"My Beloved Leopold"...More of Queen Victoria's Granddaughters


The cloud of sorrow descending over Windsor and Osborne following Princess Alice’s death was alleviated slightly by the cheerful preparations for the wedding of Queen Victoria’s favourite son. Healthy, handsome and untainted by scandal, twenty-nine-year-old Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, was since childhood his mother’s ideal of a prince. ‘[He is] really the best child I ever saw,’ she told Vicky when he was eight years old, and the passing of time only added to the charms of this ‘angel of goodness,’ on whose many virtues his mother loved to dwell.
The godson of the Duke of Wellington, after whom he was named, Arthur had always taken a keen interest the army and it was only to be expected that he would pass through the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich with distinction. Following his commission in the Royal Engineers, he had had taken an active part in several military expeditions and earned his promotions through personal displays of courage. His lack of affectation and insistence upon being treated like any other officer, had won the respect and affection of the troops and, in all his subsequent appointments, he made a favourable impression on the peoples of India, Canada and Ireland. Noble in every sense, he so resembled his father that he could not have pleased of Queen Victoria more:
“Arthur is dearer than any of the others put together,” she had once told Prince Albert, “and after you, he is the dearest most precious object to me on earth.”
In fact, Arthur seemed so perfect and so utterly chaste that she saw no reason for him to marry at all and was taken aback when he returned from a wedding in Potsdam in February 1878, to announce that he had chosen a bride.
With her preference for German spouses, the Queen might have been overjoyed that her favourite son had proposed to Louise (‘Louischen’) of Prussia, but for a cloud that shaded the princess’s background. Her father, a cruel and vindictive man, inflicted so many inhuman tortures on his children that his wife had deserted him, bringing disgrace upon the family. To nineteen-year-old Louischen, the dashing English soldier must have appeared like a knight in shining armour rescuing her from a terrible past and, though she was not the most beautiful of princesses, her devotion captured Arthur’s heart.
In spite of her initial shock, Queen Victoria could deny her favourite son nothing, and though she suggested he would do well to consider other more beautiful brides before rushing into marriage, she raised no objections to the match. After all, she could hardly complain of Louischen’s unfortunate background since it was not so different from that of her own beloved husband. When Prince Albert was still a child, his mother had likewise deserted an unfaithful husband for another man and for her sins she was never permitted to see her children again. The trauma had left Albert with a great horror of infidelity and doubtless Queen Victoria hoped that Louischen’s experiences would turn her into an equally faithful spouse.
Louischen was duly invited to Windsor where she made a pleasing impression upon everyone, despite shocking the Queen by riding unchaperoned with Arthur to Frogmore.
Even the recent death of Princess Alice was not permitted to impinge on the wedding celebrations, which took place on 13th March 1879 in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. The occasion was commemorated in a poem by Tennyson, dedicated and addressed to Princess Alice:
“…and this March morn that sees
Thy soldier brother’s bridal orange-bloom
Break thro’ the yews and Cyprus of thy grave,
And thine Imperial mother smile again,
May send one ray to thee!”
After the wedding, the Connaughts moved into Buckingham Palace before settling at Bagshot Park in Surrey where, on 15th January 1882 their first daughter Margaret (Daisy), was born. A year later the Duchess gave birth to a son, Arthur, at Windsor Castle; and her youngest child, Victoria Patricia, (Patsy) was born on 17th March, 1886, at Buckingham Palace where her godparents included Aunt Lenchen and Cousin Willy of Prussia.
Queen Victoria was fond of Louischen, and visitors found her affable and charming with a pleasant sense of humour:
“[The Duke] is such a gentleman,” wrote one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, “so courteous and kind, and they are both very simple in their ways and rather enjoy hardships.”
And yet, within her own home, the Duchess adopted an almost militaristic discipline that often left her daughters trembling in terror. It came as a relief to the girls when their parents travelled abroad leaving them in the care of their doting and indulgent grandmother. Freed from the Duchess’s restraint, Daisy showed all the boisterousness of her Hessian cousins and her antics so delighted the Queen that she made allowance for her cheeky vivacity because she was ‘a gt. Darling - & such a pretty little thing with such fine large eyes & such a pretty mouth & is so good.” So fond was the Queen of Daisy that when Arthur, as Commander-in-Chief of his regiment was posted to India in the autumn of 1886, she declared that the climate was unsuitable for a child of her age, and she should be left in England.
Patsy (‘such a beauty and so good’) was still a babe-in-arms at the time of her father’s posting, and deemed too young to be left behind. Instead she travelled to Bombay with her parents, remaining under the strict and unyielding discipline of her mother. Though as pretty as her sister, and a gifted linguist and water colour artist, Patsy quailed under her mother’s authoritarian regime, which gradually destroyed all her confidence. Quaking in her hand-me-down dresses and too tight shoes, Patsy would have preferred to sink into the background with the whispering Waleses than effervesce with the Edinburghs. It was a handicap that would remain with her throughout her childhood and adolescence.
In 1888 Daisy joined her family in India and following their return to England they resettled into Bagshot Park from where they made frequent visits to Windsor and Osborne. But their travelling days were far from over. In 1899, Arthur was posted to Dublin as Commander-in-Chief of the troops in Ireland. His family were provided with an official residence in the city and a house in Phoenix Park, loaned to them by a member of the Guinness family:
“It was a lovely house,” the Queen’s Equerry recalled, “with oak and tapestry and the Duchess of Connaught and Princess Patsy preferred it to the official house.”
Regular visits to Windsor, Osborne and Balmoral continued and the Queen found constant delight in Arthur’s ‘darling’ and ‘lovely’ daughters.


