The Queen, Her Lover and the Most Notorious Spy in History

by Roland Perry

  ‘Didn’t I advise you not to read Charles Dickens, majesty?’ he said, signalling for a valet to bring him more wine.

  ‘I was touched by his accounts of starvation in the workhouses.’

  ‘Oh, it’s all popular rubbish!’ he said irritably. ‘It’s all among workhouses, and coffin makers, and pick-pockets. It’s all slang; just like The Beggar’s Opera. . .I don’t like these things; I wish to avoid them; I don’t like them in reality and therefore I don’t wish to see them represented.’

  He was again scathing about the Irish who ‘mind neither lord nor laws’. This kind of reaction went against Victoria’s lingering instincts. She wished to know about the underbelly of British society. She had been exposed to it superficially on her trips with the duchess and Conroy across the country in 1835. Victoria had been shaken by the poverty; the pathetic working conditions in the iron and steel towns and coal industry. She did not challenge Melbourne but noted in her diary his comments about reading Dickens, which in itself showed that she was surprised by his sentiments.Victoria was, early on at least, conscious about being queen for all her subjects, not just the rich and privileged classes.

  Melbourne was a traditionalist despite his early ‘radical’ days as a student, whether or not the tradition was arcane, inappropriate for the changing times or just plain bad. Flogging, for instance, of men, women and children was acceptable to him, perhaps because it was an extrapolation of his own predilections for perverse sexual thrills from spanking and whipping. He exempted dogs and cats since they would not understand why they had been punished this way.Victoria queried him about his attitude to ‘wife-beating’. He was for it.

  ‘Why, it is almost worthwhile for a woman to be beat,’ he exclaimed, ‘considering the exceeding pity she excites.’

  If that shocked Victoria, she was surprised by his attitude to handling children, which was different from hers. She reflected her own experience when she expressed a belief in solitary confinement and enforcing periods of silence as forms of punishment. Melbourne thought such disciplines were ‘stupefying’. Victoria would continue to be influenced by the experienced, learned prime minister. She was vulnerable to those who flattered her, fanned her vanities and eased her fears about any shortcomings, mental or physical, that she perceived in herself. Melbourne’s charm overrode his own imperfections in her eyes. He could do or say very little wrong. He was her lifeline in her new job: her mentor, confidant and key adviser. His humour and goodwill made her trials more bearable. Melbourne gave Victoria the strength to stand her ground against Conroy and her mother, and to face her life as a young monarch.

  Early in Victoria’s reign, Melbourne met with her to explain her finances. She insisted on having Lehzen present. The baroness had been in charge of handling her accounts for seven years. The prime minister was uncomfortable with the presence of the sometimes prickly baroness, but in this instance had to bow to the young queen’s wishes.

  ‘The parliament has granted £385,000 to you annually from the Civil List, majesty,’ Melbourne told her, ‘for the dignity and state of the crown and your personal comfort.This has been a satisfactory outcome for you as it was for your predecessor.’

  ‘Since 1830, prime minister,’ Lehzen added.

  Seeing Melbourne’s face darken at the baroness’s comment,Victoria said: ‘I am grateful, my lord.’

  ‘You do not have to finance any government expenditure, majesty,’ Melbourne remarked. ‘This relieved the king [William IV] and now you of this burden.’

  ‘With respect, prime minister,’ Lehzen interrupted again, ‘perhaps you should add that this also greatly diminishes the monarch’s position.’

  ‘In what way, baroness?’

  ‘Come, come, prime minister, let’s not be disingenuous. No minister of the crown now needs to require the queen’s support or grant for expenditure. Her majesty will be removed from the decision-making process.’

  Melbourne’s face reddened. He could barely contain his anger. Victoria sat silently. Her presence prevented Melbourne venting his fury on the baroness.

  ‘Majesty,’ he said, trying to stay calm, ‘you must be aware that the considerable expansion of empire placed the monarchy in jeopardy and debt because of the need to provide the funds for that expansion. It was an unmanageable and intolerable situation.’

