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QUEEN VICTORIA

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QUEEN VICTORIA

BY

RICHARD R. HOLMES, F.S.A.

LIBRARIAN TO THE QUEEN

BOUSSOD, VALADON & CO
Fine Art Publishers to Her Majesty

LONDON
5, REGENT STREET, S.W.

PARIS
24, BOULEVARD DES CAPUCINES

1897

Text and
Illustrations
Entered according to Act of Congress,
in the year 1897,
by
BOUSSOD. VALADON & CO.
in the Office of
the Librarian of Congress
at
Washington.

PREFACE

Some explanation seems to be due as to the origin of this biography,
and as to the form which it has assumed.
At the end of 1896 I was asked by the Publishers, Messrs. Boussod,
Valadon & Co., to write for them a biography of the Queen, which should
be illustrated by pictures from the Royal Collections. As Librarian at
Windsor Castle, I could not undertake the task without first asking and
obtaining the permission of Her Majesty.
Many little fables have from time to time grown up respecting the early
life of Queen Victoria. It seemed, therefore, desirable to take this opportu
nity of correcting these inaccuracies, and, with this object, Her Majesty most
graciously consented to supply notes on her childhood and youth, and at the
same time to correct matters of fact, especially in reference to the period
before her accession to the throne, and, more generally, throughout the
volume. I am, therefore, enabled to present, for the first time, an accurate account
of the childhood and youth of Queen Victoria.

" PREFACE.
For the remainder of the work I have depended on records already
accessible to the general public, and especially on Her Majesty's published
journals, and Sir Theodore Martin's Life of the Prince Consort. I desire
also to express my deep obligations to Mr. Rowland Prothero, who has, on
behalf of Her Majesty, read the proofs, and to whom I am indebted on every
page of this biography.
The pictures contained in the volume are not drawn from the political,
naval, or military history of the eventful and glorious reign of Queen Victoria.
They rather illustrate Her Majesty's domestic life, and it, therefore, seemed to
me more fitting that the accompanying biography should, in the main, deal
with personal, and not with public, events. For the selection of these illus
trations my thanks are due to Mr. D. C. Thomson.
In conclusion, I take the opportunity of reiterating the explanatory state
ment made by me in a letter to the Times, published on March 26th, 1897.
For the plan of the work, its scope, the selection of the details, and the form
in which they are presented, I am alone responsible. RICHARD R. HOLMES.
Windsor Castle,
September 1st, 1897.

QUEEN VICTOEIA.

CHAPTER ONE.

ANCESTRY OF THE QUEEN.
ictoria, Queen and Empress, holds her unique
position among the Sovereigns of Great Britain
not solely on account of the duration of her reign.
Her Majesty, alone among the Queens Regnant
who have preceded her, has been blessed with direct
heirs. On three previous occasions the sceptre has
been held by female hands, and on each, at the
death of the holder, the direct line of succession has
been interrupted. Mary, the elder daughter of Henry VIII., who, after a short
and troubled reign, died in 1558, left no issue by her husband, Philip of Spain.
Under her successor, her half-sister Elizabeth, the English nation freed itself
from the domination of Rome, crushed the power of Spain, laid the foundations

2 ANCESTRY OF THE QUEEN.
of empire beyond the seas, and produced a literature which is the glory of our
language. But Elizabeth died unmarried. At her death the direct line of the
house of Tudor came to an end. The succession passed to the house of Stuart,
through the marriage of Margaret, daughter of Henry VII., with James IV.
of Scotland ; and her great-grandson, James VI. of Scotland, the son of Eliza
beth's rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, succeeded to the English throne. With
the death of Queen Anne, the dynasty of the Stuarts, after giving four kings
and two queens to the list of English Sovereigns, terminated. Anne's elder
sister, Mary, had indeed enjoyed the title of Queen, but she shared the throne
with her husband, William of Orange, who survived her. On William's death
Anne became sole monarch, and proved to be the last Queen Regnant till the
present reign. Her rule, like that of Elizabeth, was distinguished for triumphs
both in peace and war, as well as for brilliancy in literature. By her marriage
with George, Prince of Denmark, the promise of direct heirs was frequent ;
but of all her children one only, William, Duke of Gloucester, lived long
enough to make the direct succession probable, and, at the age of eleven,
he, too, sickened and died. Direct heirs of James II. did indeed exist, but
their claim to the Crown was debarred by the Act of Settlement of 1701,
which confined the succession to Sophia, Electress Dowager of Hanover, and
her successors, being Protestants.
Sophia, Electress of Hanover, was the twelfth child and youngest daughter
of Frederick V., Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia, and of Elizabeth,
daughter of James I. of England and VI. of Scotland. Born in 1630, at
The Hague, when the fortunes of her parents were at their lowest ebb, her
own fortunes were as changeable, though in an inverse manner. Her memoirs
give an interesting picture of her life at The Hague in her early years, and of
the manners and intrigues of the exiled English Court. From her cousin,
Charles, Prince of Wales, and afterwards King, she attracted much attention, and
by many of the Royalists it was both believed and hoped that she would
become their future sovereign. In the Royal Library at Windsor is preserved
a curious memento of this passage in her life. It is a copy of a very early
edition of the " Eikon Basilike," in which the young King, not liking the

THE ELECTRESS SOPHIA. 3
coarsely-executed portrait of himself bound up in the volume, has attempted
to soften its features by touches of a pen. These not proving satisfactory,
he has inserted another and more pleasing engraving of himself, on the back
of which he has written, "For the Princess Sophia." The young Princess,
however, had strength of mind to resist the advances of the Prince, and
obtained permission to leave The Hague. Several suitors for her hand
appeared, and at length, shortly before the Restoration, she became the wife
of Duke Ernest of Brunswick- Luneburg, afterwards Elector of Hanover.
To him she proved an attached and faithful wife till his death in 1698.
Sprightly, clever, and intelligent in her youth, she retained throughout her long life
her powers of mind. A warm admirer and correspondent of Descartes, she was
also a close and intimate friend of Leibnitz, who was her constant visitor at Herren-
hausen, where she relieved her studies in philosophy by the care she bestowed
upon her gardens. In 1701 the Act of Settlement placed her next in succession
to the Crown, which forty years before had been within her reach. But she
died in the lifetime of Queen Anne, at whose death, a few weeks later, her
son George, Elector of Hanover, was summoned to the vacant throne.
Besides this Prince, the Electress Sophia had five other sons. Her only
daughter, Sophia Charlotte, who married Frederick I., King of Prussia, and
was mother of Frederick the Great, was a strong-minded and amiable princess,
and had no small share in forming the character of the Princess Caroline of
Anspach, of whom mention will be made presently.
In writing the life of a Queen whose personal influence upon her time has
been so extraordinary, it is natural to pay some attention to those female
members of her ancestry who, though not themselves Queens Regnant, have
influenced the course of events during their lives, and have transmitted to
their descendants unmistakable traces of their personality.
Margaret Tudor, through whom the blood of the earlier kings descends to
the present race, bore a decided resemblance to her brother, Henry VIII.
Impetuous, fond of power and loving display, she yet exhibited great firmness
and capacity in the troublous times which succeeded the death of her husband
at Flodden, as well as in the guardianship of his son, James V.

4 ANCESTRY OF THE QUEEN.
To the romantic and eventful life of her granddaughter, Mary Queen of
Scots, her complex character and tragic fate, a whole literature has been
dedicated. No personage in history has commanded more potent advocacy or
been assailed by fiercer criticism. Born in 1542, she became Queen of
Scotland at her father's death at the close of the same year. Before six years
had elapsed she was sent to France, as the betrothed bride of the Dauphin,
afterwards Francis II. There she was educated, and her abilities, naturally
great, were carefully developed. Her religious instruction was superintended
with even more solicitude, for, as Queen of Scotland and a claimant to the
throne of England, the hopes of Catholicism, and of the return of the British
Islands to the supremacy of Rome rested upon her. She was married to Francis
in April, 1556, and, on the death of Mary of England in November of the same
year, she laid formal claim to the English throne in right of her descent from
Henry VII., alleging as ground for her conduct the illegitimacy of Elizabeth ;
and, notwithstanding that the latter was declared Queen without opposition,
Mary and her husband assumed, and after their succession to the French throne,
on the death of Henry II. in 1559, continued to use, the titles of King and
Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland. This was the beginning of the bitter
and lifelong animosity between the rival Queens.
At the close of 1560, a few days before she was eighteen years of age, Mary
Stuart's husband died. Her career in France was over; her rule over Scotland
was but nominal, and her own religion was there proscribed. Still, after much
hesitation, she ventured to return, and on the 18th of August, 1561, landed
at Leith. After this, her marriages, her romantic friendships, her battles,
successes and defeats, her imprisonment and escapes, her flight from her
kingdom, her lonely captivity and final trial and execution, have been inex
haustible themes for poets, painters, and dramatists of every land. They are
universally known ; and it is unnecessary here to give even the merest outline
of her history, particularly as the first volume of the series of historical
works, of which the present volume forms a part, has been devoted to an
exhaustive discussion of the subject, and the second contains the history
of her great rival Queen Elizabeth, the two representing, from opposite points

ANNE OF DENMARK. 5
of view, the struggles of Catholicism and Protestantism for ascendancy in this
kingdom. With the death of Mary the last hope of the revival of the
domination of Rome departed.
The consort of her son, James I. of England, the Princess Anne, was
the second daughter of Frederick II. of Denmark and Sophia, of the House of
Mecklenburg. By her mother, who was a highly-accomplished woman, skilled
in astronomy, chemistry and other sciences, the future Queen was educated
with the greatest care. A lively temperament, and a quick and cultured
intelligence were not the only charms of the Queen. She added to these the
personal attractions of fine features and a brilliant complexion. It was from
her that the Stuart family derived the features which are so familiar in the
portraits of Henry, Prince of Wales, and of Charles I. and his descendants —
a type so persistent and remarkable that, as Mr. Lang records in his latest
work, describing Charles Edward Stuart in his youth, " A distinguished artist
who outlined Charles's profile, and applied it to another of Her present Majesty
in her youth, tells me that they are almost exact counterparts." In politics
Anne took little part; her tastes lay in other directions, and she is chiefly
remembered by her connection with the history of the English stage, and by
her patronage of Ben Jonson. She was a good wife and mother, and died
beloved and respected by the nation.
The noble character, heroic courage, and bitter misfortunes of her daughter
Elizabeth have surrounded her memory with an immortal halo of romance. Born
in 1596, she accompanied her parents to England. There she was brought up in
those principles of the Protestant religion, by her steady adherence to which she
was the means of raising her descendants to her father's throne. In the pride
of her youth and beauty she was married to the young Elector Palatine,
Frederick V., a nephew of the famous warrior, Maurice, Prince of Orange. The
alliance was universally popular, as it connected the English royal family with
some of the chief Protestant Courts in Europe. For some years her married
life at Heidelberg was happy and even splendid; but her husband's acceptance
of the offer of the vacant Crown of Bohemia was the beginning of the series of
difficulties which ended in the loss not only of that Crown, but of his ancient

6 ANCESTRY OF THE QUEEN.
dominions in the Palatinate. The Princess died in England in 1662, leaving
behind her a name, long revered by the nation as that of a martyr in the cause
of the religion to which they were so firmly attached.
Caroline of Brandenburg- Anspach, wife of George II., is another ancestress
of the Queen who can never be passed over or forgotten in the history of the
dynasty. Born in 1683, she lost her father at an early age. The greater part of
her childhood was passed at Dresden at the gay court of the Elector of Saxony,
who had become the second husband of her mother. In 1696 another change
in her life occurred. Left an orphan by her mother's death, she remained for
some years with her guardian, Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, afterwards
King of Prussia, and his wife, Sophia Charlotte, daughter of the Electress Sophia
of Hanover. Under the care of this highly-gifted woman, the character of the
young princess was moulded. Firm in her adhesion to the Protestant religion,
she refused the splendour of an alliance with the future Emperor Charles VI.,
because such an union would have necessitated a change of faith. In her resist
ance to the proposals made to her, she was encouraged by the old Electress, and
by Leibnitz, who was thus intimately connected with three generations of the
house, which has played so important a part in English history. By his means,
and with the aid of the old Electress Sophia, her marriage with the hereditary
Prince of Hanover was accomplished. Of the story of her after life it is not
necessary here to speak. Of her character, and especially of her devotion, and
self-sacrifice, it is difficult to say too much. Literature and the arts found in
her a discriminating patron. The excellence of her own artistic taste is proved
by the fact that she decorated her sitting-room at Kensington with the drawings
by Holbein of the ladies and nobles of the Court of Henry VIII., which, with
the equally priceless volume of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, had been
recently discovered in a cupboard of the Palace, and with the miniature portraits
by Cooper and others, which are still not the least valuable of the treasures of
the Crown. Till her death she retained her beauty, and the marked type of
her features is perpetuated in the great family resemblance which is so notice
able in her descendants to the present day.
Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III., and the grandmother of our

QUEEN CHARLOTTE. 7
Sovereign, was a devoted wife and mother, and strict in her ideas of duty. Though
her features were irregular, her face was attractive from the brightness of her
eyes, and the piquancy and animation of her expression. One inestimable boon
she helped to confer on the British nation. At a period when laxity of morals
was almost universally prevalent, she not only set a noble example of domestic
virtue, but resolutely discountenanced vice in others. It was in no small
degree owing to her influence that the Court of George III. became the purest
in Europe. Of the Kings of England, the Queen's ancestors, it would be superfluous to
give any history or account in the limited pages of this volume.

CHAPTER TWO.
BIRTH AND PARENTAGE OF THE QUEEN.

t was on the 6th of November, 1817, that the
whole country heard with dismay of the tragic
death of the Princess Charlotte of Wales, wife
of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, and of her
newborn infant. With that event the hope of a
direct heir to the Regent, afterwards George IV.,
disappeared, and the succession to the throne was
left among his younger brothers. Of these the
eldest, Frederick, Duke of York, had been married
more than sixteen years, and had no children. William, Duke of Clarence,
the next in seniority, who succeeded his brother as King William IV., was
married on the nth of July, 18 18. His first child by his wife, Princess
Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, was born in 18 19, two months before the Princess
Victoria, and died on the day of her birth. One other child was born at the
close of the next year, but, at the age of three months, she also died. Next to
the Duke of Clarence came the Duke of Kent, the father of our Queen.

io BIRTH AND PARENTAGE OF THE QUEEN.
Edward Augustus, the fourth son of George III. and Queen Charlotte,
was born on the 2nd of November, 1767, at Buckingham House. In the same
house, at the time of the Prince's birth, Edward, Duke of York, brother of the
King, was lying in state preparatory to his funeral the day following. From
his deceased uncle, the infant prince, who was christened on the 30th of the
same month, received his first name. His early years were passed under the
care and tuition of John Fisher, afterwards Canon of Windsor, and Bishop,
successively, of Exeter and Salisbury. The influence of this exemplary Christian
and distinguished scholar was apparent in the piety, and love of truth, which were
marked features in the character of his pupil, whose fortitude and equanimity
were severely tried in after life by injustice and misfortune. Destined for the
career of a soldier, he was sent, at the age of eighteen, to Luneberg, in Hanover,
to study for his profession under a military governor. An annuity of ,£6,000 had
been provided for his maintenance, but his tutor, who thought of nothing except
drill and avarice, treated his charge with extreme severity and parsimony. Not
content with restricting his pocket-money to a weekly pittance, he intercepted
the Prince's letters to his parents, and misrepresented his conduct by describing
him as recklessly extravagant. As the Prince afterwards said : " Much of the
estrangement between my royal parent and myself, much of the sorrow of my
after life, may be ascribed to that most uncalled-for sojourn in the Electorate."
There is no doubt that the ill-judged and severe treatment of his governor
was the primary cause of the serious financial embarrassments which troubled
the Prince throughout the whole of his life.
In May, 1786, the Prince was made a Colonel in the Army, and, shortly
after, a Knight of the Garter. In the year following he was removed to
Geneva. Thence, in June, 1790, he returned to England, without permission
from the King, hoping that, in a personal interview with his father, he might
so state his grievances as to obtain some immediate relief from the burdens
which pressed upon him. The King, however, was implacable ; he refused to
see his son, ordered him to leave in a few days for Gibraltar, and only admitted
him to his presence for a few minutes before his departure. But the Prince's
visit was not entirely fruitless : at last he was free from his harsh governor, and

THE DUKE OF KENT. n
his exile was alleviated by his appointment to the Colonelcy of the 7th Royal
Fusiliers, then forming part of the garrison. On his conduct in this position
many unfavourable criticisms have been passed. The strict ideas of military
duty which had been instilled into him in Germany made him a stern dis
ciplinarian, at a time when the utmost laxity prevailed among the garrison of
the Rock. To the Prince's credit it should be added that he demanded from
his subordinates no more than he practised himself. As in the discharge of
public duties he set an example of care and diligence, so in private life he was
a pattern of regularity and temperance. The opinion entertained of him by his
own regiment may be learned from its privately-printed records, where it is said :
" At that time the discipline of the Army was greatly relaxed. The military code,
it is true, allowed brutal severity to be used in correcting the private soldiers, but
brutal severity has never been the means of raising and maintaining a brave and
efficient army, unless it was only resorted to in the last extremity by men who
performed their duty with rigid exactness, and were in all respects a pattern
for those whom they commanded. So much, however, could not then be said
of all ranks in the British Army. Great slackness existed, and when the young
Duke of Kent attempted to exact a proper and honourable performance of his
duty from each of his subordinates, his measures were received with great and
ill-concealed disgust." " His notions of discipline," says the Prince's biographer,
" rendered him unpopular with the men. Representations relative to the
dissatisfaction prevalent in the Fusiliers were made at home, and the result was
that His Royal Highness was ordered to embark with his Regiment for
America." His enemies, and the Prince had many on the Rock, not all of the
lowest order, were striving to create discord between him and his Fusiliers.
But gradually the advantages of strictness in discipline were recognised, and
before the regiment left Gibraltar the merits of the Colonel were appreciated,
not only by the 7th, but by the rest of the garrison.
During 1792 and 1793 the Duke remained at Quebec in command of his
regiment. In October of the latter year he was promoted to the rank of Major-
General, and in December, at his own request, he received an appointment
under Sir Charles Grey, who was then engaged in the reduction of the French

12 BIRTH AND PARENTAGE OF THE QUEEN.
West India Islands. The Prince took part in the capture of Martinique and
Santa Lucia, for which service he was mentioned in despatches, and received the
thanks of Parliament. After the successful termination of the expedition he
rejoined his regiment in Canada; but, in 1798, he was obliged to leave the
country on account of ill-health.
In 1799 His Royal Highness was created Duke of Kent and Strathern,
and Earl of Dublin. In the same year he was gazetted Commander-in-Chief of
the Forces in North America ; but, owing to the state of his health, he was able
to remain there little more than a year. In 1802 he was again despatched
to Gibraltar, on this occasion as Governor, with express instructions from the
Commander-in-Chief, his brother, the Duke of York, to restore the discipline of
that demoralised garrison. The means which the Duke of Kent considered it
necessary to take, at great pecuniary loss to himself, for the accomplishment of
this purpose, caused a mutiny among the troops, which was at last quelled,
and discipline restored. The Duke, however, was recalled, and after his departure
the garrison relapsed into its former condition. In 1805 the Duke was made
a Field-Marshal. He was at this time living in comparative retirement near
Ealing, taking, however, an active interest in movements of piety and philan
thropy. But in 1 8 1 5 he was compelled, by the state of his affairs, and the diffi
culty which he experienced in obtaining any assistance towards the relief of
his embarrassments, to leave England, in order that, on the Continent, he
might live in the simplest possible manner. It was while he was abroad that
he first saw the widowed Princess of Leiningen, whom he afterwards married.
The Princess Victoria Mary Louisa, who thus became Duchess of Kent,
was born at Coburg on the 17th August, 1786. She was the fourth daughter of
Francis Frederick Antony, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield, and his wife,
Augusta, daughter of Henry, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf. When seventeen
years of age, she had married Ernest Charles, Hereditary Prince of Leiningen,
her senior by more than twenty years, and a widower, whose first wife, the
Princess Sophie Henriette, had also been of the same house of Reuss-Ebers
dorf. After eleven years of married life, she was left a widow, with two children
— a son, Prince Charles, who succeeded his father in 1814, and a daughter,

MARRIAGE OF THE DUKE OF KENT. 13
Princess Feodore, the beloved half-sister and companion of the girlhood of
Queen Victoria. The Princess of Leiningen cordially returned the affection with
which she had inspired the Duke of Kent, and when it was known that sanction
had been given to the Duke's marriage with the sister of Prince Leopold, the
intelligence was received everywhere with the greatest satisfaction. It was a
union which had been most ardently desired by the Princess Charlotte, who was
deeply attached to her uncle. But, owing to the delays which were occasioned
by the position of the Princess of Leiningen as guardian of her two fatherless
children, the Princess Charlotte's sudden death occurred before the alliance was
concluded. The House of Commons voted a grant of .£6,000 a year, and on
the 29th of May, 18 18, the marriage of the Duke of Kent and the Princess of
Leiningen was celebrated at Coburg. The ceremony was repeated on the
1 ith of June, at Kew, and at the same time and place the Duke of Clarence
was married to the Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.
For the first few months of their married life, the Duke and Duchess of
Kent resided at Amorbach, one of the seats of the Prince of Leiningen. Early
in the following spring, when the birth of their child was expected, both the Duke
and Duchess were desirous that the infant should first see the light on English
soil, and made their way to Kensington. There, on the 24th of May, 18 19, the
Princess, the future Queen and Empress, was born at a quarter-past four in
the morning. Though the Duchess quickly recovered her health, yet, towards
the close of the year, she was advised to try a climate somewhat milder than
that of Kensington, as the winter had set in with such unusual severity that
thick ice was everywhere to be seen as early as November. A move was
therefore made to Devonshire, where Woolbrook Cottage, at Sidmouth, was
taken as a winter residence. Here the Duke passed the short remainder of his
life, overshadowed to some extent by the clouds of financial trouble which had
always so terribly oppressed him, but brightened by the affection and com
panionship of his wife, and of his child, to whom he was devotedly attached.
His end was very sudden ; he had walked out through the snow with Colonel
Conroy, but on his return neglected to change his wet clothes. This imprudence,
following on a cold which he had caught at Salisbury when visiting the Cathedral,

i4 BIRTH AND PARENTAGE OF THE QUEEN.
brought on inflammation of the lungs. The fever ran high, and, according to the
barbaric custom of the age, he was repeatedly bled. He never regained strength,
and died on the 23rd of January, 1820. During his illness, he was nursed in-
defatigably by the Duchess, who never left him ; indeed, for five nights and days
she had never undressed. The only consolation she had besides her infant
daughter was the presence of her loved brother, Prince Leopold, who, on hear
ing of the dangerous condition of the Duke, hastened at once to her side. The
Duke's sister, Princess Augusta, writes to an old friend immediately after the
Duke's death : " Think, my dearest Lady Harcourt, that yesterday five weeks
he was here on his way to Sidmouth ; so happy with his excellent, good wife,
and his lovely child ; and within so short a time was perfectly well — ill — and no
more ! . . . God knows what is for the best, and I hope I bow with submission
to this very severe trial ; but when I think of his poor, miserable wife, and his
innocent, fatherless child, it really breaks my heart. She has conducted herself
like an angel, and I am thankful dearest Leopold was with her. . . . She
quite adored poor Edward, and they were truly blessed in each other ; but what
an irreparable loss he must be to her ! "
The Duke of Kent was also a loss to the whole nation. Not a favourite
with his own family, he was the most popular of his brothers outside the
Royal circle. His opinions were enlightened, and though considered heterodox
at the time, they now represent the views of most cultivated men. In his
private life he was remarkable for his generosity to all from whom he
had received attention or service. Warmly interested in the management of
almost every charitable institution of his time, he never failed to forward
their interests by presiding at their meetings if time would permit him to
do so. The practical interest he took in education is proved by the fact
that he was the first commander of a regiment to establish a regimental
school. Perhaps the best eulogy passed upon him was that of Lord
Brougham, who said, in the House of Lords, on the question of a grant
to him on his marriage, that he "would venture to say that no man
had set a brighter example of public virtue, no man had more beneficially
exerted himself in his high station to benefit every institution with which

Five Miniatures. — THE QUEEN, from a Miniature by Sir W. Ross, 1837 (in centre);
THE DUCHESS OF SAXE-COBURG SAALFELD, from a Miniature by \\ . Schmidt,
1831 (below) ; THE DUCHESS OF KENT, from a Miniature by Sir VV. Ross (above)
CHARLES, PRINCE OF LEININGEN, from a Miniature by Arland, 182 1 ; FEODORE,
PRINCESS OF LEININGEN, from a Miniature by Stewart

DEATH OF THE DUKE OF KENT. 15
the best interests of the country, and the protection and education of the
poor were connected, than his Royal Highness the Duke of Kent."
The Duke was buried in the royal vault at Windsor, under the Tomb-house,
now the Albert Memorial Chapel. A handsome tomb of alabaster, with a re
cumbent effigy, has also been erected by the Queen to her father's memory in
the south aisle of the nave of St. George's Chapel.
A week had not elapsed since the death of the Duke, before his father,
George III., also passed away. The Princess Augusta again writes from
Windsor Castle on the 4th of February : "In all my own sorrow I cannot yet
bear to think of that good, excellent woman, the Duchess of Kent, and all her
trials ; they are really most grievous. She is the most pious, good, resigned
creature it is possible to describe. She has written to me once ; and I
received the letter from her and one from Adelaide, written together from
Kensington. Dearest William is so good-hearted, that he has desired Adelaide
to go to Kensington every day, as she is a comfort to the poor widow, and her
sweet, gentle mind is of great use to the Duchess of Kent. It is a great delight
to me to think they can read the same prayers, and talk the same mother tongue
together, it makes them such real friends and comforts to each other. . . ."
This friendship with the Duchess of Clarence was real and lasting. It
helped materially to soften the sorrows of the early days of the Duchess's widow
hood, when, for the sake of her child, she resolved to remain permanently in
the land of her adoption. After she lost her second Princess, the future Queen
Adelaide wrote to the Duchess of Kent: "My children are dead; but yours
lives, and she is mine too," and throughout the remainder of her life she
treated her niece with an affection which was truly maternal. In addition to
her other troubles, the royal widow was left in very straitened circumstances,
and though for some time helped by the generosity of her brother, it was many
years before any adequate provision was made for her maintenance.
Particular attention has been drawn in the previous chapter to the female
members of the ancestry of the Queen in the male line. Here it is equally
important to mention the great influence which the Queen's grandmother in the
female line had upon her character and her life. She was, as is mentioned

1 6 BIRTH AND PARENTAGE OF THE QUEEN.
above, a Princess of the ancient house of Reuss-Ebersdorf. Her mother was of
the house of Erbach-Schoenberg, which family has again, in recent years, been
allied to the royal family of Great Britain by the marriage of the Count of
Erbach-Schoenberg with the sister of the lamented Prince Henry of Battenberg.
The Duchess of Coburg is described by her third and favourite son, the King
of the Belgians, as being in every way " a most distinguished person," and the
Queen, speaking of her many years later, thus records her recollections : " The
Queen remembers her dear grandmother perfectly well. She was a most remark
able woman, with a most powerful, energetic, almost masculine mind, accompanied
with great tenderness of heart and extreme love for nature. The Prince (Consort)
told the Queen that she had wished earnestly that he should marry the Queen,
and as she died when her grandchildren (the Prince and Queen) were only twelve
years old, she could have little guessed what a blessing she was preparing, not
only for this country but for the world at large. She was adored by her children,
particularly by her sons ; King Leopold being her great favourite. She had fine
and most expressive blue eyes, with the marked features and long nose inherited
by most of her children and grandchildren." This note by the Queen, with
several letters of this gifted lady, is printed in General Grey's "Early Years
of the Prince Consort." The Dowager Duchess of Coburg died in 1831. The
Queen believes that whatever powers of mind and talents she may possess are
principally inherited from her maternal grandmother, of whom a characteristic
portrait, from a miniature, is given opposite page 14.
The sisters of the Duchess of Kent, and aunts to the Queen, were Sophia,
Antoinette, and Julie. Sophia, the eldest, after refusing many eligible proposals
of marriage from suitors of her own rank, married in 1804 Count Mensdorff-
Pouilly, whose acquaintance she had made when visiting her sister, Antoinette,
at Fantaisie, near Baireuth, at that time the resort of many Bavarian families, as
well as of French emigrants. The second daughter of the Duchess of Saxe-
Coburg, Antoinette, married in 1798 Duke Alexander of Wurtemberg, whose
sister, the Empress of Russia, was mother to the Emperors Alexander and
Nicholas. The Duke Alexander held a very influential position in that country,
where he resided many years. His wife is described by her brother, King

THE THRONE. AT WINDSOR

SISTERS OF THE DUCHESS OF KENT.

17

Leopold, as clever, amiable, and possessed of a great esprit de conduite. They
had two sons, both of whom served with distinction in the Russian Army ; the
elder married Princess Marie of Orleans, daughter of Louis Philippe, and their son,
Duke Philip, is heir-presumptive to the throne of Wurtemberg. The third sister,
Julie, was married at fifteen to the Grand Duke Constantine of Russia. The
marriage was not happy, and in 1802 she left Russia, fixing her residence finally
at Elfenau, near Berne in Switzerland, where she was visited in 1837 by her
nephew, Prince Albert, a visit repeated on more than one occasion afterwards.

CHAPTER THREE.
THE QUEEN'S EARLY YEARS (1819— 1837).

onformably with the custom of the Church of
England, the infant daughter of the Duke and
Duchess had, as soon as possible after her birth,
been baptised at Kensington Palace ; the rite
being administered by the Archbishop of Canter
bury, who was assisted by the Bishop of London.
The Prince Regent stood as sponsor, with the
Duke of York who represented the Emperor of
Russia. The godmothers were the Duchess Dow
ager of Coburg, the maternal grandmother of the Princess, represented by
the Duchess of Gloucester ; and the Queen of Wurtemberg, Princess Royal of
England, who was represented by her sister, the Princess Augusta. The names
given were Alexandrina Victoria, the first after the Emperor of Russia, the
second after her mother. For a short time the pet name " Drina " was used,
but later it was superseded by the universally honoured name of Victoria.
One of the Queen's earliest signatures, in capital letters and in pencil,

20 THE QUEEN'S EARLY YEARS.
written by her when four years old, and using this name only, is in the
British Museum.
Immediately after her father's death she was brought back, with her widowed
mother, by Prince Leopold, from Sidmouth to Kensington, which was to be her
future home till, by the death of her uncle, William IV., she succeeded to the
throne. The Duchess of Kent in after years, in reply to an address of congratula
tion on the attainment of her majority by her daughter, has thus described the
motives of her conduct in her new position : " I pass over the earlier part of my
connection with this country. I will merely briefly observe, that my late regretted
consort's circumstances and my duties obliged us to reside in Germany ; but the
Duke of Kent, at much inconvenience, and I, at great personal risk, returned to
England, that our child should be 'born and bred a Briton.' In a few months
afterwards my infant and myself were awfully deprived of father and husband. We
stood alone — almost friendless and alone in this country ; I could not even speak
the language of it. I did not hesitate how to act. I gave up my home, my kindred,
my duties (the Regency of Leiningen), to devote myself to that duty which was
to be the whole object of my future life. I was supported in the execution of my
duties by the country. It placed its trust in me, and the Regency Bill gave me
its last act of confidence. I have, in times of great difficulty, avoided all connec
tion with any party in the State ; but, if I have done so, I have never ceased to
impress on my daughter her duties, so as to gain, by her conduct, the respect and
affection of the people. This, I have taught her, should be her first earthly duty
as a Constitutional Sovereign." No words could better convey a sense of the
principles which guided the mother in the education of her child, and of the
manner in which, not always without opposition, she fulfilled the task she had set
before herself to perform.
For the first few years of her life at Kensington, then really a suburb — for
London itself ended at Tyburn Gate and at Hyde Park Corner — the Duchess
watched most carefully over the health and physical development of her
daughter. Whenever the weather permitted the Princess was to be seen in the
gardens, generally accompanied by her half-sister, the Princess Feodore, and in
charge of her nurse, Mrs. Brock, whom she called her " dear, dear Bobby."

LIFE AT KENSINGTON PALACE. 21
Many stories are related of the manner in which the child would recognise any
ladies of the neighbourhood who happened to meet the royal party ; but most of
these, if they ever had any small foundation in fact, have been overlaid with
exaggeration and the most improbable details. One instance of the manner in which
what must have been a very trifling incident has grown in the telling, is the story
related by an old soldier named Maloney, who claimed the honour of having saved
his sovereign's life in her infancy. The pony drawing the chair in which the Prin
cess took her morning ride, frightened by a dog, swerved, and overturned the
chair on the edge of the pathway. The child would have fallen under the vehicle,
when Maloney seized her in her fall, and was able to restore her unhurt to the
lady attendant. The following day he received from the Duchess her thanks,
with a guinea. The Queen has no recollection of this incident, and is sure she
never was upset, or in any danger of being thrown out. In 1878 the circum
stance was brought up again, and some assistance was given to the old man,
who was in distress, though no proof of his claim could be discovered. The
Queen's earliest recollection is that of crawling on the floor on an old yellow
carpet at Kensington Palace, and playing with the badge of the Garter
belonging to Bishop Fisher, who, as Bishop of Salisbury, was then Chancellor
of the Order, and, having been tutor to her father, took a deep and affectionate
interest in the welfare of the Duke's only child. Mr. Wilberforce, who was then
living at Kensington Gore, describes to Hannah More a visit which he paid to
the Duchess in July, 1820: "In consequence of a very civil letter from the
Duchess of Kent, I waited on her this morning. She received me, with her fine
animated child on the floor by her side, with its playthings, of which I soon
became one. She was very civil, but as she did not sit down, I did not think
it right to stay above a quarter of an hour."
During these early years, and before a regular course of studies had been
attempted, the family life at the Palace was simple and regular. Breakfast was
served in summer at eight o'clock, the Princess Victoria having her bread and
milk and fruit on a little table by her mother's side. After breakfast the Princess
Feodore studied with her governess, Miss Lehzen, and the Princess Victoria
went out for a walk or drive. It has been repeatedly said that at this time she

22 THE QUEEN'S EARLY YEARS.
was instructed, by her mother ; but this is not the case, as the Duchess never
gave her daughter any lessons. At two there was a plain dinner, when the
Duchess had her luncheon. In the afternoon was the usual walk or drive. At
the time of her mother's dinner the Princess had her supper laid at her side.
At nine she was accustomed to retire to her bed, which was placed close to her
mother's. It has been said that on the Princess's fourth birthday her uncle, King
George, presented her with a splendid gift of a miniature of himself set in
diamonds. This is not the fact ; at the Royal Lodge in Windsor Park, in 1827,
the King presented the Princess with a badge, worn by the Royal Family, which
is still preserved. Another tradition belonging to the same period runs that
the King issued invitations for a State dinner, and signified his wish that
her infant daughter should accompany the Duchess, and that the Princess
accordingly was presented to the assembly before the banquet. This took place
at Carlton House, but the Princess was present only for a moment to see the
King and the Royal Family.
It was not till the Princess had entered her fifth year, that she began to
receive any regular instruction. On the recommendation of the Rev. Thomas
Russell, Vicar of Kensington, the Rev. George Davys was engaged to give
elementary lessons. In this determination not to force her daughter's mind,
the Duchess of Kent acted on the counsel of her mother, who had advised her
" not to tease her little puss with learning while she was so young." The advice
was justified by results, for the Princess made rapid progress. In this year,
1824, the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg came over to England to visit her son,
Prince Leopold, and the united family spent that autumn at Claremont. Then
and for years afterwards, these visits to her loved uncle were some of the
brightest remembrances of the Queen, who has written, "These were the happiest
days of the Queen's childhood." Years afterwards, in 1842, when staying at
Claremont with her husband and eldest child, the Queen wrote to her uncle
Leopold at Brussels : " This place brings back recollections of the happiest
days of my otherwise dull childhood — days when I experienced such kindness
from you, dearest uncle; Victoria plays with my old bricks, and I see her

FIRST VISIT TO WINDSOR. 23
running and jumping in the flower garden, as old (though I feel still little)
Victoria of former days used to do."
About the same time, Miss Lehzen, the daughter of a Hanoverian clergy
man, who had come over to England in charge of the Princess Feodore, was
appointed governess to the Princess. She was her constant guide and com
panion and devotedly attached to her young charge, by whom the feeling was
cordially returned. Her great influence was exercised with tact and judgment,
and the bond of union between teacher and pupil was only severed by death.
In recognition of her distinguished merit, Miss Lehzen was created a Baroness
of Hanover by George IV. After the accession of her pupil to the throne, the
Baroness remained with the Queen till her marriage. Two years later, she
retired to Germany, and died, much regretted, in 1870.
In 1826, when the Princess was seven years old, she received, for the first
time, an invitation from the King to accompany the Duchess of Kent on a
visit to him at Windsor. His Majesty was then living in the Royal Lodge
in the Park. As there was no accommodation for visitors in the Lodge, the
Duchess and the Princess stayed at Cumberland Lodge, close at hand,
where they remained for three days. The King was much pleased with his
niece, and with the affection she exhibited towards himself. Before she left, he
gave her the badge worn by members of the Royal Family and promised an
early renewal of her visit to him — a promise afterwards fulfilled. The Princess
thus for the first time had the opportunity of seeing the stately castle,
which then, after a century's neglect, was being restored as a fitting
abode for the Sovereign, and has for sixty years been her chief home of
state. One day, during her first visit to the Royal Lodge, the King entered the
drawing-room, holding his niece by the hand. The band was playing in the
adjoining conservatory. "Now, Victoria," said His Majesty, "the band is in
the next room, and shall play any tune you please. What shall it be ? " " Oh,
Uncle King," quickly replied the Princess, "I should like ' God save the King."1
Another time, His Majesty asked her what she had enjoyed most during her
stay in Windsor. " The drive I took with you, Uncle King," was the answer,

24 THE QUEEN'S EARLY YEARS.
the King having himself driven her in his pony phaeton, in company with the
Duchess of Gloucester.
The Earl of Albemarle, who was in attendance on the Duke of Sussex at
Kensington, thus describes in his recollections the appearance of the Princess
at this time. " One of my occupations on a morning, while waiting for the
Duke, was to watch from the window the movements of a bright, pretty little
girl, seven years of age. She was in the habit of watering the plants immediately
under the window. It was amusing to see how impartially she divided the
contents of the watering-pot between the flowers and her own little feet. Her
simple but becoming dress contrasted favourably with the gorgeous apparel
now worn by the little damsels of the rising generation — a large straw hat and
a suit of white cotton ; a coloured fichu round the neck was the only ornament
she wore." The education of Her Royal Highness was now conducted on a regular
system. Besides the instruction she received from Miss Lehzen and the
Rev. George Davys, Mr. Steward, the writing master of Westminster School,
was engaged to teach writing and arithmetic ; Mr. J. B. Sale, who had been in
the choir of the Chapel Royal, came to assist in the singing lessons, which were
afterwards given by the famous Lablache. Lessons in dancing were given by
Madame Bourdin, to whose teaching may be due in some measure the grace of
gesture and dignity of bearing which has always distinguished Her Majesty.
Drawing was entrusted to Mr. Westall, who had been a Royal Academician
since 1 794, and was now of considerable age ; he carefully trained the
great natural gifts of his pupil, who early showed a talent which, had
there been sufficient time for its exercise in after years, would have placed its
possessor in the first rank among amateur artists. The facsimile of a drawing
by the Princess is given at the end of this chapter ; it is a copy from a design
by her master, and is also interesting as being the last birthday present given by
his niece to George IV. ; on the back of it is written, in the King's hand,
" Drawn by the Princess Victoria, and given to me by her, August 12th, 1829."
The drawing is also dated and signed by the youthful artist.
At the time these various accomplishments were being taught, the Princess

THE DUCHESS OF KENT AND THE PRINCESS VICTORIA AT THE AGE OF
TWO YEARS
From a Painting by Sir W. Beechey, R.A.

