Our silver teaspoon story goes around the world

Our lovely story about a “borrowed” silver teaspoon  has quite literally gone around the world. It was picked up by the BBC, ABC, New Statesman magazine, Portsmouth News and more …

Here’s the full story.

More than 80 years after it was first ‘borrowed.’ a silver teaspoon has been returned to a Portsmouth hotel.

Pilfered cutlery

The piece of pilfered cutlery had been languishing in a drawer on the other side of the world for the past 50 years but has now been returned to The Queens Hotel in Southsea.

A padded envelope arrived at the hotel from Australia and General Manager Paul Playford was amused to read the touching story that John White had sent along with the teaspoon.

“He told us he was returning the teaspoon that had been ‘borrowed’ 83-years earlier by his parents.

“His mother was a Wren and his father was a Naval Officer and it seems they took the teaspoon as a memento of a precious time spent at the hotel during World War 11.

“We couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw the silver teaspoon that has a monogram on it – especially as it had travelled all that way,” he said.

Memento of a happy time

In his letter, John said: “We hope you have not missed the spoon too much and will forgive a young couple taking a memento which has been tucked away in a drawer in Australia for the last 50 years.”

Enchanted by the story, the hotel contacted John to see if he could share a little more information about his parents.

He explained that he has very few photos of his parents from the war years, not even a wedding photo but he did share these lovely shots of the two in uniform.

 

His mother Pamela White was stationed at Portsdown hill as a Signals Distribution Officer for the Commander in Chief and was there for the D-Day landings.

The photo of John’s father Dudley shows him on board HMS Victorious as No 1 officer resplendent in tropical kit.

Cabinet of curiosities

John added: “I can only assume the teaspoon incident happened (deliberate or not) in 1944 and was a memento of a brief time together on leave at your lovely hotel.”

The teaspoon and letter will take pride of place in the cabinet that holds other significant items from The Queens Hotel’s fascinating past.

Famous guests

During the war, The Queens Hotel welcomed Sir Winston Churchill and General Eisenhower. Famously General Charles de Gaulle stayed at the Queens for a long period and could often be found on the terrace staring longingly towards France.

“Of course we would never condone anyone ‘borrowing’ items from The Queens Hotel but this story is so lovely we wanted to share it,” added Paul.

 

 

7th October 2025