Radstock Museum features quilt made by former royal midwife Helen Rowe

The rich silks and brocades in a patchwork quilt that has been unveiled at a museum would bring back happy memories of new arrivals for the Queen.

For this particular quilt was made by the former royal midwife Helen Rowe, who helped deliver all of the Queen’s children.

Chris Howell, who organised the exhibition at the Radstock Museum, inspects the quilt made by Sister Helen Rowe
Sister Helen Rowe with Prince Charles, Princess Anne and a baby Prince Andrew
There are 200 examples of the craft at the exhibition, which is open until the end of May, closed Mondays.
There are 200 examples of the craft at the exhibition, which is open until the end of May, closed Mondays.
There are 200 examples of the craft at the exhibition, which is open until the end of May, closed Mondays.

She was famed in the royal household for using remnants from royal gowns as she stitched away while waiting for her new charges to arrive.

The piece of history is now on display at Radstock Museum in Somerset.

Sister Rowe, or “Rowie” as she was known to the Queen, is thought to have been from Bristol. She trained at King’s College, London, and the Middlesex Hospital and went on to become, in the words of the press, “Britain’s most famous and exclusive midwife”. Her first royal birth was that of Prince Michael of Kent in 1942, followed by all four of the Queen’s children.

Rare insights into the Queen as a mother were revealed when letters she wrote to “Rowie” came up for auction at Bonhams in Bath in 2006.

Seven weeks after the birth of Princess Anne in 1950, the Queen wrote: “Charles is getting fatter, as he has an enormous appetite and takes a great deal of exercise. He enjoyed the train journey far more than Anne, who wasn’t too keen on the rattling to begin with.” And when the Queen found she was pregnant again, with Prince Andrew in 1959, she wrote: “The children were very excited at the news of the baby, especially Charles, who loves small children”.

The quilt is a last-minute addition to the Patchwork and Quilting exhibition, featuring 200 magnificent quilts and garments, and has joined the throng thanks to new Midsomer Norton’s Anthea Langelaan. When she read about the show, she contacted Chris Howell, who organised it for Midsomer Quilting Centre.

She explained: “She was my surrogate Auntie Helen, and my mother’s dearest friend.

“Aunt Helen was a quilter, too. I can’t be certain, but I am pretty sure there are remnants of some fabulously expensive royal silk dresses in this quilt. She would sit and quilt while waiting for her royal charges.

“I remember her once calling on us, with a baby, in a chauffeur-driven car, saying she was on her way to buy some nappy pins.I’ll never forget going to Boots with her in a Rolls Royce.”