This letter is part of a collection of letters from the Duke and Duchess of Teck, Mary of Teck and two members of their Royal Household, Hélène Bricka and A. Nelson Hood to Dr. William Wilberforce Baldwin. See the collection record for more information.
Written on mourning stationery from "York Cottage, / Sandringham, / Norfolk" on stationery engraved with the address and a small crown in the upper left corner under which she has signed "May."
Signed "Victoria Mary."
Mourning envelope with postage and postmarks to "Dr. W.W. Baldwin / Villino Rubio / 1. Via Palestro / Florence / Italy."
Reporting, at length, on the condition of her father and the loss of her mother; saying "My poor father is now settled at White Lodge under the care of kind Dr. Johnson & 3 male attendants, he is rapidly getting worse mentally, tho' physically he is well - My brother Francis & I were able to see him last week, he knew us & seemed pleased to see us, he looked fairly well, with a white beard & the expression of his face looked happy & contented - so that it did not give us at all a painful impression, in fact the Dr. & I agreed that it was better to see him in this state than in the awful state he was in all last winter. For ourselves it is a relief to feel that poor Papa is well cared for & looked after & that therefore we need not now have any anxiety on that score - I must confess that I think the King of Württemburg was right in begging Dolly [Prince Adolphus of Teck] to fetch him home, (tho' I think it was done in rather a curious way) for oddly enough the very day after my father returned home, the worst signs of imbecility & unnatural excitement began & this has been gradually getting worse & worse, we are all glad now that he should be in England & in our dear old House, for we can often drive down to see how things are progressing - Many thanks for your kind offers to help us about poor Papa, but you see this will not now be necessary, as things have thank God settled down - I feel thankful my darling Mother was spared all this sadness, it would have broken her heart to see my unfortunate father in this state, for myself I can only say I miss her beloved Presence more than ever & life seems very sad without her - Pray write sometimes to me, I shall always be glad to hear from you."