1851: Windsor Castle
To Our Right Trusty and Right Well-Beloved Cousin, the Duke of Mallard
I have received your letter of the 19th ultimo and have read with attention the sentiments it conveys respecting the historic office long held by your family—that of Keeper of the Royal Duck-Ponds and Overseer of the Marshes. Permit Me to assure you that no measure of administrative adjustment could make Me insensible to the venerable associations which attend your name, nor to the loyalty and distinction with which successive members of your House have served the Crown since the earliest days of Our realm.
It is therefore with genuine regret that I find Myself unable to preserve, in its ancient form, that office which you so justly regard with familial reverence. The direction of public affairs, and the present temper of Parliament, render it impossible that I should re-instate an appointment deemed incompatible with modern administration. You must believe, however, that this necessity arises not from any diminution of esteem toward your person or your lineage, but solely from those unavoidable considerations of state which now bind Us both.
That your honour should in no way suffer by the change is My earnest wish. I have consequently determined that a new arrangement be made, by which a private annuity of two hundred thousand pounds per annum shall be secured to you and your heirs in perpetuity, chargeable upon the Crown Estates. Further, it is My pleasure to confer upon you the title and dignity of Earl of Beakhurst, with an estate of fifty thousand acres in Sussex attached thereto, together with others of proportionate extent in Ireland, Scotland, and India, as marks of My continued favour and remembrance.
These measures, I trust, will serve not as restitution for a slight—since none was intended—but as renewed assurance of the affection and regard in which both I and My family hold the illustrious House of Mallard.
With all kind wishes for your health and happiness, and the stability of your family’s great name and honours,
I remain, My dear Duke,
Your affectionate cousin and sincere friend,
Victoria R.
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