‘Following this attack, and with all parties being aware of the perils of childbirth …’ In the 1840s, the mortality rate was conservatively estimated to be five maternal deaths per thousand live births. Pat Jalland, Death in the Victorian Family, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 46. Victoria was familiar with several tragic cases. In 1816, Leopold, as Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, had married Charlotte, the Princess of Wales, the only legitimate grandchild of King George III and Queen Charlotte. After suffering several miscarriages she died at the age of twenty-two, following the difficult delivery of a stillborn son. There was a huge outpouring of public grief upon her death, monuments were erected in her memory, and one of her physicians committed suicide three months later. Linda Colley, Britons: Forging the Nation 1707–1837, London, BCA, 1992, pp. 220–1, 270–2 and Longford, Victoria R.I., pp. 150–1.
Baron Stockmar had been present at Charlotte’s death, and although this had occurred two years before Victoria’s own birth, she knew about Charlotte’s demise and the dangers of childbirth. In her journal, she recorded a discussion with Lord Melbourne in 1838 concerning Princess Charlotte, her life, her happiness with Leopold, and her tragic death. See Longford, Victoria R. I., p. 150, and Esher, Girlhood Journal, p. 278. It is now believed that Charlotte may have suffered a form of the disease porphyria, inherited from her grandfather, George III, which would have made her very susceptible to complications in childbirth. Ida McAlpine and Richard Hunter, George III and the Mad-Business, London, Pimlico (1969), 1995, pp. 241–6.
In 1839 Princess Marie of Württemberg, merely six years older than Victoria, had died of tuberculosis several months after the birth of a son. She was a sister of King Leopold’s second wife, Louise, and had married Prince Alexander, one of Leopold’s nephews. There is no direct mention of the cause of her death in Benson and Esher, but Leopold wrote to Victoria that Alexander’s position ‘puts me in mind of my own in 1817’. Benson and Esher, Letters of Queen Victoria, vol. I, 11 and 18 January 1839.
‘I am to be Regent …’ Hector Bolitho ed., The Prince Consort and His Brother: Two Hundred New Letters, London, Cobden-Sanderson, 1933, p. 21, Albert to Ernest, 17 July 1840.
‘Melbourne was delegated to raise the matter with Victoria …’ Quoted in Longford, Victoria R.I., p. 163. The Bill was passed on 13 July 1840.
‘The spirit of the age …’ Charlot, p. 189.
‘I wish you could see us …’ Bolitho, p. 31.
‘By May Victoria was again pregnant …’ For details see Roger Fulford, editor, Dearest Child: Letters between Queen Victoria and the Princess Royal, 1858–61, London, Evans Bros, 1964, p. 147, Victoria to her daughter Vicky, 27 November 1858; and Ward, ‘The Womanly Garb of Queen Victoria’s Early Motherhood’, pp. 285–6.
‘Following a debate in the House of Commons, Melbourne …’ Arnstein, pp. 44–5.
‘to prepare the ground …’ Longford, pp 168–70.
‘which suggests that Victoria was not happy …’ Charlot, pp. 199–204.
‘Albert was made chairman …’ Martin, Prince Consort, vol. I, pp. 118–9.
‘caricatures of English aristocrats …’ Charlot, pp. 203–4.
‘The response had been very different when Queen Adelaide …’ Dictionary of National Biography entry for Queen Adelaide (1855), reprinted in Frank Prochaska, Royal Lives: Portraits of Past Royals by Those in the Know, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 116–8.
‘(falsely) accused of political meddling …’ Arnstein, pp. 96–7.
CHAPTER 9
‘Benson described a set of letters from Princess Feodore …’ Some of her letters were published in Harold Albert, Queen Victoria’s Sister: The Life and Letters of Princess Feodore, London, Hale, 1967.
‘House of Saxe-Coburg as the stud farm of Europe …’ Aronson, The Coburgs of Belgium, p. xvi.
‘Particular aspects of pregnancy and childbirth …’ See Judith Schneid Lewis, In the Family Way: Childbearing in the British Aristocracy 1760–1860, New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 1986; and Pat Jalland, Women, Marriage and Politics, 1860–1914, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1988.
