Re: Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and Family Discussion

[Curryong]

The book was pretty pedestrian but the public were enthralled and it became a bestseller. The trouble occurred later, in Victoria's widowhood, when she decided to publish 'More Leaves from our Life in the Highlands.' This had quite a few mentions of her personal servant John Brown in it which her family and courtiers found very embarrassing.

[LouisFerdinand]

Did Queen Victoria encourage the match of her granddaughter, Princess Sophie of Prussia and Crown Prince Constantine of Greece?

[Curryong]

Yes, I think the old Queen did. Victoria was always fond of matchmaking among her grandchildren and others. It was Vicky her daughter, who had doubts, the possible instability of the Greek throne being among them

Sophie ran foul of her awful brother Wilhelm later in life. She and her two sisters (the youngest of Vicky's family) were always great supporters of their mother after their father's premature death. Wilhelm was not kind to Vicky and on occasion as Kaiser would ban the three sisters from visiting her.

When Queen Victoria heard of this she wrote to Sophie advising her to 'take Sunny with you'. Sophie's husband Constantine (known in the family as 'Sunny') was Crown Prince of Greece and Willie could hardly ban him from visiting his mother in law with his wife. Victoria was very shrewd in many ways.

[LouisFerdinand]

On August 1, 1832, 13 year old Princess Victoria set off on the first of her journeys with her mother and the Conroys. The three month tour took in Wales, the Midlands and Cheshire. Princess Victoria did not like the tour. She did not like the early starts and the endless dinners and receptions.

[LouisFerdinand]

When Victoria was a little girl, her food was tested before every meal. She was not allowed to walk down stairs without holding somebody's hand.

[LouisFerdinand]

Queen Victoria cherished her German heritage. In 1840 the diarist Charles Greville expressed that the Queen seemed to consider 'her German uncles as her only kith and kin'.

[Curryong]

Was this before or after Victoria's marriage to the Sainted One? She had always been close to her Uncle Leopold, her mother's brother, and after marriage to her cousin I suppose the Saxe Coburg side of the family assumed greater importance. Albert was never, in his 21 years in England, truly accepted in Society (and that included the 'old' Royal family, George III's remaining sons and their families) nor did he ever feel anything other than German.

Victoria's mother was a Saxe Coburg by birth of course and close to her family, and the way she carried on about Victoria's 'wicked uncles', especially Cumberland, and tried to keep Victoria away from Court during the reign of William IV, it's no wonder Victoria was quite prejudiced against her father's family. She did revere her father's memory of course and was quite fond of the Duke of Sussex (her Uncle Gussie) who gave her away on her wedding day, and her cousins George and Mary of Cambridge, so it wasn't all bad. 

[LouisFerdinand]

From Claremont in March 1841, Queen Victoria wrote she had "musical fun. I danced several Quadrilles and Valses, finishing up with a Gallop with Albert."   
Please note Victoria wrote Waltzes as Valses instead of as Waltzes.

[Curryong]

Yes, that was how it was spelled in those days. It was regarded at first as a 'foreign' dance and rather shocking, as in contrast to what went on before, (minuets, round dances a la Jane Austen films,) men actually took women in their arms for this dance and the couple held hands as they whirled about the room close together. When the waltz was first introduced from Europe it was even banned by some prim and proper organisers of balls in assembly rooms. However it grew very very popular.

[Izabella]

A french term used in the titles of pieces of music.  :orchid:

Queen Victoria warned Albert Edward, The Prince of Wales in 1868, "If you ever become King, you will find all these friends most inconvenient, and you will have to break with them all

Backstabbers by The O'Jays.🎤  Falstaffian.  :lol:  :shrug:

[Curryong]

Yeah, but it was from the word 'Walzen'' ('to dance') originally. And they would have pronounced it with a v of course. The dance itself developed supposedly from peasant dances in Bohemia and Austria.

[LouisFerdinand]

On February 9, 1840, the day before their marriage, Prince Albert presented wedding gifts to Queen Victoria. These included four beautiful old fans.

[LouisFerdinand]

Queen Victoria welcomed Prince Alfred and Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna after their wedding in Russia.       
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/384213411957272308

[Curryong]

It was the only one of Victoria's children's weddings to take place away from England and without her present. Of course she wasn't happy about this and certainly she refused to toddle off to St Petersburg to attend. Victoria disliked and mistrusted the Romanovs and the feeling was mutual.

The Prince and Princess of Wales and Prince Arthur, the groom's younger brother, were present at the wedding. The Queen sent her own chaplain, Dean Stanley, to conduct the Anglican section of the service, and his wife Lady Augusta was entrusted with gifts of prayer books for bride and groom and the sprigs of myrtle for Marie's bouquet, something which became traditional for BRF brides.

[LouisFerdinand]

Queen Victoria congratulated Princess Louise of Prussia at her wedding in 1879.     
1879 The Graphic Queen Victoria congratulates Princess Louise of Stock Photo: 167039861 - Alamy

[LouisFerdinand]

Queen Victoria's last drive from Osbourne House 
1901 ILN Queen Victoria's last drive from Osbourne House Stock Photo: 167039780 - Alamy

[LouisFerdinand]

Queen Victoria with her young grandson, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia 
Queen Victoria with her young grandchild Prince Wilhelm of Prussia Stock Photo: 158124627 - Alamy

[LouisFerdinand]

Queen Victoria's years of marriage to Prince Albert had been ones in which she scarcely left her husband out of her sight. Her widowhood placed burdens on her younger daughters, since Victoria needed companionship.

[LouisFerdinand]

In 1857 Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort, while in Scotland, went to stay as the guests of Lord Aberdeen at Haddo. In true old Highland fashion, he assembled all his tenants on horseback to welcome Victoria. Some 600 of them escorted her to the fine Georgian house.

[LouisFerdinand]

In 1881, Queen Victoria had, for the first time in her reign vetoed a Queen's Speech, announced in advance the decision to withdraw from Kandahar.

[LouisFerdinand]

The Duke of Wellington with Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and the young Prince Edward at Windsor Castle   
The Duke of Wellington with Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and the Stock Photo: 113474074 - Alamy     
 

:brr: :brr: :brr: :brr: :random38: :random38: :random38: :random38:

Double post auto-merged: December 14, 2018, 07:51:52 PM

The Christmas Day menu for Queen Victoria and her family in 1840 included both beef and a royal roast swan or two.     
 

:xmas22: :xmas22: :xmas22: :xmas22:

[LouisFerdinand]

When Princess Charles of Hesse-Darmstadt came to the Isle of Wight in 1862 to attend the wedding of her son Prince Louis to Princess Alice, she remarked, "from the moment... I was presented to the Queen and her kind, almost motherly words in pure German sounded in my ear, a feeling of home came over me."   
 

:wed: :wed: :wed:

[LouisFerdinand]

One of Queen Victoria's first acts was to write a letter to her aunt, the Dowager Queen Adelaide. Victoria begged Adelaide to consult nothing but her own health and convenience. Victoria also wrote that Adelaide could remain at Windsor just as long as she pleased.   
 

:xmas6: :xmas6: :xmas6:

[LouisFerdinand]

Victoria did not like the Prussian emphasis on the army, which was something she was not used to.

[LouisFerdinand]

When Albert Edward, Prince of Wales was offered the post of President of the Society of Arts, Queen Victoria vetoed the proposal on the grounds that he was too young and inexperienced.