From when she was seventeen, Queen Victoria had shared a close bond with her cousin and brother-in-law, Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Besides her children, Ernst had been Victorias final living connection to Albert and was the only other person that truly knew him. In todays journal entry, you will be able to feel just how the Queen was at her newest loss.
©️ Royal Collection Trust / HM King Charles III
“A wet morning. — Just as I was getting up got the telegram with the news that all was over, & that dear Ernest had passed away peacefully at ¼ to 12 last night. Though I had fully expected the news, I was a good deal upset when it came. I thought of the happy past, so long ago, when he was so much with us, of his frequent visits formerly, — of so many many things, of dear Coburg, & that my child, our son was now the reigning Duke, a foreign sovereign!! My head was so full, I could think of nothing else, & of dear excellent Alexandrine who perfectly adored Ernest, though he was often very trying. May God support her & guide our dear Affie! — Receiving & sending endless telegrams. — Dear Arthur left early. — Had a kind telegram from William from Rheinhardsbrunn, whither he gone hoping to see his dear Great Uncle still alive. He was present at Affie’s taking the oath to the Constitution, & said he was the first to congratulate him on his accession. This is very important as it will put a stop to all ill-natured remarks as to his succession &c. Bertie will go from Homburg to the funeral, also Arthur & Sir J. Cowell. — Had tea in the Upper Alcove, & drove later with Beatrice & Louischen. — We dined alone en famille. —“
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© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2012 © Bodleian Libraries © ProQuest
