Queen Victoria had her suspicions - "How is it that Louise [of Prussia] should become in a few days so attached to Arthur? Did you and Charlotte not beforehand sing his praises to her? What I regret is that no one gave me a hint of this as I had so particularly wished Arthur to see others before he engaged himself to anyone". While it seems certain that the Crown Princess (as she was) was fond of Louise, who she considered to be "by far the nicest most sensible and nice of Marianne's girls, the only one who is intimate with our children......and quite brought up by an excellent English governess, a Miss Jackson" and would certainly have made sure that Arthur had opportunities to meet her in Berlin, it was actually QV herself, according to Noble Frankland in his biography of Arthur, who sent Arthur to Berlin as the representative of the British royal family to the marriage of Princess Charlotte, albeit with stern warnings. Arthur wrote to his mother before he left London, that "I have no wish to be married at present & I quite agree with you that a Prussian Princess would be unadvisable." However, upon meeting her at dinner three days later, Arthur immediately informed his mother that he thought her "rather pretty" and six days after that, they entered privately into an engagement, subject to the consent of QV. While the Crown Princess would have been very pleased at the outcome, it does appear as if Arthur was the one who made the running, as while it was likely that Louise would have been disposed to fall in love with a man who was the brother of the Crown Princess who had been very kind to her, and who could take her away from her bullying father and unhappy home, Arthur was primed to resist the "unadvisable" match and he must have had a very strong attraction to Louise. Though I've always wondered if this was one of the few forms of rebellion Arthur ever made!