My dear and beloved Mama –
We have just arrived, at this moment, in Buckingham Palace, and the first free moment that I have must be dedicated to you. I assure you that I cannot imagine it at all yet that you have left, that we have separated and the emptiness that you leave is painfully felt by all. The Queen, the Duchess of Kent, Prince Albert expressed really sincere regrets, I believe, not to see you here; we were expected; but we have said, that you felt so tired, that you could not risk yourself, and I even told the Queen, that I had not spoken to you any longer, as it was so painful for me to leave you!
The queen is the simplest woman that one can imagine, one is struck from the first sight; she has something of goodness, of softness, of discretion, that is very attractive. Forgive me, dear and beloved Mama, if I write you a letter which is a little disjointed, but I am tired of the crossing which was bad and we were all more or less sick, even Papa. We were tossed around for 9 hours. At Dover, we were received by the garrison, a chamberlain of the Queen. At the railway station Prince Albert received us. The Count and Countess of Lavradio are doing well, she was named maid of honour by Pedro, but she is staying here for now. Farewell, dear and adored Mother, I am, naturally, continually thinking of you, looking forward impatiently to hearing from you. Papa and Leopold both are fine but sad not to see you here, as I am too; but still, hopefully what happened is for the better. I kiss your hands tenderly. – Your faithful daughter.
COMMENT:
Stephanie has finally left Prussia. Therefore, this letter must have been written sometime after the 29th of April 1858, following her marriage by proxy at St. Hedwig’s Cathedral in Berlin. Princess Victoria of Prussia (Vicky) was present at the ceremony, and made several sketches of the affair, which you can see, for instance, in the link below. Stephanie arrived in Buckingham Palace on the 6th May, after having set sail towards Dover (this took the whole of 9 hours, it seems) and then travelled by train to London; her eldest brother and father accompanied her, but her mother, unfortunately, had to stay behind for health reasons.
https://www.rct.uk/collection/981251/queen-stephanie-of-portugal
I’ve spoken of Lavradio in a previous letter, but a quick recap: him and the countess were diplomats, and they had met Stephanie at her home about one-two months before this encounter. I assume the Duchess of Kent is referring to Victoria’s mother, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, who was the sister of Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Ernst I is, in turn, the father of Prince Albert, and Ferdinand is the father of King Ferdinand of Portugal (Pedro’s father; confusing, but I hope this makes sense).
Queen Victoria seems to have made a very favourable impression on young (now) Queen Stephanie of Portugal. She seems to consider her a discreet, pleasant woman, far different from the frolicking and flirty Victoria who, in her own memoirs, had champagne and danced at balls in her youth. Victoria was now thirty-nine years of age, and already a mother of nine children (Princess Beatrice, the youngest child, had been born in 1857, and was therefore two when Stephanie visited). Stephanie’s deep bond with her mother is only just beginning to be seen – all her correspondence posted here, from now on, will be directed to the mother she left behind, and whom she will long for seeing again.
The Historian Chronicles 