We Two: Victoria and Albert (90 page)

304
Prince Albert wrote, begging
As many people in Great Britain remarked with indignation, the Prince of Wales had many baptismal sponsors, all but two of them German.

305
He also welcomed the Prussian minister
Thus, in the memoirs she prepared of her dead husband, Baroness Bunsen describes the masque of the four seasons that the royal children performed to celebrate the wedding anniversary of their parents in 1854
(Bunsen’s Life
, vol. II, p. 328, quoted in Martin’s
Life of the Prince Consort
, vol. III, pp. 16–17).

305
There King Frederick William IV
E. F. Benson,
Queen Victoria
, p. 145.

305
In a telling little scene
See Woodham-Smith, p. 250. In Martin’s
Life of the Prince Consort
, a whole chapter of volume II is devoted to the 1845 visit to Germany, based largely on the Queen’s diary, and detailing every step of the way. There is, however, no hint of a disagreement with the Prussians.

306
Frederick William himself, the eldest
Roger Fulford, introduction to
Dearest Child
, p. 17.

307
“Your Majesty, I must begin
Jagow, p. 108. When thanking the king of Prussia for a gift to the Prince of Wales, Prince Albert is even more gushing: “When I think that this princely
gift springs not only from the hands, but also from the brain of Your Majesty … and when I think also of all the treasure of the messages contained in your recent letters to us, I am obliged to say to myself: No man has ever in a single present had showered upon him by another so incalculable a wealth of gifts” (Jagow, p. 114).

308
Learning of the speech, Prince Albert
Jagow, p. 113.

309
“That every good German desires
Martin,
Life of the Prince Consort
, vol. III, p. 24.

310
She failed to win his love
As a young man, Prince William fell passionately in love with a Polish aristocrat, Eliza Radziwill, but his parents refused to countenance their marriage. William married Augusta of Saxe-Weimar, a woman seventeen years his junior. The two proved to be incompatible. After two difficult births, which produced the requisite healthy male heir, Augusta refused to have marital relations with her husband (Pakula, p. 104). From then on, the two were locked in constant combat until, under the guidance of Bismarck, William became emperor of Prussia. Then he and his wife united in opposition to their heir and his English wife.

311
As Queen Victoria wrote
Pakula, p. 51.

311
It was unfortunate, in the prince’s
Members of the Prussian royal family prided themselves on being tall. King Frederick William IV collected a personal guard of men over six feet in height. One of the many reasons for Kaiser Wilhelm II’s massive insecurity was that he was a small man in comparison with his father and grandfather. Soon after her daughter Vicky went to Berlin as a bride, Queen Victoria received a copy of a private letter describing Vicky’s reception by the court of Berlin. “Only one thing I can’t understand she [the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin] says ‘She [Vicky] is very small’ which considering that you are a great deal taller than me, and I am not a dwarf, is rather hard” (Hibbert,
Queen Victoria in Her Letters and Journals
, p. 102).

312
It was true that
Mary Bulteel (later Ponsonby), as a maid of honor to the Queen who spoke excellent German, had good opportunities to observe her friend the Princess Royal’s German suitor and was not impressed. She summed up Fritz as “a good-humoured … lieutenant with large hands and feet, but not in the least clever” (Pakula, p. 71). Apparently Fritz was quite unable to master the simple rules of the parlor game vingt-et-un.

313
His uncles wanted nothing better
When the Prince of Wales was permitted to pay a visit to his sister in Berlin in 1859, Vicky and Fritz had to exert all their influence to keep Bertie from being led astray by Fritz’s debauched uncles and cousins.

313
He had found her perfection
As Crown Prince Fritz once wrote of his wife: “You cannot form an idea what a sweet little thing [Vicky] was at the time [of their first meeting in 1851]; such childlike simplicity combined with a woman’s intellect … and dignity … She seemed almost too perfect, so perfect, indeed, that I often caught myself wondering whether she was really a human being” (Pakula, p. 50).

313
“It is
not
politics
Pakula, p. 68.

313
“[Fritz] is a dear, excellent
Hibbert,
Queen Victoria In Her Letters and Journals
, p. 98.

313
As Albert expressed it
Jagow, p. 236.

314
The Queen recorded the scene
Part of the Queen’s journal entry for September 29, 1855. Hibbert,
Queen Victoria In Her Letters and Journals
, p. 98.

314
The
Times
newspaper wrote a series
Pakula, p.
77
.

315
He hurried the match in 1855
Feeling the need to defend his dead brother against the charge that he had sacrificed his daughter to further his geopolitical designs, Duke Ernest of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha wrote in his
Memoirs:
“My brother loved his eldest daughter much too tenderly, to be influenced
entirely
[my italics] by political considerations in respect of her marriage. For many years … his heart’s desire had been to see his favourite child … in a great position. He took a paternal delight in imagining his promising, talented, and precocious daughter on a powerful throne, but, above all, I knew how much he also desired to render her inwardly happy … the son of the Prince of Prussia, above all
other scions of reigning houses, afforded the greatest hopes for the future” (Pakula, p. 83, collating the texts of two separate published works by Duke Ernest). This is Saxe-Coburg casuistry.