IMPRESSION MADE BY THE PRINCESS. 25
was well grounded in English, and knew something of French, which she studied
under M. Grandineau. German was not allowed to be spoken; English was
always insisted upon, though a knowledge of the German language was imparted
by M. Barez. The lessons, however, which were the most enjoyed were those
in riding, which has always been since one of the Queen's greatest pleasures.
In January, 1827, at the Duchess of Rutland's house in Arlington Street,
the Duke of York died childless, bringing the Princess Victoria one step nearer
to the throne. The stories which have been printed of the great attachment
between uncle and niece, and of the constant visits paid to him by the Princess,
are without foundation, as, in fact, the Queen never visited him till the last
months of his life, when he was living at a house in King's Road, belonging
to Mr. Greenwood, where the Duke had " Punch and Judy " to amuse the child.
In the year following, the Princess Feodore, who had been her half-sister's
constant companion, married Prince Hohenlohe- Langenburg. This parting
was the greatest sorrow the Princess Victoria had then known, as she missed
her society not only at Kensington, but even more in those visits to Ramsgate,
Tunbridge Wells, and other watering-places, which the Duchess was accustomed
to pay with her family in the summer months.
The death of the Duke of York, and the remote probability of the Duke
and Duchess of Clarence having other offspring, drew increasing attention to
the movements of the Duchess of Kent and her daughter. Many stories are
current of the behaviour and appearance of the young Princess. The simpli
city of her tastes was particularly noticed and admired. It was this simplicity
of living and careful training in home life which endeared not only the Princess
but her mother also to the hearts of the whole nation. Leigh Hunt and Charles
Knight have both recorded the pleasing impression made upon them by the
young Princess. The latter, in his "Passages of a Working Life," says : "I
delighted to walk in Kensington Gardens. As I passed along the broad central
walk, I saw a group on the lawn before the Palace. . . . The Duchess of
Kent and her daughter, whose years then numbered nine, are breakfasting in the
open air. . . . What a beautiful characteristic it seemed to me of the
training of this royal girl, that she should not have been taught to shrink

26 THE QUEEN'S EARLY YEARS.
from the public eye ; that she should not have been burdened with a premature
conception of her probable high destiny ; that she should enjoy the freedom and
simplicity of a child's nature ; that she should not be restrained when she starts
up from the breakfast-table and runs to gather a flower in the adjoining pasture ;
that her merry laugh should be as fearless as the notes of the thrush in the
groves around her. I passed on and blessed her ; and I thank God that I have
lived to see the golden fruits of such a training."
Another and more celebrated writer, Sir Walter Scott, has written in his
diary of May 19th, 1828 : " Dined with the Duchess of Kent. Was very kindly
received by Prince Leopold, and presented to the little Princess Victoria, the
heir-apparent to the Crown, as things now stand. . . . This little lady is
educated with much care, and watched so closely that no busy maid has a
moment to whisper, ' You are heir of England.' I suspect, if we could dissect
the little heart, we should find some pigeon or other bird of the air had carried
the matter." Sir Walter's surmise, as will be seen later, was not altogether
without foundation.
On the 28th of May, 1829, when the Princess was just ten years old, she
made her first acquaintance with the ceremony of a court. This was at a
juvenile ball, given by the King to Donna Maria La Gloria, Queen of Portugal
(a sovereign only a month older than herself). The same year the Princess saw,
for the last time, her uncle, George IV. Her grandmother, the Dowager Duchess
of Coburg, mentions this visit to Windsor in a letter to the Duchess of Kent.
" I see by the English papers that ' Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent
went on Virginia Water with His Majesty.' The little monkey must have
pleased and amused him, she is such a pretty, clever child."
This year the summer was spent at Broadstairs, and, in returning to
Kensington, a visit of two days was paid to the Earl of Winchilsea, at his seat,
Eastwell Park, near Ashford.
The year 1830 was a momentous one in the life of the Princess. Her uncle
George IV. died in June, and was succeeded by his brother William IV., this one
life only now standing between her and the throne. The Princess, according to
one account, already knew something of the position in which she was placed

KNOWLEDGE OF HER PROBABLE SUCCESSION. 27
before the death of George IV. It is, however, certain that in the latter part of
the year the Princess was formally acquainted with her position. The Baroness
Lehzen, writing to Her Majesty on the 16th of December, 1867, thus describes the
manner in which the communication was made : "I ask your Majesty's leave to
cite some remarkable words of your Majesty's when only twelve years old, while
the Regency Bill was in progress. I then said to the Duchess of Kent, that now,
for the first time, your Majesty ought to know your place in the succession. Her
Royal Highness agreed with me, and I put the genealogical table into the histo
rical book. When Mr. Davys was gone, the Princess Victoria opened, as usual,
the book again, and seeing the additional paper, said, ' I never saw that before.'
' It was not thought necessary you should, Princess,' I answered. ' I see, I am
nearer the throne than I thought.' ' So it is, madam,' I said. After some
moments the Princess resumed, ' Now, many a child would boast, but they don't
know the difficulty. There is much splendour but there is more responsibility.'
The Princess having lifted up the forefinger of her right hand while she spoke,
gave me that little hand, saying, ' I will be good. I understand now, why you
urged me so much to learn, even Latin. My aunts Augusta and Mary never did ;
but you told me Latin is the foundation of English grammar, and of all the elegant
expressions, and I learnt it as you wished it, but I understand all better now,'
and the Princess gave me her hand, repeating, ' I will be good.' I then said,
' But your aunt Adelaide is still young, and may have children, and of course
they would ascend the throne after their father, William IV., and not you,
Princess.' The Princess answered, ' And if it was so, I should be very glad, for
I know by the love Aunt Adelaide bears me, how fond she is of children.' "
This letter, written more than five-and-thirty years after the event, can
hardly be considered as strictly accurate. The Princess was only eleven when
the Regency Bill was discussed. It was passed in December, 1830. The Queen
says, moreover, that the knowledge of her probable succession came to her
gradually and made her very unhappy ; nor does she feel sure that she made use
of the expression, " I will be good."
Ampler provision had by this time been made for the maintenance of a
household more in keeping with the recognised position of the Princess. It was

28 THE QUEEN'S EARLY YEARS.
consequently possible for the Duchess of Kent and her daughter to combine the
pleasure of summer travel, with the increase of knowledge derived from wider
association with the people which were hereafter to come under the Princess's
rule. This year, therefore, a more extended journey was made. On the way to
Malvern, where they were to spend a couple of months, visits were paid to
Blenheim, also to Stratford-on-Avon, Warwick, Kenilworth, and Birmingham.
Here the principal manufactures were seen, attention being particularly paid to
the glass-blowing and coining. From Malvern excursions were made to Madres-
field, Eastnor, and other noblemen's seats, and also to the cities of Hereford and
Worcester. Returning from this pleasant sojourn in the west, both Badminton
and Gloucester were visited, and the journey continued through Bath to Mr.
Watson Taylor's, at East Stoke Park, where the acquaintance of Thomas Moore
was made. In his diary we read, " The Duchess sang a duet or two with the
Princess Victoria, and several very pretty German songs by herself. I also sang
several songs with which Her Royal Highness was much pleased." The party
thence passed over Salisbury Plain and visited Stonehenge on the way to Salisbury,
where the young Princess was received with great enthusiasm, the horses being
taken out of the carriage, which was drawn by the populace to the Hotel.
The next stay was at Portsmouth, where the Princess visited the Royal
George yacht and the St. Vincent man-of-war, and took a long survey of the
dockyard, in which she was keenly interested.
The Regency Bill, just mentioned, was brought forward in the House of
Lords by Lord Lyndhurst, in consequence of the reference made to the subject in
the King's Speech from the Throne, on the 2nd of November. It was introduced
on the 15th of the month by the Lord Chancellor, who said : " The first question
which your Lordships will naturally ask is — whom we propose as the guardian of
Her Royal Highness under the circumstances inferred ? I am sure, however,
that the answer will at once suggest itself to every mind. It would be quite
impossible that we should recommend any other individual for that high office
than the illustrious Princess, the mother of Her Royal Highness the Princess
Victoria. The manner in which Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Kent, has
hitherto discharged her duty in the education of her illustrious offspring — and I

THE REGENCY BILL OF 1830. 29
speak upon the subject, not from vague report, but from accurate information —
gives us the best ground to hope most favourably of Her Royal Highness's future
conduct. Looking at the past it is evident we cannot find a better guardian for
the time to come." The Bill was passed at the beginning of the next month. It
provided that, in the event of a posthumous child of the Queen Adelaide, Her
Majesty should be guardian and regent during the minority of the infant. If
that event should not occur, the Duchess of Kent was to be guardian and regent
during the minority of her daughter, the Princess Victoria, the heiress presump
tive. The provisions of the Bill were welcomed and endorsed by the approval of
both Houses, and by the country at large. Every one rejoiced in the opportunity
of offering so worthy a tribute of gratitude to the royal lady, for the unwearied
assiduity and judgment she had displayed, in the education of her daughter for
the station to which it seemed now certain that she would eventually be called.
It was on the occasion of the prorogation of this session by the King that the
Princess Victoria was a witness of the state procession, in company with the
Queen and the royal Princesses. The people cheered the Queen with much
vigour, whereupon that lady graciously took her young niece by the hand, and,
leading her to the front of the balcony, introduced her to her future loyal subjects.
Soon after the King's accession, the Prime Minister, Earl Grey, proposed
to the Duchess of Kent, by the King's desire, the appointment of a dignitary of
the Church to superintend the education of the Princess, and suggested that the
Bishop of Lincoln would be a proper person to be entrusted with the duties of
the office. The Duchess commissioned his lordship to convey to the King
her grateful thanks for the interest taken by him in the subject, and added
that she perfectly coincided with His Majesty's views, as regarded the pro
priety of the establishment of the Princess being headed by a dignitary of
the Church ; but as she felt most perfect confidence in Mr. Davys, she thought
there could be no difficulty in preferring him to an office of ecclesiastical
dignity. Mr. Davys was, in consequence, in January, 183 1, preferred to the
Deanery of Chester.
Another important addition to the household of the Princess was made by
the appointment of a State governess, in the person of Charlotte Florentia,

30 THE QUEEN'S EARLY YEARS.
daughter of the Earl of Powis, and wife of Hugh, third Duke of Northumberland.
Her Grace had no share in the teaching of her charge, but was always in
attendance when the heiress-presumptive appeared in public or at Court.
The Princess's first appearance at Court was at a Drawing Room held on
the 24th of February, 183 1, in honour of the birthday of Queen Adelaide.
During the reception she stood on the left of the Queen, between one of
her royal aunts and the Duchess of Kent, dressed very simply in white, with
a pearl necklace, and a diamond ornament in her hair. She much enjoyed the
ceremony, and henceforward attended the Drawing Rooms twice in the year,
not attending any of the State Balls or ceremonies in the evening till some
years later.
In August of this year the Duchess of Kent and the Princess went to the
Isle of Wight, where they stayed for two months. The coronation of King
William IV. was fixed for the 8th of September, and all preparations had been
made for the attendance of the heiress-presumptive at the ceremony. The
Duchess of Kent was expected at Claremont, and had appointed Lord Morpeth
to be the bearer of her coronet to the Abbey. The absence of the royal pair
from the Coronation gave rise at the time to much comment and angry
discussion. During her stay in the island, the Princess made a tour round its
western part, visiting Ryde, Ventnor, Yarmouth, and Newport, and returning
home to pay a visit at Claremont to her uncle, King Leopold. He and the
Duchess of Kent had, directly after this visit, to mourn the loss of their mother,
the Duchess Dowager of Coburg, who had watched with such anxious care
and solicitude over the welfare of her children and grandchildren, and had
ardently desired, but never was destined to see, that union which afterwards,
while it lasted, rendered the lives of two of them so blissful.
In the summer of 1832 a somewhat lengthy tour was taken by the Duchess
of Kent and the Princess, who thus had an opportunity of seeing a great extent
of her future kingdom, and making the personal acquaintance of many of the
nobility and gentry, and gaining an insight into the manufactures and employ
ments of the people. Starting in the beginning of August and sleeping at
Oxford, they passed through Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Shrewsbury to

TOUR IN ENGLAND AND WALES. 31
Powis Castle, the early home of the Duchess of Northumberland. Hence the
journey was made by Wynnstay, over the Menai Bridge, to the " Bulkeley
Arms" at Beaumaris, which had been taken for a month. At the National
Eisteddfod held here the Princess delighted the winners by presenting to them
the prizes gained in the various competitions. An outbreak of cholera curtailed
the stay at Beaumaris, whence the Duchess with her daughter moved to Plas
Newydd, which had been kindly placed at their disposal by the Marquess of
Anglesey. The fine air and abundance of exercise had a most beneficial
effect upon the Princess's constitution.
Whilst staying at Plas Newydd, the Princess, on Saturday, October 13th,
laid the first stone of a boys' school. On the 15th, the royal party left
Plas Newydd, and the Princess notes in her diary: "I looked out of the
carriage window, that I might get a last look at the dear Emerald and
her excellent crew." On the route to Eaton Hall, Bangor and Conway were
passed, and at Kenmel Park, the seat of Lord Dinorben, the royal party stopped
to meet the Duke of Sussex at luncheon. Passing through Holywell, they
arrived at Eaton, escorted by the Yeomanry, under Lord Grosvenor. Escorts
on the first part of the journey had been furnished by the Denbighshire and
Flintshire Yeomanry. On the 1 7th of October a visit was made to Chester,
where the visitors were received with much cheering by the great crowds which
assembled from all the country round. The new bridge over the Dee was
formally opened, and received the name of " Victoria." From Eaton, again
escorted by Lord Grosvenor and Lord Robert Grosvenor, at the head of their
Yeomanry, the journey lay through Buxton to Chatsworth, where they were
received by the Duke of Devonshire. On the next day the Princess Victoria
planted an oak, and the Duchess of Kent a chestnut, near the terrace.
Excursions were made to Haddon and to Hardwicke, also through Matlock
to Belper, where Mr. Strutt's cotton mills were inspected with much interest.
Leaving Chatsworth on the 24th, the party proceeded to Lord Lichfield's
house at Shugborough, lunching on the way at Alton Towers, the magnificent
seat of Lord Shrewsbury. Here the Staffordshire Yeomanry was reviewed in
the park. Next day Lichfield Cathedral was visited, and addresses received

32 THE QUEEN'S EARLY YEARS.
from the Mayor and Corporation. Passing through Stafford, which was gaily
decorated with arches and flowers, the Duchess and the Princess, escorted by
the Staffordshire Yeomanry, arrived at Pitchford, where they were to be the
guests of Lord Liverpool. On one day during their visit there was a meet
of the hounds, who ran into their fox under the carriage in which their Royal
Highnesses were sitting ; on another day Shewsbury and its old school were
visited. Leaving Pitchford, and passing through Church Stretton, a stay was made
at Oakley Court, the seat of Mr. Clive. Thence the journey lay through Ludlow.
Here the mechanics formed a procession, Lord Clive and Mr. Clive walking on
foot at their head. At Tenbury the Worcestershire Yeomanry relieved the
Shropshire Yeomanry as escort, and attended the carriage, Lord Plymouth
riding by the side, to Newell Grange, his lordship's seat. During the two
days which were passed there, a visit was paid to Bromsgrove, where an address
was presented to the Duchess, and the Princess received a present of a gold
box full of small nails, as specimens of the manufacture of the town.
The next day the homeward journey was continued through Stratford-on-
Avon, Shipstone-on-Stour, and Woodstock, to Wytham Abbey, the seat of the
Earl of Abingdon. The Duchess and the Princess passed one day in Oxford,
where an address was presented by the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Dr.
Rowley, in the Theatre, and another by the Mayor and Corporation in the Town
Hall ; they were then escorted by Dean Gaisford through Christ Church, the
Cathedral, and Library, and on to the Bodleian, where amongst other curiosities
Princess Victoria took great interest in Queen Elizabeth's Latin exercise book,
which she used when thirteen years old, the Princess's own age. The royal
visitors were entertained at luncheon by the Vice-Chancellor at his own College,
University, and after visiting New College were conducted to the University
Press, with which the Princess was greatly pleased ; here a copy of the Bible
was presented to her, with a memorial of her visit printed on white satin. On
the following day, the 9th of November, the journey was resumed through High
Wycombe and Uxbridge to Kensington Palace. It is noted in the Princess's
diary of the time, from which these particulars are taken by permission, that at

THE PRINCESS VICTORIA
From a Painting by Richard Westall, R.A.

THE PRINCESS'S FOURTEENTH BIRTHDAY. 33
all these visits the Princess dined at about seven o'clock with the Duchess of
Kent and the guests.
Soon after their return home an interesting interview took place with
Captain Back, who was preparing to start early in the following year, on his
chivalrous enterprise to the Polar regions in search of Captain Ross. The
Princess took extreme interest in the proposed route, which was explained by
maps, and expressed much anxiety for the success of the expedition, and
this interest in Polar exploration and its dangers has ever since been
maintained. The early part of the year 1833 was passed at Kensington. There the
course of study was kept up as before, but the Princess now went out more
into society and was seen more in public ; twice during January she sat for
her picture — to Wilkin and to Hayter. On the 25th of February, the birth
day of Queen Adelaide, the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria went
to the Queen's Drawing Room. On this occasion they were attended by
the Duchess of Northumberland, Lady Charlotte St. Maur, Lady Catherine
Jenkinson, Lady Cust, Sir John and Lady Conroy, Baroness Lehzen, Sir Frederick
Wetherall and Sir George Anson. On Easter Sunday their Royal Highnesses
went as usual to the Chapel Royal at St. James's; on other days service was
attended at Kensington Palace. On the 24th of April the Duchess of Kent
gave a dinner to the King ; the Queen was not well enough to be present.
The Dukes of Cumberland and Gloucester were among the guests, who numbered
about thirty. Princess Victoria, on this as on other similar occasions, did not
dine, but went into the drawing-room before dinner, and again after dinner
till the guests left.
On the 24th of May, the Princess's fourteenth birthday, she received a large
number of presents, and in the evening with the Duchess of Kent, and attended
by the Duchess of Northumberland and other members of her suite, went to a
juvenile ball given at St. James's Palace by the King and Queen in honour
of the day. The King led Her Royal Highness into the ballroom, and again to
supper, when the Princess sat between the King and Queen and her health was
drunk by the company. On the 28th the Princess again attended the Queen's

34 THE QUEEN'S EARLY YEARS.
Drawing Room, and records the impression made upon her by the beauty of
Lady Seymour, Mrs. Norton, Lady Clanricarde and others. In June the Duchess
and Princess, with the Princes Alexander and Ernest of Wurtemberg and Prince
Leiningen (all three staying on a visit at Kensington Palace), attended by the
Duchess of Northumberland and others, drove to Woolwich, where they visited
the Arsenal, Barracks, and Storehouse, where was preserved the carriage which
had conveyed Napoleon to his tomb. They witnessed also the firing of several
pieces of artillery.
At home the Princess's amusements were her pets, and her walks and drives,
and during the spring and summer she much enjoyed riding. Another great
enjoyment was the frequency of her visits to the opera, where she greatly
enjoyed the performances of Duvernay and Taglioni, and listened with delight
to Pasta, Malibran, Grisi, Tamburini, Rubini, and other celebrated singers, as
well as to Paganini's playing on the violin.
During the summer visits were paid both to Sion and Claremont, and on the
i st of July the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria, accompanied by the
Princes of Wurtemberg and Prince Leiningen and attended by Sir John and
Lady Conroy and Baroness Lehzen, left Kensington en route for the Isle of
Wight, passing by Esher, Guildford, and Petersfield to Portsmouth. The streets
of the town were lined with troops, and Sir Colin Campbell rode beside the
royal carriage. The Admiral, Sir Thomas Williams, took the royal party in his
barge to the yacht Emerald, which was then towed by a steamer to Cowes, whence
the party proceeded to N orris Castle, which was to be for the second time their
abode. Sir John Conroy with his family lived at Osborne Lodge, an old thatched
cottage which afterwards came into the possession of the Queen and stood on the
present site of Osborne Cottage. From Norris Castle the Duchess with the
Princess made many excursions to Southampton, Ryde, and the back of the
Island ; they attended divine service at the church at Whippingham, and were
present at the consecration of the new church at East Cowes. On the 1 8th of
July they went on board the Emerald and were towed by the Messenger
steamboat to Portsmouth. Here in the Admiral's barge they visited his
flagship the Victory, and saw the spot on the deck where Nelson fell and

TOUR IN THE WEST OF ENGLAND. 35
the cockpit where he died. " The whole ship," notes Princess Victoria, " is
remarkable for its neatness and order." A contemporary account states that
the Duchess and the Princess tasted some of the men's dinner at one of their
mess-tables, and much liked the fare.
On the 29th the Messenger again took the Emerald in tow for Weymouth,
where the night was passed on shore at the Hotel. Addresses were presented
and the town was illuminated in honour of the royal visitors, who next day left
by road, escorted by the Dorsetshire Yeomanry, for Melbury, the seat of Lord
Ilchester, where a stay was made of two nights ; leaving again by road, and,
passing Beaminster and Bridport, they embarked on board the Emerald at Lyme
Regis for Torquay, where they slept. During this journey the Duchess and
Princess always slept on shore, as the accommodation on board was very scanty.
On the afternoon of the 2nd, as the yacht was approaching Plymouth, the
Admiral, Sir William Hargood, who had served under Nelson, and under the
King, came on board. When entering the harbour, the little Emerald ran foul
of the Active hulk, and those on board were in considerable danger. The mast
was broken in two places by the collision, but did not fall, though many stories
were current at the time of falling spars and rigging. No one was hurt, though
everyone was greatly frightened. The repair of the mast caused a delay
of a couple of days. On the 3rd an address was presented by the Mayor and
Corporation of Plymouth, and afterwards Their Royal Highnesses and suite were
present at a review of the 89th, 22nd, and 84th Regiments. The Duchess of
Kent made a speech, in which she referred to her residence in the Isle of Wight,
which enabled her, in pursuance of her system of education for her daughter, to
visit the great ports and arsenals so intimately associated with the naval power
and glories of the country. The Princess Victoria then presented new colours to
the 89th Regiment, giving them into the hands of Ensigns Miles and Egerton.
After the troops had marched past, and luncheon had been served at the
Admiral's house, a visit was paid to the San Josef, the flagship, which had been
taken by Nelson from the Spaniards at St. Vincent, a fine vessel of 120 guns,
after which the Caledonia, 120, and the Revenge, 74, were inspected. On
Sunday the Duchess and Princess attended morning service in the Dockyard

36 THE QUEEN'S EARLY YEARS.
Chapel, and in the afternoon rowed across to Mount Edgecumbe. Next day, on
board the Forte frigate, Commander Pell, they sailed to the Eddystone Light
house. After lunch on board the sailors danced a hornpipe, and the royal party
danced a quadrille and a country dance. The Princess danced first with Lieutenant
Baker, and afterwards with Captain Thiringham. They afterwards landed on
the Breakwater, whence they rowed to Mount Wise, and drove home. On
Tuesday, the 6th, they re-embarked on the Emerald, the repairs to which had
been completed, and, accompanied as far as the Sound by the Admiral and his
captains, were again towed as far as Dartmouth, where they landed and drove
to Torquay in the carriage of Mrs. Seale, as there were no post-horses to be had.
They were expected to arrive by sea, and the change of plan caused some
disappointment ; however, a procession was formed of young girls with flowers,
a little girl in the middle, the daughter of a sailor named Pepperill, carrying
a crown. Leaving Torquay early next morning, and passing through Teign-
mouth and Dawlish, Exeter was reached, where the usual addresses were
presented ; thence through Honiton, Axminster, Bridport, Dorchester, and
Wareham, Swanage was at last reached after a journey of 105 miles in thirteen
and a half hours. Next morning the ladies of Swanage presented Princess
Victoria with a straw bonnet, " the growth, make, and trade of the place," and
later in the day, after returning on board the Emerald, the Duchess and
Princess returned to Norris.
In the early part of the year 1834 there was less gaiety. The principal State
ceremony of the year was when in June the Princess went with the King and
Queen and the Duchess of Kent to the first performance of the Royal Musical
Festival at Westminster Abbey. The performance began with Handel's Coron
ation Anthem, and lasted for more than three hours. The Princess was every
where greeted with enthusiasm. Later, a house was taken at Tunbridge Wells
for two months, and while there visits were paid to Lord Delaware at Buckhurst,
and to Lord Camden at Bayham Abbey. Afterwards, a move was made to
St. Leonards-on-Sea, where two very enjoyable months were passed.
The early part of 1835 was spent as usual at Kensington Palace. This year
the Princess was present for the first time at Ascot Races, where she accompanied

THE PRINCESS VICTORIA, AND HER FAVOURITE DOG
From a Painting by Sir George Hayter.

THE PRINCESS'S CONFIRMATION. 37
the King and Queen in the State Procession. A description of the scene has
been given by Mr. N. P. Willis: "In one of the intervals I walked under the
King's Stand and I saw Her Majesty the Queen and the young Princess Victoria
very distinctly. They were leaning over a railing listening to a ballad singer, and
seeming as much interested and amused as any simple country folk could be.
. . . The Princess is much better looking than any picture of her in the shops,
and for the heir to such a crown as that of England, unnecessarily pretty and
interesting. She will be sold, poor thing ! bartered away by those dealers in
Royal hearts, whose grand calculations will not be much consolation to her if she
happens to have a taste of her own." The American did not turn out a true
prophet. On the 30th of July, 1835, the Princess having completed her sixteenth
year, the ceremony of Confirmation was performed at the Chapel Royal, St.
James's, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Bishop of London, in
the presence of the King and Queen and several members of the Royal Family.
The scene is described as very touching, and the Princess, after the address
of the Archbishop, was profoundly affected. On the following Sunday, Divine
Service was performed in the Chapel at Kensington Palace, and then the
Princess, accompanied by her mother, received for the first time the Holy Sacra
ment from the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Dean of Chester,
her preceptor. Soon after this a visit of a month was paid to Avoyne House,
Tunbridge Wells, where, as also later in the year at Ramsgate, the Princess
took much interest in the schools and the children educated in them. In
September of this year another lengthy tour was made by Hatfield, Stamford,
Grantham, Newark and Doncaster, to York, where their Royal Highnesses were
for a week the guests of the Archbishop, Dr. Harcourt, at Bishopsthorpe, whence
many visits were paid to the Minster. Leaving the Palace, a stay of three days
was made with Lord Harewood, when the journey was continued by Leeds, Wake
field and Barnsley, to Wentworth House, the seat of Lord Fitz- William. Here
it was noticed that in the servants' hall the old style was retained and trenchers
were still used. Rotherham and Newark were passed on the way to Belvoir
Castle, where the Royal Party were entertained by the Duke of Rutland for some

38 THE QUEEN'S EARLY YEARS.
days. From Belvoir they passed to Burghley; here they remained for two
nights, on the second of which a grand ball was given in their honour by their
host, the Marquess of Exeter. Greville in his Memoirs says of it : " Three
hundred people at the ball, which was opened by Lord Exeter and the Princess,
who, after dancing one dance, went to bed." They started early next morning
by way of Peterborough, Thorney, Wisbeach and King's Lynn, to Holkham,
where they were the guests of the Earl of Leicester. Lord Albemarle, who was
there to meet them, mentions that they were late for dinner in consequence of the
enthusiastic loyalty of the people at Lynn, who insisted on drawing the carriage
through the town. He also notes of the Royal visitors, " Both were affable. The
youthful Princess in particular showed in her demeanour that winning courtesy
with which millions of her subjects have since become familiar." Euston Hall,
the seat, of the Duke of Grafton, was the next house where a stay was made, from
which the homeward journey was made without further interruption. Later, as
has been mentioned, Ramsgate was visited, and a stay of a month there enabled
the Princess to see Walmer Castle and Dover.
The event of most importance in the following year was the arrival at
Kensington Palace, on a visit of some weeks, of the Duke of Coburg with his
two sons Ernest and Albert. Then, for the first time, the Queen saw her future
husband. The visit was brought about by the agency of King Leopold, who in
this carried out the long-cherished idea of his mother, the Dowager Duchess of
Coburg, who had early set her heart on the union of her two grandchildren.
They were received with every attention by the King and Queen, and the other
members of the Royal family, and spent a busy time in seeing all they could in
London and the neighbourhood. They were much impressed by the sight of the
great anniversary gathering of the children of the charity schools in Saint Paul's,
after which they enjoyed the hospitality of the Lord Mayor at the Mansion
House. Of this visit Prince Albert writes on the ist of June, 1836, " My first
appearance was at a levde of the King's, which was long and fatiguing but very
interesting. The same evening we dined at Court, and at night there was a
beautiful concert, at which we had to stand till two o'clock. The next day the
King's birthday was kept. We went in the middle of the day to a drawing-

THE PRINCESS'S MAJORITY. 39
room at St. Jameses Palace, at which about 3,800 people passed before the King
and Queen and the other high dignitaries to offer their congratulations. There
was again a great dinner in the evening and then a concert which lasted till one
o'clock. You can well imagine that I had many hard battles to fight against
sleepiness during these late entertainments. The day before yesterday, Monday,
our Aunt gave a brilliant ball here at Kensington Palace, at which the gentle
men appeared in uniform and the ladies in so-called fancy dresses. We remained
till four o'clock. Duke William of Brunswick, the Prince of Orange and his two
sons, and the Duke of Wellington, were the only guests that you will care to
hear about. Yesterday we spent with the Duke of Northumberland at Sion,
and now we are going to Claremont. From this account you will see how
constantly engaged we are, and that we must make the most of our time to see
at least some of the sights in London. Dear Aunt is very kind to us, and does
everything she can to please us, and our Cousin also is very amiable." Almost
simultaneously with the departure of the Prince from England, King Leopold
spoke to his niece on the subject of his wishes, and in writing to him on the 7th
of June the Princess concludes her letter by saying, " I have now only to beg
you, my dearest Uncle, to take care of the health of one now so dear to me, and
to take him under your special protection. I hope and trust that all will go on
prosperously and well on this subject now of so much importance to me."
The autumn of this year, after a visit to Lord Liverpool at Buxted Park,
near Uckfield, was spent quietly at Ramsgate.
On the 24th of May, 1837, the Princess attained her majority : she was
wakened by a serenade, and later received a number of costly presents, including
a grand piano from the King, who earnestly wished to see his niece of age
before his death. The day was kept as a general holiday at Kensington, there
were addresses of congratulation from many public bodies, among them one from
the Corporation of London, to which the Duchess of Kent replied, "... The
Princess has arrived at that age, which now justifies my expressing my confident
expectation, that she will be found competent to execute the sacred trust which
may be reposed in her ; for communicating as she does with all classes of society,
she cannot but perceive that the greater the diffusion of religious knowledge and

40 THE QUEEN'S EARLY YEARS.
the love of freedom in a country, the more orderly, industrious and wealthy is
its population ; and that with the desire to preserve the constitutional prerogatives
of the Crown ought to be co-ordinate the protection of the liberty of the people."
To the address presented to herself the Princess simply replied, " I am very
thankful for your kindness, and my mother has expressed all my feelings." On
the evening of this day a state ball was given at St. James's, at which neither
the King nor Queen were able to be present, both being very ill. The Princess
opened the ball with Lord Fitzalan, the eldest son of the Duke of Norfolk, and
danced also with Prince Esterhazy. Before her next appearance at St. James's
the Princess had succeeded to the throne.
Many portraits were painted, during her early years, of the Princess
upon whom the hopes of the nation were fixed. One of the earliest is given
at the head of this chapter ; it is from a miniature painted by Anthony
Stewart, who had come from Scotland to London, where he painted a minia
ture of Princess Charlotte, which brought him to the notice of Prince
Leopold. He was one of the first to paint a miniature of the Princess, who
afterwards sat to him repeatedly, and the engravings from these very
delicate works were exceedingly popular. Shortly afterwards the Duchess of
Kent sat with her daughter to Sir William Beechey, whose portraits of the
Royal Family are well known ; in this picture, of which a reproduction is
given, the infant Princess stands on the sofa where her mother is sitting,
and holds in her hand a miniature of her father. This picture was painted
specially for Prince Leopold. Another charming portrait of the Princess
is that by Westall, in which she is represented as sketching from nature.
Westall, as has been mentioned before, was drawing-master to the Princess ;
he died in 1836, so that this picture is probably one of his latest works.
In 1833 it has been noted above that the Princess sat for her portrait to
Wilkin and to Hayter. Of the work of the latter a reproduction is given.
The Princess stands at a table holding a rose in her right hand, and from
her left hangs a light scarf; the glove from her right hand is the play
thing of her favourite dog; in the background is seen the newly-raised
Round Tower of Windsor Castle. The portrait by Wilkin taken at the same

THE PRINCESS'S PORTRAITS.

4i

time only exists in a somewhat rare lithograph; in it the hair is plaited
on the crown in the same manner as in Hayter' s picture. Of other early
portraits mention may be made of a bust by Behnes, taken when the
Princess was very young. It is now in the corridor at Windsor Castle, and
is widely known by an engraving which had extensive circulation at the
time, but gives a most distorted view of the excellent original. The portrait
of the Duchess of Kent introduced in this chapter is taken from a miniature
painting by Collen, after a picture painted in 1835 by Sir George Hayter;
in it may be traced the great likeness borne by the Duchess to her brother
King Leopold, and also to her mother.

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CHAPTER FOUR.
ACCESSION AND CORONATION (1837— 1838).

he demise of the Crown by the death of King
William IV. had been expected for some time.
On Tuesday, the 20th of June, 1837, at twelve
minutes past two, His Majesty expired. The
Archbishop of Canterbury, who had performed
the last religious rites, and Lord Conyngham,
Lord Chamberlain, who was also in attendance,
started as soon as was possible from Windsor, to
convey the news to Kensington. They arrived
at five in the morning, and with some difficulty aroused the sleeping household.
After much delay, an attendant stated that the Princess was in such a

44 ACCESSION AND CORONATION.
sweet sleep that she could not be disturbed ; to which the messengers replied,
" We have come on business of State to the Queen, and even her sleep must
give way to that." In a few minutes she came into the room, a shawl thrown
over her dressing-gown, her feet in slippers, and her hair falling down her back.
She had been wakened by the Duchess of Kent, who told Her Majesty
she must get up; she went alone into the room where Lord Conyngham
and the Archbishop were waiting. The Lord Chamberlain then knelt down,
and presented a paper announcing the death of her uncle to the Queen ; and
the Archbishop said he had come by desire of Queen Adelaide, who thought
the Queen would like to hear in what a peaceful state the King had been
at the last. Meanwhile, at the Council Office, to which the news of the late
King's death had been conveyed by special messenger from Windsor, sum
monses were issued with all possible haste to the Privy Counsellors to attend
at Kensington, to present a loyal address of fealty, and to offer homage. This
address, which had been kept in readiness, was conveyed at once to the
Palace by Mr. Barrett Lennard, chief clerk of the Council Office, whose son,
acting as his private secretary, has communicated an account of the ceremony,
of which he is now, besides Her Majesty, the only survivor. In the
antechamber to which they were introduced, six persons at most were present,
amongst whom were the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of Wellington, with
Lord Melbourne, who had previously been received in audience alone at 9 a.m.
Subsequently about a dozen ministers, prelates, and officials, were admitted,
when the doors were closed. The address was read aloud and signed by the
Duke of Sussex and then by the others present, after which the doors were
opened, " disclosing a large State Saloon, close to whose threshold there stood
unattended a small, slight, fair-complexioned young lady apparently fifteen years
of age. She was attired in a close-fitting dress of black silk, her light hair
parted and drawn from her forehead ; she wore no ornament whatever on her
dress or person. The Duke of Sussex advanced, embraced, and kissed her —
his niece, the Queen. Lord Melbourne and others kissed hands in the usual
form, and the Usher taking the address, closed the folding doors, and the Queen
disappeared from our gaze. No word was uttered by Her Majesty or by any

THE FIRST COUNCIL. 45
present, and no sound broke the silence, which seemed to me to add to the
impressive solemnity and interest of the scene." The subsequent meeting of
the Queen's first Council has been described by many of those who were
privileged to attend it ; and a fairly accurate picture of it has been painted by
Sir David Wilkie, who, at the expense of truth, has emphasized the principal
figure by painting her in a white dress instead of the black which was actually
worn, the Queen being already in mourning for the death of the mother of
Queen Adelaide. The Council met at eleven o'clock, and at that hour the
Queen, who had been accompanied to the adjoining room by her mother, was
met by her uncles, the Dukes of Cumberland and Sussex, who introduced her
to the Council Chamber, where she took her seat on a chair at the head of
the table. No better description of the scene can be given than that, often
quoted, by Greville, clerk of the Council : " Never was anything like the first
impression she produced, or the chorus of praise and admiration which is
raised about her manner and behaviour, and certainly not without justice. It
was very extraordinary, and something far beyond what was looked for. Her
extreme youth and inexperience, and the ignorance of the world concerning her,
naturally excited intense curiosity to see how she would act on this trying occa
sion, and there was a considerable assemblage at the Palace, notwithstanding the
short notice which was given. . . . She bowed to the Lords, took her seat, and
then read her speech in a clear, distinct, and audible voice, and without any appear
ance of fear or embarrassment. She was quite plainly dressed and in mourning.
" After she had read her speech, and taken and signed the oath for the
security of the Church of Scotland, the Privy Counsellors were sworn, the two
Royal Dukes (of Cumberland and Sussex) first, by themselves ; and as these
two old men, her uncles, knelt before her, swearing allegiance and kissing her
hand, I saw her blush up to the eyes, as if she felt the contrast between their
civil and their natural relations, and this was the only sign of emotion which
she evinced. Her manner to them was very graceful and engaging : she kissed
them both, and rose from her chair and moved towards the Duke of Sussex,
who was farthest from her and too infirm to reach her. She seemed rather
bewildered at the multitude of men who were sworn, and who came one after

46 ACCESSION AND CORONATION.
another to kiss her hand, but she did not speak to anybody, nor did she make
the slightest difference in her manner, or show any in her countenance, to any
individual of any rank, station, or party. I particularly watched her when
Melbourne and the Ministers and the Duke of Wellington and Peel approached
her. She went through the whole ceremony — occasionally looking at Melbourne
for instruction when she had any doubt what to do, which hardly ever occurred
— with perfect calmness and self-possession, but at the same time with a
graceful modesty and propriety particularly interesting and ingratiating. When
the business was done she retired as she had entered. . . . Peel said how
amazed he was at her manner and behaviour, at her apparent deep sense of
her situation, her modesty, and at the same time her firmness. She appeared,
in fact, to be awed, but not daunted, and afterwards the Duke of Wellington
told me the same thing, and added that if she had been his own daughter he
could not have desired to see her perform her part better." This description
from the pen of one not given to flattery, is corroborated by the testimony of
many others present. Earl Grey writes to the Princess Lieven : — "When
called upon for the first time to appear before the Privy Council, and to take
upon herself the awful duties with which at so early an age she has been so
suddenly charged, there was in her appearance and demeanour a composure, a
propriety, an aplomb, which were quite extraordinary. She never was in the
least degree confused, embarrassed, or hurried ; read the declaration beautifully ;
went through the forms of business as if she had been accustomed to them all
her life." Lord Palmerston says in a letter to Lord Granville, " The Queen
went through her task with great dignity and self-possession ; one saw she
felt much inward emotion, but it was fully controlled. Her articulation was
particularly good, her voice remarkably pleasing."
The same impression was conveyed by her demeanour at her high Council
on the day following, at St. James's; here, at 10 o'clock, the new monarch was
formally proclaimed Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. The quadrangle of
the Palace in front of the window where Her Majesty was to appear was filled
by her loyal subjects, conspicuous among whom was Daniel O'Connell, waving
his hat and cheering vociferously. A salute was fired in St. James's Park, and

SECOND COUNCIL. 47
the Queen appeared at the window of the Presence Chamber, beneath which
were posted the heralds, headed by the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal of
England, and Sir William Woods (father of the present Garter King-at-Arms),
the Sergeants-at-Arms, and State trumpeters. Sir William Woods, acting Garter
King-at-Arms, read the Proclamation announcing the Queen's accession, and
ending with the words "to whom we do acknowledge all faith and constant
obedience, with all hearty and humble affection, beseeching God, by whom all
Kings and Queens do reign, to bless the royal Princess Victoria with long and
happy years to reign over us. God save the Queen." The band of the Guards
then played the National Anthem amid the cheers of the crowd.
The second Council was held at noon, of which Greville writes: "She pre
sided with as much ease as if she had been doing nothing else all her life, and
though Lord Lansdowne and my colleague had contrived between them to
make some confusion with the Council papers, she was not put out by it. She
looked very well, and though so small in stature, and without much pretension
to beauty, the gracefulness of her manner and the good expression of her
countenance, give her on the whole a very agreeable appearance, and with her
youth inspire an excessive interest in all who approach her, and which I can't
help feeling myself. After the Council she received the Archbishops and
Bishops, and after them the Judges." Crabb Robinson, in his diary, relates an
incident which proves that, though the Queen could behave with extraordinary
dignity when it was required, she had not lost the gaiety and spirit of her
youth. "The Bishop of London told Amyot," he says, "that when the Bishops
were first presented to the Queen, she received them with all possible dignity
and then retired. She passed through a glass door, and, forgetting its trans
parency, was seen to run off like a girl as she is. . . . This is just as it should
be. If she had not now the high spirits of a girl of eighteen, we should have
less reason to hope she would turn out a sensible woman at thirty."
On the morning of her accession one of the first acts of the new Queen
was to write a letter of condolence to her widowed Aunt Adelaide, now Queen
Dowager. This she addressed to " Her Majesty, the Queen; " it was pointed
out that the correct address would have the additional word "Dowager," but

48 ACCESSION AND CORONATION.
she refused to make the alteration, saying, " I will not be the first person to
remind her of it." Greville remarks of this, " Conyngham, when he came to her
with the intelligence of the King's death, brought a request from the Queen
Dowager that she might be permitted to remain at Windsor till after the funeral,
and she has written a letter couched in the kindest terms, begging her to consult
nothing but her own health and convenience, and to remain at Windsor just as
long as she pleases. In short, she appears to act with every sort of good taste
and good feeling, as well as good sense, and as far as it has gone nothing can be
more favourable than the impression she has made, and nothing can promise
better than her manner and conduct  The young Queen, who might
well be either dazzled or confounded with the grandeur and novelty of her
situation, seems neither the one nor the other, and behaves with a propriety and
decorum beyond her years."
Of all the letters and congratulations received at this time by the Queen, we
may well believe that the most welcome was that from her cousin, Prince Albert,
who, on hearing of the late King's death, wrote instantly as follows : —
" Bonn, 262^ June, 1837.
" My Dearest Cousin, — I must write you a few lines to present you my
sincerest felicitations on that great change which has taken place in your life. Now
you are the Queen of the mightiest land of Europe, in your hand lies the happi
ness of millions. May Heaven assist you and strengthen you with its strength
in that high and difficult task. I hope that your reign may be long, happy, and
glorious, and that your efforts may be rewarded by the thankfulness and love
of your subjects. May I pray you to think, likewise, sometimes of your cousins
in Bonn, and to continue to them that kindness you favoured them with till now.
Be assured that our minds are always with you. I will not be indiscreet and
abuse your time. Believe me, always, your Majesty's most obedient and faithful
servant, " Albert."
This is the first letter written by the Prince in English, and shows what
proficiency he had made in the language so soon to be his own. " How much,"

THE QUEEN'S FIRST COUNCIL
From a Painting by Sir David Wilkie, R.A.

