Queen Victoria (10 page)

On the 20th of November, 1839, the Queen, who had already communicated to all the members of the Royal Family the news of her intended marriage, came up from Windsor to Buckingham Palace to confer with Lord Melbourne upon the form of the declaration to be made to the Privy Council at its meeting on the 23rd. On that day the Council, upwards of eighty in number, assembled in the bow-room at the Palace, where the Queen read the following declaration: “I have caused you to be summoned at the present time in order that I may acquaint you with my resolution in a matter which deeply concerns the welfare of my people, and the happiness of my future life. It is my intention to ally myself in marriage with the Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Deeply impressed with the solemnity of the engagement which I am about to contract, I have not come to this decision without mature consideration, nor without feeling a strong assurance that with the blessing of Almighty God it will at once secure my domestic felicity and serve the interests of my country.

“I have thought fit to make this resolution known to you at the earliest period, in order that you may be apprised of a matter so highly important to me and to my kingdom, and which, I persuade myself, will be most acceptable to all my loving subjects.”

“Whereupon,” it is stated in the Minutes of Council, “all the Privy Councillors present made it their humble request to Her Majesty that Her Majesty’s most gracious declaration to them might be made public; which Her Majesty was pleased to order accordingly.”

The announcement of the forthcoming marriage was hailed with great rejoicing through the country. Mixed with the cordial sympathy felt by the people with the prospect of the happiness of their beloved sovereign, was a feeling of profound satisfaction at the removal of all uncertainty as to the object of the Queen’s choice.

During the period immediately following the declaration, precedents were searched for bearing on the Prince’s position and the composition of his household. Unfortunately the precedent commonly referred to was that of Prince George of Denmark, the husband of Queen Anne, who was a Peer, and also for some time Lord High Admiral of England. Prince Albert, however, as had been previously decided between the Queen and himself, refused every title. Other matters, too, had to be discussed, such as the naturalisation of the Prince, the formation of his household, and the income which was to be settled upon him. This last matter and the question of his precedence were not arranged without some difficulty and annoyance. On the 16th of January, 1840, the Queen opened Parliament in person, meeting a most enthusiastic reception, from the crowds which had assembled along the route from the Palace to the Houses of Parliament, the Queen herself recording in her Journal that she “was more loudly cheered than she had been for some time.” The House itself was densely thronged, and the whole assemblage was deeply touched at hearing the youthful sovereign, with her clear voice and distinct articulation, announcing to the assembled Parliament her own approaching marriage.

“Since you were last assembled, I have declared my intention of allying myself in marriage with the Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. I humbly implore that the Divine blessing may prosper this union, and render it conducive to the interests of my people, as well as to my own domestic happiness; and it will be to me a source of the most lively satisfaction to find the resolution I have taken approved by my Parliament.

“The constant proofs which I have received of your attachment to my person and family, persuade me that you will enable me to provide for such an establishment as may appear suitable to the rank of the Prince, and the dignity of the Crown.”

In answer to the Queen’s Speech, loyal addresses were moved in both Houses. Sir Robert Peel, as leader of the Opposition, joined heartily in the congratulations offered by the Address, saying: “I do entirely enter into the aspirations for the happiness of Her Majesty in her approaching nuptials… Her Majesty has the singular good fortune to be able to gratify her private feelings while she performs her public duty, and to obtain the best guarantee for happiness by contracting an alliance founded on affection. I cordially hope that the union now contemplated will contribute to Her Majesty’s happiness, and enable her to furnish to her people an exalted example of connubial felicity.”

Cordial, however, though the general feeling of both Houses was as to the intended marriage, the omission of any mention of the Prince’s religion from the Queen’s Speech was the subject of debate in the Upper House; and in the House of Commons a long and heated discussion arose on the proposal to grant an annual sum of,£50,000 to Prince Albert on his marriage. The amount of the grant was finally fixed at,£30,000, much to the annoyance of the Queen, and to the disappointment of the Prince, who had looked forward to the prospect of being able to promote the interests of literature, science, and art in a more generous manner than his reduced income permitted. From the first he rose superior to anything like personal considerations, and his future relations with the leaders of the party by whose means the vote was reduced, showed how little his conduct was influenced by these political quarrels.

