Letter signed and subscribed ("le bon Frère/ Alexandre"), to Queen
Victoria ("A Sa Majesté la Reine Victoria"), in French, thanking her
for the honour she intends to bestow on him in nominating him a Knight
of the Order of the Garter and for charging the Prince of
Wales with investing him with the order according to usual custom, one
page, 4to, on black-edged mourning paper, integral leaf, mourning
envelope (also in French), closed with an intact impression of the
imperial seal in black wax, some dust-staining to envelope and integral
leaf, St Petersburg, 16 March 1881 [New Style]
From this 2006 auction catalog, we learn that Tsar Alexander III of
Russia was actually Queen Victoria's brother! Many reference works
will need to be rewritten in the light of this discovery.
MA-R