Letters received from the Crown Princess of Prussia

This one item of communication from the Crown Princess of Prussia, also known as the Princess Royal of Great Britain, demonstrates the early success Crace-Calvert was having in promoting his products not only at home but abroad too. Whilst general acceptance of the use of carbolic acid in the wider public sphere may have taken time there were clearly prominent individual advocates from a relatively early date, although that does not mean to say they necessarily understood the antiseptic principle underlying its use.

Victoria, The Princess Royal (1840-1901), was the eldest child of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. On 25 January 1858 she married Prince Frederick William of Prussia (1831-1888), who was second in line to the throne after his father. Just three years later in January 1861, Victoria's father-in-law ascended to the throne of Prussia meaning that she and her husband became Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Prussia. On 9 March 1888 Prince Frederick took the throne upon his father's death and Victoria assumed the title Her Imperial and Royal Majesty the German Empress, Queen of Prussia. Frederick's reign did not last long and he died later that same year, from which point Victoria became known simply as the Empress Frederick. Her son Kaiser Wilhem II (1859-1941) then became Emperor. She died on 5 August 1901 at Castle Friedrichshof after a long battle with breast cancer and was buried at the royal mausoleum of the Friedenskirche at Potsdam.