by Roland Perry
The biggest distraction in the standstill year of 1852 came on 14 September when the Duke of Wellington died, aged 83. He had been the crown’s wisest and most faithful grand guide in all matters. His power and influence in Britain was unsurpassed. Albert, preoccupied with the after-life and a sombre, weighty send-off for such a figure, insisted on a heraldic state funeral in November. He chose the heaviest dirges ever composed to make sure the occasion was bleak rather than a celebration of a great fighting knight of the realm, who had outlasted most of his enemies on the battlefield and in life. Albert commissioned a large bronze funeral carriage, with a coffin that was more suitable for a giant than the 1.75 metre Wellington. The coffin swayed, especially when one of the carriage’s six wheels became stuck in Pall Mall mud.
Victoria was moved at the sight of Wellington’s favourite horse with the duke’s empty boots reversed in the stirrups. She found the most depressing aspect of all was Handel’s ‘Dead March’ from Saul. She stood with Albert on the new balcony at Buckingham Palace as the procession rumbled by. He revelled in the forbidding growl of a drum roll while Victoria burst into tears at the sound. It was an overwhelming, even frightening reminder of someone dear to her departing forever. Victoria regarded Wellington as irreplaceable, alongside Melbourne and Peel. At 33, she suddenly felt isolated. There were few close confidants she respected and trusted left. Only a handful, like Elphinstone, remained from her early days and he had been removed from his parliamentary and reporting job to her.
Victoria kept up her correspondence with Elphinstone, telling him that he would be restored just as soon as this lingering ‘pusillanimous’ government was itself removed. But letters were never the same as the correspondent being present. For this sensitive monarch, if there were a heaven, or ‘perfect’ conditions like it on Earth, people such as Melbourne, Peel, Wellington, Albert, Elphinstone and all her children would always be near. Her worst nightmares still came from them leaving her and the heraldic event to see off the duke only exacerbated her emotional response. She was so distressed that she had to see Clark after the gruelling day.As ever, he prescribed brisk walks in the morning air and time to overcome this latest loss.
The suggested remedy did not quite work and Victoria was only lifted from the doldrums on 17 December 1852 by the nineteen-vote defeat of Lord Derby’s government. She gave him an audience. Couldn’t Derby link up with Peelites, seeing his team had abandoned protectionism? Derby countered by suggesting that Palmerston become the leader. Victoria said no. She put up the granite-faced, yet bright William Ewart Gladstone, 43, after discussions with courtiers and councillors, including Elphinstone, who had been a contemporary of Gladstone’s at Eton. Derby said he was not up to the job.Victoria sent for Lord Aberdeen. He wanted a ‘Liberal–Conservative’ coalition.Victoria bristled at this. The word ‘Liberal’ was synonymous with Palmerston. The idea was rejected. Aberdeen bustled away to see if he could stitch up a suitable team. He came back on Christmas Eve with a line-up that included Palmerston as home secretary.Victoria was miffed, but hearing that her nemesis was almost incapacitated with gout and not likely to be fit enough for the job for long, she vacillated.Victoria put a list of demands to Aberdeen, including the desire to have Elphinstone back in the royal court and close by as lord-in-waiting.Aberdeen agreed to most of her requests and she then accepted his political squad. Uppermost in Victoria’s mind was not wanting the nation to be dragged into the new year still without government.
23
THE BLEEDING DISEASE
Peelite Lord Aberdeen, George Hamilton Gordon, 68, promised better government but Victoria’s journal reflected her pessimism. At 33, she looked back nostalgically for better times rather than forward. The first confirmation of her sixth sense of foreboding came in February 1853 when the dining room at Windsor Castle caught fire. She remained calm while the prince fretted. Predictably he called for an overhaul of the whole palace.
