by A G Mogan
Love proved stronger than girlish pride. The couple met on the 10th October 1839, and on the 14th of the same month the Queen conveyed the news of her approaching marriage to her prime-minister. Her best friends were all delighted with the news.
'You will be very nervous on declaring your engagement to the Council,' said the Duchess of Gloucester.
'Yes,' replied the Queen, 'but I did something far more trying to my nerves a short time since.'
'What was that?' the duchess asked.
'I proposed to Albert,' was the reply.
The following is one of many journal entries written by the Queen:
"How I will strive to make Albert feel as little as possible the great sacrifice he has made. I told him it was a great sacrifice on his part, but he would not allow it."
A month had passed and the couple was happier than they had ever been before. Then the Prince returned to Coburg for the purpose of settling his affairs and to take leave of his old home and his family. Those partings seem to have pulled hard on his heart-strings and they appeared very distressing to him.
But all that grief at Coburg and Gotha proved that Prince Albert was loved very much.
The Queen's wedding was second only to the coronation. It was a grand pageant for the privileged few who were able to attend, for the old Royal Chapel of St. James was a much narrower stage than the Abbey. Still, all the greatest of the great were there and throngs of royalty and nobility turned out to witness the spectacular event. The chapel was made to look very gay and gorgeous with hangings and decorations; even before the ladies in rich dresses and with all their costliest jewels on, and the gentlemen in brilliant uniforms and Court-costumes arrived. When the bridegroom walked up the aisle, between his father and his brother, there were many murmurs of admiration.
The Queen was described as looking very pale, but lovely, in a splendid robe of lace over white satin trimmed with orange blossoms, and with an exquisite Honiton veil. In the midst of her twelve bridesmaids, her face was glowing with happiness.
Ah, "when they walked away as man and wife"—now simply and for always to each other, "Albert" and "Victoria," the separate life of our "Prince Charming" closed. Subsequently, the couple seemed completely merged and inseparable, but alas, appearances could be deceiving.
After Victoria married Albert, there was happiness and peace for a time in the United Kingdom. When the honeymoon began for that simple pair of lovers, Victoria and Albert; or, as she would have preferred to write it, Albert and Victoria. Only the day after her marriage, the Queen wrote to Baron Stockmar:
"There cannot exist a purer, dearer, nobler being in the world than the Prince."
She never took those words back and in fact, her love persisted in year after year, even against Albert’s humble protests. It would have spoiled any man who was spoilable.
The first attempt to assassinate Queen Victoria occurred on the 10th of June in 1840. It was made as she and Prince Albert were driving up Constitution Hill, near Buckingham Palace, in a small open carriage. Prince Albert, in a letter to his grandmamma, gives the strongest account of it. He says:
"We had hardly proceeded a hundred yards from the Palace, when I noticed, on the foot-path on my side, a little, mean-looking man, holding something toward us, and, before I could distinguish what it was, a shot was fired, which almost stunned us both, it was so loud—barely six paces from us. … The horses started, and the carriage stopped. I seized Victoria's hands and asked if the fright, had not shaken her, but she laughed."
Almost immediately the fellow fired a second shot, but the Prince saved her when he drew her down beside him. He stated that the ball must have passed just over her head. The madman was arrested at once and taken away, and soon after committed for trial and charged with high treason. The Queen was seen to be very pale, but calm. She rose in the carriage to show the people that she was not hurt. There have been at least seven other fruitless attempts on the life of the Queen.
The Princess Royal was born on the 21st November of 1840; and the royal mother, made a speedy recovery. Prince Albert's was very tender in his care for the Queen after the birth of their child.
The Prince of Wales was born on November 9, 1841, and after that, their family quickly multiplied, and with it the parents' sense of responsibility. 'A man's education begins the first day of his life,' said the prince's tried friend, the wise Baron Stockmar, and the Queen felt it 'a hard case' that the pressure of public business prevented her from always being with her little ones when they said their prayers at night.
Court gossips considered the Queen 'to be very fond of her children, but severe in her manner, and a strict disciplinarian in her family.' A nurse in the royal household informed Baron Bunsen that 'the children were kept very plain indeed: it was quite poor living—only a bit of roast meat, and perhaps a plain pudding.' Other servants have reported that the Queen would have made 'an admirable poor man's wife.'
The Prince of Wales was christened in the Royal Chapel at Windsor, with King Frederick William of Prussia, who had come over for the ceremony, standing as chief sponsor. There were numerous grand festivities and parades to celebrate the occasion, both at Windsor and in London. The Queen did honor to her "brother of Prussia" in every possible way, in banquets and balls, in postponing Parliament, in holding a Chapter of the Garter, and investing him with the impressive insignia of the Order, and in having a grand inspection for him, of "Prince Albert's Own Hussars," he being a little in the military line himself.
This year of 1842 also had its share of tragedy. It was the year of the massacres of the British forces in Cabul, there was financial trouble in England and May saw the second attempt on the life of the Queen by John Francis.
