White House Historical Association
On April 29, 1865, Mary Lincoln received correspondence from a royal pen pal: Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The letter came just weeks after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre.
Queen Victoria’s letter was an unexpected condolence, as the two had never met nor corresponded. “Though a stranger to you,” she wrote, “I cannot remain silent when so terrible a calamity has fallen upon you and your country, and must personally express my deep and heartfelt sympathy with you under the shocking circumstance of your present, dreadful misfortune.”
Though urged by her advisors to write to the newly widowed Mrs. Lincoln, the Queen’s impetus for writing to the first lady was personal in many ways. Victoria had lost her beloved husband, Prince Albert, only four years earlier in 1861, and her profound grief became part of her identity.
She went on to write Mary Lincoln, “No one can better appreciate than I can, who am myself utterly broken hearted by the loss of my own beloved husband, who was the light of my life—my stay—my all.” This picture depicts the letter’s envelope, bordered in black, as was mourning custom at the time.
Later that summer, Mary Lincoln responded to the Queen with gratitude, emphasizing: “I am deeply grateful for its expressions of tender sympathy, coming as they do, from a heart which, from its own sorrow, can appreciate the intense grief I now endure.”
Both Queen Victoria and Mary Lincoln would spend the rest of their lives mourning the loss of their beloved husbands. Though they would never meet in person, their shared trials made them kindred spirits.
Mary Lincoln was a devoted mother, but misunderstood first lady, and this month we will share some lesser-known insights about her — who she was, and how she used her influence during her time at the White House.