Though MF is not my favorite, I like the way she taught her daughter who married into foreign royal families how to respond to the needs of their new subjects and how to be loved and respected in their new countries. Though in Russia rulers were autocrats, MF knew that love and respect of the subjects were of utmost importance. She reinded her daughters of that all the time. She often wrote about that to her daughter Anna, who married into the Dutch royal family and eventually became the Queen.
1820. Wednesday, 07.01 ( in her letters to her mother GD Anna Pavlovna informed MF that she wasn`t feeling well, MF was very worried but she hoped that it was due to Anna`s pregnancy)
It would be cruel if your indiposition were caused by the climate. you`ve got to live there, dear child, so you ust try by all means to get used to it. This will require taking many precautions and great care but you will eventually suceed. how chagrined the Dutch people would be if they noticed that you felt that way. They expect to feel loved and appreciated because they have first claim to your loyalty. both the degree and the length of their attachment to the house of Orange demand it. So you must convince them that you are happy in their country and in their company. I hope and pray that God will strengthen your health and give you the courage necessary to withstand the demands of the climate. It will enhance your image in the eyes of the nation.
1820, 09.04, Friday
At the same time you devote yourself to the needs of your court, extending your charity and helping the poor as much as you can ... I am sure you will alway regard the duty to be as charitable as possible to be one of your first obligations.