FIRST VISIT TO PARLIAMENT. 49
says one who had deeply studied his character, "of the Prince's great nature is
visible in it — though addressed to a young and powerful Queen, there is not a
word of flattery in it. His first thought is of the great responsibility of the
position, the happiness of the millions that was at stake. Then comes the anxious
hope that the reign may be glorious, and then how gracefully and naturally the
tender regard of an affectionate relation comes in at the last." To his father,
at the same time, he writes, " The death of the King of England has everywhere
caused the greatest sensation. From what Uncle Leopold, as well as Aunt,
writes to us, the new reign has begun most successfully. Cousin Victoria is said
to have shown astonishing self-possession. She undertakes a heavy responsi
bility, especially at the present moment, when parties are so excited, and all rest
their hopes on her. Poor Aunt has again been violently attacked in the news
papers, but she has also found strenuous supporters."
On the 13th of July, the Queen and the Duchess of Kent, greatly to the
regret of the loyal subjects of the royal suburb, took their departure from Ken
sington to take up their residence at Buckingham Palace, formerly known as the
Queen's House, having been bought by George III., and settled on Queen
Charlotte, in lieu of Somerset House, the ancient home of the Queens of England.
It was rebuilt by George IV., but not completed till the reign of William IV.,
who disliked it extremely, and never lived there. The Queen was greeted with
hearty cheers, and seemed to leave with much regret the place of her birth and
the home of her childhood. From Buckingham Palace four days later, she went
in state to dissolve Parliament; the route from the Palace to the House of
Parliament was densely thronged to see the young Queen, who was dressed,
on this occasion, in white, with a tiara of brilliants, and wore the ribbon
of the Garter over her shoulder. At three o'clock she entered the House
of Lords and ascended the throne ; when, prompted by Lord Melbourne,
who stood by her side, she desired the Lords to be seated. Her Majesty
then read her speech, with that clear intonation for which her voice has always
been distinguished, concluding by saying, " I ascend the throne with a deep
sense of the responsibility which is imposed upon me ; but I am supported by
the consciousness of my own right intentions, and by my dependence upon

50 ACCESSION AND CORONATION.
the protection of Almighty God. It will be my care to strengthen our institu
tions, civil and ecclesiastical, by discreet improvement, wherever improvement
is required ; and to do all in my power to compose and allay animosity and
discord. Acting upon these principles, I shall, upon all occasions, look with
confidence to the wisdom of Parliament and the affections of my people, which
form the true support of the dignity of the Crown, and ensure the stability
of the Constitution." Among those present in the House of Lords was Fanny
Kemble, than whom no one could have been more competent to give an
opinion on elocution : " The enunciation was as perfect as the intonation was
melodious, and I think it is impossible to hear a more excellent utterance than
that of the Queen's English by the English Queen." The American statesman,
Charles Sumner, was also present, and has recorded his own impression : " Her
voice is sweet and finely modulated, and she pronounced every word distinctly
and with a just regard to its meaning ; I think I never heard anything better
read in my life than her speech."
On the 22nd of the following month the Queen removed with the Court to
Windsor Castle, where she soon had the pleasure of welcoming her uncle, King
Leopold, and his consort, Queen Louise. Of this first sojourn at Windsor some
interesting details are preserved in the diary of the late Sir Charles Murray, who
was then a newly-appointed Groom-in- Waiting, from which post he was shortly
afterwards promoted to be Master of the Household. On his arrival at Windsor,
he writes, " I was presented and kissed hands, after which I joined the cavalcade,
consisting of twenty-five or thirty equestrians, and we made a promenade about
the Great Park for two hours. There was little or no form or ceremony
observed as to precedence. The Queen rode generally in front, accompanied
by the Queen of the Belgians (who was here on a short visit with her royal
husband), and the King, the Duchess of Kent, and now and then she called up
Lords Conyngham, Wellington, or Melbourne to ride beside her. Her Majesty's
seat on horseback is easy and graceful, and the early habit of command observ
able in all her movements and gestures, is agreeably relieved by the gentle tone
of voice, and the natural playfulness, with which she addresses her relatives or the
ladies about her. I never saw a more quick or observant eye. In the course of the

LIFE AT WINDSOR. 51
ride it glanced occasionally over every individual of the party, and I am sure that
neither absence nor impropriety of any kind could escape detection. At half-
past seven the guests and the household again met Her Majesty in the corridor,
and we proceeded to dinner, the arrangements for which were handsome and
without parade. The ladies retired to the drawing-room, and we followed in a
quarter of an hour. The band was in attendance at and after dinner, and played
some excellent music, chiefly of Rossini and Bellini. During the evening Her
Majesty conversed with her principal guests. She also played two games at
draughts with the Queen of the Belgians, both of which she gained. Quod felix
faustumque omen. There was a whist table, consisting of the Duchess of Kent,
the King of the Belgians, Duke of Wellington, and Lilford."
A few days after he writes : " We rode out at four, and as the King and
Queen of the Belgians were of the party, we went rather slow and had but a
short ride. . . . Our young Queen's manner to King Leopold is most respectful
and affectionate ; indeed, her manner to everyone about her is perfectly winning
and appropriate, and her countenance lights up with the most agreeable and
intelligent expression possible. September 10th. — This being Sunday we
accompanied Her Majesty to the Chapel, and the party included her royal
visitors, as well as the Chancellor, the Premier, Master of the Horse, etc. In
the afternoon she took a short drive in the Great Park, and I went out on the
terrace, which presented a very gay and beautiful appearance, as the bands both
of the Grenadier and Life Guards were playing near the new fountain, and all
the officers of the two regiments, as well as the belles of Windsor and the
neighbourhood, were enjoying their holiday promenade. At dinner I had a very
interesting conversation with Baroness Lehzen, who has been for many years
Her Majesty's governess and preceptress. I know of nothing more creditable
to herself or to her illustrious pupil, than the fact that one of the first acts of her
reign, was to secure and retain her preceptress in an honourable situation about
her own person. Her Majesty treats the Baroness with the most kind and
affectionate confidence, and the latter tells me that she has carefully copied
every letter of private correspondence of her young mistress, both before and
since her coming to the throne ; but that, since she has been Queen, Her Majesty

52 ACCESSION AND CORONATION.
has never shown her one letter of Cabinet or State documents, nor has she
spoken to her, nor to any woman about her, upon party or political questions.
As Queen she reserves all her confidence for her official advisers, while, as
a woman, she is frank, gay, and unreserved as when she was a young girl.
What a singular and excellent judgment is shown in this — Heaven grant it may
be kept up, and rewarded by the affection and prosperity of her Subjects. I
had a long conversation with her on the 24th, while riding, chiefly on the subject
of modern languages. She speaks French perfectly, and both reads and
understands German, but does not like speaking it. Her Majesty is also a good
Italian scholar. Her conversation is very agreeable ; both her ideas and
language are natural and original, while there is a latent independence of mind
and strength of judgment discernible through the feminine gentleness of tone
in which her voice is pitched. Every day that I have passed here has increased
my admiration of the excellent judgment shown by Mme. de Lehzen in her
education, and of the amiable and grateful feeling evinced by Her Majesty
towards her governess. It does the highest honour to both. There is another
person in the household whose character it is not easy to penetrate or to describe,
Baron Stockmar. He is certainly possessed of great abilities, but is silent and
reserved, while his general state of health seems almost to preclude the possibility
of his being lively or communicative. At dinner he eats nothing, and talks less
than he eats ; but I observe that he holds quiet conversations with Lord
Melbourne and Palmerston in the morning, and I should think it likely that
he was much in the confidence of the Queen. He is a most intimate and faithful
friend of the King of the Belgians. A day or two ago, she (the Queen)
inspected the Life Guards and Grenadiers, on horseback, accompanied by the
Duchess of Kent, Lord Hill, Conyngham, and the rest of her Suite. She was
dressed in a habit of the Windsor uniform, and wore a military cap, with a gold
band passing under the chin. As the several companies and squadrons passed
and saluted her, she raised her hand and returned the salute of each ; and the
grave earnestness of her manner, as well as the graceful self-possession of her
attitude, struck me particularly."
These graphic details give a pleasing impression of the routine of the Court

VISIT TO THE CITY. 53
life, and, indeed, with a few alterations, a tolerably accurate description of the
manner in which the time is passed at the present day. Here, also, is recorded
the first impression made on a shrewd observer by that remarkable man
who afterwards so unobtrusively, but so powerfully, influenced the conduct
of affairs in the British Court, by his profound knowledge and practical
wisdom. In the autumn of the year 1837 tne Court moved to Brighton, but the stay at
the Pavilion was not prolonged, as the crowding of the mob, whenever the gates
of the grounds were passed, was anything but pleasant. Returning to London
on the 4th of November, Her Majesty on the 9th paid her first visit, in State, to
the City of London, and dined with the Lord Mayor in the Guildhall. The
Queen travelled in the State Carriage, attended by the Mistress of the Robes
and the Master of the Horse, and escorted by the Life Guards, along the Strand
to the Guildhall. At Temple Bar the procession halted, and the keys of the
City were dutifully offered and graciously returned to the Lord Mayor, who then
mounted his horse, and holding the City Sword preceded the Royal Carriage.
At St. Paul's another halt was made, and the Senior Scholar of Christ's Hospital,
according to ancient custom, delivered an address of Welcome. On this occasion
the great City hall was magnificently decorated, and plate of fabulous value was
displayed. In return for this splendid entertainment Her Majesty conferred a
baronetcy on the Lord Mayor, and was pleased to knight both the Sheriffs, one
of whom was Mr. Moses Montefiore, the first of his faith to receive the honour
from an English Sovereign. On the 24th of December, after going to the
Houses of Parliament before the recess, the Queen went to Windsor for the
Christmas holidays. At this Session of Parliament the details of the Queen's
Civil List had been arranged and passed, the whole amounting to the sum of
,£385,000 per annum.
From the moment of her accession to the throne, she had been constantly
brought into the most intimate relations with the Prime Minister, of whom
Greville writes : "No man is more formed to ingratiate himself with her than
Melbourne. He treats her with unbounded consideration and respect, he consults
her taste and her wishes, and he puts her at her ease by his frank and natural

54 ACCESSION AND CORONATION.
manners, while he amuses her by the quaint, queer, epigrammatic turn of his
mind, and his varied knowledge upon all subjects. It is not, therefore, sur
prising that she should be well content with her present government, and that
during the progress of the elections she should have testified great interest
in the success of the Whig candidates. Her reliance upon Melbourne's advice
extends at present to subjects quite beside his constitutional functions, for the
other day somebody asked her permission to dedicate some novel to her, when
she said she did not like to grant the permission without knowing the contents
of the work, and she desired Melbourne to read the book, and let her know if it
was fit that she should accept the dedication. Melbourne read the first volume,
but found it so dull that he would not read any more, and sent her word that she
had better refuse, which she accordingly did. She seems to be liberal, but at
the same time prudent with regard to money, for when the Queen Dowager
proposed to her to take her band into her service, she declined to incur so great
an expense without further consideration, but one of the first things she spoke
to Melbourne about was the payment of her father's debts, which she is resolved
to discharge" — and they were discharged accordingly. Later he writes on the
same subject : " George Villiers, who came from Windsor on Monday, told me
he had been exceedingly struck with Lord Melbourne's manner to the Queen,
and hers to him : his, so parental and anxious, but always so respectful and
deferential; hers, indicative of such entire confidence, such pleasure in his
society. She is constantly talking to him ; let who will be there, he always sits
next her at dinner, and evidently by arrangement, because he always takes in
the lady-in-waiting, which necessarily places him next her, the etiquette being
that the lady-in-waiting sits next but one to the Queen. It is not unnatural, and
to him it is peculiarly interesting. I have no doubt he is passionately fond of
her, as he might be of his own daughter if he had one, and the more because
he is a man with a capacity for loving without having anything in the
world to love. It is become his province to educate, instruct, and form the
most interesting mind and character in the world. No occupation was
ever more engrossing or involved greater responsibility. I have no doubt
that Melbourne is both equal to and worthy of the task, and that it is fortunate

LORD MELBOURNE. 55
that she has fallen into his hands, and that he discharges this great duty
wisely, honourably, and conscientiously. There are, however, or rather
may be hereafter, inconveniences in the establishment of such an intimacy,
and in a connexion of so close and affectionate a nature between the young
Queen and her Minister ; for whenever the Government, which hangs by
a thread, shall be broken up, the parting will be painful, and their subsequent
relations will not be without embarrassment to themselves, nor fail to be the
cause of jealousy in others. It is a great proof of the discretion and purity of
his conduct and behaviour, that he is admired, respected, and liked by all the
Court." This rupture, however, apparently so imminent, did not occur till
another, and a permanent Counsellor, took his place as a husband by the
Queen's side.
On the 27th June, 1838, the Queen was crowned in Westminster Abbey,
an event which, on account of the age and sex of the Sovereign, excited an
extraordinary degree of interest among all classes. It was afterwards computed
that no less than four hundred thousand persons came into London to see the
procession and festivities, and that upwards of £"200,000 was in consequence
expended. The ceremonial was conducted in nearly all respects in the same
manner as that of the coronation of William IV. ; the walking procession of all
the estates of the realm, the banquet in Westminster Hall, with all the feudal
services attendant thereon, being dispensed with ; not without some protests from
the antiquaries, as well as from interested tradesmen. The procession, however,
outside the Abbey was considerably increased in number as well as in splendour,
and the route from the Palace to the Abbey lengthened, so as to give the vast
throngs of people more opportunity of seeing their Sovereign. As nearly as
possible at ten o'clock the Queen stepped into her carriage, a new Royal Standard
(30 by 18 ft.) was hoisted on the Marble Arch, the bands played the National
Anthem, and a salute of twenty-one guns was fired in the Park. Following the
Trumpeters and Life Guards came the magnificent State Carriages of the Foreign
Ambassadors, a novel sight on such an occasion. Conspicuous among them was
the splendid coach of Marshal Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, the old antagonist of
the Duke of Wellington, and now Ambassador from the King of the French ;

56 ACCESSION AND CORONATION.
the veteran was greeted all along the line of procession, and even in the
Abbey itself, with the heartiest cheers. Next came the members of the Royal
Family, preceding the Queen's carriages, conveying the Members and Officers
of the Household ; after which, surrounded by a brilliant staff and escort, came
the State Carriage bearing the Sovereign, in attendance upon whom were the
Mistress of the Robes, the Duchess of Sutherland, and the Master of the Horse,
the Earl of Albemarle ; the Captain-General of the Royal Archers, the Duke of
Buccleuch, on horseback, followed the carriage.
The Queen reached the west door of the Abbey at half-past eleven, and
was there received by the great Officers of State, the noblemen bearing the
Regalia, and the Bishops carrying the Patina, the Chalice, and the Bible. Her
Majesty then repaired to her robing chamber, and soon after twelve the
grand procession passed up the nave into the choir, in the centre of which
was a raised dais covered with cloth of gold, on which was placed the chair of
homage. Farther on, within the chancel and facing the altar, was placed St.
Edward's chair. The altar was covered with magnificent gold plate. As the
Queen advanced, the anthem, " I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go
into the House of the Lord," was sung by the choir, at the close of which
the boys of Westminster School shouted " Vivat Victoria Regina." Then, amid
a solemn hush, the Queen passed to a faldstool and knelt in silent prayer, after
which the Ceremonial proceeded. First came " The Recognition," by the Arch
bishop of Canterbury, who advanced to the Queen, accompanied by the Lord
Chancellor, the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Lord High Constable, and the
Earl Marshal, preceded by the Deputy- Garter, and repeated these words, " Sirs,
I here present unto you Queen Victoria, the undoubted Queen of this realm ;
wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage, are you willing to
do the same ? " In answer burst forth the universal cry, " God save Queen
Victoria," repeated as the Archbishop turned to the north, south, and west, the
Queen turning at the same time in the same direction. Her Majesty then
advanced to the altar and made her first offering of a pall or altar-cloth of gold,
which was laid on the altar, on which had been previously placed the Chalice,
Patina, and Bible. An ingot of gold, of one pound weight, was then presented

THE QUEEN'S CORONATION
From a Painting by Sir G. Hayter.

CORONATION.

57

by the Queen to the Archbishop, by whom it was placed in the oblation -basin.
After the Litany and the first portion of the Communion Service, the Sermon
was preached by the Bishop of London, at the conclusion of which the Oath was
administered by the Archbishop of Canterbury. After asking the Queen if she
would govern according to the Statutes of Parliament, and the laws and customs
of the realm, and whether she would cause law and justice in mercy to be
executed, he further asked, " Will you, to the uttermost of your power, maintain
the laws of God, the true profession of the Gospel, and the Protestant reformed
religion, established by law ; and will you maintain and preserve inviolably, the
settlement of the United Church of England and Ireland, and the doctrine,
worship, discipline, and government thereof as by law established, within
England and Ireland, and the territory thereunto belonging ; and will you
preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England and Ireland, and to the
churches there committed to their charges, all such rights and privileges as by
law do or shall appertain to them or any of them?" Having answered these
questions in the affirmative, and preceded by the Great Officers of State, Her
Majesty went to the Altar, where kneeling, and with her right hand upon the
Gospels held before her by the Archbishop, she said, " The things which I have
here before promised I will perform and keep. So help me God." The Queen
having kissed the book, and signed a transcript of the Oath, then knelt upon
the faldstool while the choir sang, " Veni, Creator, Spiritus."
The Archbishop then said the prayer preceding the anointing, after which
the choir sang the Coronation Anthem, at the beginning of which the Queen
retired to St. Edward's Chapel with her ladies and train-bearers, and was
divested of her crimson robe and kirtle. She then put on the super-tunica
of cloth of gold, also in the shape of a kirtle, over a linen gown trimmed with
lace, and taking off her circlet of diamonds returned bare-headed to the Abbey,
where she took her seat in King Edward's chair; four Knights of the Garter
held over her head a rich canopy of cloth of gold, the Archbishop then anointed
the head and hands of the Sovereign, marking them in the form of a cross, and
pronouncing the words, " Be thou anointed with holy oil, as kings, priests, and
prophets were anointed. And as Solomon was anointed King by Zadok the

58 ACCESSION AND CORONATION.
priest and Nathan the prophet, so be you anointed blessed and consecrated
Queen over this people, whom the Lord your God hath given you to rule and
govern, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
Amen." A benediction from the Archbishop followed; after which the spurs
were presented by the Lord Great Chamberlain, and the Sword of State by
Lord Melbourne, who, according to custom, redeemed it with a hundred shillings,
and carried it unsheathed during the rest of the ceremony.
The Queen, who had been invested with the Imperial mantle, or
dalmatic robe of cloth of gold lined with ermine, then received the Orb,
which she found very heavy. In the in vesture "per annulum et baculum,"
the ring and sceptre, which followed, it was found that the ring was too
small, and it was only by great exertion that it could be placed on the
third finger, where it caused great pain, and could only be removed after
the ceremony by bathing the hand in iced water. The Archbishop having
offered a prayer to God to bless Her Majesty and "crown her with all
princely virtues," received the crown from the Dean, and reverently placed
it on the Queen's head. This was no sooner done, than from every
part of the Abbey rose a loud and enthusiastic cry of " God save the
Queen!" At this moment, the Peers and Peeresses present put on their
coronets, the Bishops their caps, and the Kings-at-Arms their crowns ; the
trumpets sounded, the drums beat, and salutes were fired by signal from the
Park and Tower guns. The Bible was then presented to the Queen. She
returned it to the Archbishop, who after restoring it to the Altar, pronounced
the Benediction, after which the " Te Deum" was sung by the choir, and the
Queen was then " enthroned " or "lifted," according to the formulary, by the
Archbishops, Bishops, and Peers, surrounding her, into the chair of homage,
where first the Archbishop of Canterbury knelt, and did homage for himself and
other Lords Spiritual, who all kissed the Queen's hand. Then the Queen's
uncles, the Duke of Sussex and Cambridge, removing their coronets, did homage
in these words : " I do become your liegeman of life and limb, and of earthly
worship ; and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and die, against all
manner of folks. So help me God." They touched the Crown on the Queen's

HOMAGE. 59
head, kissed her left cheek, and retired ; it was noticed that Her Majesty's
bearing to her uncles was very affectionate. Then according to their precedence,
the Dukes and other Peers performed their homage, the senior of each rank
reciting the words, each Peer kissing Her Majesty's hand and touching the
Crown. The aged Lord Rolle, who was over eighty, trying to mount the
steps, fell down, and with difficulty was raised. He again attempted to perform
his duty, when the Queen, rising from her seat, went to meet him, to prevent
him coming up farther, and extended her hand for him to kiss ; " an act of
graciousness and kindness which made a very great sensation."
Whilst the homage was performed by the Lords, the Earl of Surrey, Lord
Treasurer of the Household, threw to the occupants of the choir, and the lower
galleries, the silver Coronation medals ; these were scrambled for with great
eagerness. After the homage was over, the Anthem, " This is the day which the
Lord hath made," was sung, followed by the sound of the drums and trumpets,
and nine loud and hearty cheers from the House of Commons, who then joined in
the homage. The remainder of the Communion Service was then read, and the
Queen, divested of the symbols of Sovereignty, received the Holy Sacrament ;
then resuming her crown, and holding the Sceptres, she took her seat on the
Throne, when the Service was concluded, and the final blessing pronounced,
followed by the singing of the " Hallelujah Chorus." This ended the long
ceremonial ; Her Majesty left the throne, and proceeded to the west door of the
Abbey, wearing the crown, her right hand holding the Sceptre with the Cross,
and the left supporting the Orb ; she was followed by the Peers and Peeresses,
now wearing their coronets, and the brilliant afternoon sun pouring through the
windows made the scene one of incomparable splendour. Along the homeward
route, the manifestations of loyalty were even more enthusiastic than in the
morning ; for the Queen was now fully apparelled in State, and wore the crown,
in the front of which blazed the historic ruby of Poitiers and Agincourt. Mrs.
Jamieson, who witnessed the procession, writes: — "When she returned, looking
pale and tremulous, crowned, and holding her sceptre in a manner and attitude
which said, ' I have it, and none shall wrest it from me ! ' even Carlyle, who
was standing near me, uttered with emotion, " A blessing on her head."

60 ACCESSION AND CORONATION.
It has been recorded, that after this tiring ceremony, the Queen gave a
banquet at the Palace to a hundred guests ; but this is hardly accurate, as no one
was at dinner except those in the house, among whom were Her Majesty's half-
brother and sister, and her future father-in-law, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg. The
crowd was too great, indeed, for any one to have come, had they been invited.
The Ministers gave official State dinners, and the Duke of Wellington a grand
ball, to which 2,000 guests were invited ; and a fair was held in Hyde Park,
which lasted four days; the theatres were thrown open, and the whole of London
was illuminated ; the conduct of the crowds being excellent.
Of the routine of the Court after its return to Windsor in this year,
Greville gives a full account : — " The life which the Queen leads is this : She gets
up soon after eight o'clock, breakfasts in her own room, and is employed the
whole morning in transacting business ; she reads all the dispatches, and has
every matter of interest and importance in every department laid before her.
At eleven or twelve Melbourne comes to her, and stays an hour, more or less,
according to the business he may have to transact. At two she rides with a
large suite (and she likes to have it numerous) ; Melbourne always rides on her
left hand, and the equerry-in-waiting generally on her right ; after riding she
amuses herself for the rest of the afternoon with music and singing, playing,
romping with children, if there are any in the Castle (and she is so fond of them
that she generally contrives to have some there), or in any other way she
fancies. The hour of dinner is nominally half-past seven o'clock, soon after
which time the guests assemble ; but she seldom appears till near eight. When
the guests are all assembled, the Queen comes in, preceded by the gentlemen of
her household, and followed by the Duchess of Kent and all her ladies. She
remains at table the usual time, but does not suffer the men to sit long after her,
and we were summoned to coffee in less than a quarter of an hour. In the
drawing-room she never sits down till the men make their appearance. Coffee
is then served to them in the adjoining room, and then they go into the drawing-
room, when she goes round and says a few words to each. When this little
ceremony is over, the Duchess of Kent's whist table is arranged. At about
half-past eleven Her Majesty goes to bed. This is the whole history of her day ;

THE QUEEN'S FIRST SACRAMENT
From a Painting by Charles Robert Leslie, R.A.

THE GREAT SEAL OF ENGLAND

THE QUEEN'S YACHT
From a Painting by Admiral Beechey.

CHAPTER FIVE.
ENGAGEMENT AND MARRIAGE; 1839 — 4°-

n the 26th of August, 18 19, almost exactly three
months after the birth of the Princess Victoria of
Kent, was born the second son of Ernest, Duke
of Saxe-Coburg- Saalfeld, and of his wife, Louise,
daughter of Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Alten-
burg. He was born at Rosenau, a favourite summer
residence of his father, and received the names
of Francis Albert Charles Augustus Emmanuel.
At his baptism an address was pronounced by
the Superintendent Genzler, who had officiated the year before at the marriage
of the Duke and Duchess of Kent at Coburg. In it occur two passages
which are singularly prophetic of the after life of the infant Prince. " The

64 ENGAGEMENT AND MARRIAGE; 1839—40.
good wishes," said the preacher, "with which we welcome this infant as a
Christian, as one destined to be great on earth, and as a future heir to ever
lasting life, are the more earnest when we consider the high position in life in
which he may one day be placed, and the sphere of action to which the will of
God may call him, in order to contribute more or less to the promotion of truth
and virtue, and to the extension of the Kingdom of God. . . . The
thoughts and supplications of the loving mother are : that her beloved son may
one day enter into the Kingdom of God, as pure and innocent after the trials
of this life as he is at this moment (the joy and hope of his parents) received
into the Communion of this Christian Church, whose vocation it is to bring up
and form upon earth a God-fearing race." These words, spoken at his baptism,
could not have been more descriptive of the Prince had they been used after
his premature death.
The child received his first name of Francis from the Emperor of Austria.
But he was always called by his second name, Albert, given him after a Duke
of Saxe Teschen, an ancestor whose branch of the family subsequently became
extinct. Duke Ernest, the father of Prince Albert, succeeded his father, Francis
Anthony of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, in 1806, and afterwards, in 1826, by a
redivision of the family titles and estates, became Duke of Saxe-Coburg and
Gotha. The Duke's second brother, Ferdinand George, married the heiress
of the Prince of Kohary, in Hungary, and their son became King Consort
of Portugal by his marriage with Queen Donna Maria II. of that kingdom.
The third brother was Leopold, King of the Belgians. Of the four daughters
of Duke Francis, mention has been made in a preceding chapter.
As has been before stated, the union of the Prince with his cousin
Victoria was the cherished hope of their common grandmother, who died
when her grandchildren were only twelve years old ; but their uncle, King
Leopold, steadily pursued this plan, afterwards crowned with such conspicuous
success. The first meeting of the cousins has already been mentioned, and the
strong affection entertained by the Queen for the Prince is shown by her
letter to her uncle at the close of the visit to Kensington. The probability of
the union was no secret at the time, though King William IV. preferred the

THE QUEEN, 1838
From a Painting by Alfred E. Chalon, R.A. By Permission of H. Graves & Co., Ltd., Publishers of
the Large Plate.

PRINCE ALBERT. 65
idea of an alliance with Prince Alexander of the Netherlands. But after the
Queen's accession to the throne, rumours of her contemplated marriage with
Prince Albert became general. It was in order to quiet these reports that,
in the autumn of 1837, by the advice of the King of the Belgians, the Prince,
with his brother Prince Ernest, went for a tour in Switzerland.
The Queen, alluding in 1864 to this tour, relates that the Prince sent her a
small book of sketches. " The whole of these were placed in a small album,
with the dates at which each place was visited in the Prince's handwriting ; and
this album the Queen now considers one of her greatest treasures, and never
goes anywhere without it. Nothing had at this time passed between the Queen
and the Prince ; but this gift shows that the latter, in the midst of his travels,
often thought of his young cousin."
In the early part of the next year, the Prince paid a visit to his uncle Leopold
at Brussels, when the King spoke to him fully about his future prospects. The
King had already mentioned to the Queen the idea of the marriage, and the
proposal must have been favourably entertained, for, in writing to Baron Stock-
mar, he alludes to the manner in which Prince Albert had received the com
munication which, of course with the Queen's consent, he had made to him. In
his letters he expresses the very high opinion which he had formed of his
nephew's character. " He looks at the question from its most elevated and
honourable point of view ; he considers that troubles are inseparable from all
human positions, and that, therefore, if one must be subject to plagues and
annoyances, it is better to be so for some great or worthy object, than for trifles
and miseries. I have told him that his great youth would make it necessary to
postpone the marriage for a few years."
The interval of postponement was not long. On the 8th of October, 1839,
the Princes Ernest and Albert left Brussels on the expedition which decided
the fate of the younger brother. At Windsor, two days later, they were most
cordially and affectionately received by the Queen. Four days were spent in
the usual manner, riding in the afternoon with dinner parties and sometimes
dances in the evening, and on the 14th the Queen, in an interview with Lord
Melbourne, told him that she had made up her mind to the marriage. He

66 ENGAGEMENT AND MARRIAGE; 1839—40.
expressed great satisfaction at the decision, and said to her, as Her Majesty
records in her Journal, " ' I think it will be very well received ; for I hear that
there is an anxiety now that it should be, and I am very glad of it ; ' adding, in
quite a paternal tone, ' You will be much more comfortable ; for a woman cannot
stand alone for any time, in whatever position she may be.' " Can we wonder
that the Queen, recalling these circumstances, should exclaim, "Alas! alas! the
poor Queen now stands in that painful position ! " An intimation was conveyed
to the Prince that the Queen wished to speak to him next day, and, accordingly,
soon after noon he obeyed the summons to her room, where he found her alone.
After a few moments' conversation the Queen told him why she had sent
for him. His old friend, Baron Stockmar, is thus informed by the Prince of his
engagement, " I write to you on one of the happiest days of my life to give you
the most welcome news possible." " Victoria is so good and kind to me, that I am
often puzzled to believe that I should be the object of so much affection. I know
the interest you take in my happiness, and therefore pour out my heart to you.
. . . More, or more seriously, I cannot write, I am at this moment too much
bewildered to do so —
" ' Heaven opens on the ravish'd eye,
The heart is all entranced in bliss.' "
These lines are thus translated from Schiller's Song of the Bell, by Sir Theodore
Martin, in his Life of the Prince Consort, where more correspondence between
the different members of the family, at this interesting time, is given at
length. It had been originally intended to communicate the approaching event to
Parliament, when it assembled, in the ordinary course, at the beginning of the
coming year. This intention was, however, subsequently abandoned. Writing
to the King of the Belgians on the 29th of October, 1839, the Queen says:
" Before I proceed further, I wish just to mention one or two alterations in the
plan of announcing the event. As Parliament has nothing whatever to say
respecting the marriage — can neither approve nor disapprove it (I mean in a
manner which might affect it) — it is now proposed that, as soon as my cousins

A NOBLE PRINCE. 67
are gone (which they now intend to do on the 14th of November, as time
presses), I should assemble all the Privy Council, and announce my intention to
them." Writing from Windsor at this time to Baron Stockmar, Prince Albert
strikes, as it were, the keynote of his future career : " I have laid to heart your
friendly and kind-hearted advice as to the true foundation on which my future
happiness must rest, and it agrees entirely with the principles of action which I
had already privately framed for myself. An individuality, a character, which
shall win the respect, the love, and the confidence of the Queen and of the nation,
must be the groundwork of my position. This individuality gives security for
the disposition which prompts the actions ; and even should mistakes occur, they
will be more easily pardoned on account of that personal character ; while even
the most noble and beautiful undertakings fail in procuring support to a man who
is not capable of inspiring that confidence. If, therefore, I prove a ' noble '
Prince, in the true sense of the word, as you call upon me to be, wise and
prudent conduct will become easier to me, and its results more rich in blessings.
I will not let my courage fail. With firm resolution and true zeal on my part,
I cannot fail to continue ' noble, manly, and princely' in all things. In what I
may do, good advice is the first thing necessary ; and that you can give better
than anyone, if you can only make up your mind to sacrifice your time to me for
the first year of my existence here."
In the same strain of thought, the devotion of all his own individual powers
for the good and happiness of millions, he writes to his stepmother: " With the
exception of my relations towards her (the Queen), my future position will have
its dark sides, and the sky will not always be blue and unclouded. But life has
its thorns in every position, and the consciousness of having used one's powers
and endeavours for an object so great as that of promoting the good of so many,
will surely be sufficient to support me."
Of the character of the Prince at this time, perhaps the best analysis is
to be found in a letter addressed by Baron Stockmar to the Baroness Lehzen.
It was important to give a proper estimate of him to the members of the Royal
Household, and to show that, though so young, he was deserving of their

68 ENGAGEMENT AND MARRIAGE; 1839—40.
admiration and respect. The letter is dated 15th of December, 1839. "With
sincere pleasure I assure you the more I see of the Prince the better I esteem
and love him. His intellect is so sound and clear, his nature so unspoiled, so
childlike, so predisposed to goodness as well as truth, that only two external
elements will be required to make of him a truly distinguished Prince. The
first of these will be opportunity to acquire a proper knowledge of men and of the
world ; the second will be intercourse with Englishmen of experience, culture,
and integrity, by whom he may be made thoroughly conversant with their Nation
and Constitution. ... As regards his future relation to the Queen, I have a
confident hope that they will make each other happy by mutual love, confidence,
and esteem. As I have known the Queen, she was always quick and acute in
her perceptions, straightforward moreover, of singular purity of heart, without a
trace of vanity or pretension. She will consequently do full justice to the
Prince's hand and heart; and if this be so, and the Prince be really loved by the
Queen, and recognised for what he is, then his position will be right in the main,
especially if he manage at the same time to secure the goodwill of the Nation.
Of course he will have storms to encounter, and disagreeables, like other people,
especially those of exalted rank. But if he really possesses the love of the Queen
and the respect of the Nation, I will answer for it that after every storm he will
come safely into port. You will therefore have my entire approval, if you think
the best course is to leave him to his clear head, his sound feeling and excellent
disposition." 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

THE MARRIAGE OF THE QUEEN
From a Painting by Sir George Hayter.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF MARRIAGE. 69
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 Coun
cillors 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 house
hold. 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

70 ENGAGEMENT AND MARRIAGE; 1839—40.
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 QUEEN'S MARRIAGE. 71
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 won
dered 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

72 ENGAGEMENT AND MARRIAGE; 1839—40.
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 com
municated 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 mariner 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

THE REGISTER OF THE QUEEN'S MARRIAGE
From the original document

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THE ALBERT MEDAL, THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER.
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JOURNEY TO WINDSOR.

73

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 con
tented! What is in my power to make him happy I will do."

THE RECEPTION ROOM. WINDSOR CASTLE

CHAPTER SIX.
MARRIED LIFE; 184O — 52.

oyalty claims much from, and lays heavy bur
dens 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 re
turned 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

76 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
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 nth 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 with
out 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 recommenda
tions 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

THE QUEEN, THE PRINCESS ROYAL, AND THE PRINCE OF WALES
From a Painting by Edwin Landseer, R.A.

,/VC£SS ROYAL AND t^

THE PRINCE'S HOUSEHOLD. 77
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 consider
able 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."
Up to this time her mother had been the Queen's constant companion.
But on the 13th of April Her Royal Highness removed to Ingestre House,
Belgrave Square. Here the Duchess lived till after the death of the Princess
Augusta, when she moved to Clarence House, St. James's, which for the rest
of her life was her London home. At the same time Frogmore House, which
became vacant from the same cause, was also assigned to the Duchess, who,
when the Court was at Windsor, came over almost daily to lunch or dine with
the Queen. Easter, 1840, was spent at Windsor, and for the first time the Queen
and Prince received the Sacrament together in St. George's Chapel. "The
Prince," the Queen says, " had a very strong feeling about the solemnity of this
act, and did not like to appear in company either the evening before or on the
day on which he took it, and he and the Queen almost always dined alone on
these occasions." The Queen notes this strong feeling on the part of the Prince
more than once in her Journal for 1840 and 1841. On another occasion a few
months later, about Christmas time, when they again took the Sacrament in the

78 MARRIED LIFE; 1840-52.
private chapel at Windsor, she says, " We two dined together, as Albert likes
being quite alone before he takes the Sacrament ; we played part of Mozart's
Requiem, and then he read to me out of the Stunden der Andacht (Hours of
Devotion) the article on Selbsterkenntniss (Self-knowledge)."
On the 23rd of May, the Queen and Prince went to Claremont to keep
Her Majesty's birthday in private. This continued to be the Queen's custom
till 1848, when Claremont was given up to the exiled royal family of France.
In later years the birthday was passed at Osborne, but since 1861 the Queen
has usually spent the day at Balmoral.
On the 10th of June, 1840, an event occurred which created intense excite
ment throughout the country. While the Queen and Prince were driving in the
afternoon along Constitution Hill on their way to Hyde Park, a young man
named Edward Oxford advanced within a few yards of the carriage, and fired
a pistol at the Queen. He missed his aim, but, as the carriage proceeded on
its way, the would-be assassin called out, "I have another," and discharged
a second pistol, again without effect. The Queen's first thought was for her
mother, and changing her route to Belgrave Square, the Duchess of Kent
heard of the attempt and of her daughter's safety at the same moment.
On leaving Ingestre House and driving through the Park on their return
to the Palace, the Queen and the Prince were received by an immense crowd,
which had collected on hearing the news, with enthusiastic demonstration of
loyalty and rejoicing at the escape of their sovereign. The trial of Oxford for
high treason was held in the Central Criminal Court on the 8th of July. The
jury returned the verdict of "Not guilty on the ground of insanity," and the
prisoner was therefore ordered to be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure.
After thirty-five years' imprisonment at Bedlam and Dartmoor he was released
on condition that he would emigrate to Australia.
About the same time, the prospect of an heir to the throne rendered it
expedient to provide for the possibilities of the death of the Queen, and of a
prolonged minority. The question of a Regency had therefore to be considered.
The Queen in her Journal says : " A Council of Regency was first suggested ; but
when Lord Melbourne spoke to the Duke of Wellington, he immediately

BIRTH OF THE PRINCESS ROYAL.

79

answered for himself, 'that it could and ought to be nobody but the Prince.' "
A Bill for the purpose was brought in and passed with only one dissentient voice,
that of the Duke of Sussex. On the 2nd of August the Prince writes :
" The Regency Bill has passed safely through all its stages, and is now con
clusively settled. ... It is very gratifying that not a single voice was raised
in opposition in either House, or in any one of the newspapers." And this
was more gratifying, as Lord Melbourne told the Queen it was entirely owing
to the golden opinions the Prince had won everywhere since his arrival.
" Three months ago," Lord Melbourne said to the Queen, " they would not
have done it for him"; adding, the Queen writes in her Journal, "with tears
in his eyes, ' it is entirely his own character.' "
On the nth of August the Queen prorogued Parliament in person, and next
day the Court left London for Windsor, where the Queen and Prince received
the King and Queen of the Belgians, the Princess Hohenlohe and her children,
and Queen Adelaide. A short visit was paid in September to Claremont at
the time of the death of the Princess Augusta, in order to be away at the time
of Her Royal Highness' funeral, which, on account of the Queen's health, the
Prince could not attend.
On the 1 3th of November, 1 840, the Court returned to Buckingham Palace,
and there, on the 21st, the Queen's first-born saw the light. In a letter to his
father, on the 23rd, the Prince writes: "The little one is very well and very
merry. ... I should certainly have liked it better if she had had a son, as
would Victoria also ; but, at the same time, we must be equally satisfied and
thankful as it is. . . . The rejoicing in the public is universal."
" For a moment only," the Queen says, " was he disappointed at its being
a daughter, and not a son. His first thought was for the safety of the Queen,
and during the time she was laid up, his care and devotion were quite beyond
expression." During the Queen's illness the Prince, who, in the previous September,
had been introduced into the Privy Council, saw the ministers, and transacted
all necessary business for her. From the very first, the Queen, on the advice
of Lord Melbourne, had communicated all despatches on foreign affairs to

80 MARRIED LIFE; 1840-52.
the Prince, who, writing to his father, says, " I think I have already done
some good. I always commit my views to paper, and then communicate them
to Lord Melbourne. He seldom answers me, but I have often had the satis
faction of seeing him act entirely in accordance with what I have said."
Again, in 1841, when the Eastern Question was approaching a crisis, the Prince
writes : " I study the politics of the day with great industry. I speak quite
openly with the Ministers on all subjects, so as to gain information. . . . And
I endeavour quietly to be of as much use to Victoria in her position as I can."
The Prince had, in fact, already qualified himself to render the Queen
invaluable service in the political crisis that was now rapidly approaching. On
the 23rd of June, 1841, Parliament had been dissolved. But the elections went
against the Government, who, on August the 28th, were defeated in the new
Parliament by a majority of 91, in the debate on the Address. Two days later
the Ministry resigned. In thus resigning, Lord Melbourne had the consolation
of feeling that he left a devoted, sagacious, and permanent counsellor at the
Queen's side. "For four years," he said, "I have seen you every day;
but it is so different now to what it would have been in 1839. The Prince
understands everything so well, and has a clever, able head." The Queen, as
she records in her Journal, saw Lord Melbourne before he left the Castle, and
was much affected in taking leave of him. "You will find," he said, "a great
support in the Prince : he is so able. You said when you were going to be
married that he was perfection, which I thought a little exaggerated then, but
really I think now that it is in some degree realised." And a few days after
wards, writing to King Leopold, Her Majesty says : " I cannot say what a
comfort and support my beloved Albert is to me — how well and how kindly and
properly he behaves. I cannot resist copying for you what Lord Melbourne
wrote to me about him, the evening after we parted. He had already praised
him greatly to me before he took leave of me. It is as follows : ' Lord Mel
bourne cannot satisfy himself without again stating to your Majesty in writing
what he had the honour of saying to your Majesty respecting His Royal Highness
the Prince. Lord Melbourne has formed the highest opinion of His Royal
Highness's judgment, temper, and discretion, and he cannot but feel a great

THE QUEEN
From a Miniature by Robert Thorbum, A.R.A.