By the time of Arthur’s wedding, Queen Victoria’s fourth son, Leopold, longed more than ever to find a wife and a life of his own. Princess Alice’s recent death had come as a great blow to her brother, who had spent many happy holidays in Darmstadt, becoming a particular favourite of his Hessian nieces. Haemophiliac himself, he had understood better than anyone, Alice’s concerns for her son, Frittie, and, after the little boy’s death, had gloomily assured his sister that death was often preferable to a life that would bring nothing but suffering.
Leopold’s own childhood had been blighted as much by his mother’s near-neglect as by the agonizing effects of his illness. Although he was certainly the cleverest of her sons, Queen Victoria thought him the ‘ugliest and least pleasing child of the whole family…’ and since ‘an ugly baby is a very nasty object,’ there were times when she could hardly bare to look at him. When he was only five years old she complained to Vicky that he was ‘a very common looking child, very plain in face, clever but an oddity – and not an engaging child though amusing.’ As episodes of bleeding left him crippled, she found his bearing still more unattractive, again writing frankly to Vicky that:
“He walks shockingly and is dreadfully awkward - holds himself as badly as ever and his manners are despairing as well as his speech - which is quite dreadful.”
That Leopold was a badly-behaved little boy was largely the Queen’s own doing. While his family travelled around the country, he was often left in the care of governors and doctors, whose over-protective supervision made him rebellious and difficult. His father, who might have understood his frustration, died when he was only eight years old, and the Queen became too absorbed in her own grief to expend much energy on the ugly ducking in her nest.
In spite of his physical difficulties, however, Leopold intelligence was quickly becoming apparent. By the time he was fifteen, even his mother was aware of his ability, writing to Vicky that he:
“Is very clever, taking interest in and understanding everything. He learns, besides French and German, Latin, Greek and Italian; is very fond of music and drawing, takes much interest in politics – in short everything.”
Fortunately for Leo, the Queen was not the only one to recognize his considerable intellect and his tutors eventually succeeded in persuading her to allow him to attend university. The reports of his excellent progress came as pleasant surprise to the Queen and she finally began to realise that her son was a very gifted young man. So impressed was she by his achievements that, once his studies were complete, she took him into her confidence, allowing him access to government papers and relying on his advice in much the same way as she had once relied on the Prince Consort. While his elder brother, the Prince of Wales, remained firmly excluded from affairs of state, Leopold was even granted a much-coveted key to the Queen’s cabinet boxes.
Yet, while she appreciated his intelligence and trusted him implicitly, Queen Victoria, fearful for his health and determined to keep him by her side, continued to treat him as a child. In 1877, at the age of twenty-four, he begged her to allow him to represent her at an exhibition in Australia but she could not ‘bring herself to send her very delicate son…so great a distance.’ Later, he would ask to be appointed Governor of Victoria, Australia, but again his request was refused. Stifled and frustrated, Leopold dedicated much of time to worthy causes - in particular institutes for deaf children - and escaped from his duties at Court at every possible opportunity. In spite of his mother’s early misgivings he had grown into a handsome young man and his health did not prevent him from enjoying the pleasures of Paris and Monte Carlo, or the company of the ‘fast set’ at Marlborough House. He became a close friend of his sister-in-law, Marie, Duchess of Edinburgh and a firm favourite with all his nieces. But the devotion of his extended family could not alleviate Leopold’s dissatisfaction and his intense longing for independence with a wife and children of his own.
It took Queen Victoria some time to accept that her frail son was not content to devote his entire life to her service and, considering the fragility of his health, she despaired more of his ever finding a bride than she had of Lenchen ever finding a groom. Nevertheless, moved by his evident unhappiness, she agreed to help where she could. To add weight to his position, she created him Duke of Albany, granted him the moderate freedom of his own home, Claremont House at Esher near London, and encouraged him to seek out a bride among the numerous German princesses. Shortly before Arthur’s wedding, she packed him off to Darmstadt with his Hessian nieces, from where he could visit an old friend, Frederica, daughter of the blind King of Hanover. The visit was unsuccessful. Fond as she was of the prince, Frederica had to admit that she had fallen in love with someone else, and Leo, accepting her refusal with good grace, returned home disappointed.
The following winter Queen Victoria invited Daisy, the seventeen-year-old stepdaughter of Lord Rosslyn, to Windsor with a view to ‘looking her over’ as a prospective daughter-in-law. She was sufficiently impressed to recommend the girl to her son but again, the plans again came to nothing since neither Leopold nor Daisy was attracted to the other. Within months, Daisy had announced her engagement to Lord Brooke, the future Earl of Warwick. For Leopold, perhaps it was a lucky escape - the flighty ‘babbling Brooke’ became renowned for taking numerous lovers, among them Leopold’s brother, the Prince of Wales.
In the autumn of 1880, Queen Victoria had a brainwave; twenty-year-old Princess Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont lived in Arolsen not far from Darmstadt. She was intelligent, well-educated and well-travelled and would certainly be worth a visit. Leopold made the journey and was sufficiently impressed to inform his mother that here was a woman he would be more than happy to marry. He thought her pretty and she came with the highest recommendation from his Hessian nieces. To the Queen’s surprise the princess was equally enamoured of him, and her genuine delight in their happiness was made all the greater by her admiration for the spirited Helen. Unlike most newcomers to the court, Helen was not in the least overawed in the presence of the Queen and, although her appearance was unremarkable, her charm and grace immediately endeared her to the household:
“Though the idea of his marrying makes me anxious, still,” Queen Victoria wrote, “as he has found a girl so charming, ready to accept and love him, in spite of his ailments, I hope he may be happy and carefully watched over.”
The wedding took place at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor on 27th April 1882, a fortnight after Leopold’s twenty-ninth birthday. Though the prince had hurt his leg and was forced to lean on a stick throughout the service, it was a happy occasion made all the brighter by obvious elation of the young couple.
The Albanys moved into Claremont House where Helen proved a devoted wife, nursing her husband through his numerous episodes of bleeding and paralysis.
“I pity her,” Queen Victoria wrote to Vicky, “but she seems only to think of [Leopold] with love and affection.”
