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THE

PERSONAL LIFE

QUEEN VICTORIA

SARAH A. TOOLEY

AUTHOR OF "lives GREAT AND SIMPLE," "LIFE OF HARRIET DEECHER STOWE

SECOND EDITION

LONDON

HODDER AND STOUGHTON

27, PATERNOSTER ROW
1897

1 ^v *

PrimUd by HmatUt H'ai»OM, d* yttwv* Ld.^ Lomdon and AyUsbury.

PREFACE

'^ I "HE aim of the writer of this '* Life** has been
-*• to narrate those incidents which tend most to
reveal the personal history and character of the Queen,
and no attempt has been made to deal with the events
of her reign which belong more to the historian than
to the personal biographer. In writing of one so
illustrious and far removed from ordinary acquaintance
and observation, the difficulties of faithful portraiture
are apparent ; but the frank manner in which Her
Majesty has revealed the details of her domestic life
in Sir Theodore Martin s *' Life of the Prince Consort,"
the two volumes of ** Leaves from Our Journal in the
Highlands," and the *' Memoir of Princess Alice," makes
the task easier. In addition to these sources of infor-
mation, I am indebted to the '*Greville Memoirs," the
"Life of Baron Stockman" Lady Bloomfield*s ** Reminis-
cences," the Bunsen and Malmesbury " Memoirs," and

vi PREFACE

many other ** Lives " and " Reminiscences " of eminent
courtiers and statesmen which throw side lights upon
the Queen's private life. Among the many books
written upon Her Majesty I have found none more
suggestive than the biographies by Jefferson, Barnett
Smith, and Grace Greenwood, and Humphrey's ** Queen
at Balmoral." Fugitive literature throughout the reign
has been laid under contribution as affording pictures
of scenes and events as they passed before the public
eye.

A large amount of private information has been
kindly given by those personally acquainted with Her
Majesty, and who have had the opportunity for observ-
ing the attractiveness and dignity of her character in
private ; and to them I am indebted for many of the
incidents and anecdotes related. Canon Davys, son of
the Queen's tutor, a former Bishop of Peterborough, has
also supplied much interesting information regarding
her early years.

SARAH A. TOOLEY.

Streatham, 1896.

CONTENTS

THE CHILDHOOD OF QUEEN VICTORIA

•

PAGF.

THE GIRLHOOD OF QUEEN VICTOUIA

III

THE MAIDEN MONARCH

• • •

BETROTHAL AND
VICTORIA

EARLY MARRIED LIFE OF QUEEN

lOI

HOME AND COURT LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

135

VII

viu CONr£J^7S

rxcx
THE LATER MARRIED LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA . .165

VII
THE WIDOWED MONARCH 197

VIII
VICTORIA, QUEEN AND EMPRESS .221

PERSONAL TASTES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF QUEEN

VICTORIA 251

THE CHILDHOOD OF QUEEN VICTORIA

A N American gentleman being called upon, at a banquet
x\ in London, to propose the health of Her Gracious
Majesty the Queen, did so in the following terms : " The
Queen of England, the Empress of India, the Woman of
the world." Nothing could more happily have expressed the
keynote to the love and loyalty which have surrounded the
throne of Victoria — it is her womanliness which has held
the heart of the nation. The laws of heredity and of
environment make no distinction between king and peasant ;
and it is to the parentage and early training of the Queen
that we must look to see how her character, so distinguished
by womanly virtues and domestic graces, has been moulded.

We find that her father, the Duke of Kent, fourth son of
George III., was deservedly known as the "Popular Duke."
He was a tall, stately man of soldierly bearing, characterised
by courteous and engaging manners, and was generous to a
fault He was connected with no less than sixty-five charitable
organisations at the time of his death. From him the Queen
has inherited her love of order and punctuality, and she is
fond of referring to his connection with the Army. Once,
when presenting new colours to the Royal Scots, she said to

4 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

the men : " I have been associated with your regiment from
my earliest infancy, as my dear father was your Colonel
He was proud of his profession, and I was always taught
to consider myself a soldier's child." Fit complement to
the soldier-Duke was the Queen's mother, who, without
being a beauty, was a charming and attractive woman,
elegant in figure, with fine brown eyes and luxuriant brown
hair. She was warmly affectionate, free and gracious in
her manner, but withal a duchess of duchesses to her finger-
tips, as after events showed. Above everything else, she
was distinguished for motherly devotion and the domestic
virtues. It was these characteristics which caused the Duke of
Kent to fall in love with her. He was entrusted in 1818, by
Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, then in retirement at Clare-
mont mourning his young wife, the beloved Princess Charlotte,
with letters to his sister, the Princess of Leiningen, who was a
young widow living a retired life in her castle at Amorbach,
Bavaria, superintending the education of her two children.
The Duke of Kent, a bachelor of fifty, was entirely charmed
by the picture of domestic felicity which he found when he
arrived at Castle Amorbach, and in due time became the
affianced husband of the widowed Princess.

They were married at Coburg on the 29th of May, 181 8,
according to the rites of the Lutheran Church, and re-married
in England shortly afterwards at a private ceremony at Kew
Palace, after which they returned to Bavaria. The prospect of
the birth of a child, however, made the Duke of Kent anxious
to bring his wife to England, so that his coming heir might
be "Briton-born." He thought at first of taking a house in
Lanarkshire, in which case the Queen would have been bom

6 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

safety, and at four o'clock on the morning of the 24th of
May, 1 819, a pretty little princess was born, who, according
to Baron Stockmar, was as "plump as a partridge."

One may be permitted to say that the Duke was
ridiculously proud of his wee girlie, and is said to have
cried for joy when she was presented to the royal and
official persons who had been awaiting news of her birth in
the ante-chamber. Although several lives stood between the
infant Princess and the throne, her father had a prophetic
instinct that she was destined to be Qqeen of England.
" Take care of her," he would say; "she may yet be Queen of
England." No disappointment was ever expressed that the child
was a girl. The grief which had filled the country when the
Princess Charlotte died showed that the people were eager for
a queen, a sentiment referred to by the Dowager Duchess
of Coburg when writing congratulations to her daughter, the
Duchess of Kent "Again a Charlotte," she writes, "destined
perhaps to play a great part one day, if a brother is not born
to take it out of her hands. The English like queens, and
the niece of the ever-lamented, beloved Princess Charlotte
will be most dear to them." It was Grandmamma of Coburg
who named the new-comer the blossom of May. "How
pretty the little Mayflower will be," she writes, "when I sec
it in a year's time! Siebold [the nurse] cannot sufficiently
describe what a dear little love it is." Siebold was a lady
doctor from Berlin, popularly known as " Dr. Charlotte," who
attended the Duchess of Kent at her confinement, she having
declined the services of the male physicians in attendance at
the Palace. Three months later Dr. Charlotte returned to
Germany to officiate at the birth of a little prince, one day