¦'iM

3*3

- -\

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\J

CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE. 81
consideration and security in the reflection that he leaves Your Majesty in a
situation in which Your Majesty has the inestimable advantage of such advice
and assistance. Lord Melbourne feels certain that your Majesty cannot do
better than have recourse to it whenever it is needed, and rely upon it with
confidence.' This naturally gave me great pleasure, and made me very proud,
as it comes from a person who is no flatterer, and would not have said it if he
did not think so or feel so."
The same impression of ability was made by the Prince, in the early
years of his married life, on the succeeding Minister. Sir Robert Peel, writes
Lord Kingsdown in his Recollections (quoted by Sir Theodore Martin), "when
he introduced me to him in 1841, said that I should find him one of the most
extraordinary young men I had ever met with. So," adds Lord Kingsdown,
' ' it proved. His aptitude for business was wonderful ; the dullest and most
intricate matters did not escape or weary his attention ; his judgment was very
good; his readiness to listen to any suggestions, though against his own
opinions, was constant ; and though I saw his temper very often tried, yet in
the course of twenty years I never once saw it disturbed, nor witnessed any
signs of impatience."
On the 10th of February, 1841, the first anniversary of the marriage of her
parents, the infant Princess Royal was christened at Buckingham Palace. A new
silver-gilt font had been provided for the occasion, richly ornamented with the
arms of the Princess and her father and mother — a font which has always since
been used for royal baptisms to the present day. The water used on the occasion
was brought from the river Jordan. The ceremony was performed by the Arch
bishop of Canterbury, who was assisted by the Archbishop of York, the Bishops
of London and Norwich, and the Dean of Carlisle. The sponsors were Queen
Adelaide, the Duchess of Gloucester, the Duchess of Kent, the King of the
Belgians, the Duke of Sussex, and the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who
was represented by the Duke of Wellington. The names, " Victoria Adelaide
Mary Louisa," were given to the infant by Queen Adelaide. Prince Albert
wrote to the Dowager- Duchess of Gotha, " The christening went off very well ;
your little great-grand-daughter behaved with great propriety and like a

82 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
Christian. She was awake but did not cry at all, and seemed to crow with
immense satisfaction at the lights and brilliant uniforms, for she is very intel
ligent and observing. The ceremony took place at half-past six p.m. After
it there was a dinner, and then we had some instrumental music. The health
of the little one was drunk with great enthusiasm."
It was in this year that the Queen had the great satisfaction of seeing
Prince Albert placed at the head of the Royal Commission, appointed to
promote and encourage in the United Kingdom that study of the fine arts
for which a unique opportunity was afforded by the building of the new Houses
of Parliament. To fill such a post the Prince was exceptionally fitted. King
Leopold in his " Reminiscences," in writing of his own father, says, "His
great love and knowledge of everything connected with the fine arts was
inherited by Albert. No one else in the family possessed it to the same
degree." The chairmanship of this Commission brought the Prince into con
nection with the leading public and literary men of the country, and he
followed up the connection with characteristic energy and ability. By constant
and unremitting labour he was able to influence, more than any single man, the
movement which, from this date and through the Great Exhibition of 185 1,
raised the artistic level of the country from the depths in which it had
previously stagnated.
At this time the Queen and the Prince were both practising the art of
etching, under the able tuition of Mr., afterwards Sir Edwin, Landseer, one of
the few English artists of the day of brilliant and original genius. In quantity
their work was necessarily limited by the pressure of important business ; but
in quality it was excellent, and the precision of drawing and neatness of
execution in the plates, which were all bitten in under their own supervision,
have always excited the admiration of those who possess, or have seen, these
interesting productions.
On the 9th of November, 1841, a male heir was born to the throne.
The event was announced by a Gazette Extraordinary, dated " Buckingham
Palace, November 9th. This morning, at twelve minutes before eleven
o'clock, the Queen was happily delivered of a Prince, his Royal Highness

BIRTH OF THE PRINCE OF WALES. 83
Prince Albert, her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, several Lords of Her
Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, and the Ladies of Her Majesty's
Bedchamber being present. This great and important news was immediately
made known to the town by the firing of the Park and Tower guns ; and the
Privy Council being assembled as soon as possible thereupon, at the Council
Chamber, Whitehall ; it was ordered that a Form of Thanksgiving for the
Queen's safe delivery of a Prince be prepared by his Grace the Archbishop of
Canterbury, to be used in all churches and chapels throughout England and
Wales, and the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, on Sunday the 14th of November,
or the Sunday after the respective ministers shall receive the same. Her
Majesty and the infant Prince are, God be praised, both doing well." Succes
sive bulletins confirmed the glad news of the convalescence of Her Majesty
and of the health of the Prince. The only drawback to the national rejoicing
was the serious illness of the Queen Adelaide, who lay in a very critical state,
from which, in the course of a time short, she happily recovered.
The news of the birth of the Prince nowhere created more excitement and
satisfaction than in the City of London, where the citizens were engaged in
celebrating the inauguration of their chief magistrate, and the Lord Mayor and
the authorities immediately proceeded in great state to the Palace to tender
their loyal congratulations to their Sovereign. The Prince, who was born Duke
of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, was shortly afterwards created, by letters
patent, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.
The Queen's recovery was so rapid that, on the 6th of December, the
Court removed to Windsor. " We arrived here sains et saitfs," writes the
Queen to King Leopold, "with our awfully large nursery establishment
yesterday morning. I wonder very much whom our little boy will be like.
You will understand how fervent are my prayers, and I am sure every
body's must be, to see him resemble his father in every, every respect, both in
body and mind ! Oh, my dearest uncle, I am sure if you knew how happy, how
blessed I feel, and how proud in possessing such a perfect being as my husband,
and if you think that you have been instrumental in bringing about this union,
it must gladden your heart!" Again, on the 14th of December, the Queen

84 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
continues, " We must all have trials and vexations, but if one's home is happy
then the rest is comparatively nothing. I assure you, dear uncle, that no one
feels this more than I do. I had this autumn one of the severest trials I could
have, in parting with my government, and particularly from one kind and valued
friend, and I feel even now this last very much : but my happiness at home, the
love of my husband, his kindness, his advice, his support, and his company make
up for all, and make me forget it."
On the 25th of January, 1842, the Prince of Wales was christened in St.
George's Chapel at Windsor. The choice of sponsors was not easy. The difficulty
was met by inviting the King of Prussia to undertake the office. Though not
connected with the parents by the tie of blood, his position as sovereign of the
most important Protestant kingdom on the Continent justified the selection.
King Frederic William, who had long been anxious to visit England, accepted
the invitation. Arriving at Greenwich on the 22nd, he proceeded at once to
Windsor. Royal baptisms had been hitherto, as a rule, celebrated within the
Palace; but in the special circumstances, it was considered expedient that the
heir to the throne should be christened in a consecrated and historical building.
No fitter shrine for the purpose could have been chosen than the regal chapel
which was raised in honour of, and dedicated to, the Patron Saint of the land.
The rite was performed at ten a.m., with great state and splendour. Besides
the King of Prussia, the other sponsors were the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg,
represented by the Duchess of Kent, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duchess of
Saxe-Gotha, represented by the Duchess of Cambridge, the Princess Sophia,
represented by the Princess Augusta of Cambridge, and Prince Ferdinand
of Saxe-Coburg. The principal group around the font, which is that mentioned
previously as made for the christening of the Princess Royal, is represented
on the opposite page, in the reproduction taken from the large picture painted
in commemoration of the event by Sir George Hayter. The Queen, in her
Journal, says: "It is impossible to describe how beautiful and imposing the
effect of the whole scene was in the fine old chapel, with the banners, the
music, and the light shining on the altar."
The King of Prussia remained in this country for a fortnight, and on the

THE BAPTISM OF THE PRINCE OF WALES
From a Painting by Sir George Hayter.

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT. 85
3rd of February, the day before his departure, he was present at the opening of
Parliament by the Queen in person. Of this brilliant scene the Baroness
Bunsen gives a graphic account in a letter quoted in her husband's Memoirs:—
" On Thursday was the opening of Parliament — the great scene from which I
had expected most, and was not disappointed. The throngs in the streets, in
the windows, on every spot where foot could stand— all looking so pleased—
the splendid Horse Guards, the Grenadier Guards— of whom it might be said,
as the King did on another occasion, ' an appearance so fine you know not how
to believe it true '—the Yeomen of the Body Guard ; then in the House of
Lords, the Peers in their robes, the beautifully dressed ladies, with many, many
beautiful faces ; last the procession of the Queen's entry, and herself, looking
worthy and fit to be the converging point of so many rays of grandeur. . . .
The composure with which she filled the throne, while awaiting the Commons,
was a test of character— no fidget and no apathy. Then her voice and her
enunciation could not be more perfect. In short, it could not be said that
she did well, but she was the Queen ; she was, and felt herself to be, the
acknowledged chief among grand national realities. Placed in a narrow space
behind Her Majesty's mace-bearers, and peeping over their shoulders, I was
enabled to hide and subdue the emotion I felt, in consciousness of the mighty
pages of the world's history condensed in the words, so impressively uttered in
the silver tones of that feminine voice — Peace and War, the fate of millions,
relations of countries, exertions of power felt to the extremities of the globe,
alterations of corn laws, the birth of a future sovereign — mentioned in solemn
thankfulness to Him in whose hands are nations and rulers ! With what should
one respond, but with the heartfelt aspiration, ' God bless and guide her ! for
her sake, and the sake of all ! ' "
At the time of this opening of Parliament, the condition of home and
foreign affairs was very serious. Scarcity of work inflicted widespread suffering
on the manufacturing districts ; riots among the workers in the iron and coal
industries, and the risings threatened by Chartist agitators, caused deep
anxiety to the ministry, whose powers of dealing with disturbances at home
were enfeebled by the drain of troops required for operations abroad. The

86 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
country was at war with China; in the West Indies and at the Cape the
authorities needed all the help that could be spared ; in Afghanistan a life and
death struggle was raging, in which the British army had already met with the
terrible disaster of the Cabul Pass ; and in every quarter the outlook was full of
menace and danger. A falling revenue demanded bold measures of finance,
and the Queen cordially concurred in the proposal of Sir Robert Peel to impose
an Income Tax, a step never before taken except under the pressure of a war
expenditure, and always to the last degree unpopular. The Queen authorised
her Ministers to announce that it was her wish not to be exempt from the
operation of the tax, and this announcement was not without effect in recon
ciling her subjects to an impost previously unknown to that generation.
In order to revive the trade in London, every effort was made by the Court
to stimulate its depressed condition. Dinners, concerts, and balls were fre
quently given, and on the 7th of May, with the same object, a grand costume
ball was held in Buckingham Palace. At this the Queen appeared as Queen
Philippa and the Prince as Edward III. Most of the guests wore costumes of
the same date. The dress of the Queen was of Spitalfields manufacture. On
the 26th, the Queen and Prince went in state to a ball given at Covent Garden
Theatre on behalf of the distressed Spitalfields weavers. Fancy balls were also
held at Apsley House and at Stafford House with the same charitable object.
On the 29th of May, 1842, an attempt on the Queen's life, repeated by him
next day, was made by a man named John Francis. An account of this outrage,
confirmed by the Prince as authentic, has been given by Colonel Arbuthnot, one
of the equerries. " On Sunday, the 29th of May, at about two p.m., as Her
Majesty alighted from her carriage at Buckingham Palace on her return from
church, she spoke to Prince Albert, and on His Royal Highness entering the
Palace he called me aside, and stated to me that a man in the crowd had pre
sented a pistol towards the carriage, and he distinctly heard the noise, the same
as the shutting of a pocket-knife. His Royal Highness suggested to me the
importance of keeping this a profound secret, but at once to consult the Inspector
of Police. ... In the evening Sir James Graham arrived, and he, Sir R. Peel,
Colonel Rowan and I went into a lower drawing-room, where Sir Robert wrote

ATTEMPT ON THE QUEEN'S LIFE. 87
down His Royal Highness's deposition to him. It was then fully agreed on the
vital importance of our keeping the matter a profound secret. . . . Her
Majesty determined on the afternoon of Monday to drive out. I took every
possible precaution, and His Royal Highness directed me to ride close to Her
Majesty, and to request Colonel Wylde to do the same, but His Royal Highness
was so alive to the importance that the attempt on Sunday afternoon should be
perfectly secret, that he desired me not to mention it even to him. Her Majesty
appeared to be as fully alive as I was to the danger she was incurring, but was,
notwithstanding, most calm, cheerful and composed, at the same time, I
am sure, fully alive to the probability that from behind every tree she might
be shot at. His Royal Highness, I know, was fully conscious this might be
the case. " I had a strong feeling that, as the man had failed, and could not be
aware that he was seen, he would take the earliest opportunity of renewing the
attempt; so strong was my feeling, that I went myself to the stables to desire that
on no account might Kangaroo be sent for me to ride, as he was a sluggish horse,
and difficult to keep near the carriage, but notwithstanding, to my horror,
Kangaroo was sent for me to ride and too late for me to change. The Queen
drove through Hyde Park, the Regent's Park, and to Hampstead. I got, as
soon as we were out of observation, on my groom's horse, and then I experi
enced a relief I cannot express, as I was able then to keep close to Her
Majesty. We went fast home, but on passing through the gate at Constitution
Hill, I desired the wheel postillion to drive even faster, which he did. Before
arriving at the pump, I observed a man seemingly eager to see the Queen ;
on approaching him he snatched a pistol out of his breast and levelling
quickly, aimed at the Queen, but owing to the rapid pace at which we were
going, my horse being very near him, he was disconcerted, and by the mercy
of Providence, aimed too low. Her Majesty heard the report, and her extra
ordinary calmness was wonderful. She was naturally affected, but did not
betray the slightest appearance of alarm, but was as calm and as collected
as when looking at the view at Hampstead. ... His Royal Highness struck
me as being very much affected at Her Majesty's providential escape. On

88 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
seeing the man after he had fired, His Royal Highness exclaimed, "It is the
same man."
Prince Albert in his letter to his father, describing the occurrence, says,
" The shot must have passed under the carriage, for he lowered his hand.
We felt as if a load had been taken off our hearts, and we thanked the
Almighty for having preserved us a second time from so great a danger.
John Francis (that is the man's name) was standing near a policeman, who
immediately seized him, but could not prevent the shot. It was at the same
spot where Oxford had fired at us, two years ago, with this difference only,
that Oxford was standing on our left, with his back to the garden wall."
Mr. Anson, the Prince's Secretary, in his memoranda of the same day,
says, " Her Majesty seemed none the worse. She told me she had fully
expected it, and it was a relief to her to have it over. She had for some
time been under the impression that one of these mad attempts would be
made. . . . Her Majesty said she never could have existed under the uncer
tainty of a concealed attack. She would rather run the immediate risk at any
time, than have the presentiment of danger constantly hovering over her.
She had been much gratified by the kind feeling people had shown." Con
trary to her usual custom, she had on this day dispensed with the attendance
of her ladies. To Miss Liddell, afterwards Lady Bloomfield, the Queen said
on her return to the Palace, " I daresay, Georgy, you were surprised at not
driving with -me this afternoon, but the fact was, that as we returned from
church yesterday, a man presented a pistol at the carriage window, which
flashed in the pan ; we were so taken by surprise that he had time to
escape ; so I knew what was hanging over me, and I was determined to
expose no life but my own."
Francis was examined before the Privy Council and committed to Newgate
for trial at the next session of the Central Criminal Court. On the day fol
lowing the attempt, an immense concourse of people assembled at the Palace
in expectation that the Queen would take her accustomed drive. Nor were
they disappointed. The royal carriage contained the Queen and Prince with
the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. Following on horseback were the Count

THE QUEEN
From a Painting by F. X. Wmterhalter.

SENTENCE ON FRANCIS. 89
Mensdorff with his four sons, and the two equerries. The royal party was
loudly cheered, and the drive was quite a triumphal progress; Her Majesty's
subjects appreciating with delight not only the presence of mind displayed by
their youthful sovereign at the moment of danger, but the nerve with which
she could go to meet it. The Queen, writing to King Leopold, says, " I was
not really at all frightened, and feel very proud at dear uncle Mensdorff calling
me ' very courageous,' which I shall ever remember with delight, coming from
so distinguished an officer as he is." In the evening the Queen with Prince
Albert went to the Italian Opera, where the audience, with tumultuous gratu-
lations, called for the National Anthem, bursting into cheers at almost every
line. On the day following addresses of congratulations were voted by both
Houses of Parliament, followed by others from all parts of the kingdom.
Francis was tried for high treason on the 17th of June, found guilty,
and sentenced to death. The Queen was most anxious that the sentence
should not be carried out, and the Government, after consultation with the
judges, commuted the sentence to transportation for life. The very next
day after this exercise of clemency, another outrage was attempted, as the
Queen, with the King of the Belgians, was driving to the Chapel Royal,
St. James's. A deformed youth, named Bean, pointed a pistol at the Queen,
but it fortunately missed fire, nor did the Queen know anything of the matter
till her return to Buckingham Palace. On being told of it, she merely said that,
so long as the law remained that these attempts could only be dealt with as
acts of high treason, a recurrence of them must be expected. The Ministry,
therefore, with as much haste as possible, brought in a bill, making these
attempts high misdemeanours, to be punished by transportation for seven years,
or imprisonment, with, or without, hard labour, for a term not exceeding three
years, the culprit "to be publicly, or privately, whipped, as often, and in such
manner and form, as the Court shall direct, not exceeding thrice." The bill
became law on the 16th of July, and under it Bean was, on August 25 th, sen
tenced to eighteen months' imprisonment.
At Buckingham Palace, in the summer of 1842, the Queen and Prince
Albert had received Mendelssohn. The celebrated musician has given

qo MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
graphic details of his visit. He says in his letter to his mother: "I must
tell you all the details of my last visit to Buckingham Palace. It is, as
G. says, the one really pleasant and comfortable English house where one
feels a son aise. Of course, I do know a few others, but yet, on the whole,
I agree with him. Prince Albert had asked me to go to him on Saturday
at two o'clock, so that I might try his organ before I left England. I found
him alone, and, as we were walking away, the Queen came in, also alone,
in a simple morning-dress. ... I begged that the Prince would first play
me something, so that, as I said, I might boast about it in Germany ; and he
played a chorale, by heart, with the pedals, so charmingly and clearly and
correctly, that it would have done credit to any professional. . . Then it was
my turn, and I began my Chorus from St. Paul, ' How lovely are the
Messengers.' Before I got to the end of the first verse they both joined
in the chorus; and all the time Prince Albert managed the stops for me
so cleverly — first a flute, at the forte the great organ, at the D major
part of the whole ; then he made a lovely diminuendo with the stops, and
so on to the end of the piece, and all by heart, that I was really quite
enchanted. . . . The Queen asked if I had written any new songs, and said she
was very fond of singing my published ones. 'You should sing one to
him,' said Prince Albert; and, after a little begging, she said she would try
the Frilhlingslied in B flat, ' if it is still here,' she added, ' for all my music
is packed up for Claremont.' Prince Albert went to look for it, but came
back saying it was already packed . . . The servants were sent after it
without success; at last the Queen went herself, and, while she was gone,
Prince Albert said to me : ' She begs you will accept this present as a
remembrance,' and gave me a little case with a beautiful ring, on which is
engraved — 'V.R., 1842.'
"Then the Queen came back, and said: 'Lady  is gone, and
has taken all my things with her. It really is most annoying.' I
then begged that I might not be made to suffer for the accident, and
hoped she would sing another song. After some consultation with her
husband, he said : ' She will sing you something of Gliick's.' . . . We

RECEPTION OF MENDELSSOHN. 91
proceeded to the Queen's sitting-room, where there was a piano. The Duchess
of Kent came in, and, while they were all talking, I rummaged about
amongst the music, and soon discovered my first set of songs. So, of
course, I begged her rather to sing one of those than the Gliick, to
which she kindly consented ; and which did she choose ? — ' Schbner und
Schbner schmuckt sich ! ' — sang it quite charmingly in strict time and tune,
and with very good execution. . . . the last G I have never heard better or
purer, or more natural from any amateur. Then I was obliged to confess
that Fanny had written the song (which I found very hard, but pride must
have a fall), and begged her to sing one of my own also. If I would give her
plenty of help, she would gladly try, she said ; and then she sang the Pilgers-
pruch, ' Lass dich JVurr,' really quite faultlessly, and with charming feeling and
expression. I thought to myself, one must not pay too many compliments
on such an occasion, so I merely thanked her a great many times, upon which
she said, ' Oh, if I only had not been so frightened ; generally, I have such
long breath.' Then I praised her heartily and with the best conscience in
the world ; for just that part with the long G at the close she had done so
well, taking the three following and connecting notes in the same breath,
as one seldom hears it done; and therefore it amused me doubly that she
herself should have begun about it.
"After this Prince Albert sang the Arondte-lied, ' Es ist ein Schmitter' ;
and then he said I must play him something before I went, and gave me as
themes the chorale which he had played on the organ, and the song he had
just sung. If everything had gone as usual, I ought to have improvised most
dreadfully badly, for it is almost always like that with me when I want it
to go well — and then I should have gone away vexed the whole morning.
But — just as if I was to keep nothing but the pleasantest, most charming
recollection of it — I never improvised better. I was in the best mood for it,
and played a long time and enjoyed it myself; so that between the two themes
I brought in the two songs which the Queen had sung, naturally enough;
and it went off so easily that I would gladly not have stopped; and they
followed me with so much intelligence and attention that I felt more at ease

92 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
than I ever did in improvising to an audience. She said several times she
hoped I would soon come to England again, and pay them a visit ; and then
I took leave." The Queen, it may be added, always took a deep interest in
Mendelssohn's work and career, and a marble bust of him has been placed
by her command in the corridor at Windsor Castle.
A visit to Belgium and a meeting with some of the French Royal Family had
been proposed for the autumn of 1842, but the melancholy death of the Duke
of Orleans, brother of the Queen of the Belgians, entirely disarranged all these
plans, and a short tour in Scotland was arranged at the conclusion of the session.
Parliament was prorogued by the Queen in person on the 12th of August. Her
Majesty in a speech referred to the reverses sustained by the army to the west
ward of the Indus, and to the subsequent defence of Jellahabad, and, in
touching on home affairs, which were in a dangerous condition, particularly at
Manchester, where rioting had assumed formidable proportions, she said, "There
are, I trust, indications of gradual recovery from that depression which has
affected many branches of manufacturing industry, and has exposed large
classes of my people to privation and sufferings, which have caused me the
deepest concern. You will, I am confident, be actuated on your return to your
several counties, by the same enlightened zeal for the public interests which
you have manifested during the discharge of your Parliamentary duties ; and
will do your utmost to encourage by your example, and active exertions, that
spirit of order and submission to the law which is essential to the public
happiness, and without which there can be no enjoyment of the fruits of
peaceful industry, and no advance in the career of social improvement."
On the 29th of August the Queen and Prince Albert, attended by the
Duchess of Norfolk and Lord Morton, with other members of their households,
embarked at Woolwich in the Royal George, commanded by Lord Adolphus
Fitzclarence. The yacht, in tow of a steamer, was saluted on reaching Tilbury
Fort, and passed along the coast, welcomed everywhere by demonstrations of
loyalty. About one a.m., on the 1st of September, the royal squadron came
to anchor in Aberlady Bay. Shortly after eight, Her Majesty landed at
Granton pier, and proceeded at once to Dalkeith Palace, the home of the Duke

VISIT TO EDINBURGH. 93
of Buccleuch; escorted through Edinburgh by the Duke, and the Archers of
the Royal Body Guard. On the 3rd, the Queen made her public entry into the
Scottish capital, escorted by the Inniskilling Dragoons. At the Canongate the
Body Guard of Archers joined the procession, the 53rd Regiment guarding the
line of route. At the barriers which had been erected near the Exchange,
the Lord Provost, accompanied by the members of the Council in their robes of
office, presented the keys of the City, which were returned by Her Majesty with
the words : " I return the keys of the City with perfect confidence into the safe
keeping of the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council." At the Castle gate the
Queen was received by Sir Niel Douglas, commanding the Forces, and, alighting
from the carriage, was conducted through the ancient fortress, where she in
spected the various objects of interest, noticing particularly Mons Meg, and the
ancient regalia of the Scottish kingdom, deposited in the Crown Jewel Office.
In her Journal the Queen writes : " The view from both batteries is splendid, like
a panorama in extent. We saw from them Heriof s Hospital, a beautiful old
building, built in the time of James by a jeweller, whom Sir Walter Scott
has made famous in his ' Fortunes of Nigel.' After this we again got into the
carriages, and proceeded in the same way as before, the pressure of the crowd
being really quite alarming. Both I and Albert were quite terrified for the
Archer's Guard, who had very hard work of it ; but they were of the greatest
use. They all carry a bow in one hand, and have their arrows stuck through
their belts. Unfortunately, as soon as we were out of Edinburgh, it began to
rain, and continued raining the whole afternoon without interruption. We
reached Dalmeny, Lord Rosebery's, at two o'clock. The park is beautiful, with
the trees growing down to the sea."
On the 5th the Queen held a Drawing-room in the gallery of Dalkeith
Palace. Holyrood House was not available for this State ceremony on account
of a dangerous fever lately prevalent in the vicinity. The Drawing-room was
very numerously attended, and before it Her Majesty received and responded to
addresses from the Lord Provost and the Magistrates, from the Scottish Church,
and from the Universities of St. Andrew's, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. On the
6th the Duke of Buccleuch's royal guests left Dalkeith, and, crossing from

94 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
Queensferry into Fifeshire, proceeded to Dupplin Castle, where they lunched
with the Earl of KinnouU, on their way to Scone Palace, the seat of the Earl of
Mansfield, where they dined and slept. Next morning, after inscribing their
names in the Guildry books of the City of Perth, the last royal signatures in
which were those of James VI. and Charles I., the Queen and Prince started
for Taymouth, the seat of the Marquis of Breadalbane. On the 10th of
September, after planting trees as a memorial of their visit, they left Tay
mouth, and were rowed for 16 miles up Loch Tay to Auchmore, whence they
journeyed by Crieff to Drummond Castle, and there they were received by Lord
and Lady Willoughby D'Eresby. Here, on the 1 2th, the Prince shot his first
stag. On the 13th a visit was paid to Stirling, and, after a journey of 65 miles ,
Dalkeith was again reached. The last day of this visit, the first of many sub
sequently paid to the Northern Kingdom, was spent in seeing Rosslyn Chapel
and Hawthornden. Leaving Dalkeith, early on the morning of September the
1 5th, and embarking on board the Trident, a steamer belonging to the General
Steam Navigation Company, the Queen and Prince reached Woolwich Dock
yard on the morning of the 17th, and arrived at Windsor shortly after noon.
Writing on the next day to the Duchess of Saxe-Gotha, Prince Albert thus
records his impression of the country: " Scotland has made a most favourable
impression upon us both. The country is full of beauty of a severe and grand
character ; perfect for sport of all kinds, and the air remarkably pure and light
in comparison with what we have here. The people are more natural, and
marked by that honesty and sympathy which always distinguishes the inhabitants
of mountainous countries, who live far away from towns. There is, moreover, no
country where historical traditions are preserved with such fidelity, or to the
same extent. Every spot is connected with some interesting historical fact,
and with most of these Sir Walter Scott's accurate descriptions have made
us familiar." Before quitting Scotland the Queen had expressed her own
gratification at the heartiness of her reception, in a letter to Lord Aberdeen :
" The Queen cannot leave Scotland without a feeling of regret that her visit
on the present occasion could not be further prolonged. Her Majesty fully
expected to witness the loyalty and attachment of her Scottish subjects ; but

BIRTH OF PRINCESS ALICE. 95
the devotion and enthusiasm evinced in every quarter, and by all ranks, have
produced an impression on the mind of Her Majesty which can never be effaced."
On the 10th of November the Queen and Prince Albert, with the royal
children, left Windsor for Walmer Castle, near Deal, the official residence of
the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, which had been placed at their
disposal by the Duke of Wellington. Here they were received by His Grace,
and enjoyed the sea breezes till the 3rd of December. At all the places on
their journey through Kent, particularly at Canterbury, the travellers were
received with every demonstration of loyalty and affection.
On the 23rd of November, a special messenger from Downing Street
brought despatches containing the welcome news of the recapture of Ghuznee
and Cabul, the defeat of Akbar Khan, and the liberation of his captives. On
the same day the Queen heard, with much delight, of the Peace which had
been concluded with China, on terms that afforded a new opening for com
mercial enterprise, and gave a fresh stimulus to the trade of the manufacturing
districts, where want of employment had caused widespread suffering and
discontent. On the 2nd of February, 1843, Parliament assembled. For the first time
since her accession, the Queen was unable to open it in person. On the
25th of April, Her Majesty's third child and second daughter was born at
four a.m., Prince Albert and the Lord Steward, the Earl of Liverpool, being
present On the same day, at Pembroke Dockyard, took place the launch of
Her Majesty's yacht the Victoria and Albert, which was then looked upon as
one of the most beautiful steamers afloat, and has ever since been the
favourite vessel of the Queen. The infant Princess was christened on the
2nd of June, in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace. The sponsors were
the King of Hanover, represented by the Duke of Cambridge ; the Hereditary
Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, represented by the Hereditary Grand Duke
of Mecklenburg-Strelitz ; the Princess of Hohenlohe Langenburg, represented
by the Duchess of Kent, and the Princess Sophia Matilda of Gloucester.
The rite was performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the infant
received the names of Alice Maud Mary.

96 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
On the 29th of June the Queen, accompanied by Prince Albert and the
King and Queen of the Belgians, visited Westminster Hall to inspect the
prize cartoons prepared for the decoration of the new Houses of Parliament,
which were then exhibited to the public. This exhibition was the result of the
labours of the Royal Commission on the Fine Arts, of which the Prince was
President. The execution of the cartoons in fresco has unfortunately not been
successful; the artists were not familiar with the peculiar conditions of the
technical process of the work, and little now remains to be seen of their
designs. The Queen and Prince showed their own personal interest in this
little-practised method of decoration by erecting a pavilion in the grounds of
Buckingham Palace, the walls of which were covered with designs in fresco by
Eastlake, Landseer, Maclise, Uwins, Leslie, Stanfield, and others. In a letter
written at the time, Uwins remarks : " History, Literature, Science, and Art
seem to have lent their stores to form the mind of the Prince. He is really an
accomplished man, and, withal, possesses so much good sense and consideration,
that, taken apart from his playfulness and good-humour, he might pass for an
aged and experienced person, instead of a youth of two or three-and-twenty.
The Queen, too, is full of intelligence, her observations very acute, and her
judgment matured apparently beyond her age. . . . Coming to us twice a
day, unannounced and without attendants, entirely stript of all state and
ceremony, courting conversation, and desiring reason rather than obedience,
they have gained our admiration and love. In many things they are an
example to the age. They have breakfasted, heard morning prayers with
the household in the private chapel, and are out some distance from the
Palace talking to us in the summer-house before half-past nine o'clock —
sometimes earlier. After the public duties of the day, and before their
dinner, they come out again, evidently delighted to get away from the
bustle of the world, to enjoy each other's society in the solitude of the
garden." Shortly after the cartoon exhibition, the Court removed to Windsor, where,
on the 26th of August, the Queen, in honour of the Prince's twenty-fourth
birthday, gave an entertainment at Virginia Water. Two days later, the Queen

THE PRINCE CONSORT
From a Painting by F. X. Winterhalter.

FIRST VISIT TO FRANCE. 97
and Prince travelled to Southampton. There they met the new yacht, Victoria
and Albert, which conveyed them to Cowes Roads. Next day they visited
Norris Castle and Appuldurcombe, and, again embarking, proceeded to
Dartmouth, Plymouth, and Falmouth, where loyal addresses were presented.
At Falmouth the Mayor, who was a Quaker, was permitted to keep his hat
on in the royal presence. Thence the course was across the Channel to the
coast of France.
The Queen had for some time been anxious to visit Louis Philippe and to
make the acquaintance of Queen Marie Amelie and their family, with whom the
Queen had been long connected by the marriage of her uncle, King Leopold,
with the Princess Louise of Orleans. A favourable opportunity now presented
itself for a friendly visit, as the French Court was at the Chateau d'Eu, near
Trdport. In Lady Bloomfield's Reminiscences occurs the following story of an
incident of the voyage : " I remained on deck a long time with Her Majesty,
and she taught me to plait paper for bonnets, which was a favourite occupation
of the Queen. Lady Canning and I had settled ourselves in a very sheltered
place, protected by the paddle-box ; and, remarking what a comfortable spot we
had chosen, Her Majesty sent for her camp-stool, and settled herself beside
us, plaiting away most composedly, when suddenly we observed a commotion
among the sailors, little knots of men talking together in a mysterious manner ;
first one officer came up to them, then another, looking embarrassed, and at
last Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence was called. The Queen, much puzzled, asked
what was the matter, and inquired whether we were going to have a mutiny on
board ? Lord Adolphus laughed, but remarked that he really did not know
what would happen unless Her Majesty would be graciously pleased to remove
her seat. 'Move my seat,' said the Queen, 'why should I? What possible
harm can I be doing here ? ' ' Well, ma'am,' said Lord Adolphus, ' the fact is,
Your Majesty is unwittingly closing up the door of the place where the grog-
tubs are kept, and so the men cannot have their grog ! ' ' Oh, very well,' said
the Queen, ' I will move on one condition : that you bring me a glass of grog.'
This was accordingly done, and after tasting it, the Queen said : ' I am afraid
I can only make the same remark I did once before, that I think it would be

98 MARRIED LIFE; 1840-52.
very good if it were stronger ! ' This, of course, delighted the men, and the
little incident caused much amusement on board."
When the royal yacht arrived at Tr^port, King Louis Philippe came off in
his barge to welcome his guest. The Queen in her Journal writes : " I felt
as it came nearer and nearer, more and more agitated. At length it came
close, and contained the King, Aumale, Montpensier, Augustus (Prince of
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and husband of Princess Clementine of Orleans),
M. Guizot, Lord Cowley, and various officers and ministers. The good kind
King was standing on the boat, and so impatient to get out that it was very
difficult to prevent him, and to get him to wait till the boat was close enough.
He got out and came up as quickly as possible and embraced me warmly.
It was a fine and really affecting sight, and the emotion which it caused I
shall never forget. . . . The King expressed again and again how delighted
he was to see me." As the Queen left her own yacht the Royal Standard
was lowered from the masthead, and hoisted side by side with that of France
on the King's barge. It was the first time they had floated together since
the Field of the Cloth of Gold. On landing the Queen was escorted by the
King up a somewhat steep stair to where the Queen Am&ie with the Queen
of the Belgians and other members of the Royal Family awaited their approach.
After an interchange of cordial greetings and amid the firing of salutes and
the shouts of the spectators, the royal cortege departed for the Chateau.
In the evening a grand banquet was given. The Queen sat on the right
of the King of the French, and on Her Majesty's right was the Prince
de Joinville. Queen Ame'lie sat opposite the King, having Prince Albert on
her right. Next day, being Sunday, was spent very quietly; the Queen had no
chaplain with her, but prayers were read by one of the members of the
suite. "At half-past two," the Queen records in her Journal, "the King
and Queen came to fetch us and took us over the greater part of the
Chateau. The number of family pictures is quite enormous. The little
chapel is beautiful, and full of painted windows and statues of saints, &c,
quite a little bijou. It is the first Catholic Chapel I have seen. There are

LIFE AT THE CHATEAU D'EU. 99
numbers of pictures and reminiscences of Mademoiselle de Montpensier.
She built part of the Chateau, and there are some interior decorations still of
her time. The rooms of the Queen, including a little cabinet de toilette, are
charming. They contain many old family pictures, and pictures of their own
family, and there are some of poor Chartres, when a child, the sight of
which, we see, is heartrending to the dear excellent Queen."
On Monday, September the 4th, the Journal proceeds, " Up at half-past
seven and breakfasted at eight. Good news from the children. The band
of the 24th Regiment (Infanterie legdre) played under my window, and ex
tremely well. ... At half-past ten the King and family came and fetched
us to their delightful, cheerful breakfast. I sat between the King and
Aumale. I feel so gay and happy with these dear people. . . . Later
we saw M. Guizot, who came to express his great joy at our visit. It seems
to have done the greatest good, and to have caused the greatest satisfaction
to the French. ... I hear that I should have been most kindly received
at Paris even. The French naval officers give this evening a banquet on
board the Pluton to our naval officers, and I trust that the ' haine pour les
perfides Anglais'' will cease."
The great event of the day was &fete champetre at the Mont d'Orldans in
the forest of Eu. About four o'clock the King, with Queen Victoria and the
Queen of the French, with other ladies, drove up to the large tent, which
was pitched on a spot commanding the finest view, and here the party
lunched. Prince Albert, with other gentlemen, had already arrived on horse
back. The Queen records: "I sat between the King and Queen. Poor
Helene (the widowed Duchess of Orleans) sat next the King ; it was the
first time she had sat at table with them since her terrible misfortune. . . .
The King's liveliness and vivacity, and little impatiences, are my delight and
amusement." After luncheon, the King, giving his arm to Queen Victoria,
walked round the platform before the tent; Prince Albert came next with
the Queen of the French, the rest of the company following. The large
crowd which had assembled cheered the Royal party with much enthusiasm.
On the return to the chateau, after dinner, " There was," as the Queen

ioo MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
notes, " very fine music by the artistes du Conservatoire. They played beauti
fully, particularly the things from Beethoven's symphonies."
The next morning Prince Albert, accompanied by the Dukes of Aumale
and Montpensier and others, was present at a review of the French cavalry
regiment, the Carabiniers, and afterwards of a regiment of the line, at the
Caserne de Montpensier. In the afternoon the whole party visited the church
of Notre- Dame, and the crypt containing the monuments of the Counts of Artois
and of the Counts of Eu, the maternal ancestors of the King. On this day
the King presented Queen Victoria with the two splendid pieces of tapestry
representing the chase of the Calydonian boar and the death of Meleager,
which had been in hand at the Gobelins for thirty years, and now form the
principal decoration of Her Majesty's dining-room at Windsor.
The next day there was another fete champetre in the forest, the scene
being the Mont St. Catherine, and the dejeuner entirely alfresco, no tent having
been pitched. "We came home," the Queen writes — "the evening lovely — at
half-past six. After dinner we remained in a little room near the dining-room—
as the galerie where we generally are was fitted up as un petit thdatre. At a
little after nine we went in. The little stage and orchestre were perfectly
arranged, and we were all seated in rows of chairs one above the other. The
pieces were all admirably performed. The first was Le Chateau de Ma Niece,
in which Madame Mira acted delightfully ; the second, L'Humoriste, in which
Arnal sent us into fits of laughter. . . . Thursday, September 7. At a
quarter to six we got up, le cceur gros at the thought we must leave this dear
interesting family. At half-past six the King (who, with all the Princes, was in
uniform) and the Queen and all the family came to fetch us to breakfast. Join-
ville was already gone to Trdport. I felt so sad to go. At half-past seven
we went in the large State carriage, precisely as we came the day we arrived,
with the Princes riding, and the same escort. It was a lovely morning and
many people out. We embarked in the King's fine barge with great facility.
. . . At last the mauvais moment arrived, and we were obliged to take leave
and with great regret. . . . We stood on the side of the paddle-box, and
waited to see them pass by in a small steamer, which they had all got into, and

RETURN TO ENGLAND. 101
the King waved his hand and called out ' Adieu ! Adieu ! ' We set off before
nine. ... At half-past three we got into the barge off Brighton, with Join-
ville, the ladies, Lord Aberdeen, and Mr. Tonchard. . . . When we arrived
at the Pavilion, we took Joinville upstairs with us, and he was very much struck
with the strangeness of the building."
A few days after their return the Queen and Prince Albert again embarked
on their yacht, and landed at Ostend to pay a visit to the King and Queen
of the Belgians. They remained in Belgium for nearly a week, visiting Bruges,
Ghent, Brussels, and Antwerp. To the Prince the old masters of the Low
Countries were a great delight, and he afterwards formed the collection of their
works since bequeathed to the National Gallery. After their return the Queen
and Prince paid, in October, a visit to Cambridge, where, the next morning,
the degree of LL.D. was conferred on the Prince. On the return journey
to Windsor two days were spent at Wimpole, the seat of Lord Hardwicke.
Before the close of the year other visits were paid. One to Sir Robert
Peel at Drayton Manor gave the Prince an opportunity long desired of
inspecting some of the chief manufactories of Birmingham. Another was
paid to Chatsworth, where three days were spent, and a third to Belvoir. Of
the visit to Birmingham, the Prince writes to Baron Stockmar: "Sir James
Graham and others had advised me strongly not to go, as the town is entirely
in the hands of the Chartists, and even the Radicals dare not show them
selves in it. Nevertheless I was received with an indescribable enthusiasm.
The people regarded the visit as a great proof of confidence, and did all
they could to give assurance of their loyalty. In short, our excursion was
one unbroken triumph."
On the 29th of January, 1844, Prince Albert lost his father after a few
days' illness. The sympathy of the Queen in his trial was his one consola
tion. Writing to Baron Stockmar a few days afterwards, he mentions his
sister-in-law Alexandrine as being, in the house of mourning at Coburg,
" the consoling angel. Just such," he continues, " is Victoria to me, who
feels and shares my grief, and is the treasure on which my whole existence
rests. The relation in which we stand to one another leaves nothing to

102 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
desire. It is a union of heart and soul." The Queen, too, had her trial to
bear. When Easter came and Parliament adjourned, the Prince left England,
feeling that duty demanded his presence in Coburg ; since her marriage she
had never been one day apart from him, and the separation was propor
tionately painful.
In June, 1844, shortly after the Prince's safe return, the Queen received
a visit from the Emperor of Russia. The Emperor at first took up his quarters
at the Russian Embassy, but afterwards, on Her Majesty's pressing invitation,
became the Queen's guest at Buckingham Palace. The object of this visit he
stated in one of his interviews with Sir Robert Peel : " Years ago Lord Durham
was sent to me, a man full of prejudices against me. By merely coming to close
quarters with me all his prejudices were driven clean out of him. This is what
I hope by coming here to bring about with you, and with England generally.
By personal intercourse I trust to annihilate these prejudices, for I esteem
England highly ; but as to what the French say about me I care not." The
Queen, writing on the nth of June to her uncle, thus records the personal
impression made upon her by her visitor: "I will now give you my opinions
and feelings on the subject, which I may say are Albert's also. I was extremely
against the visit, fearing the gene and bustle, and even at first I did not feel at
all to like it ; but by living in the same house together quietly and un
restrainedly (and this Albert, and with great truth, says is the advantage of
these visits, that I not only see these great people, but know them), I got to
know the Emperor and he to know me. There is much about him which I
cannot help liking, and I think his character is one which should be under
stood, and looked upon for once as it is. He is stern and severe, with strict
principles of duty which nothing on earth will make him change. Politics and
military concerns are the only things he takes great interest in ; the arts and all
softer occupations he does not care for; but he is sincere, I am certain —
sincere even in his most despotic acts — from a sense that it is the only way to
govern. ... He was not only civil but extremely kind to us both, and spoke
in the highest praise of dearest Albert to Sir Robert Peel, saying he wished
any Prince in Germany had as much ability and sense. He is not happy,

BIRTH OF PRINCE ALFRED. 103
and that melancholy which is visible in the countenance made us sad at
times." The hearty reception given to the Emperor by the Court, and by the whole
nation, caused same irritation in the political circles of France. It even seemed
at one time as if the projected visit of King Louis Philippe might be interfered
with for this reason ; and the Queen, in the letter to her uncle, an extract from
which has been already quoted, writes : " I hope you will persuade the King
to come all the same in September. Our motives and politics are not to be
exclusive, but to be on good terms with all — and why should we not ? We
make no secret of it."
This irritation, and the estrangement between the two countries, were,
however, intensified at this moment by the harsh measures adopted by the
French officials to Queen Pomare in Tahiti. The extreme gravity of the
situation caused much anxiety and suffering to our Queen, who was at the time
in need of quiet and repose, as on the 6th of August her second son was born.
In the first letter she was able to write after her confinement, she says to
King Leopold : " The only thing almost to mar our happiness is the heavy
and threatening cloud which hangs over our relations with France, and which,
I assure you, distresses and alarms us sadly. The whole nation here is very
angry. . . God grant all may come right, and I am still of good cheer."
In September, when all disputes had been satisfactorily arranged, the Queen
again wrote to her uncle: "The good ending of our difficulties with France
is an immense blessing ; but it is really and truly necessary that you and those
in Paris should know that the danger was imminent. . . . We must try
and prevent these difficulties for the future."
The infant Prince who had appeared at this critical moment was christened
at Windsor on the 6th of September, 1843, receiving the names of Alfred
Ernest Albert. At this ceremony the Prince of Prussia was present, afterwards
the first Emperor of Germany and father-in-law of the Princess Royal. Three
days later, the Queen and Prince with their eldest child left Windsor for
Scotland. Landing at Dundee, they took up their residence at Blair Athol,
which had been placed at their disposal by Lord Glenlyon, subsequently Duke

104 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
of Athole. There they arrived on the nth, and stayed till the end of the
month, returning to Windsor, on the 3rd of October, to receive the King of the
French. The King landed on the 8th at Portsmouth, where he was received by
Prince Albert and the Duke of Wellington, who accompanied him to Windsor.
The Queen in her Journal writes of her guest: " I never saw anybody more
pleased or more amused in looking at every picture and bust. He knew every
bust and everything about everybody here in a most wonderful way. Such a
memory, such activity ! ... He is enchanted with the castle, and repeated to
me again and again (as did also all his people) how delighted he was to be
here, how he feared that what he had so earnestly wished since I came to
the throne would not take place."
On the 9th of October, the King was invested by Her Majesty with the
Order of the Garter, an honour which had been conferred on His Majesty's
predecessors, Charles X. and Louis XVIII,„ and in earlier years on Francis I.,
Henry II., and Charles IX. As the Queen, on her visit to France, had not
entered Paris, it was not thought advisable that the King of the French
should visit London. But on the 12th of October the King received an
address from the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London, who came to
Windsor in State for the purpose. The reply of the King to their address
had a great effect on English feeling. "The union of France with England,"
he said, "is of great importance to both nations, but not from any wish
of aggrandizement on the part of either. Our view should be peace,
while we leave every other country in possession of those blessings which
it has pleased Divine Providence to bestow upon them. France has nothing
to ask of England, and England has nothing to ask of France, but cordial
union." Soon after the termination of the King's visit, on October 28th, the
Queen opened the new Royal Exchange. The Queen, describing the ceremony
to her uncle, writes : " I seldom remember being so pleased with any public
show, and my beloved Albert was most enthusiastically received by the
people. . . . The articles in the papers, too, are most kind and gratifying.
They say, no sovereign was ever more loved than I am (I am bold enough to

LETTER FROM THE QUEEN TO THE DUKE oF WELLINGTON
From the original document

VISIT TO STRATHFIELDSAYE. 105
say), and this because of our happy domestic home, and the good example it
presents." This feeling was not confined to London. Northampton, stronghold of
Radicalism though it was, welcomed the Queen with loyal enthusiasm, when,
during the next month, she passed through the city on the way to Burleigh.
A similar welcome greeted her when, in the early part of the next year,
1845, she and the Prince paid visits, first to Stowe, the seat of the
Duke of Buckingham, and afterwards to Strathfieldsaye, where the Duke
of Wellington realised his cherished wish to entertain his Sovereign
under his own roof. Of this visit Mr. Anson writes : " The Duke takes the
Queen in to dinner, and sits by Her Majesty, and after dinner gets up and
says, 'With your Majesty's permission I give the health of Her Majesty';
and then the same for the Prince. They then adjourn to the library, and
the Duke sits on the sofa by the Queen for the rest of the evening, until
eleven o'clock, the Prince and the gentlemen being scattered about in the
library or the billiard room, which opens into it. In a large conservatory
beyond, the band of the Duke's Grenadier regiment plays throughout the
evening." The Queen and Prince returned to Windsor on the 4th of February for
the reassembling of Parliament, which was opened by Her Majesty in person.
In the Royal Speech, mention was made 'of the visits of the Emperor of Russia
and the King of the French, and the more cordial relations established with
the latter nation ; the success of recent measures for supplying the deficiencies
in the public revenue was noticed ; the probable increase of the navy estimates
owing to the progress of steam navigation was alluded to ; and the policy of
extending the facilities of academical education in Ireland was recommended.
Notwithstanding the state of political tension, on the 6th of June the Queen
gave her second costume ball at Buckingham Palace. The guests all wore
the dress of the period of George II.; it was, to quote Greville, "most
brilliant and amusing."
When the King of the French left England he was accompanied by the
Queen and Prince Albert so far as Portsmouth. This gave them an oppor-

106 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
tunity of inspecting the estate of Osborne, which had been brought to their
notice by Sir Robert Peel, who knew their wish to have a seaside residence
more convenient and private than the obsolete Pavilion at Brighton. The
inspection was satisfactory, and negotiations for the purchase of the estate
were concluded in March, 1845. Adjoining land has since been added,
so that the whole estate now extends over 2,000 acres. The old house not
having sufficient accommodation for the Royal household, a new building
was erected, the first stone of which was laid in the following June. The
laying out and planting of the grounds, and the working of the home farm,
were sources of endless delight to the Prince. Writing at the time to
Baron Stockmar, he says : " Our property pleases us better and better
every day, and is a most appropriate place of residence for us. It gives
us the opportunity of inspecting the experimental squadron (which consists
of five sail of the line, four frigates and several steam vessels), and of having
it manoeuvred before us. Since the war no such fleet has been assembled
on the English coast, and it has this additional interest, that every possible
new invention and discovery in the naval department will be tried."
On the gth of August, 1845, tne Queen in person prorogued Parliament,
and the same evening Her Majesty and the Prince started from Woolwich in
the Royal Yacht for Antwerp, on their way to pay a visit to the King
of Prussia, who met his Royal guests at Aix-la-Chapelle, and travelled with
them to Cologne. From that city the Queen visited Bonn, where so much of
Prince Albert's youth was spent. Thence they passed up the Rhine, and
after spending one day at the King's Castle of Stotzenfels, on the 19th
entered Coburg. Here they were received by the Duke Ernest, and by
the King and Queen of the Belgians and the Duchess of Kent During their
stay at Coburg the Queen and Prince were lodged at the Rosenau, occupying
the room in which the Prince had been born, and on the 26th keeping
the Prince's birthday. On the next morning, "with heavy hearts," the Queen
and he left the well-loved place for Rheinhardtsbrunn. This, next to the
Rosenau, pleased the Queen more than any of the places she had visited,
and here she would have gladly stayed longer; but time did not permit.

