THE KING ANNOUNCES THE DEATH IN CHILDBIRTH OF HIS WIFE ADELAIDE OF AUSTRIA VITTORIO EMANUELE II (1820-1878, first King of Italy) & Camillo CAVOUR (1810-1861, Prime Minister of Piedmont, President of the Council of Ministers and the architect of Italian unity)

Finely penned Document signed, in Italian with translation, with autograph subscription, to his Majesty the King of the Two Sicilies FERDINAND II (1810-1859, King of the Two Sicilies from 1830 until his early death in 1859) informing him of "the new and terrible disaster I fulfil the sad office of notifying it to Your Majesty! My beloved Consort, Her Majesty Queen Maria Adelaide of Sardinia, Archduchess of Austria, rendered her kind soul to God on the evening of the 12th of this month after a brief but cruel illness occurred after the first days of her puerperium. May Your Majesty understand in what desolation I am left by the loss of a bride who, with her sweet manners and her angelic virtue formed my joy, the happiness of the family and the admiration of the whole nation ...", countersigned at the foot by CAVOUR, 1 side folio, with original envelope, Turin, 30th January

ADELAIDE of Austria (1822-1855) was the Queen of Sardinia by marriage to Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia, future King of Italy. Adelaide and her husband had eight children during their thirteen year marriage, of whom 3 died in infancy. On 8th January 1855 she gave birth to a son who was styled the Count of Genevois. Days later Queen Maria Theresa died on 12th January. Adelaide went to the late queen's funeral on 16th January and on returning to the palace caught a cold. She died four days later at the Royal Palace of Turin having had an acute attack of Gastroenteritis. Another story says that Adelaide died of her burns after stepping on a match that set fire to her clothes. She was buried at the Royal Basilica of Superga.

A Sua Maestà
Il Re del Regno delle Due Sicilie
Signor Mio Fratello e Cugino

Signor Mio Fratello e Cugino. Colpito da nuova funestissima sciagura adempisco il triste ufficio di notificarla a Vostra Maestà ! Le dilettissima mia Consorte, Sua Maestà la Regina Maria Adelaide di Sardegna, Arciduchessa d'Austria, rese la sua bell'anima a Dio nelle sera delli 12 di questo mese dopo una breve, ma crudele malattia sovraggiuntale dopo i primi giorni del suo puerperio. Ben comprende la Maestà Vostra in quale desolazione mi abbia lasciato la perdita d'una sposa che per le dolci maniere e le angeliche sue virtù formava la mia gioia, la felicita della famiglia e l'ammirazione della nazione intiera. Non dubito pertanto che Vostra Maestà nel piangere una così degna di Lei cugina, non prenda viva parte al mio sommo cordoglia. In questa certezza Le rinovo colle assicurazioni dè miei voti per la prosperità delle Maestà Vostra e della Reale di Lei Famiglia, le proteste dell'alta stima e del sincero attaccamento con cui mi pregio d'essere

Torino Signor Mio Fratello e Cugino
li 30 gennaio 1855 di Vostra Maestà
buon fratello e cugino
Vittorio Emmanuel

C Cavour

To His Majesty
The King of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Sir My Brother and Cousin

Sir My Brother and Cousin. Impressed by the new and terrible disaster I fulfil the sad office of notifying it to Your Majesty! My beloved Consort, Her Majesty Queen Maria Adelaide of Sardinia, Archduchess of Austria, rendered her kind soul to God on the evening of the 12th of this month after a brief but cruel illness occurred after the first days of her puerperium. May Your Majesty understand in what desolation I am left by the loss of a bride who, with her sweet manners and her angelic virtue formed my joy, the happiness of the family and the admiration of the whole nation. I do not doubt therefore that Your Majesty, in weeping so worthy of His cousin, does take a lively part in my immense pain. In this certainty I reassure You with the assurance of my wishes for the prosperity of Your Majesty and of Her Royal Family, the expression of the high esteem and of the sincere attachment with which I have the honour of being

Turin Sir My Brother and Cousin
January 30, 1855 of Your Majesty
good brother and cousin
Vittorio Emmanuel
C Cavour

Item Date:  1855

Stock No:  40041      £575

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