8 TH£ PERSONAL LIFE OF Qt/EEN VICTORIA

of a happy union between parents distinguished for goodness
and piety, and from the hour of her birth she basked in the
sunshine of love. She came when the world of nature was
fresh and jubilant — the sweet spring-time, when birds were
singing, trees budding, and the air fragrant with the odour of
flowers. Small wonder that she was a lovely baby. She had
flaxen hair, blue eyes, a fair skin, and was the picture of
health — chubby, rosy, beautifully formed, and of a happy,
lively disposition. The Duchess of Kent nursed her at her
own breast, and in the absence of the Princess's special nurse,
Mrs. Brock, dressed and undressed the little one herself.
Robert Owen, the Socialist, is said to have been the first
man who held the Princess in his arms, he having called
to see the Duke of Kent on business shortly after her arrival.
The christening of the infant Princess took place in the
Grand Saloon of Kensington Palace, the gold font from the
Tower being brought for the occasion. The Archbishop of
Canterbury and the Bishop of London officiated. The sponsors
were the Prince Regent in person, the Emperor Alexander of
Russia, represented by the Duke of York, the Queen-Dowager
of Wurtembcrg, represented by the Princess Augusta, and the
Dowager Duchess of Coburg, represented by the Dowager
Duchess of Gloucester. The Duke of Kent was anxious that
his " little Queen " should be named Elizabeth, but the Prince
Regent gave the name Alexandrina, after the Emperor of
Russia, upon which the Duke asked that another name might
be associated with it ; then the Prince Regent, who according
to Greville was annoyed that the infant was not to be
named Georgiana, after himself, said, "Give her her mother's
name also." Accordingly the Princess was named Alexandrina

10 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF Q^UEEN VICTORIA

through the Gardens. The Duke was always pleased to have
her shown to the people, and when she was only four months
old took her in the carriage with him to a review on Hounslow
Heath. The Prince Regent, annoyed at the attention which
she created, sharply remonstrated, saying, " That infant is too
young to be brought into public" At three months old the
Princess was vaccinated, and was the first royal baby to be
inoculated after the method of Jenner.

In order to escape the rigour of the winter, the Duke and
Duchess removed, at the end of the year, with their darling
child, into Devonshire, staying at Woolbrook Glen, Sidmouth,
a lovely retreat lying back from the sea, and surrounded by
picturesque grounds. On their way to Sidmouth the royal
party stayed two days with the Bishop of Salisbury. His
Lordship was fond o jumping the little Princess in his arms,
and during one of these frolics she seized hold of the good man's
wig and shook it so violently with her dimpled hands that
she covered herself with powder, and was not prevailed upon
to loosen her clutches until she had pulled off a tuft of hair
also.

I have found no more charming glimpse of this period of
the Queen's infancy than is recorded by Mrs. Marshall in her
"Recollections of Althea Allingham." The AUinghams were
living at Sidmouth at the time of the royal visit, and we get
this graphic picture of the local interest it elicited.

" * I have just heard a piece of news,* Oliffe said, * The
Duke of Kent has taken the " Glen " at the farther end of
the village, and the servants are expected to-morrow to put
the place in order for the Duke and Duchess of Kent and the
little Princess Victoria.* " Sidmouth was elated at the prospect

14 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

Kent, "linked arm in arm," the nurse carrying the little
Princess, who looked lovely in a white swansdown hood and
pelisse, and was holding out her hand to her father. He took
her in his arms as the party drew up in h'ne, respectfully
waiting, uncovered and curtseying.

" Stella exclaimed : * What a beautiful baby I *

"The Duchess hearing, smiled and said, 'Would you like
to kiss the baby?'

"Stella coloured with delight, and looked at me [Mrs.
Allingham] for permission.

"The Duke kindly held the little Princess down towards
Stella, and said :

"'I am glad my little May blossom finds favour in your
eyes.*

" Then a shout was heard from the donkey where Stephen
sat.

"*Me too, please, Duke.'

" Instead of being in the least shocked with my boy's
freedom, the Duke laughed, saying :

''Dismount, then.'

"Stephen scrambled down, and coming up received the
longed-for kiss.

" * Father calls Stella and Benvenuta his May blossoms/
Stephen volunteered.

"'And you may be proud of them,* the Duke said, as
he gave the Princess back into her nurse's arms ; and the
Duchess, with repeated bows and smiles, passed on."

This tender picture of domestic felicity was, alas ! soon to
be inarred by death. The Duke of Kent, returning from an
excursion in the vicinity of Sidmouth, sat down in wet boots

THE CHILDHOOD OP QUEEN VICTORIA
to play with his little daughter, and was so enchanted

'ith

her b.iby ways that he could not tear himself away to make

the needed change of his damp garments. A chill ensued,

which resulted in a fatal attack of inflammation of the lungs.

He died on the 23rd of

January, 1820. Two days

later, the good people of

1 6 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

just in time to see his sister's husband breathe his last In his
" Reminiscences " he says : " The Duchess, who had lost a most
amiable and devoted husband, was in a state of the greatest
distress. The poor Duke had left his family deprived of all
means of subsistence. The journey to Kensington was very
painful, and the weather very severe." From this time forward
we find Prince Leopold acting as a father and guardian to his
little niece, Victoria, It was he who generously supplemented
the jointure of £6,000 which the Duchess of Kent received
from the country, and enabled her to rear our future Queen
in a manner befitting her position. By her second marriage
the Duchess had sacrificed her dowry, and she conscientiously
yielded the Duke of Kent's estate to his creditors, so that all
that remained to her was her jointure.

The same day on which the Duchess and her infant returned
to Kensington, George III. died, and was succeeded by the
Prince Regent. This event, coupled with her father's death,
placed the Princess two lives nearer to the throne. The
Duchess, doubtless actuated by these circumstances, determined
to rear her child in the land over which she might eventually
rule, and gave up her own natural desire to return to Bavaria.
Speaking of herself and infant at this time, she says : " We
stood alone — almost friendless and alone in this country ; I
could not even speak the language of it. I did not hesitate
how to act ; I gave up my home, my kindred, my duties [the
regency of Leiningcn] to devote myself to that duty which was
to be the whole object of my future life." Thus nobly did the
Duchess of Kent start upon her important work — no light task
— the training of a queen. From that day forward she lived
at Kensington in stately seclusion, watching over the young

iS THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN ViClORIA

A room on the top floor served as the Princess's nursery, and
in one corner still stands a doll's house, a headless horse, and
the model of a ship, remnants of the toys which delighted
her rather monotonous childhood.

