Queen Victoria’s journal- reception for Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and the King of Saxony at Buckingham Palace

On this day, 7th June 1844, a reception was held in the Saloon at Buckingham Palace for Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and the King of Saxony.

Queen Victoria’s journal:

“Breakfast the same, as all these mornings, after the Emperor had been to Prayers, with Albert. — At a little before 11, we set off for Slough, with the Emperor & King, taking the train there. When we were in the carriage the Emperor kissed my hand & pressed it with great warmth, saying he must thank me for all my kindness to him at Windsor, & he also thanked Albert. No one was in our railway saloon but ourselves & the Sovereigns. There was an immense crowd at Paddington station & all the way to Buckingham Palace, which we reached at 12. Took the Emperor to his rooms, for he lodges here now, as well as almost the whole of his suite. — I rested, & wrote, &c —. The Emperor came upstairs, to Albert’s room, just before luncheon, & then led me down to the small Drawingroom, where we lunched with him & the King. The Emperor began to talk about politics & did so very frankly & fairly, — much in the same strain, as he did to me, the other evening, viz: of Austria & the terrible position that country was in, — with the Sovereign a complete cypher, the Archdukes taking no part in anything, & the Nobility being of no assistance whatever; that someone must stand by them & support them, & must not shut one’s eyes in tranquillity, but be prepared for what the future may bring. He regretted & dreaded the growing fanaticism about religion, & appealed to the King, if he was not right in thinking it very bad. The latter, quite agreed, for though he is a very good Roman Catholic, has extremely liberal religious views. Then the Emperor talked of the King of Prussia, saying much the same about him, as he had before; – of the Diet, & of his great wish to keep things as they were; – that I could rely (& I must say I do trust his word) upon him, & trusted he might rely on me, to which I of course, suited, & bowed assent that he wished our keeping together, not to be in the slightest degree exclusive of others. Albert often put in a clever word of his. The Emperor said that because he spoke so “franchement”, he had been accused of having “des arrières pensées” & being prompted by “le Diable”. “Mais je trouve que le Diable ne parle pas quelquefois si Mal,” he added, laughing. When we got up from luncheon, he kissed my hand, begging my pardon for having said all he had, but that he had been anxious to lose no opportunity of being well understood. – Walked out with Albert & it was very mild. – […]

[…] Rested, when we came in & wrote. – Punctually at 8 we dined. Besides our suites & ourselves & Ld Aberdeen, Aunt Gloucester. The Gentlemen were all in full dress uniform, the Emperor looking very magnificent & dignified. The servants were in their state liveries & the whole dinner was a very fine sight. I sat as usual between the Sovereigns. After dinner there come about 259 invited guests, & all the rooms were thrown open. I presented some of the Ladies to the Emperor, who was extremely kind & civil about it, & full of anxiety lest I should fatigue myself too much. Whilst Albert was presenting all the Gentlemen, I sat with Aunt Gloucester, in the Saloon, & they joined us afterwards. The Emperor only sat down for a moment near me, as he walked about for the greater part of the evening. At ¼ to 11, we went into the Throne Room, where refreshments were served, the Emperor leading me in, & after a little while, we returned to the Saloon. At ½ p. 11, we all retired. Felt very glad that everything had gone off so well. Naturally, I felt very tired. -”

http://www.queenvictoriasjournals.org/
© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2012 © Bodleian Libraries © ProQuest

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Follow this link to buy a rare surviving invitation to the reception!