by Theo Aronson
With the exception of the Empress Alexandra of Russia, they all brought an informality, a tolerance, a certain honest-to-goodness quality to the dynasties into which they married; they were free of the bigotry of so many Continental royalties. They introduced also the English language. Within a couple of generations, English had superseded French as the language of most Continental courts. Royal children were being educated in English, and in England, by the score.
Inevitably, something of the British ideas on such things as constitutional monarchy brushed off on some of these continental royalties. It is certainly the dynasties which adopted the Coburg ideals of a sovereign above politics that have lasted the course. The kings who have willingly yielded their powers have kept their thrones; those who have clung to, or extended them, have not. The horror of the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz at the thought of Maud ascending the 'revolutionary' throne of Norway is still more absurd now that Queen Maud's son sits securely on that throne while the Mecklenburg-Strelitzes have long since disappeared from the public arena. A monarch such as the Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary would have been astonished at the idea of a sovereign reigning over a welfare state; Prince Albert would probably have been less surprised.
None of this is to claim that Queen Victoria's family introduced democracy on to the Continent. When the Empress Frederick tried to do so in Germany the results were lamentable; Queen Ena of Spain and Queen Marie of Yugoslavia were obliged to sit helplessly by while their husbands abolished democracy altogether; the Empress Alexandra of Russia actively discouraged the spread of democratic ideas.
But what they did introduce, and tried to pass on to their children, was a Coburg sense of royal duty; of obligation towards their subjects. Whatever the shortcomings of these various queens and empresses, they all applied themselves to their task with a great sense of responsibility. They were none of them lazy or frivolous or heartless. Misguided they sometimes might have been but they were always conscientious. Even the claim by the ineffable Queen Marie of Romania that it was one of her royal duties to remain beautiful for as long as possible reveals this sense of dedication.
'The crown has no meaning,' a Coburg queen once said, 'unless it is a symbol of service.' And a symbol of service is what Queen Victoria's descendants always tried to make of their own crowns.
Notes on Sources
and
Bibliography
Notes on Sources
Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations from Queen Victoria are taken from the Queen's Letters and Journals, both published and unpublished. The hitherto unpublished extracts are from the Royal Archives at Windsor and are published here by gracious permission of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The published extracts are taken from The Letters of Queen Victoria; A Selection from Her Majesty's Correspondence. First Series, 1837-61, edited by A. C. Benson and Viscount Esher; 3 vols. John Murray, London, 1907. Second Series, 1862-85, edited by G. E. Buckle, 3 vols, John Murray, London 1926. Third Series, 1886-1901, edited by G. E. Buckle, 3 vols, John Murray, London, 1930.
Prologue
Crown Prince Rudolf ('I am frightfully rushed . . .') Stephanie, I was to be Empress. Crown Prince Frederick's looks ('one of the legendary . . .') Duff, Hessian Tapestry. Princess Alexandra snubbed, Battiscombe, Queen Alexandra. Abbey service, London Illustrated. Coburgs ('the Coburgs gain throne . . .') Hyde, Mexican Empire. Victoria's prestige ('they spoke of her . . .') Marie of Romania, The Story of my Life. Visit to Victoria ('I have so much . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. ('Well-behaved little geese . . .') Marie of Romania, Life. ('Mind you curtsy . . .') Alice, For my Grandchildren. ('it was like passing . . .') Marie of Romania, Life. Victoria at table ('kind of dumb talk . . .') Alice, For my Grandchildren. At Balmoral ('I remember . . .') Alice. For my Grandchildren. ('There was a quite special thrill . . .') Marie of Romania, Life. Victoria's influence ('In a way . . .') Marie of Romania, Life. Cross-examinations ('I like Balmoral . . .') and pregnant girl, Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Moretta's marriage, Victoria Queen Victoria at Windsor and Balmoral. Victoria on great marriages, and to Princess Alice ('I do not think . . .') Longford, Victoria R.I. Princess Alice's new home, Alice, Letters. Vicky ('The house would enchant you . . .') The Empress Frederick writes to Sophie. Ena of Battenberg, Sencourt, King Alfonso. Empress Alexandra, Kerensky, Memoirs. Marina, Wentworth Day, H.R.H. Princess Marina.