Here, in the old Palace which in days gone by had been the
stately abode of kings and queens and the scene of gay court
revels, the Princess was nurtured in all that was simple,
loving, and pure. She had a natural home life free from the
formalities of a court The one misfortune was that she bad
no companions of her own age :

*' For her there was no mate,
A royal child of power and state.**

Her stcp-sister, the Princess Feodore (daughter of the Duchess
of Kent by her first marriage), was eleven years her senior, and
though the little Princess was devotedly attached to her as an
elder sister, she was no playmate for her. A pretty story is
told of the visit of the infant harp-player, Lyra, to Kensington
Palace, and how delighted the Princess Victoria was — not with
the harp-playing, but with having a little girl of her own s^e
to speak to. When the Duchess of Kent returned to the room
after a brief absence, she found the two children sitting on the
hearthrug with toys strewn around them, enjoying themselves
hugely as they laughed and prattled, oblivious of the harp
standing desolate, as the one which " rang through Tara's halls."
The little Princess dearly loved a romp, as is testified by
William Wilberforce, who lived at Gore House, Kensington,
and was occasionally received by the Duchess of Kent. The
philanthropist, in writing to his friend, Hannah More, says :
" In consequence of a very civil message from the Duchess of

50 THE PEkSONAL lIF£ OF QUEEN VICTOrIA

We well remember being in a country town when the Queen
came to unveil a statue of the Prince Consort The local
authorities had provided a sumptuous luncheon, with all the
delicacies of the season ; but great was the consternation when
Her Majesty asked for rice pudding. No such homely dish
was included in the menu.

The little Princess's day was passed in the following
manner. She rose early, and breakfasted at eight o'clock in
the pretty morning-room of the Palace, sitting beside her
mother in a little rosewood chair, a table to match in front of
her on which was placed her bread and milk and fruit, her
nurse standing beside her. After breakfast her half-sister, the
Princess Feodorc, retired with her governess, Fraulein Lehzen,
to study, and the little Victoria mounted her donkey, a present
from her uncle, the Duke of York, and rode round Kensington
Gardens. From ten to twelve she received instruction from
her mother, assisted by Fraulein Lehzen ; then came a good
romp through the long suite of rooms with her nurse, Mrs.
Brock, whom she affectionately called her " dear, dear Boppy."
At two o'clock she dined plainly at her mother's luncheon
table, afterwards came lessons again until four o'clock, then
she went with her mother for a drive, or, if the weather was
hot, spent the afternoon in the Gardens under the trees, coming
out early in the evening for a turn in her little pony-chaise.
The Duchess dined at seven o'clock, at which time the
Princess supped at the same table on bread and milk ; she then
retired for a little play in a farther part of the room along
with " dear Boppy," joining her mother again at dessert At
nine o'clock she went to her little French bed with its pretty
chintz hangings, placed beside that of her mother. An

THE CHILDHOOD OF QUEEN VICTORIA 21

occasional visit to Windsor to see her " Uncle King," as she
called His Majesty George IV., a sojourn at Claremont with
her adored Uncle Leopold, and a few weeks at the sea in
autumn, were the only breaks in her little life.

On her fourth birthday she had a great excitement, no less
than being bidden by " Uncle King " to attend a State dinner
party with her mother at Carlton House. She was dressed
for the occasion in a simple white frock looped up on the left
sleeve by a miniature of the King, set in diamonds, His
Majesty's birthday present to his little niece, whose vivacious
manners seemed to have delighted him vastly.

Several stories arc told of the quick repartee which " Uncle
King" received from his amusing little niece of Kent. During
one of her visits to Windsor, the King said, " Now, Victoria,
the band is waiting to play ; what tune would you like to
hear best ? "

" * God Save the King,* if you please, uncle," she promptly
replied.

And again, when asked what part of her visit had been the
greatest treat, she discreetly said, " Oh, the ride in the carriage
with you, uncle." On this occasion the King had driven her
himself, which was doubtless a great event. We get a further
glimpse into these little trips to Windsor in one of Grand-
mamma Coburg's charming letters. Writing in 1826 to the
Duchess of Kent, she says : " I see by the English newspapers
that * His Majesty George IV. and H.R.H. the Duchess of
Kent went on Virginia Water,' The little monkey [Princess
Victoria] must have pleased and amused him. She is such
a pretty, clever child."

A few years later " Uncle King " gave a child's ball in honour

32 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

of the visit of Donna Maria, the little Queen of Portugal, to
this country. This was the first Court ceremoniaj at which the
Princess Victoria was present. A lady of the Court, however,
gave great offence to the King by saying how " pretty it would
be to see the two little Queens dancing together." His Majesty
had no mind as yet to hear his niece of Kent dubbed a
queen. By all accounts the juvenile ball was a pretty and
brilliant affair. The children of the highest nobility were
there, and paid mimic court to the little Queen of Portugal,
who sat by the side of the King, dressed in a red velvet frock
and literally blazing with jewels from head to foot This was
the first occasion upon which that spicy Court chronicler, Mr.
Grcvillc, saw the Princess Victoria ; but he appears to have
been carried off his head by the dark-eyed Donna of Portugal's
brilliant appearance. "Our little Princess," he writes, "is a
short, plain-looking child, and not near so good-looking as
the Portuguese." Fie upon you, Mr. Greville ; did not the
fine Donna Maria awkwardly trip in the dance and fall down
and bruise her face, while our fair-haired, blue-eyed Princess,
in her simple white frock, kept her head and her heels, and
was admired by all people of good taste for her natural,
unadorned beauty?

Visits to Uncle King were very rare events, as the Duchess
of Kent did not wish her little daughter to see much of
Court life ; but she took her frequently to see her Uncle
Leopold at Claremont, and these visits were the most delightful
holidays of all. Writing in after years from Claremont to her
uncle, then King of the Belgians, the Queen says : " This place
brings back recollections of the happiest days of my otherwise
dull childhood — days in which I experienced such kindness

24 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

charming account of the royal party in the letters of Miss Jane
Porter, author of " The Scottish Chiefs." She dwelt with her
mother and sister in a cottage close to the grounds of Claremont,
and had frequent opportunities for seeing the Princess, who, she
was delighted to find, resembled her lamented aunt, the Princess
Charlotte. Miss Porter describes her as " a beautiful child, with
a cherubic form of features, clustered round by glossy fair
ringlets. Her complexion was remarkably transparent, with a
soft and often heightening tinge of the sweet blush-rose upon
her cheeks, that imparted a peculiar brilliancy to her clear blue
eyes. Whenever she met any strangers in her usual paths,
she always seemed, by the quickness of her glance, to inquire
who and what they were.**

At home the Princess was not allowed to attend public
worship at Kensington Church for fear of attracting too much
attention, service being conducted in the Palace by the
Duchess herself during her daughter's earliest years, and after-
wards by the Rev. George Davys, her tutor. But while at
Clarcmont she was taken to the little village church at Esher.
Fortunate Miss Porter had a seat facing the Claremont pew,
and we fear that her devotions were somewhat disturbed by the
attention which she gave to the movements of the royal visitors,
although she is able, at least on one occasion, to give a very
good reason for her attentive scrutiny. " I should not volun-
tarily have so employed myself in church," she piously writes,
" but I had seen a wasp skimming backwards and forwards over
the head and before the unveiled summer bonnet of the little
Princess ; and I could not forbear watching the dangerous
insect, fearing it might sting her face. She, totally unobserving
it, had meanwhile fixed her eyes on the clergyman, who had

THE CHILDHOOD OF QUEEN VICTORIA 25

taken his seat in the pulpit to preach the sermon, and she never
withdrew them thence for a moment during his whole dis-
course." Next day, from a lady personally intimate at Clare-
mont, Miss Porter learned the reason why the Princess riveted
her eyes upon the clergyman, who, according to her account,
was not an attractive person, so that she saw not the " dangerous
insect " — she was required to give her mother not only the text,
but the leading heads of the discourse. Poor little Princess!
those were the days of long and formal sermons.