Francis was tried and sentenced to death, but the Queen was merciful and the sentence was commuted to prison for life. The very next day, Bean, the hunchback, decided to shoot Her Majesty with a charge of paper and bits of clay-pipe. He was such a foolish creature that they only sentenced him to eighteen months in prison.
Soon after, the Duke of Orleans was tragically killed by being thrown from his carriage and the Queen left to mourn with her aunt of Belgium, and the rest of the family of Louis Philippe of France. If he had lived, Louis Napoleon would hardly have been Emperor of France.
In the spring of the following year, another Princess was born in Buckingham Palace, and she was christened Alice Maud Mary. Time passed in the usual manner and every new baby seemed to make the family even happier.
In the summer of 1843, the Queen and Prince made their first visit to the King and Queen of France, at the Chateau d'Eu, near Treport, on the coast. The King and several of his sons came off in the royal barge to meet their yacht, which they boarded. One version says that Louis Philippe caught up the Queen, kissed her on both cheeks, and carried her physically on to his barge.
In 1844, Louis Philippe came to return the visit of the Queen and the Prince, and there were countless celebrations at Windsor with all of the kindness and courtesy they could offer, and I hope the sly old King went home with gratitude in his heart, as well as the garter on his leg. This was also the same year the Queen and Prince made their first visit to Germany together. Queen paints a picture of the morning of leaving the children that is quite domestic, sweet, and motherly:
"Both Vicky and darling Alice were with me while I dressed. Poor dear Puss wished much to go with us and often said, 'Why am I not going to Germany?' Most willingly would I have taken her. I wished much to take one of dearest Albert's children with us to Coburg; but the journey is a serious undertaking and she is very young still." … "It was a painful moment to drive away with the three poor little things standing at the door. God bless them and protect them—which He will."
At this point, Victoria and Albert had been married for six years and the family had grown to be six. Soon it was seven, for the Princess Helena Augusta Victoria was born in May. Her godmother was Hélène, the widowed Duchess of Orleans, the mother of the gallant yo
ung men, the Count de Paris and the Duke de Chartres, who during our great war came over to America to see service under General McClellan.
They were very happy despite all the political trouble and confusion, almost too happy, considering the quality of life in poor Ireland. It is doubtless that the cries of starving children and the moans of fever-stricken mothers must have penetrated the sensitive hearts of the Queen and Prince.
In the spring of 1847 the Prince-Consort was elected Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, an incredible honor for a man so young. The Queen was present at the induction, and there was a lot of celebration. Wordsworth wrote an ode on the occasion, though it was not quite equal to his "Ode on the Intimations of Immortality." In truth, Mr. Wordsworth did not shine as Poet Laureate. Mr. Tennyson better earns his butt of Malmsey.
Seated on the throne in the great Hall of Trinity, the Queen received the new Chancellor, who was dressed in beautiful robes of black and gold, with a long train borne by two of his officers. He read to her a speech, to which she read a reply, saying that on the whole she approved of the choice of the University. "I cannot say," writes the Queen, "how it agitated and embarrassed me to have, to receive this address, and hear it read by my beloved Albert, who walked in at the head of the University, and who looked dear and beautiful in his robes."
In the year 1848, there was a lot of political strife and many overthrows. The spirit of revolution was widespread, and all the thrones of Europe were in danger. In the midst of the excitement and anxiety of the time, the dear grandmother of the Prince died, in her palace of Friedrichsthal, and his daughter, Louise Caroline Alberta, now Marchioness of Lorne, was born in Buckingham Palace.
A few months later, the Queen was fired at by a mad Irishman, William Hamilton, while she was driving with her children in an open carriage over Constitution Hill. The Queen managed to remain calm and she ordered the carriage to continue, calming her children.
At the time of Oxford's attempt she "laughed at the thing"; but now there had been so many shootings that "the thing" was getting irritating and tedious, and she did not interfere with the carrying out of the sentence of seven years' banishment. This was not the last attempt on her life, unfortunately. In 1872, a Fenian tried his hand and we all know of the shocking attempt of two years ago at Windsor. In truth, Her Majesty has been the greatest royal target in Europe.
In 1853, Windsor Castle received the news that the French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, had selected a bride for her beauty, her grace, and because he loved her and not for her wealth, or royal connections. Because of the similarities between the relationship between Napoleon and his wife and that of Victoria and Albert, who were truly in love upon their marriage, they felt friendlier to him. They wanted him to show them what he could do for France. I am afraid they half forgot the coup d'état, and the widows, orphans and exiles it had made.
On the 3d of March, the Queen went to Parliament to receive the address of both Houses in answer to her message that announced the opening of the war. On this significant occasion, the young Prince of Wales took a place for the first time with his mother and father on the throne. His heart glowed with passion and his expression was grave. His voice, if he had been allowed to speak, would have been all for war. A few days before this, the Queen saw the first division of troops leave for the Baltic and she felt the passions of the soldier-blood of her father tingling in her veins. She wrote:
"I am very enthusiastic about my dear army and navy, and I wish I had two sons in both now."
