Letter to Prince Leopold, future King of the Belgians, on his birthday from his niece Princess Victoria of Kent, future Queen of the United Kingdom, dated November 25, 1828

Source:

The letters of Queen Victoria: a selection from Her Majesty's correspondence between the years 1831 and 1861: published by authority of His Majesty the King, edited by Arthur Christopher Benson and Viscount Reginald Baliol Brett Esher, 1907

https://archive.org/details/lettersofqueenvi01victuoft/page/30/mode/2up

Above: Princess Victoria of Kent, future Queen of the United Kingdom, lithograph by Richard James Lane.

Above: Leopold, King of the Belgians, painted after George Dawe.

Victoria, full name Alexandrina Victoria (born May 24, 1819, died January 22, 1901), was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 20, 1837 until her death at the age of 81 on January 22, 1901. She adopted the additional title of Empress of India on May 1, 1876. Known as the Victorian era, her reign of 63 years and 7 months was longer than that of any of her predecessors and was only surpassed in 2015 by the current queen, her great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II. Victoria's reign was a time of great industrial, cultural, political, scientific and military change in the United Kingdom and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire.

Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After both the Duke and his father, King George III, died in 1820, Victoria was raised under extremely close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne at age eighteen after her father's three older brothers all died without legitimate issue. Although she was a constitutional monarch, privately Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly she became a beloved national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality.

Victoria married her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. Their nine children and numerous grandchildren married into royal, imperial and noble families all over the continent, giving rise to Victoria's nickname "the grandmother of Europe", and spreading the incurable genetic blood disease hemophilia into the German, Spanish and Russian royal and imperial families. After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism in the United Kingdom temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign her popularity recovered. Her Golden Jubilee and Diamond Jubilee were times of public celebration. She died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight in 1901. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, Victoria was succeeded by her son Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Victoria wrote this letter to her uncle Prince Leopold, future King of the Belgians, for his birthday on November 25, 1828, when she was nine years old.

The letter:

KENSINGTON PALACE, 25th November 1828.
MY DEAREST UNCLE, — I wish you many happy returns of your birthday; I very often think of you, and I hope to see you soon again, for I am very fond of you. I see my Aunt Sophia often, who looks very well, and is very well. I use every day your pretty soup-basin. Is it very warm in Italy? It is so mild here, that I go out every day. Mama is tolerable well and am quite well. Your affectionate Niece, VICTORIA.

P.S. — I am very angry with you, Uncle, for you have never written to me once since you went, and that is a long while.