Letters written by Queen Victoria revealing her pain at the death of her beloved personal servant John Brown have been uncovered.
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The queen – who became close with Brown following her husband Prince Albert’s death in 1861 – describes herself as “sorely stricken” in the intimate pages addressed to Lily Wellesley, the wife of the queen’s personal chaplain, between 1866 and 1887.
In a letter written from her Berkshire residence Windsor Castle less than a week after Brown’s death in March 1883, she wrote: “He was so strong and powerful and his health and constitution so remarkably strong that I felt as sure as one can be of any thing human that he would long, very long be preserved to me!”
She also talked of her sad pilgrimages to Brown’s grave at her royal Scottish estate Balmoral, where he initially worked as an outdoor servant before being promoted to the queen’s personal aide in 1861.
She wrote: “Yes byegone days were bright and happy and it seems to me that life is without light now.”
Louis Caron, an antiquarian book dealer, expects to raise UKP10,000 when the 15 letters, totalling 67 pages, go under the hammer in Canada.
He said: “They show how much Queen Victoria appreciated him. Was there something more than affection? Difficult to say. It was clearly a very special relationship.”
Brown’s relationship with the queen was depicted in the 1997 film Mrs Brown starring Judi Dench and Billy Connolly.
