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
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.
The letter:
9th May 1837.
MY DEAREST UNCLE, — It was very kind of you to write to from your new château; I hardly ventured to hope for my usual letter, and yet I should have been much disappointed had I not received it. I am sorry that the house is so bad, but hope you will have found a good position for a new one. ...
Pray, dearest Uncle, may I ask such an indiscreet question as, if Major Stroekens is a clever man; he was so nervous and embarrassed when he came here, that I could not make him out. He brought me a very nice letter from Donna Maria.
I am anxiously waiting to hear the issue of the battle between the Carlists and Christinos, which is, they say, to decide a great deal.
Now farewell, dearest Uncle. I beg my affectionate love to my dear Aunt, and my most respectful hommages to the Members of the Family with you. Believe me, always, your affectionate Niece,
VICTORIA.
Old Pozzo dined here last Wednesday, and he gave me a long, I must say clever, dissertation about the state of France, during dinner-time.
Note: Old Pozzo = Count Pozzo di Borgo, the Russian ambassador. By birth a Corsican and a devoted patriot, he was a lifelong opponent of Napoleon and his designs. He entered the Russian diplomatic service in 1803, and after Waterloo became Russian ambassador in Paris. He was ambassador in London for two years, when his health gave way.
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