The letter, written in March 1954, is on sale as part of a private collection for £7,000

A heartwarming letter written by a five-year-old King Charles expressing love for his ‘dear Papa’ has resurfaced 70 years on.

The note, dated March 25, 1954, shows the young prince’s impressive handwriting as he penned a sweet message to Prince Philip while he and the Queen were away on a Royal tour of Australia.

The tour lasted almost two months, leaving a young Charles “longing” to see his father again.

He wrote on Buckingham Palace headed paper in block letters: “Dear Papa, I am longing to see you in the ship. Love from Charles.” On the back of the second page, Charles wrote: “Love from Charles” with a series of circles and crosses, representing hugs and kisses.

The Queen was on her first Royal tour of Australia, making the first ever visit from a monarch to the far-away territory. She and Philip arrived in Sydney Harbour on board the SS Gothic in February 1954 before exploring the country for a whopping 58 days. Charles and Princess Anne, who was just three at the time, stayed 10,000 miles away at home in London.

The letter is dated March 25, 1954 ( Image: InternationalAutographAuctionsEurope/BNPS)

Charles was five when he wrote it ( Image: InternationalAutographAuctionsEurope/BNPS)

The letter has emerged for sale from a private collection for £7,000 (8,000 euros) at International Autograph Auctions Europe, of Malaga, Spain. Auctioneer Richard Davie said: “It is quite extraordinary for letters of British monarchs written at such a young age to appear at auction. The only other similar example that I have offered previously was a letter written by Queen Victoria at the age of seven.

“The letter is particularly charming as it demonstrates how much the future King was missing his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, and, as has been well documented, Charles and Prince Philip did not always enjoy the warmest and closest of family relationships. The letter does at least show that in his early years Prince Charles did hold his father in affectionate regard, and he closes with a series of circles and crosses drawn beneath his signature, representing hugs and kisses.”

In 1970, the Queen and Pricne Philip were joined by Charles and Anne on an Australian tour to mark the bi-centenary of Captain James Cook sailing up the east coast of Australia in 1770. In 1988, Royal biographer Penny Juror said that Philip and Charles “didn’t speak to each other as normal father and son”.

Addressing their different personalities in a 2016 interview with Gyles Brandreth, Philip said: “Charles is a romantic – and I am a pragmatist.”

The sale of the letter will be held next Wednesday on September 25.