‘arriving in Edinburgh in the first week of September …’ see details in Alex Tyrrell, with Yvonne M. Ward, ‘“God Bless Her Little Majesty”: The Popularising of Monarchy in the 1840s’, National Identities, vol. 2, no. 2 (2000), pp. 109–25.
‘In their discussions of motherhood the two women hid …’ For an exploration of the hiding of emotions and anxieties in motherhood, see Susan Maushart, The Mask of Motherhood: How Mothering Changes Everything and Why We Pretend It Doesn’t, Sydney, Vintage Books, 1997.
‘I think much more of our being like a cow …’ Fulford, Dearest Child, p. 115. Other examples p. 94 and pp. 77–8. See also Elizabeth K. Helsinger, ‘Queen Victoria and the “Shadow Side” of Marriage,’ in Elizabeth K. Helsinger, Robin Lauterbach Sheets and William Veeder, eds, The Woman Question: Defining Voices, 1837–1883, vol. I, New York, Garland, 1983, pp. 63–77.
‘Maria and Victoria both adhered absolutely to the idea of patriarchy …’ But as Marina Warner pointed out, for Victoria, ‘however hard she schooled herself in adoration and abnegation, her natural spirit did not bend altogether, and some of the family pleasure – and pain – originated with her’. Marina Warner, Queen Victoria’s Sketchbook, London, Macmillan, 1979, p. 137.
CHAPTER 10
‘Before long it became clear …’ George Plumpetre, Edward VII, London, Pavilion books, 1995. Brodrick’s account given in his memoirs is quoted p. 143. See also Plumpetre’s critique of Esher and his behind-the-scenes activities, pp. 134ff, especially 139. Arthur Benson also heard Brodrick make these complaints: Benson Diary, Old Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge, vol. 49, 16 March 1904.
‘Queen Victoria’s letters revealed to Esher …’ As Reginald Brett, Esher had published Yoke of Empire: Sketches of the Queen’s Prime Ministers, London, Macmillan, 1896, which he dedicated not to the Queen but to ‘The Queen’s Youngest Prime Minister’, Rosebery.
‘Certainly the work done by her and the P. Consort …’ M. Brett, Journals and Letters, vol. II, p. 97.
‘This was history with a purpose: to show present-day ministers …’ At a time when the House of Commons was becoming very powerful, Esher sought to bolster the position of the monarch. See William M. Kuhn, Democratic Royalism, pp. 72–8.
‘Palmerston had become a major figure in international …’ Much of the following detail is drawn from Brian Connell, Regina vs Palmerston: The Private Correspondence between Queen Victoria and Her Foreign Minister, 1837–1865, New York, Doubleday, 1961, and Arnstein, Queen Victoria, pp. 87–96.
‘He secured the independence of the Belgian throne …’ See the correspondence between King Leopold and Palmerston from 1831–65 in the Archives of the Royal Palace, Brussels and Palmerston Papers, Hartley Library Archives and Manuscripts, Southampton University.
‘Palmerston never forgave him …’ Longford, Victoria R.I., p. 223. Longford gives a lively account of ‘The Devil’s Son’ through Victoria and Albert’s eyes, pp. 214ff.
‘Pilgerstein …’ Longford, p. 224.
CHAPTER 11
‘If Esher were to incur the King’s disapproval …’ See Lees-Milne, pp. 79–81, 150–2, and 154ff, for descriptions and analyses of the relationships between Esher, Knollys and the King.
‘The first was Arthur Bigge …’ Paul Emden, The Power Behind the Throne, pp. 199–210. In the Birthday Honours of 1910 he was awarded a KCB and the title Lord Stamfordham by King George V. In 1906 he signed his letters ‘Bigge’ and was referred to as such by Knollys and Esher.
‘The second was John Morley …’ Magnus Magnusson, ed., Chambers Biographical Dictionary, Chambers, Edinburgh, 1990, p. 1042. See also D.A. Hamer, John Morley: Liberal Intellectual in Politics, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1968. Esher had asked Morley, as a friend, to take on his eldest son, Oliver, as an assistant secretary in December 1905, and Morley had obliged. Lees-Milne, pp. 153–4.<
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‘In 1848 Louis Philippe was forced to abdicate …’ For details of the experiences of his wives, daughters and grandchildren and Victoria’s assistance to them see Yvonne M. Ward, ‘1848: Queen Victoria and the Cabinet d’horreurs’, in Kay Boardman and Christine Kinealy, eds, 1848: The Year the World Turned?, Newcastle, Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007, pp. 173–188.
