Queen Victoria's Matchmaking

by Deborah Cadbury

  10 RA GV/PRIV/AA31/16, Princess A to George, 16 January 1891.

  11 RA GV/PRIV/AA31/23, Princess A to George, 3 October 1892.

  12 Georgina Battiscombe, Queen Alexandra, London, Constable (1969), p. 143.

  13 Ibid., pp. 141–2.

  14 RA GV/PRIV/AA31/23, Princess A to George, 3 October 1892.

  15 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/92/87, George to QV, 6 February 1891.

  16 Ibid.

  17 Ibid.

  18 James Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary, 1867–1953, London, George Allen & Unwin (1959), p. 200.

  19 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/15, PAV to QV, 21 June 1891.

  20 Ibid.

  21 Sir Philip Magnus, King Edward the Seventh, London, John Murray (1964), p. 238.

  22 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/17, QV to Bertie, 4 August 1891.

  23 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/16, QV to PM, 4 August 1891.

  24 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/19 and 17, QV to Bertie, 5 and 4 August 1891.

  25 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/18, Bertie to QV, 5 August 1891.

  26 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/16, QV to PM, 4 August 1891.

  27 RA VIC/ADDA12/1797, Knollys to Ponsonby, 19 August 1891.

  28 Pope-Hennessy (1959), p. 185.

  29 Ibid.

  30 Max Egremont, Balfour: A Life of Arthur James Balfour, London, Phoenix (1998), p. 103.

  31 Ibid.

  32 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/18, Bertie to QV, 5 August 1891.

  33 RA VIC/ADDA12/1807, Knollys to Ponsonby, 10 October 1891.

  34 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1891: 5 November.

  35 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1891: 6 November.

  36 Elizabeth Longford, Victoria R.I., Stroud, The History Press (1964, rev. edn 1999), p. 89.

  37 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1891: 6 November.

  38 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1891: 12 November.

  39 Agatha Ramm (ed.), Beloved and Darling Child: Last Letters between Queen Victoria and her Eldest Daughter, 1886–1901, Stroud, Sutton Publishing (1990), p. 134, QV to Vicky, 12 November 1891.

  40 Pope-Hennessy (1959), p. 207.

  41 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1891: 8 and 10 November.

  42 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1891: 14 November.

  43 Edinburgh Evening News, 16 November 1891.

  44 Derby Daily Telegraph, 16 May 1891.

  45 RA VIC/ADDC6/1891: 29 November.

  46 Pope-Hennessy (1959), p. 193.

  47 Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, 11 October 1891, and Manchester Courier, 10 October 1891.

  48 New Zealand Herald, 14 November 1891, and Perth Daily News, 6 October 1891.

  49 ‘Adventures of a Gaiety Girl’, Auckland Star, 7 April 1900.

  50 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/23, Bertie to QV, 3 December 1891.

  51 Ibid.

  52 MB2 D14, Buxhoeveden’s postcard album.

  53 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1891: 3 December.

  54 Anne Edwards, Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor, London, Rowman & Littlefield (1984), p. 40.

  55 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1891: 3 December.

  56 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1891: 5 December.

  57 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1891: 6 December.

  58 Ramm (1990), p. 136, QV to Vicky, 6 December 1891.

  59 RA VIC/ADDC6/1891: 5 December.

  60 Ibid., 6 December 1891.

  61 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/49, Princess A to QV, 6 December 1891.

  62 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/34, L of Hesse to QV, 6 December 1891.

  63 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/90/17, Alix of Hesse to QV, 12 December 1891.

  64 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/57, Ella to QV, 7 December 1891.

  65 Leeds Mercury, 8 December 1891.

  66 Ibid.

  67 E. M. Almedingen, An Unbroken Unity: A Memoir of Grand-Duchess Serge of Russia, London, Bodley Head (1964), p. 35.

  68 Ibid., pp. 39–40.

  69 Christopher Warwick, Ella: Princess, Saint and Martyr, Chichester, John Wiley (2006), p. 162.

  70 RA VIC/ADDU/173/166, QV to V of Battenberg, 18 September 1891.

  71 Greg King, The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, London, Aurum Press (1995), p. 50.

  72 Ramm (1990), p. 125, Vicky to QV, 29 March 1891.

  73 E. F. Benson, The Kaiser and English Relations, London, Longmans, Green & Co (1936), p. 337.

  74 Count Egon Caesar Corti, The English Empress: A Study in the Relations between Queen Victoria and her Eldest Daughter, Empress Frederick of Germany, London, Cassell & Co (1957), p. 339.

