thin a year's time, and that to
the openly pronounced satisfaction of the very fastidious and not
over-partial Regent. To explain how it came that manners were a little
odd in England, it is necessary to remember that England had been for
more than ten years completely cut off from the rest of the world....

We have bitter cold weather which has given colds to both the
children. Uncle Ferdinand [22] is now only arriving _si dice_ on
Sunday next. He has been robbed of 15,000 francs in his own room _au
Palais-Royal_, which is very unpleasant for all parties.

My letter is so long that I must haste to conclude it, remaining ever,
my beloved Victoria, your devoted Uncle,

LEOPOLD R.

My love to Alberto.

[Footnote 19: Prince Charles of Leiningen.]

[Footnote 20: The three sisters, Mrs Norton, Lady Dufferin,
and Lady Seymour (afterwards Duchess of Somerset), the latter
of whom was "Queen of Beauty" at the Eglinton Tournament, were
grand-daughters of R. B. Sheridan. Lord Melbourne was much
in Mrs Norton's company, and Norton, for whom the Premier had
found a legal appointment, sued him in the Court of Common
Pleas for _crim. con._; the jury found for the defendant.]

[Footnote 21: Lord Maryborough (1763-1845) was William
Wellesley Pole, brother of the Marquess Wellesley and the
Duke of Wellington. He married Katherine Elizabeth Forbes,
grand-daughter of the third Earl of Granard.]

[Footnote 22: Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, King Leopold's
brother.]

[Pageheading: THE QUEEN AND THE PRINCE]

_Memorandum by Mr Anson._

_Minutes of Conversations with Lord Melbourne and Baron Stockmar._

_28th May 1840._

_Lord Melbourne._--"I have spoken to the Queen, who says the Prince
complains of a want of confidence on trivial matters, and on all
matters connected with the politics of this country. She said it
proceeded entirely from indolence; she knew it was wrong, but when she
was with the Prince she preferred talking upon other subjects. I told
Her Majesty that she should try and alter this, and that there was
no objection to her conversing with the Prince upon any subject she
pleased. My impression is that the chief obstacle in Her Majesty's
mind is the fear of difference of opinion, and she thinks that
domestic harmony is more likely to follow from avoiding subjects
likely to create difference. My own experience leads me to think that
subjects between