Victoria Confesses (9781442422469) (30 page)

The English Duke and the German Princess

Edward had met Charlotte's newly widowed husband, Prince Leopold, and liked him. Leopold had a sister in Germany, and Edward thought she might make him a suitable wife. With his equerry, Captain John Conroy, the fifty-year-old duke of Kent set off for Amorsbach, Germany, to woo Princess Victoire, a thirty-one-year-old widow with two children: Charles, age eleven, and Feodore, called Fidi, who was ten.

It was a successful trip. Edward's proposal was accepted, and on May 29, 1818, the duke and the dowager princess were married. Princess Victoire, now the duchess of Kent, was soon pregnant. Determined that the baby must be British-born, the duke, who was always entangled in debt, begged and borrowed enough money to transport his household to England.

The family left the castle in Amorsbach at the end of March 1819 in a caravan of carriages organized by Captain Conroy. The duke drove his open carriage with the duchess beside him. The duchess's lady-in-waiting, Baroness Späth, followed in a second carriage with Princess Feodore and Louise Lehzen, her governess. Prince Charles was away at school in Switzerland and did not accompany them. A caravan of various vehicles, crowded with cooks, maids, valets, and footmen, and the duchess's little dogs, made its way across Germany and France on roads so rough that Lehzen claimed her bones were badly rattled. When the group reached Calais, the royal yacht took them across the channel to England. Everyone on board was seasick on the crossing. Nearly a month after leaving Amorsbach, they arrived at Kensington Palace in the country outside of London.

A month later, on the twenty-fourth of May, 1819, a baby girl was born. “Plump as a partridge,” the duke boasted about his infant daughter. “A model of strength and beauty combined!”

Naming the Baby

The duke and duchess of Kent discussed possible names for their little daughter. Her mother suggested naming her Georgina, in honor of her uncle George, the prince regent.

Her father disliked that suggestion, because he disliked his oldest brother. He preferred to name her Victoire, for his beloved wife.

Her mother then proposed Alexandrina, for her godfather, Tsar Alexander of Russia.

Her father offered a lengthy compromise: Georgina Alexandrina Victoire, adding Charlotte Augusta as well for good measure. Her mother agreed, and the list of names was sent to the prince regent, who had the right to decide the little princess's name.

For several days the baby's father received no reply, except to be informed that the christening must be a private affair with only a handful of invited guests. The walls of the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace were draped with crimson velvet. A christening font made of gilded silver
was brought out from London. The Archbishop of Canterbury stood surrounded by a small group of important people. Holding the infant princess in his arms, the archbishop asked the baby's name.

Finally the prince regent spoke up. “Alexandrina,” he said, adding that he would not permit his name to be used. The baby's mother began to weep, and her father grew red in the face. The prince regent glared at the parents and then agreed that the infant should have her mother's name, but it must not come before the Tsar's.

The archbishop poured water over the baby's head and named her Alexandrina Victoria. The baby's nurse shortened her name, calling her Drina. When she was a few years old, the little princess insisted that she be called Victoria. From then on, she was Princess Victoria.

Family Tragedy

The duke of Kent decided it would be healthier for his wife and daughter to spend the winter by the sea. He and his equerry, Captain Conroy, traveled to Devonshire on the south coast of England and settled on a house in the village of Sidmouth.

The duke's household moved to Sidmouth on Christmas Day in the midst of a fierce snowstorm. The rooms were small and dark and very cold, and the wind blowing off the sea rattled the windows. The duke fell ill, and on January 23, 1820, he died, leaving his wife saddled with debt. The duchess's brother, Leopold, came to her rescue and helped move the household back to Kensington Palace. Days later King George III died, and the prince regent ascended the throne as King George IV.

The Advisor

The duchess of Kent, widowed for the second time, had little money and spoke no English. She needed help with her day-to-day affairs, and her late husband's equerry was only too ready to advise her. John Conroy, a Welshman of Irish ancestry, had made a military career, married a general's daughter, and fathered six children. A handsome man of great charm and even greater ambition, he induced the distraught
duchess to name him her comptroller, placing him officially in charge of her financial matters.

In time, King George IV was persuaded to create Conroy a knight, and the captain became Sir John.

The Governess

Louise Lehzen was Princess Feodore's governess and accompanied the duke and duchess of Kent on their journey to Kensington. After Feodore no longer needed her, Lehzen became governess to Princess Victoria, who began to call her Daisy.

