Leopold had agreed, although he could not help reflecting that he had fought at Waterloo, while the Duke of Kent had spent the last twenty years commanding a garrison in Nova Scotia under threat of nothing more serious than intemperate winters. Still, Leopold had been pleased that a name from his side of the family had been included.
It had been a surprise when his niece had decided to style herself as Victoria on her accession. He had reproached her for not consulting him: “Do you think that to choose a name that is so unfamiliar to your subjects is entirely wise, my dear niece?” But now he thought that perhaps she had been right. There was some sense in choosing a name that distanced her from her Hanoverian predecessors. For all its strangeness, the name Victoria sounded like the beginning of a triumphant new era.
Nevertheless, thought Leopold, as his carriage started its progress up the Mall, the young Queen had not yet covered herself in glory. The Flora Hastings affair had shown a shocking failure of sense and propriety, followed by the unfortunate business with Peel over the composition of the Queen’s household, and above all her unreasonable attachment to Lord Melbourne. Leopold had no grudge against Melbourne personally, but his influence over Victoria was not healthy. His niece, of course, would never accept that she had anything in common with her mother, but it must be said that they were both in the thrall of powerful men.
What Drina—Leopold mentally corrected himself—what Victoria needed was a husband to control her youthful impulsiveness. Ever since his poor sister-in-law, Louise, the wife of his brother Duke Ernst, had given birth to a son three months after the birth of Victoria, Leopold had thought that there could be no better pairing than that of his niece and nephew, the infant Albert. As Albert had grown up, proving himself to be a true Coburg with his seriousness, his industry, and his ambition, Leopold had become more and more convinced of the felicity of his plan.
When he had brought his nephews over three years ago, it was unfortunate that Victoria had not taken to Albert, who had been overcome with shyness. But young men and young women grew up so quickly. Albert had left behind his adolescent awkwardness, and while he was not an accomplished flirt like his older brother, he was certainly handsome.
On meeting Albert, many people had remarked to Leopold on the likeness between the nephew and his uncle, which Leopold always acknowledged with a smile. There was nothing to suggest that Albert and he were anything more than nephew and uncle. And indeed it was quite possible that their relationship was no closer than that.
Poor Louise, his sister-in-law, so unhappy with his brother Ernst, the Duke of Coburg, had been very kind to him during his first awful grief. They had comforted each other as best they could, and when Albert was born nine months later, Leopold had taken a keen interest in his future. When Louise, finally unable to bear Ernst’s dissolution, had eloped with her equerry, Leopold had not found it in his heart to blame her. Publicly, of course, he had deplored her behaviour, but he had also written sub rosa to promise that he would keep an eye on the two sons she must know she would never see again. She had not answered his letter. But Leopold had kept his word, making sure that Albert’s education was worthy of a future occupant of the British throne.
Six years ago, when it had become clear after Queen Adelaide’s final miscarriage that there was nothing to stop Victoria becoming the next Queen of England, Leopold had encouraged a correspondence between the young cousins (making sure he received copies of the correspondence). This epistolary relationship had been fitful, but as Leopold lost no opportunity to remind both parties, it was the beginning of a great alliance. The distressing fact that Victoria’s correspondence had become even more lackadaisical since she had ascended the throne he attributed to the distraction offered by Lord Melbourne. It was time for the two cousins to meet again. He had no doubt that once he had had a chance to talk to Victoria in person, she would see that his suggestion was the only sensible course.
With their marriage, the triumph of the Coburgs would be complete. He was now King of Belgium; there was another nephew married to the Queen of Portugal; and he had no doubt that his family would soon be preeminent in the courts of Europe, thanks to their personal charms, proven fertility, and unalloyed ambition.
Leopold allowed himself a little smile as he drove through the Marble Arch. Before he alighted from the carriage, he took out a little mirror that he always kept in his waistcoat pocket, and examined the angle of his toupee. Only when the King of the Belgians was satisfied that his wig was securely and becomingly in place did he step down from the carriage to greet his niece.