BIRTH OF PRINCESS HELENA. 107
After a few days' sojourn at Gotha, the journey homeward was continued by the
Rhine to Antwerp, where the Victoria and Albert met the Royal party. The
yacht left the Scheldt on the 7th of September, and next morning arrived off
Treport, where the King and Queen of the French received them as their
guests for one night at the Chateau d'Eu.
The winter of 1845-6 was an anxious and critical time. The appearance
of the potato disease in Ireland seemed to foreshadow a famine, and the conse
quent necessity of a settlement of the Corn Law question agitated the whole
of the political world. During the progress of the struggle between the rival
parties the Queen, on the 25th of May, 1846, gave birth to her third daughter,
who, on the 25th of July, was christened Helena Augusta Victoria, her sponsors
being the Duchess of Orleans, represented by the Duchess of Kent, the
Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and the Duchess of Cam
bridge. The Court removed from Buckingham Palace to Osborne on the 7 th of
August, and on the 18th the Queen and Prince, with some of their children,
started for a cruise in the Victoria and Albert. They visited Weymouth, Mount
Edgcumbe, and the Channel Islands, with which they were much delighted.
They also saw the Land's End and St. Michael's Mount, and landing at
Fowey, inspected the Castle and Mine of Restormel. Returning to the Isle
of Wight on the 10th of September, they took possession a few days later of
their new home at Osborne. In the same autumn they stayed with Queen
Adelaide at Cassiobury, and thence passed to Hatfield, where they met
the Duke of Wellington, Lord John Russell, and Lord Melbourne, who, since
his retirement from public life, had been very rarely seen by the Queen.
Later in the year a visit was paid by the Queen and Prince to the Duke of
Norfolk at Arundel. Christmas was spent at Osborne.
On February the 12th, 1847, the Chancellorship of the University of
Cambridge became vacant by the death of the Duke of Northumberland, and
on the 27 th Prince Albert was elected to the vacant post, to the great gratifica
tion of the Queen, who, writing to her uncle, says : " Of course you have seen
that Albert (after having declined, so that he had nothing to do with the

108 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
unseemly contest) has been elected Chancellor of Cambridge. He could not do
otherwise than accept it. We have been gratified at the great kindness and
respect shown towards Albert by such numbers of distinguished people." The
public installation of the Prince took place in July, when he was accompanied
by the Queen to Cambridge, where they stayed at the Lodge of Trinity College.
On the day of installation at the Senate House, the Queen was received at the
door by the Prince and conducted by him to her place ; then after the giving of
the prizes, the Installation Ode, written for the occasion by Wordsworth, the
Poet Laureate, was performed; concerts, receptions, and a levee were held,
and after a most successful visit in beautiful weather, the Court returned to
Buckingham Palace.
On the 23rd of July the Queen in person prorogued Parliament in the
recently- completed House of Lords, and on the nth of August the Queen and
Prince, who had gone from London to the Isle of Wight, left Osborne, with
their two eldest children, on the Royal yacht for a journey to Scotland, where
they proposed to stay at Ardverikie, a shooting lodge placed at their disposal
by Lord Abercorn, who rented it from Lord Henry Bentinck. On the way the
Scilly Isles were visited, then Milford Haven and the Isle of Man, whence the
squadron passed to the West Coast of Scotland, and up the Clyde to Dum
barton ; and, passing the Kyles of Bute, up Loch Fyne to Inverary, where the
Queen was received by the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in true Highland
fashion. Here the Queen saw for the first time the young Marquis of Lome,
just two years old, afterwards to become her son-in-law. On leaving Inverary,
Staffa and Iona were visited, and at Fort William Prince Albert went to Glencoe.
From Fort William the whole party journeyed by land to Loch Laggan, by
which Ardverikie is built. It was then remarkable for the drawings made on
the walls by Sir E. Landseer, which unfortunately were destroyed later by fire.
After a month's stay at this delightful spot, details of which are to be found in
the Queen's " Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands," the Royal
party left for the south on the 17th of September, and landing at the new
harbour of Fleetwood, after a short stay at the Isle of Man returned to London.
Christmas was spent at Windsor, and with the new year came the beginning

CHARTIST DEMONSTRATION. 109
of the great outbreak of revolution which spread over all the Continent.
Writing to Stockmar on the 27th of February, 1848, Prince Albert says: "The
posture of affairs is bad ; European war is at our doors ; France is ablaze in
every quarter ; Louis Philippe is wandering about in disguise, so is the Queen.
.... Guizot is a prisoner, the republic declared, the army ordered to the
frontier, the incorporation of Belgium and the Rhenish provinces proclaimed.
Here they refuse to pay the income tax, and attack the Ministry ; Victoria will
be confined in a few days ; our poor good grandmamma (the Duchess
Dowager of Gotha) is taken from this world." The King and Queen of the
French eventually landed at Newhaven, and were joined at Claremont by the
other members of their family ; here they passed the remainder of their lives.
Amid the gloom of these events, a Princess was born at Buckingham Palace
on the 1 8th of March, and was christened Louise Caroline Alberta on the 14th
of the following May by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Throughout these stormy and troublous times the Queen continued in
excellent health and spirits. Writing on the 4th of April to King Leopold,
Her Majesty says: "From the first I heard all that passed; and my only
thoughts and talk were politics. But I never was calmer and quieter, or less
nervous. Great events make me calm; it is only trifles that irritate my
nerves." The leaders of the Chartist movement in London at this time were endea
vouring to imitate the revolutions in Continental states. A huge demonstration
was planned for the 10th of April, 1848, when they announced their intention to
assemble on Kennington Common to the number of 150,000, and to present to
Parliament a monster petition, which, it was asserted, had been signed by more
than 5,000,000 sympathisers. The magnitude of the assembly, and the threats
of their leaders, were met by the Government with well-devised preparations.
The Bank and other public buildings were put in a state of defence, and more
than 170,000 civilians enrolled themselves as special constables, among the
number being Prince Louis Napoleon, afterwards Emperor. The Duke of
Wellington, as Commander-in-Chief, disposed the troops at his command in
readiness for any real disturbance, should it arrive, and in conversation at Lord

no MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
Palmerston's house, said to Chevalier Bunsen, " Yes, we have taken our
measures ; but not a soldier or piece of artillery shall you see, unless in actual
need. Should the force of law, the mounted or unmounted police, be over
powered or in danger, then the troops shall advance — then is their time ! But it
is not fair on either side to call them in to do the work of police ; the military
must not be confounded with the police, nor merged in the police." Owing to
the admirable precautions taken for the public safety, the demonstration was a
complete and ignominious failure. The Queen and Prince, under the advice of
the Ministry, had left London for Osborne, whence, on the following day, the
Queen addressed to the Duke of Wellington the autograph letter which has, by
permission, been reproduced opposite page 104. In Ireland, at the same time,
the forces of sedition were particularly active ; but the timely arrest of the
leaders, and the sentence of John Mitchell to transportation for fourteen years,
effectually checked any serious insurrection.
On the 5th of September, 1848, when Her Majesty prorogued Parliament
in person, she was able to say : "I have had the satisfaction of being able to
preserve peace for my own dominions, and to maintain our domestic tranquillity.
The strength of our institutions has been tried, and has not been found
wanting. I have studied to preserve the people committed to my charge in
the enjoyment of that temperate freedom which they so justly value. My people,
on their side, feel too sensibly the advantages of order and security, to allow
the promoters of pillage and confusion any chance of success in their wicked
designs." On the 8th of the same month the Queen saw for the first time Balmoral,
which had been rented from the Earl of Aberdeen on the recommendation of
Sir James Clark. The site and scenery delighted both the Queen and Prince,
who soon became possessors of the whole domain, which they afterwards
enlarged, till it has become one of the finest estates in the Highlands, and
the Queen's favourite abode. In the Queen's "Leaves from the Journal
of our Life in the Highlands," she gives her impression of the place — "We
walked out and went up to the top of the wooded hill opposite our windows,
where there is a cairn, and up which there is a pretty winding path. The

THEATRICALS AT WINDSOR. in
view from here, looking down upon the house, is charming. ... It was so
calm and so solitary, it did one good as one gazed around ; and the pure
mountain air was most refreshing. All seemed to breathe freedom and peace,
and to make one forget the world and its sad turmoils. The scenery is wild,
and yet not desolate ; and everything looks much more prosperous and culti
vated than at Laggan. Then the soil is delightfully dry. We walked beside
the Dee, a beautiful rapid stream which is close behind the house. The view
of the hills towards Invercauld is exceedingly fine. In the first deer drive
in the Balloch Buie forest, the Prince shot a fine royal stag ; and the keepers
said ' it was Her Majesty's coming out that brought good luck.' I was sup
posed to have a lucky foot, of which the Highlanders think a great deal."
Christmas of this year was spent at Windsor, and here, a few days later,
was given the first of the series of theatrical performances which was continued
at intervals till 1861. Her Majesty had always delighted in the dramatic
art, and was a constant visitor to the theatres as well as to the Opera in
London, and the playbill of every performance she has honoured with
her presence has been carefully preserved. The performances at Windsor
Castle took place during the stay of the Court in the winter season, and were
given in the large room on the north side known as the Rubens Room, in
which a stage of fairly ample dimensions could be erected. The first per
formance was The Merchant of Venice, in which Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean
appeared as Shylock and Portia. Mr. Kean continued to direct the enter
tainments till he gave up his London management in 1857, and under his
direction thirty-five performances were given. After his retirement, Mr. W. B.
Donne, Her Majesty's Examiner of Plays, was entrusted with the direction,
and under him ten more evenings were devoted to dramatic representations.
Plays of Shakespeare were performed on fourteen occasions. The last of this
series of entertainments was on the 31st of January, 1861. The next Christmas
was the time of the saddest sorrow in the life of the Queen, and it was not
till thirty years had passed away that a stage was erected and that the
Queen again witnessed a play in the Castle. In March, 1891, the Savoy
Theatre Company performed The Gondoliers. The stage was not as formerly

112 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
in the Rubens Room, but was fitted up at one end of the Waterloo Gallery,
which afforded more ample accommodation. Since then, at various times,
other performances have taken place, and the Queen has had the opportunity
of seeing the most eminent of the actors and actresses of the day. Besides
these professional performances, the members of the Royal family, many of
whom have inherited the Queen's love of the drama, have organized in the
comparative privacy of Osborne and Balmoral, entertainments of a similar
character, carried out with much care and completeness.
On the 2nd of February, 1849, the Queen again personally opened
Parliament. The outlook was clouded by the continued distress in Ireland
and by a revolt in the Punjab; the latter was speedily quelled, but the
former still gave ground for serious anxiety. It had long been the wish of the
Queen and Prince to visit Ireland, and it was hoped that the sympathy of their
sovereign, marked by her presence among her suffering subjects, might have a
cheering influence. In August, therefore, the Queen and Prince, with their
four children, embarked at Cowes on the Royal yacht, under an escort of four
steamers, and landed at the Cove of Cork. At the moment when the Queen
stepped for the first time on Irish shore, the sun burst in splendour from the
clouds, and to a deputation of the townsmen Her Majesty communicated
her pleasure that the town of Cove, in commemoration of her visit, should
henceforth bear the name of Queenstown. Having re-embarked, the Royal
party proceeded up the river to Cork, where their reception was most
enthusiastic. The Queen in her Journal specially notes, " The beauty of the
women is very remarkable and struck us much; such beautiful dark eyes
and hair, and such fine teeth; almost every third woman was pretty, and
some remarkably so."
On the morning of August the 5th, the squadron dropped down the
river, and made direct for Dublin, arriving at Kingstown the next afternoon.
Of this approach to the capital of Ireland the Queen says, " It is a splendid
harbour and was full of ships of every kind. The wharf, where the landing
place was prepared, was densely crowded ; and, altogether, it was a noble and
stirring scene. It was just seven when we entered, and the setting sun lit

VISIT TO IRELAND. 113
up the country, the fine buildings, and the whole scene with a glowing light,
which was truly beautiful. We were soon surrounded by boats, and the
enthusiasm and excitement of the people were extreme." The Queen landed
on the 6th of August, and, passing through Dublin to the Vice-regal Lodge
in the Phcenix Park, was again highly gratified with her reception. " It was,"
as she records in her Journal, "a wonderful and striking scene, such masses
of human beings, so enthusiastic, so excited, yet such perfect order maintained ;
then the number of troops, the different bands stationed at certain distances,
the waving of hats and handkerchiefs, the bursts of welcome which rent
the air — all made it a never-to-be-forgotten scene, when one reflected how
lately the country had been in open revolt and under martial law." On
the 8th the Queen held a Court and Levde at the Castle, at which addresses
were received from the Lord Mayor and Corporation, the University, the
clergy, and others, and two thousand of the Irish gentry were presented.
Next morning was devoted to a review, and in the evening the Queen again
visited the Castle to hold a Drawing-room, at which one thousand six
hundred ladies were presented. After a short visit to Carton, the seat of
the Duke of Leinster, Her Majesty re-embarked at Kingstown. It is recorded
that, as the yacht approached the end of the pier where the crowd was
densest, the Queen ran along the deck and, mounting the paddle-box to join
Prince Albert, took his arm, and waved her hand to the people on the
piers. The speed of the vessel was slackened, and the Royal standard was
lowered five times in courtesy to the cheering thousands on shore.
After a rough passage Belfast was reached, where the reception was as
loyal and hearty as in Cork and Dublin. In her progress through the city
Her Majesty witnessed with much interest the exhibition of the flax and linen
manufacture. In the afternoon the Royal party returned down the Lough,
intending to make for the Firth of Clyde ; but a heavy gale rendered it
impossible to get under way, and it was not till the next afternoon (Sunday)
that it was decided to attempt the journey. After a most tempestuous passage,
Loch Ryan on the west coast of Argyllshire was reached, and the yacht
anchored. From Loch Ryan Prince Albert made a visit to Loch Lomond,

ii4 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
the weather being too stormy for the Queen to attempt to accompany him, and
rejoined Her Majesty at Roseneath Bay, whence they proceeded to Glasgow,
and after spending a night in Perth, passed by the Spittal of Glenshee to
Balmoral, where their younger children were waiting their arrival.
The life of the Queen and the Prince in their Highland home is best
described in the Queen's own book; but an interesting account of a visit
paid to the Castle during this year (1849) is given by Greville in his
Journal : "I am glad to have made this expedition, and to have seen the Queen
and Prince in their Highland retreat, where they certainly appear to great
advantage. The place is very pretty, the house very small. They live here
without any state whatever; they live not merely like private gentlefolk, but
like very small gentlefolk — small house, small rooms, small establishment.
There are no soldiers, and the whole guard of the Sovereign and the whole
Royal Family is a single policeman, who walks about the grounds to keep off
impertinent intruders or improper characters. . . . They live with the
greatest simplicity and ease. The Prince shoots every morning, returns to
luncheon, and then they walk and drive. The Queen is running in and out of
the house all day long, and often goes about alone, walks into the cottages, and
sits down and chats with the old women. I never before was in society with
the Prince, or had any conversation with him. ... I was greatly struck
with him. I saw at once (what I had always heard) that he is very intelligent
and highly cultivated, and, moreover, that he has a thoughtful mind, and thinks
of subjects worth thinking about. He seemed very much at his ease, very gay,
pleasant, and without the least stiffness or air of dignity."
The Prince's mind was indeed at this moment full of things worth
thinking about. Before leaving London for the visit to Ireland he had held
the first meeting on the subject of the Great Exhibition, which was two years
later to inaugurate a new era in the arts and manufactures of the country.
The first germ of the movement may be traced to the Frankfort fairs of the
sixteenth century. The idea was still further developed by the French, who
brought together great collections of art and industry with a view to the
improvement of both. The Society of Arts in London had also held on a small

PROJECT FOR INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 115
scale several exhibitions of the same nature, which had produced beneficial
results on our own manufactures. But to Prince Albert is due the idea that,
by making this kind of exhibition international — an idea for the first time
practicable owing to the improved means of communication afforded by steam
and rail — an opportunity would be given for every country to show what it
could produce in raw material and finished products of every kind, as well in
arts as in manufactures. This would enable each nation to see what itself was
doing, and to compare its work with that of other countries whose competition
in the markets of the world would have to be taken into account. On the 30th
of July the Prince summoned to Buckingham Palace four of the most active
members of the Society of Arts — Mr. Cubitt, Mr. Cole, Mr. Fuller, and Mr.
Scott Russell, and to them he explained his views. These gentlemen, with
Mr. Digby Wyatt, undertook to make the necessary inquiries of the great body
of manufacturers throughout the kingdom, and to see whether the idea would
meet with their favour and support. Their reports proved highly encouraging.
The sympathies of the Colonies and of the East India Company were enlisted,
and the cordial assent of the Prince President of the French Republic was
given. From this time the movement went forward, without serious hindrance,
towards the attainment of its magnificent success.
On the 27 th of September the Queen and Prince left Balmoral, and, halting
for a night at Howick on a visit to Earl Grey, proceeded to Osborne. There, a
few days afterwards, news reached them of the sudden death of Mr. Anson, the
Prince's private secretary, and Keeper of the Queen's Privy Purse — offices
afterwards filled by Colonel the Hon. Sir Charles Phipps and General the Hon.
Charles Grey. Of the Prince's regard for Mr. Anson mention has already
been made.
The opening of the new Coal Exchange of the City of London had
been fixed for the 30th of October, 1849, but the Queen was unfortunately
prevented from performing the ceremony in person owing to a slight attack
of chicken-pox. The building was therefore opened by Prince Albert, accom
panied on the occasion by the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, who
thus made their first public appearance. The route to the City was by water.

116 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
The Royal barge, manned by seven-and-twenty watermen, conveyed the party
down the river, which on the north side was covered by a line of steamers
moored close to each other from Whitehall to London Bridge, and on the
south side by a similar line of barges and lighters, the whole of which were
thronged with spectators. The Royal barge was escorted by the City barge,
and followed by the barges of the Admiralty and the Trinity House. No
pageant of the same character had been seen on these waters for scores of
years, and has never been witnessed again. On landing at the Custom
House, an address was presented to Prince Albert, after which the party were
entertained at luncheon by the Lord Mayor, when, among other toasts, the
health of the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal was received with
enthusiastic demonstrations.
For some time past the Dowager Queen Adelaide had been seriously ill,
and on the 2nd of December she died at her house at Stanmore. A few days
before, the Queen and Prince Albert had seen her for the last time, and in a letter
to King Leopold the Queen wrote: " I shall never forget the visit we paid to
the Priory last Thursday. There was death written in that dear face. It was
such a picture of misery, of complete aneantissement — and yet she talked of
everything. I could hardly command' my feelings when I came in, and when
I kissed twice that poor dear thin hand ... I love her so dearly. She has
ever been so maternal in her affection to me. She will find peace and a reward
for her many sufferings." Again on the 4th the Queen wrote to her uncle:
" Though we daily expected this sad event, yet it came as suddenly, when it
did come, as if she had never been ill, and I can hardly realise the truth now.
You know how very kind she was at all times to me, and how admirably she
behaved from the time the King died. She was truly motherly in her kindness
to us and to our children, and it always made her happy to be with us, and to
see us ! She is a great loss to us both, and an irreparable one to hundreds and
hundreds. She is universally regretted, and the feeling shown is very gratifying.
.... Poor Mama is very much cut up by this sad event, and to her the
Queen is a very great and serious loss."
The early part of 1850 was entirely devoted by the Prince to the organi-

STRIKING SPEECH BY PRINCE ALBERT. 117
sation of the great enterprise he had undertaken for the next year. He had
received warm encouragement from many and influential quarters, but there
was an undercurrent of hostile criticism which occasioned him much anxiety.
The first great public meeting on the subject of the Exhibition, held on
the 2 1 st of February at Willis's Rooms, was a conspicuous success. But
the strongest impetus to the movement was given by the Prince himself in his
speech at the banquet held at the Mansion House on the 21st of March, when
he explained to the Ambassadors of foreign States, to the Royal Commissioners
for the Exhibition, and to the chief magistrates of more than two hundred
towns, his conception of the scope and purpose of the proposed Exhibition.
This memorable speech, too long to be quoted in these pages but well worth
perusal, was received with enthusiasm, and the congratulations which the
Prince received assured him that his cherished scheme had taken a firm hold
on the hearts of the people. The Queen was deeply touched by the warmth
with which her husband's powers of mind and heart were received, and writing
to her uncle a few days afterwards, says of the Prince : " People are much
struck by his great power and energy ; by the great self-denial and constant
wish to work for others which are so striking in his character. But this is
the happiest life. Pining for what one cannot have, and trying to run after
what is pleasantest, invariably end in disappointment."
Of the great self-denial invariably shown by the Prince a conspicuous
instance occurred almost immediately after these lines had been written by
the Queen. The Duke of Wellington proposed that the Prince should succeed
him in his office of Commander-in-Chief. This "tempting offer for a young
man," as the Prince himself terms it, was fully discussed, and eventually
refused, for reasons which the Prince embodied in a letter to the Duke. One
paragraph of this letter is quoted here, as it explains the course of action which
his Royal Highness had adopted when first he became the Consort of the
Queen, and this he continued to pursue while his life was spared to Her
Majesty and to the nation. " Whilst a female Sovereign has a great many
disadvantages in comparison with a King, yet, if she is married, and her
husband understands and does his duty, her position, on the other hand, has

118 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
many compensating advantages, and, in the long run, will be found even to
be stronger than that of a male Sovereign. But this requires that the husband
should entirely sink his own individual existence in that of his wife ; that he
should aim at no power by himself or for himself; should shun all contention,
assume no separate responsibility before the public, but make his position
entirely a part of hers ; fill up every gap which, as a woman, she would
naturally leave in the exercise of her regal functions ; continually and anxiously
watch every part of the public business, in order to be able to advise and
assist her at any moment in any of the multifarious and difficult questions or
duties brought before her, sometimes international, sometimes political, or
social, or personal. As the natural head of her family, superintendent of her
household, manager of her private affairs, sole confidential adviser in politics,
and only assistant in her communications with the officers of the Government,
he is, besides, the husband of the Queen, the tutor of the Royal children, the
private secretary of the Sovereign, and her permanent Minister." The Duke
of Wellington was convinced by the arguments of the Prince, and Lord John
Russell, to whom the whole correspondence, which may be found in Sir
Theodore Martin's "Life," was submitted, also agreed in the conclusions at
which the Queen and Prince had arrived.
On the 1 st of May, 1850, the Queen's seventh child and third son
was born at Buckingham Palace. The day was the birthday of the veteran
Duke of Wellington, and this coincidence gave the Queen and Prince the
opportunity of marking their friendship and esteem for one of their most
valued subjects. Writing a few days afterwards to Baron Stockmar, the
Prince says of the infant : " He is to be called Arthur William Patrick Albert.
His first name is in compliment to the good old Duke, on whose eighty-first
birthday he first saw the light. Patrick is in remembrance of our recent visit to
Ireland; William, of the Prince of Prussia (late Emperor of Germany), whom
we shall ask to be godfather, and also in remembrance of poor Queen Adelaide,
on whose account we have also selected the Duchess Ida of Saxe- Weimar
(Queen Adelaide's sister) as godmother. My name the Queen insists on
retaining by way of coda" The infant Prince, now Duke of Connaught, was

FURTHER VISIT TO EDINBURGH. 119
baptized in the following June, the Prince of Prussia and the Duke of
Wellington both being present.
On the 27th of May the Queen was again the object of a cowardly
outrage while leaving Cambridge House, where her uncle was lying at the
point of death. A man, dressed as a gentleman, darted forward and struck
with a stick at the Queen's face ; the force of the blow was fortunately broken
by the bonnet, which was crushed in, but Her Majesty's forehead was severely
bruised. The injury was not so serious as to prevent a visit to the opera in
the evening, where, on the appearance of Her Majesty, the performance was
stopped, and the National Anthem sung amidst enthusiastic cheering. The
ruffian proved to be one Robert Pate, formerly holding a commission in the
10th Hussars. He was tried on the nth of July, found guilty, and sentenced
to seven years' transportation.
On the 29th of July of this year the Queen lost a valued friend and
counsellor in Sir Robert Peel, who died from the effects of a fall from his
horse on Constitution Hill. In a letter written to her uncle a few days after
wards Her Majesty says : — " The sorrow and grief at his death are most
touching, and the country mourns over him as over a father. Every one seems
to have lost a personal friend." Nor was this the only loss which this year
was to bring. Before Sir Robert Peel was laid in his grave, the Duke of
Cambridge, who had been long ill, died, and the news arrived of the serious
illness of the Queen of the Belgians, an illness which proved fatal in October
following. Her father, the exiled Louis Philippe, had passed away at Clare
mont on the 25th of August, just as the Queen and Prince Albert were starting
for Scotland to enjoy a brief respite from the cares of State, which, at this
crisis, were more than usually burdensome, owing to the state of foreign affairs.
On the journey to the north the Queen and Prince rested at Castle
Howard, the seat of the Earl of Carlisle, and on the continuation of the
journey to Edinburgh opened the railway bridge at Newcastle over the Tyne,
and another at Berwick over the Tweed. At Edinburgh the Queen occupied
the Royal palace of Holyrood, which then for the first time since the flight of
Mary Queen of Scots sheltered a Queen. The stay in the northern capital

120 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
was keenly enjoyed, the Queen especially admiring the view from Arthur's
Seat, to which she climbed. During this visit the Prince laid the first stone
of the Scottish National Gallery. The whole of the month of September was
passed at Balmoral, and on the 10th of October the Royal party returned to
the south, passing one night at Holyrood on the journey.
The serenity of the political atmosphere at the close of the year was
seriously disturbed by a Brief from the Vatican, which re-established in the
kingdom of England a hierarchy of Bishops, deriving their titles from English
Sees. It came at a moment when the " Tractarian " movement had caused
much excitement among the members of the Church of England, and the
popular indignation at this "aggression" was raised to fervent heat. Sir
Theodore Martin, in his Life of the Prince Consort, writes : " Men of all
classes and all denominations poured in addresses to the Crown condemning
in the strongest terms the invasion of the Royal supremacy, and urging deter
mined resistance to the Papal pretensions. The Universities of Oxford and
Cambridge, and the Corporation of London, sent their representatives by
hundreds with similar addresses to Windsor Castle, where they were presented
in St. George's Hall on the 10th of December. To each of these replies were
returned by Her Majesty in person. The Oxford address, presented by the
Duke of Wellington as Chancellor, was noted at the time as having been read
by him ' in his peculiar energetic manner, with great vigour and animation.'
The Cambridge address," the same chronicler states, "was read by the Prince
' with great clearness and well-marked emphasis,' and responded to by Her
Majesty ' with great deliberation and with decided accents.' " These addresses
and replies were drawn up with a moderation which might well have been
imitated by some of Her Majesty's Ministers. In a letter on the subject to
her aunt, the Duchess of Gloucester, the Queen writes : "I would never have
consented to say anything which breathed a spirit of intolerance. Sincerely
Protestant as I always have been and always shall be, and indignant as I am
at those who call themselves Protestant while they are, in fact, quite the
contrary, I must regret the unchristian and intolerant spirit exhibited by many
people at the public meetings. I cannot bear to hear the violent abuse of the

OPENING OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION— 1 851. 121
Catholic religion, which is so painful and so cruel towards the many good
and innocent Roman Catholics. However, we must hope and trust this
excitement will cease, and that the wholesome effect of it upon our Church
will be lasting.' '
On the 4th of February, 1851, Parliament was opened by Her Majesty
in person. The Queen was loudly cheered, the cheers being mingled with the
cry of "No Popery!" Fierce debates on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill
followed ; the Government was beaten, and resigned ; but, as Lord Stanley
was not prepared to form a Government, Lord John Russell and his
colleagues resumed office. It was not till the middle of the year that the
excitement caused by the explosion died away. During this anxious time the
Queen and Prince were much occupied with the hard work and anxieties caused
by the approach of the opening of the Great Exhibition. Croakers and
prophets of evil were busy all around. Writing to the Dowager Duchess of
Coburg, the Prince, a fortnight before the appointed day, says: "Just at
present I am more dead than alive from overwork. The opponents of the
Exhibition work with might and main to throw all the women into panic and
to drive myself crazy. The strangers, they give out, are certain to commence
a thorough revolution here, to murder Victoria and myself, and to proclaim the
Red Republic in England ; the plague is certain to ensue from the confluence
of such vast multitudes, and to swallow up those whom the increased price of
everything has not already swept away. For all this I am to be responsible,
and against all this I have to make efficient provision."
The success of the Exhibition is a matter of history : no building like it
had ever before been seen, and no such collection of arts and manufactures had
ever been brought together. Of the opening ceremony the Queen gives her own
impressions in her diary : " May 1. — The great event has taken place— a com
plete and beautiful triumph — a glorious and touching sight, one which I shall
ever be proud of for my beloved Albert and my country. . . . Yes, it is a
day which makes my heart swell with pride and glory and thankfulness ! . . .
The glimpse of the transept through the iron gates, the waving palms, flowers,
statues, myriads of people filling the galleries and seats around, with the flourish

122 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
of trumpets as we entered, gave us a sensation which I can never forget, and
I felt much moved. . . . The sight as we came to the middle, where the
steps and chair (which I did not sit on) were placed, with the beautiful crystal
fountain just in front of it, was magical— so vast, so glorious, so touching-
One felt — as so many did whom I have since spoken to — filled with devotion —
more so than by any service I have ever heard. The tremendous cheers, the
joy expressed in every face, the immensity of the building . . . the organ
(with two hundred instruments and six hundred voices) which sounded like
nothing, and my beloved husband, the author of this ' Peace Festival,' which
united the industry of all nations of the earth — all this was moving indeed, and
it was, and is, a day to live for ever. God bless my dearest Albert, God bless
my dearest country, which has shown itself so great to-day ! One felt so
grateful to the great God, who seemed to pervade all and to bless all. The
only event it in the slightest degree reminded one of was the Coronation, but
this day's festival was a thousand times superior. In fact, it is unique, and can
bear no comparison, from its peculiarity, beauty, and combination of such
different and striking objects. ... I must not omit to mention an interesting
episode of this day, viz., the visit of the good old Duke on this his eighty-
second birthday to his little godson, our dear little boy. He came to us both
at five, and gave him a golden cup and some toys which he had himself chosen,
and Arthur gave him a nosegay. We dined en famille, and then went to the
Covent Garden Opera. I was rather tired, but we were both so happy, so full
of thankfulness ! God is indeed our kind and merciful Father ! "
On the 13th of June Her Majesty gave a State ball of great magnificence,
at which all the company wore costumes of the time of the Restoration, and on
the 9th of July the Queen and Prince accepted the invitation of the Lord Mayor
and the Corporation of London to an entertainment to celebrate the success of
the Great Exhibition. The route lay through the City from Temple Bar ; it
was brilliantly illuminated, and the crowd in the streets enormous. The
Guildhall was magnificently decorated, and supper was served in the ancient
crypt. After a short stay at Osborne the Queen and Prince returned to London

VISIT TO LANCASHIRE. 123
for the prorogation of Parliament on the 8th of August, and for another visit
to the Exhibition. On the 29th they arrived at Balmoral, now the property of
Her Majesty, to enjoy the rest and quiet so much needed after the strain and
anxieties of the summer. The journey was for the first time made by the Great
Northern Railway. It had been arranged that on the return journey a visit
should be paid to Liverpool, now the first shipping port of the kingdom.
After halting at Lancaster to see " Gaunt's embattled pile," the Royal party
paid a visit to Croxteth, the seat of the Earl of Sefton, whence, next morning,
passing through Knowsley, they reached Liverpool. Here the warmth of their
reception was unchilled by the unusually inclement weather. Having viewed
the docks, Her Majesty left Liverpool by canal for Worsley Hall, the seat
of the Earl of Ellesmere. Thence she visited Manchester, where, in finer
weather, she was received by enthusiastic multitudes. The great feature of
the reception was the gathering of eighty thousand children of schools of all
denominations, who were arranged in fourteen tiers of galleries round the Peel
Park. Of this spectacle the Queen in her diary speaks as " A most extraordinary
and totally unprecedented sight  All the children sang ' God save the
Queen ' extremely well together, the director being placed on a very high
stand, from which he could command the whole park. It was a very pleasant
and interesting visit. We went through Manchester and had an opportunity
of seeing the extraordinary number of warehouses and manufactories it
contains, and how large it is."
Windsor was reached on the nth of October. On the 14th the Queen paid
her final visit to the Exhibition, which was formally closed on the morrow.
Lord John Russell, writing to the Queen on the 17th, sums up its career and
results in the following words: "The grandeur of the conception, the zeal,
invention, and talent displayed in the execution, and the perfect order main
tained from the first day to the last, have contributed together to give imper
ishable fame to Prince Albert. If to others much praise is due for their several
parts in the work, it is to his energy and judgment that the world owes both
the original design and the harmonious and rapid execution. Whatever
may be done hereafter, no one can deprive the Prince of the glory of being

124 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
the first to conceive and to carry into effect this beneficent design, nor will
the Monarchy fail to participate in the advantage to be derived from this
undertaking. No Republic of the Old or New World has done anything so
splendid or so useful." In acknowledging this letter the Queen wrote: "We
are both much pleased and touched at Lord John's kind and gratifying expres
sions relative to the success of the Great Exhibition, the closing of which we
must much regret, as, indeed, all seem to do. Lord John is right in supposing
it is particularly gratifying to her to see her beloved husband's name stand
ever immortalised by the conception of the greatest triumph of Peace which
the world has ever produced, and by the energy and perseverance with which
he helped to carry it out. To feel this and to see this so universally acknow
ledged by a country, which we both daily feel more attached to and more
proud of, is indeed a source of immense happiness and gratitude to the
Queen. . . . The day of the closing of the Exhibition (which the Queen
regretted much she could not witness) was the twelfth anniversary of her
betrothal to the Prince, which is a curious coincidence."
In November of this year the Queen lost her only remaining uncle on
her father's side, by the death of Ernest, Duke of Cumberland and King of
Hanover. On the 2nd of December, 1851, occurred the coup d'etat of Louis
Napoleon. The year 1852 opened more cheerfully with a revival of trade, an influx
of gold from Australia causing a season of such unusual animation and gaiety,
that King Leopold was afraid of the effects for his nephew and niece. To calm
his apprehension, the Queen wrote to him on the 1st of June : " Allow me just
to say one word about the London season. The London season consists for
us of two State balls and two concerts. We are hardly ever later than twelve
o'clock at night, and our only dissipation is going three or four times a week
to the play or opera, which is a great amusement and dilassement to us both.
As for going out, as people do here every night, to balls and parties, and to
breakfasts and teas all day long besides, I am sure no one would stand it worse
than I should. So you see, dearest uncle, that in fact the London season is
nothing to us. The person who really is terribly fagged during the season

DEATH OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 125
with business and seeing people so constantly is Albert. This often makes me
anxious and unhappy."
Parliament was prorogued, somewhat early, on the 1st of July, by the Queen
in person, and two days afterwards the Court moved to Osborne. From this
centre several pleasant yachting trips were made. Dartmouth, Plymouth, and
Mount Edgcumbe were visited, and in the smaller yacht Fairy a cruise was
made up the Tamar. Tempestuous weather prevented a projected trip to the
Channel Islands, but on the 10th August it was found practicable to cross to
the Scheldt, and to pay King Leopold a visit at Laeken. Here the Queen and
Prince remained until the 14th, and then crossed to England, the weather again
being boisterous. On the 30th the Court left Osborne for Balmoral, whence
they returned to Windsor on the 14th of October, passing through Edinburgh,
Preston, and Chester to Bangor, to see the new tubular bridge built by Mr.
Robert Stephenson over the Menai Straits. During this sojourn at Balmoral
the news came to the Queen that a large fortune had been left her by a
Mr. John Camden Nield. Writing to King Leopold, Her Majesty remarked,
"It is astonishing, but it is satisfactory to see that people have so much
confidence that it will not be thrown away. And so it certainly will not be."
A sadder message reached Balmoral a few days after, when the great Duke
of Wellington on the 14th passed peacefully away at Walmer Castle. A
report had been received on the morning of the 16th, but was not generally
believed, and it was not till the afternoon when Her Majesty, who was
sketching at the Dhu Loch, received a letter from Lord Derby, " which,"
the Queen writes, " I tore open ; and alas ! it contained the confirmation
of the fatal news that England' 's, or rather Britain* s, pride, her glory, her
hero, the greatest man she had ever produced, was no more ! Sad day ! Great
and irreparable national loss ! ... In him centred almost every earthly
honour a subject could possess. His position was the highest a subject ever
had — above party, looked up to by all, revered by the whole nation, the friend of
the Sovereign ; and how simply he carried these honours ! . . . . He was a
link which connected us with bygone times, with the last century. Not an eye
will be dry in the whole country." Immediately on her return from Balmoral,

126 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
the Queen issued a general order to the army which the deceased soldier had
so long commanded. Its closing paragraph ran as follows : " The discipline
which he exacted from others, as the main foundation of the military character,
he sternly imposed upon himself; and the Queen desires to impress upon the
army that the greatest commander whom England ever saw has left an
example for the imitation of every soldier, in taking as his guiding principle in
every relation of life an energetic and unhesitating obedience to the call of
duty." The public funeral of the Duke was celebrated at St. Paul's on the
1 8th of November with great magnificence and solemnity.
On the 1st of December of this year the Senate and the Legislative Corps
of the French Republic announced to their President that he had been elected
Emperor of France by a majority of seven millions and a half of votes. Under
the title of Napoleon III., the new Emperor was recognized in England and
by the principal foreign powers, with the exception of Russia.
On the 7th of April, 1853, the fourth son of Her Majesty was born at
Buckingham Palace. The infant Prince was christened at the same place
on the 28th of June by the Archbishop of Canterbury, receiving the names
of Leopold George Duncan Albert; the first after the King of the Belgians,
the second after his sponsor, the new King of Hanover, and the third as a
compliment to Scotland.
At this time the urgent representations of the Queen and the Prince had
called the attention of the Ministry to the condition of our naval and military
forces. In the early part of the year 1853 Chobham Common was selected
for a camp to test the efficiency of the military organization. The idea of
a permanent camp of instruction was also pressed upon the Government, and
later on resulted in the acquisition of the tract of land where the military
station of Aldershot is now fixed.
In the summer the site selected at Chobham was occupied by an encampment
of a small, but well-appointed force of about 10,000 men of various branches
of the service. The spectacle was novel and interesting to a generation
which had not for nearly forty years had the opportunity of seeing a mass of
troops together under arms. On the 21st June the Queen and Prince Albert,

CAMP AT CHOBHAM. 127
with whom were the King of Hanover and the Duke of Coburg, witnessed
the first trial of field manoeuvres. Her Majesty, mounted on a black
charger, wore a military habit. An attack of measles, which ran through
the whole family, with the exception of the two youngest children, prevented
the Prince from taking the active part in the work of the camp to which he had
been looking forward with eagerness ; and it was not till the 4th of August
that he was able to accompany the Queen to witness the operations, which
were on that day carried out by the fresh body of troops who had taken the
places of the original occupants of the camp. On the 6th they returned to
Chobham with their four eldest children, celebrating by this treat the birthday
of the Prince. Of this visit the Queen wrote to King Leopold: "We went
twice more to our dear (as I call it) camp, and had two interesting days
there. It has been most successful, and the troops have been particularly
well all the time. When I think that this camp, and all our large fleet, are,
without doubt, the result of Albert's assiduous and unceasing representations
to the late and present government, without which I fully believe very little
would have been done, one may be proud and thankful ; but, as usual, he is
so modest that he allows no praise. He works for the general good, and is
sufficiently rewarded when he sees this carried out."
The camp was broken up on the 20th, having proved a complete success,
and a most important and valuable training for the active warfare in which the
troops who had taken part in it were so soon to be engaged. The review of
the large fleet assembled at Spithead took place on the nth of August; the
force assembled was the most powerful which, up to that time, had ever been
brought together, consisting of six ships of the line propelled by steam, three
sailing ships of the line, and sixteen steam frigates and sloops, carrying 1,076
guns and nearly 10,000 men. The steam power, it was recorded with admira
tion at the time, was nominally of 9,680 horses, but really of double the amount,
and therefore exceeded the horse-power of the whole collected cavalry of the
State ! The review had a melancholy interest also ; it was the last time when a
squadron of sailing ships of the line were watched from the English shores.
On the 29th of the same month the Queen, accompanied by Prince Albert

128 MARRIED LIFE; 1840—52.
and their two eldest sons, arrived at Kingstown from Holyhead to pay their
long-expected visit to the Exhibition of Irish Industry, which had been opened
earlier in the year at Dublin. They were received by the Lord Lieutenant and
proceeded to the Viceregal Lodge, and on the following day visited the Exhibi
tion. The Queen says of it, "Everything was well conducted, and the people
most kind." In deplorable weather the Queen and Prince paid a visit the
same day to Mr. Dargan, at whose sole expense the Exhibition building had
been constructed. His demeanour is noted as "trustingly simple and modest.
I would have made him a Baronet, but he was anxious it should not be done."
After a week's stay in Dublin, during which every morning was devoted to the
Exhibition, the Royal visitors left Ireland on the 3rd of September. Writing on
that date Her Majesty says : " A beautiful morning, and this the very day we are
going away, which we felt quite sorry to do, having spent such a pleasant, gay,
and interesting time in Ireland. . . . We drove quietly, though not at a foot's
pace, through Dublin, which was unusually crowded (no soldiers lining the
streets), to the station, where again there were great crowds. In eight minutes
we were at Kingstown, where again the crowds were immense, and most
enthusiastic. The evening was beautiful and the sight a very fine one — all the
ships and yachts decked out and firing salutes, and thousands on the quay
cheering." On the following morning they crossed to Holyhead, and jour
neyed by rail to Balmoral. Here on the 28th the foundation-stone of the new
house was laid with much ceremony.
It was in the early part of this year that the Prince had commenced a work
which was a source of keen enjoyment to him for the rest of his life, and helped
to distract his mind from the worry and turmoil of foreign politics. With the
Queen he had been paying much attention not only to the literary treasures with
which, under the care of Mr. Glover, the new Royal Library was being gradually
filled ; he had also carefully examined, and superintended the rearrangement of,
the great mass of drawings and engravings by old masters, left by George III.,
to which was added the priceless collection of portrait miniatures collected from
the different palaces. Every evening, when time could be spared, the Queen
and Prince would visit the Library, and spend hours in arranging these treasures,

THE BALL ROOM, BAI MORAL

ART TREASURES AT WINDSOR.

