The alliance with France during the Crimean War led to the exchange of visits between the two Courts. The Queen and her husband were quite captivated by the loveliness and charm of the Empress Eugénie, and at first thought far better of the Emperor than he deserved. He laid himself out with considerable adroitness to please the Queen, and succeeded. The Emperor and Empress visited the Queen at Windsor in April, 1855. During their visit to England a grand fête was given in their honor at the Crystal Palace. The Emperor lived in perpetual dread of assassination, and on this occasion he appears to have communicated some of his nervous apprehension to the Queen, who wrote in her diary:—
“Nothing could have succeeded better. Still I own I felt anxious as we passed through the multitude of people who, after all, were very close to us. I felt, as I walked on the Emperor’s arm, that I was possibly a protection for him. All thoughts of nervousness for myself were passed. I only thought of him; and so it is, Albert says, when one forgets one’s self, one loses this great and foolish nervousness.”
Her Majesty’s courage and its source are well exemplified in this passage.
The return visit of the Queen to Paris took place in the autumn of the same year. She was accompanied by her husband and the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal. Some characteristic incidents connected with the Queen’s visit to Paris ought to be mentioned, especially that, although overflowing with friendliness and good feeling to the Emperor, she thought it her duty to explain to him that nothing could shake her kindly relations with the Orleans family. She told him that she had been intimate with them when they were in power, and she could not drop them when they were in adversity. Possibly Louis Napoleon remembered this conversation in 1870, when he himself was an exile in England, and experienced the benefit of the Queen’s faithfulness to her friends when they were in trouble. In this same conversation he opened the subject of his confiscation of the property of the Orleans family, and the Queen gave frank expression to her own views on the subject. The Queen remarks in her diary:—
“I was very anxious to get out what I had to say on the subject, and not to have this untouchable ground between us. Stockmar, so far back as last winter, suggested and advised that this course should be pursued.”
After these visits letters were frequently interchanged between the two Sovereigns. In one of his, Louis Napoleon appears to have plumed himself on the advantages of an absolute monarchy, especially in conducting negotiations with other States, uncontrolled power of decision vested in the Sovereign alone, and so on. To which the Queen rejoined, “There is, however, another side to this picture, in which I consider I have an advantage which your Majesty has not. Your policy runs the risk of remaining unsupported by the nation,” and you may be exposed “to the dangerous alternative of either having to impose it upon them against their will, or of having suddenly to alter your course abroad, or even, perhaps, to encounter grave resistance. I, on the other hand, can allow my policy free scope to work out its own consequences, certain of the steady and consistent support of my people, who, having had a share in determining my policy, feel themselves to be identified with it.” Here, too, there was food for reflection on the Emperor’s part in after years.
The Royal children greatly enjoyed their visit to Paris, and it is said that when the time came for their departure the Prince of Wales begged the Empress to get permission for him and the Princess Royal to be left behind to prolong their visit. “The Empress said she was afraid this would be impossible, as the Queen and the Prince would not be able to do without them;” to which the boy replied, “Not do without us! I don’t fancy that, for there are six more of us at home, and they don’t want us.”
Very soon after the return of the Court to Balmoral (10th Sept., 1855) the Queen and Prince had the intense satisfaction of hearing of the fall of Sebastopol, an event which brought the end of the war within measurable distance. Peace was concluded in the following spring.
It was a source of great pride to the Queen to know that England was stronger at the end of the Crimean War than at the beginning. The country had learnt by its mistakes, and was not exhausted by its sacrifices. The Indian Mutiny, which quickly succeeded the Crimean War, found England more capable of dealing with it than if it had taken place earlier. This was fully recognized by the Prince Consort. If those who had accused him of an anti-English spirit could have read his private letters they would have had their eyes opened. He wrote to Stockmar August, 1857:—
“The events in India are a heavy domestic calamity for England. Yet, just because of this, there is less reason to despair, as the English people surpass all others in Europe in energy and vigor of character: and for strong men misfortune serves as a school for instruction and improvement.”