It was in the autumn succeeding this visit to Claremont
that the Princess paid the first of her many visits to Ramsgate.
Three years before she had taken her first sight of the sea at
Brighton. During her seaside visits she was allowed to play
with other children on the sands, have donkey rides ad libitum,
and to run out to meet the on-coming waves. If they chanced
to ripple over her little feet, she was in a high state of glee.
Then at Ramsgate she used frequently to go to a delightful
old dairy-woman's cottage to have a glass of milk before break-
fast We find a graphic sketch of the Princess at this time by
a writer in Fraset^s Magazine^ who in somewhat florid style thus
relates his observations : ** When first I saw the pale and pretty
daughter of the Duke of Kent, she was fatherless. Her fair,
light form was sporting in all the redolence of youth and health
on the noble sands of old Ramsgate. She wore a plain straw
bonnet with a white ribbon round it, and as pretty a pair of
shoes on as pretty a pair of feet as I ever remember to have
seen from China to Kamschatka. I defy you all to find me a
prettier pair of feet than those of the belle Victoria, when she
played with the pebbles and the tides on Ramsgate sands."
The Princess on this occasion was accompanied by her mother

26 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

and by William Wilbcrforce ; the latter is said to have beguiled

the adventurous Victoria from sporting too freely with the waves

by telling her stories of the slave children whom he was

labouring to emancipate. As he did so, he stood on the shore,

an impressive figure, clasping in his own the tiny hands of the

five-years-old Princess, into whose heart his words were sinking

deep and were destined to bear glorious fruit in after years.

When they turned homeward from the shore down the High

Street, the Princess espied an old Irishwoman sitting pale and
dejected by the wayside, and literally " teased " a silver coin

from her mother to give to this lonely wayfarer.

The Duchess and her daughter frequently returned to visit
Ramsgate, staying principally at Townley House, close to the
picturesque grounds of East Cliff, the residence of Mr. Moses
Montefiore, who courteously provided them with a special key
to his private gate in order that they might use his grounds at
their pleasure. On the occasion of the Queen's visit to the City
of London soon after her accession, Mr. Montefiore received her
in his capacity of Sheriff, and one can imagine that Her Majesty
was not unmindful of those pleasant days at Ramsgate when
she bade him rise up Sir Moses Montefiore. He was the first
Jew to receive the honour of knighthood.

But a truce to the little Princess's holiday jaunts ; we must
continue the thread of her life at Kensington. An old lady
friend has often described to me how she used to watch the
Princess taking her walks and rides in Kensington Gardens.
She never wore smart things, but was plainly and prettily
dressed in a straw hat with a ribbon round it— sometimes the
hat was lined with blue— and her summer dresses were of simple
white cotton, relieved by a coloured silk fichu. She was often

28 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

donkey, gaily caparisoned with blue ribbons, an old soldier, a
former retainer of her father's, leading her bridle rein, while
some of the ladies of the household walked by her side. She
was then at the height of enjoyment, and, once mounted, ** not
all the king's horses nor all the king's men " could persuade her
to come down again. Her mother had made a little rule that
she should ride and walk alternately ; but there were not a few
scenes, and we fear some screams, in Kensington Gardens when
nurse or governess tried to force the little lady to dismount, for
she was as wilful as she was engaging. It was only when the
old soldier, who was a special favourite, held out his arms for
her that she was persuaded to quit her dear donkey's back.

She used sometimes to ride in a pony-chaise over the gravel
walks, led by a page. One day a dog ran between the pony's
legs, causing the tiny carriage to upset, and the Princess would
undoubtedly have been killed by the fall had not a soldier
passing at the time caught her clothes and swung her into his
arms. His name was Maloney, and he was of course thanked
and rewarded by the Duchess of Kent. This was the second
providential escape from death which the Queen had in
her childhood. The first was during her stay at Sidmouth.
A boy was shooting sparrows close to the Duke of Kent's
residence, and a shot came through the nursery window, where
the Princess was sitting in her nurse's lap, and narrowly escaped
hitting her head.

I am indebted to Miss Kortright, an old inhabitant of
Kensington, for some pretty little incidents relating to this
period of the Queen's life. The Princess was known to go
with her mother and her step-sister, Feodore, to a milliner's
shop in Kensington, buy a new hat, stay while it was trimmed,

fHE CtilLDHOOD OF QUMMN VICTORIA i^

and carry it home in her hand quite proudly — but surely it
was the old one she carried in her hand ! Meeting the Princess
in her pony-chaise one day, an " unknown little girl " asked to
be allowed to kiss her. The Princess Feodore stopped the
tiny carriage and indulged the child's wish. The "unknown
little girl" who secured a kiss from her future Queen was
Miss Kortright's elder sister.

Mr. Charles Knight, the publisher, has left a pleasing record
of this period of the Queen's life. He tells that, during an early
morning walk through Kensington Gardens, he saw a group
upon the lawn in front of the Palace which seemed to him a
" vision of exquisite loveliness." It was the Duchess of Kent
and the Princess Victoria breakfasting in the open air, attended
by a single page. " What a beautiful characteristic it seemed
to me," he writes, " of the training of this royal girl, that she
should have been taught not to shrink from the public eye —
that she should not have been burdened with a premature
conception of her probable high position— that she should enjoy
the freedom and simplicity of a child's nature. I passed on
and blessed her ; and I thank God that I have lived to see
the golden fruits of such training."