  75 RA GV/PRIV/AA31/18, Princess A to George, 3 June 1891, and RA VIC/MAIN/Z/84/34, Margaret to QV, 27 December 1890.

  76 Aronson (1973, rev. edn 1994), p. 71.

  77 Ramm (1990), p. 126, QV to Vicky, 20 May 1891.

  78 Benson (1936), p. 92.

  79 Sebag Montefiore (2016), p. 473.

  80 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1891: 20 August.

  81 Benson (1936), p. 94.

  82 Ramm (1990), p. 135, Vicky to QV, 5 December 1891.

  83 ‘Betrothal of the Duke of Clarence’, Manchester Weekly Times, 11 December 1891.

  84 Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 7 December 1891.

  85 Manchester Guardian, 12 December 1891.

  86 Dundee Evening Times, 25 December 1891.

  87 Yorkshire Evening Post, 7 December 1891.

  88 RA VIC/ADDC6/1891: 7 December.

  89 Hampshire Advertiser, 9 December 1891.

  90 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1891: 29 and 28 December.

  91 Pope-Hennessy (1959), p. 213.

  92 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1891: 12 December.

  93 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1891: 12 December.

  94 Ibid., 29 December 1891.

  95 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/92/95, PAV to QV, 26 December 1891.

  96 MB1/T77 (F2), PAV to L of Battenberg, 5 January 1892.

  97 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1891: 22 December.

  98 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/138, Princess A to QV, 9 January 1892.

  99 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/140, Bertie to QV, 10 January 1892.

  100 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1892: 12 and 13 January.

  101 Ramm (1990), p. 138, QV to Vicky, 11 January 1892.

  102 West Australian, 13 January 1892.

  103 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1892: 13 January.

  104 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/95/6, Princess Mary Adelaide, 14 January 1892.

  105 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1892: 14 and 15 January.

  106 Daily Telegraph, 15 January 1892.

  107 Edinburgh Evening News, 14 January 1892.

  108 Ponsonby (1942), p. 113.

  109 Pope-Hennessy (1959), p. 225.

  110 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1892: 15 January.

  111 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1892: 19 January.

  112 Manchester Courier, 20 January 1892.

  113 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/192, QV to Bertie, 17 January 1892.

  114 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/475/200, Princess A to QV, 18 January 1892.

  115 Daily Telegraph, 21 January 1892.

  116 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1892: 20 January.

  117 Gloucester Citizen, 21 January 1892.

  118 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/95/9, Princess May to QV, 16 January 1892.

  119 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/95/6, Princess Mary Adelaide to QV, 14 January 1892.

  120 RA VIC/ADDU/173/170, QV to V of Battenberg, 3 February 1892.

  121 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1892: 14 January.

  122 RA VIC/ADDU/173/170, QV to V of Battenberg, 3 February 1892.

  123 RA VIC/ADDU/173/172, QV to V of Battenberg, 15 March 1892.

  124 Ramm (1990), p. 139, QV to Vicky, 5 March 1892.

  CHAPTER SEVEN GEORGE AND MISSY

  1 RA GV/PRIV/AA69/15, Nicholas to George, January 1892.

  2 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1892: 2 and 6 February.

  3 Agatha Ramm (ed.), Beloved and Darling Child: Last Letters between Queen Victoria and her Eldest Daughter, 1886–1901, Stroud, Sutton Publishing (1990), p. 142, QV to Vicky, 14 June 1892.

  4 RA GV/PRIV/AA12/1, George to QV, 1 February 1892.

  5 RA GV/PRIV/AA10/36, QV to George, 14 February 1892.

  6 RA GV/PRIV/AA10/37, QV to George, 2 March 1892.

  7 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1892: 11 and 14 February.