129

and here the Prince conceived the idea of illustrating the life and work of one
great master — Raphael — by a complete series of reproductions of his
designs, arranged systematically, with fac-similes of every known study for,
and variation of, each subject. The acquisition of the early engravings and
of the photographs necessary for a complete elucidation of the master's
work in painting fresco or tapestry, was a matter of long and arduous
labour, but the Prince lived to see a great mass of the work completed,
and the catalogue of the collection, which has since been printed, remains
as a lasting record of his power of organization, and a work of permanent
interest to every student of art.

BALMORAL CASTLE

. ..,.  _\ I

^W\^^&M

CHAPTER SEVEN.
MARRIED LIFE; 1853 — l86l.

n the winter of 1853 and the early part of the
next year the Queen had much trouble to endure.
War had been declared between Russia and
Turkey, and public feeling in England, already
vehemently excited, was raised to a supreme pitch
by the destruction of the Turkish fleet at Sinope.
The resignation of Lord Palmerston, who re
presented the warlike spirit of the people, in
flamed the public mind ; a loud outcry was raised
in the Press about Court intrigues, and absurd rumours were circulated that
Prince Albert was acting as a hostile influence behind the throne. It was

132 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
impossible for the Queen not to feel very keenly the injustice of these un
founded and mischievous attacks. In a letter to Lord Aberdeen of the 4th of
January, 1854, she wrote: "In attacking the Prince, who is one and the
same with the Queen herself, the throne is assailed ; and, she must say, she
little expected that any portion of her subjects would thus requite the unceas
ing labours of the Prince." On the 30th of January Parliament was opened
by the Queen, in person; the calumnies were completely refuted by the
Ministerial leaders in both Houses, and the reception accorded to the Queen
and the Prince is described by Her Majesty as "very friendly." In the
course of the same letter, to Baron Stockmar, she writes : — " We are both
well, and I am sure will now recover our necessary strength and equanimity
to meet the great difficulties and trials which are before us."
These difficulties and trials were the most serious with which, since her
accession, the Queen had been called upon to cope. For the first time she had
been obliged to commence hostilities against one of the European Powers, and,
as was stated in Her Majesty's declaration on the 28th of March, 1854, actuated
" by a desire to divert from her dominions most disastrous consequences, and to
save Europe from the predominance of a Power which had violated the faith of
treaties, and defied the opinion of the civilised world, to take up arms, in con
junction with the Emperor of the French, for the defence of the Sultan. Her
Majesty is persuaded that in so acting she will have the support of her people ;
and that the pretext of zeal for the Christian religion will be used in vain to
cover an aggression undertaken in disregard of its holy precepts and of its pure
and beneficent spirit." Before this formal declaration troops had already been
despatched to the East. Of one detachment, the Queen in a letter to King
Leopold, on February 28th, says : — " The last battalion of the Guards
(Scots Fusiliers) embarked to-day. They passed through the court-yard here
at seven o'clock this morning. We stood on the balcony to see them. The
morning fine, the sun shining over the towers of Westminster Abbey, and an
immense crowd collected to see the fine men, and cheering them immensely
as with difficulty they marched along. They formed line, presented arms,
and then cheered us very heartily, and went off cheering. It was a touching

SUFFERINGS OF THE ARMY. 133
and beautiful sight. Many sorrowing friends were there, and one saw the shake
of many a hand. My best wishes and prayers will be with them all."
On the 10th of March the Court left London for the Isle of Wight. At
Spithead lay the magnificent fleet, under the command of Sir Charles Napier,
which was under orders to sail for the Baltic. Through the twenty ships, all
but three propelled by steam, the Queen and Prince were conveyed in the Fairy
from Portsmouth to Osborne. The next day, in the same yacht, they returned
to witness the departure of the first division of the squadron for the North. The
Fairy led for some miles, and then stopped while the fleet passed by, saluting
as it went. The Queen, in a letter to Baron Stockmar, expresses her own
feelings in these words, "lam very enthusiastic about my dear Army and Navy,
and wish I had two sons in both now. I know I shall suffer much when I hear
of losses among them."
During the progress of the War the thoughts of the Queen and Prince
never strayed from the sailors and soldiers ; the success of their arms was a
source of deep pride and joy, but these feelings were saddened by the tales of
loss, suffering, famine, and disease, which arrived from the Camp before
Sebastopol. The winter was one of unusual severity, and the hardships
caused by its rigour at home increased the sympathy felt by all classes, as each
mail brought news of the sufferings of the troops on the bleak hills of the
Crimea. To Lord Raglan at the close of the year the Queen wrote : " The sad
privations of the Army, the bad weather, and the constant sickness are causes
of the deepest concern and anxiety to the Queen and Prince. The braver her
noble troops are, the more patiently and heroically they bear all their trials
and sufferings, the more miserable we feel at this long continuance. The Queen
trusts that Lord Raglan will be very strict in seeing that no unnecessary priva
tions are incurred by any negligence of those whose duty it is to watch over
their wants. . . . Lord Raglan cannot think how much we suffer for the
Army, and how painfully anxious we are to know that their privations are
decreasing. . . . The Queen cannot conclude without wishing Lord Raglan
and the whole of the Army, in the Prince's name and her own, a happy and
glorious New Year."

134 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
In the summer of 1854, the Queen and Prince received a visit from their
young relatives, the King of Portugal and his brother the Duke of Oporto, the
sons of the late Queen Donna Maria de Gloria, whom Her Majesty had known
from her childhood. With the Queen and Prince they went to Ascot Races, and
were present at the opening of the new Crystal Palace at Sydenham. On the
4th of September, in response to a very cordial invitation from the Emperor
Napoleon, Prince Albert left Osborne for Boulogne, to inspect the encampments
of French troops which had been formed in the vicinity. In the mutual liking
and esteem which resulted from this visit began a lasting friendship, drawn
closer by the tie of common sorrow which still unites the widowed Queen and
the widowed and now childless Empress of the French.
Parliament, which had been opened by the Queen in person on the 12th of
December, after a short but stormy and exciting session, in which the conduct
of the Ministry was severely criticised, adjourned till the 23rd of January, 1855,
when it re-assembled. The attacks on the Ministry were pressed with such
energy, that Lord Aberdeen and his colleagues were forced to retire. Though
the Queen's difficulties and anxieties were at length somewhat alleviated by
the formation of a Ministry under Lord Palmerston, yet the criticism of public
men grew more and more bitter. There was little brightness in the position
of things : the brilliant victories of Alma and Inkermann had produced no
tangible result ; Sebastopol still defied, and under Todleben grew stronger to
defy, the attacks of a force which, exposed to the rigour of a Scythian winter,
was daily thinned by sickness and privation.
On the 2nd of March, 1855, the Emperor Nicholas died at St. Petersburg,
and was succeeded by the Emperor Alexander II. A week later began the
series of deliberations between the Powers of Europe for the restoration of
peace, which resulted in the abortive labour of the Vienna Conference. The
war in the Crimea still continued. It was on the day following the receipt in
England of the news of the death of the Czar, that the Queen with the Prince
visited the military hospitals at Chatham, where the wounded soldiers, who had
been conveyed home, were lying. The visit made a great impression upon
Her Majesty, who urged upon the Secretary for War the necessity for more

VISIT OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. 135
military hospitals, and for better arrangements for the treatment of their
inmates. The great establishment at Netley was the result of this direct
intervention of the Sovereign.
On the 16th of April, 1855, occurred the memorable visit of the Emperor
Napoleon with the Empress to these shores, an event remarkable from the fact
that it arose out of an alliance so unforeseen that the whole traditionary policy
of Europe was based upon the assumption of its impossibility. The success of
the visit was, however, great and enduring. The Imperial visitors, after an
enthusiastic welcome in the course of their journey from Dover through
London, arrived at Windsor Castle in the evening, where they were received
by the Queen and the Royal Family, and lodged in the principal suite of rooms
on the north side, which had been before, by a strange irony of fate, tenanted
by the Emperor Nicholas and by King Louis Philippe. The pleasing impres
sion made upon the Queen by her first conversation with the Emperor was
confirmed during the course of the visit. Her Majesty notes that her guest
was " very quiet and amiable and easy to get on with. . . . Nothing can be
more civil or amiable or more well-bred than the Emperor's manner — so full of
tact." On the afternoon of the 17th a review was held in the Great Park, where
the Queen, accompanied by the Empress, the Emperor and Prince Albert being
on horseback, reviewed a body of cavalry, composed of the 2nd Life Guards,
the Royal Horse Guards, the Carabiniers, and a troop of Horse Artillery, under
the command of Lord Cardigan. In the evening there was a ball in the
Waterloo Gallery, of which the Queen writes: " How strange to think that I,
the grand-daughter of George III., should dance with the Emperor Napoleon,
nephew of England's greatest enemy, now my nearest and most intimate ally,
in the Waterloo Room, and this ally only six years ago living in this country an
exile, poor and unthought of." "Strange indeed!" writes Sir Theodore
Martin, " and none could have been so deeply impressed by the contrast as the
Emperor himself, when he looked round at the portraits, with which the room
is panelled, of the great statesmen and soldiers, the struggle and glory of whose
lives it had been to hold his famous ancestor in check." A view of this historic
room is given opposite page 136.

136 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
Another ceremony which must have called up strange thoughts in the
minds of the spectators took place next day, when at a Chapter of the Order
of the Garter, held in the Throne Room, the Sovereign invested the Emperor
with the insignia of the Order. The last knight who had been invested by the
Sovereign in person, in a full Chapter of the Order at Windsor, was King
Louis Philippe. On the following day the Queen with her Imperial guests
and the whole Court moved to Buckingham Palace, whence the Emperor and
Empress paid a visit to the City of London, and in the evening, with the Queen
and Prince Albert, to the Royal Italian Opera. The reception of the Imperial
visitors on these occasions showed how cordially the alliance between the two
Powers was welcomed by all classes of their subjects. The welcome was no
less apparent the following day when the newly-opened Crystal Palace at
Sydenham was visited. The next day the Emperor and Empress took
leave of the Queen, and, escorted by Prince Albert as far as Dover, returned
to France. Of the visit the Queen has noted in her Journal : "It went off so well
— not a hitch or contretemps — fine weather, everything smiling; the nation
enthusiastic, and happy in the firm and intimate alliance and union of two
great countries, whose enmity would be fatal. We have war now, certainly,
but war which does not threaten our shores, our homes, and internal pros
perity, which war with France ever must do. ... I am glad to have
known this extraordinary man. ... I believe him to be capable of
kindness, affection, friendship, and gratitude. I feel confidence in him as
regards the future." That the esteem was mutual may be inferred from an
extract from the letter written to the Queen by the Emperor on the 25th
of April, in which he says, " I feel it to be my first duty again to assure you
how deep is the impression left upon my mind by the reception, so full of
grace and affectionate kindness, vouchsafed to me by your Majesty. Political
interests first brought us into contact, but to-day, permitted as I have been
to become personally known to your Majesty, it is a living and respectful
sympathy by which I am, and shall be henceforth, bound to your Majesty.
In truth, it is impossible to live for a few days as an inmate of your home

THE WATERLOO CHAMBER, WTN'DSOR CASTLE

DISTRIBUTION OF CRIMEAN MEDALS. 137
without yielding to the charm inseparable from the spectacle of the grandeur
and the happiness of the most united of families. Your Majesty has also
touched me to the heart by the delicacy of the consideration shown to the
Empress ; for nothing pleases more than to see the person one loves become
the object of such flattering attentions."
On the 1 8th of May, 1855, in the centre of the Horse Guards Parade, the
Queen with her own hand presented to the officers of the Army of the Crimea,
and to a portion of the non-commissioned officers and privates of regiments
which had been engaged in the East, who had returned to this country on
leave or disabled by their wounds, the war medals they had deserved by their
gallant service. The Queen herself best describes this touching ceremonial
in a letter of the 22nd of May to the King of the Belgians. " Ernest will have
told you what a beautiful and touching sight and ceremony (the first of the
kind ever witnessed in England) the distribution of the medals was. From the
highest prince of the blood to the lowest private, all received the same
distinction for the bravest conduct in the severest actions, and the rough
hand of the brave and honest private soldier came for the first time in contact
with that of their Sovereign and their Queen. Noble fellows ! I own I feel as
if they were my own children — my heart beats for them as for my nearest and
dearest ! They were so touched, so pleased — many, I hear, cried ; and they
won't hear of giving up their medals to have their names engraved upon
them, for fear that they should not receive the identical one put into their
hands by me ! Several came by in a sadly mutilated state. None created
more interest or is more gallant than young Sir Thomas Trowbridge, who
had at Inkermann one leg and the foot of another carried away by a round
shot, and continued commanding his battery till the battle was over. . . .
He was dragged by in a Bath-chair, and when I gave him his medal, I told
him I should make him one of my aides-de-camp for his very gallant conduct,
to which he replied, ' I am amply repaid for everything.' One must love and
revere such soldiers as those."
On the 18th of August, 1855, the Queen and Prince Albert, accompanied
by the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, left Osborne for Boulogne and

138 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
Paris, to return the visit of the Emperor and Empress of the French to
England. No English Sovereign had visited the French capital since the
coronation of the infant Henry VI. at Paris in 1422. In 1688, James II., it
is true, had sought the protection of Louis XIV., and was lodged by him in one
of his palaces, but he was a fugitive and an exile, and the throne of England
was occupied by his son-in-law. In 18 15, four centuries after the expulsion of
the Plantagenets, the generals of an English army, which had given the first
Emperor Napoleon his final overthrow, and stormed the defences of Paris,
occupied its gates and palaces as conquerors. They restored to his throne the
heir of the Bourbons, Louis XVIII., whose great-grandfather had waged war
against England for the restoration of the heir of the Stuarts. Fifteen years
later his brother, Charles X., fled again to England, and the throne of France
was occupied by a Bourbon of the House of Orleans. He, in his turn, eighteen
years afterwards, fled to the shores of England, and there remained the guest of
the English Queen. His fallen sceptre was seized by the nephew of the great
Emperor whom the English arms had overthrown in 18 14, and who had died a
prisoner on an English island. The new ruler had lived in exile under the
protection of the English laws ; he had borne himself as a citizen of the land of
his refuge, and, when the safety of its capital was menaced, had enrolled himself
as a special constable for its defence. He was now absolute Sovereign of the
French people, and the State visit of the Queen of England to the French
Emperor in his own capital was, therefore, from every point of view a most
remarkable event.
The Queen and Prince on their arrival passed through Paris to St. Cloud,
which had been placed at their disposal by the Emperor, and here they were
received by the Empress. The next day being Sunday was kept as a day of
rest, and on Monday the Royal party, under the guidance of Prince Napoleon,
inspected the Palais des Beaux-Arts, a portion of the Great Exposition
de P Industrie. On Tuesday a visit was paid to Versailles, and next day was
devoted to a further examination of the Palais de l'lndustrie. On Thursday
the Queen and Prince were conducted over the Louvre, with its multifa
rious treasures of art, and in the evening the Municipality of Paris gave a

VISIT TO PARIS. 139
magnificent ball in the Hdtel de Ville, which had been decorated with a brilliance
and splendour surpassing all previous experience. On Friday, after again
visiting the Palais de l'lndustrie, the Queen was present at a review of forty-five
thousand troops in the Champ de Mars, and exceedingly admired the appear
ance and equipment of the battalions. After this, as the Queen wrote in
her Journal, "We drove straight to the H6tel des Invalides, under the dome
of which Napoleon lies, late as it was, because we were most anxious not to
miss this, perhaps the most important act of all in this very interesting and
eventful time. It was nearly seven when we arrived. All the Invalides —
chiefly of the former, but some of the present, war — were drawn up on
either side of the court into which we drove. . . . There were four torches
which lit us along, and added to the solemnity of the scene, which was striking
in every way. The church is fine and lofty. We went to look from above
into the open vault. . . . the coffin is not yet there, but in a small side chapel
de St. J6rome. Into this the Emperor led me, and there I stood, at the arm
of Napoleon III., his nephew, before the coffin of England's bitterest foe; I,
the grand-daughter of that King who hated him most and who most vigorously
opposed him, and this very nephew, who bears his name, being my nearest
and dearest ally ! The organ of the church was playing ' God save the
Queen ' at the time, and this solemn scene took place by torchlight, and
during a thunder-storm. Strange and wonderful indeed ! It seems as if in
this tribute of respect to a departed and dead foe, old enmities and rivalries
were wiped out, and the seal of Heaven placed upon that bond of unity
which is now happily established between two great and powerful nations.
May Heaven bless and prosper it ! "
On Saturday the Royal party visited the Palace of St. Germains, where
James II. of England lived and died in exile. In the evening the Emperor gave
a splendid fete at Versailles, which outdid even the magnificence of the H6tel
de Ville. Of this ball the Queen remarks : " It was one of the finest and most
magnificent sights we had ever witnessed ; there had not been a ball at Versailles
since the time of Louis XVI., and the present one had been arranged after a
print of a fete given by Louis XV." Sunday was again passed in quiet, and on

140 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
Monday the homeward journey began. Boulogne was reached in the afternoon,
and after a short rest, " We drove down," writes the Queen, " at once to the
sands, where were assembled all the troops of the camp, thirty-six thousand
infantry, besides cavalry, lancers, and dragoons, and the gendarmerie. We drove
down the lines, which were immensely deep — quite a forest of bayonets. The
effect they produced, with the background of the calm blue sea, and the setting
sun, which threw a glorious crimson light over all — for it was six o'clock — was
most magnificent. . . . Near the end of the march past our squadron
saluted ; and, indeed, it was one of the not least remarkable of the many
striking events and contrasts with former times which took place during this
visit, that at this very place, on these very sands, Napoleon I. reviewed his
army which was to invade England, Nelson's fleet lying where our squadron
lay, watching that very army. Now our squadron saluted Napoleon III. while
his army was filing past the Queen of England, several of the bands playing
' Rule Britannia.' . . . We thanked the Emperor much for all his kindness
and for this delightful visit. ... It was past twelve when the Emperor
left. ... I shall always look on this visit to France, not only on account
of the delightful and splendid things we saw and enjoyed, but on the time we
passed with the Emperor, as one of the pleasantest and most interesting periods
of my life. The Empress, too, has a great charm, and we are all very fond
of her." On the following morning the Queen and Prince reached Osborne, and
on the 7th of September, being, as the Prince wrote, " sorely in want of the
moral rest and the bodily exercise," arrived at Balmoral, where the principal
part of the new house was ready for their reception. Here in close succession
came telegrams conveying the welcome news from the seat of war, of the
sinking of the Russian ships in the harbour, of the capture of the Malakoff by
the French, and finally, that Sebastopol was in the hands of the Allies. On the
receipt of this welcome news the Queen writes : " God be praised for it ! Our
delight was great ; but we could hardly believe the good news, and from having
so long, so anxiously expected it, one could not realise the actual fact. Albert
said they should go at once and light the bonfire which had been prepared

BETROTHAL OF THE PRINCESS ROYAL. 141
when the false report of the fall of the town arrived last year, and had remained
ever since waiting to be lit. On the 5th of November, the day of the battle
oi Inkermann, the wind upset it, strange to say; and now again, most strangely,
it only seemed to wait for our return to be lit. The new house seems to be lucky
indeed, for from the first moment of our arrival we have had good news."
Another piece of good news, though of a different character, came to the
Queen and Prince a few days later — best described by an extract from the
Queen's " Leaves from the Journal" : " September 29, 1855. Our dear Victoria
was this day engaged to Prince Frederick William of Prussia, who had been
on a visit to us since the 14th. He had already spoken to us on the 20th
of his wishes; but we were uncertain, on account of her extreme youth,
whether he should speak to her himself, or wait till he came back again.
However, we felt it was better he should do so; and during our ride up
Crag-na-Ban this afternoon he picked a piece of white heather (the emblem
of good luck), which he gave to her, and this enabled him to make an allusion
to his hopes and wishes, as they rode down Glen Girnock, which led to this
happy conclusion."
On the 2nd of January, 1856, the Queen opened Parliament in person
with the usual ceremonial. The Speech from the Throne, after mentioning the
signal and important successes of the Allies, continued: " The naval and military
preparations for the ensuing year have necessarily occupied my serious atten
tion ; but while determined to omit no effort which could give vigour to the
operations of the war, I have deemed it my duty not to decline any overtures
which might reasonably afford a prospect of a safe and honourable peace. . . .
Negotiations for such a treaty will shortly be opened at Paris."
On the 30th of March, 1856, at ten o'clock at night, the metropolis was
aroused by the sound of a royal salute from St. James's Park, announcing
the signature of the Treaty of Peace, which next day was officially proclaimed,
to the joy and relief of the nation. The public celebration of the national
rejoicing took place on the 29th of May, when the whole of London was
brilliantly illuminated, and there were magnificent displays of fireworks from
Hyde Park, the Green Park, Victoria Park, and Primrose Hill.

142 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
The news of the conclusion of an armistice had reached the Russian and
the Allied Generals on the 28th of February, and the final evacuation of the
Crimea took place on the 12th of July, when General Codrington formally
gave up to the Russians Sebastopol and Balaclava.
On the 20th of March the Princess Royal was confirmed in the private
chapel of Windsor Castle, her parents, her godfather the King of the Belgians,
most of the members of the Royal Family, the great officers of State, and
the members of the household being present. The Archbishop of Canterbury
and the Bishop of Oxford took part in the ceremony.
On the 1 6th of April Her Majesty paid a second visit to the wounded
soldiers at the Brompton Hospitals. About four hundred convalescent patients
were drawn up in the barrack square and in the hospital : all who were able
to leave their beds were assembled, and received from the Queen, whom they
had so gallantly served, kind words and marks of interest more precious even
than the liberal donations which were left for the alleviation of their sufferings.
Two days afterwards the Queen and Prince made a formal visit to Alder-
shot Camp, the arrangements of which were now considered as completed.
Alighting at Farnborough Station, Her Majesty was received by General
Knollys, the Commandant, with his Staff. On arriving at the camp the Queen
exchanged her carriage for a chestnut charger, on which she rode to inspect
the troops. These amounted in number to about 14,000 men, among them
being several fine regiments of militia. The Queen with the Prince and the
Royal Family remained in the camp the same night, and on the following
morning witnessed a field-day, in which 18,000 troops took part. Her Majesty
wore a Field Marshal's uniform, with the star and riband of the Garter, a
dark blue skirt and scarlet tunic.
On the 23rd of the same month Spithead was the scene of a review
by the Queen of the greatest naval force which up to that time had ever
been assembled. Twenty-two steamships-of-the-line, of from 60 to 131
guns, 53 frigates and corvettes, 140 gunboats, 4 floating batteries, and
50 mortar vessels and mortar boats, composed this magnificent fleet, the
number of the guns being 3,002, and the engines working to an aggregate

NAVAL REVIEW. 143
power of 30,671 horses. The Queen's yacht, steaming through the fleet, which
was anchored in a double line, was saluted by each ship. The gunboats
then steamed down the line, passing in review before Her Majesty ; after which
the Royal yacht anchored off the Nab Light, and was followed by the ships of
the fleet under steam, who, passing round two pivots, returned in the same
order to their former stations. These manoeuvres were executed with splendid
accuracy and precision in a sea crowded with every kind of craft, and thronged
to the utmost limits of their capacity by enthusiastic spectators. After dark,
on a calm, still night, the whole fleet was illuminated ; the lines of the masts
and yards were traced out with lamps, and blue lights burned at every port.
On the 19th of May, 1856, the Queen crossed from Osborne to Netley, to
lay the foundation-stone of the great Military Hospital. Writing next day to her
uncle, Her Majesty says : — " Last week, but particularly on Sunday, it blew a
fearful gale, and, if it had not moderated, we could not have performed the
interesting ceremony of laying the first stone of a large Military Hospital, near
Netley, the first of the kind in this country, and which is to bear my name, and
be one of the finest in Europe. Loving my dear brave Army as I do, and
having seen so many of my poor sick and wounded soldiers, I shall watch over
this work with maternal anxiety."
By the beginning of July the greater part of the British troops had
returned from the Crimea. A field-day and review of those who were in camp
at Aldershot had been arranged for the 8th, but was greatly marred by
inclement weather. At the close of the usual evolutions the Crimean regiments
advanced and formed three sides of a square round the Royal carriage. The
officers who had been under fire, together with four men of each company
and troop, stepped forward. The Queen's carriage was thrown open, and,
rising from her seat, Her Majesty spoke to them as follows : — " Officers, non
commissioned officers, and soldiers ! I wish personally to convey through you
to the regiments assembled here this day my hearty welcome on their return
to England in health and full efficiency. Say to them, that I have watched
anxiously over the difficulties and hardships which they have so nobly borne,
that I have mourned with deep sorrow for the brave men who have fallen in

144 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
their country's cause, and that I have felt proud of that valour which, with
their gallant allies, they have displayed on every field. I thank God that your
dangers are over, while the glory of your deeds remains ; but I know that
should your services be again required, you will be animated with the same
devotion which in the Crimea has rendered you invincible." The Queen's
words were received with an outburst of cheering, and waving of helmets,
bearskins, and sabres. Next day London welcomed the Guards on their
return home. The battalions marched from Vauxhall, by the Houses of
Parliament, past Buckingham Palace, from the centre balcony of which they
were seen by the Queen as they went by Constitution Hill to Hyde Park.
Here they were met by the Prince, who was soon joined by Her Majesty,
and in brilliant weather four battalions of household and three of Crimean
troops passed before their Sovereign — the closing scene of a long and
arduous war.
The Court remained at Osborne till the 27th of August, the Queen and
Prince making occasional excursions by sea, among others one to Devonport,
when the weather was so stormy that they were obliged to leave the yacht and
return to Osborne by land. On the 30th Balmoral was reached, where the old
house had now entirely disappeared. Here, as all over the kingdom, the
weather continued cold, wet, and stormy. Among the visitors at Balmoral, not
the least honoured was Miss Florence Nightingale. On the 21st of September
she was introduced to the Queen and Prince by Sir James Clark, with whom
she was then staying at Birkhall. "She put before us," the Prince notes in
his diary, "all the defects of our present military hospital system, and the
reforms which are needed. We are much pleased with her ; she is extremely
modest." A fortnight afterwards Miss Nightingale was invited to Balmoral,
the time of her visit being fixed to coincide with that of Lord Panmure, the
Minister for War, so that he might have the opportunity of hearing from her
own lips the story of what she had seen, and the conclusions she had drawn
from her great and remarkable experience in the East.
On the 1 6th of October the Court arrived at Windsor from Balmoral.
At the beginning of the next month the Queen heard the sad news that her

THE QUEEN AND THE PRINCE CONSORT AT ALDERSHOT
From a Painting by G. H. Thomas.

DEATH OF PRINCE LEININGEN. 145
half-brother, Prince Leiningen, had had a second stroke of paralysis: from
this he never recovered, and died at Wald-Leiningen on the 13th. The
Queen felt her loss most keenly. Writing to her uncle on the 19th she says:
" Oh, dearest uncle, this blow is a heavy one — my grief very bitter. I loved
my dearest only brother most tenderly. You loved him, you knew how
delightful a companion he was  Mamma is terribly distressed, but
calm and resigned, and thinks that God has taken our poor dear Charles in
love and mercy to save him from more suffering." Again, a fortnight later,
Her Majesty writes : — " I feel my loss very much. A sad, sad feeling comes
over me just when I may seem happiest and most cheerful. We three were
particularly fond of each other, and never felt or fancied that we were not
real geschwister [children of the same parents]. We knew but one parent, our
mother, so we became very closely united, and so I grew up ; the distance
which difference of age placed between us entirely vanished  God's
will be done ! November has brought us another sad anniversary."
The close of the year witnessed an event of no little interest. During
the last English Arctic Expedition one of Her Majesty's ships, the Resolute,
had been abandoned in the ice. Sixteen months afterwards she was discovered
by some American explorers and taken by them to America. There the
derelict was refitted at the national expense, and was sent to England by
Congress as a present to the Queen. On the arrival of the vessel Her
Majesty at once arranged to accept this gracious gift in person, and on the
16th of December proceeded on board for the purpose. The prompt and cordial
courtesy of the Sovereign produced a great effect upon the Americans, who, as
Lord Clarendon reported, " are most grateful to your Majesty, and, as Mr.
Dallas (the American Minister) says, are overwhelmed with the kindness of their
reception here." The formal surrender of the ship to the British Government
took place on the 30th, when, after the last gun of the salute from the Victory
had been fired, the American flag was lowered, and the Union Jack floated
again at the peak.
The year 1857, which was to end in such anxiety, opened in what
seemed to be a prosperous and tranquil state. Europe was peaceful, and

146 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
only in Persia and China was the nation in a state of hostility. On the
14th of April the Queen's youngest child was born, and two days after,
the Queen heard with much grief of the sudden illness of her aunt, the Duchess
of Gloucester, the last survivor of the family of George III. This most excellent
and lovable Princess died, at the age of eighty-one, on the 30th of the month.
Of her the Queen writes, in a letter to King Leopold : " Her age and her being
a link with bygone times and generations, as well as her great kindness,
amiability, and unselfishness, rendered her more and more dear and precious to
us all, and we all looked upon her as a sort of grandmother. Her end was
most peaceful." To her memory the Queen has since erected an alabaster tomb
in the south aisle of St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, where she is
buried. The month of May was memorable for the opening of the marvellous
Art Treasures Exhibition at Manchester, a collection of works of art of every
kind and description, but more particularly of pictures of all schools, the
like of which has hardly ever been brought together. The exhibition afforded
a remarkable proof of a fact which before was not generally appreciated,
namely, the enormous amount of works of art of the highest class gathered in
the private collections throughout this country.
On the 19th of May the official announcement was made to Parliament,
in a message from the Queen, of the intended marriage of the Princess Royal
to Prince Frederick William of Prussia. The approval of the union by the
representatives of the nation was manifested by the almost unanimous vote
of the House of Commons to settle a dowry of ^40,000, with an annuity
of .£4,000, upon the Princess Royal. A few weeks afterwards the Princess's
youngest sister was christened in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace,
receiving the names of Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodora, the second of which
was given in memory of the late Duchess of Gloucester.
On the 25th of June an order of Council was issued, conferring by letters
patent the title and dignity of Prince Consort upon His, Royal Highness Prince
Albert. Hitherto the husband of the Queen had possessed no distinctive title,
and no other place in Court ceremonial than that which he held by courtesy.

THE VICTORIA CROSS. 147
This anomaly was now rectified. On the next day a ceremony of great interest
took place in Hyde Park ; this was the distribution to the gallant men who
had earned it of the new decoration of the Victoria Cross. Up to this date
there had been no badge or mark of distinction peculiarly destined to mark
heroic deeds. Her Majesty, therefore, by Royal Warrant, instituted a new
naval and military decoration, to be designated "The Victoria Cross," bearing
the inscription " For Valour," to be given only to men who, serving before
the enemy, have performed some signal act of bravery or devotion to their
country. Some time necessarily elapsed before the list of those entitled to this
honour could be drawn up, and in order to inaugurate the institution of the
Order with becoming ceremony, Her Majesty resolved to confer the decoration
upon its recipients in person. About 4,000 troops were drawn up in the Park,
and more than 100,000 spectators assembled to witness the ceremony; the
recipients of the Cross were sixty-two. Her Majesty, wearing a scarlet jacket
with a black habit, and mounted on a grey roan, rode to the centre of the
ground, and pinned the Cross with her own hands upon the breast of each man
as he was called up in turn. After all the brave warriors had received their
decorations, Her Majesty reviewed the troops. On the 29th, the Queen and
Prince, with their four eldest children, and Prince Frederick William of Prussia,
left London, in order to inspect the Art Treasures Exhibition at Manchester,
which the Queen had not been able to visit earlier in the year.
Towards the end of this month news arrived in England of the mutiny of
the native regiments at Meerut on the 10th of May, and of the massacre by
them of numbers of English officers, women and children, followed by the retreat
of the mutineers to Delhi, and the spread of mutiny among the troops there.
For some time past the disaffection among the native troops had been known,
and some regiments disbanded ; but the receipt of the news of the outbreak
showed that a danger had arisen which imperilled the lives of thousands of
English men, women, and children, and menaced the very existence of the
British Empire in the East. The Queen was especially grieved that, owing to a
mistaken economy, the army at home had been reduced in number, and wrote
to Lord Panmure very seriously on the subject, concluding with the words, " If

148 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
we had not reduced in such a hurry this spring, we should now have all the
men wanted."
The Queen and Prince spent the 17th and 18th of July at Aldershot in
order to witness the evolutions of the troops there assembled under General
Knollys. Five regiments of cavalry and ten battalions of infantry with a large
force of artillery and engineers were engaged. Her Majesty watched the move
ments of the troops on horseback, wearing her usual military dress. A picture
of the scene, painted by G. H. Thomas, is reproduced opposite page 144 by
permission. In a memorandum sent by the Queen for communication to the
Government on the measures to be taken to render her army able to cope
with the demands made upon it by the increase of the Empire, and the
pressing emergency of the Indian Mutiny, the concluding paragraph is as
follows : " The present position of the Queen's army is a pitiable one. The
Queen has just seen, in the camp at Aldershot, regiments which, after eighteen
years' foreign service in most trying climates, had come back to England to
be sent out after seven months to the Crimea. Having passed through this
destructive campaign, they have not been home for a year before they are
to go to India for perhaps twenty years. This is most cruel and unfair to
the gallant men who devote their services to the country, and the Government
is in duty and humanity bound to alleviate their position." Fortunately the
heroic defenders of the Empire in India had not to wait for the reinforcements
from home. The English regiments which had been despatched for the opera
tions in China were, at the request of Lord Canning, the Governor- General,
directed by Lord Elgin to be turned aside to Calcutta. Their arrival had an
immediate influence in crushing the rebellion.
It was not only the total absence in the army of any reserve which could
be of use on emergency which caused the Queen anxiety. On the 19th of
August the Royal yacht, with the Queen and Prince and six of the Royal
children on board, entered the harbour of Cherbourg. The visit was unex
pected, and, after a stay of a couple of days, was brought to a close, the
Victoria and Albert conveying Her Majesty to Alderney. Of this visit the
Prince writes to Baron Stockmar: "We made a delightful run to Cherbourg

VISIT TO CHERBOURG. 149
and Alderney. Cherbourg is a gigantic work that gives one grave cause for
reflection. The works at Alderney, by way of counter-defence, look childish."
The Queen's own comment was, " It makes me unhappy to see what is done
here, and how well-protected the works are, for the forts and the breakwater
(which is treble the size of the Plymouth one) are extremely well defended."
What they had seen caused the Queen to call for reports on the progress that
had been made with works of defence at Portsmouth and elsewhere, as it was
felt to be of the utmost importance that a sudden descent upon our shores
should not find the country defenceless.
On the 29th of August, 1 857, the Court arrived at Balmoral, where the details
awaited them of the tragedy of Cawnpore. Delhi was uncaptured, Lucknow
unrelieved. A special day of fast and humiliation was ordered, which was
kept on the 7th of October throughout the country with great solemnity. On
the 16th of October the Court returned to Windsor, having passed, on the
way, a night at Haddo House, on a long-promised visit to Lord Aberdeen.
From India news arrived of the capture of Delhi, and the victorious career
of General Havelock.
This cheering intelligence was saddened by a private sorrow. The Duchess
of Nemours, first cousin to the Queen and the Prince Consort, who had given
birth to a daughter on the 28th of October, died suddenly, on November 10th, at
Claremont. In a letter to Baron Stockmar the Prince writes : " The fresh
disaster to which eventful November has given rise in eventful Claremont will
have caused you deep emotion. I thought at once of you and of the old
wounds which the similarity of the circumstances would re-open in your heart,
just forty years and four days since poor uncle lost his darling wife in child-bed.
Nemours has lost his dear, to us all so dear, Victoire ! in the room nearly
above that in which the Princess Charlotte died."
On Monday the 25th of January, 1858, the Princess Royal was married at
St. James's to Prince Frederick William of Prussia. The first marriage in the
new generation was made the occasion of much rejoicing and festivity in
the metropolis. Four State representations were given at Her Majesty's
Theatre; a State Ball was also held at Buckingham Palace. Of the

150 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
ceremony itself the Queen has recorded in her Diary : " The sun was shining
brightly ; thousands had been out since very early, shouting, bells ringing, etc.
Albert and uncle, in Field-Marshal's uniform, with batons, and the two eldest
boys went first. Then the three girls in pink satin, trimmed with Newport lace,
Alice with a wreath, and the two others with only bouquets in their hair of corn
flowers and marguerites ; next the four boys in Highland dress. . . . Then
the procession was formed, just as at my marriage, mama last before me — then
Lord Palmerston with the sword of State, then Bertie and Alfred. I with the
two little boys on either side (which they say had a most touching effect) and
the three girls behind." This extract exactly describes the group, reproduced
opposite page 152, from the picture by John Philip, R.A., of the marriage
ceremony. When this was over, the newly-married couple drove from St.
James's to Buckingham Palace, whence they proceeded to Windsor, to which
two days afterwards the Court removed, and on the following day the bride
groom was invested with the Order of the Garter. On the 2nd of February
came the parting, the bitterness of which not even the thought of the brilliant
future, which lay before the Princess, could soften.
Striking proof was given, at the beginning of the year 1858, that the
apprehension of the Queen and Prince as to the state of the army and the
national defences, and the want of preparation against sudden danger were not
groundless. Ten days before the Royal wedding occurred the attempt by Orsini
and others to assassinate the Emperor of the French. The plot, prepared by
them in England, was executed on the evening of January 14th, as the Emperor
and Empress arrived in their carriage at the Opera House. Though the intended
victims escaped almost uninjured, ten of the surrounding crowd were killed
and one hundred and fifty-six wounded. The violent language, used in France
against this country, not only provoked extreme indignation on this side of
the Channel, but led to the subsequent formation of the great Volunteer force,
which now is looked upon as a valuable and necessary addition to the forces
of the Crown for the purpose of national defence.
On the 2nd of August, 1859, the Queen bestowed the Victoria Cross on
twelve men who had won the distinction, some in the Crimea, some in India,

VISIT TO GERMANY. 151
and on the same day was published the Act for the transfer of the Govern
ment of India to Her Majesty from the old East India Company.
Two days later, the Queen and Prince Consort, with the Prince of
Wales, embarked at Osborne to visit in state the great arsenal at Cherbourg,
which they had seen privately the year before. The reception to the Royal
visitors, given, as it was, at the very height of the friendship between the
sovereigns, was, if noise constitutes welcome, hearty indeed. Never, in time
of peace, had such a cannonade been heard.
Returning to England, the Queen and Prince Consort embarked, a few days
later, for another visit to the Continent, this time as the guests of their daughter
in her own home. At Magdeburg they were met by Prince Frederick William,
who escorted them to Wildpark Station, where the Princess Royal met her
mother for the first time since her marriage. This happy visit lasted till August
27th, and on the 31st the Queen and Prince reached Portsmouth, to learn
that Prince Alfred had just passed an excellent examination for the Navy.
On their way to Scotland, on the 6th of September, the Queen and Prince
stopped at Leeds, a city which no British sovereign had ever before visited,
and opened the New Town Hall — a building second only to St. George's
Hall at Liverpool in size and beauty. The reception accorded to them was
enthusiastic in the extreme. From Balmoral the Court moved, on the
19th of October, to Windsor, where another gap in the family circle was
created by the departure of Prince Alfred to join the Euryalus, which was
attached to the Mediterranean fleet for two years.
The first month of the year 1859 brought with it one piece of good news,
to mitigate the anxiety caused by the critical condition of affairs on the
Continent. This was the birth of the first child of the Princess Frederick
William, the Queen thus becoming a grandmother at the age of forty. " The
joy and interest taken here," the Queen writes from England to King Leopold,
"are as great as in Prussia, which is very gratifying."
On the 3rd of February, 1859, Her Majesty opened Parliament in person,
and her reception was, owing to the excited state of public feeling, unusually
cordial and demonstrative. Questions of reform at home, and danger of war

152 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
between France and Austria on the question of the possession of Lombardy,
were the principal causes of disquietude. By the beginning of May all hope of
averting war, though it had not been officially declared, was abandoned ; and
the struggle which was to end in such momentous consequences to Italy had
begun. A dissolution of Parliament had just taken place, followed by a
general election, and on the 7th of June Her Majesty opened her new Parlia
ment. In the House of Lords the address was carried without a division,
but in the House of Commons an amendment, expressive of want of con
fidence, was carried, and on the resignation of Lord Derby, Lord Palmerston
was entrusted with the formation of the ministry. The prorogation on the
13th of August set the Queen and Prince free to seek fresh air and rest in
a short excursion to the Channel Islands, followed by their departure for the
Highlands. On the 14th of October, their journey south was interrupted in
order that the Queen might open at Loch Katrine the waterworks by which the
town of Glasgow was supplied. On the same journey a visit was paid to
Penrhyn Castle, near Bangor, where the famous slate quarries were inspected,
and the singing of the workmen was much admired. The Princess Royal
arrived with her husband from Berlin in time for the Prince of Wales's birthday
on the 9th of November; they stayed till the 3rd of the following month, to
the great delight of their parents. Christmas was spent at Windsor.
"We began i860 very peaceably and happily," the Queen writes, on the
3rd of January, to King Leopold, " and I never remember spending a pleasanter
New Year's Day, surrounded by our children and dear Mama." The Queen
again opened Parliament on the 24th of January, and was accompanied for
the first time by the Princesses Alice and Helena. In the early part of the
year was published the first series of the Idylls of the King, afterwards dedi
cated to the memory of Prince Albert. Though the aspect of affairs at home
was bright, the Italian policy of the French Emperor and his designs upon
Savoy were disquieting. His continued restlessness, the large additions to his
army, and the great increase to his fleet, alarmed the country. In response to
these threatening demonstrations, the inadequacy of the national defences, and
the plans for necessary measures to be taken, were subjects of prolonged

THE QUEEN AND FAMILY, Group from THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS ROYAL
From a Painting by John Philip. R.A.