If his mother was pleasantly surprised that Leo had at last found the happiness he craved, she was still more astonished to hear that only a month after the wedding, Helen was pregnant. Queen Victoria had not believed her frail son capable of fathering a child but a perfectly healthy daughter was born at Windsor on 25th February 1883, and named Alice after her late aunt. Uncle Louis of Hesse and Aunt Vicky were among her godparents, as was Queen Victoria herself who, for once, was able to enthuse about the ‘beautiful child, so plump and so big with such neat little features and such a complete head of hair.’
The Queen was still more enchanted by Alice’s eyes which were soon, ‘becoming quite brown which is what I so much wished – as since the Stuarts we have had no brown eyes in the family.’
Delighted by his little daughter, Leopold continued his duties and charitable works, but there was no relief to his medical condition. A year after Alice’s birth, he was troubled by particularly painful swelling in his joints and his doctors recommended a trip to the warmer climes of the south of France. By then Helen was again in the early stages of pregnancy and not well enough to accompany him to Cannes. Although his life had often hung in the balance, as she watched him depart she had no idea that she would never see him again.
One afternoon, he slipped on the tiled floor of his hotel and banged his knee. A painful swelling ensued and the subsequent haemorrhage was so severe that he did not recover. After less than two happy years with Helen, he died in Cannes on 28th March 1884.
“My beloved Leopold!” Queen Victoria wrote, “That bright clever son who had so many times recovered from such fearfull (sic) illnesses, and from various small accidents has been taken from us! To lose another dear child, far from me, and one who was so gifted and such a help to me, is too dreadful.”
Later, in a more tranquil moment, the Queen reflected that death had almost come as a blessing. So often, in his hours of agony, Leopold had cried out that death would be preferable to his suffering and his mother noted that ‘there was such a restless longing for what he could not have; this seemed to increase rather than lessen.’
Although Leopold’s haemophilia had prevented him from entering the armed forces, he was given a full military funeral. His coffin, having been returned to England on the royal yacht Osborne, was carried by eight Seaforth Highlanders and laid in the vault in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.
As ever in a crisis Queen Victoria’s heart went out to the twenty-two-year-old widow and she insisted on being present at Claremont House when, six months later, the Duchess gave birth to a son, Charles. It was ‘heartbreaking’ to see little Alice, ‘a very intelligent and such a healthy child’ deprived of her father, and, as with her Hessian granddaughters, she promised to do all she could to help in her upbringing. To Alice her grandmother was nothing like the prudish old lady of popular myth; she found her so kind, approachable and interesting. Her affection was returned in full, and the Queen’s admiration for Helen was boundless; she was:
“So good and such an example to all, I do love respect and admire her, poor darling – always a kind sweet smile on her poor, sad face and cheerful and always thinking of others and not herself.”
In fact so great was the Queen’s affection for the Albanys that at times it aroused a little jealousy among other members of the family. On one occasion the Queen felt obliged to ask Vicky to persuade the Duchess of Connaught to be a little kinder to her.
Like so many of her sisters-in-laws the Duchess of Albany - ‘such a dear and so un-stiff’ - devoted much of her time to charitable works. She took an interest in nursing and, along with Princess Beatrice, the Duchess of Connaught and the Princess of Wales, she obtained a first aid qualification from the recently formed St. John’s Ambulance. The Duchess, too, paid special attention to the fate of ‘fallen women’ and established an Institute in the Deptford market for the improvement of the slaughterhouse girls, providing them with regular meetings for Bible reading, singing, sewing and the occasional treat.
The loss of her father at such an early age had none of the dramatic effects on little Alice that the loss of her mother had on Cousin Alix of Hesse. Inheriting the strong spirit of both parents, and the appearance of her father, she was a confident, vivacious child. While the Queen thought her ‘pretty,’ ‘merry’ and ‘good,’ visitors were not always so impressed by her precocity. Following a meeting with the six-year-old Alice, the author Lewis Carroll wrote to a friend:
“The little Princess I thought very sweet but liable, under excitement, to betray what is called ‘self-will’ (it’s really weakness of will) and that selfishness which is the besetting sin of childhood. Under weak management, that child wd, I should fear, grow up a terror to all around her.”
Fortunately, Alice was brought up under the strong management of her mother and grandmother and Carroll’s fears were not realised. The death of Prince Leopold had drastically reduced the Duchess’ income and as a result Alice, like her Hessian and Christian cousins, was brought up in relative simplicity and not allowed to become inflated by her royal status. What was more, though the Duchess was devoted to her children, she raised them strictly and the effect became apparent. Two years after their first meeting, Lewis Carroll’s opinion of ‘little Alice’ changed considerably. She was, he thought:
“ improved…not being so unruly as she was two years ago: they [Alice and her brother Charles] are charming children. I taught them to fold paper pistols, and to blot their names in creased paper…”
While Alice and her brother were young, their mother spent many hours in their nursery, reading to and playing with them. As they grew older she encouraged them to study a wider range of subjects alongside the usual accomplishments of riding, music and dancing, and even arranged for Alice to travel into London to attend extra classes.
Like her cousins, Alice was fortunate in having so many relations across the Continent with whom she could spend happy holidays. Among the chief pleasures of her childhood were the visits to her mother’s native Arolsen where many happy family reunions were enacted with cousins squabbling over toys and running boisterously through the woods. Usually among the guests was her mother’s widowed sister, Emma, Queen Regent of the Netherlands with her little daughter Queen Wilhelmina. When Alice was thirteen her young cousin joined her at Balmoral where Queen Victoria’s lady-in-waiting was much amused by Alice’s description of Wilhelmina’s plans to have a year of freedom before taking up her responsibilities as Queen:
“What would she do? Give balls and parties?’
‘No,’ replied Princess Alice, ‘She only likes dancing by herself, twirling round on one leg or in a ‘valse’ but when she is really Queen she means to visit her own Indies and she is learning the language one lesson at a time.’
I replied, ‘The Duchess won’t let her out of the country.’
‘Oh, she has thought of that. She will leave her mother as Regent. Grandmama goes abroad, why should she not?’
It was amusing to see how these children confidently look up to the Queen as an example to all sovereigns and meant to model their conduct on hers.”
Apart from visits to Arolsen, the Albanys often holidayed in France with the Queen, who was present with them in Cannes in 1898 for Alice’s confirmation in a chapel built as a memorial to her father.