But Victoria, he was displeased to see, was not waiting for him on the steps. Instead he was greeted by Baroness Lehzen, who made up for her mistress’s shortcomings with a gratifyingly deep curtsey.
“Welcome to Buckingham Palace, Your Majesty.”
“I am delighted to see you here, Baroness, but I confess I expected my niece.”
Lehzen lowered her gaze. “The Queen has had much official business to deal with this morning, but she hopes that you will wait upon her this afternoon.”
“What business could there be that is more important than greeting her uncle, who has travelled across Europe at considerable inconvenience to see her?”
“I am sure, sir, that if the Queen had had more notice of your intentions, she would have arranged things accordingly.”
Leopold looked at her and smiled. “You are a model of loyalty, Baroness. It does you credit that you will not acknowledge my niece’s thoughtlessness.”
The Baroness shook her head. “Her Majesty lets nothing stand in the way of her duties.”
“Not even Lord Melbourne?”
Lehzen pursed her lips. “If you will follow me, sir, I will show you to your apartments.”
At three o’clock Leopold walked down the red-carpeted staircase on his way to the throne room, where he was told that Victoria would receive him. He noted with approval that the place was in a good state of repair; the cornices had been freshly gilded and the chandeliers were free of wax. He had taken a proprietary interest in the palace ever since he had walked its corridors imagining it as his home one day.
As he was announced by the steward, Leopold glanced around. The small figure of Victoria was evident in the middle of the room, flanked by her ladies. Standing a little way off to the right he saw his sister and the tall figure of Conroy.
He advanced towards his niece and with a beaming smile kissed her upon both cheeks, the greeting of one monarch to another. Then he stood back and allowed himself to look her up and down. “How fortunate, Victoria, that you have inherited your excellent posture from the Coburg side of the family. Your lack of inches cannot be helped, but a small queen with a slouch would be a national tragedy.”
Victoria gave a tight smile. “Welcome to Buckingham Palace, Uncle Leopold.”
Leopold gave an extravagant sigh, and brushed away a tear, or rather the intention of a tear. “Forgive me. Being here is making me think of my poor dead Charlotte. If she had lived, this would have been my home.”
Victoria made a small, impatient movement. “Of course I remember, Uncle Leopold. After all, how could I forget?”
She looked at Leopold steadily, until her mother broke the impasse by rushing forward to embrace her brother. “Dear Leopold, I am so happy to see you.” Putting her head to his ear she whispered in German, “Are you going to talk to her about Albert?”
Victoria tapped her foot and said in English, “Why should Uncle Leopold need to talk to me about Albert, Mama? Has he had an accident?”
Leopold disengaged himself from his sister’s embrace. He knew that if his plan was to have any chance of success it was essential that it should not involve Victoria’s mother.
“On the contrary, Albert has finished his studies and is a most admirable young man. You could not hope for a better husband.” He smiled winningly at his niece, who did not smile back.
“Then he must have changed since the last time I saw him. He didn’t
smile, he didn’t dance, and he fell asleep at half past nine.”
“When you last met, three years ago, I believe you were still playing with dolls. It is possible for people to change, Victoria. I know at your age that seems impossible, but that is why you need wiser heads around you.”
Victoria began to move towards the door, her ladies forming a silken phalanx behind her. She said over her shoulder, “I think I manage quite well.”
Leopold’s smile did not falter. “Of course you have the excellent and devoted Lord Melbourne. But he will not be at your side forever, my dear niece.”
The Duchess nodded, the blonde ringlets trembling. “Every woman needs a husband, Drina. Even a queen.”
Leopold followed Victoria as she walked towards the door, forcing her to slow down. “And if, heaven forbid, you were to be gathered to the Almighty God tomorrow, then your most wicked uncle Cumberland would be king.”
