of Edinburgh (the queen’s second son) claimed he had been evicted from Buckingham Palace because he refused to shake the servant’s hand. A court source, probably the dean of Windsor, told Lord Derby, foreign secretary, that Brown had taken to sleeping in the room adjoining the queen’s bedroom, “contrary to etiquette and even decency.” The queen’s letter reads: “Perhaps never in history was there so strong and true an attachment, so warm and loving a friendship between the sovereign and servant… Strength of character as well as power of frame – the most fearless uprightness, kindness, sense of justice, honesty, independence and unselfishness combined with a tender, warm heart… made him one of the most remarkable men. The Queen feels that life for the second time is become most trying and sad to bear deprived of all she so needs… the blow has fallen too heavily not to be very heavily felt.” While the letter does not conclusively reveal whether the pair were lovers in the modern sense – the heightened sentiment was not unknown in the queen’s correspondence – it does show a strength of feeling that was disguised when her diaries were edited by her daughter Beatrice after Victoria’s death. Grosvenor believes the friendship was more than platonic. “The similarities between Victoria’s treatment of Albert and Brown in death are too numerous to ignore,” he writes. When the queen died, she left instructions that a lock of Brown’s hair, his photograph, a handkerchief and some letters should be placed in her coffin alongside mementoes of Albert. Any secrets in the letters will presumably remain firmly in the Queen’s mausoleum.
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