A more mortifying event, occurring on the same day in the House of Lords, was the defeat of the Government on the question of the precedence to be granted in this country to the Prince. The Queen, in her Journal, says that she was most indignant at what had occurred, and that it cannot be wondered at that the first impression made on the Prince’s mind should have been a most painful one. But, as has already been said, he soon understood the nature of our political parties, and recognised that the proceedings in Parliament were only the result of high party feeling, and were by no means to be taken as marks of personal disrespect or of want of kind feeling to himself. For details of these controversies and the feeling they produced, the reader is referred to Sir Theodore Martin’s Life of the Prince Consort. The immediate result was an order in Council which settled the Prince’s position as following next after that of the Queen.

The news of these debates in the Houses of Parliament met the Prince on his way to England at Aix. He was naturally somewhat disturbed, but remarks in his letter to the Queen, “All I have to say is, that, while I possess your love, they cannot make me unhappy.” Any misgiving as to his popularity must, however, have been dispelled by the warmth of his reception at Dover, where he landed on the 6th of February, 1840, and by the enthusiastic greeting which welcomed him along his journey through Kent till he reached Buckingham Palace on the 8th.

The marriage was fixed for one o’clock on the 10th at the Chapel Royal, St. James’s, and at half-past twelve the Queen left Buckingham Palace with the Duchess of Kent and the Mistress of the Robes, the Duchess of Sutherland. The morning had been dark and dismal, with rain and fog. The Prince, who was supported by his father, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and by his brother Ernest, had preceded the Queen to the Chapel. He wore the Garter, and the Star of the Order in brilliants which had been presented to him the day before by the Queen. After a short interval, to the strains of the National Anthem, the procession of the bride entered. The Queen was preceded by the members of the Royal Family and the officers of State, the sword of State being carried before Her Majesty by Lord Melbourne. She wore a wreath of orange blossom, and round her shoulders the collar of the Garter. Her train was borne by twelve bridesmaids, daughters of Peers. They were the Lady Adelaide Paget, Lady Caroline Gordon Lennox, Lady Sarah Villiers, Lady Elizabeth Howard, Lady Frances Cowper, Lady Ida Hay, Lady Elizabeth West, Lady Catherine Stanhope, Lady Mary Grimston, Lady Jane Bouverie, Lady Eleanora Paget, and Lady Mary Howard. The ceremony was performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the royal bride was given away by the Duke of Sussex. A large picture of the ceremony was painted by Sir George Hayter, the principal group from which has been reproduced in the plate opposite page 68-It is taken at the moment when the Queen accompanied her promise to “love, honour, and obey,” with the look of love and trust which assured the spectators that her heart was in her words. At the instant when the ring was placed on her finger, the signal was given for firing the guns which communicated to the whole city the glad news of the union of the sovereign with the husband of her choice. The scene, as the newly married pair left the chapel, has been described by the Dowager Lady Lyttelton, one of the ladies-in-waiting, who, writing a few days afterwards, says, “The Queen’s look and manner were very pleasing; great happiness in her countenance; and her look of confidence and comfort at the Prince, when they walked away as man and wife, was very pleasing to see. I understand she is in extremely high spirits since. Such a new thing for her to
dare
to be
unguarded
in conversing with anybody; and with her frank and fearless nature, the restraints she has hitherto been under from one reason or another must have been most painful.”

After the conclusion of the ceremony the Queen and Prince Albert, with the members of the Royal Family and the principal Ministers of State, passed into the throne-room. Here the marriage register was signed. By special permission a fac-simile of the document is given on the opposite page. These signatures were attested by the Queen Adelaide and others present to the number of twenty-one; the Duke of Wellington’s name does not appear, though it has often been said that he was one of the signatories. The united procession then returned to Buckingham Palace, the Queen being accompanied in her carriage by her husband alone. After the wedding breakfast the newly married pair started for Windsor; the sun, as they left the Palace, bursting through the clouds - an omen of brightness and happiness for the future. Windsor was reached in the evening, where the reception was no less loyal and enthusiastic than had been the greetings of the populace in London.