Victoria lifted her chin in defiance. “I believe that in my predecessor Elizabeth’s time—a queen who never married, by the way—just to mention the death of a monarch was an act of treason.”
Leopold smiled. Seeing from the spots of colour on her cheeks that he had repaid her earlier rudeness in not greeting him when he arrived, he gave her a little bow. “I merely point out the facts.”
Victoria swept out, saying, “You must excuse me. I have government business to attend to. But I am sure you and Mama will have a great deal to say to each other.”
Leopold could not help but admire the perfect carriage of his niece’s small, neat head as she walked away from him. She had, he realised with surprise, a dignity that transformed the impetuous, unformed girl into a credible Queen. She would have to be managed, of course, but Leopold, who had made the study of royalty his life’s work, was impressed.
The moment was broken by his sister, who was overjoyed to have a new sympathetic audience for her grievances against her daughter. She said in a torrent of German and English, “You see how impossible she is? She listens to no one except her precious Lord M. She ignores me completely. After all I have done for her. You know, Leopold, sometimes I think I should like to move back to Amorbach and live in peace and seclusion, instead of spending all my time worrying about a girl who has no respect for her family.”
Leopold saw Conroy, who was standing by the window, flinch as the Duchess mentioned Amorbach. He was certain that his sister’s comptroller had no intention of spending the rest of his career in a German backwater.
“My dear sister, you should not alarm yourself. Now that I am here, I am sure that Victoria will come to understand where her duties lie.”
“Not when she is always with Lord Melbourne,” said his sister, shaking her head. “You know that she refuses to let me style myself as the Queen Mother or to give me enough money so that I can dress like the mother of a queen? It is all that wicked Melbourne’s doing. Before he came between us, we were always so close. Before he came she listened to me … and to Sir John.”
Conroy nodded at the Duchess’s words. “The Queen needs a husband to guide her, sir. The Duchess and I have done everything in our power to direct her, but she will not be governed. Marriage is the only way that she will be curbed.”
“And Albert is such a good boy. He will make sure that Victoria understands what is due to her mother.”
There were times, thought Leopold, when allies were more dangerous than enemies. It struck him that perhaps the only way to ensure that Victoria would marry Albert would be if the Duchess and Conroy were to vehemently oppose him. He could see that Conroy, who had been frustrated in his hopes of exercising power through Victoria, still entertained the prospect of doing so through her husband. Those hopes, of course, were misplaced, as the only person who would be influencing Albert, when he came to marry Victoria, would be Leopold himself.
He kept these thoughts to himself, but nodded and said, “I am here, of course, to promote the match, but it seems to me that we must proceed with caution. If, as you say, Sir John, Victoria will not be governed, then it is better to suggest and to entice than to command. That, I suspect, is how her Lord Melbourne is able to control her. I think it would be sensible for us to do the same.”
The Duchess put her hand on his arm. “Oh, I am glad you are here, Leopold. You are so wise always.”
Leopold noticed Conroy’s frown at the Duchess’s words. “If you will excuse me, ma’am, sir.” Conroy gave an abrupt bow and left the room.
When he had gone, Leopold considered his sister. Although he knew she was managed by Conroy, he wondered if she might come to see the advantages of breaking with him, if it meant Victoria marrying Albert. But women, even Coburg women, could not always be acted upon to act in their own self-interest.
“I wonder, my dear sister, if perhaps you should consider parting with Sir John. I am afraid that Victoria will never give you the respect you are due while he remains at your side.”
“What can you mean, Leopold?” The Duchess’s rather full lower lip began to tremble.
“I think that at some point you will have to choose between your … companion and your daughter. You cannot have both.”
Tears sprang into the Duchess’s eyes. “But Leopold, he is everything to me. I cannot live without him.”
Leopold sighed. “Then, my dear, perhaps you should think of returning to Coburg.”