  8 James Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary, 1867–1953, London, George Allen & Unwin (1959), p. 230.

  9 RA QM/P
RIV/QMD/1892: 27 February.

  10 Marie, Queen of Romania, The Story of my Life, London, Cassell & Co (1934), vol. 1, p. 87.

  11 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1881: 17 March.

  12 MB 21/1/Vol. 1, Recollections of Victoria, Marchioness of Milford Haven, p. 106.

  13 Marie, Queen of Romania (1934), vol. 1, pp. 34–5.

  14 Ibid., pp. 54, 72–3, 6, 7, 44, 42 and 36–7 passim.

  15 Ibid., pp. 72, 75 and 19–20 passim.

  16 Ibid., pp. 105–7, 137 and 140 passim.

  17 MB 21/1/Vol. 1, Recollections, pp. 106 and 109.

  18 Marie, Queen of Romania (1934), vol. 1, p. 137.

  19 Hannah Pakula, The Last Romantic: The Life of the Legendary Marie, Queen of Romania, New York, Simon & Schuster (1984), p. 47.

  20 Marie, Queen of Romania (1934), vol. 1, p. 20.

  21 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/84/5, Missy to QV, May 1890.

  22 Pakula (1984), p. 57, and https://tinyurl.com/zshy3rp.

  23 RA GV/PRIV/AA31/17, Princess A to George, 18 April 1891.

  24 Marie, Queen of Romania (1934), vol. 1, pp. 157–8.

  25 RA GV/PRIV/AA31/17, Princess A to George, 18 April 1891.

  26 RA GV/PRIV/AA10/33, Princess A to George, 31 July 1891.

  27 Marie, Queen of Romania (1934), vol. 1, pp. 15, 28, 29 and 55.

  28 RA GV/PRIV/AA69/78, Missy to George, 17 January 1892.

  29 Pakula (1984), p. 57.

  30 Pope-Hennessy (1959), p. 235.

  31 Prince Michael of Greece, Eddy and Hélène: An Impossible Match, Falköping, Sweden, Rosvall Royal Books (2013), pp. 79 and 82.

  32 Ibid., pp. 82, 85 and 87.

  33 Vizetelly (1937), pp. 110 and 119.

  34 London Daily News, 17 March 1892.

  35 Pakula (1984), p. 57.

  36 RA GV/PRIV/AA10/37, QV to George, 2 March 1892.

  37 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/2, George to May, 29 March 1892.

  38 St James Gazette, 5 April 1892, and Yorkshire Evening Post, 5 April 1892.

  39 RA GV/PRIV/AA10/38 QV to George, 6 April 1892.

  40 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1892: 2 April.

  41 RA GV/PRIV/AA12/2, George to QV, 8 April 1892.

  42 RA GV/PRIV/AA10/38 QV to George, 6 April 1892.

  43 Manchester Times, 29 April 1892.

  44 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1892: 5 May.

  45 Ibid.

  46 Edward Douglas Fawcett, Hartmann, the Anarchist: The Doom of the Great City, London, E. Arnold (1892), pp. 21, 84, 134, 138 and 140.

  47 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1892: 5 May.

  48 Vizetelly (1937), pp. 124 and 126.

  CHAPTER EIGHT MISSY AND FERDINAND

  1 Marie, Queen of Romania, The Story of my Life, London, Cassell & Co (1934), vol. 1, p. 219.

  2 Ibid., pp. 226–7, 219–22.

  3 Ibid., pp. 228 and 244.

  4 Hannah Pakula, The Last Romantic: The Life of the Legendary Marie, Queen of Romania, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1984, p. 85.

  5 Marie, Queen of Romania, vol. 1, p. 204.

  6 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/84/91, Missy to QV, 21 May 1892.

  7 Marie, Queen of Romania, vol. 1, pp. 263 and 227.

  8 Ibid., pp. 227–30.

  9 RA/Queen Victoria’s Journal, 2 and 4 June.

  10 James Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary, 1867–1953, London, George Allen & Unwin (1959), p. 251.

  11 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/53/3, Vicky to QV, 7 June 1892.

  12 RA/VIC/MAIN/Z/53/4, Vicky to QV, 9 June 1892.

  13 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/53/3, Vicky to QV, 7 June 1892.

