Queen Victoria: The Grandmother of England

So, my obsession with Royal families’ continue…… I love this stuff and have read about it or them since I was a teenager. I want to say so much but  its hard to write about  stuff dating back to 1764 without boring you to death. That being said, I am just hoping that by sharing aspects of these families and their lives and what fascinates me about them, maybe I can recruit a new fellow obsesser.

Queen Victoria…. 

Queen Victoria

Victoria was born 24 May 1819 . She was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of George III of the United Kingdom and she was christened Alexandrina Victoria.  Queen Victoria was married to her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840 and they were married for 21 years up until his death in 1861. He was the love of her life and his death broke her heart so badly she mourned him for the rest of her life.  For the remaining 40 years she spent on the throne, he secluded herself from the public, wore black clothing for the rest of her life and became known via her nickname the “Widow of Windsor”. I suspect the black widow spider was named in her honour but i have never been able to verify that.

Queen Victoria and her husband had 9 children and 42 grandchildren. These children and grandchildren comprised of Kings and Queens of Europe all the way from England to far away Russia. So lets list them and some of their Kingdoms…..

She died 22 January 1901

Odd Facts

Queen Victoria deplored the idea of women joining professions, especially medicine, and described the training of female physicians as a “repulsive subject.

The Queen suffered from haemophilia. The haemophilia gene is carried on the x chromosome, and is normally passed through female descent, in the Victorian Era  few haemophiliac men survived to beget children. Any daughter of a haemophiliac is a carrier of the gene. Some popular Monarchs and descendants of the queen with hemophilia include Prince Leopold her seventh child and Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich the Only son of the last Tsar OF Russia.

 

First Child The Princess Victoria, commonly Known as Princess Royal

Princess Victoria

She was born 21 November 1840 and christened Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa named Victoria after her mother.

She married Prince Frederick of Prussia (1831-1888) who later became Frederick III, German Emperor and King of Prussia automatically making her the German Empress.

She had 4 daughters and 4 sons. One of which is Wilhelm II, German Emperor her first son. {if you are conversant with history, you’ll know the major role he played int he first world war before the collapse of the German Monarchy}

She is also the mother of Sophia, Queen of the Hellenes who was married to Constantine I of Greece the king of Greece making her queen of Greece. {Amongst Sophias six offspring are George II, King of GreeceAlexander I, King of Greece, Helen, Queen Mother of Romania, Paul, King of Greece, Gosh!!!

She died 5 August 1901 a few months to her 61st birthday and 7 months after her mother Queen Victoria.

 

Second Child  The Prince Albert Edward,  Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII

King Edward VII

He was born in 9 November 1841 and christened Albert Edward after his father and Maternal grand father.

He was married to Princess Alexandra of Denmark (1844-1925).

He and his wife had 3 sons and 3 daughters. One of which is his first son King George V and also his youngest daughter Maud Queen consort of Norway who was married to Haakon VII of Norway automatically making her Queen of Norway {Mauds offspring became Olav V of Norway King of Norway}.

He became referred to as The “Uncle of Europe” in the early 1900s because at then was related to nearly every other European Monarch. “German Emperor Wilhelm II and Emperor Nicholas II of Russia were his nephews; Queen Victoria Eugenia of SpainCrown Princess Margaret of SwedenCrown Princess Marie of RomaniaCrown Princess Sophia of Greece, and Empress Alexandra of Russia were his nieces; King Haakon VII of Norway was both his nephew and his son-in-law; kings Frederick VIII of Denmark and George I of Greece were his brothers-in-law; kings Albert I of BelgiumFerdinand of Bulgaria, and Charles I and Manuel II of Portugal were his second cousins. Edward doted on his grandchildren, and indulged them, to the consternation of their governesses.[84] However, there was one relation whom Edward did not like: Wilhelm II. Edward’s difficult relationship with his nephew exacerbated the tensions between Germany and Britain”- Wikipedia

King Edward died 6 May 1910. He died of heart attacks triggered by severe bronchitis at age 68.

Third Child The Princess Alice,Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine

Princess Alice.

She was born 25 April 1843 and Christened Alive Maud Mary 

She married Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine  in 1862 a few weeks after her Fathers death.

She had Seven children . Her second daughter married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia making her Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia. Her Sixth Child Married Nicholas II of Russia the last Emperoro of Russia Making her daughter Alix, Empress of Russia.{ The Emperor and the Empress and their 5 children were the Romanov family murdered during the Russian revolution and First world war in 1918}. Yes ,both sisters married into the Russian Royal family were brutallu murdered.

She was the maternal grandmother of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the last Viceroy of India, and maternal great-grandmother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, consort of Queen Elizabeth II

She died of diphtheria  14 December 1878 at the young age of 35. The first of the Queens children to die.

 

 

Fourth Child The Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Edinburgh;Admiral of the Fleet

Prince Alfred

He was born 6 August 1844 and christened Alfred Ernest Albert but he was known as “Alfie” to his close family members.

He married Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (1853–1920) in 1874. she was the the second (and only surviving) daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.

He and his wife had five children one of which is Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia.

He was the first member of the royal Family to visit Australia and survived an assassination attempt on his second visit to Australia.

His first and only son, the Hereditary Prince Alfred  attempted suicide after becoming involved in scandal with his mistress. although he survibded the suicide attempt, his mother was so embarrassed she sent him to Meran to recover. Unfortunately he died two weeks later, completely breaking his fathers heart.

He died 31 July 1900 of throat cancer at the age of 55.