The education of the Princess Victoria was conducted at
first by her mother with the help of Fraulein Lehzen, who at a
later date was formally appointed her governess, and remained
with the Queen as confidential secretary for a number of years
after her accession. The Princess learned her letters at her
mother's knee, but not very willingly, and we find Grandmamma
of Coburg taking sides with the little truant. She writes to her
daughter, " Do not tease your little puss with learning. She
is so young still," adding that her grandson, Prince Albert, was

33 iHK PURSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

makin<; eyes at a picture-book. When it was made clear to
the Princess that until the ABC was mastered she could not
read books like her mother, she replied with alacrity, " Me learn
too, very quick " ; and she did, for there was no lack of ability.
Her regular education began in her fifth year, when the Rev,
Geoi^e Davys, eventually Bishop of Peterborough, became her

THE CHILDHOOD OF QUEEN VICTORIA 31

tutor. " I fear you will find my little girl very headstrong,"
explained the Duchess of Kent to the new tutor; "but the
ladies of the household will spoil her." As she grew older, the
Princess became docile in all things except taking medicine,
and she reformed on this point when she discovered that her
physician only entertained her with stories after the medicine
had been taken. She was reared to speak in French and
German as well as in her native tongue. German she found
most efficacious when she wanted a favour from her mother.
By the time she reached her eleventh year Italian, Latin, Greek,
and mathematics had been added to her studies. Music she
studied under Mr. John Bernard Sale, afterwards organist at
the Chapel Royal, and drawing under Mr. Wcstall, R.A.

Sketching was a favourite occupation with the Princess, her
love of form and of the beauties of nature having been observ-
able at a very early age. When taking walks about Esher with
her Uncle Leopold, she often pointed out beautiful bits of land-
scape, and it was at Claremont that she first began sketching
from nature. She was fond too of looking at pictures and of
imagining what the people in them might be saying to each
other, a dramatic element in her character which found further
expression in the mock ceremonies which she enacted with her
retinue of dolls. Upon a long board full of pegs, into which the
dolls* feet fitted, she rehearsed court receptions, presentations,
and held mimic drawing-rooms and levees. Her dolls numbered
one hundred and thirty-two ; a large number of them were
dressed entirely by herself in artistic costumes to represent
historic characters or people she knew. A list of them, with
their names and history, was kept in a copybook. She was
passionately fond of animals and of seeing natural history

ji THE Personal life of queen victoRiA

collections; her first visit to the British Museum was an un-
bounded joy, and she begged to be taken there often. Botany
too delighted her, and she began the study, under the tuition
of her Uncle Leopold, among the bowery groves of Claremont.
Lord Albemarle remembers seeing her watering her flowers at
Kensington Palace, and tells that it was amusing to see how
impartially she divided the contents of her watering-pot
between the flowers and her own little feet

And so the childhood of the Queen passed under the
watchful eye of that wisest of mothers, and year by year saw
her fine natural abilities developing, and her character ripening
into thoughtful maidenhood. As yet no busybody had been
allowed to disturb the simplicity of her child's nature by
whispering in her ear, " You are the future Queen of England."
She had been reared in all things to be a queen, without being

•

oppressed or unduly elated by a knowledge of the high position
to which she might attain. In closing this period of the
Queen's life, we can but echo the words of Grandmamma
of Coburg, who, writing to the Duchess of Kent upon the
Princess's eleventh birthday, says : " My blessings and good
wishes for the day which gave you the sweet blossom of May !
May God preserve and protect the valuable life of that lovely
flower from all the dangers that will beset her mind and heart !
The rays of the sun are scorching at the height to which she
may one day attain. It is only by the blessing of God that all
the fine qualities He has put into that young soul can be
kept pure and untarnished."

THE GIRLHOOD OF QUEEN VICTORIA

I
\

THE GIRLHOOD OF QUEEN VICTORIA

THE day on which the Queen was told that she was
heiress to the throne of Great Britain may be regarded
as marking that period in her life when she emerged from mere
childhood into the more thoughtful period of girlhood. This
occurred when she was approaching her twelfth birthday. Two
years previously, Sir Walter Scott, after dining with the
Duchess of Kent, noted in his diary that the " little Victoria
is educated with much care, and watched so closely that no
busy maid has a moment to whisper, *You are heir of Eng-
land.*" There are several accounts of the manner in which
the information was first conveyed to the young Princess.
It was current gossip of the time that Prince George of
Cumberland, who was fond of teasing his pretty cousin, twitted
her one day with the unpleasant prospect of having to be a
queen, enlarging on the discomforts of the position, and throwing
out dark hints of the untimely end of Mary Queen of Scots.
If the Princess failed in her lessons, or was discovered in a
delinquency, Prince George improved the occasion by saying,
" A pretty sort of queen you will make." All such references
were received by the Princess with passionate tears.

Another version is given by Caroline Fox. Writing in

36 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

her journal, she details a gossipy visit from her friend Mrs.
Corgie, the " rightful Lady George Murray," who told her that
the Princess Victoria was first informed of the high position
which awaited her by her mother. The Duchess of Kent
desired that her daughter should read aloud that portion of
English history which related to the death of the Princess
Charlotte. In reading, the Princess made a dead halt, and
asked if it were possible that she should ever be Queen. Her
mother replied : " As this is a very possible circumstance, I
am anxious to bring you up as a good woman, when you
will be a good queen also."

It appears also that the Princess's governess, the Baroness
Lehzen, and her tutor, the Rev. George Davys, both claim to
have informed their pupil of her place in the succession to tlie
throne. In a letter written in her eighty-fourth year by the
Baroness to her former pupil, she says : " I ask your Majesty's
leave to cite some remarkable words of your Majesty when only
twelve years old, while the Regency Bill was in progress. I
then said to the Duchess of Kent that now for the first time
your Majesty ought to know your place in the succession.
Her Royal Highness agreed with me, and I put the genealogical
table into the historical book." The Baroness continues her
story to the effect that when the Princess opened the book
and noticed the additional paper, she said, " I never saw
that before."

" * It was not thought necessary you should, Princess,* the
governess replied.

" * I see,' continued the Princess, * I am nearer the throne
than I thought'

• • •

"*So it is, madam,' replied the Baroness.

THE GIRLHOOD OF QUEEN VICTORIA 37

" After some moments, the Princess answered, ' Now, many
a child would boast, but they don't know the difficulty. There
is much splendour, but there is more responsibility ' ; and laying
her hand in that of her governess, she said, * I will be good.
I understand now why you urged me so much to learn even
Latin.' "

The Baroness then explained to the Princess that her aunt,
Queen Adelaide, might yet have children, in which case she
would not succeed to the throne.

" And if it were so," replied the Princess, " I should never
feel disappointed, for I know by the love Aunt Adelaide bears
me how fond she is of children."

I am indebted to the Rev. Canon Davys, son of the Queen's
tutor, Bishop Davys, for yet another account of how the
momentous tidings were conveyed to the Princess Victoria.

" The story of the Princess discovering that she would be
Queen," Canon Davys tells me, "has not generally been
correctly told. My father had set her to make a chart of the
kings and queens. She got as far as * Uncle William.' Next
day my father said to the Princess, *But you have not put
down the next heir to the throne.' She rather hesitated, and
said, ' I hardly like to put down myself.' My father mentioned
the matter to the Duchess of Kent, who said she was so glad
that the truth had come upon her daughter in this way,
as it was time she became aware what responsibility was
awaiting her."

