Queen Victoria to Viscount Palmerston.
DEATH OF KING OF HANOVER
Windsor Castle, 21st November 1851.
The Queen has just received Lord Palmerston's letter with the Memorandum relative to the mourning of her Uncle, the late King of Hanover,26 and she has to say in reply that she thinks the mourning ought not to be for a Foreign Sovereign but for a Prince of the Blood Royal, which was the nearest relation in which he stood to the Throne.
Footnote 26: King Ernest died on the 18th of November, aged eighty, and was succeeded by his son, King George V., who reigned till 1866, and died in 1878.
Queen Victoria to the King of Hanover.
Windsor Castle, 21st November 1851.
My dear George,—Your kind letter of the 18th, announcing to me the melancholy news of the death of your Father, was given to me yesterday by Mr Somerset, and I hasten to express to you in both our names our sincere and heartfelt condolence, and beg you to do so in our names to our dear Cousin Mary.27
It must be a consolation to you that the end of the King was peaceful and so free from pain and suffering. Most truly do I enter into your feelings as to the responsible position into which you are now placed, and my best wishes for your welfare and happiness as well as that of Hanover will ever accompany you. I am happy to hear from Mr Somerset that you were well, as well as your dear Mary and dear children.
Albert desires me to say everything kind from him to you as well as to our cousins, and with every possible good wish for your health and prosperity, believe me always, my dear George, your very affectionate Cousin,