The year 1830 made an important difference in the position of the Princess. By the death of George IV., the Duke of Clarence became King, and--the Duke of York having died in 1827--she now stood next in direct succession to the throne. In the last month of the year a Regency Bill was passed, of which these were the chief provisions:--In the event of Queen Adelaide bearing a posthumous child, Her Majesty should be guardian and Regent during the minority. If that event should not occur, the Duchess of Kent was to be guardian and Regent during the minority of her daughter, the Princess Victoria, the heiress-presumptive. That Princess should not marry while a minor, without the consent of the King; or, if he died, without the consent of both Houses. When the Report of the Regency Bill was brought up, Lord Lyndhurst moved and carried a clause to the effect that in case the Duchess of Kent should marry a foreigner in the lifetime of His Majesty, but without his consent, she should, by that act, forfeit all pretensions to the Regency. The Duke of Buckingham, in his "Courts and Cabinets of William IV. and Victoria," thus remarked on this proviso:-- The position of the Princess attracted towards her Royal Highness the solicitude and sympathy of all classes of the people. A proper consideration of her chance of succeeding to the throne showed that there was much at stake, and the bitter disappointment caused by the untimely fate of the last female heiress presumptive, gave deeper feeling to the interest with which she was regarded. It was desirable that her youth should be, as much as possible, watched over to protect it from all evil contingencies, and though there could not be a better guardian for the Princess than the one nature had provided her with, the anxiety of a nation demanded precautions that, under other circumstances, would have been considered totally unnecessary. We can now (1861) afford to smile on the jealous affection with which Her Royal Highness was fenced round thirty years ago. [Sidenote: THE QUEEN'S GRANDMOTHER.] The satisfactory settlement of the Regency question gave great satisfaction to the good grandmother at Coburg. She wrote to her daughter, on receipt of the news-- I should have been sorry if the Regency had been given into other hands than yours. It would not have been a just return for your constant devotion and care to your child, if this had not been done. May God give you wisdom and strength to do your duty, if called upon to undertake it. May God bless and protect my little darling!--If I could but once see her again! The print you have sent to me is not like the dear picture I have; the quantity of curls hide the well-shaped head, and make it look too large for the lovely little figure.