really and truly

Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians.

11th July 1837.

My Dearest, Best Uncle, --

... I have got very little time and very little to say. I really and truly go into Buckingham Palace the day after to-morrow, but I must say, though I am very glad to do so, I feel sorry to leave for ever my poor old birthplace. . . .

25th. -- I shall not go out of town, I think, before the 20th or thereabouts of next month. Windsor requires thorough cleaning, and I must say I could not think of going in sooner after the poor King's death. Windsor always appears very melancholy to me, and there are so many sad associations with it. These will vanish, I daresay, if I see you there soon after my arrival there. I have very pleasant large dinners every day.

I invite my Premier generally once a week to dinner as I think it right to show publicly that I esteem him and have confidence in him, as he has behaved so well. Stockmar is of this opinion and is his great admirer. . . .

[video - Victoria ]

-The Letters of Queen Victoria: a selection from Her Majesty's Correspondence between the years 1837 and 1861 / edited by Arthur Christopher Benson and Viscount Esher (New York: Longman's, Green, and Co., 1907) vol. 1, p. 11o-111.