 

Fifth Child The Princess Helena

Princes Helen

She was born 25 May 1846 and christened Helena Augusta Victoria.

she was married to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1831–1917) in 1866 amidst a lot of controversy.

Together, she and her husband  had 5 Children.

She was one of the founding members of the British Red cross.

She was the first member of her family to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary. Although her husband sadly passed away a year later.

She was strong supporter of Nurse registration. A move strongly opposed by Florence Nightingale and a lot of prominent figures.

She died 9 June 1923 at the age 77.

 

Sixth Child The Princess Louise

Princess Louise

She was born 18 March 1848 and was christened Louise Caroline Alberta.

After her fathers death in 1861 Louise was known to be unsympathetic to the intense mourning that followed.

She is regarded as the most beautiful of Queen Victoria’s Daughters and was very desirable as a bride. However she was very uninterested in marrying a prince and announced she was her wish to marry John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll (1845–1914) whom she had fallen in love with.

Her marriage was highly opposed by her brothers and the court because such marriages between a daughter of a Sovereign and a British subject had not been given recognition since 1515.

The Queen was uninterested in any further Prussian alliances and wanted to please the English populace and agreed to the Union. Louise although very beautiful even in her forties, was also known to be very jealous and did not get along with her sisters.

Sadly this union produced no children and after a while an otherwise happy marriage became very cold and both parties became distant {her husband was rumuored to be homosexual}

Louise liked to be ordinary and usually travelled under the alias Mrs Campbell.

She died at Kensington Palace on the morning of 3 December 1939 at the age of 91 years, 8 months and 15 days, the same age to the day as her younger brother Prince Arthur,wearing the wedding veil she had worn almost 70 years earlier. {I felt the need to add more details about her since she had no kids}……

Seventh Child The Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn; Field Marshal, Governor General of Canada(1911–1916)

Prince Arthur

He was born 1 May 1850 and christened Arthur William Patrick Albert. 

He married his wife Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia (1860–1917) in 1879. She was the daughter of Prince Frederick Charles and a great-niece of the German Emperor, Arthur’s godfather, Wilhelm I.

Together they had three children Margaret, Crown Princess of Sweden, Prince Arthur of Connaught and Princess Patricia, Lady Ramsay.

He served as the Governor general of Canada and called Canada to arms against Germany during the first World War.

Via the marriage of his Children, Arthur became the father-in-law of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of SwedenPrincess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife; and Sir Alexander Ramsay.

His first two children died before him including Margaret who was pregnant with his 6th Grand child.

he was known to carry ut an affair with Leonie, Lady Leslie, sister of Jennie Churchill, while still married and devoted to his wife.

He died 16 January 1942 at the age of 91 years, 8 months and 15 days, the same age to the day as his elder sister, Louise, Duchess of Argyll, who had died three years before. He was the second to the last of Queen Victoria’s children to die.

Eight Child The Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany

Prince Leopold

He was born 7 April 1853 and christened  Leopold George Duncan Albert named after his parents’ common uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium.

He married his wife Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1861–1922) in April 1882. He however had trouble finding a wife due to the fact that he suffered from heamophilia {a hereditary disease passed on from his mother}.He was turned down by several women for this reason.

Together he and his wife had two children Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone and Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Leopold and Helena enjoyed a happy but brief marriage.  He slipped, fell and hit is head while at home in Cannes ‘Villa Nevada’. He died the next morning from cerebral hemorrhage. leaving behind a young daughter and a wife pregnant with his second child.

He died 28 March 1884 at the age of 30.

His death was lamented in the poem “The Death of Prince Leopold ” by william Mcgonagall.

Through Leopolds’ son Charles Edward born post humuosly, Leopold is the great-grandfather of  Carl XVI Gustaf, the current King of Sweden.

He was the second of Queen Victoria’s Children to die. His death preceded hers.

Ninth child The Princess Beatrice

Princess Beatrice

She was Born 14 April 1857 and christened Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore.

She married Prince Henry of Battenberg (1858–1896); in July 1885.

They had 4 children, 3 sons and 1 daughter.

One of her daughters is Victoria Eugenie, Queen of Spain.  The beauty of Beatrice’s daughter fondly called Ena, was known throughout Europe, and so despite her  “low rank”, she was a desirable bride. Her chosen suitor was King Alfonso XIII of Spain, hence her title. Apparently close at first, the couple grew apart. Unfortunately Ena became unpopular in Spain and grew more so when it was discovered that her son, the heir to the throne, suffered from haemophilia, a disease for which the Spanish King her husband, held Beatrice responsible for having brought to the Spanish royal house and turned bitterly against Ena.

Beatrice acted as her mothers secretary what we would call today Personal assistant. Beatrice although  the shyest of all of Queen Victoria’s children, became among the best known because she accompanied Queen Victoria almost wherever she went.

Upon Queen Victoria’s death, Beatrice began the momentous task of transcribing and editing her mother’s journals, which had been kept since 1831.

Beatrice died in her sleep on 26 October 1944, aged 87 (the day before the 30th anniversary of her son, Prince Maurice‘s death).

 

Summary

The Queen some of her children and grand children

As with all families they had their fair share of sickness, loss and tragedy but they rose above it. I highighted most of the names so that those interested can read more via wikipedia.

Thank you for indulging my obsession I am off to do other things now.

 

 

IMAGES

  • www.wikipedia.com
  • www.google.com

FACTS

All my information was gotten off the internet.

  • www.wikipedia.com
  • www.google.com
  • www.royalcentral.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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