The Duke of Cambridge to Queen Victoria

St James's Palace, 17th September 1856.

My dear Cousin,—This morning the reply from Baden reached me, and I hasten to inform you at once of the purport of it, embodied in a very excellent letter written by my sister Mary, who declines the proposal made to her on the part of the King of Sardinia, for some very excellent and weighty reasons.

I must confess that I fully agree with her in the view she has taken, and, I can say with truth, that I think her decision is a very judicious and very correct one, and I am not at all sorry she has come to it. As I know that Clarendon was very anxious to have an early reply, I have in the first instance sent Mary's letter on to him, and have requested him, after perusing it, to send it on to you, and I hope you will not think that I have been wanting in respect to you in so doing. With many thanks to you for your great kindness in having left the decision of this weighty matter entirely in our hands, I beg to remain, my dear Cousin, your most dutiful Cousin,

George.

Footnote 46: The King had, in January 1855, lost his consort, Queen Marie Adélaïde, daughter of the Archduke Rénier of Austria. Lord Clarendon wrote to Baron Marochetti:—...

"The Queen's first care was for the happiness of Princess Mary, and it was the wish of Her Majesty and of Her Majesty's Government that the decision should be left to the unbiassed judgment of Her Royal Highness.

"Princess Mary, having maturely weighed the matter in all its different bearings, has come to the conclusion that it is her duty as regards both the King of Sardinia and herself to decline the offer, which you were empowered to make on the part of His Majesty.

"Princess Mary fully appreciates the many excellent and noble qualities of the King. She does not doubt that in him individually she would be happy, and she thinks that the alliance would be popular in England; but Her Royal Highness feels that as the Protestant Queen of Sardinia she must be in a false position, and that a wife can never find herself thus placed without injury to her husband.

"Princess Mary is deeply attached to her religion, which is the first consideration in this world, and in the free and undisturbed exercise of that religion, however much it might be sanctioned by the King, and supported by His Majesty's Government, she feels that she would be the object of constant suspicion, that her motives would be liable to misconstruction, and that the King would be exposed to grave embarrassments, which time would only serve to increase.

"I am not surprised at this decision, which, from my knowledge of Princess Mary's profound religious feeling, I rather led you to anticipate; but I am bound to say that with reference to her religion, and with reference to that alone, Her Royal Highness has, in my opinion, decided with wisdom and foresight.

"I am convinced, however, that in renouncing upon conscientious grounds the brilliant position which has been offered to her, of which she fully appreciated the advantages, Princess Mary can only have added to the respect which the King already feels for the noble and elevated character of Her Royal Highness."