The impression made by King Edward’s illness and marvellous recovery upon the Royal family in general is well illustrated by the following passage from a letter written by Princess Alice to her mother in December 1872:—
“That our good, sweet Alix should have been spared this terrible grief, when this time last year it seemed so imminent, fills my heart with gratitude for her dear sake, as for yours, his children and ours.… The 14th will now be a day of mixed recollections and feelings to us, a day hallowed in our family, when one great spirit ended his work on earth … and when another was left to fulfil his duty and mission, God grant, for the welfare of his own family and of thousands.”
CHAPTER XI
1873-1875
The year 1873 was spent on the whole very quietly by the King and Queen. His Majesty took up once more the thread of his public life which had been interrupted for a considerable time by his illness and convalescence.
A pleasant glimpse of the home life at Sandringham about this time is given in the following letters from the witty and eloquent Archbishop Magee (then Bishop of Peterborough), written to his wife:—
“Sandringham, 6th December 1873.
“… I arrived just as they were all at tea in the entrance hall, and had to walk in, all seedy and dishevelled from my day’s journey, and sit down beside the Princess of Wales, with Disraeli on the other side of me, and sundry lords and ladies round the table. The Prince received me very kindly, and certainly has most winning and gracious manners. The Princess seems smaller and thinner than I remember her at Dublin. They seem to be pleasant and domesticated, with little state and very simple ways.”
“7th December 1873.