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
Grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha youngest, Leopold. Among her daughters, Victoria clashed often with Louise. She also had an awkward relationship with her second eldest daughter, Alice, whom the queen, despite praising her thoughtfulness, also criticised as being too melancholy and self-absorbed. In her widowhood, Victoria expected Beatrice, who was only 4 when her father died, to remain at home with her, and only permitted her to marry on the condition that she and her husband remain in England. The eldest child of Victoria and Albert, Princess Victoria, the Princess Royal, called "Vicky" (1840–1901). On 25 January 1858 she married Prince Frederick of Prussia (1831–1888;