Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

Letter from the King Acknowledging FDR's Request

BALMORAL CASTLE

8th. October, 1938

My dear President Roosevelt,

Your letter, which Mr. Kennedy handed to me last week, came as a pleasant relief at a time of great anxiety, and I thank you warmly for it.

The Queen and I appreciate most sincerely your kind invitation to visit Mrs. Roosevelt and you in the United States in the event of your going to Canada next summer. I can assure you that the pleasure, which it would be in any case give to us personally, would be greatly enhanced by the thought that it was contributing in any way to the cordiality of the relations between our two countries.

I hope that it will not be inconvenient if I delay my answer until the plans for a visit to Canada are further advances, and I am in a position to judge how long it may be possible for me to be absent from this country. I will then communicate with you again.

Although the suggestions which you make for a visit sound very attractive, I am afraid that we shall not be taking the children with us if we go to Canada, as they are much too young for such a strenuous tour.

Before I end this letter, I feel that I must say how greatly I welcomed your interventions in the recent crisis. I have little doubt that they contributed largely to the preservation of peace.

With all good wishes and many thanks for your kind invitation,

Believe me,

Yours very sincerely,

(Signed) George R.I.

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