Princess Alice of the United Kingdom's letter to her mother Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Ireland, dated July 9, 1862

Source:

Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland: Biographical Sketch and Letters, published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1884

https://archive.org/details/alicegrandduches03alic/page/32/mode/2up

Above: Princess Alice of the United Kingdom on her wedding day, July 1, 1862, photographer unknown.

Above: Alice with her husband, Prince Louis of Hesse, photographed by John Jabez Edwin Mayall.

Above: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Ireland, photographed by Ghémar Frères.

Princess Alice of the United Kingdom VA CI (born Alice Maud Mary on April 25, 1843, died December 14, 1878) was the Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from 1877 until her death in 1878. She was the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Alice was the first of Queen Victoria's nine children to die, and one of three to be outlived by their mother, who died in 1901. Her life had been enwrapped in tragedy since her father's death in 1861.

Alice spent her early childhood in the company of her parents and siblings, travelling between the British royal residences. Her education was devised by Albert's close friend and advisor, Baron Stockmar, and included practical activities such as needlework, woodwork and languages such as French and German. When her father, Prince Albert, became fatally ill in December 1861, the eighteen year old Alice nursed him until his death. Following his death, Queen Victoria entered a period of intense mourning, and Alice spent the next six months acting as her mother's unofficial secretary. On July 1, 1862, while the court was still at the height of mourning, Alice married a German prince of a minor principality, Prince Louis, heir to the Grand Duchy of Hesse. The ceremony — conducted privately and with unrelieved gloom at Osborne House — was described by the Queen as "more of a funeral than a wedding." Alice's life in Darmstadt was unhappy as a result of impoverishment, family tragedy and worsening relations with her husband and mother.

Alice showed an interest in nursing, especially the work of Florence Nightingale. When Hesse became involved in the Austro-Prussian War, Darmstadt filled with the injured; the heavily pregnant Alice devoted a lot of her time to the management of field hospitals. One of her organisations, the Princess Alice Women's Guild, took over much of the day-to-day running of the state's military hospitals. As a result of this activity, Queen Victoria became concerned about Alice's directness about medical and, in particular, gynaecological, matters. In 1871, she wrote to Alice's younger sister, Princess Louise, who had recently married: "Don't let Alice pump you. Be very silent and cautious about your 'interior'." In 1877, Alice became Grand Duchess upon the accession of her husband, her increased duties putting further strains on her health. In late 1878, diphtheria infected the Hessian court. Alice nursed her family for over a month before falling ill herself, dying later that year on the seventeenth anniversary of her father's own death.

Princess Alice was the sister of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Empress Victoria of Germany (wife of Frederick III), mother of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia (wife of Nicholas II), maternal grandmother of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (the last Viceroy of India), and maternal great-grandmother of the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (consort of the current Queen Elizabeth II). Another of Alice's daughters, Elisabeth, who married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, was, like Alexandra and her family, killed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.

The letter:

ROYAL YACHT, July 9th.

BELOVED MAMA: — Before leaving the yacht I must send you a few lines to wish you once more good-bye, and to thank you again and again for all your kindness to us.

My heart was very full when I took leave of you and all the dear ones at home: I had not the courage to say a word, — but your loving heart understands what I felt.

German translation (my own):

Die königliche Yacht, 9. Juli.

Geliebte Mama: — Bevor ich die Yacht verlasse, muss ich Dir noch ein paar Zeilen schicken, um Dir noch einmal Lebewohl zu sagen und Dir immer wieder für all Deine Freundlichkeit zu danken.

Mein Herz war ganz voll, als ich mich von Dir und all den Lieben zu Hause verabschiedete: Ich hatte nicht den Mut, ein Wort zu sagen, — aber Dein liebendes Herz versteht, was ich empfand.