On the 28th of February the Duke of Coburg left England. The separation was keenly felt by the Prince. “He said to me,” the Queen records in her Journal, “that I had never known a father, and could not therefore feel what he did. His childhood had been very happy. Ernest, he said, was now the only one remaining here of all his earliest ties and recollections; but that if I continued to love him as I did now, I could make up for all… Oh, how I did feel for my dearest, precious husband at this moment. Father, brother, friends, country - all has he left and all for me. God grant that I may be the happy person, the
most
happy person, to make this dearest, blessed being happy and contented! What is in my power to make him happy I will do.”

Loyalty claims much from, and lays heavy burdens on, those who have to sustain its duties and responsibilities. Little time can be given to rest and repose, and in the case of the Queen and Prince Albert the privacy, which newly married subjects are privileged to enjoy for weeks, was, after four short days, exchanged for the routine of State ceremonial and public business. The Court returned to London on the 14th of February, and addresses were received both by the Queen and the Prince from the two Houses of Parliament, and other bodies. In the evenings State dinners were given and visits paid to the theatres. On the 19th the first
levee
was held, at which the Prince, as on all subsequent occasions, led the Queen in, and stood on her left hand. On the 7th of March, the Prince received and personally answered no less than twenty-seven addresses. In writing to his grandmother he remarks: “It is not to be told what a quantity of presentations I have, and how many people I must become acquainted with. I cannot yet quite remember their faces, but this will come right. After the last
levee
, Victoria gave me the Order of the Bath.” The Prince had already received the Garter, and had been made a Field-Marshal in the British Army. He was, in addition, appointed Colonel of the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons, which regiment then received and still bears the title of Prince Albert’s Own Hussars.

His Royal Highness’s household had also by this time been appointed. On this subject he had expressed a very earnest wish in a letter to the Queen on the 10th of December, 1839: “Now I come to a second point which you touch upon in your letter, and which I have also much at heart; I mean the choice of the persons who are to belong to my household. The maxim, ‘Tell me whom he associates with, and I will tell you who he is,’ must here especially not be lost sight of. I should wish particularly that the selection should be made without regard to politics; for if I am really to keep myself free from all parties, my people must not belong exclusively to one side. Above all, these appointments should not be mere ‘party rewards,’ but they should possess other recommendations besides those of party. Let them be either of any high rank, or very rich, or very clever, or persons who have performed important services for England. It is very necessary that they should be chosen from both sides - the same number of Whigs as of Tories; and above all do I wish that they should be well-educated men, and of high character, who, as I have already said, shall have already distinguished themselves in their several positions, whether it be in the Army, or Navy, or in the scientific world. I know you will agree with my views.”

The Prince’s household consisted of a Groom of the Stole, of two Lords-in-Waiting, two Equerries, afterwards increased to four, two Grooms-in-Waiting, and a Private Secretary. These officers were appointed on the principle which was observed in the Queen’s household, namely, that those appointments only should be permanent which were held by men entirely unconnected with politics. This regulation, however, only affected the Groom of the Stole, Lord Robert Grosvenor (afterwards Lord Ebury), and one of the Lords-in-Waiting. The nomination of Mr. Anson as Private Secretary was not made without considerable hesitation, and was consented to by the Prince with reluctance on the ground that as Mr. Anson had been for some time Private Secretary to Lord Melbourne, his appointment to so confidential a post might seem inconsistent with the entire freedom from partisanship, which the Prince had desired should be observed in the formation of his household. The appointment, however, proved singularly satisfactory. Mr. Anson’s straightforward conduct and absolute devotion to the service and interests of his master soon won the entire confidence and friendship of Prince Albert. His sudden death at a later date deeply affected the Prince, who said to the Queen, “He was my only intimate friend in this country. We went through everything together since I came here. He was almost like a brother to me.”