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Authors: Mary Hart Perry

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The Wild Princess

BOOK: The Wild Princess
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The Wild Princess

Mary Hart Perry

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Mallory—not a royal princess but, in her own way, no less amazing than Louise. Her talents and dedication to all living things will make a joyful difference in the world. I can't imagine a more wonderful granddaughter.

Epigraph

This is a novel. That means it is fiction, fantasy, make-believe—not a true historical account. Did any of the people in this story live and any of these events happen? Yes, quite a few. But the joy of fiction comes from its ability to borrow facts and details from the real world and then encourage the author to embellish them and produce a unique entertainment. The wise reader will consider this story nearly entirely the result of the author's imagination.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's Children and Grandchildren

Victoria (1819–1901) = Albert (1819–1861)

 

Princes/Princesses
 
Spouses
Victoria (Vicky)
    =    
Frederick III (Fritz)
Princess Royal
 
(became German emperor)
(1840–1901)
 
(1831–1888)
 
The Grandchildren
William II (became German emperor)
Charlotte
Henry
Sigismund
Victoria (became Queen of Greece)
Waldemar
Sophie
Margaret

 

Princes/Princesses
 
Spouses
Edward VII (Bertie)
    =    
Alexandra
King of England
 
Princess of Denmark
(1841–1920)
 
(1844–1925)
 
The Grandchildren
Albert Victor
George V = Mary (King & Queen of England)
Louise
Victoria
Maud
John

 

Princes/Princesses
 
Spouses
Alice
    =    
Louis IV
(1843–1878)
 
Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt
 
 
(1837–1892)
 
The Grandchildren
Victoria
Elizabeth
Irene = Henry, Prince of Prussia
Ernst Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse
Frederick William
Alexandra = Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia
Mary Victoria

 

Princes/Princesses
 
Spouses
Alfred
    =    
Marie
Duke of Edinburg
 
(1853–1920)
(1844–1900)
 
(Grand Duchess of Russia)
 
The Grandchildren
Alfred
Marie (later, Queen of Romania)
Victoria Melita
Alexandra
Beatrice

 

Princes/Princesses
 
Spouses
Helena (Lenchen)
    =    
Christian
(1846–1923)
 
(1831–1917)
 
The Grandchildren
Christian Victor
Albert
Helena Victoria
Marie Louise
Frederick Harald

 

Princes/Princesses
 
Spouses
Louise
    =    
John (Lorne)
(1848–1939)
 
9
th
Duke of Argyll
 
 
(1845–1914)
 
The Grandchildren
None

 

Princes/Princesses
 
Spouses
Arthur
    =    
Louise Margaret
(1850–1942)
 
(Princess of Prussia)
 
 
(1860–1917)
 
The Grandchildren
Margaret
Arthur
Patricia

 

Princes/Princesses
 
Spouses
Leopold
    =    
Helena
(1853–1884)
 
(1861–1922)
 
The Grandchildren
Alice
Charles Edward

 

Princes/Princesses
 
Spouses
Beatrice
=  
Henry (Liko)
(1857–1944)
 
Prince of Battenberg
 
 
(1858–1896)
 
The Grandchildren
Alexander
Victoria Eugenie (Ena) = Alfonso XIII (King and Queen of Spain)
Leopold
Maurice

 

Osborne House, Isle of Wight

Wednesday, 23 January 1901

My dearest Edward,

 

I write to you with a grieving heart. My emotions are so a-jumble at this moment I can barely stop my hand from trembling long enough to put pen to paper. As all of London wakes to the sad news, you too must by now be aware that Victoria, Queen by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India—my mother—has passed from this life. Last night I stood at her bedside along with my surviving sisters and brothers, the many grandchildren, and those most favored among her court. We bid our final good-byes, and she drifted away. Among us was the devoted Colonel the Lord Edward Pelham-Clinton, who delivers this letter and accompanying documents, by hand, into your possession.

The doctors say it was a cerebral hemorrhage, not uncommon for a woman in her eighties, but I believe she was just tired and ready to rest after reigning these tumultuous sixty-three years, many of them without her beloved Prince Consort, Albert, my father, who died before you were born.

She was not a physically affectionate mother, demanded far more than she ever gave, often drove me to anger and tears, and very nearly destroyed my life . . . more than once. Yet I did, in my own way, love her.

The enclosed manuscript is my means for setting straight in my own mind the alarming events of several critical years in my life. But more than that, it will bring to you, although belatedly—and for that I apologize—the truth. Your mother, my dearest friend, wished to tell you of these matters long ago. Indeed, it was she who compiled most of the information herein, using her rare skills as an observer of human nature and, later in life, as a gifted investigative journalist. I have filled in the few facts she was unable to uncover on her own. For selfish reasons I begged her to keep our secrets a while longer . . . and a while longer. Then she too departed from this world for a better one, leaving no one to press me to reveal these most shameful deeds. Indeed, Edward dear, I would not even now strip bare the deceptions played out in my lifetime, had they not so intimately involved you.

Do these words shock you? If so, then you had best burn these pages and live the rest of your life in ignorance. But as I remember, you were a curious lad, and so I expect you will read on. However, before you go further, I must ask of you a solemn favor. What I am about to reveal is for your knowledge alone, that you might better understand both the gifts and the sins passed along to you. To share this account with others would cause scandal so damaging that our government would surely topple. Therefore, I implore you to choose—either destroy the enclosed manuscript this instant without reading it, or do the same after reading in private.

Regardless of your decision, I pray you will ever think of me as your devoted godmother and friend, and not hate me for the things I have done to protect you or, on my own behalf, simply to survive.

 

Be assured of my love,

Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

BOOK: The Wild Princess
13.28Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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