Message to Queen Elizabeth and George VI discovered inside an official despatch box

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Barrow and Gale make the Queen's official red despatch boxes
Most were inherited from her beloved father, King George VI
Queen's private office said they were 'incredibly touched' by message

Published: 06:14 EST, 9 September 2015 | Updated: 06:20 EST, 9 September 2015

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Barrow and Gale, the discreet London-based leather goods company which makes the Queen's official red despatch boxes, has revealed the existence of a secret message within one which lay undiscovered for decades.

The company is so secretive about its work that it normally declines to speak to the media, but agreed to talk to MailOnline about the Queen's official boxes in honour of her becoming the country's longest-serving ruler today.

One of the boxes is seen in the fore of a new portrait of the Queen issued by Buckingham Palace to commemorate the occasion - and it has now been revealed that a secret message lay hidden inside one such box for more than 70 years.

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One of the Queen's official red despatch boxes can be seen in the fore of a new portrait of the Queen issued by Buckingham Palace. When one was refurbished, a secret message was found hidden inside

The message read "God Bless And Keep Safe Their Majesties" and was written inside the box by a craftsman for the Queen's parents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, pictured here with the monarch and her sister Princess Margaret in 1936

'The one you can see in the picture is one of a number that she inherited from her father that we were asked to refurbish around three years ago,' the spokesman revealed.

'When we received it the boxes were, as you can imagine, in a hell of a state. It was something of a labour of love, which took place over several months, to restore them.

'When we pulled the boxes apart to reveal the shells for the first time since they had been made for her own father's coronation, we discovered that one of our craftsmen had inscribed in pencil a secret message to the Queen's parents. It was barely legible but read: "God Bless And Keep Safe Their Majesties".

'Whether they, or indeed we, were meant to see it no-one will ever know. But it was very moving and when we relayed this to the Queen's private office everyone was incredibly touched.

A close-up of one of the Queen's boxes taken in 2002 shows how it had become battered after years of use and needed some restoration work, carried out by makers Barrow and Gale in 2012. It was then they discovered the secret message inside

'There was some kind of initial alongside the message but it was impossible to work out who it belonged to and has been left part of the mystery. It seems rather fitting, really, given how long it had remained a secret.'

The spokesman added: 'We take great pride of being part of an aspect of history.'

The discreet London-based leather goods company (which also supplies HM’s Government) hand-makes them from pine grown in colder climates to ensure durability and covers them with red rams’ leather.

According to a company spokesman, most of the Queen's official boxes were actually inherited from her beloved father, King George VI, who acceded to the throne of the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, in 1936, and periodically refurbished.

The Queen, pictured working at her desk in 1969, has received one of the boxes almost every day of her reign

Barrow and Gale also also make the official ministerial box for the government, like this one held by by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne before delivering the budget in 2008, but only Her Majesty's is embossed with the words 'The Queen'

'The Queen is very careful with her money but it also means a great deal to her to use one that belonged to her late father, it offers a sense of continuity and link to the king,' they said.

She has received one of the boxes almost every day of her reign, including weekends and holidays but excluding Christmas Day.

The box contains documents from government ministers in the United Kingdom and her realm and from representatives across the Commonwealth and beyond, all of which are reads and, where necessary, approved and signed.

While all government boxes bear the Royal cipher, only her Majesty’s is embossed with the words "The Queen".

She owns around six of these boxes, the larger used for official papers with smaller ones for the personal correspondence, all made for her Royal Warrant holders Barrow and Gale.

The Queen will overtake her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, as the country’s longest-serving ruler at 5.30pm today. Her remarkable achievement will be marked during an engagement in Edinburgh, opening the Scottish Borders Railway with her husband, Prince Philip, and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.