'The King's messenger left the Palace, with despatches, for London, on Sunday evening; but, when he had arrived at Patcham, he was compelled to leave the carriage; he then took horse, and proceeded towards London. A gentleman left in a postchaise and pair, about the same time, in spite of the most pressing remonstrances. On the other side of Clayton Hill, the carriage and horses were buried in the snow. The gentleman and driver, it is understood, with great difficulty reached the Friar's Oak, leaving the horses in the snow; and it is said, they have both perished. The London Mail left on the same evening, at the usual time; but, having got to Patcham, it returned, the road being impassable; but the mail bags were taken on by a man on horseback.'
The old King was then ill with the gout, and he died on June 20, 1837, and it was not long after her accession that Queen Victoria visited the Pavilion. She came to Brighton on October 4, and left November 4. It is needless to say that she received an ovation, which may be tersely expressed in the following acrostic taken from the Brighton Gazette of October 5, 1837:
'View now the crowds who throng the joyous scene,
In anxious hope to greet our youthful Queen;
Can loyal hearts their joy now fail to show?
To Heaven the shouts ascend of all below.
O! may thy reign with every bliss be crowned,
Round the vast world may thy renown abound,
In Brighton, may'st thou health and peace acquire,
And Heaven grant thee all thy heart's desire.'