The three accounts agree in showing that the Princess's
mother, together with her governess and her tutor, all felt, after
the accession of William IV., that the time had arrived for the
Princess to be informed of her position, and that each of them

38 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICIORIA

made a lesson in history the means by which to tell her. As
to whether Prince George of Cumberland had previously let the
proverbial " cat out of the bag " remains a moot point

The Princess Victoria was now regarded by the people as
the heiress-apparent ; but the King himself never ceased hoping
that a child of his own might yet be bom to succeed, and at
times he displayed jealousy of his niece of Kent and ill-will
towards the mother who had borne her. In beautiful con-
trast was the attitude of the Good Queen Adelaide. When
her second child died, soon after the birth of the Princess
Victoria, she wrote to the Duchess of Kent, " My children
are dead, but yours lives, and she is mine too."

A Court lady recalls a pleasing little incident which she
witnessed when Queen Adelaide was still Duchess of Clarence.
The lady was sitting with Her Royal Highness, when the
Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria were announced,
whereupon she rose to withdraw.

" Do not go yet," said the Duchess of Clarence. " I want
you to see little Victoria; she is such a sweet child."

After drawing the Princess towards her with affectionate
greeting, the Duchess of Clarence produced a child's tea-service
of the prettiest china imaginable, which, in her sweet, kind way,
she had provided as a surprise for her little niece. Trivial as
the incident is, nothing could better illustrate the love of the
childless Queen for the heiress to the throne.

The Princess Victoria attended her first Drawing-Room
on the 24th of February, 1831, on the occasion of Queen
Adelaide's birthday. It was a reception of unusual splendour ;
nothing had been seen like it since the Drawing-Room at which
the Princess Charlotte had been presented on the occasion of

THE GIRLHOOD OF QUEEN VICTORIA 41

her marriage. There were three things to make it of special
import : it was the first Drawing-Room held after the accession
of William IV., it was Queen Adelaide's birthday, and the first
formal appearance at Court of the Heiress of Great Britain.

The Princess set out from Kensington Palace with her
mother, attended by a suite of ladies and gentlemen in State
carriages, and escorted by a detachment of Life Guards. This
was cur beloved Queen's first public procession, and the number
in which she has taken part since it would indeed be difficult
to enumerate. Some of the people, as they watched her,
cheered, and others wept, for there was something both joyous
and pathetic in the sight of this young girl upon whose head
the weight of a crown might fall all too soon. At the Drawing-
Room she was the centre of observation. She stood on Queen
Adelaide's left hand, dressed in a frock of English blonde
draped over white satin. Her fair hair was arranged Madonna-
like, according to the fashion of the times, and the braids were
fastened at the back of her head with a diamond clasp.
Around her throat she wore a single row of lovely pearls.
It was no small ordeal for a young girl of twelve, reared in the
strictest seclusion, to pass through ; but she bore herself with
modest dignity, and took evident delight in watching the
presentations. The gay scene was as novel to her as to the
simplest girl in the land.

Two months later another opportunity was taken by Queen
Adelaide of giving prominence to the Princess. The Queen
and the royal ladies were standing on the balcony watching the
pageant which attended William IV. on the prorogation of his
first Parliament As the people cheered, Queen Adelaide took
the young Princess Victoria by the hand, and, leading her to

42 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

the front of the balcony, presented her to the assembled crowds.
It would be difficult to decide whether the deafening shouts
which rent the air were given more in honour of the future
Queen or in recognition of the Good Queen Adelaide's attitude
towards the young girL In the same year the Princess made
her first appearance at the theatre, attending a children's enter-
tainment at Covent Garden. A staid chronicler of this event
would have us believe that the pleasure which the Princess
evinced at seeing a play was rather the result of musical
sympathy with the orchestra than of attachment to the drama.
Why, then, Mr. Chronicler, did she not go to a concert instead ?
The Princess Victoria having been brought so far into
prominence, there was much comment regarding her absence
from the Coronation of King William IV. and Queen Adelaide
in Westminster Abbey, September, 1831. Many reasons were
assigned for this omission. Some said that the King, jealous
of the attention which the Princess had excited during the last
few months, would not assign her the place in the procession
due to her rank as the heiress-presumptive. On the other hand,
it was affirmed that the Duchess of Kent pleaded the delicate
state of her young daughter's health as an excuse for keeping
her away from the ceremonial. It is a matter of history that
there was always friction between the Duchess of Kent and the
King regarding the comparative seclusion in which the Princess
«vas kept. The Duchess was determined to preserve the girlish
innocence and purity of her daughter by withholding her as
much as possible from the Court. The King was well known
for a coarse wit. When he was in a good humour " he swore
like an admiral," and when he was in a bad humour " he swore
like our armies in Flanders." His facetious extravagances at

44 THE PERSONAL LIFE OB QUEEN VICTORIA

The confidence and esteem with which the Duchess of
Kent was regarded, however, by the nation was amply t^tified
by the action of Pariiament in appointing her to be Regent
in the event of the Princess Victoria succeeding to the throne
before she came of age. The Regency Bill was passed imme-
diately after the accession of William IV., and during its
discussion Cabinet ministers vied with each other in praising
the admirable training given by the Duchess of Kent to her
daughter. An extract from the speech of Lord Lyndhurst
will illustrate the general feeling : " The first question which
your lordships will naturally ask is, whom do we propose as
the guardian of Her Royal Highness under the circumstances
inferred? I am sure, however, that the answer will at once
suggest itself to every mind. It would be quite impossible
that we should recommend any other individual for that high
office than the illustrious Princess, the mother of H.R.H. the
Princess Victoria. The manner in which Her Royal Highness
the Duchess of Kent has hitherto discharged her duty in the
education of her illustrious offspring — and I speak upon the
subject not from vague report, but from accurate information
— gives us the best ground to hope most favourably of H.R.
Highncss's future conduct. Looking at the past, it is evident
that we cannot find a better guardian for the time to come.**

After the passing of the Regency Bill, we find another of
those charming letters from Grandmamma of Coburg to her
daughter. " It is only a just return," she writes to the Duchess
of Kent, " for your constant devotion and care to your child*
May God bless and protect our little darling. If I could but
once see her again ! The print you sent me of her is not
like the dear picture I have The quantity of curls hide the

THE GIRLHOOD OF QUEEN VICTORIA 45

well-shaped head, and make it look too large for the lovely
little figure."

