An American couple who received a touching letter from the Queen say they’re considering naming their unborn child “Elizabeth” after hearing news of her death.
Katelyn Sutherland, 31, and her husband Aaron, 34, received the royal missive after sending Her Majesty a picture of their daughter, Jalayne, now two, dressed just like her.
And now Katelyn is pregnant with her second child, she says Elizabeth is “in the running” to be the name they call their new baby, who is due in late October.
The married couple, from suburban Kentucky, said they never expected to get a return letter from the palace and had sent the original letter on a whim last year.
So they were “amazed” when the “heartwarming” note arrived in the post from Her Majesty a few months later, thanking them for the “splendid” photo of their daughter.
Katelyn said she was “really sad” to learn about the Queen’s death on Thursday, adding that she had been a “role model” for people around the world.
She said: “We were really sad to hear that news, and although we don’t know her personally, we do feel connected to her, with everything that has happened with my daughter and the letter.
“Although she’s not our queen, given that we’re in the United States, she is definitely a role model to me and my daughter.
“Now I’m pregnant, and we don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl, but my husband’s grandma is also named Elizabeth, so it is in the running as one of the names if it’s a girl.”
Full-time mother Katelyn, from Florence, Kentucky, said she decided to dress her daughter, then one, in a miniature Queen Elizabeth II outfit for Halloween last year.
Adorable Jalayne looked the part in her light blue coat and hat, with white shoes, a miniature handbag and a grey wig - while flanked by the couple’s two corgis.
Katelyn said: “The biggest inspiration for the outfit was the fact that our dogs are our daughter’s best friends.
“We wanted to do something where they could all be included together.
“We are most definitely fans of the Royal family and truly admire how the Queen walks by faith.”
The proud mother took a picture of her daughter standing with their two pups, before later deciding to send the photo to the British monarch on a whim.
And she was amazed to find a return letter from the palace in her letterbox - dated December 9 last year - just a few months later.
The typed note from a lady-in-waiting said the Queen thought the outfit was “splendid”, while thanking Katelyn for her photo and wishing her family a “Merry Christmas”.
Katelyn said: “Truly, I never thought we’d hear anything, you know, because to me being in the US, she’s so far away and out of reach.
“But the fact that she took time out of her day to send us something small like that back was just so amazing and heart-warming. It was just amazing.”
Katelyn says the treasured letter, which hangs in her dining room, will serve as a reminder of The Queen’s enduring legacy now she’s passed away.
She said: “I’m very grateful that I have our letter to hold onto as something from her. But I morn the part that my daughter won’t have her as a constant, like I did throughout my life.
“I mourn that that there won’t be any more future things from her, so it’s just going to be really important to share all the things that she has done and keep reminding our daughter how special she was.”
Katelyn felt the new King Charles III would do a “wonderful job” as the new British monarch but added that no person could ever be “as great” as Elizabeth II.
She said: “I don’t think anybody could be as great as she is. She’s her own person.
“I think he’ll do a wonderful job, but queen Elizabeth is on her own level.
“He definitely has big shoes to fill, but I think we’ll see pieces of her through him, and I think he’ll do a great job.”
