Letter: Edward VIII wanted to fight in WWI

LUDLOW, England, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A Ludlow, England, auction includes a letter written by the former Prince of Wales lamenting his inability to serve on the front lines of World War I.

The letter, written in March 1915 by the future King Edward VIII when he was 19-years-old, will be auctioned Dec. 16 at Ludlow Racecourse by Mullock's auctioneers, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

"As you may imagine mine is a most rotten position in war time," the prince wrote to his friend, Capt. Faussett, from the British Army headquarters in St. Omer, France. "I hold commissions in both services and yet I'm not allowed to fight. Of course I haven't got a proper job which is very painful to me and I feel I am left too much in a glass case. I long to be taking my chance in the trenches with my brother officers and in fact all able bodied Englishmen."

Historical document expert Richard Westwood-Brookes said the letter "demonstrates the truly poignant situation that leading members of the Royal Family find themselves in."

"They are desperate to be counted alongside the ordinary people of this country, and yet prevented from doing so by the establishment machine. As a result they suffer the criticism of the press and public alike at being freeloaders and playboys who give nothing back to society. In reality nothing could be further from the truth," he said.