The tender family circle of the Princess seemed to be
narrowing sadly at this period of her early girlhood. Her
favourite paternal uncle, the Duke of York, had died ; her
half-sister, the Princess Feodore, had married the Prince of
Hohenlohe and had left England ; and in 1831 her beloved
Grandmamma of Coburg died. About the same time her
Uncle Leopold succeeded to the throne of Belgium. This was
perhaps the greatest grief of all, bringing to an end as it did
her delightful visits to Claremont. The Queen has herself
told us that she " adored " her Uncle Leopold, and his de-
parture from the country filled her with despair. From the
hour of her father's death he had been her watchful guardian,
advising her mother in all points regarding her training, and
even providing additional income. The Princess was a warm-
hearted girl, passionate in her attachments, as she has remained
throughout her life, and one can understand that the break up
of so many family ties oppressed her spirits at this time. She
had few of the outlets of ordinary girls for throwing dull care
aside, the circumstance of her high estate keeping her life
monotonous and lonely. When I asked one who knew the
Princess well as a girl what her amusements were, he replied
that they were all of a quiet kind — chiefly walking in Kensington
Gardens, driving her ponies, and playing with her favourite dog
Dash, a black-and-tan spaniel. In order to vary this rather too
quiet existence, the Duchess of Kent took her daughter on a
series of visits to places of interest in her native land. In these
days of varied travel, one marvels to find that Her Majesty
never set foot off English soil, if we except Wales, until she

46 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

had been several years upon the throne, and was both wife
and mother.

The royal visitors could not enjoy Brighton by reason of
the crowds which dogged their footsteps ; but at Broadstairs
they spent some pleasant times, residing at Pierpont House ;
and Ramsgate was always a favourite watering-place. In
1830, the Princess spent a long holiday at Malvern, where
she led a free outdoor life, and displayed agility in climbing
walls and trees. Unfortunately she did not descend with equal
ease, and on one occasion had to be rescued from the bough
of an apple tree by the gardener. At Tunbridge Wells the old
people recall her fearless donkey-riding, and her fondness for
coming to drink the water from the widow who kept the well.
There comes a story, too, that her mother would not allow her
to outrun her exchequer by the purchase of a half-crown box
until she had the money to pay for it, her rather reckless
purchase of presents for her friends having reduced the Princess
to a temporary state of insolvency. When her next allowance
of pocket-money became due, she set forth on her donkey at
seven o'clock in the morning to claim the box, which the
shopkeeper had retained for her.

She was also taken on visits to country seats ; and the story is
told that during a visit to Wentworth House the Princess was a
little too adventurous in racing about the glades and unfrequented
parts of the grounds, heedless of the warning which the gardener
had given her that they were "slape." "What is 'slape'?"
asked the Princess, receiving when she had scarcely uttered the
words a practical demonstration as her feet slided from under
her on the slippery path. " That is slape, miss," replied the old
gardener, with a sense of humour, as he assisted her to her feet

A note from the diary of Thomas Moore gives a peep behind
the scenes when the royal travellers were expected at Watson
Taylor's place, near Devizes. " Have been invited," he writes,
"to meet the Duchess of Kent and young Victoria . . . rather
amused with being behind the scenes to see the fuss of pre-
paration for a royal reception." He then proceeds to describe
a musical evening, the Duchess and the Princess singing duets
together. "No attempts at bravura and graces," is his criticism,
" but all simplicily and expression. Her Royal Highness
evidently is very fond of music, and would have gone on singing

48 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

much longer if there had not been rather premature preparations
for bed." To have pleased the ear of so fastidious a judge as
Thomas Moore proves tnat the Princess had a sweet and
well-trained voice.

Even during these early jaunts the Princess took part in
public functions. We find her opening the Victoria Park at
Bath, and distributing colours to a regiment of foot at Plymouth,
and later on, when she visited Wales, she gave the prizes
to the successful competitors at the Eisteddfod.

In 1832, the Princess was taken on a further tour, which,
being attended with some ceremonious arrangement, caused the
old King to speak with amused cynicism of his niece's jaunts
as " royal progresses." The Duchess of Kent and the Princess,
attended by a modest retinue, set forth in carriages from
Kensington Palace, travelling by way of Shrewsbury and
Coventry into Wales. They crossed the Menai Strait, enjoying
the lovely scenery at their leisure, and passing over the water
to Anglesey made a prolonged stay in the island, returning home
by way of the Midland counties. An opportunity was taken in
passing through the manufacturing towns to show the Princess
the interiors of some of the factories. It is amusing to find,
in records of the period, that the interest which she took in
what was shown her is gravely interpreted as evidence of her
desire .tp promote British industries The fact that she was
delighted with a working model illustrating cotton-spinning is
commented upon as though our beloved Queen had been a
second Arkwright come to judgment, instead of a bright, clever
girl full of curiosity. During this tour tlie Duchess of Kent and
her daughter paid visits to several historic country seats, among
them Eaton Hall, Chatsworth, Alton Towers, and Powis Castle,

THE GIRLHOOD OP QUEEN VICTORIA 49

Wherever they appeared the people came out in great crowds
to see them, testifying their loyalty to the young Heiress of
Britain. The King indeed was not far wrong when he testily
spoke of these visits as "royal progresses," for, however
desirous the Duchess of Kent might have been to make
the Princess's journeys private, the people insisted upon
openly displaying their loyalty.

In 1833, the Duchess and her daughter resided for some
months at Norris Castle in the Isle of Wight, where the Princess
was frequently seen enjoying country rambles, or listening to
the stories of the sailors and the coastguardsmen as she lingered
about the shore. A pretty incident is told by an American
writer who was visiting the island. While in Arreton church-
yard, near Brading, he noticed a lady and a little girl seated
near the grave of the " Dairyman's Daughter." The lady was
reading aloud the story of the humble heroine, and as the visitor
regarded the pair he could see that the large blue eyes of the
young girl were suffused with tears. He subsequently learned
that the ladies were the Duchess of Kent and the Princess
Victoria. It was doubtless during this visit of her girlhood that
the Queen formed an affection for the Isle of Wight, which induced
her, in later years, to select Osborne as a marine residence.

After a period of rest at Norris Castle, the Duchess of Kent
and her daughter went on board their yacht, the Emerald,
for a cruise in the Channel, visiting Southampton, Plymouth,
and Torquay. At each place they were welcomed by loyal
addresses from the local authorities. The enthusiasm of the
people was great ; and if the old King had been annoyed at
the homage paid to the mother and daughter during their tour
by land, he was more chagrined than ever by the popular

50 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

demonstrations of loyalty which attended their progress by
water. He sent forth a royal decree that an end should be put
to the continual " poppings " of the ships in the Channel in the
way of salutes to the Duchess of Kent's yacht The naval
authorities were of opinion that the royal ladies were legally
entitled to the salutes, whereupon the irate King endeavoured
to coerce the Duchess into waiving her right to them ; but Her
Royal Highness replied with becoming dignity : " If the King
would offer me a slight in the face of his people, he can offer it
so easily that he should not ask me to make the task easier."
We fear there were young midshipmen irreverent enough to
cry, " That's * one * for the King," as they tossed their caps in
the air and gave three cheers for the pretty, blue-eyed Princess,
who was so merrily sailing the waters of the Channel under
the care of her dignified mamma. The King finally ended the
miserable contention by summoning the Privy Council to pass
an order that henceforth no salute should be offered to any
vessel flying the royal flag unless the King or the Queen were
on board. The Court chronicler very fittingly describes this
as a " council for a foolish business."