finally!

Hi, i have wanted my own blog for so long therefore im totally excited to finally have one! yey!
I happen to be very fashion crazed and a lover of all things stylish.
So what will I be blogging about?? well today is a Sunday, i have been thinking about this question all day. In fact can you guess what i was doing in church? Brainstorming.. (points for anyone who guessed right.
Anyway Il be giving all you precious readers a peak into my secrets (some not so secret) on staying on point all year round.
Simply put il make sure you here the phrase "hey good looking" everywhere you go.

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"Grandmama will try to be a Mother to you" - More of Queen Victoria's Granddaughters


Throughout the mid-1870s it was clear to Princess Alice that the effort she had put into her children’s upbringing had proved worthwhile. High-spirited and boisterous as they were, she confidently informed her mother, that they were also considerate, well-behaved and ‘very unspoilt in their tastes, and simple and quiet children, which I think is of the greatest importance.’ While the younger girls, Irène, Alix and May remained in the nursery in the charge of a kindly English nanny, Mary Anne Orchard (‘Orchie’), their elder sisters, Victoria and Ella were making rapid progress in the schoolroom. Victoria’s enthusiasm for learning was undiminished and her mother was soon observing that she was ‘immensely grown and her figure is forming. She is changing so much - beginning to leave the child and grow into the girl.’
For Victoria, on the brink of adolescence, life in Darmstadt was also on the brink of change. In March 1877 the death of Louis’ father cast a cloud over the New Palace and brought him one step nearer to inheriting responsibility for the Grand Duchy. A month later, the gloom was broken by a visit from ‘Aunt’ Vicky and the Hohenzollern cousins - an event which the Hessian princesses had anticipated with excitement. It was some time since they had met and they ‘wished they knew [their cousins] better’ but it not did not take long to realize that Charlotte and Willy were no more companionable now that they had been in seven and a half years earlier in Cannes.
With a sudden air of sophistication, Charlotte strolled flirtatiously through the New Palace, puffing away at her cigarettes; her show of worldly-wisdom and boasts of her imminent marriage making her appear far older than her sixteen years. Willy, a student at the University of Bonn, was as arrogant and insufferable as ever and, as they played tennis or boated on the lake, twelve-year-old Ella was more unnerved than flattered by his sudden, excessive attention and promises that he would visit more often.
Barely had the Prussians left, when Alice and Louis were urgently summoned to Seeheim where Louis’ uncle, Grand Duke Louis III was dangerously ill. With great trepidation they set out from Darmstadt, fearing the worst:
“I am so dreading everything,” Alice wrote to the Queen, “and above all the responsibility of being the first in everything and people are not being ‘bienveillant.’”
By the time they reached Seeheim the eccentric old man was dead leaving Louis and Alice as the new Grand Duke and Duchess of Hesse-and-by-Rhine. Along with the title and responsibilities came several castles and hunting lodges and for the first time since their marriage they had money to spare. Typically Alice threw herself with greater devotion than ever into her new responsibilities, establishing the ‘Alice Nurses’ and a home for unmarried mothers, and struggling to ease her boyish husband into his new role. The work load was immense and years of childbearing, depression and commitment to her numerous causes frequently left the thirty-four-year-old princess exhausted.
“I have been doing too much lately,” she confessed to her mother that autumn, “and my nerves are beginning to feel the strain, for sleep and appetite are no longer good. Too much is demanded of one; and I have to do with so many things. It is more than my strength can stand in the long run.”
By New Year, 1878, Alice was too exhausted even to travel to Berlin for Charlotte’s wedding•. It was clear that she desperately needed a holiday and so that summer, Louis decided to use his new-found wealth to take the whole family on a Grand Tour of Europe. They paid another visit to Vicky before enjoying a restful cruise through the Baltic with the Duke and Duchess of Baden. When they arrived in England in July, Queen Victoria was delighted by Alice’s ‘truly beautiful children’ but was deeply disturbed by how pale and drawn their mother appeared. She hoped that the fresh sea air at Eastbourne and the Isle of Wight might help restore her vigour but even a month later had to concede that ‘she still looks very weak and delicate & is up to nothing.’
In autumn, when the Hessians had returned home, Alice enjoyed a series of visits from her brothers and sisters, and life appeared to be sinking into its usual routine when suddenly the unthinkable happened. One evening in early November, as Victoria was reading to her sisters she felt a swelling in her throat. What was initially believed to be a cold or mumps was soon diagnosed as diphtheria. One of the great killers of the age, the disease spread rapidly through the family affecting each of the children in turn. Only Ella was spared and, for her own protection, she was sent to stay with her paternal grandmother in nearby Bessungen. Throughout Hesse prayers were said for the children’s recovery and a series of telegrams flew to England, keeping Queen Victoria informed of their progress and Alice’s increasing anxiety. Night and day she nursed her children, adhering to the doctors’ instructions that to prevent further contagion she must neither touch nor kiss them. In spite of all the precautions the youngest of her daughters, four-year-old May, died in mid-November.
“The pain is beyond words,” Alice telegrammed her mother, “but God’s will be done!”
By now Louis too had contracted diphtheria and a heart-broken Alice had to attend her daughter’s funeral alone. Such was her grief that, having prayed by the tiny coffin, she could not bear to see it carried from the house and watched only through a mirror. The strain was enormous and the reports reaching Queen Victoria caused further alarm:
“Darling Alice’s courage and resignation…are quite wonderful,” she wrote to Vicky at the end of November, “but she looks too dreadfully ill and they all tremble for what will follow! She is so weak.”
Victoria and her father recovered but her younger siblings remained dangerously ill and when Ernie asked daily for reports of May’s progress, his mother could not bring herself to tell him that his little sister had died. Only when he began to improve did she break the sad news. Ernie was so distraught that Princess Alice could restrain herself no longer and, disregarding all precautions, took him in her arms to kiss him. Within days she too, had succumbed to the disease.
As soon as the news of Alice’s illness reached England, Queen Victoria dispatched her own doctor, William Jenner, to Darmstadt but, worn out by weeks of worry and sorrow, the princess had no strength left to fight.
“At times,” wrote her sister, Lenchen, “she spoke in a most touching manner about her household, also enquiring kindly after poor and sick people in the town. Then followed hours of great prostration.”
Whispering her final instructions for her children’s upbringing, she lapsed into semi-consciousness and died at the age of thirty-five on Saturday 14th December 1878 - the seventeenth anniversary of Prince Albert’s death. Her final words were a whispered, ‘Dear Papa!’
As the rest of the family gradually recovered, Ella returned to Darmstadt to find the household in mourning:
“It was a terribly sad meeting, no one daring to speak of what was uppermost in their thoughts. Poor Papa looked dreadfully miserable - Ernie very pale but otherwise calm, he does not realize it yet, as none of us can do yet. It seems like a horrible dream. Would that it were.”
From an upstairs window, the girls, clothed in black mourning, watched their mother’s coffin draped in the British flag, carried through the streets of Darmstadt, followed by their father, Uncle Leo, Uncle Christian, Uncle Bertie and crowds of weeping Hessians. Messages of condolence poured in from all over the world - from Prussia to Russia, and from Canada to England, where a devastated Queen wrote of her terrible grief at the loss of her ‘dear, talented, distinguished, tender-hearted, noble-minded, sweet child.’ All past disagreements forgotten, in a letter to Vicky she gave Alice the greatest accolade of all - a comparison with her angelic father:
“She had darling Papa’s nature, and much of his self-sacrificing character and fearless and entire devotion to duty!” ’
The only sour note came from Berlin where the heartless Queen Augusta callously gloated that Alice’s death had been a blessing since, had she lived, she would have turned her children into atheists .