REVIEWS OF VOLUNTEERS. 153
debate in Parliament. At the same time, the enthusiasm of the nation, now
thoroughly aroused to its danger, caused an enormous increase in the number
and efficiency of the Volunteer force. Of these citizen soldiers the Queen held
a great review in Hyde Park on the 23 rd of June, when 21,000 men passed
before Her Majesty. Later in the year, on the way to Balmoral, the Queen at
Edinburgh inspected the Scottish volunteers, of whom 18,000 marched past in
review order beneath Arthur's Seat. Of the whole force the Prince, who took
the warmest interest in the movement, writes : " The Volunteers have already
run up to 124,000 men, and make an excellent appearance — a proof there is no
lack of patriotism in the country." On the 2nd of July the Queen, who had
become Patron of the National Rifle Association, opened its first meeting at
Wimbledon, and fired the first shot at a target on this historic ground, and made
the first bull's-eye ever scored upon its targets. The Queen's Prize has
always been the blue ribbon of the annual competition.
In June, i860, the Prince, writing to Baron Stockmar, announced a piece
of news of much family interest : " The two young Princes of Hesse-Darm
stadt leave England to-day, and have just taken leave. There is no doubt that
the eldest (Louis) and Alice have formed a mutual liking, and although the
visit fortunately has passed over without any declaration, I have no doubt that
it will lead to further advances from the young gentleman's family. We should
not be averse to such an alliance, as the family is good and estimable, and the
young man is unexceptionable in morals, manly, and both in body and mind
distinguished by youthful freshness and vigour. As heir-presumptive to the
Grand Duchy his position would, moreover, not be unsuitable. . . . The
Queen and myself look on as passive observers, which is undoubtedly our best
course, as matters at present stand." A month later the Princess Charles of
Hesse, mother of Prince Louis, informed the Princess Frederick William of her
son's attachment, and by her this was communicated to the Queen. An extract,
sent at the same time, of a letter from the young Prince himself, produced
such an impression upon the Queen and the Prince Consort that they felt bound
to ascertain the state of their daughter's feelings. The result was such as to
justify the encouragement of the young Prince's hopes. No engagement was

154 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
made; but some months later Prince Louis was to return, and have an
opportunity of pressing his suit in person. A few weeks later came the news
that to the Princess Frederick William was born a daughter, and to the Queen
and Prince a second grandchild. To the mother her father wrote on the
28th of July from Osborne : " The little girl must be a darling. Little girls
are much prettier than boys. I advise her to model herself after her Aunt
Beatrice. That excellent lady has not now a moment to spare. ' I have no
time,' she says, when she is asked for anything; 'I must write letters to my
niece.' "
On the 8th of August the Court arrived at Balmoral, and an interesting
account is given, in the " Leaves from the Journal of our Life," of an expedition
to Glen Fishie and Grantown. Attended by only Lady Churchill and General
Grey, the Queen and Prince passed two days in the wildest scenery of the
Highlands, travelling unrecognised as " Lord and Lady Churchill and party."
Shortly after the return South, on the 22nd of September, the Queen and the
Prince Consort, with Princess Alice, left Gravesend in the Victoria and Albert,
on their way to Coburg. Here they were welcomed by the Duke and Duchess
of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, and had the additional delight of seeing again the
Prince and Princess Frederick William of Prussia. But the festivities which
were intended to enliven their visit were prevented by the death of the
Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg.
The Royal travellers left Coburg on the 12 th of October, passing through
Coblentz and Aix-la-Chapelle to Antwerp, where the yacht re-embarked her
passengers and brought them to Gravesend on the 17th. During the stay at
Coburg the Prince narrowly escaped a serious carriage accident. In thankful
ness for his escape, the Queen founded a permanent charity in the town of
Coburg, from which a benevolent distribution should be made annually on the
1st of October, the day of the Prince's escape. This trust, called the Victoria-
Stift (Victoria foundation), still provides means for apprenticing or helping a
number of young men and women just entering life in the way of earning their
own livelihood. On the 9th of November Prince Alfred arrived safely from
his visit to the Cape, and on the 10th the Prince of Wales returned home after

BETROTHAL OF PRINCESS ALICE. 155
his memorable visit to Canada and to the United States. On the 30th another
event of deep interest to the family took place, described by the Queen in her
Diary. " After dinner, while talking to the gentlemen, I perceived Alice and
Louis talking before the fire-place more earnestly than usual, and, when I
passed to go to the other room, both came up to me, and Alice in much
agitation said he had proposed to her, and he begged for my blessing. I could
only squeeze his hand and say ' Certainly,' and that we would see him in our
room later. Got through the evening, working as well as we could ; Alice came
to our room . . . agitated but quiet. . . . Albert sent for Louis to his room-
went first to him, and then called Alice and me in . . . Louis has a warm
noble heart." The welcome news of the satisfactory conclusion of the war with
China contributed to the enjoyment of the Christmas festivities at Windsor.
The condition of the country at the beginning of 1861, when the Queen on
the 5th of February opened Parliament in person, was tranquil and prosperous.
Abroad were difficulties, the most ominous being the rupture between the
northern and southern portions of the United States ; and the Italian question
also caused the Queen and Prince much anxiety. The 10th of February was
the twenty-first anniversary of the Queen's wedding, of which the Queen wrote
to her uncle as " a day which has brought to us, and I may say to the world at
large, such incalculable blessings ! Very few can say with me, that this
husband at the end of twenty-one years is not only full of the friendship, kind
ness, and affection which a truly happy marriage brings with it, but of the
same tender love as in the very first days of our marriage. We missed dear
mama and three of our children, but had six dear ones round us." The
Duchess of Kent, who was so missed at this gathering, never again joined the
family circle. On the 15th of March the alarming news was brought to
Buckingham Palace that Her Royal Highness had been seized with a shivering
fit. With all possible speed the Queen and Prince hastened to Frogmore, to
find the Duchess unconscious. She passed away on the morning of the next
day. The loss of her mother was the deepest sorrow which the Queen had ever
felt. Writing to her uncle the same day, Her Majesty says : " She is gone, —
that precious, dearly beloved, tender mother, whom I have never parted from

156 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
but for a few months — without whom I cannot imagine life — has been taken
from us! It is too dreadful ! But she is at peace ! "
In this great sorrow the Queen was supported by a husband's love. It was
also no small consolation to feel that the heart of the whole nation sympathised
with her in her loss. Addresses of condolence were voted in both Houses of
Parliament. "In the history of our reigning house," said Mr. Disraeli, who
seconded the Address in the House of Commons, " none were ever placed as
the widowed Princess and her royal child. Never before developed upon a
delicate sex a more august or more awful responsibility. How these great
duties were encountered — how fulfilled — may be read in the conscience of a
grateful and a loyal people. Therefore the name of the Duchess of Kent will
remain in our history from its interesting and benignant connexion with an
illustrious reign. For the great grief which has fallen upon the Queen there is
only one source of human consolation — the recollection of unbroken devotedness
to the being whom we have loved and whom we have lost. That tranquillising
and sustaining memory is the inheritance of our Sovereign. She who reigns
over us has elected, amid all the splendour of Empire, to establish her life on
the principle of domestic love. It is this, it is the remembrance and conscious
ness of this, which now sincerely saddens the public spirit, and permits a nation
to bear its heartfelt sympathy to the foot of a bereaved throne, and to whisper
solace to a royal heart."
The funeral of the Duchess took place on March 25th in St. George's
Chapel, Windsor, where the remains were deposited till the completion of a
mausoleum in the grounds of Frogmore. The death of the Duchess of Kent
added much to the labours of the Prince Consort, upon whom unremitting
work had begun seriously to tell. He was much occupied with the anxious
state of affairs in Europe, and the preparations for the International Exhibition
of 1862, which he was never to see, engaged much of his thoughts. When on
the 5th of June he appeared, for the last time, at a public ceremonial, in order
to open the Royal Horticultural Gardens at South Kensington, it was noticed
how pale and worn he looked, and a much-needed move was made to Osborne,
where the whole of July was passed.

VISIT TO IRELAND. I57
On the 21st of August the Queen and Prince, with the Princesses Alice
and Helena and Prince Alfred, crossed in the Royal yacht from Holyhead to
Dublin. Landing next morning at Kingstown, they took up their residence
in the Vice-regal Lodge in the Riding Park. On the 24th a grand review of
about 10,000 troops in the Curragh Camp was held, but the spectacle
was unfortunately spoilt by rain. Two days later they left Dublin, and spent
some days in the enjoyment of the magnificent scenery at Killarney, where
they stayed on a visit with Lord Kenmare at Kenmare House, and with
Mr. Herbert at Muckross Abbey. On the 29th the journey was resumed by
Dublin to Holyhead and on to Balmoral. In " Leaves from the Journal " details
are given of the expeditions made by the Royal family through the Highlands
in the same manner as those of the previous year. The description of that
made on the 16th of October concludes with the words, " We returned at twenty
minutes to seven o'clock, much pleased and interested with this delightful
expedition. Alas ! I fear our last great one !
(It was our last one! — 1867.)"
The Court returned to Windsor on the 24th of October. For a short time
the Prince seemed to be in fair health, and was able to attend as usual to the
many matters of interest that claimed his attention. The deaths of the young
King of Portugal and his brother, however, within a few days of each other,
gave him a severe shock. Still he continued, though feeling very unwell, and
suffering much from sleeplessness, to take an active part in public affairs. On
the 22nd of November he went over to Sandhurst to inspect the buildings for
the new Staff College and the Royal Military Academy, in which he had
taken the keenest interest. The fatigue of this journey and the exposure to
incessant rain had a most injurious effect. From this time he was in constant
suffering from rheumatic pain, and to this were added the depression and
weakness caused by continued want of sleep. On the 25th he paid, in cold and
stormy weather, a visit to the Prince of Wales at Cambridge. On the 28th the
alarming news arrived of the outrage by the Americans on the British flag,
when the steamer Trent was boarded in mid-ocean by Captain Wilkes of the
San Jacinto, and Messrs. Mason and Slidell, the envoys accredited by the

158 MARRIED LIFE; 1853—61.
Confederated States to England and to France, were removed by force from
its protection. The news was received in England with such indignation
and excitement, that to ordinary observers it appeared as if war was inevitable.
It was then that the drafts of the despatches which it was proposed by the
Cabinet to send to Lord Lyons at Washington were carefully read over by the
Prince, and early in the morning of the 1st of December he was able, though
suffering much from weakness, to draft the last memorandum that he ever wrote.
The document led to the removal from the despatch of everything which could
irritate a proud and sensitive nation, and afforded the United States an oppor
tunity for receding from the position in which they had been placed by the over-
zealous action of their agent. The conciliatory tone of the amended despatch
had its due effect ; the news of the liberation of the prisoners reached London on
the 9th of January, 1862, and was communicated to the Queen on the same day.
Her Majesty, in the depth of her sorrow, replied: "Lord Palmerston cannot
but look on this peaceful issue of the American quarrel as greatly owing to her
beloved Prince, who wrote the observations on the draft to Lord Lyons, in
which Lord Palmerston so entirely concurred. It was the last thing he ever
wrote." Lord Palmerston in his answer, on the 12th of January, wrote as
follows : — " As Your Majesty observes, the alterations made in the despatch
to Lord Lyons contributed essentially to the satisfactory settlement of the
dispute. But these alterations were only one of innumerable instances of the
tact and judgment, and the power of nice discrimination which excited Lord
Palmerston's constant and unbounded admiration."
Meanwhile the Prince was slowly losing strength. He slept little, and
could take no nourishment; but he rose and endeavoured to exert himself.
He had, on the 29th of November, witnessed the march past of the Eton
College Volunteers, though conscious that his strength was overtaxed by the
exertion. " Unhappily, I must be present," is the note in his Diary, and it
is the last entry in it.
On the 7th of December typhoid fever was declared. All went well till
the 1 2th, when the lungs became affected, and on the 14th the end came.
By the bedside knelt the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Alice

THE ORDER OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE, THE KAISER-I-HIND MEDAL,
THE STAR OF INDIA

DEATH OF THE PRINCE CONSORT.

i59

and Princess Helena. To quote the words of Sir Theodore Martin : "In
the solemn hush of that mournful chamber there was such grief as has rarely
hallowed any deathbed. A great light which had blessed the world, and
which the mourners had but yesterday hoped might long bless it, was
waning fast away. A husband, a father, a friend, a master, endeared by
every quality by which man in such relations can win the love of his fellow-man,
was passing into the Silent Land, and his loving glance, his wise counsels,
his firm, manly thoughts should be known among them no more. The Castle
clock chimed the third quarter after ten. Calm and peaceful grew the
beloved form ; the features settled into the beauty of a perfectly serene
repose; two or three long, but gentle, breaths were drawn; and that great
soul had fled, to seek a nobler scope for its aspirations in the world within
the veil, for which it had often yearned, where there is rest for the weary,
and where the spirits of the just are made perfect."

THE INDIAN ROOM, OSBORNF

CHAPTER EIGHT.
later years; 1861 — 1897.

t midnight of the 14th of December, 186 1, the
tolling of the great bell of St. Paul's had
announced to the citizens of London the mourn
ful tidings of the Prince Consort's death, but
large numbers of the people first learnt, by the
omission of his name from the Litany, what a
blow had fallen on their Queen. On every side
was heard the sympathetic outburst of grief for
the Sovereign so early widowed.
The wreck of the Queen's domestic happiness, and the loss of that support
which had divided the burthens and lightened the cares of sovereignty, were

162 LATER YEARS; 1861—1897.
felt by all classes of her subjects as a private as well as a public calamity.
No such affliction had fallen upon the nation since the death of the Princess
Charlotte, and the universal feeling of sorrow has never been surpassed in
its depth and sincerity. In the general mourning for Princess Charlotte a
note of sympathetic compassion was struck by the fate of a young and
beautiful Princess suddenly removed at the most interesting crisis of a
woman's life. The tribute which the nation paid to Prince Albert was
different in character though not less heartfelt. Gratitude for the great services
which he had rendered to the country, for the example of moral purity he had
displayed, and for the salutary influence he had exercised in his exalted station,
admiration for his remarkable talents and accomplishments, respect for the
wisdom with which he had kept himself clear from the conflicts of political
parties, and appreciation of the self-effacing modesty with which he had so
ably aided the Queen in all the affairs of State— these were the sentiments
that inspired the addresses of condolence which were sent up from every part
of the United Kingdom. To the addresses of the Houses of Parliament,
meeting in February, the Queen replied : "I return you my most sincere
thanks for your dutiful and affectionate address, especially for the manner in
which you have assured me of your feelings on the irreparable loss sustained
by myself and the country, in the afflicting dispensation of Providence which
bows me to the earth." But, prostrated as she was by the burthen of a sorrow
which never could pass away, the Queen, strengthened by the cherished
example of the loving counsellor she had lost, resolutely overcame her physical
exhaustion and the depression of inconsolable grief, and fulfilled those arduous
duties, the performance of which she regarded as a sacred trust for her
family and her people. Speaking on this subject some years afterwards, a
statesman of high rank remarked : " It is a circumstance worthy of observa
tion, and which ought to be known to all the people of this country, that
during all the years of the Queen's affliction, during which she has lived
necessarily in comparative retirement, she has omitted no part of that public
duty which concerns her as Sovereign of this country ; and I am sure that
when the Queen reappears again on more public occasions, the people of this

FUNERAL OF THE PRINCE CONSORT. 163
country will regard her only with increased affection, from the recollection that
during all the time of her care and sorrow she has devoted herself, without one
day's intermission, to those cares of government which belong to her position."
The funeral of the Prince Consort took place on Monday the 23rd of
December, 1861, in St. George's Chapel. The remains were removed from the
Castle and temporarily deposited in the entrance to the Royal Vault, where
they were to remain until the completion and consecration of a mausoleum to
be afterwards erected. The site for this building had been chosen by the Queen
herself on the 18th, when with Princess Alice she drove to the gardens at
Frogmore for that purpose.
The Queen had before the funeral left Windsor to spend a sad and
desolate Christmas at Osborne. Such consolation as was possible in a grief so
overwhelming was afforded by the presence of the King of the Belgians and
of the Princess of Hohenlohe, her half-sister. But Her Majesty had already
learnt that the only anodyne to personal grief is sympathy with the sorrows
of others. When the terrible disaster happened at the Hartley Colliery, by
which the whole male population of three hamlets had been swept away, Sir
Charles Phipps writes by the Queen's command: "The appalling news has
afflicted the Queen very much. Her Majesty commands me to say that her
tenderest sympathy is with the poor widows and mothers, and that her own
misery only makes her feel the more for them."
On the 6th of February, 1862, the Queen took leave of the Prince of
Wales, who, in pursuance of the scheme for his education laid down by the
Prince Consort, left England for the tour, which had been for some time
arranged, to Egypt and the Holy Land. The most memorable incident
of this tour was the visit paid by the Prince and his suite to the Mosque of
Hebron, which covers the Cave of Machpelah. Into this sacred building no
European or Christian had been, up to this time, permitted to enter, and it was
not without some difficulty, and even danger, that the visit was accomplished.
It has been fully described by Dean Stanley, who accompanied the Prince on
his journey. The party returned on the 14th of June, in time for the marriage
of the Princess Alice with Prince Louis of Hesse.

1 64 LATER YEARS; 1861— 1897.
At the time of the death of the Prince Consort the Princess Alice had
been the principal support of the broken-hearted Queen. Though herself
filled with intense sorrow at the death of her beloved father, she became at
once the means of communication between the outer world and her mother,
whom she strove to shield from every possible trouble. The decision to leave
Windsor for Osborne directly after the Prince's death, according to the earnest
wish of the King of the Belgians, which it was so difficult for the Queen to
make, was obtained by the Princess's influence. For the Queen to part from
one who had thus become so necessary to her was a terrible struggle, but it
had been the desire of the Prince Consort that the marriage should take place
during the early part of the year, and it was, therefore, only postponed to the
1st of July, when it was solemnized at Osborne. Though the ceremony
was simple and private, it may be doubted whether any royal marriage
excited keener interest and profounder sympathy in the mass of the people,
who had so highly appreciated the strength of mind and self - sacrifice
shown by the Princess Alice during the dreadful days of her father's illness
and death, and who were aware that to her exertions it was in a great
measure due that the Queen was able to bear with such fortitude her own
irreparable loss.
The Queen passed the autumn in seclusion at Balmoral; here on the
21st of August was begun the cairn in memory of the Prince. In "More
Leaves from the Journal" the Queen writes : "At eleven o'clock started
. ... for Craig Lowrigan. . . . Here at the top is the foundation of
the Cairn — forty feet wide — to be erected to my precious Albert, which will be
seen all down the valley. I and my poor six orphans all placed stones on it ;
and our initials as well as those of the three absent ones are to be carved on
stones all round it.' '
On the 1st of September the Queen, accompanied by several of her family,
left England for Germany, paying on the way a brief visit to King Leopold
at Laeken. There for the first time the Queen met the Princess Alexandra
of Denmark, soon to become Princess of Wales. From Laeken the Queen
went to Reinhardtsbrunn in Thuringia, where she was joined by the Crown

MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES. 165
Prince and Princess of Prussia, by Princess Alice with her husband, and by
Prince Alfred.
On the 18th of December, 1862, the remains of the Prince Consort were
transferred from St. George's Chapel to the mausoleum which had just been
built for their reception by Her Majesty in the grounds of Frogmore, not far
from the spot where the Duchess of Kent had been laid.
The Prince of Wales had met the Princess Alexandra at Heidelberg in
the autumn of 1861, when a mutual attachment had been formed; but the
death of the Prince Consort had postponed any announcement of an engage
ment. It was not till the 4th of November, 1862, that the Queen gave
public consent to the marriage, and the Princess came for a brief visit to
Osborne. In February, 1863, the Prince of Wales took the oath and his
seat in the House of Lords, and in the House of Commons resolutions
were passed for the establishment and maintenance of His Royal High
ness's household on a proper scale. The alacrity shown by Parliament
in thus making a suitable provision expressed the universal feeling of
satisfaction in the proposed union. The Prince had gained the personal
regard of all those with whom he had been brought into contact, while
the beauty and charm of the Princess won every heart. At the same
time the alliance with Denmark, by the complete absence of State in
terests, and of those political aims to which the domestic happiness of
princes has been too often sacrificed, strongly appealed to the sympathy of
the nation. The Princess landed at Gravesend on the 7th of March, and never to any
person in the history of the kingdom has a warmer welcome been offered.
Through the City, which was approached by London Bridge, there was one
immense concourse of enthusiastic crowds. In Hyde Park were drawn up
17,000 volunteers, between whose ranks the procession passed to Paddington.
The reception at Eton was as warm as that of London, and the illuminations
at Windsor closed a memorable day. On the 10th the marriage was
solemnized with great pomp in St. George's Chapel, the Prince and the
other Knights of the Garter wearing their robes. The Queen herself took no

166 LATER YEARS; 1861 — 1897.
part in the ceremony, but witnessed the whole from the windows of the Royal
closet above the north side of the altar.
On the 9th of May the Queen, accompanied by the Princess Alice, paid
a visit to the Military Hospital at Netley, the foundation stone of which she
had, with the Prince Consort, laid nearly seven years before. Though her
features bore the traces of deep and abiding sorrow, she bore with firmness
the fatigue of her long walk through the hospital, and the trying scenes
which she witnessed. In August and September the Queen paid a visit to
Belgium and Germany, staying for some time with King Leopold, and passing
on to the Rosenau, the birthplace of the Prince Consort. On the journey
home, she spent a day with Princess Alice at Kranichstein, near Darmstadt.
The first public appearance of the Queen since the death of her
husband was made on the 13th of October, when Her Majesty unveiled the
statue which had been erected to the memory of the Prince Consort at
Aberdeen. In her reply to the address of the Provost, the Queen said, " I
could not reconcile it to myself to remain at Balmoral while such a tribute
was being paid to his memory, without making an exertion to assure you
personally of the deep and heartfelt sense I entertain of your kindness and
affection ; and, at the same time, to proclaim in public the unbounded rever
ence and admiration, the devoted love that fills my heart for him whose loss
must throw a lasting gloom over all my future life."
On the 8th of January, 1864, the Queen received at Osborne from the
Prince of Wales the glad news of the birth at Frogmore of a Prince, who, on
the 10th of March following the first anniversary of the wedding of his parents,
was christened at Buckingham Palace, receiving the names of Albert Victor
Christian Edward. The advent of a male heir in direct succession to the
Throne was a source of much joy and consolation to the Queen and to
the Prince and Princess of Wales, as well as of gratification to the whole
nation. On the 24th of May the anniversary of Her Majesty's birthday was kept
this year with the old outward tokens of rejoicing, which had not been observed
since the year 1861. On her way to Balmoral in the autumn, the Queen

DEATH OF KING LEOPOLD. 167
unveiled a statue which had been erected by her loyal subjects of Perth to the
Prince Consort.
During the year 1865 the Queen remained in seclusion, attending to all
affairs of State, but seldom appearing in public. On the 24th of March she
visited the Consumption Hospital at Brompton, the first stone of which had
been laid by the Prince Consort in 1844. Her Majesty was much interested
in the hospital, and spent some time in examining the wards and noticing
the patients, of whom there were upwards of two hundred. On the 8th of
August Her Majesty, accompanied by Prince Leopold and the Princesses
Helena, Louise, and Beatrice, embarked at Woolwich for Germany, and, arriving
at Coburg on the 1 ith, proceeded at once to Rosenau. On the 26th the Queen
inaugurated the memorial statue which had been erected to her late husband
in his native town. The solemn and elaborate ceremony reached its climax
when the Queen, leaving her pavilion, walked with her family to the monu
ment, and laid at the feet of the statue the flowers which she had brought
for the purpose.
On her return homewards, the Queen saw for the last time her loved and
respected uncle, King Leopold. He died at Laeken on the gth of the
following December, within a few days of completing his seventy-fifth year.
Small and new as was his kingdom, he yet occupied a position in Europe
which the most powerful monarch might envy. International disputes were
referred to him for settlement, the secrets of most Royal Houses were in his
keeping, and private as well as public grievances were submitted to his
arbitration : he was known everywhere by the title of Juge de Paix de P Europe.
As son-in-law of the King of the French and uncle of Queen Victoria he
was able to mediate with great effect between the two countries, both in
1840 on the Eastern question, and later in the more irritating disputes
about the Spanish marriages. Throughout the whole of the Queen's life he
had been her trusted counsellor, confidant, and friend, and his loss, following
on that of her mother and her husband, left her more completely alone.
A happier event this year was the birth on the 3rd of June of the second son
of the Prince and Princess of Wales, now Duke of York. After the return of

168 LATER YEARS; 1 861—1897.
the Court from Germany, the Queen spent the remainder of the autumn at
Balmoral, whence excursions were made to Invermark and to Dunkeld to visit
the widowed Duchess of Athole, who, whilst these pages are passing through
the press, has also been taken away.
On the 6th of February, 1866, the Queen, who since the death of the Prince
Consort had not entered the walls of the Palace of Westminster, opened
Parliament in person, to the great joy of both Houses and of all her subjects.
In the Speech from the Throne Her Majesty declared her consent to the
marriage of the Princess Helena with Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-
Sonderburg-Augustenburg, which marriage was solemnized on the 5 th of July
in the private chapel of Windsor Castle. On the 13th of March, after an
interval of five years, the Queen visited Aldershot and reviewed the troops
there in garrison. The visit was repeated on the 5th of April, when
new colours were presented by Her Majesty to the 89th Regiment, now
the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Victoria's Royal Irish Fusiliers, the
regiment to which the Queen, as Princess Victoria, had presented colours
in 1833. Affairs on the Continent at this time were a source of deep anxiety to
the Queen, particularly because in the war between Austria and Prussia her
two sons-in-law, the husbands of the Princess Royal and of Princess Alice,
were engaged upon opposite sides. While the conflict was raging round her
home Princess Alice gave birth to a daughter who, when the war came to an
end, received the name of Irene.
On the 1 6th of October the Queen journeyed from Balmoral to Inver-
cannie, twenty-two miles from Aberdeen, in order to open the new works just
completed for the supply of water to the city. Of her reply to the address of the
Provost, the Queen, in " More Leaves from the Journal," writes : " Then I had to
read my answer, which made me very nervous ; but I got through it well, though
it was the first time I had read anything since my darling husband was taken
from me." In this answer the Queen said, " I have felt that, at a time when the
attention of the country has been so anxiously directed to the state of the public
health, it was right that I should make an exertion to testify my sense of the

PORTRAIT OF THE QUEEN
From a Painting by H. Von Angeli. By Permission of Mr. F. Hanfstaengl, Publisher of the
Large Plate.

:..(.j.-i»w '

VISIT OF THE SULTAN. 169
importance of a work so well calculated as this to promote the health and
comfort of your ancient city."
At Wolverhampton, on the 30th of November, the Queen, accompanied by
Prince and Princess Christian and Princess Louise, unveiled a statue to the
Prince Consort.
On the 5th of February, 1867, the Queen was again able to open Parliament
in person, the Speech from the Throne being, as on the former occasion, read
by the Lord Chancellor. The aspect of affairs generally was gloomy : the cattle
plague, the outbreak of the Fenian insurrection in Ireland, and the disturbances
occasioned by the Reform agitation gave no promise of a prosperous year.
The meetings held on the latter question, fortunately, passed over without riot,
though considerable apprehension was felt.
The first stone of the Albert Hall at Kensington, adjoining the gardens of
the Horticultural Society, was laid by the Queen on the 20th of May. The
building was finished in 187 1, when the Queen performed the opening ceremony.
Among the events of the year 1867 none is more memorable than the visit
which the Sultan Abdul Azziz paid to England in July. It was the first time
that any " Commander of the Faithful " had set foot on British ground. His
Majesty was lodged at Buckingham Palace, and on the day following his
arrival paid a visit to the Queen at Windsor before her departure for Osborne.
On the 1 7th of July what had been intended to be the most interesting of all
the spectacles offered to the Sultan — a naval review at Spithead — was marred
by stormy weather. Forty-nine vessels mounting 1 ,099 guns were anchored in
two columns, through which the Royal yachts passed with the Imperial and
Royal visitors. On the deck of the Victoria and Albert the Queen invested
the Sultan with the Order of the Garter. Having again visited the Royal
Victoria Hospital at Netley, in which her interest was unabated, the Queen on
the 20th of August left Osborne for Balmoral, stopping at the Border to pay
a visit to the Duke and Duchess of Roxburgh at Floors Castle. During the
stay here Melrose Abbey and Abbotsford were visited, where the Queen
wrote her name in Sir Walter Scott's journal, "which," as she says in " More
Leaves from the Journal," "I felt it to be a presumption in me to do." During

170 LATER YEARS; 1861— 1897.
the stay at Balmoral an excursion was made to Glenfiddich, a graphic
description of which is given in the same " Journal." On the 15th of October,
the day of the Queen's engagement, the statue erected in memory of the
Prince was unveiled at Balmoral.
In March of the following year the Queen was much alarmed by the news
from New South Wales that an attempt to assassinate the Duke of Edinburgh
had been made at Port Jackson. Succeeding telegrams fortunately confirmed
the news that the Duke's condition was favourable and that no danger was
anticipated. This dastardly attack caused universal horror and indignation
throughout Australia. Opening the new buildings of St. Thomas's Hospital
on the banks of the Thames opposite to the Houses of Parliament, on the 1 3th
of May, Her Majesty feelingly acknowledged the sympathy shown to her by the
nation in her distress. In June, 1868, 27,000 Volunteers were reviewed in the
Great Park at Windsor; and on the 5th of August Her Majesty, travelling
as the Countess of Kent, left Osborne for Cherbourg, passing through Paris to
Lucerne, where she remained with Prince Leopold and the Princesses Louise
and Beatrice for a month. Returning through Paris, the happy memories of
earlier days were recalled by a short visit to St. Cloud. Windsor was reached
on the nth of September, and three days afterwards the Court left for
Balmoral. During this visit the Glassalt Shiel, so well known as a favourite
resort of the Queen, was occupied for the first time.
It was about this time widely rumoured that the Queen intended to take
her former place in social life. In order to contradict this unfounded report
a special notice was published in The Times: "An erroneous impression
seems generally to prevail, and has lately found frequent expression in the
newspapers, that the Queen is about to resume the place in society which she
occupied before her great affliction ; that is, that she is about to hold levees and
drawing-rooms in person, and to appear as before at Court balls, concerts, etc.
This idea cannot be too explicitly contradicted.
" The Queen appreciates the desire of her subjects to see her, and whatever
she can do to gratify them in this loyal and affectionate wish she will do.
Whenever any real object is to be obtained by her appearing on public occa-

THE QUEEN'S PROMISE. 171
sions, any national interest to be promoted, or anything to be encouraged which
is for the good of the people, Her Majesty will not shrink, as she has not
shrunk, from any personal sacrifice or exertion, however painful.
" But there are other and higher duties than those of mere representation
which are now thrown upon the Queen, alone and unassisted — duties which she
cannot neglect without injury to the public service — which weigh unceasingly
upon her, overwhelming her with work and anxiety. The Queen has laboured
conscientiously to discharge these duties till her health and strength, already
shaken by the bitter and abiding desolation which has taken the place of her
former happiness, have been impaired.
"To call upon her to undergo, in addition, the fatigue of those mere
State ceremonies, which can be equally well performed by other members of
her family, is to ask her to run the risk of entirely disabling herself for the
discharge of those other duties, which cannot be neglected without serious injury
to the public interests. The Queen will, however, do what she can — in the manner
least trying to her health, strength, and spirits — to meet the loyal wishes of her
subjects ; to afford that support and countenance to society, and to give that
encouragement to trade, which is desired of her. More the Queen cannot do ; and
more the kindness and good feeling of her people will surely not exact of her."
Her Majesty has more than redeemed this promise, though, as years have
passed, the mass of business which she alone can transact has almost
daily increased in volume. This necessary work could only be mastered by
the strictest economy of time. Wherever the Queen is residing, whether at
home or abroad, the same method and regularity are maintained. Nor has
she failed to answer those special demands which have been made by the
ceremonies attached to the commencement or completion of works of public
importance. Holborn Viaduct, the buildings of the London University, the
new wing of the London Hospital, the new Law Courts, the People's Palace
at Mile End, the Imperial Institute, were opened by Her Majesty in person.
In her presence Epping Forest was dedicated to the use of the public for all
time. By her hand was laid the foundation stone of the new Medical Hall of
the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons on the Thames Embankment.

172 LATER YEARS; 1 86 1— 1897.
By opening the Colonial and Indian Exhibition at South Kensington the Queen
showed how great was her interest in the welfare of these branches of her
Empire, and her desire that they should be better known to her subjects at
home. In the provinces the Queen has also endeavoured to promote the same
spirit of public activity. At Birmingham she laid the foundation stone of the
new Law Courts, and at Derby of the Infirmary ; at Manchester she opened the
Ship Canal; at Glasgow and at Sheffield the new municipal buildings; at
Liverpool the International Exhibition ; at Southampton the deep docks.
These instances illustrate the many-sided sympathies of the Queen in
national life as a whole. Her Majesty has also, at all times, proved her warm
appreciation of the loyalty of her subjects who have entered into her own
service. Her interest in the navy has been great and exhibited wherever a
suitable opportunity has presented itself. Thus, in 1878, and again in 1887
on the occasion of the Jubilee, when 134 ships of various descriptions were
collected at Spithead, she reviewed the fleet, and in 1891 she visited Ports
mouth to christen and launch the Royal Sovereign, the largest ironclad afloat,
and the Royal Arthur, a new and powerful cruiser. For reviews of troops
opportunities have more frequently occurred. Aldershot and its garrison has
been many times honoured by the presence of the Queen ; at Windsor also
the Queen has reviewed her regular troops, taking advantage of the visit of the
Shah of Persia to assemble there some 10,000 men, and in July, 1881, Her
Majesty reviewed the English volunteers, then celebrating their majority, when
upwards of 50,000 marched past. This review was followed by another at
Edinburgh in the following month, when 40,000 volunteers of the North paraded
before the Queen. The 79th Cameron Highlanders and the 2nd Battalion of
the Berkshire Regiment received new colours from the Queen's hands in the
Isle of Wight, and at Windsor the 4th Regiment was similarly honoured.
In 1876 the Queen was able, for the second time since her widowhood, to
open Parliament in person on the 8th of February. In the Speech from the
Throne occurred the following passage : " At the time that the direct govern
ment of my Indian Empire was transferred to the Crown, no formal addition was
made to the style and titles of the Sovereign. I have deemed the present a

EMPIRE OF INDIA. ,73
fitting opportunity for supplying this omission, and a Bill upon the subject will
be presented to you." This Bill was introduced in the House of Commons by
Mr. Disraeli on the 17th of February. The title selected by the Queen was
" Empress of India." The Bill was resisted with some show of vigour by the
Opposition, but was eventually passed, and received the Royal assent. The
proclamation of the new title was made on the ist of May by the Sheriffs of
London and Middlesex, and also at Edinburgh. The formal proclamation of
the Empire in India took place on New Year's Day, 1877, at Calcutta, Bombay,
Madras, and Delhi. At the last-named place the Viceroy, Lord Lytton, pre
sided at a magnificent Durbar, when sixty-three ruling chiefs were assembled.
At the opening of Parliament by Her Majesty in person on the 8th of
February, the Queen's Speech contained this paragraph: " My assumption of
the Imperial title at Delhi was welcomed by the chiefs and people of India
with professions of affection and loyalty most grateful to my feelings." In
commemoration of the event a large gold medal was struck, copies of which
were presented to the native chiefs and the principal officials of the new
Empire. An illustration of this medal is on page 159. At the same time, the
Queen founded the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, in addition
to the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, which had been instituted by
Her Majesty in 1865 after the termination of the Indian Mutiny, and to the
Order of the Crown of India for ladies, and especially for ladies connected
with the Indian Empire. The insignia of the two first of these orders are
also represented in the illustration on page 159.
Among other Orders instituted or enlarged during the Queen's reign,
mention should be made of the Order of "Victoria and Albert," originally
worn as a badge by Royal Ladies and Princesses of the Queen's family, but
created an Order in 1862. Another Order is the Most Distinguished Order of
St. Michael and St. George. Originally instituted in 18 18 in connection with the
Ionian Islands, it was enlarged in 1868, and again in 1877, for subjects of the
Crown who had held high and confidential offices within Her Majesty's Colonial
possessions, or for service in relation to the Foreign affairs of the Empire. In
1886 the Queen created a new naval and military order for the reward of

'74 LATER YEARS; 1861—1897.
individual instances of meritorious or distinguished service in the field or before
the enemy; this is called "the Distinguished Service Order." Mention has
been made earlier of the institution in 1856 of the Victoria Cross for rewarding
individual acts of heroism in war. Ten years afterwards the Queen instituted
the Albert Medal for the purpose of rewarding by Royal favour the many
daring and heroic actions performed by mariners and others in saving life at
sea. By another warrant a year later, in 1877, this decoration was extended to
cases of gallantry in preventing loss of life from accidents in mines, at fires,
and other perils on shore. These are illustrated on page 73. On the 21st
of April, 1896, the Queen instituted the Royal Victorian Order (illustrated on
page 195), to be conferred as a mark of high distinction upon those who have
rendered personal service to Her Majesty.
In the long course of years, uniformly occupied with the laborious
discharge of the complicated business of the State, and marked by special
efforts to encourage national movements, or to promote the efficiency of the
public services, the Queen has witnessed many changes, some happy, some
painful, in the expanding circle of her domestic life.
In the autumn of the year 1870 the Queen in Council gave her consent to
the marriage of Princess Louise with the Marquis of Lome, eldest son of the
Duke of Argyll. The engagement had taken place at Balmoral in October,
and the marriage ceremony was solemnized, on the 21st of March, 187 1, in
St. George's Chapel, Windsor, the Queen herself giving away the bride.
The next marriage of one of Her Majesty's children was that of the
Duke of Edinburgh, who on the 23rd of January, 1874, was united at St.
Petersburg to the Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, only daughter of the
Emperor Alexander II. This was the first alliance ever formed between the
Royal houses of England and Russia, and the Princess was received, on her
arrival in England, with the warmest welcome. It was the first time also that,
since the Act of Settlement, a British Prince had taken a wife not belonging to
the Protestant communion; but in that Act the Greek Church was not mentioned,
so no objection was made to the daughter of the Emperor of Russia retaining
her allegiance to her own faith when she became Duchess of Edinburgh.

