Princess Alice of the United Kingdom papers to and from her government ministers, while the Queen secluded herself from all public life. Alice was aided in this task by her younger sister Princess Louise. Although Princess Helena, Louise's elder sister, would normally have been selected to assist, her inability to go long without crying was held against her. Alice's matrimonial plans were begun in 1860 by her mother. Queen Victoria had expressed her wish that her children should marry for love, but this did not mean that her choice of suitors would necessarily be extended to anybody outside the royal houses of Europe. Raising a British
Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont Deptford Fund continues to this day. Helena was also involved in several hospital charities and with those dedicated to ending human trafficking. During World War I, she organised much of her charity work along with that of The Princess Beatrice and Princess Marie-Louise to avoid the not-uncommon problem of conflicting (and sometimes misguided) Royal war-work projects. After Leopold's death, Helena and her two children, Alice and Charles Edward, continued to reside at Claremont House. After the death of The Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1899, Helena's sixteen-year-old son, The Duke of Albany, was selected as the new heir