Noticeable for her absence among the mourners in Darmstadt was Alice’s closest sister and confidant. To Vicky’s great sorrow, her father-in-law, the Kaiser, fearing she might bring the contagion back to Berlin, forbade her to go to Hesse for the funeral. In the event, his precautions proved futile. Within months, the epidemic spread through Prussia, claiming Vicky’s son, eleven-year-old Waldemar, among its victims.
Waldemar’s illness, coming so soon after the death of Alice and May, was a great blow to his sisters. The brightest and most loveable of the Hohenzollern brothers, his cheerful good nature had been an endless source of amusement for all the family. Now, only too aware of the fate of their aunt and cousin in Darmstadt, the girls could only wait and pray.
The Crown Princess, nursing her son herself, adopted all the precautions that Alice had taken. She wore protective clothing, bathed him in carbolic and sprayed herself before leaving the room. For a while he seemed to be improving: ‘The doctors feel quite cheerful about him,’ she told her mother on the 26th March, ‘but of course all cause for anxiety is not over yet!’
The note of caution was well founded. At three-thirty the following morning, Waldemar died. ‘The grief of my parents for the loss of this splendid son was unspeakable;’ wrote Willy, ‘our pain deep and cruel beyond words.’
Even so, the Prussian journalists used the tragedy to further denigrate the Crown Princess. Accusing her of neglecting her children, one newspaper went so far as to state that God had sent her this punishment for her cold-heartedness. At least, as her second son, Henry, now a sailor in the Prussian Navy, hurried home from Hawaii, she could find some consolation in the knowledge that her often-divided family was for once united in grief.