  Victoria glanced down. Melbourne glared at the baroness but she would not back down.

  ‘My lord,’ Lehzen said with a look of defiance, ‘let us be frank.The situation has reversed. The crown must now go to the government for funding, whereas before 1830, arms of government had to come to the monarch. Can you assure the queen that the dignity of her position will be maintained in these circumstances?’

  ‘I can assure your majesty,’ Melbourne replied without looking at Lehzen,‘that no “begging bowl” situation will occur on my watch. I, as prime minister, will always strive to ensure that your majesty is kept in the comfort which she deserves.’

  ‘Thank you, prime minister,’ Victoria said with sweet smile, ‘I do appreciate that so much.’ Aware of the heightened tension, she changed the subject, asking: ‘Prime minister, can you tell me how my Civil List payment will be distributed? My uncle did not really explain this to me, primarily because I was prevented from being in his presence.’

  ‘Certainly, your majesty. It will vary, but I expect, going on precedent, roughly £300,000 of your payment will be set aside for your household’s salaries and running expenses. That will leave £85,000 to be spent at your discretion.You should expect another £20,000 or so to come to you from rents from the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall. This will lift your personal income to in excess of £100,000.’

  Victoria tried not to react to the amount. It was a dizzying moment, given that she was the daughter of a bankrupt. The family had relied much on the largesse of their bankers, Coutts, who arranged financing on generous terms to keep her mother’s household afloat. Now, a few months into Victoria’s reign, she was one of the richest women in the world.

  ‘How much will the duchess receive?’ she asked.

  ‘I believe we can influence the parliament to lift her Civil List income to £30,000,’ Melbourne replied.

  Victoria took a deep breath. ‘One of my first acts will be to pay off my father’s debts.’

  ‘I am afraid the parliament cannot assist you there, majesty.’

  ‘I would not expect that. It is a personal family matter.’

  ‘May I ask the amount of his debt, majesty?’

  ‘£50,000.’

  ‘I had no idea . . .’

  ‘It has to be settled quickly. I will be able to do it.’

  ‘That is commendable, majesty.’

  Melbourne left.Victoria said to Lehzen: ‘He seemed most unhappy with you.’

  ‘Of course,’ Lehzen said. ‘It is in his interests to not explain the full story. Putting it simply, ma’am, he wants power as prime minister at the expense of the crown. I believe he has your interests at heart but not for his loss.’

  ‘But he is a man of his word. He said he would strive for my—the crown’s—interest.’

  ‘Hmm,’ the baroness sounded unconvinced, ‘but he cannot vouchsafe for the attitude of future governments and parliaments.’

  Victoria sighed.The thought concerned her. She could not bear to think of Melbourne not being there for her as prime minister.

  ‘Perish the thought of Tories!’ she said with an anguished look.

  ‘It would be far better if you could revert to being funded the old way—from rents and taxes of crown lands.’

  ‘Hereditary revenues?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Could we go back to that?’

  ‘It is possible. But with the thrust of err . . .democracy,’ Lehzen began, pausing as if she was swallowing something unpalatable, ‘it will be difficult, perhaps for some time. But I really don’t know.’

  ‘He did not really explain the history . . .’

  ‘No, my dear que
en. That would be awkward. Since Charles I was executed, governments have tried to limit the power of the monarch mainly through reducing the size of the royal purse.’

  9

  CROWNED BUT LOVELESS

  Victoria made it clear to the prime minister, her courtiers and others in mid-1837 that she wanted Elphinstone in her court. Headstrong and gaining confidence every day, she wished to assert some sort of authority and her lover was a good test of how hard she could push.Victoria did not wish to face her coronation without Elphinstone. She missed his warmth, strength, wise council, inspiration and love. Melbourne contributed some of these things but not all. Elphinstone in turn let her know that he would seek employment in the government, sensibly assessing that there would be too much opposition to him rejoining the royal court.

