Who was George VI's first nanny?

Answer 1

No, Marion Crawford was the nanny George VI hired to care for his two daughters, the present queen and her sister - Elizabeth II and Margaret.

George VI's abusive nanny was either Mrs Green, Mary Peterson, or Mary Peters. Unfortunately there is very little evidence of past house hold staff though I have managed to uncover these three names which fit the "sadistic" first nanny of George VI and Edward VIII.

- Mrs Green evidence - According to the book Born Royal, by Hough, members of the household of the time say "Mrs Green was not a mentally stable woman. She was unable to have children herself and her husband had left her. But before she was married she had completed a full training as a children's nursemaid, and had found employment in the Duke and Duchess of Newcastle's place."

- Mary Peterson evidence - The book Royal Trivia: All you ever wanted to know about the Royal Family, by Sarah Edmunds tells of a certain Mary Peterson was the head nanny at York Cottage. The book mentions that she was committed to an asylum for the mentally unbalanced.

- Mary Peters evidence - This name is just probably an abbreviation of the above Mary Peterson so probably the same person but the book Matriarch, by Anne Edwards the nanny of york cottage is referred to as Mary Peters.

As for the "good" nanny that reported the "bad" nanny, there is a lot of info about her. This is because she was the children's nanny till they did not need a nanny any more. Her name was Mrs Charlotte Bill. She was know as "lalla" by the boys (David and Bertie). She had been engaged as an under nurse to the bad nanny and cared exclusively for John, the new baby (David and Berties younger brother). It took her only 3 weeks to realise that there was something seriously wrong with the Head Nanny and reported her. Lalla became principal nurse after the dismissal of the "sadistic" head nurse and remained in the family's service until 1919.