiste, p. 11 The head nurse had originally been a nursemaid to the

and Duchess of Newcastle and had received a good reference from them. After Bill expressed her concerns about the head nurse, she was dismissed in 1897, and Bill was appointed in her place.Van Der Kiste, p. 11 As the children grew up, she became especially close to the youngest child, John, who had

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...

and learning difficulties caused by possible autism. Although John originally stayed at

York Cottage York Cottage is a house in the grounds of Sandringham House in Norfolk, England. History The cottage was originally called the Bachelor's Cottage, and built as an overflow residence for Sandringham House. In 1893, it was given by the future ...

with his mother and father, he was separated from them and moved with Bill to nearby Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate. Bill nursed John until his death from a severe epileptic seizure on 18 January 1919. It was Bill who telephoned Queen Mary to inform her of his death, and she and the King travelled from Buckingham Palace to Wood Farm to see their dead son. Bill attended his burial at Sandringham Church, where he was interred next to his uncle

Prince Alexander John of Wales Queen Victoria, the British monarch from 1837 to 1901, and Prince Albert (her husband from 1840 until his death in 1861) had 9 children, 42 grandchildren, and 87 great-grandchildren. Overview Victoria and Albert had 20 grandsons and 22 grandd ...

, the infant son of

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

and

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 t ...

, John's grandparents.

Life after Johnnie

She remained devoted to the memory of the young prince right up to her death on 13 December 1964, at the age of 89. She died in a hospital in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. On one visit to her house, John's brother the

Duke of Windsor Duke of Windsor was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 8 March 1937 for the former monarch Edward VIII, following his abdication on 11 December 1936. The dukedom takes its name from the town where Windsor Castle, ...

noticed that the first object he saw when he walked into Bill's house was a large photo of Johnnie as a toddler on her

fireplace mantel The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and c ...

Legacy

Her character appears in the film ''

The Lost Prince ''The Lost Prince'' is a British television drama about the life of Prince John – youngest child of Britain's King George V and Queen Mary – who died at the age of 13 in 1919. A Talkback Thames production written and directed by Stephe ...

'', where she is played by

Gina McKee Georgina "Gina" McKee (born 14 April 1964) is an English actress. She won the 1997 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for '' Our Friends in the North'' (1996), and earned subsequent nominations for '' The Lost Prince'' (2003) and '' The Street'' ...

.https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0571160/ A novel called ''The Royal Nanny'' by Karen Harper recounts the story of Bill and her time with the royal children.

Notes

Sources

*Reynolds, K. D., 'John, Prince (1905–1919)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 3 Feb 2008
*Van Der Kiste, John, ''George V's Children'' (Sutton Publishing, 2001) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bill, Charlotte Governesses to the British Royal Household 1875 births 1964 deaths