  Victoria’s determination and passion gave him hope that his exile in Madras would soon end. The word spread through England and elsewhere that Victoria would force his return. Husna heard the rumour and for the first time accepted an invitation from Elphinstone to breakfast with him after their morning ride. The heat was exceptional. Despite all windows thrown open in the dining room to catch any breeze, it was already stifling at 8 a.m. as they ate.

  ‘You are sweating, my lord,’ Husna remarked as tea was served.

  Elphinstone wiped his brow with his napkin. ‘After a ride, I am dripping.This awful heat makes it worse. I am going to move the seat of government to the hills. I can’t stand it! My staff can’t carry on.’

  ‘I won’t be going with you,’ Husna said. ‘I can cope and it is easier to look after the stables here, especially if we have emergencies with foaling and so on.’ Observing his perspiring forehead, she added, ‘You English are not built for the conditions.’

  Servants scurried in and out, doing their best to maintain privacy. Grilled fish was served. Elphinstone’s presence had already been felt, even with his breakfast. His predecessor had hanged his Indian butler for buying produce for himself before the governor. Elphinstone had stopped the practice of the governor having first choice on everything.

  A servant interrupted them and brought tea and orange juice. Mangoes were placed on the table.

  ‘Why are you running for the hills, my lord?’ she asked. ‘You aren’t going to remain long in Madras anyway, are you?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Husna glanced at a valet, who brought toast. When he had left the room, she replied in a half-whisper: ‘I hear your little queen is pining for you; wants you by her side.’

  Elphinstone’s face flushed but he did not respond.

  ‘How long is your term here?’

  ‘I am not sure. I expected a year, maybe two.’

  Husna slid her food aside and stood up.

  ‘I have work to do,’ she said. Elphinstone pushed back his chair and hastened around the table to stop her. He held her by the arm.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

  ‘You should know.’ She brushed him aside and strode out, leaving him alone and brooding.

  A few weeks later newspapers in Britain and India announced that Victoria had ‘recalled’ Elphinstone and Sir Robert Grant (the latter as a smokescreen), the governors of Madras and Bombay. No reasons were given for them giving up their positions but their successors were named. (Stuart Mackenzie, the governor of Ceylon, was expected to replace Elphinstone.) The news fuelled the rumours that had circulated in the royal court, newspapers, books and the public for over two years: Victoria was bringing back her lover, whom she missed greatly. One report said she wanted him ‘to perform in the Royal household’. Whether or not this comment had a double meaning, it was typical of those that set tongues wagging. Another report said: ‘An attachment between the two is alleged to have been the cause of the Lord’s prior removal from London.’

  The story was so strong that Melbourne was forced to intervene. He spoke with The Times editor. The newspaper then observed in an item:‘Whatever may be the cause of Lord Elphinstone being withdrawn from the Government of Madras, the queen’s liking or disliking of that nobleman has nothing to do with it.’ The mouthpiece statement then went on to protest too much with a disclaimer that few believed and many knew was untrue: ‘Her majesty never spoke to him in his life; never saw him in her life except in public.’

  This did not shut down the rumour mill. Melbourne had to step in again and disabuse Victoria of her ‘command’ concerning this issue. It was an early test of the power of the crown in her reign and that of the prime minister beyond the trivia, such as whether or not she could review her troops on horseback.

  ‘You lied to me, prime minister!’ a red-faced Victoria said, when they met at Buckingham Palace.‘You said Lord John would be away just a year.That time is long past. I want him here!’

  ‘With respect, your majesty, I did not misinform you. At the time of his departure for Madras it seemed he would be away a year. But circumstances, as you are well aware, have not improved concerning his return.’

  ‘But that period is now a long way behind us! I want him back. I am your queen. I order it!’

  ‘Your emotional needs, your majesty, do not override affairs of state.’

  ‘You are defying me, prime minister.’

  ‘The publicity is bad enough now. If Lord John were to return, there would be a commotion leading to a calamity! A bank of information would burst.The past would torrent through the newspapers and sheets of tittle-tattle. The truth would almost certainly emerge. Your reign would be in jeopardy.’