Chapter One
Vicky on Fritz ('he is not born . . .') Corti, The English Empress. Vicky wins heads 'rather than hearts', Gould-Lee in Empress to Sophie. Love of England and Victoria's instructions, Corti, English Empress. Vicky ('to be friends . . .') Corti, English Empress. Disraeli, Zetland, Letters. Prince Henry, Letters of the Empress Frederick. Wilhelm's education, Victoria Dearest Mama. Wilhelm on Bismarck, Wilhelm II, Memoirs.
Chapter Two
Bertie and practical jokes, Magnus, King Edward the Seventh. Crown Prince Rudolf, Jullian, Edward and the Edwardians. Bertie's education ('a man of calm . . .' and 'the great object . . .') Magnus, King Edward. Victoria on Bertie, Victoria, Dearest Mama. Albert ('the greatest pain . . .') Magnus, King Edward. Victoria to Vicky, ('I never can . . .') Dearest Mama. Victoria, Bertie and government, Magnus, King Edward. Victoria on Bertie's good qualities, Dearest Mama. Tutor on Eddy, Magnus, King Edward. Prince George ('I wonder who will have . . .') and Victoria's comment, Nicolson, King George the Fifth. Wales girls' conversation, Marie of Romania, Life. 'Whispering Wales girls', Duff, Hessian Tapestry.
Chapter Three
All quotations from Vicky are from Victoria, Letters of the Empress Frederick. Crown Prince and syphilis, Stevenson, Famous Illnesses in History.
Chapter Four
Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations from Vicky are from Letters of the Empress Frederick. Alexandra's looks ('To the very end . . .') Marie of Romania, Life. Alexandra on Bertie ('after all . . .') Battiscombe, Queen Alexandra. Fritz ('That is where . . .') Corti, English Empress. Bismarck on Fritz ('as dependent . . .') Ludwig, Bismarck. Swaine's report, Letters of the Empress Frederick. Interview with Bismarck, Queen Victoria's Journal, ('one could do business . . .') Bolitho, Further Letters. Hohenlohe, Memoirs.
Chapter Five
Victoria on Eddy ('that angular . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Victoria's secretary ('who is it tells . . .') Magnus, King Edward. Bertie ('a good sensible wife . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Vicky on Alicky's refusal, Empress to Sophie. Hélène on Eddy, Queen Victoria's Journal. Victoria on May, Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Vicky on Eddy's engagement, Empress to Sophie. Victoria on George, Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Alexandra ('Fancy my Georgie boy . . .') Nicolson, King George. Alexandra ('I must say . . .' and 'I only wish . . .') Battiscombe, Queen Alexandra. Vicky ('Aunt Mary Teck . . .') Empress to Sophie. Victoria ('Let me now say . . .') Nicolson, King George. Vicky ('No one . . .') Empress to Sophie. Duke of York on baby's name, Nicolson, King George.
Chapter Six
Vicky ('I am completely . . .') Letters. Friedrichshof ('not a Schloss . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Vicky ('His spirit . . .') Letters. Vicky on Tino and brothers, Letters. Victoria on royal mob, Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Vicky on Sophie's wedding, Letters. Royal ball in Athens ('Do you mind . . .') Christopher of Greece, Memoirs. Sophie ('I cannot tell you . . .') Empress to Sophie. Tatoi ('we children . . .') Christopher, Memoirs. Sophie's Englishness, Anon, Recollections of Three Kaisers. Wilhelm ('If my poor baby . . .') Corti, English Empress. Fuss over Sophie's conversion, Empress to Sophie. Sophie's telegram, Corti, English Empress.
