Continuity in grief 124 to its completion An important component in this process was the Queen’s regular

correspondence with her daughters living in Prussia and in Hesse, who supplied her with the political information she needed to form her own opinion about German affairs. Especially the Princess Royal’s knowledge about the latest political developments in Prussia was profound, and although Princess Alice was less involved in the political affairs of Hesse, she added the perspective of a smaller German state to the Queen’s knowledge and therefore rounded off Victoria’s picture of Germany. This flow of letters was actively encouraged by Queen Victoria, who urged the Prussian Crown Princess to “write to me anything you hear and are anxious about, just as you did to dear Papa - for it is very useful.”^'^

Occasional scruples of the Princess Royal with regard to the communication of highly political intelligence from Prussia to Britain were counterbalanced by the Queen’s assurance that the correspondence “never left the house nor indeed any of the Ministers even see it. Only one of your letters written to me (...) was read to Lord Russell and Sir G Grey but it never left our h a n d s . H o w e v e r , Queen Victoria did occasionally show her daughter’s letters to ministers, as is evident in messages such as “the Queen thinks it right to communicate to Lord Russell the contents of a letter which the Crown Princess received from Berlin;”^^ thus, the decision to show her daughter’s letters to selected ministers rested solely with the Queen, who did not ask her daughter for an authorization.

The Queen’s personal and political hopes for the future were clearly focused on Crown Prince Frederick William, a judgement shared by the Times, which remarked that “there are few personages of the day even among Royal Families who hold so high a position and have played so great a part” (6 July 1871).

V I-3 : Bis m a r c k

The appointment of Bismarck as Prussian Minister President in 1862 did not lead to any noteworthy reaction from the British Foreign Office. Queen Victoria, on

22 June 1864 Queen Victoria to the Crown Princess of Prussia. In: Fulford (ed ). Dearest Mama, p.348.

5 August 1863 Queen Victoria to the Crown Princess of Prussia. Found in: RA 141/2. The correspondence referred to, however, was not the Queen’s exchange of letters with her daughter, but certain messages between die Prussian Crown Prince and his father.

8 March 1862 Queen Victoria to Russell. In: Buckle (ed.), The letters of Oueen Victoria. second series, vol.l, p.23.

the other hand, received ample warning from her oldest daughter and she followed the development attentively. Before long, the deeply disapproving attitude of the Princess Royal with regard to Bismarck’s conservative vision convinced Queen Victoria, who regarded him as a negative influence on the Prussian King from now on; in her eyes, Bismarck reinforced William I’s already prevalent conservative beliefs, without keeping him constantly informed about the latest political development.

It was the Princess Royal’s trusted adviser, Ernst Stockmar, who in April 1862, informed Queen Victoria about the possibility “that some reckless person, like v.Bismarck-Schonhausen should become Minister and entangle the country in a war in order to put an end to our internal difficulties.”^^ By that time. Queen Victoria was so used to receive essential information through her Prussian daughter’s channels that she reprimanded the Crown Princess when she learnt about Bismarck’s appointment as Prussian Ambassador to France in June 1862 by an official notification from the British Foreign Secretary Russell: “You never told me of Bismarck’s appointment at Paris.”^* Quite remarkably, the Queen obviously expected her eldest daughter to communicate the latest political developments of Prussia quicker than the Foreign Office.

Considering that the political outlook of the Prussian Crown Princess was as liberal as her late father’s, her personal opinion of Bismarck was utterly disapproving. Sie told her mother that she “deplores M.de Bismarck’s nomination and fears he might do mischief, where he is.”^^ As early as July 1862, Queen Victoria received warnings from her daughter in Prussia, that “the King leans very much towards that ^ wretchb^l^ Bismarck Schonhausen and will probably take him as prime minister;”'^

however, she did not immediately comment on Bismarck’s actual appointment as Prussian Minister President in September 1862, and in this instance silence certainly spoke for itself. Although Queen Victoria came to agree with her eldest daughter’s negative notion about Bismarck, she kept her opinion restricted to her private correspondence. The Prussian Crown Princess, on the other hand, openly expressed her animosity towards Bismarck in a letter she sent to the Prussian Minister President,

26 April 1862 Ernst Stockmar to Queen Victoria. Found in: RA139/20.

^Ml June 1862 Queen Victoria to the Crown Princess of Prussia. In: Fulford (ed.). Dearest Mama, p ^ .

14 June 1862 Ernst Stockmar to Queen Victoria. Found in: RA 139/45.

19 July 1862 The Crown Princess of Prussia to Queen Victoria. In: Fulford (ed.). Dearest Mama, p.96.

VI: Continuity in grief 126