I received this afternoon your kind letter from Gais of the 12th. One word more I must just add. No doubt if Lord Aberdeen had been at his post what has happened would not have taken place, and suspicion of Lord Palmerston has been the cause of the unjustifiable conduct of the French Government. But just as they did suspect him, they should have been more cautious to do anything which could bring on a quarrel, which is surely not what the King can wish.
Footnote 24: Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg.
Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians.
THE PRINCESS OF PRUSSIA
Windsor Castle, 29th September 1846.
My dearest Uncle,—I received last week your very kind and satisfactory letter of the 16th. Your opinion on this truly unfortunate and, on the part of the French, disgraceful affair is a great support to us. Stockmar has, I know, communicated to you what has passed, and he will send you copies of the King's letter and my answer. Our conduct has been throughout honest, and the King's and Guizot's the contrary. How the King can wantonly throw away the friendship of one who has stood by him with such sincere affection, for a doubtful object of personal and family aggrandizement, is to me and to the whole country inexplicable. Have confidence in him I fear I never can again, and Peel, who is here on a visit, says a war may arise any moment, once that the good understanding is disturbed; think, then, that the King has done this in his 74th year, and leaves this inheritance to his successor; and to whom—to a Grandchild, and a Minor! And for Nemours and Paris, our friendship is of the greatest importance, and yet he prefers the troubles of governing Spain, which will be a source of constant worry and anxiety, to the happy understanding so happily existing between our two countries! I cannot comprehend him. Guizot behaves shamefully, and so totally without good faith. Our protests have been presented. I feel more than ever the loss of our valuable Peel.
I wish, dearest Uncle, you would not go to Paris at all at present.
The Queen-Dowager and the Princess of Prussia25 have left us this morning after a week's stay, and I have been delighted with the Princess. I find her so clever, so amiable, so well informed, and so good; she seems to have some enemies, for there are whispers of her being false; but from all that I have seen of her—from her discretion, her friendship through thick and thin, and to her own detriment, for Hélène, and for the Queen-Dowager who has known her from her birth, I cannot and will not believe it. Her position is a very difficult one; she is too enlightened and liberal for the Prussian Court not to have enemies; but I believe that she is a friend to us and our family, and I do believe that I have a friend in her, who may be most useful to us. I must conclude, envying your being in Tyrol. Ever your devoted Niece,
Victoria R.
Footnote 25: Marie Louise Augusta, daughter of the Grand Duke Charles of Saxe-Weimar, subsequently Empress of Germany, mother of Prince Frederick William, afterwards the Emperor Frederick, who in 1858 married the Princess Royal.