  14 RA VIC/ADDU/173/175, QV to V of Battenberg, 2 June 1892.

  15 RA VIC/ADDC6/1892: 3 June.

  16 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/476/3, Ponsonby.

  17 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/57/69, Bertie to QV, 6 May 1892.

  18 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/457/70, QV to Bertie, 10 May 1892.

  19 Nicholas’s diary, 21 December 1891 [OS]/2 January 1892, cited in Andrei Maylunas and Sergei Mironenko (eds), A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas & Alexandra, Their Own Story, London, Phoenix (1997), p. 15.

  20 Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, The Life and Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of Russia, London, Longmans, Green & Co (1928), p. 21.

  21 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/90/45, Alix to QV, 22 March 1893.

  22 MB1/T95 (F2), Alix to L of Battenberg, 23 May and 10 June 1893.

  23 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/90/28, Alix to QV, 16 August 1892.

  24 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/90/40, Alix to QV, 22 December 1892.

  25 Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Romanovs, 1613–1918, London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson (2016), p. 471.

  26 Christopher Warwick, Ella: Princess, Saint and Martyr, Chichester, John Wiley (2006), p. 165.

  27 Nicholas’s diary, 29 January [OS]/10 February 1892, cited in Maylunas and Mironenko (1997), p. 16.

  28 Mathilde Kschessinska, Dancing in Petersburg: The Memoirs of Mathilde Kschessinska, Arnold Haskell (trans.), Alton, Dance Books (2005), pp. 29 and 33.

  29 Nicholas’s diary, 1 April [OS]/13 April 1892, cited in Maylunas and Mironenko (1997), p. 16.

  30 Kschessinska (2005), pp. 39 and 43.

  31 RA GV/PRIV/AA19/35, Bertie to George, 24 August 1892.

  32 RA QM/PRIV/CC5/2, May to George, 29 March 1892.

  33 RA GV/PRIV/AA31/23, Princess A to George, 3 October 1892.

  34 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/3, George to May, 9 June 1892.

  35 Derbyshire Times, 30 July 1892.

  36 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1892: 10 June.

  37 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1892: 11 June.

  38 Daily Telegraph, 18 June 1892.

  39 RA GV/PRIV/AA12/5, George to QV, 20 September 1892.

  40 RA GV/PRIV/AA10/44, QV to George, 14 October 1892.

  41 RA GV/PRIV/AA31/26, Princess A to George, 3 October 1892.

  42 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/476/21, George to QV, 2 November 1892.

  43 RA GV/PRIV/AA12/5, George to QV, 20 September 1892.

  44 Ibid.

  45 MB 21/1/1, p. 146.

  46 RA GV/PRIV/AA12/6, George to QV, 10 October 1892.

  47 Marie, Queen of Romania (1934), vol. 1. p. 247.

  48 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/84/106, Missy to QV, 1 November 1892.

  49 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/84/107, Missy to QV, 21 November 1892.

  50 Marie, Queen of Romania (1934), vol. 1, p. 247.

  51 Ibid., p. 252.

  52 Ramm (1990), p. 129, Vicky to QV, 25 July 1891.

  53 Ibid.

  54 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1892: 10 December.

  55 Marie, Queen of Romania (1934), vol. 1, pp. 247 and 249.

  56 Ibid., pp. 266 and 291.

  57 Hannah Pakula, The Last Romantic: The Life of the Legendary Marie, Queen of Romania, New York, Simon & Schuster (1984), p. 57.

  58 Marie, Queen of Romania (1934), vol. 1, p. 288.

  59 Ibid., p. 165.

  60 Ramm (1990), pp. 153–4, QV to Vicky, 11 January 1893.

  CHAPTER NINE GEORGE AND MAY

  1 RA GV/PRIV/AA12/9, George to QV, 28 December 1892.

  2 RA GV/PRIV/AA12/10, George to QV, 10 January 1893.

  3 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/4, George to May, 25 December 1892.

  4 RA QM/PRIV/CC5/3 and 4, May to George, 16 January 1893.

  5 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/5, George to May, 15 January 1893.