The Duchess covered her face with her hands, and her shoulders began to heave. “She is so ungrateful. I am so lonely, a poor widow twice over. Sir John is my only comfort; without him I will have nothing. He is the only person who notices me.”
Leopold put an arm around her. “I understand how hard it is to be alone, mein Liebe, and I can see that Sir John is most attentive. You might have some happiness in Coburg with him at your side. If you wish to go, then I will do everything in my power to help you.”
The Duchess looked up at him, bewildered. “You think I should go back to Coburg, with Sir John?”
“It might be better than to remain here to be slighted by Victoria. Will you suggest this plan to Conroy?”
From the look on her face, Leopold knew that he had planted the first seed of doubt in his sister’s mind.
“I don’t know that Sir John would care to leave England. He has so many interests here.”
“But surely no interest could compete with ensuring your happiness, my dear sister. Not if he is as devoted to you as you say.”
The Duchess shook her head. “It is not something we have ever talked of. But why should I go into exile, after all? I have earned my place here in England as the Queen Mother.”
“Of course you have, my dear. But if Victoria continues to be obdurate, it is worth considering. Perhaps you should discuss it with Sir John.”
Leopold saw his sister bite her lip. “Perhaps,” she said, but she did not meet her brother’s eyes.
“My dear sister, we must talk of pleasanter things. I believe we are to go to the opera tomorrow, and I understand that there is to be a costume ball at Syon House.”
The Duchess was distracted, as he knew she would be, by this talk of parties.
“Indeed. The Duchess of Richmond’s costume balls are famous. I am to be Columbine and Sir John is to be Harlequin. What about you, Leopold?”
“I have decided to appear as the Emperor Augustus. I find a laurel wreath most becoming.”
* * *
Victoria was not the only person who was not overjoyed by the visit of the King of the Belgians. When Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, saw the notice of King Leopold’s visit in the Court Circular, he made a noise which made his wife look up in alarm, fearing some kind of apoplexy. The Duchess was a German princess a few years younger than her husband, who nevertheless had been widowed twice. There was talk that the speedy death of the first two husbands had not been unconnected to their choice of wife, but the rumours had not deterred the Duke from marrying her twenty years ago. They had one son, who to their mutual sorrow had begun to lose his sight at the age of ten, a
nd was now completely blind.
The Duchess could not help feeling that her son, even with his limitations, would make a far more suitable monarch than the present Queen. She had, of course, been her husband’s confidante in all his attempts to become regent, and had railed with him daily against the injustice of a system where a foolish girl could take the throne ahead of a man of experience. But as she kept reminding him, the Duke was still the Heir Presumptive to the throne. If anything should happen to Victoria—and young girls, even irritatingly robust ones like the Queen, could be unexpectedly vulnerable—Ernest would be King not just of Hanover but of Great Britain as well.
“But what is the matter, my dear?”
“That mountebank Leopold is staying at the palace. King of the Belgians, indeed. What’s Belgium, I should like to know … a made-up country that didn’t exist five minutes ago. I remember when he was a cavalry officer without a penny to his name, making eyes at Charlotte Wales.”
“He has done well for himself, then.”
The Duke snorted. “He married well, like all those Coburgs. Of course that’s why he’s here.”
Frederica looked puzzled.
“Leopold has come here to fix a match between Victoria and one of the Coburg boys. He’s determined to keep the English throne in the family.”
The Duchess looked at her husband, who was pacing up and down the drawing room, his scar pale against his florid cheeks. She sympathised with his frustration, although there were moments when she thought that she would be quite happy to go to Hanover and live out their days peacefully as King and Queen. Having spent the early part of her life trying to change her circumstances, she now saw the virtues of being satisfied with what was possible. It was true that Hanover could not compare to Britain in size or wealth, but in her heart Frederica felt that it was better to be king of somewhere than to be always living in expectation. She would never say this to her husband, though. She cast around for some other way to channel his anger.
Victoria Page 22