On 7 April Victoria became a guinea pig for medical science when she allowed chloroform to be administered to her during childbirth. Clark called in the renowned anaesthetist Dr John Snow of Edinburgh for this historic medical event. Victoria was not the first to use it, but she was the most high-profile patient. If she reacted well there was sure to be an upsurge in mothers trying it. Snow and the pioneer in the field, Dr Simpson, also of Edinburgh, had tried it in various doses on animals and humans. Victoria was not rendered unconscious, having barely an ounce applied to her nose and mouth. Clark observed that she was pleased with the effect and that she experienced her best recovery ever from pregnancy. She was amused by Snow’s tale of the first ever patient to try chloroform: the woman in 1847 had been so excited by the ease of the birth that she called her daughter ‘Anaesthesia’. Better, Snow said that another patient, who was troubled by incontinence during pregnancy, wanted to name her daughter ‘Incontinentia’.Victoria had no dilemma over her choice of name: she called her latest son Leopold after her uncle. The King of the Belgians had for some time been back in her good books. But the boy had a problem. He was thin and delicate.
‘I’m afraid that the poor lad has the bleeding disease,’ Clark informed Victoria. ‘If he knocks himself on any wee object he will bruise.’
‘How does this happen?’ she asked in despair.
‘The science of it is unknown. But it is suspected that his blood lacks a clotting agent.’
‘He will just keep bleeding?’
‘It’s most serious if he gets a heavy knock.’
‘He will bleed to death?’
‘That is what happens.We must make sure he wears padding, on his legs and arms; his body in general.The nursery must keep a wee eye on him all the time.’
Victoria was upset and vexed by the news.
‘The disease is not derived from my family! We have never had bleeders.’
‘It is not quite that simple, your majesty. Studies suggest females do not get the disease, except in very, very rare cases. But they are carriers. Only males suffer from it. But they can’t pass it on to their sons.’
‘Have you spoken to Albert?’
‘Yes, like you, he is adamant that none in his family have ever had it.’
‘It has to come from somewhere!’
Clark remained silent.
‘Are you suggesting I am a carrier?’ she demanded.
‘Not necessarily,’ Clark replied.
‘If . . .I repeat if I am a carrier that would mean I had to have received it from either my mother or my father.’
‘My research already suggests that neither your mother’s side of the family, nor your father, had the disease.’
‘What are you saying, doctor? That my father was not actually my father?’
Clark avoided any more discussion. He was aware that Victoria’s father, the Duke of Kent, Edward Augustus, was a dissolute 50-year-old when he married with the explicit mission to produce an heir to the British throne. His mistress of 27 years had borne him no children. It was possible that another man, a haemophiliac, had been with the Duchess of Kent after her trying and not succeeding with her husband. There had been a race against time to get from Germany (where the duchess lived) to England for the birth.The duchess could have become desperate and ‘had’ the most suitable available well-bred male. Even John Conroy was rumoured as a possible ‘supplier’, although he was not a haemophilic, ruling him out.
Victoria was devastated by little Leopold’s condition. She blew up at Albert, who seemed detached from the reason for her anguish. He had no idea why she was ‘so combustible’. He wrote a ‘rational’ letter to her. She responded with an emotional reply. His clinical manner was not adequate for this moment, although her depression would have been unmanageable for anyone and only countered by medication. Albert became concerned more about her condition than Leopold’s sickness, which had brought on Victoria’s reaction. He resorted to correspondence with his wife as if they lived in two different countries or worlds.Albert was confused. He did not like her tirades
but advised her not to control or hide her emotions.Victoria wanted to blow up, have a good cry, kiss and make up, preferably with sex. Albert wished to avoid all that. His idea of ‘bringing it all out’ was for her to express it on paper. He could then respond on paper. Victoria tried to honour and obey this dictate to scribble in order to unscramble her feelings but this only exacerbated her problem. Her emotions were tumbling like waves in a wild sea. Struggling with them in letters caused her more fury, even though she found her daily discipline of attending to her journal a joy. Albert hated the confrontations; perversely, she seemed to need them; she thrived on them. Her mental problem made her ‘gun-fire’ far more intense than ‘normal’; his attempt to encapsulate, correct and tackle any issue like a daunting maths problems was inadequate.