‘Victoria’s scorn for the 1848 revolutionaries …’ For political context see Simon Heffer, Power and Place: The Political Consequences of King Edward VII, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998, p. 132ff.
‘Victoria in effect was a mere accessory …’ Lytton Strachey, Queen Victoria, London, Chatto & Windus (1921) 1937, p. 125.
INDEX
Aberdeen, Lord, 83, 136, 139
Adelaide, Princess of Saxe-Meiningen, 3, 95, 123, 126, 164
agricultural labourers, 142
Ainger, A.C., 13, 63–64
Albert of Saxe-Coburg, Prince Regent, 32
authorship of documents, 120, 139
bedroom at Windsor Castle, 60
Bill for Regency, 118–119
biography of, 11, 152
birth, 111–112
cataloguing system, 11
Ladies of Bedchamber crisis, 121
Leopold I, influence of, 112
mentors, 112
naturalisation as British subject, 118–119
papers of, 66–67
Peel and, 122
political ambitions of, 83, 117–120, 122–123, 138–139
portrait by Landseer, 73
role as consort, 115–116
title of Prince Consort, 113
Victoria, courtship, 45, 150–151
Victoria, marriage to, 4, 112–113
Victoria, presents from, 74
Wellington College, 37
Alexandra, Queen, 12, 162
Alexandrine, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg, 125, 126
Alice, Princess, 129, 166
Anson, George, 116, 117, 119, 121, 138–139
Army Review Committee, 146
Arnold, Dr, 37
Arnstein, Walter, 77
Aronson, Theo, 25
Augustus, 107
Austerlitz, Battle of, 141
Australia, 65
Austria, 141
Austro–Italian war, 137
Beatrice, Princess, 10–11, 12, 15
Belgium, 109, 165, 166–167
Benson, Arthur Christopher
birth, 38
Book of the Queen’s Dolls, The, 55–56
capacity to keep things hidden, 41–42
champions homosexuality, 47–51
Cory’s letters, 49
Cory’s poems, 50–51
diaries, 33, 41
Eton, work at, 15, 16, 17, 38, 48
father, biography of, 42, 43–45
father, relations with, 37–39
homosexuality, 51
hypochondria, 62
literary output, 38, 41, 47
mood swings, 63–64
mother, reads diaries of, 46
mother, relations with, 39–40
nervous breakdown, 172
Queen Victoria, relations with, 52–53
Benson, Arthur Christopher: editor
accepts editorship of Victoria’s letters, 16–17, 56
agricultural metaphors, 77
aims, 81, 83–84, 91–92
Albert, protocol for authorship of documents, 120
Buckingham Palace, visits to view portraits, 72–73
contract with Murray, 19
daily routine, 64
dream, 54–55
Edward VII, attitude towards, 53–54, 55
Edward VII, awaits approval for Volume I from, 146
Edward VII, writes to, asking for fourth volume, 82
Esher, agreement with, over profits, 20
Esher, approached by, to publish Victoria’s letters, 13–16
Esher, relations with, 59, 60–61
Esher’s attitude towards, 17, 24, 59, 60–61, 73
excisions, protests to Esher over, 75–77, 158–161, 163
excisions: Murray and, 154
exclusions: anxiety over, 78–79
exclusions: correspondence with Leopold I, 105, 109–110
exclusions: Ferdinand’s letters, 107–108
exclusions: foreign influence on Victoria, 104, 110
exclusions: Lady Flora Hastings affair, 99–100, 101
exclusions: references to pregnancy in general, 128
exclusions: Regency Act, 118
exclusions: Victoria’s pregnancies, 123
exclusions: women’s letters, 125–126
extent of Victoria’s correspondence, 63, 66
inclusions: Albert’s influence, 112– 113, 117, 123, 139
inclusions: colourless text to replace excisions, 155–156
inclusions: correspondence with Leopold I, 108–109, 116
inclusions: influence of men, 133
inclusions: Palmerston’s influence, 138
Ladies of Bedchamber crisis, 121–122