ROYAL MARRIAGES. 175
Five years later, the Queen saw the marriage of another son. On the
13th of March, 1879, the Duke of Connaught was married, at St. George's
Chapel, Windsor, to the Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, daughter of
Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, well known as "the Red Prince." In
this same year, on the 12th of May, the Queen's first great-grandchild, a
daughter of the Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen, daughter of the Princess
Royal, was born.
On the 27th of April, 1882, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, the youngest,
and only unmarried, son of the Queen, was married at St. George's Chapel
to the Princess Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Only a few days before the
ceremony, a man named Maclean had been tried and convicted for the
cowardly outrage of firing at Her Majesty, as she with Princess Beatrice was
leaving Windsor Station.
One only of the Queen's children was now unmarried, the youngest
Princess. Since her father's death, Princess Beatrice, who was then four years
old, had been the daily companion of her mother, and the knowledge of the
dutiful manner in which she had watched by Her Majesty, and done her utmost
to cheer and lighten the solitude of her life, had given her a strong hold on the
affection of the nation. It was therefore with no little interest that, in 1885,
at the beginning of the year, the announcement was received that the Queen
had approved of her marriage with Prince Henry of Battenberg. The Prince
was no stranger to the family, as his eldest brother, Prince Louis, had already
married the Princess Victoria of Hesse, eldest daughter of the Grand Duke of
Hesse and Princess Alice, and was a distinguished officer in Her Majesty's
Navy. The marriage was performed at Whippingham Church on the 23rd of
July, 1885 ; but, unlike the marriages of the Queen's other children, it entailed
no separation from her daughter, who with her husband continued to live
with Her Majesty wherever she resided.
Although in these additions to her family the Queen has found much
happiness and consolation, yet sorrow and suffering have rarely been long
absent, and successive losses have left gaps in the circle never to be filled,
and memories never to be forgotten. The Queen passed through a time of

176 LATER YEARS; 1861—1897.
terrible trial and anxious suspense when the Prince of Wales, on the 23rd of
November, 1871, was attacked by typhoid fever. So grave were the symptoms
that the Queen on the 29th, having just returned from Balmoral, determined to
go to Sandringham, where the Prince was lying. The Princess Louis of Hesse
was there also on a visit to her brother, and it was fresh in the memories of a
sympathizing nation how assiduous her attentions had been, just ten years
before, when her lamented father lay dying from a fever of the same nature.
The intensity of public feeling was allayed for a time by reports of the normal
course of the disease ; but it was deepened on the 8th of December, when a
serious relapse occurred, and the Queen, who had returned to Windsor on the
ist, hurried back to Sandringham to watch over her son. On the 10th, by Her
Majesty's desire, forms of prayer for the recovery of the Heir to the Throne
were issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and religious communities of
all kinds throughout the Empire joined in the universal intercession. It was
not till December the 14th, the anniversary of the Prince Consort's death, that
the illness took a favourable turn, and from that day the Prince slowly but
surely recovered. The loyalty and sympathy shown to the Queen by her
subjects in this time of trial were acknowledged in the following letter:—
"Windsor Castle, December 26th, 187 1.
" The Queen is very anxious to express her deep sense of the touching
sympathy of the whole nation on the occasion of the alarming illness of her
dear son the Prince of Wales. The universal feeling shown by her people
during those painful, terrible days, and the sympathy evinced by them with
herself and her beloved daughter the Princess of Wales, as well as the general
joy in the improvement of the Prince of Wales's state, have made a deep and
lasting impression upon her heart which can never be effaced. It was, indeed,
nothing new to her, for the Queen had met with the same sympathy when,
just ten years ago, a similar illness removed from her side the best, wisest, and
kindest of husbands.
" The Queen wishes to express, at the same time, on behalf of the Princess
of Wales, her feelings of heartfelt gratitude, for she has been as deeply touched

THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT AT TEL-EL-KEBIR
From a Painting by R. Caton Woodville

THANKSGIVING AT ST. PAUL'S. I77
as the Queen by the great and universal manifestations of loyalty and
sympathy. " The Queen cannot conclude without expressing her hope that her
faithful subjects will continue their prayers to God for the complete recovery
of her dear son to health and strength."
This letter addressed to her subjects aroused among the people a deep
feeling. Each one read it as a personal acknowledgment, and the warmth of
affection to their Sovereign and family was manifested by the spontaneity and
sincerity of the national thanksgiving for the restoration to health of the
Prince of Wales, which was held on the 27th of February, 1872. This
service had at first been arranged more as a private act of devotion on the
part of the Queen and her household; but it assumed, day by day, the
proportions of a national festival, until it culminated in the grandest outburst
of unanimous popular emotion which had been witnessed since the times of the
Tudors. Two days after the ceremony at St. Paul's, the following letter was published
in the London Gazette : — "Buckingham Palace, February iqth, 1872.
" The Queen is anxious, as on a previous occasion, to express publicly her
own personal very deep sense of the reception she and her dear children met
with on Tuesday, February 27th, from millions of her subjects on her way to
and from St. Paul's.
"Words are too weak for the Queen to say how very deeply touched and
gratified she has been, by the immense enthusiasm and affection exhibited
towards her dear son and herself, from the highest down to the lowest, on the
long progress through the capital, and she would earnestly wish to convey her
warmest, and most heartfelt thanks, to the whole nation for this great demon
stration of loyalty.
" The Queen, as well as her son and her dear daughter-in-law, felt that the
whole nation joined with them in thanking God for sparing the beloved Prince
of Wales's life.

178 LATER YEARS; 1861— 1897.
"The remembrance of this day, and of the remarkable order maintained
throughout, will for ever be affectionately remembered by the Queen and her
family." Another period of deep suspense and anxiety, fortunately coming, like the
illness of the Prince of Wales, to a joyful termination, was the Egyptian war of 1882,
which brought home to Her Majesty the anxiety and suspense inseparable from
those who have near and dear relations in the field. The Queen has always
watched the movements of her brave sailors and soldiers with a tender and
anxious care; but it was not till September, 1882, that one of her own sons
was under fire in a distant land. An English army had been despatched to Egypt
to assist the Khedive in the subjugation of his rebellious army under Arabi
Pasha. The troops were commanded by Sir Garnet, now Lord, Wolseley,
and under him the Duke of Connaught was in command of the brigade of
Guards. The Egyptian army, in a strongly entrenched position at Tel-el-Kebir,
awaited the final attack of the British troops, which was delivered on the
1 2th of September. In " More Leaves from the Journal " the Queen writes : —
"Monday, September 11, 1882.
" Received a telegram in cypher from Sir John McNeill (who was on the
Duke's personal staff), marked very secret, saying that it was ' determined to
attack the enemy with a very large force on Wednesday.' How anxious this
made us, God only knows ; and yet this long delay had already intensified
our suspense. No one to know, though all expected something at the time."
" Tuesday, September 12.
" . . . I prayed earnestly for my darling child, and longed for the
morrow to arrive. Read Korner's beautiful Gebet vor der Schlacht, ' Vater,
ich riife Dich ' (Prayer before the battle, 'Father, I call on Thee'). My
beloved husband used to sing it often. My thoughts were entirely fixed on
Egypt and the coming battle. My nerves were strained to such a pitch by the
intensity of my anxiety and suspense that they seemed to feel as though they
were all alive."

TEL-EL-KEBIR. 1?Q
" Wednesday, September i^th.
"... Took my short walk and breakfasted in the cottage. Had a
telegram that the army marched out last night. What an anxious moment !
. . . Another telegram, also from Reuter, saying that fighting was going on,
and that the enemy had been routed with heavy losses at Tel-el-Kebir. Much
agitated. "On coming in got a telegram from Sir John McNeill, saying, 'A great
victory ; Duke safe and well.' Sent all to Louischen (the Duchess of Con
naught). The excitement was very great. Felt unbounded joy and gratitude
for God's great goodness and mercy. ... A little later, just before two, came
the following most welcome and gratifying telegram from Sir Garnet
Wolseley : — " ' Ismalia, September i^th, 1882.
" ' Attacked Arabi's position at five this morning. His strongly en
trenched position was most bravely and gallantly stormed by the Guards and
line, while cavalry and horse artillery worked round their left flank. At seven
o'clock I was in complete possession of his whole camp. . . . Enemy com
pletely routed, and his losses have been very heavy ; also regret to say we
have suffered severely. Duke of Connaught is well and behaved admirably,
heading his brigade to the attack.'
"Brown brought the telegrams, and followed me to Beatrice's room, where
Louischen was, and I showed it to her. I was myself quite upset, and
embraced her warmly, saying what joy and pride and cause of thankfulness
it was to know our darling was safe, and so much praised ! I feel quite beside
myself for joy and gratitude, though grieved to think of our losses, which,
however, have not proved to be so serious as first reported. We were
both much overcome. ... A telegram from Sir Garnet Wolseley to
Mr. Childers, with fuller accounts, arrived. The loss, thank God ! is not so
heavy as we feared at first. A bonfire was to be lit by my desire at the top
of Craig Gowan at nine, just where there had been one in 1856, after the fall
of Sebastopol, when dearest Albert went up to it at night with Bertie and

1 80 LATER YEARS; 1861— 1897.
Affie. That was on September 13th, very nearly the same time, twenty-six
years ago." That very day, a few hours afterwards, the Duke of Albany
arrived with his bride.
On the 23rd of September, 1872, the Queen received the distressing
news of the death, at Baden-Baden, of her sister, the Dowager Princess of
Hohenlohe-Langenburg. The declining health of the Princess had been for
some time a source of anxiety, but so rapid a termination of the illness was
unexpected and was a painful shock to Her Majesty, who lost a most affectionate
sister to whom she had always been warmly attached.
Six years later, came a yet deeper sorrow, when the first of the Queen's own
children was to follow the husband and father into the silent land — Princess
Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, who had been taken ill on the 7th of December,
1878, with diphtheria, caught in attendance upon her husband and upon
her children, all of whom, except Princess Elizabeth, now the Grand Duchess
Elizabeth of Russia, had suffered, and one of whom had died from the illness.
Her own sufferings were borne with wonderful patience, and at first it was
believed that her life might be spared ; but it was not to be, and on the fatal
14th December she died, murmuring to herself, " From Friday to Saturday,
four weeks — May — dear Papa — ! " It was exactly four weeks to the day since
her child, Princess Marie, known to her family by the pet name of May, had died,
and seventeen years since the death of the Prince Consort. In her grief the
Queen had the warm sympathy of the whole nation, which well remembered the
devotion of the Princess to her father in the illness from which he died, and to
her brother during that from which he mercifully recovered. In the land of her
adoption her loss was equally deplored, for there she had won the love of the
people by her constant care for their interests, more especially during the
trying times of the Franco-German War, when the sick and wounded learned
to bless her name as their comforter and friend. Her remains were laid to rest
in the mausoleum at Rosenhohe, where a tomb, bearing a recumbent effigy
by Boehm, representing the Princess holding in her arms the Princess Marie, is
now placed. This effigy was copied from that which adorns the mausoleum of
the Prince Consort at Frogmore. A memorial of another kind is to be found in

DEATH OF PRINCESS ALICE. ,81
the "Biographical Sketch and Letters of the Princess," so ably edited by
her sister, Princess Helena, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, in which
it can be seen that the love of husband and children, only deepened the affection
which she had for her loved and widowed mother.
The following letter from the Queen appeared in the London Gazette : —
" Osborne, December 26th, 1878.
"The Queen is anxious to take the earliest opportunity of expressing
publicly her heartfelt thanks for the universal and most touching sympathy
shown to her by all classes of her loyal and faithful subjects on the present
occasion, when it has pleased God to call from this world her dearly-beloved
daughter, the Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse. Overwhelmed with
grief at the loss of a dear child, who was a bright example of loving tenderness,
courageous devotion, and self-sacrifice to duty, it is most soothing to the
Queen's feelings to see how entirely her grief is shared by her people. The
Queen's deeply afflicted son-in-law, the Grand Duke of Hesse, is also anxious
to make known his sincere gratitude for the kind feelings expressed towards
himself and his dear children in their terrible bereavement, and his gratifica
tion at the appreciation shown by the people of England of the noble and
endearing qualities of her whom all now mourn. Seventeen years ago, at this
very time, when a similar bereavement crushed the Queen's happiness, and this
beloved and lamented daughter was her great comfort and support, the nation
evinced the same touching sympathy, as well as when, in December, 187 1, the
Prince of Wales was at the point of death. Such an exhibition of true and
tender feeling will ever remain engraven on the Queen's heart, and is more to
be valued at this moment of great distress in the country, which no one more
deeply deplores than the Queen herself."
At the funeral of the Princess Alice, two of her brothers were present —
the eldest, whose recovery she had herself witnessed, and the youngest, who
was fated to follow her. Prince Leopold had, from his early years, been always
of delicate constitution— as the Princess Alice had said, he had been three times
given back to his family from the brink of the grave. Living a retired

182 LATER YEARS; 1861— 1897.
and studious life, he gave promise of succeeding to his father's position as head
of all progressive movements in literature and art. Trained while young at
home, in 1872 he went, at his own particular wish, to Oxford, and matriculated
at Christ Church. Here he mixed freely with those of his own age, but he
equally cultivated the society of those older in years who were distinguished
in literature and science. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1874, and
later received a commission in the army and the command of the Seaforth
Highlanders. In the debates of the House of Lords, which he entered as
Duke of Albany in 1881, he took little part, though his interest in the
politics of the day was keen and intelligent, but he made a great reputation
as a public speaker, particularly in London, and at Manchester, where he
pleaded the cause of music and of education. His health, as he grew older,
so much improved, that it was hoped he might be able to throw off his
constitutional weakness ; but after two years of married happiness he died
suddenly at Cannes, on the 28th of March, 1884, leaving his widow with
one daughter. A son was born to him, after his death, on the 19th of
July. His remains were brought over to England, and he now lies in the
Albert Chapel at Windsor, within the sound of the organ he loved so well
when alive. A most touching tribute to his memory is the poem called " The
Untravelled Traveller," by Dean Stanley, originally written in 1875, an(^
reprinted at the time of his death.
On the eve of her departure for the Continent to be present at the
marriage of her grand-daughter Princess Victoria of Hesse with Prince Louis
of Battenberg, the Queen, through the Home Secretary, addressed the
following letter to her people : — "Windsor Castle, April \\th, 1884.
"I have on several previous occasions given personal expression to my
deep sense of the loving sympathy and loyalty of my subjects in all parts of
my Empire. I wish, therefore, in my present grievous bereavement, to thank
them most warmly for the very gratifying manner in which they have shown
not only their sympathy with me and my dear so-deeply-afflicted daughter-in-

DEATH OF THE DUKE OF ALBANY. 183
law, and my other children, but also their high appreciation of my beloved
son's great qualities of head and heart, and of the loss he is to the country
and to me. The affectionate sympathy of my loyal people, which has never
failed me in weal or woe, is very soothing to my heart.
" Though much shaken and sorely afflicted by the many sorrows and
trials which have fallen upon me during these past years, I will not lose
courage, and, with the help of Him who has never forsaken me, will strive to
labour on for the sake of my children, and for the good of the country I love
so well, as long as I can.
" My dear daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Albany, who bears her terrible
misfortune with the most admirable, touching, and unmurmuring resignation to
the will of God, is also deeply gratified by the universal sympathy and kind
feeling evinced towards her.
"I would wish, in conclusion, to express my gratitude to all other countries
for their sympathy — above all, to the neighbouring one where my beloved son
breathed his last, and for the great respect and kindness shown on that mournful
occasion. "Victoria R. and I.
A recumbent effigy by Sir Edgar Boehm, R.A., of the lamented
Prince, in his uniform as Colonel of the Seaforth Highlanders, has been
placed on his tomb.
It has been one consequence of the early age at which the Queen came to
the throne that the friends and associates of her youth have passed away, and
latterly in greater numbers. The catalogue of these is long and recalls many
sad memories. Among the ladies of the Court who have been closely
connected with Her Majesty, may be mentioned the Duchess of Sutherland,
Lady Jocelyn, Lady Caroline Barrington, Lady Augusta Stanley, Lady
Gainsborough, Lady Ely, the Duchess of Roxburghe, and the Duchess of
Athole ; among other members of the Royal household who have served their
Royal Mistress with single-minded devotion, the names of General the Hon.
Charles Grey, the Hon. Sir Charles Phipps, Sir Thomas Biddulph, Sir John
Cowell, and Sir Henry Ponsonby rise to the memory immediately.

1 84 LATER YEARS; 1861— 1897.
The thoughtful kindness which the Queen has always shown to her
servants, and the implicit confidence which she has reposed in their loyalty,
have won from those in her employment that devoted personal service which
has so long distinguished her domestic establishment. Among those who, by
their tried fidelity, have thus earned and enjoyed her trust, Mrs. Macdonald and
John Brown may be taken as types, both of whom passed upwards of thirty
years in close and daily attendance upon Her Majesty.
The 20th of June, 1887, was the fiftieth anniversary of the Queen's
accession. Three times only in the history of the country had the reign of an
English Sovereign attained this number of years, and Her Majesty's Jubilee was
celebrated throughout the Empire with universal rejoicing. No preceding half-
century had ever witnessed such striking progress in the prosperity and power
of a nation, and it was deemed fitting that this anniversary should be celebrated
with all the loyalty and enthusiasm which a united people could evince towards
a Sovereign who, through weal and woe, had presided with such wisdom and
prudence over the councils of the State, had set so beneficent an example of
domestic virtue, and had so closely identified herself with the joys and sorrows
of all her subjects.
On the 21st of June the Queen, accompanied by her children and grand
children, and attended by a number of foreign Sovereigns or their representa
tives, went in State from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, where a
special service was held. Her Majesty's carriage, escorted by a brilliant
body of officers of Indian Cavalry, was preceded by a cortege of Princes all
nearly related to the Queen, conspicuous among whom towered the Crown
Prince of Germany in the white uniform of the Prussian Gardes du Corps.
A picture of this cavalcade, as it passed to Westminster through Trafalgar
Square, has been painted for the Queen by Mr. Charlton, and is here re
produced. Since the Coronation the Abbey had never seen so impressive a
spectacle. The Queen sate in the chair of Edward the Confessor, in which,
fifty years before, she had been crowned ; the Abbey was filled with a
brilliant throng, and the service of thanksgiving was striking and magnificent.

THE JUBILEE PROCESSION PASSING THROUGH TRAFALGAR SQUARE
From a Painting by [. Charlton. By Permission of I. P Ui-ndo/.i, Publisher of the Large PI.

THE QUEEN'S JUBILEE. !85
The "Te Deum" was sung by three hundred voices to the music of the
Prince Consort, and a special Jubilee anthem, composed by Dr. (now Sir
John Frederick) Bridge, was also performed. At the conclusion of the
service, which had been conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury,
Dr. Benson, the Queen kissed each of her children and retired, passing to
Buckingham Palace amid the renewed greetings of her subjects.
To the Home Secretary after this event the Queen addressed the
following letter : — " Windsor Castle, June 24.
" I am anxious to express to my people my warm thanks for the kind, and
more than kind, reception I met with on going to, and returning from, West
minster Abbey, with all my children and grandchildren.
" The enthusiastic reception I met with then, as well as on these eventful
days, in London as well as in Windsor, on the occasion of my Jubilee, has
touched me most deeply. It has shown that the labours and anxiety of fifty
long years, twenty-two of which I spent in unclouded happiness shared and
cheered by my beloved husband, while an equal number were full of sorrows
and trials, borne without his sheltering arm and wise help, have been appre
ciated by my people.
" This feeling, and the sense of duty towards my dear country and
subjects, who are so inseparably bound up with my life, will encourage me in
my task, often a very difficult and arduous one, during the remainder of
my life. " The wonderful order preserved on this occasion, and the good behaviour
of the enormous multitudes assembled, merits my highest admiration.
" That God may protect and abundantly bless my country is my fervent
prayer. "Victoria, R. and I."
On the 2nd of July, 1887, the Queen, at Buckingham Palace, saw a
march-past of over 23,000 Volunteers, and two days later Her Majesty laid the
foundation stone of the Imperial Institute. In her reply to the address from

1 86 LATER YEARS; 1 861—1897.
the organizing committee, read by the Prince of Wales, the Queen said: "I
concur with you in thinking that the counsel and exertions of my beloved
husband initiated a movement which gave increased vigour to commercial
activity, and produced marked and lasting improvements in industrial efforts.
One indirect result of that movement has been to bring more before the minds
of men the vast and varied resources of the Empire over which Providence
has willed that I should reign during fifty prosperous years. I believe and hope
that the Imperial Institute will play a useful part in combining those resources
for the common advantage of all my subjects, and conducing towards the
welding of the Colonies, India, and the Mother Country into one harmonious
and united community."
On the 9th of July the Queen reviewed her troops, 58,000 men with
102 guns, at Aldershot. Before the march-past the Queen received from the
Duke of Cambridge, Commander-in-Chief, the congratulations of the army
on her Jubilee, to which Her Majesty returned a gracious reply.
On the 23rd of the same month, a great naval review at Spithead con
cluded the Jubilee celebrations. The fleet consisted of one hundred and thirty-
five vessels, mounting about five hundred guns, with a complement of officers
and men of twenty thousand. After passing through the line Her Majesty
summoned the commanders of the ships on board the Royal yacht, and
expressed to each the satisfaction the display had given her, and her apprecia
tion of the hearty reception accorded to her by the crews.
On the 15th of the same month, the Queen, before leaving Windsor, laid
at Smith's Lawn, in the Great Park, the foundation stone of the equestrian
statue of the Prince Consort presented by the women and girls of the United
Kingdom ; the surplus of this Jubilee offering was, by Her Majesty's decision,
devoted to the benefit of nurses and nursing establishments — a much-needed
movement of practical utility, which had for some time engaged Her Majesty's
serious attention, and had been fostered by her daughter Princess Christian,
who has spared neither time nor trouble in promoting its success.
Among those nearest and dearest to the Queen, who took part in
the Jubilee of 1887, f°ur nave since passed away — the Emperor Frederic,

DEATH OF THE EMPEROR FREDERIC. 187
the Grand Duke of Hesse, the Duke of Clarence, and Prince Henry of
Battenberg. The Crown Prince of Germany, who had for some time suffered from an
affection of the larynx, passed the winter of 1887-88 at San Remo, and only
left for Berlin on the 10th of March, 1888, when he received the news of his
accession to the throne of Prussia and of the German Empire, by the death of
his father the day before. The malady from which he suffered, notwith
standing the strenuous efforts of his medical attendants, continued to increase
in an alarming manner, though his own vitality and courage at times gave hope
of amendment. He battled bravely against fate, but on the 15 th of June the
end came, and after a short reign of ninety-nine days, the Emperor Frederic,
whose noble character was fitly shrined in a commanding figure and a stately
presence, was lost to his sorrowing family and to his country, and the
Queen's eldest daughter was left a widow. The Queen had paid a visit to
her son-in-law at Charlottenburg on the 24th of April, where she had
had the melancholy satisfaction of seeing him during one of the temporary
rallies. Another Prince, who had taken part in the procession of 1887, was the
Grand Duke of Hesse. Though less known in England than the Crown Prince
of Prussia, the Grand Duke had been closely associated with the Queen in
many happy hours of her life, and his death, which severed another link
with the golden past, was deeply felt by Her Majesty, who was warmly
attached to the husband of Princess Alice.
A loss which appealed more directly to the British people was that of
the Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the eldest son of the Prince and Princess
of Wales, and ultimate heir to the throne. Attacked by the prevailing
epidemic of influenza in January, 1892, he was unable to struggle against the
complication of pneumonia, which set in at an early stage of his illness. On
January 14th he died— a few days after his birthday and within a few weeks
of his marriage. Youth, brilliant position, and his approaching marriage,
lent peculiar pathos to the death of the Duke, whose loss was deeply felt by
his parents and his grandmother. He was buried in the Albert Chapel at

188 LATER YEARS; 1861— 1897.
Windsor on January 20th, 1892. On the same day the Queen wrote from
Osborne to the Home Secretary as follows : —
" I must once again give expression to my deep sense of the loyalty and
affectionate sympathy evinced by my subjects in every part of my Empire on
an occasion more sad and tragical than any but one which has befallen me and
mine, as well as the nation. The overwhelming misfortune of my dearly-loved
grandson having thus been suddenly cut off in the flower of his age, full of
promise for the future, amiable and gentle, and endearing himself to all, renders
it hard for his sorely stricken parents, his dear young bride, and his fond grand
mother to bow in submission to the inscrutable decrees of Providence.
" The sympathy of millions, which has been so touchingly and vividly
expressed, is deeply gratifying at such a time, and I wish, both in my own
name and that of my children, to express from my heart my warm gratitude
to all. " These testimonies of sympathy with us, and appreciation of my dear
grandson, whom I loved as a son, and whose devotion to me was as great as
that of a son, will be a help and consolation to me and mine in our affliction.
" My bereavements during the last thirty years of my reign have indeed
been heavy. Though the labours, anxieties, and responsibilities inseparable
from my position have been great, yet it is my earnest prayer that God may
give me health and strength to work for the good and happiness of my dear
country and Empire while life lasts. "Victoria R.I."
Another deep shadow was thrown over the Queen and her family by the
removal of one more of the company of Princes in the procession of 1887. Since
his marriage in 1885, Prince Henry of Battenberg, the husband of Princess
Beatrice, had been seldom away from the Court, whether at Windsor,
Balmoral, or Osborne, and had accompanied Her Majesty on her annual
visits to the Continent in the spring. Adapting himself thoroughly to English
life, ardently attached to the institutions and sports of the country, he had by
his genial, courteous manner and unobtrusive tact won the affection of all

DEATH OF PRINCE HENRY OF BATTENBERG. 189
with whom he was associated, and his bright presence is now sorely missed.
Sprung from a family of soldiers, and brother of Prince Alexander, the hero
of Slivnitza, it is not to be wondered at that, when a chance occurred of
distinguishing himself in the field, he accepted it with eagerness, and volun
teered for the expedition to Ashantee, which had just been organised.
Throughout the march from the coast, Prince Henry proved his willingness
to share the fatigue and labours of his comrades, and his presence was most
useful in negotiations with native chiefs. The expedition had reached Kwisa,
between Prahsu and Kumassi, the capital of King Prempeh, when the Prince
was struck down by fever. He was promptly conveyed to the coast, and
rallied after the journey. He embarked on board H.M.S. Blonde on the
17th of January in a weak state, and at one time seemed to regain strength.
On the 19th, however, a change for the worse set in, and he passed peacefully
away on the evening of January 20th, off the coast of Sierra Leone.
The sudden and tragic close of a life so bright and promising shocked
the whole nation, and stirred to the depths their sympathies for the widow,
for the fatherless children, and for the Queen. To Her Majesty, apart from
its wholly unexpected character, the blow was the more severe, because, as her
other children had been parted from her by the exigencies of their positions,
she had learned to rely on her daughter's husband for that sympathy, support,
and assistance which, as years passed on, became more valuable. In response
to the universal expression of national feeling, Her Majesty wrote from Osborne
on the 14th of February, 1896: —
"I have, alas! once more to thank my loyal subjects for their warm
sympathy in a fresh grievous affliction which has befallen me and my
beloved daughter, Princess Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg.
" This new sorrow is overwhelming, and to me is a double one, for I lose a
dearly-beloved and helpful son, whose presence was like a bright sunbeam in
my home, and my dear daughter loses a noble, devoted husband, to whom she
was united by the closest affection.
" To witness the blighted happiness of the daughter who has never left
me, and has comforted and helped me, is hard to bear. But the feeling of

190 LATER YEARS; 1861— 1897.
universal sympathy so touchingly shown by all classes of my subjects has
deeply moved my child and myself, and has helped and soothed us greatly.
I wish from my heart to thank my people for this, as well as for the appreciation
manifested of the dear and gallant Prince who laid down his life in the service
of his adopted country.
" My beloved child is an example to all in her courage, resignation, and
submission to the will of God. "Victoria, R.I."
The lamented Prince was, by his own wish, laid to rest at Whippingham,
in the Isle of Wight, of which he had been Captain and Governor — an office
which has since been conferred upon his widow. By her acceptance of this
office Princess Henry showed, and it is but one proof among many, her
courageous resolve not to allow her private sorrow to interfere with the
performance of public duties.
On the 3rd of May, 1893, the official announcement was made of the
betrothal of the Duke of York, the only surviving son of the Prince and Princess
of Wales, to the Princess Victoria Mary, only daughter of the Duke and Duchess
of Teck. The marriage took place at St. James's Palace on the 6th of July,
amid universal rejoicing, and never since the marriage of the Prince of Wales
or the Queen's Jubilee procession had London been more thronged with loyal
and enthusiastic crowds. The ceremony was performed by the Archbishop of
Canterbury, in the presence of the Queen and all the royal family, with whom
were the King and Queen of Denmark and the Czarevitch, now Emperor, of
Russia. The bridesmaids were grandchildren and one great-grandchild of the
Queen. After the rejoicings and congratulations from all parts of the Empire,
the Queen addressed another letter to her people, in which she wrote of the
universal loyalty shown to her. " It is, indeed, nothing new to the Queen,
for in weal or woe she has ever met with the warmest, kindest sympathy,
which she feels very deeply. She knows that the people of her vast Empire
are aware how truly her heart beats for them in all their joys and sorrows,
and that in the existence of this tie between them and herself lies the real

THE QUEEN'S RECREATIONS. 191
strength of the Empire." The picture of the marriage ceremony, painted by
command of the Queen by M. Tuxen, is reproduced overleaf.
The Duke and Duchess of York have now three children ; the eldest, —
a son — born on the 23rd of June, 1 894, has been christened Edward ; the
second, — also a son — named Albert, was born on December 14th, 1895 > the
third, — a daughter — named Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary, was born on April
25th, 1897. The name "Alice" commemorates the Grand Duchess of Hesse,
and " Mary " the Duchess of Gloucester, on whose birthday the infant Princess
was born. The descent of the crown in a direct line is thus, it is hoped, happily
assured. During the whole of her long life, in the midst of public business which
has daily become more voluminous and exacting, the Queen has never entirely
abandoned the pursuits which were the pleasure and relaxation of her earliest
years. Mention has been made of her practice of music and of her instructors,
and here it may be noted that within the last fifteen years Her Majesty has
sung with Signor Tosti, as at an earlier period she sang with Lablache and
Mendelssohn. In all the extracts from the Queen's journals which have from
time to time been made public, it will have been noticed how constantly she
mentions that she sketched the scenery of the places visited by her. The
early instruction, given by Westall and supplemented by the hints occasionally
given by Sir E. Landseer, was not in landscape drawing, which was taught by
Mr. Lear in 1846 and 1847. Since that time the Queen has taken lessons from
Mr. Leitch, and within the last twelve years also from Mr. Green. The Queen
has always followed with the closest interest the course of current events, which
have necessarily absorbed the greater part of her time and attention. But Her
Majesty has also made herself familiar with great imaginative writers, with poets
such as Shakespeare, Scott and Tennyson, or with novelists such as Jane Austen,
Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, and, it may be added, Mrs. Oliphant, whose
recent illness and death aroused the Queen's deepest sympathy. The Queen's
acquaintance with German and French literature is considerable, and her intimate
knowledge of these languages is very noticeable in the purity with which she
speaks them. In the last ten years a signal proof of the warm interest which

192 LATER YEARS; 1861—1897.
Her Majesty has always taken in her Indian Empire has been given by the
Queen's study of Hindustani, under the instruction of the Munshi Abdul
Karim. It is impossible to close this brief record of Her Majesty's life without
mention of the memorable event of the 22nd of June, 1897. No such scene
has ever been witnessed in any capital of the world as was afforded by
London on that day, and throughout the whole Empire the commemoration
of our Sovereign of Great Britain and Ireland was celebrated with a burst of
enthusiasm absolutely without parallel.
The course to be followed by the State procession in going to and return
ing from St. Paul's Cathedral had been carefully planned, in order that the
largest possible number of Her Majesty's subjects might be enabled to witness
its passage through the streets. Eleven Prime Ministers of Colonial Houses
of Representatives, accompanied by detachments of troops, whose presence
from distant lands bore living witness to the extent and loyalty of the Empire,
preceded the procession through crowds of enthusiastic spectators. The
Queen herself, accompanied by children, grandchildren, and great-grand
children, escorted by cavalcades of Princes, and preceded by representatives
accredited by every Foreign Power, and by troops drawn from all portions of
a realm on which the sun never sets, passed slowly through the thronged and
gaily-decorated streets to the Cathedral of St. Paul. There " Te Deum
Laudamus" was sung with a genuine fervour of national thanksgiving for the
prolongation of the life of a Sovereign, whose rule has fostered all that is best
in the character of the British people, and throughout the world has ever
made for peace. Before leaving Buckingham Palace Her Majesty sent to her
subjects the message : " From my heart I thank my beloved people. May God
bless them," which, in its adequacy and appropriateness, shows the perfect
simplicity, womanly perception, and delicate tact, which has always enabled
the Queen to strike the chord that vibrates through the heart of the nation.
In every town of Great Britain the occasion was celebrated with
rejoicing, and the population of each city and village vied with each other in
raising memorials of the event. In London and throughout the country the

THE MARRIAGE OF THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF YORK
From a Painting by Laurenz Tuxen. By Permission of Mr. I. P. Mendoza. Publisher of the
Large Plate.

SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REIGN. 193
Prince of Wales took the lead in instituting a fund to defray the debts of the
existing hospitals and to provide with more certainty for their future main
tenance. Towards this object nearly a quarter of a million has been contributed,
and this notwithstanding that half a million had been subscribed early in the
year for the relief of the famished and plague-stricken natives of the East
Indies. The Princess of Wales made the destitute population of London her care,
and the letter written by her to the Lord Mayor of London met with such a hearty
response that 300,000 of the poor of the metropolis took part in the rejoicings.
The magnificent fleet assembled at Spithead was reviewed, on the 26th of
June, by the Prince of Wales on behalf of the Queen, who, to her deep regret,
was unable, owing to the fatigue of the journey from Windsor, to be present in
person. No finer fleet had ever been assembled in any waters, and the sight
was the more impressive when it was known that this tremendous naval power
was assembled without drawing upon the fleets, always in commission upon the
seas, for one ship or one man. At Aldershot a large force of troops was
reviewed by Her Majesty in person ; 28,000 men of the British and Colonial
troops, under the command of H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught, passed before
the Queen, conspicuous among them being the Guards, the whole seven
battalions forming this historic brigade being assembled together for the
first time for forty years. The Queen afterwards held a special review of
the Colonial contingent at Windsor. There also she received the 100 Bishops
who had come to attend the Pan-Anglican Conference at Lambeth, the
sixtieth anniversary of the Queen's reign being also the 1,300th anniversary
of the conversion of Britain to Christianity.
From the Universities, and from all the great corporations and societies,
came deputations and addresses, all alike congratulating the Queen, and hoping
that her beneficent rule might be still further prolonged. In answer the Queen
published the following letter:— "Windsor Castle, July \$th, 1897.
"I have frequently expressed my personal feelings to my people, and
though on this memorable occasion there have been many official expressions
r r

194 LATER YEARS; 1861 — 1897.
of my deep sense of the unbounded loyalty evinced, I cannot rest satisfied
without personally giving utterance to these sentiments.
"It is difficult for me on this occasion to say how truly touched and
grateful I am for the spontaneous and universal outburst of loyal attachment
and real affection which I have experienced on the completion of the Sixtieth
year of my Reign.
" During my progress through London on June 22nd this great
enthusiasm was shown in the most striking manner, and can never be effaced
from my heart.
"It is indeed deeply gratifying, after so many years of labour and
anxiety for the good of my beloved Country, to find that my exertions have
been appreciated throughout my vast Empire.
"In weal and woe I have ever had the true sympathy of all my people,
which has been warmly reciprocated by myself.
" It has given me unbounded pleasure to see so many of my Subjects
from all parts of the World assembled here, and to find them joining in the
acclamations of loyal devotion to myself, and I would wish to thank them
all from the depth of my grateful heart.
" I shall ever pray God to bless them and to enable me still to discharge
my duties for their welfare as long as life lasts. "Victoria R.I."
Limits of space have excluded all but the most incidental allusions to
salient events of Her Majesty's reign. Scarcely any reference has been
made to constitutional changes which have peacefully effected a vast trans
ference of political power, and yet, through the wisdom of the Sovereign, have
only served to strengthen the British Monarchy. In like manner the enormous
growth of the Empire has been barely mentioned, an Empire which, in spite of
varieties of race, language and climate, in spite also of differences of con
stitutions and creeds and customs, has been welded into unexampled unity by
the tie of personal loyalty to Queen Victoria. Nothing has been said of the
religious forces which have added, at home and abroad, new chapters to the

THE ROYAL VICTORIAN ORDER

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE REIGN.

195

romance of spiritual chivalry, and enriched and purified the springs of
national life ; of the poets, novelists, historians, and artists who have added the
lustre of their genius to the Victorian era; of the achievements of science,
which has opened up new worlds of thought, revolutionised the arts alike
of peace and war, ameliorated the conditions of existence, and lightened the
burden of suffering ; of the spread of education, which has given to millions
the means of acquiring the knowledge that was once the possession only of
the few. Nothing, finally, has been said of the material progress of the
nation, of the revolution effected by the application of steam to manufacture
and locomotion, or of the social and industrial problems, which rapid changes
have set for our solution. Yet we might trust with confidence that such
difficulties would be conquered, if, in future generations, all those who direct
the counsels of the realm are as just, as prudent, as laborious, as unselfish,
as permeated with love of country, as profoundly interested in the true well-
being of the labouring classes, as Queen Victoria.

CONTENTS

CONTENTS.

TEXT.
PREFACE  PAG|
CHAPTER ONE.— Ancestry of The Queen  i
CHAPTER TWO — Birth and Parentage of The Queen  9
CHAPTER THREE.— The Queen's Early Years, 1819-1837  19
CHAPTER FOUR. — Accession and Coronation, 1837-1838  43
CHAPTER FIVE. — Engagement and Marriage, 1839-40  63
CHAPTER SIX.— Married Life, 1840-52  75
CHAPTER SEVEN.— Married Life, 1853-61  131
CHAPTER EIGHT.— Later Years, 1861-1897  161
LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
The Queen and the Prince of Wales ; fac-simile in colours from a Miniature
by Robert Thorbum, A.R.A  Frontispiece PAGE
I. — Windsor Castle  1
The Regalia of England  7
II. — Woolbrook Cottage, Sidmouth  9
The Queen, from a Miniature by Sir W. Ross, 1837 ; the Duchess of Saxe-
Coburg Saalfeld, from a Miniature by W. Schmidt, 1831 ; the Duchess of
Kent, from a Miniature by Sir W. Ross; Charles, Prince of Leiningen,
from a Miniature by Arland, 1821; Feodore, Princess of Leiningen, from
a Miniature by Stewart. — Five Miniatures  14
The Throne, at Windsor  17
III. — The Princess Victoria at the Age of Two, from a Miniature by Anthony Stew art . . 19
The Duchess of Kent, from a Miniature by Collen, after Sir George Hayter, 1835 20
The Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria at the Age of Two
Years, from a Painting by Sir W. Beechey, R.A  24
The Princess Victoria, from a Painting by Richard Westall, A.R.A  32
The Princess Victoria, and her Favourite Dog, from a Painting by Sir George
Hayter  36
Crayon Drawing by The Queen at the Age of Ten  41

200 LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

IV. — The Chinese Room, Buckingham Palace  43
The Queen's First Council, from a Painting by Sir David Wilkie, R.A. ... 48
The Queen's Coronation, from a Painting by Sir George Hayter  56
The Queen receiving the Sacrament at her Coronation, from a Painting
by Charles Robert Leslie, R.A  60
The Great Seal of England  61
V. — The Queen's Yacht. From a Painting by Admiral Beechey  63
The Queen, from a Painting by Alfred E. Chalon, R.A  64
The Marriage of the Queen, from a Painting by Sir George Hayter .... 68
The Register of the Queen's Marriage  72
The Albert Medal. The Distinguished Service Order. The Victoria Cross ... 73
VI. — The Reception Room, Windsor Castle  75
The Queen, the Princess Royal, and the Prince of Wales, from a Painting
by Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A  76
The Queen, from a Miniature by Robert Thorburn, A.R.A  80
Baptism of the Prince of Wales, from a Painting by Sir George Hayter ... 84
The Queen, from a Painting by F. X. Winterhalter .  88
The Prince Consort, from a Painting by F. X. Winterhalter .  96
Letter from the Queen to the Duke of Wellington  104
The Ball Room, Balmoral  129
VII. — Balmoral Castle  131
The Waterloo Chamber, Windsor Castle  136
The Queen and the Prince Consort at Aldershot, from a Painting by
G. H. Thomas  144
Group, the Queen and Family, from a Painting by John Philip, R.A  152
The Order of the Indian Empire. The Kaiser-i-Hind Medal. The Star of India . 159
VIII. — The Indian Room, Osborne  161
The Queen, from a Painting by H. Von Angeli. By permission of F. Hanfstaengl,
publisher of the large plate  168
The Duke of Connaught at Tel-el-Kebir, from a Painting by R. Caton Woodville 1 76
The Jubilee Procession passing through Trafalgar Square, from a Painting
by J. Charlton. By permission of I. P. Mendoza, publisher of the large plate . 184
The Marriage of the Duke and Duchess of York, from a Painting by Laurenz
Tuxen. By permission of I. P. Mendoza, publisher of the large plate . . . . 192
The Victorian Order  195

THE TEXT
OF THIS EDITION
OF
QUEEN VICTORIA BY
RICHARD R. HOLMES, F.S.A
LIBRARIAN TO THE QUEEN
HAS BEEN SET UP AND PRINTED IN LONDON
BY
J. S. VIRTUE & CO., Ld.
AND
THE PLATES HAVE BEEN ENGRAVED AND PRINTED
By BOUSSOD, VALADON & CO.
at Asnieres-sur-Seine near Paris
1897

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