Year: 1867

now = ~ EEN lti'N HE Qt ESiipN EfN


YiCToRIAS BOOK.


The long expected volume, prepared un-
der the direction of Queen Victoria. and
entitled the = Early Years of his ROYAL
IIighness the Prince Censor" has Just ap-
pcared in London It was prepared under
the superintendencc of the Queen. hv Lieut.
General the Hon {. Grey bat others which
arc to follow will be edited by Mr.. Theodore
Martin. The translations of the Princes
letters are. with few merely verbal correc-
tions. hy the Princess Helena.


The possibility of a marriage between the
Queen and the Prince was. it seems. fondlv
looked forward 70 by the Dowager- Duchess
of Cohurg from very early period. and the
Prince used to relate that :" when he was a
child of three wears old. his nurse always
told him that he should marry the Queen !;
and that when he first thought Of marrying
at all, he always thought of her" As the
children grew up this idea warmly en-
courgcd hv the King of the Belgians. from
whom. indeed. the Queen first heard of it ;
but the idea of such a marriage met with
much opposition. and the late King w illiam
". did everything in his power to discour
are 1t No fewer than five other marriages
had been contemplated for the young Prin-
cess and the King, though he never men
toned the subject to the young Princess her
self. was especially anxious to bring about
an alliance between her and the late Prince
Alexander of the Netherlands, brother of the
present King of Holland. In his anxiety to
effect this object he did everything he could.
though Intellectually, to prevent the Duke
of Coburg's visit to England in 1896, when
he came over with his sons and spent nearly
four weeks at kensington Palace with the
Duchess of Kent. Queen Adelaide in for
mer wears said to the Queen that if she had
told the King that it was her own earnest
wish to marry her cousin, and that her own
happiness depended upon it, he would at
once have given up his opposition To it, as
he was very fond of and always very kind to
his niece 1t was then that the Queen and
Prince met for the first time, and her Maies-
tv thus records her impressions of the visit.


- The Prince was ut that time much
shorter than his brother. already very hand
some. but very stout. which he entirely grew
out of afterward He was most amiable,
natural, unaffected and merry--full of in
terest in everything, playing on the piano
with the Princess. his cousin. drawing in
short, constantly occupied He always paid
the greatest attention TO all he saw, and the
Queen remembers well how intently he lis
I tened to the sermon preached in st. Paul {
when he and his fa ther and brother accom-
panied the Duchess Of Kent and the Princess
!
/ by the children of the different charity
schools. 1t is, indeed. rare to see Prince
not yet seventeen years of age bestowing
such earnest attention on sermon.


1t was probably in the early part of 1888
that the king of the Belgians. in writing tc
the Queen, first!mentioned the idea of such g
marriage Both the Prince and his father
seem to have objected from the first to the
proposal that a few years should elapse be
fore the marriage should take place, he then
being eighteen years of age. - am ready,


he said to king Leopold. :. to submit to thii
delay if | have only some certain assurance
to 90 upon. But if after waiting three
years, should find that the Queen no longer
desired the marriage, it would place me in a
very ridiculous position and would to GER
tain extent. ruin all the prospects of my
future life The Queen says she never en-
tertained amy idea of this, and she afterward
repeatedly Informed the Prince that she
would never have married any one else. She
expresses. however, great regret that she haC
not after her accession kept up her CORES
pondence with her cousin as she had done
before it, :. Nor can the Queen now," sh,
adds. - think without Indignation agains
herself of her wish to keep the Prince wait
ing for probably three or four years, at th'
risk of running all his prospects for life. o.
until she might feel inclined to marry. Ant
the Prince has since told her that he CAM
over in 1899, with the intention of tellin;
her that if she could not then make up hel
mind she must understand that he could no
now wait for a decision. as he had done at &
former period when this marriage was first
talked about. The only excuse the Queer
can make for herself is in the fact that tn
sudden change from the secluded life at Ken
sington to the independence of her position
! rs Queen repnant the OF eighteen
put all ideas of marriage out of her mind
which she now most bitterly repents.
worse school for young girl, or one NOR