Although Louis Philippe and Sébastiani repeatedly assured Lord Granville that there was no intention of accepting the crown for Nemours,[87] it was not until February 17 that the King officially received the members of the deputation and signified to them his refusal. The interval, between their arrival in Paris and their formal interview with Louis Philippe, appears to have been employed in vain attempts to induce them to pronounce themselves in favour of the Neapolitan prince. "We have tried to make them see," wrote Sébastiani to Talleyrand, "the advantages which would accrue to all parties from the enthronement of Prince Charles of Naples."[88] But, in the meantime, his letter to Bresson of February 1, in which he had declared that the French government could not adhere to the 11th and 12th protocols of the conference, had been published in the Belgian newspapers and had caused Palmerston to instruct Granville to demand an explanation. The ambassador was to point out that, "when a government sees fit to disavow the acts of its plenipotentiary, it should acquaint the parties with whom the engagement has been made of the fact, not, as in this case, communicate its disavowal to third parties." Palmerston's despatch concluded with the intimation that "His Majesty's government had only allowed the conference to continue because it was convinced that satisfactory explanations would be forthcoming." Instructions of a like nature were received by the Russian, the Prussian and the Austrian ambassadors."[89]