It was a legacy from the Prince, she said.

She did not realise that the Prussia of the Prince's day was dead, and that a new Prussia, the Prussia of Bismarck, was born.
Perhaps Palmerston, with his queer prescience, instinctively apprehended the new danger; at any rate, he and Lord John were agreed upon the necessity of supporting Denmark against Prussia's claims.

But opinion was sharply divided, not only in the country but in the Cabinet.

For eighteen months the controversy raged; while the Queen, with persistent vehemence, opposed the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary.

When at last the final crisis arose--when it seemed possible that England would join forces with Denmark in a war against Prussia--Victoria's agitation grew febrile in its intensity.