Chapter Seven
Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations are from Marie of Romania, The Story of my Life. Princess of Wales ('they won't even know . . .') and Victoria on Marie's engagement, Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Nando and breakfast rolls, Martineau, Roumania and her Rulers.
Chapter Eight
Victoria ('the same blood . . .') Longford, Victoria R.I. Vicky ('Aunt Marie . . .') Empress to Sophie. Ponsonby, A. Ponsonby, Henry Ponsonby. Hesse fa
mily ('The Grand Ducal family . . .') Buxhoeveden, Life and Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna. Alicky ('Have you not been . . .') Duff, Hessian Tapestry. Alicky's looks ('What a charming . . .') Eulalia, Court Life from Within. Nicky's looks ('Gentle charm . . .') Marie of Romania, Life. Nicky ('My dream . . .') Nicholas II, Journal Intime. Vicky ('could not help . . .') Empress to Sophie. Nicky (a 'marvellous . . .') Nicholas, Journal. Nicky to Empress Marie, Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra. Victoria and jewellery, Buxhoeveden, Life and Tragedy. Victoria on Nicky, Corti, English Empress. Nicky and Prince of Wales, Magnus, King Edward. Alicky ('I am yours . . .' and 'Be firm . . .') Nicholas, Journal. Nicky ('Sandro . . .') Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra. Funeral ('thirty-ninth . . .') Battiscombe, Queen Alexandra. George to May, Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Tsar's face, Magnus, King Edward. Alicky ('now I wore . . .') Fülöp-Miller, Rasputin. George ('Nicky is very lucky . . .') Nicolson, King George. Bertie on wedding night, Magnus, King Edward. Alicky in diary, Nicholas, Journal.
Chapter Nine
Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations are from Marie of Romania, The Story of my Life. Hardinge on Nando, Old Diplomacy. Alexandra on Playfair, Griscom, Diplomatically Speaking. Nicky and uncles, Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra. Coronation ('Wherever the eye . . .') Marie of Romania, Life. British Ambassador ('The Empress appeared . . .') Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra. Nicky on Victoria ('kinder and more amiable . . .') Magnus, King Edward. Alicky's sister ('on whom the blame . . .' and 'would have made . . .') Duff, Hessian Tapestry. Victoria ('all her own . . .') Longford, Victoria R.I. Alicky ('it has been such . . .' and 'I have a right . . .') Buxhoeveden, Life and Tragedy.
Chapter Ten
Secretary ('really only requires . . .') Magnus, King Edward. Beatrice ('apart from the most . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Alexandra ('too pretty . . .') Battiscombe, Queen Alexandra. Alexandra ('a pretty sight . . .' and 'You my sweet May . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Victoria and Maud ('like Juno's swans . . .') Royalties of the World. Vicky ('two such Ducks . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. ('Not at all stuck-up . . .') Mary Gladstone, Diaries and Letters. ('appeared so invariably . . .') Royalties. Vicky on princesses ('it would be . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Victoria on princesses and 'just a glorified . . .'. Battiscombe, Queen Alexandra. Vicky on princesses ('that dear Victoria . . .') Empress to Sophie. Maud ('as an all-round . . .') Anon, The Private Life of the King. Vicky on Maud, and Queen Victoria ('Alix, to whom . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Charles ('lack of strings . . .') Michael, Haakon, King of Norway. Duchess of Teck on Charles, Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Engagement ('the announcement . . .') Mallet, Life with Queen Victoria. Wedding ('never has a more charming . . .', 'the perfume' and 'Behind the door' London Times. Duchess of Teck on Maud, Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary.
Chapter Eleven
Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations are from Victoria, The Empress Frederick Writes to Sophie. Wilhelm ('My mother and I . . .') Corti, English Empress. Von Bülow ('she believed . . .') Memoirs. Vicky on alliance ('such a thing . . .') Corti, English Empress. Sophie ('adorable . . .' and 'compare which . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Alexandra on Greek royal family troubles, Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary.
