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ALS signed “VR,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 4.5 x 7, black-bordered Balmoral letterhead, November 1, 1873. Handwritten letter to “Leila,” the Countess of Erroll Eliza Hay, who held the office of Lady of the Bedchamber to HM Queen Victoria. The letter, penned in her difficult-to-decipher hand, reads, in part: “Here is the photograph for…Forbes.—I so stupidly forget telling you that I mean to go to the Glassalt Shiel for 2 or 3 days on Tuesday & wish you to go with me. You need not fear the house being cold for it is very cozy and snug…I feel so happy & relieved tonight & sure that a blessing will rest on this Christian act. Let me thank you for your gt kindness in all this, dear Leila. It has been a gt. support & comfort to me, as I stand—excepting for my good, & faithful [John] Brown, who honorable tho' he be, is the truest, kindest friend I have—& whose heart & head w'd do honour to the highest. I am almost alone in this…time. And I shall look back to it gratefully & it will be a bond between you & me. You are an example to all for your conduct in your own home." The queen adds a brief line at the end: "Please let me hear early tomorrow." In fine condition.
John Brown was Queen Victoria's close personal attendant for many years, and the exact nature of their relationship has been the subject of much speculation over the years: the queen's daughters joked that he was 'Mama's lover,' and Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, wrote in his diary that Brown and Victoria slept in adjoining rooms 'contrary to etiquette and even decency.' Queen Victoria's journals and letters were expurgated following her death to remove anything that might upset the royal family, leading to even greater curiosity surrounding her relationship with Brown. Revealing her warm affection for Brown as her "truest, kindest friend," this is a particularly insightful Victoria letter.
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