leaks news of publication, 18
limitations as, 1–2, 52, 55, 115
Melbourne, admiration for, 100– 101
number of volumes, 79–82, 84, 86
Palmerston, dismissal dilemma, 142–143
private letters, 57–59
publication of Letters of Queen Victoria, 171
recruits assistant, 64–65
recruits staff, 61
Round Tower at Windsor Castle, visits, 60, 62
work begins, 62
working conditions, 65
working methods, 67–68
Benson, Edward White, 37, 38–39, 42–45, 52
Benson, Fred, 40–41, 42, 46, 47
Benson, Hugh, 41
Benson, Maggie, 41
Benson, Martin, 39
Benson, Mary see Sidgwick, Mary
Bigge, Arthur, 68, 148–153
biographies of nineteenth century, 77–78, 87
Bismarck, 127
Bolitho, Hector, 111, 112, 118
Broadmoor, 39
Brett, Dorothy, 26, 31
Brett, Sylvia, 26, 31
Brodrick, St John, 135–136
Brooke, Charles Vyner, 31
Brown, John, 10
Buckingham Palace, 8, 72–73
Burne-Jones, Edward, 38
Burne-Jones, Sir Philip, 37–38
Cambridge, 22
Cambridge, Augusta, 108
Card, Tim, 51
Carrington, Lord, 142
Cassel’s, 32
Charles, 3rd Prince of Leiningen, 169
Charlot, Monica, 118, 119, 122
Charlotte, Princess of Wales, 111–112, 153, 167–168
Childers, H.C., 65
Childers, Hugh, 64–65, 69, 70, 71, 76, 172
Churchill, Lord, 14
Clark, Sir James, 95
classical Greek education, 22, 51, 173
Clementine of France, Princess, 108
Cleveland Street brothel scandal, 24–25, 34
Coburg, Dowager Duchess of, 112
Coburg, House of see Saxe-Coburg, House of
College of Arms, 71
Connolly, Cyril, 22
Conroy, Sir John, 3, 93–95, 97, 99–100, 117, 151
Conroy, M.H., 99
Cory, William see Johnson, William
Cowper, Lady Emily, 137, 138
Creevey, Thomas, 69
Creston, Dormer, 99
Cumberland, Duke of, 99
Curzon, George, 22
Cust, Lionel, 72–73, 74
Dare, Zena, 31
Davidson, Randall, Dean of Windsor, 10, 13, 16
Derby, Lord, 136
Devonshire, Duke of (Lord Hartington), 23, 28
Dictionary of National Biography, 83
Dilke, Charles, 24
Disraeli, Benjamin, 10, 32
Dona Maria da Gloria II, Queen of Portugal, 105–106, 113, 125, 126– 128, 129–133, 138
/>
Duff, David, 111
Duke of Clarence, 25
Eddy, Prince, 68
Edward, Duke of Kent, 2, 93
Edward VII, 1, 7
anxiety over Victoria’s biography, 76, 128
approval for Volume I, 145, 148, 157–158
approves Benson as editor of Victoria’s letters, 14
approves three volumes, 84
Charles, 3rd Prince of Leiningen, and, 169
Esher, meets, 24
Esher, visits rooms in Windsor Castle, 29
Esher approaches to publish Victoria’s letters, 11–12
fondness for French, 162–163
Franz Josef and, 160
Gladstone and, 33
lack of interest in reading, 97–98, 146
Morley and, 158
Palmerston and, 143
pedantry, 160
relations with ministers, 135–136, 143
support for reform, 142–143
visits Germany and Austria, 146
visits Ireland, 162
Egalité, Philip, 169
Elgar, Sir Edward, 13
Enigmatic Edwardian, The (Lees-Milne), 34
Ernest (Albert’s older brother), 108, 111, 112, 114, 117
Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, 111–112
Ernest II, Duke of Coburg, 169
Esher, Lionel, 21–22, 32, 34
Esher, Lord (1818–1898), 21, 23, 30
Esher, Maurice, 8, 26
in Coldstream Guards, 65
Edward VII corrects, 160
Esher appoints as literary executor, 34
Esher’s pet name for, 29
marries Zena Dare, 31
Esher, Oliver, 26, 31–32, 34
Esher, Reginald Brett, Viscount
Ainger and, 63
attitude towards marriage, 25–26, 28
Beatrice and, 12
children, 26, 32–33
Cleveland Street brothel scandal, 25, 34
criticism of, 33
Edward VII, influence on, 135–136
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