315
The attraction between Vicky and Fritz
That Prince Albert sought to convince himself that Vicky was marrying Fritz because she loved him, not because her family wished for a dynastic alliance with Prussia, is shown clearly in the letter he wrote on March 27, 1856, attempting to explain to Prince William of Prussia why England was in an uproar over the engagement: “British feeling rises against the conception of a young person being promised away long before the proper time into strange hands for political or family reasons. This not taking place in our case could only be demonstrated to the public by letting them know more of the story of the young people’s love affair. And this is not advisable, if only because the very causes which made it originally desirable to us that a proposal should not be made before her Confirmation must now cause us to desire not to have to explain to the public that the proposal really took place before the Confirmation” (Jagow, p. 259). More casuistry!

315
The Queen received a disturbing
Pakula, p. 71.

315
Once Vicky was confirmed at sixteen
Queen Victoria wrote to Lord Palmerston on March 24, 1856: “According to
established rule
in
Prussia, no
such
private family
agreement
can
take place, without being
officially
announced as a
‘betrothal’
to the Royal Family, & published in the
Gazette
there” (Woodham-Smith, p. 373.)

316
Cut to the quick, Queen Victoria
Woodham-Smith, p. 373. 316

316
“From her youth onwards
Pakula, p. 72.

316
Deeply invested in Prince Albert’s dream
Fulford,
Dearest Child
, p.
77
.

317
How, Victoria wondered
Prince Albert wrote to his brother that Queen Victoria “cannot imagine that the child can arouse such feelings” in her fiancé (Bolitho,
The Prince Consort and His Brother
, p. 160). Things went better for the young couple when the Queen detailed Bertie to keep an eye on them for her. Bertie moved into the next room and played with the younger children, giving Vicky and Fritz some private time.

317
“We dined with Vicky, who generally
Pakula, p. 76.

318
The Princess Royal had always had
As a little girl, the Princess Royal was not infrequently whipped or subjected to such harsh punishments as being locked up or having her hands bound behind her. Her temper tantrums improved when she was five and placed under the authority of an intelligent and gifted governess. In 1858 Queen Victoria told Vicky, “Your saying you thought a young girl was not in an enviable position comes I think a little from that proud, high spirit which you will remember we did all we could to check and which it would have been so wrong in us to have tolerated. I am sure you feel now my dear child how right and wise we were. But you were trying”
(Dearest Child
p. 78).

318
The Queen, in turn, complained bitterly
Queen Victoria wrote to her daughter Vicky: “A more insubordinate and unequal-tempered child and girl I think I never saw! I must say so, honestly, now, dear. The tone you used to me, you know, shocked all who heard you … You and Bertie (in very different ways) were indeed great difficulties”
(Dearest Child
, p. 124).

318
As Queen Victoria remembered
Ibid, p. 96.

319
He refused to confer
Elisabeth, queen of Prussia, was born a princess of Bavaria. Her life in Prussia was difficult, as she had no children, and she was at daggers drawn with her sister-in-law and presumed successor, Augusta of Saxe-Weimar. She was at first deeply suspicious of and hostile toward her nephew Fritz’s English wife. However, after the death of her husband, Frederick William IV, Elisabeth was surprised and touched by the genuine affection and understanding that Vicky showed her. When Elisabeth died, she left her extensive collection of jewelry to Vicky, then crown princess, not to Queen Augusta. Sadly, this only caused a rift between Vicky and her mother-in-law.

319
However, she must find the money
For example, Vicky was obliged to use her English parliamentary income to buy all her clothes for her father-in-law’s coronation.

319
“I resent bitterly
Pakula, quoting Queen Victoria’s diary, p. 71.

319
Prince Albert wrote back reprovingly
Pakula, p.
77
.

319
The wedding, to be held
The wedding and honeymoon of Victoria, Princess Royal of England, and Prince Frederick William of Prussia is attested by an astonishing array of documents. As soon as the young couple had driven off to Windsor, Queen Victoria sat down to write a lengthy account of the day in her diary. Prince Albert started a letter to Stock-mar in the morning and concluded it in the evening. On arriving with her bridegroom at Windsor Castle, the bride took off her bonnet and sat down at once to pen a note of love and thanks to her parents. At breakfast the next day, she received an answer from her mother. And so it went on.

320
After seventeen years as a wife
Queen Victoria wrote to Vicky: “I think people really marry far too much … [Marriage] is such a lottery after all, and for a poor woman a very doubtful happiness”
(Dearest Child
, p. 99).

320
“Vicky is very reasonable”
Bolitho,
Albert, Prince Consort
, p. 160.

321
“My heart was very full
Martin,
Life of the Prince Consort
, vol. IV, p. 169.

Chapter 25:
FATHER AND SON

322
“It is a strange omission
Hibbert,
Queen Victoria in Her Letters and Journals
, p. 152. For more on the issue of title and precedence for Prince Albert in 1839–1840, see chapter 12.

323
“Today I will write
Bolitho,
The Prince Consort and His Brother
, p. 177.

324
Queen Victoria followed
Queen Victoria wrote to her daughter Vicky, pregnant with her first child: “I hope you will have no chance of two for some time and not of three for a long time. Bertie and I both suffered (and the former will ever suffer) from coming so soon after you”
(Dearest Child
, p. 147).