From the moment that Queen Victoria was told of Alice’s death, her heart went out to her Hessian granddaughters.
‘Oh! dear children,’ she wrote at once, ‘dearest beloved Mama is gone to join Grandpapa & your other dear Grandpapa & Frittie & sweet little May where there is no more sorrow or tears or separation …”
For all her complaints about Alice, she knew that she had been a devoted mother whose absence would be keenly felt in the happy Hessian household, and she promised that from now on:
“Poor old Grandmama…will try to be a mother to you.’
When the gloomy Christmas was over and the children were well enough to travel, she invited the family to Osborne for an extended holiday. The sea air, she hoped, might aid their recuperation and the meeting would give her the opportunity to prove that her promise was more than mere words.
In January 1879, when the young princesses arrived with their father and brother on the Isle of Wight, the effects of the loss of Princess Alice were immediately apparent. Victoria, thrust from childhood into the role of mother to her younger siblings, prepared to take over many of the Grand Duchess’s duties and within a short time would adopt many of her charities. Ella, too, had taken to heart her grandmother’s exhortation to be ‘truly worthy of her, to walk in her footsteps - to be unselfish, truthful, humble-minded, simple and try to do all you can for others as she did.’
But it was six-year-old Alix who seemed most deeply affected by the tragedy. The child whose exuberance had earned her the pet name ‘Sunny,’ was suddenly withdrawn and tormented by nightmares. Desperately shy, her reserved manner would often be mistaken for arrogance, and her once cheerful nature gave way to a nervousness that manifested itself in a variety of physical symptoms. Until the horrific end of her tragic life, she would be constantly tortured by thoughts of impending doom.
Queen Victoria, the doyenne of mourners, empathised completely with her bereaved son-in-law, Louis. Her own grief at the death of the Prince Consort had almost led to a nervous breakdown and rendered her incapable of continuing with her duties. Now, seeing Louis wearily wandering around the island where, sixteen years before he had spent his honeymoon, the Queen began to have doubts about his ability to raise adolescent daughters unaided. Girls, she decided, needed a mother and for their sake as much as his own, it was imperative that Louis should remarry as soon as possible.
Of course, the bride would have to be carefully chosen - not only must she be prepared to build on Alice’s foundations, but she must be equally willing to ensure that the girls spent a good deal of time under their grandmother’s supervision in England. Casting her eyes around the Court, it did not take long for the Queen to select an ideal candidate - her own youngest daughter Princess Beatrice.
Since Beatrice was only five years older than her eldest Hessian niece, and twenty-one years younger than her prospective groom, the suggestion was hardly appealing. Nor had Louis ever shown the least romantic interest in Beatrice and it must have come as a relief to them both to discover that the Church of England forbade marriage between a brother and sister-in-law. Aggrieved that her scheme had been thwarted, Queen Victoria pompously suggested that the rule could be altered, but her proposal was tactfully declined and grudgingly she had to abandon the plan. Beatrice remained at home with her mother and, in time, Louis consoled himself with a mistress - a Polish divorcée named Alexandrine de Kolomine - and a new hunting lodge at Wolfsgarten, about an hour’s drive from Darmstadt.
In time Wolfsgarten became the scene of many family reunions and holidays as cousins from all over Europe came to visit.
“The Schloss was surrounded by a collection of one-storied houses forming a square…” wrote Marie Louise, “..In the centre of this square was a small fountain where we used to go and dabble our hands and to catch the goldfish.”
Before the Hessians returned to Darmstadt at the end of February, the Queen appointed them a new governess who had strict instructions to keep her informed of every detail of their progress and development. Uncle Leopold joined them on their homeward journey and, after a break of several weeks at the new hunting lodge, Wolfsgarten, they returned the New Palace to face the reality of life without Princess Alice.
“The first months after her mother’s death were untold misery and loneliness for Princess Alix,” wrote Baroness Buxhoeveden, “[she] long afterwards remembered those deadly sad months when, small and lonely, she sat… in the nursery, trying to play with new and unfamiliar toys (all her old ones were burned or being disinfected)…The two elder Princesses tried to take their mother’s place as their father’s companions, and were constantly with him. The sixteen-year-old Princess Victoria looked after her brother and sisters, and acted as mistress of the house.”
At least they could rely on the unwavering support of the Queen who had by no means forgotten her promise to ‘be a mother’ to them. She wrote regularly to Victoria with instructions to pass on to her sisters. The pages were filled with assurances of her affection and practical guidance on all manner of subjects. In one letter she could advise them to ‘remember at dinnernot to talk too much and too loud and especially not across the table’ before reminding them of the necessity of hard work, a sensible diet and making suggestions about their choice of religious reading.
The Queen was particularly sensitive to Victoria’s position as the eldest child and frequently urged her to ensure that her younger siblings did not neglect their lessons - particularly Ernie who, according to his tutor, was becoming rather lazy. Not content to watch their progress from a distance, she encouraged other members of the family, particularly Lenchen and Leo, to make regular visits to Darmstadt and each year she invited the Hessians for extended holidays in England where her affection and admiration for each of them deepened. Victoria’s good sense and intelligence constantly impressed her; Irène was ‘a dear good child’, Alix was beautiful beyond words and Ella:
“Is sweet, sensible and also very intelligent and most lovely – indeed I rarely saw a more lovely girl and so loving and affectionate and with such charming manners.”
When it came to considering the girls’ future, the Queen was equally determined to intervene. In 1880 she wrote to Victoria, warning her not to rush into marriage ‘in the German fashion’ and yet she herself was already reviewing prospective husbands for the young princesses. It had come as pleasant news to the Queen to hear from Aunt Vicky that while Henry of Prussia was displaying a marked affection for Irène, his twenty-year-old brother Willy was paying a great deal of attention to her elder sisters. He launched Victoria on her lifelong addiction to cigarettes (no doubt concealing the fact from his mother and grandmother, both of whom detested the habit), but was still more attentive to Ella. In recent months he had been making regular excursions from Bonn to Darmstadt and before long, in his typically impulsive fashion he was declaring his love for his pretty young cousin.
Vicky was pleased to hear it. During his early adolescence, alternating between despising and adoring his English mother, Willy had developed an unhealthy fixation with her and had taken to writing her letters filled with passionate descriptions of his dreams about her. While his mother made little of his strange obsession, she was relieved to discover that had fallen in love with someone eminently more suitable. Queen Victoria, too, was elated - who better to calm the reckless boy than his gentle cousin, Ella?
Fourteen-year-old Ella was aghast. More horrified than thrilled by his overbearing attention, she confessed to Victoria that she thought him ‘absolutely horrid.’ Yet she was too polite to be openly rude to him and the more she demurred, the greater became his ardour. He followed her everywhere, hanging on her words, gazing at her photograph and writing her romantic poems. But Ella was not to be swayed and when at last Willy realised that his suit was hopeless, he could not forgive her. Even years later he could hardly bare to remain in the same room as her, but to the end of his life he kept her photograph beside that of his beautiful Aunt Alix, Princess of Wales, on his desk.
For Willy’s paternal grandmother, Queen Augusta, Ella’s refusal was seen as a personal insult for which there was no excuse. In response she voiced loud criticisms of Alice’s daughters and on one occasional even snubbed them in public. Queen Victoria, on the other hand, though equally disappointed to the extent that years later she would sigh when she thought of ‘what might have been,’ accepted Ella’s decision and consoled herself with the thought that her granddaughter’s Hessian good looks and charming manner were sure to win the attention of several other equally eligible suitors.
With so many children and grandchildren across Europe, it was impossible for the Queen to attend every family celebration but for Princess Alice’s daughters she made an exception. In 1881, she was in Darmstadt for Victoria and Ella’s confirmation - a ceremony that also marked a girl’s entry ‘into society.’ The following year Ella arrived in England for her first ‘season’ and as she accompanied her grandmother to the theatre and ballet, British newspapers were eagerly speculating on the marriage prospects of the beautiful princess. Aware of the dangers facing stunning but naïve and motherless young women, the Queen advised them not to mix too freely with young people outside the family and was gratified when Victoria replied that she and Ella were content in each other’s company, enjoying the delights of the opera at Wolfsgarten and attending to their mother’s charities, and considered themselves too young to attend balls. Victoria, as tomboyish as ever, preferred galloping apace on fast horses and watching, or even to her grandmother’s horror, participating in the shoot, to consider a future outside Darmstadt. But, in spite of their repeated reassurances, it was clear to Queen Victoria that it could not be long before such beautiful girls would be receiving proposals of marriage.

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The Heir and the Spare

The Heir and the Spare - the term refers to the first two children of the ruling sovereign or a King/Queen-in-waiting. A Spare acts as  a "reserve" in the event an heir-apparent, for some reason, could not ascend the throne, such was the case of King Edward VIII and his younger brother King George VI (father of Queen Elizabeth II). When Edward voluntarily abdicated in 1936 to marry his divorced American lover, Wallis Simpson (divorce people were not allowed to join the royal court before) his younger brother (known as Prince Bertie the Duke of York) took his place as sovereign of the United Kingdom and reigned as George VI for 16 years.

31684, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - Saturday June 13 2009. Dressed in their military unifroms, Prince William (left) and Prince Harry on the balcony at Buckingham Palace to watch the tradtional fly-past following the Trooping the Colour ceremony. The annual ceremony celebrates Queen Elizabeth II's offical birthday. Traditionally part of the British military's preparations for battle, Tropping the Colour has been used since 1748 to mark the sovereign's birthday. The queen's actual birthday was on April 21, when she turned 83. Photograph: PacificCoastNews.com
The Heir and the Spare, Prince William and Prince Harry

Edward and George's father, King George V, was once "a spare" too. George V, grandson of Queen Victoria, was the former Duke of York and second son of Victoria's heir, King Edward VII, but Edward's first born son and heir, Prince Albert Victor, the Duke of Clarence, died at the age of 28 just weeks after the announcement of his engagement to Princess Mary of Teck. The Duke of York had not only became "heir" but also married his brother's fiancee, Princess Mary of Teck.