  6 RA GV/PRIV/AA31/28, Princess A to George, 7 February 1893.

  7 Pall Mall Gazette, 19 January 1893.

  8 RA GV/PRIV/AA10/46, QV to George, 9 January 1893.

  9 RA GV/PRIV/AA31/27, Princess A to George, 1 February 1893.

  10 Ibid.

  11 RA GV/PRIV/AA31/29, Princess A to George, 13 February 1893.

  12 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/6, George to May, 4 March 1893.

  13 RA GV/PRIV/AA12/11, George to QV, 8 March 1893.

  14 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/7, George to May, 17 March 1893.

  15 RA QM/PRIV/CC5/6, May to George, 22 March 1893.

  16 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/8, George to May, 31 March 1893.

  17 RA GV/PRIV/AA12/14, George to QV, 11 April 1893.

  18 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1893: 1 February.

  19 Ibid., 5 February 1893.

  20 James Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary, 1867–1953, London
, George Allen & Unwin (1959), p. 259.

  21 John C. G. Röhl, Wilhelm II, The Kaiser’s Personal Monarchy, 1888–1900, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press (2001), p. 508.

  22 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1893: 14 March.

  23 Ibid., 20 March 1893.

  24 Lincolnshire Echo, 3 May 1893.

  25 Sheffield Evening Telegraph, 3 May 1893.

  26 The Star, 3 May 1893.

  27 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1893: 3 May.

  28 Pope-Hennessy (1959), p. 259.

  29 RA QM/PRIV/QMD/1893: 3 May.

  30 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1893: 3 and 4 May.

  31 Agatha Ramm (ed.), Beloved and Darling Child: Last Letters between Queen Victoria and her Eldest Daughter, 1886–1901, Stroud, Sutton Publishing (1990), p. 158, QV to Vicky, 7 May 1893.

  32 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/476/65, Princess Helena to QV, 4 May 1893.

  33 Telegraph, St James Gazette and The Times, 4 May 1893.

  34 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/476/28, annotations onThe Star, 3 May 1893.

  35 LPL/Benson 130/371, Pennington to Benson, 14 July 1893.

  36 LPL/Benson 130/381, Bartlett to Benson, 4 June 1894.

  37 LPL/Benson 130/383, Pelly to Benson, 30 June 1894.

  38 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/16, George to May, 12 June 1893.

  39 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/17, George to May, 13 June 1893.

  40 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/18, George to May, 14 June 1893.

  41 RA VIC/ADDC6/1893: 1 June.

  42 Sir Harold Nicolson, King George V: His Life and Reign, London, Constable (1952), p. 84.

  43 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/19, George to May, 19 June 1893.

  44 RA QM/PRIV/CC5/15, May to George, 20 June 1893.

  45 Ibid.

  46 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/20, George to May, 20 June 1893.

  47 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/23, George to May, 27 June 1893.

  48 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/21, George to May, 24 June 1893.

  49 RA QM/PRIV/CC1/25, George to May, 29 June 1893.

  50 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/476/113 and 120, George to QV, 4 and 14 June 1893.

  51 RA VIC/MAIN/Z/90/42, Alix to QV, 26 December 1892.

  52 Nicholas’s diary, 13 January [OS]/25 January 1893, and letter to Alix, 31 October [OS]/12 November 1893, cited in Andrei Maylunas and Sergei Mironenko (eds), A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas & Alexandra, Their Own Story, London, Phoenix (1997), pp. 18 and 23.

  53 Nicholas’s diary, 25 January [OS]/6 February 1893, cited in Maylunas and Mironenko (1997), p. 19.

  54 Mathilde Kschessinska, Dancing in Petersburg: The Memoirs of Mathilde Kschessinska, Arnold Haskell (trans.), Alton, Dance Books (2005), p. 48.

  55 Edward J. Bing (ed.), The Letters of Tsar Nicholas and Empress Marie, London, Ivor Nicholson & Watson (1937), pp. 70–2, 24 June [OS]/6 July 1893.

  56 RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ/1893: 1 July.

  57 Nicholas’s diary, 19 June [OS] /1July 1893, cited in Maylunas and Mironenko (1997), p. 21.