Life At Wood Farm
At age 12, his condition having deteriorated, he was settled in a household of his own at Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate, with a cook, a live-in maid, and his nanny Charlotte Bill (known in the family as 'Lalla'). Thomas Haverly, a coachman from Windsor Castle chosen for his reliability, took the Prince on outings in the country or to the sea, and to the 'big house' at Sandringham when other members of the family were there. His tutor was Henry Peter Hansell (1863–1935).
John's toys at Wood Farm included a pedal car and a ride-on train; photos show him riding a bicycle and a horse without assistance. A plot was set aside as 'Prince John's garden', with gardeners to help him tend it.
He also had the companionship of Winifred Thomas, a Yorkshire girl about his age whose asthma had caused her to be sent to the country to live with her uncle, who was the riding master at Sandringham. Winifred's delicacy probably recommended her to the Queen and Lalla as a companion for John; with their encouragement she visited the Prince almost every day. Winifred and John went on walks and tended the garden together. When John was ill, Winifred sat by his bed as Lalla read to them.
In later years Winifred recalled John's excitement at seeing First World War zeppelins passing over Sandringham in 1916, his pleasure on meeting 'a real, live soldier' – her father Sergeant Frederick Thomas, who visited that same year – and a bicycle race between Prince John and his cousin Crown Prince Olav of Norway (later King Olav V of Norway).
Read more about this topic: Prince John Of The United Kingdom
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