The latest heir and spare are the Waleses brothers, Prince William and Prince Harry, children of Prince Charles and the late Princess of Wales, Diana. According to the book "Prince William: the boy who will be King" by Randi Reisfeld, during his teenage years, Prince William was terrified with the idea of becoming King that he confided to his mother that he does not want to take the throne and would take a police job instead (to protect his mother). Though Diana dismissed William's fear as part of his innocence, reports began circulating on Prince Harry's possible accession. Many years later, Princess Diana's instinct proved true as her eldest son gradually became serious with his various trainings as future King of England.
HRH Prince William of Wales

The Waleses brothers grew up very close to each other, they launched charity campaigns together and assumed most of the roles left by their mother on charity works. They both trained in the military, but Prince Harry, as a spare, certainly will most likely take the military as his lifetime career, so his training is more intense compared to William. Harry expressed his intention to serve the armed forces on the front line, so after he completed his training as an armored reconnaissance leader, he insisted to accompany his comrades to serve the Iraqi war, but his superiors declined siting a reason that as third-in-line to the British throne, Harry's safety, is the  priority of the royal armed forces.

In 2007 he was finally allowed to join his regiment in the war zone, so the young Lieutenant went to Afghanistan discreetly and became a tank commander, this mission was handled with utmost secrecy, the British Armed Forces did not release any reports involving the deportation of Prince Harry. But weeks later, the news was leak to international media that the Prince was serving in Afghanistan, fearing for his safety, his direct superiors, ordered his immediate release from the mission, in reverence to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, the commander in chief of the British Armed forces. The Prince reportedly hesitated at first, expressing his intention to remain with his troops in the battlefield, but his field commanders insisted to send him back to England, deeply saddened with the order, Prince Harry however relented and was greeted happily at the Heathrow airport by his father, Prince Charles and Prince William.  Wills embraced his brother and was later seen carrying Harry's luggage unto the waiting royal car.

NEW YORK - JUNE 25: Prince Harry poses with cadets as he visits Westpoint Military Academy on June 25, 2010 in New York, New York. Prince Harry is on a three day trip to New York culmulating on Sunday where he will play in a polo match supporting his charity Sentebale. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
His Royal Highness Prince Harry of Wales

NEW YORK - JUNE 25: Prince Harry gives a speech during a reception on the USS Intrepid on June 25, 2010 in New York. Prince Harry is on a three day trip to New York cumulating on Sunday where he will play in a polo match supporting his charity Sentebale. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Prince Harry during his recent trip to the US promoting his charity, Sentebale

The Heir and the Spare are once again reunited in England, taking a good break from various military trainings and off to a well-deserve vacation mostly at Klosters, Switzerland for a skiing holiday. William and Harry frequently seen accompanying each other to various events, may it be sports, official tours or charity campaigns, they are inseparable and would often seen doing joint goodwill projects. They bonded closely and shared a common trait they both inherited from their mother - compassion.

But just like what their paternal great auntie, Princess Margaret, had realized, Prince Harry will always be THREE and William is TWO pronouncing their gap in the line of succession.


The Royal House of Liechtenstein

Principality: Liechtenstein
Royal House Name: Liechtenstein
Current Head: His Serene Highness, Prince Hans-Adam II (born: Feb.14, 1945)
Reigned: Since November 1989
Consort: HSH  Princess Marie
Successor: HSH Prince Alois

DELFT, NETHERLANDS - DECEMBER 11:  Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein (R) and King Constantijn of Greece leave  the funeral of Dutch Prince Bernhard on December 11, 2004 in Delft, The Netherlands. The prince died at the age of 93 on December 1, 2004 at the Utrecht University Medical hospital. (Photo by Michel Porro/Getty Images)

Prince Hans Adams II (right) and King Constantine II of Greece (left) while attending the funeral of Prince Bernhard (husband of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands) in 2004 

The history of the principality of Liechtenstein begins in 1719 when Johann Adam Andreas purchased the Lordship of Schellenberg and the county of Vaduz (now the Capital of Liechtenstein). This sovereign state covers a 62-square mile area and located between Switzerland and Austria.

In 18th century, Liechtenstein was allied to the Hapsburg monarchy of Austria until its abolition in 1918. The country then entered an agreement with Switzerland to represent them on diplomatic relations issues. In 1921 Liechtenstein became a Constitutional Monarchy establishing a single-house parliament with 25 members, though legislations draw up by its members, the ruling Prince will ultimately approves each of these laws.

MONTE CARLO, MONACO - NOVEMBER 19:  Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein and Prince Alois of Liechtenstein leave Monaco Cathedral as part of Monaco's National Day celebrations which this year doubles as Prince Albert II's enthronement celebrations, at Monaco Palace on November 19, 2005 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The event is part of the official program of public and private events celebrating the July 12 coronation of Prince Albert II of Monaco, who became head of state after the April death of his father Prince Rainier.  (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Prince Alois and his wife Princess Sophia

Liechtenstein is one of the richest nations in the world. Its current head, Prince Hans-Adam II, owns LGT Banking Group, Europe’s largest private wealth and asset manager, the Sovereign Prince is also listed in Forbes magazine as Europe's richest monarch. with a personal fortune of 2 billion pounds. Liechtenstein became a United Nations member in 1990.

