LEOPOLD I OF BELGIUM: (1790-1865) King of the Belgians 1831-65 following Belgian independence in 1830. Founder of the Royal House to which all Belgian Kings have belonged. A fine A.L.S., `L´, two pages, 8vo, Claremont, England, 27th July 1820, addressed to Monsieur Favon, Counselor of the Legation in charge of the Affairs of His Serene Highness Monseigneur the reigning Duke of Saxe Coburg, in French. Leopold refers to a questionable private affair related to a woman and tries to sort out the problem promptly and smoothly, and states in part `… J´ai reçu votre dernière lettre hier et vous réponds de suite…il y a beaucoup d´extravagance dans la conduit de Mad. A, si je ne le faisais pas par consideration pour mes parents, on aimerait autant n´avoir rien du tout à faire avec ces braves gens. Je suis fâché qu´on ne m´ait jamais donné la moindre communication relativement à ces sujets, puisqu´on aurait pu faire du bien qui actuellement sera plus difficile..´ (“..I have received your last letter yesterday and reply to you immediately…there is a great deal of extravagance in the conduct of Mad. A, if I wasn´t doing this as a gesture of consideration for my parents, we would have preferred to have nothing to do with these brave people. I am angry that I have never been given any communication regarding these subjects, since we could have done good which currently will be more difficult…”) Leopold further states `Cependant il faut consulter avec le beau frère de Mr. Renié et gagner du temps, avant tout, pour pouvoir recevoir les réponses nécessaires. Si Mad. A dans l´entretemps devait se render coupable d´indiscrétion alors naturellement il serait impossible d´agir en sa favuer…conservez la Somme que j´ai mis à votre disposition si pareilles choses devait arriver, et de bien vous garder de lui donner cet argent aussi longtemps qu´elle conserve les soit disant mémoires´ (“However, it is necessary to consult with the brother-in-law of Mr. Renié, above all save time, and also to be able to receive the necessary answers. If Mad. A in the meantime was to be guilty of indiscretion so naturally it would be impossible to act in her favour… keep the sum that I have made available to you if such things should happen, and be careful not to give her this money as long as she keeps the so-called memories…”) A rare and carefully worded letter by the future sovereign on a delicate, but crucial, matter to preserve the good name of his dynasty, that would provide not only a King for Belgium, but also a Prince Consort, his nephew Albert, for England. With blank integral leaf. Accompanied by the original envelope, bearing a royal red wax seal to the verso. Very small minor age wear, otherwise G to VG

 

Madame A[lexandra] was in fact the lover of Leopold's brother and was menacing to make their liaison public by publishing her Memoirs, which Leopold seeks to prevent at all costs to avoid a royal scandal.