The governess to a member of the royal family was usually herself of noble birth, but Lehzen was of humble background, the unmarried daughter of a Lutheran minister. When the duchess of Kent's older sister, Queen Antoinette of Württemberg, came to visit, she refused sit at the same table as Lehzen, who was seated there with Victoria. To give Lehzen the proper rank, King George IV agreed to create Lehzen a baroness of Hanover in Germany; in addition to being king of England, he also held the title King of Hanover.

But Sir John Conroy never let Baroness Lehzen forget that she was a foreigner, her title was foreign, and she still had no rank in England.

Lord Melbourne

William Lamb, later to become Lord Melbourne, married Lady Caroline Ponsonby when she was nineteen and he was twenty-six. The marriage at first was an extremely happy one. But Lamb was ambitious politically, and Lady Caroline, beautiful, talented, and well-educated, felt neglected. When she was twenty-seven, she had an affair with Lord Byron, the famous poet. They made no attempt to keep their relationship a secret. The poet tired of Caroline after a few months and broke off the affair, going on to attachments with other women. Caroline continued to pursue Byron, creating a scandal. Lamb, ever the gentleman, took his wife to Ireland, hoping she would forget Byron.

Even after William and Caroline Lamb had separated, he stood by
his wife through years of mental instability and declining health. He was by her side when she died in 1828. That same year, he inherited his father's title as Viscount Melbourne and a seat in the House of Lords. King William IV appointed him prime minister, a position he held when Victoria became queen. She depended heavily on his guidance during the early years of her reign and regarded him as a father figure.

Prince Albert

Prince Albert was the son of Ernest, duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, elder brother of the duchess of Kent and King Leopold. Albert's mother, Princess Louise, was sixteen when she married Ernest. They divorced when Albert was five years old; his mother eloped with an army captain who had been her husband's stablemaster, and the duke forced her to leave her two children behind. She was prohibited from ever seeing her children again. Though Albert was raised by two affectionate grandmothers, his separation from his mother at an early age deeply affected him and probably made him a rather rigid and moralistic man.

Albert worked devotedly for years for his adopted country, but was not especially popular with the English people, whose dislike of foreigners, and especially Germans, turned them against him. Victoria's wish to create him king consort was never realized, but after seventeen years as simply Prince Albert, he was titled “His Royal Highness the Prince Consort.”

Albert's health suffered in the last two years of his life. He died at Windsor Castle on December 14, 1861, at the age of forty-two, with his beloved wife and five of their children by his bedside. The illness that caused his death, originally thought to be typhoid fever, is not definitely known and may have been attributable to other diseases.

Queen Victoria lived for another thirty-nine years. When she died at age eighty-one on January 22, 1901, she had ruled the British Empire for nearly sixty-three years and seven months. She was succeeded by her son, Bertie, who ruled as Edward VII.

1817—
Princess Charlotte, daughter of King George IV, dies, leaving English succession open

1818—
Edward, duke of Kent, marries German widow Princess Victoire, mother of Charles and Feodore (called Fidi); family moves to Kensington, England

1819—
On May 24, a daughter is born; on June 24, christened Alexandrina Victoria

1820—
On January 23, the duke of Kent dies; his equerry, Captain John Conroy, becomes advisor to the duchess of Kent, Victoria's mother

1824—
Fidi's German governess, Louise Lehzen, becomes governess to Victoria

1828—
In February, Fidi marries Ernst Hohenlohe-Langenburg and moves to Germany

1830—
King George IV dies; William, duke of Clarence, succeeds; Victoria is next in line of succession

1831—
Victoria's first public appearance at court

1832—
Victoria, age 13, begins keeping a journal

1833—
Victoria, age 14, begins royal progresses arranged by John Conroy

1834—
Fidi's first visit in 6 years; Lady Flora Hastings becomes Victoria's chaperone

1835—
Victoria, age 16, confirmed in Church of England; suffers severe illness

1836—
visit from German cousins Ernest and Albert, for Victoria's 17th birthday

1837—
tension with mother and John Conroy increases; Victoria turns 18 and comes of age; on June 20, King William IV dies, and Victoria becomes queen; meets with Lord Melbourne, prime minister; moves to Buckingham Palace; appoints her attendants

1838—
On June 28, Victoria crowned queen

1839—
Victoria's early reign plagued with crises; in October, Ernest and Albert visit; Victoria in love, decides to marry Albert

1840—
On February 10, Victoria and Albert marry; on November 21, their first daughter, Victoria, is born

1841—
On November 9, their first son, Edward Albert, is born

1842—
In September, Victoria's longtime friend, Baroness Lehzen, returns to Germany

1861—
On December 14, Prince Albert dies at age 42

1901—
On January 22, Queen Victoria dies at age 81

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