But in later years, it is said that the Queen was not eager to have any of her sons risk their lives in battle.
In 1853, Victoria gave birth to her eighth child, Leopold, with the aid of the new anesthetic, chloroform. Victoria was very impressed by the relief it gave from the pain of childbirth and she made the decision to use it again in 1857 at the birth of her ninth and final child, Beatrice, despite disapproval from members of the clergy, as well as members of the medical profession. The clergy believed it to be against biblical teaching and members of the medical profession believed it to be dangerous. It is possible that Victoria suffered from postnatal depression after many of her pregnancies. Letters from Albert to Victoria sporadically complain of her loss of self-control. For example, about a month after Leopold's birth Albert complained in a letter to Victoria about her "continuance of hysterics" over a "miserable trifle”.
In March of 1861, Victoria's mother died, with Victoria by her side. Through reading her mother's papers, Victoria discovered that her mother had loved her deeply; she was devastated, and blamed Conroy and Lehzen for "wickedly" alienating her from her mother. During this time, Albert took on most of her duties, despite being ill himself with stomach trouble, in order to relieve his wife during her period of intense mourning. In August, Victoria and Albert visited their son in Dublin, Edward, Prince of Wales, who was attending army maneuvers. They also spent a few days vacationing in Killarney. In November, Albert became aware of gossip that his son had slept with an actress in Ireland. Horrified, Albert travelled to Cambridge, where his son was studying, to confront him.
But by the beginning of December, Albert was quite ill. He suffered from pains and sleeplessness. His illness lasted about two weeks in its more serious phases. It was a low, slow fever, which started with a heavy cold and wasn’t recognized as a fever at all at first. I have been told that the Prince himself had an impression that he would not recover, and that he talked of his probable death calmly with his daughter Alice, saying: "Your mother cannot bear to hear me speak of it yet." The Queen, though very agitated and distraught could not face the coming tragedy; could not admit the possibility that time was running out for her husband. The alternations of hope and fear must have been dreadful.
One morning the Queen records that on going to the Prince she found him looking very miserable:
"He did not smile, or take much notice of me. His manner all along was so unlike himself, and he had sometimes, such a strange, wild look." In the evening she writes: "I found my Albert most dear and affectionate and quite himself, when I went in with little Beatrice, whom he kissed. He laughed at some of her new French verses which I made her repeat, then he held her little hand in his for some time, and she stood looking, at him."
It seemed to the Queen as though he were "preparing for another and a greater journey" than they had ever taken together. His tenderness towards her throughout his illness was very poignant, which must be very sweet for her to remember. After the exhaustion of watching and the incapacitation of fever, he always welcomed the good-morning caress of his "dear little wife." Through the gathering mists of unconsciousness, through the phantom-shades of delirium, his love for her struggled forth, in a tender word, a wistful look, a relaxed smile, a feeble stroking of the cheek. It was "wondrous pitiful," but it was very beautiful. Even at the last, when he knew no one else, he knew her; and when she bent over him and whispered, "Tis your own little wife," he bowed his head and kissed her.
After all hope of recovery was gone, the Queen still was able to sit calmly by his bedside without troubling him with weeping in his final moments. When she felt the urge to weep or when her grief could no longer be contained, she would leave the room and express the emotion that she could not express at his bedside.
William Jenner later diagnosed Prince Albert with typhoid fever. On the night of December 14 in the year of 1861, the cherished Prince-Consort passed away quietly and painlessly in his home.
Victoria was heartbroken. She blamed her husband's death on worry over the Prince of Wales's philandering. He had been "killed by that dreadful business", she said. She entered a state of grief and wore black for the remainder of her life. She avoided public appearances, and rarely set foot in London in her remaining years. She earned the nickname "widow of Windsor” due to her seclusion.
The Queen was so absorbed and unwavering in her love for her husband, who to her, was "nobler than the noblest,” that the people of England felt a tremendous am
ount of anxiety on her behalf. They were afraid that this tragedy would kill her, or plunge her into a depth of depression that would be sadder than death.
Following a custom she maintained since the death of Albert, Victoria spent the Christmas of 1900 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Rheumatism in her legs had rendered her lame, and cataracts clouded her eyesight. Through early January, she felt "weak and unwell", and by mid-January she was "drowsy ... dazed, [and] confused". She died on Tuesday 22 January 1901, at half past six in the evening, at the age of eighty-one.
Victoria was the longest-reigning British monarch and the longest-reigning queen in history until her great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II surpassed her on September 9 of 2015; Victoria’s reign lasted exactly sixty-three years, seven months and two days. She was the last monarch of Britain from the House of Hanover. Her son and successor Edward VII belonged to her husband's House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
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6
Pauline Bonaparte
It has been said of Napoleon long ago that he could rule emperors and kings, but that not even he could control his relatives. He once declared:
"My family have done me far more harm than I have been able to do them good."
It would be an interesting historical study to determine how far the great soldier's family assisted in his downfall by their selfishness, their jealousy, their meanness, and their ingratitude.