ROYAL FAMILY OF LIECHTENTSTEIN

HSH Prince Hans-Adam II
HSH Princess Marie

HSH Prince Alois, the Hereditary Prince
HSH Princess Sophia, the Hereditary Princess
        HSH Prince Joseph Wenzel
        HSH Princess Marie-Caroline
        HSH Prince Georg Antonious
        HSH Prince Nikolaos Sebastien
 

HSH Prince Maximilian
HSH Princess Angela
        HSH Prince Alfons
 

HSH Prince Constantin
HSH Princess Marie
        HSH Prince Moritz
        HSH Princess Georgina
        HSH Prince Benedikt
 

HSH Princess Tatjana 

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The Royal House of Nassau/Bourbon-Parma

Country: Luxembourg
Royal House Name: Nassau/Bourbon-Parma
Current Head: Grand Duke Henri (born: April 16, 1955)
Reigned: since October 2000
Consort: Grand Duchess Maria Theresa
Successor: HRH Prince  Guillaume

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - APRIL 15:  Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg (Green) inspects the Guard Of Honour at the Royal Palace on the first day of a three day state visit to Stockholm on April 15, 2008 in Stockholm, Sweden  (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg


Luxembourg is a landlocked country located between France and Germany. According to the listing of Forbes Magazine, this grand duchy is the richest country in the world in terms of GDP. The Luxembourg history heavily drew on dependency towards several European countries, for four centuries, this tiny nation was administered by Belgium, France, Germany and in 1815, the Netherlands treated it as a conquered territory when it was given by the Congress of Vienna to the Dutch monarch, King William I. It was only in 1867 that Luxembourg became a sovereign nation.
LUXEMBOURG - JUNE 23: Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchesse Maria Theresa (front row) Princess Tessy, Prince Louis, Princess Alexandra and Prince Felix (2nd row)  of the Luxembourg Royal family assist the Te Deum at the Notre Dame Cathedral, as part of the Luxembourg National Day celebrations June 23, 2007 in Luxembourg. (Photo by Mark Renders/Getty Images)

The Royal Family of Nassau

The Luxembourg’s royal house name, Nassau, was taken from Adolf, the Duke of Nassau, who became the grand duchy’s ruler when the last male ruler of the Netherlands died in 1890. Adolf I ruled until 1905. Luxembourg remained neutral during World War I and World War II but during the latter’s war, German troops overrun the grand duchy so the royal family moved to London and established a government-in-exile like other European’s monarchies. Luxembourg is one of the founding members of European Union and a member of NATO and United Nations.

Currently, Luxembourg is ruled by Grand Duke Henri, a first cousin of King Albert II of Belgium and a third cousin to all European monarchs through Queen Victoria of England and King Christian IX of Denmark. Like his relatives, King Albert II of Belgium and King Juan Carlos of Spain, Grand Duke Henri is a Roman Catholic, thus, removed in the line of succession to the British throne. Other European sovereign heads who are Catholics are Prince Albert II of Monaco and Prince Hans-Adams II of Liechtenstein.

Royal Family of Luxembourg

HRH Grand Duke Henri
HRH Grand Duchess Maria Theresa

HRH Prince  Guillaume, the Hereditary Grand Duke
HRH Prince Felix
HRH Prince Louis
HRH Princess Alexandra
HRH Prince Sebastien 

The Royal House of Grimaldi

Principality: Monaco
Royal House Name: Grimaldi
Current Head: HSH Prince Albert II (born: March 1958)
Reigned: Since April 5, 2005
Consort: Single (engaged to Charlene Wittstock)
Heir Presumptive: HRH Princess Caroline of Hanover


STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - JUNE 19: Prince Albert of Monaco and girlfriend Charlene Wittstock attend the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling on June 19, 2010 in Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Prince Albert of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock

Monaco is a sovereign state in Southern France on the Mediterranean Coast near the French Riviera. It is one of the smallest independent states in the world with a land area of only 40 hectares, but it gains a status of being one of the most progressive independent states and one of the most visited places in the world. Its gross domestic product relies mainly on tourism and fashion.

The Monegasque throne was founded in the late part of 13th century through Lanfranco Grimaldi, a merchant-turned pirate who descended from the Genoan Guelphic family in Italy. During this time Monaco is not yet a principality as Grimaldi only used the title, Lord of Monaco. In 1309 he died without a direct successor so the throne was passed to his first cousin, Rainier I. Unlike Lanfranco Grimaldi, Rainier’s trading activities were legitimate so the French Monarch at that time appointed him Grand Admiral of France before he became the Lord of Monaco.
              
In 1612, the subsequent ruler, Honoré II, assumed the title of prince, thus, giving the Monaco a status of principality. Monaco was a Spanish protectorate but in 1641, the principality allied with France through the Treaty of Peronne.

During the French revolution, the royal family of Grimaldi was forced to flee the principality in 1793 and was allowed to return only in 1815 following the Treaty of Paris. Since then, Monaco assumed the status of being a self-governing state but due to its limited power and resources, the state relies on France for its armed forces.

The reigning sovereign of Monaco is His Serene Highness, Prince Albert II who ascended the Monegasque throne in April 5, 2005 on the death of his father, Prince Rainier. As with most principalities in Europe, the royal family of Monaco used a courtesy title of His or Her Serene Highness which is inferior to His or Her Royal Highness. Albert is still single and his status has been the subject of so much controversies and speculations, it’s still hard to believe that at 52, the dashing Prince is still unmarried, but in June 2010 the palace announced his official engagement to Charlene Wittstock, a South American Olympian whom he started dating in 2006. They will tie a knot on July 2011.

MONACO - JUNE 23: Prince Albert II of Monaco (L) Princess Alexandra of Hanover (C) and Princess Caroline of Hanover (R) attend the Fetes de la St Jean celebrations on June 19, 2010 in Monaco, Monaco. Prince Albert announced earlier today his engagement with Charlene Wittstock. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Prince Albert with his older sister, HRH Princess Caroline (tucking between them is Caroline's daughter, Princess Alexandra)

Unless he sired legitimate children, the Sovereign Prince’s heir is his older sister, Princess Caroline who assumed the title "The Hereditary Princess of Monaco" in 2005. Caroline is married to His Royal Highness Prince Ernst August of Hanover, a descendant of Queen Victoria of England and King Christian IX of Denmark. Through this marriage, the Princess acquired a title of His Royal Highness which is much grander than her previous HSH style.

ROYAL FAMILY OF MONACO

HSH Prince Albert II, the Sovereign Prince
HRH Princess Caroline of Hanover, Hereditary Princess
HRH Prince Ernst August
  HRH Princess Alexandra
HRH Princess Stephanie

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A little about redneck wedding cake toppers
You can find the term charming and funny to avoid being labeled a redneck at all costs. If you are planning a redneck wedding, remember to add a topper to your cake as the finishing touch to your themed wedding.