Princess Victoria of Kent's letter to Leopold, King of the Belgians, dated May 23, 1836

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/48/mode/2up

Above: Princess Victoria of Kent, future Queen of the United Kingdom and Ireland, painted by Henry Collen.

Above: Leopold, King of the Belgians, painted by Sir George Hayter.

Above: Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, lithograph by John Samuelson Templeton.

Above: Prince Ernest of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, lithograph by Royal de Lithographie à Bruxelles.

Above: Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, lithograph by Royal de Lithographie à Bruxelles.

The letter:

23rd May 1836.

MY DEAREST UNCLE, — ... Uncle Ernest and my cousins arrived here on Wednesday, sains et saufs. Uncle is looking remarkably well, and my cousins are most delightful young people. I will give you no detailed description of them, as you will so soon see them yourself. But I must say, that they are both very amiable, very kind and good, and extremely merry, just as young people should be; with all that, they are extremely sensible, and very fond of occupation. Albert is extremely handsome, which Ernest certainly is not, but he has a most good-natured, honest, and intelligent countenance. We took them to the Opera on Friday, to see the Puritani, and as they are excessively fond of music, like me, they were in perfect ecstasies, having never heard any of the singers before. ...