As an escape from their feud, he busied himself with ‘house keeping’, which in this case meant creating a special abode at Swiss Cottage in North London for their children. It appeared as much a witch’s house as a children’s playground. Albert also began building a new castle at Balmoral. He kept occupied while Victoria fretted over making sure little Leopold was organised not to receive any bruises. She knew that the torment over the ‘bleeding disease’ would stay with her as long as the victim lived. Clark informed her that her boy’s existence was precarious. He could live another day or thirty years. The case studies were brutal in their simplicity: somewhere, somehow, no matter how well he was padded and careful, he would receive a knock that would cause him to bleed to death. Victoria in 1853 vowed to care for him more than any of her brood. Prince Leopold redefined the meaning of ‘precious’ when applied to life.
24
CRIMEA FEAR: INDIAN CHALLENGE
In July 1853, Russia invaded Turkey. Palmerston persuaded Aberdeen to make a demonstration against the Russians by having the British Fleet enter the Black Sea.Victoria was in Balmoral and stunned that she had not been informed. She hurried to London and experienced one of her most telling moments of helplessness as the monarch.Victoria huffed and puffed in private and to Aberdeen but it was too late. Had she been at Buckingham Palace she may have been able to intercede with Palmerston. International diplomacy had failed. Palmerston was urging support for the Sultan of Turkey in a joint action with France against Russia. On 23 October a beleaguered Turkey declared war on Russia. That day Victoria had afternoon tea at Buckingham Palace with Elphinstone. Because of servants hovering, they addressed each other formally.
‘Do you think Palmerston has committed treason, my lord?’ she asked him. ‘He has not consulted his queen. And he has rejected her position!’
Elphinstone had for years now been a key sounding board on Victoria’s and Albert’s political positions. His views were always measured and usually apolitical. For once he didn’t appear to have an answer.
‘Well, my lord?’ she prompted.
‘Your German background and Russian connections put you in an awkward position, ma’am,’ Elphinstone said.
‘Spoken like a true Scot!’
‘You asked my opinion, ma’am, not words of false comfort.’
Victoria scowled, then asked: ‘So you are siding with Palmerston?’
‘I believe it would be wise for you and the prince not to appear to be divorced from your government and your people.’
‘Do you think we are?’
‘No. But if you are seen that way, then you could be judged the way you have judged Palmerston.’
‘What are you saying?’
‘That your acts and views behind the scenes or in public in not supporting your government could be construed as treasonable, if Britain goes to war.’
Victoria looked stunned. She had never imagined that she could be viewed that way.
‘Well I don’t want Britain to support Turkey!’
‘But you will have to want this, if your government does.’
Victoria’s expression clouded.‘If the Russians have a quick victory on land that will be the end of it,’ she said indignantly.
‘Perhaps.’
‘The Russian emperor would be magnanimous.’
Elphinstone didn’t respond.Victoria added: ‘Then the Turks would be amenable to reason, don’t you think?’
‘I hope that scenario plays out.’
‘But you don’t believe it will.’
‘Sadly, not necessarily, majesty.’
During this time, Elphinstone became restless with his role as a courtier. War loomed in the Crimea; India was a potential hotbed of rebellion. He was fed up with the inaction and lack of challenge. His views were listened to and he had the queen’s ear on most issues, yet his influence was limited. His experience over a decade in India was still strong within him. He wanted to return in the next year in the prize position as Governor of Bombay where there would be a vacancy. Elphinstone had canvassed Aberdeen and Palmerston; they supported him. All he needed was Victoria’s blessing.