  Victoria was flustered and upset. Melbourne added: ‘You know the people who would talk. Could we stop Conroy? No! Could we expect the duchess to let her dreams and manipulations die? No.’

  Victoria began crying.

  ‘May I ask, your majesty,’ the prime minister began, his tone softening, ‘if you have been in correspondence with Lord John?’

  ‘That is my private business!’

  ‘You will know then that Lord John has asked me for a position in government in London. I have told him that this is impossible at this time. I have, however, extended his tour as president.’

  ‘How long has it been extended?’

  ‘He will return after five years, in 1842.’

  Victoria’s face drained.

  ‘Get out!’ she yelled.‘Get out of my sight!’

  ‘Your majesty—’

  ‘You are dismissed, prime minister!’

  Melbourne departed, concerned and in a quandary. He felt he was doing the right thing politically. Common sense told him he was doing the best by Victoria, if she wished to maintain her image, her goodwill with the public and her reign. Melbourne wondered if reality would now finally dawn on her. He received more pressure from Stockmar and Leopold to prevent Elphinstone’s return, which would ruin their efforts to induce Victoria to reconsider Albert. The problem for them was timing.Victoria’s passion for the former captain of the Horse Guards seemed to have increased, not diminished, probably, they guessed, due to secret correspondence. Absence was surely making her heart grow fonder. Stockmar and Leopold could not afford to present Albert so soon since he had not yet matured into the man they thought would attract Victoria. There was at least two years’ development and training for him before she might be interested. They were gambling that the Elphinstone affair would have blown over by then.

  Melbourne moved behind the scenes to rescind the order for the Madras and Bombay governors to return. Excuses were made. Grant was said to be too ill to travel. (He died in office in Bombay on 9 July 1838.) Elphinstone was said to be required for the implementation of certain policies and that he would stay at his Madras post for the moment. Melbourne had to use all his considerable powers of persuasion with Victoria, who remained aggrieved and more than a little miffed with her impotency as monarch. She wondered what good was it being queen if she had no power to do as she wished, especially concerning the man she loved. But her deep concerns were pushed aside as her coronation approached.

  Victoria, n
ow nineteen, was woken at 4 a.m. on Thursday, 28 June 1838, to the sounds of gun salutes heralding the day she was to be crowned queen at Westminster Abbey. She’d had fitful sleep and had trouble slumbering again. She was too alert and nervous. She rose at 7 a.m. and it helped that the sun was shining. While she dressed, washed and had breakfast, London became a seething mass of excited humanity as people arrived from every point in the country for the huge event. Workmen began setting up wooden stands at various points that the procession would take up Constitution Hill to Hyde Park Corner, then Piccadilly, St James’s and Pall Mall to Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, and finally to Westminster Abbey where thousands would watch her enter attended by eight train-bearers.

  Hours later,Victoria was cheered all the way by the onlookers who choked the packed streets of the route. She looked her best, wearing a diamond circlet and the parliament robes. They were of crimson velvet, furred with ermine, bordered with gold lace and fastened with a tasselled golden cord.

  During the ceremony, the crown and orb she carried were too heavy; the throne was too low; bishops lost their reading places and the archbishop crushed the ruby ring onto her fourth finger, when it had been wrongly made for the fifth. Most of the mistakes were created by the officiating clergy, who literally had no clue, on many occasions, what they were doing. But Victoria rose to the occasion, which she judged to be the proudest of her life. If others missed a beat, she went with the error with such style that no-one other than the key players on show would have known a blunder had been made. She was sufficiently in control to help 90-year-old Lord Rolle, who, when paying homage, caught his foot in his robes on the steps of the throne and tumbled to the bottom.When he tried again,Victoria stepped forward to greet him so that he might not fall a second time. It was a touching moment where Victoria’s compassion was evident, despite a newspaper commenting on ‘Lord Rolle’s role in the pre-arranged roll’. (Gullible foreigners were told that his fall was all part of tradition.)