Winston Churchill to his wife, Clementine

    Early in January 1935 50 year old Clementine Churchill--for many years the devoted wife of Winston Spencer Churchill, one of England's most prominent politicians--was making the long sea voyage from England to Indonesia. On New Year's Day, 1935, she wrote to her husband from a stop in India,

"Oh my Darling, I'm thinking so much of you and how you have enriched my life. I have loved you very much but I wish I had been a more amusing wife to you. How nice it would be if we were young again."

Winston's reply, reprinted here, reflected a devotion that had not dimmed in 27 years of marriage. Their partnership, in fact, survived for another 30 years, weathering all the stresses and strains that came from lives led on the world stage.
    Churchill first met beautiful 19 year old Clementine Hozier at a ball in London in 1904. He was 30 and already launched into the adventurous life of a soldier, journalist, and politician. Four years passed before their next meeting in March 1908, when the two were irrevocably drawn to each other. As he wrote to her the following month,

"What a comfort and pleasure it was to me to meet a girl with so much intellectual quality and such strong reserves of noble sentiment."

Clementine found Churchill's charm and charisma irresistible too. Love blossomed, and on August 20, 1908, he proposed to her in the gardens of his birthplace, Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire. They were soon exchanging notes breathless with love. In one, Churchill wrote:

"My dearest, I hope you slept like a stone...The purpose of this letter is also to send you heaps of love and four kisses X X X X."

Her reply to this note ended joyfully,
"Je t'aime passionement [sic]--feel less shy in French."

Another letter from Clementine to Winston written that August ended with the words,

"Goodbye my darling. I feel there is no room for anyone but you in my heart--you fill every corner."

Just one month after their engagement, Winston and Clementine were married at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster. The ceremony was followed by a honeymoon in Italy. On their return, Churchill plunged into politics as a member of the reforming Liberal government. Their lifetime of corresponding began at this period. Clementine, expecting their first child, stayed at Blenheim while Winston remained in London, near Parliament.
    In their letters, Clementine referred to herself as "Kat" or "Cat"; Winston was "Pug" or later "Pig", and even the children received pet names. The letters were invariably decorated with a drawing of a cat, pig or a pug dog. Subjects ranged widely, from the concerns of home to major political events. To Winston, Clementine was a beacon of sanity. He ended a letter that he sent her in April 1909 with the affectionate words,

"Thus the world wages--good, bad and indifferent...and only my sweet Pussy cat remains a constant darling..."

He worried about her health. After the birth of their first child in July 1909, he urged,

"...do try to gather your strength...Remember my two rules--No walk of more than 1/2 a mile; no risk of catching cold...I do so want your life to be a full and sweet one."

After the arrival in 1911 of their second child, Randolph (named after his grandfather), she wrote,

"My sweet beloved Winston, I am so happy with you my Dear. You have so transformed my life that I can hardly remember what it felt like three years ago before I knew you."

But in a postscript she gently chided,

"Please be a good Pug and not destroy the good of your little open air holiday by smoking too many fat cigars."

In 1915, during World War I, Churchill went to France to gain experience of trench warfare. Foreboding filled her letter in November of that year:

"...for seven years you have filled my whole life and now I feel more than half my life has vanished across the channel...I feel you are receding into the fog and mud of Flanders..."

He continued to rely on her support while he was abroad. Taking strength from her, he wrote,

"Show complete confidence in our fortunes. Hold your head vy high. You always do."

Throughout the vicissitudes of his career, Churchill always believed in his destiny. At the end of 1915, during World War I, he wrote,

"My conviction that the greatest of my work is still to come is strong within me..."

Clementine supported his belief, and he recognized just how much he needed her. On their eleventh wedding anniversary in September 1919, he wrote:

"...it is a rock of comfort to have your love and companionship at my side."

She campaigned for him during the General Election of 1922. From Scotland she explained,

"I find what people like best is the settlement of the Irish question. So I trot that out and also your share in giving the Boers self-government...I am exhibiting you as a Cherub Peace Maker with little fluffy wings around your chubby face."

During the 1930's, Churchill fell into the political wilderness. He spent much of his time at his family home at Chartwell in Kent, painting, writing, and warning Britain of future danger from Nazi Germany. When war did come, Churchill became prime minister. As he later wrote in his memoirs,

"I felt as if I were walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and this trial."

Throughout the dark years of conflict, Clementine did much in her own right, especially her tireless charity work for Russia. During her visit to the Soviet Union in 1945, Churchill concluded a letter to her,

"My darling one I always think of you...Yr personality reaches the gt masses and touches their hearts.
With all my love and constant kisses
I remain your devoted husband
W"

    Although plagued by ill health in their old age, their last years together were full and rich, and they continued to correspond whenever they were apart. Winston and Clementine's warm union of mind and spirit lasted until Winston's death, at age 90, in 1965. Clementine survived him by 12 years, and died at the age of 92.



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Text from
Famous Love Letters
Messages of Intimacy and Passion
Edited by Ronald Tamplin
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