It was not a good time.Victoria was not enjoying her private life with little Leopold or her ‘work’ where she was dealing with a government she did not think was strong or trustworthy. Elphinstone’s request to leave was met with stony silence.The most distressing departure in her life short of people dying had been that of her former lover himself. Elphinstone had been removed from her when she needed him most. Then he had been forced to go. Now she did not quite understand why he wished to exile himself once more.Victoria would have never considered what such a motivated individual might have been thinking about the role at court. But Elphinstone was 45 and had a different perspective. He was fit, but did not trust longevity. It was not a luxury in his family. Most of the Elphinstone men down the centuries had died between 50 and 60.This told him he had to take up a challenge or die wondering about what he might have achieved. If he said as much to Victoria, she would have been dismissive. She was queen. He and all her courtiers should do what she desired or commanded. Elphinstone had predicted her reaction and had prepared for it. Aberdeen was asked to tell Victoria that someone with Elphinstone’s diplomatic skills and long experience of Indians and Indian conditions should be appointed to the plum Bombay job. He had received a cold response again and this caused him to ask for a private audience, which was granted in her study. She ordered the door locked. Victoria sat on a couch with Elphinstone on another opposite her. She began by trying to talk him out of the Bombay appointment.
‘Surely at your age, you deserve a more comfortable existence, without the dangers?’
‘With respect, majesty, I’ve had that for many years at court. I need the challenge.’
‘You men!’ Victoria said with a shake of her head. ‘If it’s not war, it’s something else.’
‘I do love India, majesty.That has a bit to do with it.’
‘And not me?’
Elphinstone smiled gently: ‘You know the answer to that.’
Victoria fell silent.After a few moments she said softly:‘I really wish you would stay, Elphi.’
‘I must go.’
‘I could command it!’
‘And I could defy your command.’
‘I could send you to the Tower!’
He smiled. ‘Better to have me serve in India.’
‘Where there is already unrest and matters may become worse!’
‘That is a reason for me going, majesty.’
Elphinstone was away on a steamer to India late in December 1853, much to the sadness of Victoria. She recorded his parting in her journal, referring to year 1853 just gone as a metaphor for her former lover:‘We say goodbye with regret to an old year, which seemed to have become an old friend.’
After some jostling to push Palmerston out of the Cabinet, the former prime minister bounced back thanks to strong support from powerful individuals, such as Liberal statesman William Gladstone and Tory Lord Aberdeen, who could not afford to let go his most popular minister. Victoria saw this as meaning war with Russia in the Crimea was inevitable. It also meant hostility from the public towards Albert (and to a lesser extent Vict
oria), fuelled by press attacks on him, which were orchestrated by Palmerston. They were saying that Albert had assumed too much power and influence over the queen, which was an inference that he was steering her against perceived British interests, especially in foreign affairs. Criticism suggested he had become her private secretary, prime minister and commander-in-chief rolled into one. Albert was accused of plotting Palmerston’s resignation and of being pro-Russian. With war looming, xenophobia increased. Crowds became hostile with boos and hisses when a carriage conveying Victoria and Albert passed through the Traitor’s Gate.Victoria reacted, asking Aberdeen to refute the accusations in parliament with positive commentary about Albert by several representatives. The press reported the speeches that countered the attacks.
Stockmar didn’t help early in January 1854 by writing a critique for Albert of why the court was unpopular. He blamed a corrupt party system, in which both parties were undermining the crown.The Tories had become ‘degenerate bastards’ since the introduction of the Reform Bill in 1832. It was against most of its members’ interests. According to Stockmar, the Whigs, dominated by Palmerston, were ‘republicans’. They viewed Victoria as nothing more than a ‘Mandarin figure’. For once the wizard could not weave magic.The assessment was too general and simplistic. He was also out of touch with the shift in the power relationship between the monarch and her prime minister. Stockmar reminded Victoria that she in effect was ‘a permanent Premier’ where the prime minister was merely a ‘temporary head of cabinet’. This was cute phraseology but delusional. It reinforced a false sense of power, intrinsic or otherwise, and drove Victoria to push Aberdeen to make Albert officially ‘prince consort’, or even ‘king consort’. She believed this would further quash attacks on him and demonstrate how much the government favoured and endorsed him.Aberdeen was agreeable to this upgrade, but shrewdly advised that the timing was ‘not quite right’.