Queer business
Sir: Lady Longford appears to believe that it was a sledging accident that 'was fatal to [Princess Louise's] trust in her husband,' and M.R.D. Foot does not challenge this old chestnut in his review (31 August) of Princess Louise's correspondence with her mother, Queen Victoria. What undermined Louise's 'trust', and led to repeated requests to 'Mama' that she be allowed to go home, was her discovery that her hus- band was homosexual, an aspect of Lorne's character candidly dealt with in Sandra Gwyn's book on Ottawa in this period, A Private Capitol. It was this subject that would certainly have been 'distasteful' to `dear Mama' and therefore impossible to raise with her. 'Lorne' nonetheless remains a more popular first name for boys in Canada than `Alberta' ever was for girls.
Douglas Chambers
Trinity College, 6 Hoskin Avenue, Toronto, Ontario
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