10 months ago 04th Feb 14:00
A private letter in which Britain's Queen Victoria gave her permission for a German princess to marry a commoner has been made public for the first time.
The monarch wrote to Princess Frederica of Hanover's brother in 1880 after the princess, known as Lily, eloped to Britain when her father refused to allow her to marry his equerry.
In the letter - which was suppressed by the British government in the 1950s - the queen explained she had taken the princess and her lover in and given them her consent.
She wrote: "I know well that you, as well as your dear mother ... would have desired another marriage more in accordance with her rank, for Lily is worthy of the highest positions; but she cannot marry without her heart and her heart belongs to another.
"I can only respect her noble decision and I believe that a peaceful life with the man she loves and esteems will be best for her."
The letter was found within top secret government papers released this weekend by the National Archives under the Freedom of Information Act.
The correspondence was originally intended to be produced as evidence in a 1955 legal case bought by Prince Ernst of Hanover.
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