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ALS signed “Believe me, your affec'te nephew & cousin, Edward R,” three pages on two adjoining sheets, 4.5 x 6.5, Buckingham Palace letterhead, June 1, 1902. Handwritten letter to his great uncle, Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, announcing the end of the Second Boer War. The Duke of Cambridge had been Commander-in-Chief of the Forces from 1856 to 1895, adamantly opposing military reforms in favor of upholding tradition. The resulting weaknesses of the British Army were exposed at the outset of the Second Boer War: despite far superior numbers, the unprepared British forces were overwhelmed by the effective guerrilla tactics of the Boers. The result was the largest and most costly war in which Great Britain engaged between the Napoleonic Wars and World War I.
Overjoyed at the news of peace following this divisive war, Edward VII writes to the Duke, in full: "You will I know be pleased to hear that the document containing terms of peace was signed at Pretoria yesterday evening at 10.30 by all the Boer representatives as well as by Lords Milner and Kitchener—this is indeed a matter of great congratulation throughout the country & I am greatly overjoyed. I do not know yet when the announcement is to be made public—so perhaps you will kindly keep the news for yourself!" In fine condition.
In spite of difficulties early on, British scorched earth policies and brutality against Boers held in concentration camps brought the guerrillas to the negotiating table in 1902. The Treaty of Vereeniging, signed on May 31, 1902, at Melrose House in Pretoria, brought an end to hostilities and saw the Boer Republics absorbed into the British Empire as colonies of the Transvaal and Orange River. In 1910 these were merged with the Natal and Cape Colonies to form the Union of South Africa, a self-governing dominion within the British Empire. A rare and historically significant handwritten letter by King Edward VII, expressing his delight at the newfound peace in southern Africa.
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