Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Ireland's letter to her uncle Leopold I, King of the Belgians, dated April 17, 1838

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/110/mode/2up

Above: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Ireland, drawn by Sir David Wilkie.

Above: Leopold I, King of the Belgians, painted by Auguste-Alexis Canzi after Franz Xaver Winterhalter.

The letter:

WINDSOR CASTLE, 17th April 1838.

MY DEAREST UNCLE, — ... You will by this time have learnt the sad loss we have all sustained in the death of dearest, faithful, excellent Louie, who breathed her last, without a struggle or a suffering, on Sunday night at nine o'clock. I don't think I have ever been so much overcome or distressed by anything, almost, as by the death of this my earliest friend; it is the first link that has been broken of my first and infantine affections. I always loved Louie, and shall cherish her memory as that of the purest and best of mortals as long as I live! I took leave of her before I left London on Wednesday, and never, never shall I forget the blessing she gave me, and the grasp she gave my hand! I was quite upset by it! And I feared and felt I should behold her on earth no more; it was, however, a beautiful lesson of calmness and contentment and resignation to the will of God! Prepared as she was at every moment of her life to meet her heavenly Father, she was full of hope of recovery, and quite unconscious of her approaching end. You will, I am sure, dearest Uncle, feel the loss of this excellent creature; I cannot restrain my tears while writing this. One great consolation I have, which is, that I have been the means of making her last days as happy as she could wish to be, after having lost what she loved most!

... Poor Mason, our faithful coachman for so many years, is also dead. These old servants cannot be replaced; and to see those whom one has known from one's birth drop off, one by one, is melancholy! You will think this letter a very sad one, but I feel sad. ...

Note: Louie = Louisa Louis (1771-1838).