Chapter Twelve
Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations are from Victoria, The Empress Frederick writes to Sophie. Victoria on Queen Louise, Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Food ('heavy . . .') F. Ponsonby, Recollections of Three Reigns. Stranger and three royalties, Christopher, Memoirs. Victoria and Danish family loyalty, Battiscombe, Queen Alexandra. Maud's home ('to reflect . . .') Anon, Private Life. Alexandra ('on no account forget . . .') Battiscombe, Queen Alexandra. Maud ('The Princess of Wales . . .') Mallet, Life. Observer ('it is indeed . . .') Tooley, Life of Queen Alexandra. Grand Duchess ('No! . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Vicky on German anglophobia, Corti, English Empress. Victoria on Affie's death, Longford, Victoria R.I.
Chapter Thirteen
Edward's court, Marie of Romania, Life. Edward ('I don't know . . .') Magnus, King Edward. King's routine, Ponsonby, Recollections. King's career ('We shall not pretend . . .') London Times. Smoking, Ponsonby, Recollections. Nicolson ('Thank God . . .') Jullian, Edward. Female company ('What tiresome evenings . . .' and 'never happier . . .') Ponsonby, Recollections. King ('Stop calling me Sir . . .') Jullian, Edward. King and 'Underworld'. Ponsonby, Recollections. Boer Anthem, Ponsonby, Recollections. Vicky ('There is not a kinder . . .') Empress to Sophie. Vicky's letters, Ponsonby, Recollections. Vicky's death ('who in dying . . .') Radziwill, The Empress Frederick. Vicky ('that understands . . .') Letters. Vicky's efforts ('to help others . . .') Gould-Lee in Empress to Sophie. Vicky ('Why we were . . .') Letters. Duke of York ('My room . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Alexandra ('All my happiness . . .') Battiscombe, Queen Alexandra. King ('Marvellous . . .') Jullian, Edward. King ('their white arms . . .') Magnus, King Edward.
Chapter Fourteen
Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations are from Marie of Romania, The Story of my Life. Vicky on Marie's beauty, Empress to Sophie. Marie ('This one is divine . . .') and Sophie on Marie, Jullian, Edward. Garden party ('The Crown Princess . . .') Stancioff, Recollections. Vicky on Missy, Empress to Sophie. Bucharest ('an external veneer . . .') Hardinge, Old Diplomacy. Vicky on Nando, Empress to Sophie. King ('waiters at second rate . . .') Magnus, King Edward. Visit to Pope, Ponsonby, Recollections. King at theatre ('Mademoiselle . . .') Magnus, King Edward. Longchamps, Ponsonby, Recollections. Ambassador's comment, Magnus, King Edward. Entente and Cambon, Ponsonby, Recollections.
Chapter Fifteen
Alicky ('How I envy . . .' and 'The Empress Alexandra . . .') Buxhoeveden, Life and Tragedy. Holy Russia ('Church, dynasty . . .') Almedingen, The Empress Alexandra. Russian people ('deeply and truly . . .') Buxhoeveden, Life and Tragedy. Russian Empire ('in terms of . . .') Almedingen, The Empress. Cold rooms, Buxhoeveden, Life and Tragedy. Radziwill, The Intimate Life of the Last Tsaritsa. Love life, Mossolov, At the Court of the last Tsar and Eulalia, Court Life from Within. Ambassador ('I will say no more . . .') Hardinge, Old Diplomacy. Nicholas ('a great, never to be . . .') Journal. Observer ('I saw the Tsarevich . . .') Viroubova, Memoirs. Nicholas ('I don't think . . .') Mossolov, At the Court. Nicholas ('Lord how painful . . .') Journal. Alicky's letter to sister, Buxhoevenden, Life and Tragedy. Alicky on Duma, Almedingen, The Empress.
