Page:Life of Her Majesty Queen Victoria (IA lifeofhermajesty01fawc).pdf/200

 only lately completed her seventeenth year. Her first child, the present Emperor William II., was born on January 27th, 1859. His birth nearly cost the life of his young mother. The Queen's daughter has not had a bed of roses in her adopted country, any more than the Queen's husband had a bed of roses here. But in both cases cruel misrepresentation on the part of a section of the public was more than compensated by the loving appreciation and generous confidence which marriage brought them. The Princess Royal and the Prince Consort each had many a drop of bitterness in their cup; but while he lived, Prince Frederick William was her faithful worshipper, just as the Queen was and is of the Prince Consort.

On the day of the Princess Royal's marriage the entry in the Queen's Diary runs:—

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Speaking of the ceremony in the Chapel Royal, St. James's, Her Majesty adds:—

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The Queen and the Prince Consort both recalled the series of important Royal marriages between German