Chapter Sixteen
Maud's talk, Ponsonby, Recollections. Maud and family ('the habit . . .') Tooley, Life. Republicans ('like Garabaldi . . .') Michael, Haakon. Wilhelm ('Kings being dismissed . . .'), Edward ('am quite aware . . .') and Wedel's wire ('King Edward's furious . . .') Michael, Haakon. Edward on Maud and Charles ('have won golden . . .') Magnus, King Edward. Grand Duchess ('so Maud . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Coronation journey, Michael, Haakon. Grand Duchess and Princess May, Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary.
Chapter Seventeen
Vicky on Ena, Empress to Sophie. Beatrice ('I have heard . . .') Duff, The Shy Princess. Victoria on bull-fighting, Epton, Victoria and her daughters. Grand Duchess and Prince of Wales ('Beatrice is advised . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Train de luxe and heat, Erbach-Schonberg, Reminiscences. Alfonso ('in five minutes . . .') Sencourt, Spain's Uncertain Crown. Ena ('I saw a man . . .') Erbach-Schonberg, Reminiscences. Prince of Wales ('I proposed . . .') Duff, Shy Princess. Duchess of Edinburgh, Erbach-Schonberg, Reminiscences.
Chapter Eighteen
For all information on the haemophilia of the Tsarevich Alexis, I am deeply indebted to Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie. Victoria ('I do wish . . .') Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary. Curse of Coburgs, Duff, Hessian Tapestry. Gilliard, Thirteen Years at the Russian Court. Nicholas ('We have got . . .') Journal. Dostoevsky, Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra.
Chapter Nineteen
Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations are from Ponsonby, Recollections of Three Reigns. Edward ('I have no wish . . .') and Nicolson ('the greatest diplomatic . . .') Magnus, King Edward. Corfu ('It is interesting . .
.') and Sophie on the Kaiser, Hardinge, Old Diplomacy. Edward ('Alfonso has created . . .') Magnus, King Edward. Norwegians, Edward's policy and family ('there was no disguising . . .') Hardinge, Old Diplomacy. Edward and Nicolson, H. Nicolson, Sir Arthur Nicolson. Von Bülow, Memoirs. Edward ('The monarchy . . .') Jullian, Edward.
Chapter Twenty
Alexis ('Mama help me . . .') Buxhoeveden, Life and Tragedy. Alicky ('smiling and talking . . .' and 'distracted . . .') Gilliard, Thirteen Years. Rasputin's telegram, Viroubova, Memoirs. Alicky's letters, Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra.
Chapter Twenty-one
Mélas on Sophie, Mélas, Ex-King Constantine and the War. Sophie ('a great trial . . .') Dugdale, Maurice de Bunsen. Sophie ('extraordinarily distant . . .') Mélas, Ex-King. Roma Lister, Reminiscences. Valaority, Mélas, Ex-King. Sophie's orderliness and 'none of her children . . .' Mélas, Ex-King. Children ('Mama is just . . .') Nicholas of Greece, My Fifty Years. Sophie and Daisy of Pless, Daisy, Princess of Pless. Princess of Saxe-Weimar, Constantine I, A King's Private Letters. George ('I shall have reigned . . .') Christopher, Memoirs. Sophie and news of assassination, Gould-Lee, Helen, Queen Mother of Rumania. Marie on Alicky and proposed match, Marie of Romania, Life. Alicky ('You know how difficult . . .' Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra.
Chapter Twenty-two
Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations are from Marie of Romania, The Story of my Life. Constantine ('How was I supposed . . .') Mélas, Ex-King. Accusations ('using a veil' and 'We wanted to run . . .') Gould-Lee, Helen. Kitchener's visit and Sophie's pro-Germanism, Mélas, Ex-King. Sophie on England, Pless, Daisy. Christopher, Memoirs. King George V, Hourmouzius, No Ordinary Crown. Constantine ('How weary I am . . .') Private Letters. Sophie ('Can Belgium . . .') Gould-Lee, Helen. Marie ('I have health . . .') Daggett, Marie of Roumania. Englishman on Marie ('She was a flame . . .') Buchanan, Queen Victoria's Relations.