It was during her cruise on the Emerald that the Princess
met with her third narrow escape from death. She was sitting
on deck when the yacht came into collision with another vessel
so violently that the top-mast of the Emerald fell close to
the Princess, and would have struck her but for the timely
intervention of the pilot, Mr. Saunders, who snatched her up in
his arms and carried her to a place of safety. The Queen never
forgot her gallant preserver. She promoted him to the rank
of Master when she ascended the throne, and cared for his
widow and children after his death.

52 IHE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

Princess Victoria. The Queen has related that she regarded
her with the warmest affection, although she stood much in
awe of her. It has already been told how the Baroness
acquainted her pupil with her nearness to the throne, and it
would appear from the Baroness's letters of this period that she
had been absent for a time from Kensington Palace, and
returned there from Paris in May, 1831. "My Princess," she
writes, "will be twelve years old to-morrow. She is not tall,
but very pretty, has dark blue eyes, and a mouth which, though
not tiny, is very good-tempered and pleasant, very fine teeth,
a small but graceful figure, and a very small foot. She was
dressed (to receive me) in white muslin with a coral necklet.
Her whole bearing is so childish and engaging that one could
not desire a more amiable child." Again she writes, shortly
afterwards, that her Princess "flourishes in goodness and
beauty."

It was now thought, however, desirable by the King that
an English governess should be appointed for the Princess in
conjunction with the Baroness, and His Majesty selected for
this important post Charlotte Florentia (Clive), third Duchess
of Northumberland and second daughter of the first Earl of
Powis. It was the duty of the Duchess to instruct her pupil
in matters of Court etiquette and ceremonial, to train her in
deportment, and to generally instruct her in the lighter
graces. How apt was the pupil and how well the instructress
succeeded in her delicate task was evinced by the almost
startling ease and grace of manner which distinguished
the girl-Queen when she first ascended the throne. It is
the universal testimony of all who have been about the
Queen that she is unsurpassed for graciousness and aueenly

bearing. Madame Bourdin instructed her in dancing, and
the famous vocalist, Luigi Lablachc, in singing. The Princess
must surely have derived some entertainment from her
singing-master, for he is reported to have been of such
huge dimensions that one of bis boots would have made
a small portmanteau, and a child might have been clad
in one of his gloves. His portentous vuicc rang through
ihc house like a great bell. His wife is said to have been
aroused by a sound in the middle of the night which she took

S4 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

for the tocsin announcing a fire ; but it was only Lablachc
producing in his sleep these bell-like sounds.

Mr. Bernard Sale continued to instruct the Princess in
music, and Mr. Richard Westall, R.A., in drawing and painting,
in which she grew so proficient that, had she been " Miss "
instead of the Princess Victoria, her tutor was of opinion that
she would have been the first woman artist of the day. She
once told her tutor that her pencil was a source of great
delight to her, and that it was a study in which she would
willingly spend more of her time than in any other. This
talent has been inherited by all the Queen's daughters, but
more especially by the Princess Louise, who is both artist
and sculptor. Mr. Stewart, the writing- and arithmetic-master
at Westminster School, instructed the Princess in those branches
of education.

From the well-known riding-master of the day, Mr. Fozard,
the Princess was rapidly acquiring that grace in the saddle of
which old people never tire of speaking, as they recall the days
when they saw the girl-Queen cantering down the Row. Her
mother was her chief instructress in languages ; Mr. Amos
trained her in the difficult paths of constitutional history ; while
her chief preceptor in Greek, Latin, mathematics, theology, and
literature continued to be her childhood's tutor, the Rev. George
Davys, who had been made Dean of Chester, and was eventually
to be Bishop of Peterborough. The Queen constantly speaks
of him as " my kind, good master." The Duchess of Kent
thought very highly of her daughter's tutor, who also served
as domestic chaplain at Kensington Palace. An amusing
story used to be told by him. " I like your sermons so
much, Mr. Dean," said the Duchess one day, adding, as he

bowed low, "because tlicy are so short." I am indebted to
his son, Canon Davys, for a corrected version of the story,
What the Duchess really said was that she liked the Dean's
sermons because they were so goad and so short. Bishop
Davys' modesty or his sense of humour led him to omit the
word "good" when he told the story.

The reverend tutor had a quiet humour, and enjoyed his
pupil's clever repartees. The Dean had been preaching from
his favourite text, "Whatsoever a man sowcth, that shall he also
reap." The Princess asked, " Do not men reap anything but
what they sow?" "Yes," replied the Dean, "if they allow
some one to come and sow tares amongst their wheat." "Ah,
I know who that some one is," said the Princess, "and I must
Jtcep him at arm's length." " At arm's length only, your

56 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

Royal Highness?" rejoined the Dean. "Well, if 1 keep him
there, he won't do much harm," was the quick reply.

Bishop Davys was fond of telling another story as illus-
trating his young pupil's fearless truthfulness. The Princess
had been giving trouble to her tutor over her lessons one
morning, and the Baroness Lehzen had occasion to reprove
her. When the Duchess of Kent came into the room, she
inquired after her daughter's behaviour. The Baroness reported
that the Princess had been naughty once. But the little culprit
interrupted her with, " Twice^ Lehzen ; don't you remember ? "
A less partial judge than Bishop Davys might have discovered
a little sauciness in this very truthful statement

The Bishop was an exceedingly good elocutionist, and it is
to his careful training that the Princess owed her clear and
expressive intonation. She was very fond of good literature,
and read principally in the English classics ; Pope, Drydcn, and
Shakespeare being special favourites. The " Spectator " was
the class book chiefly used by the Princess, and she also read
the Latin authors under her tutor's direction. To him also
she looked for religious guidance in the solemn ceremony of
confirmation, for which she was now preparing. There is every
evidence to show that her feelings at this period were of a
serious and devout kind. On the 30th of August, 1835, the
Princess stood in her simple white confirmation dress in the
Chapel Royal of St. James's. The Archbishop of Canterbury
and the Bishop of London officiated at the ceremony, which
was entirely private. There were present the King and Queen,
the Duchess of Kent, the Duchess of Saxe- Weimar, and several
other members of the royal family. The address of the Arch-
bishop was tender and solemni and as he dwelt upon the

58 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

state of health ; in fact, at the close of her fifteenth year her
condition caused general concern. When, after her recovery,
she was again seen driving with her mother in Hyde Park,
the demonstration of joy shown by the people amounted to an
ovation. We find her now emerging from the unformed period
of girlhood into maidenly maturity and comeliness. She was
seen more frequently at public places of amusement, and her
fresh, fair face, peeping from under the huge bonnet of the
period, was the delight of the London crowds. The extreme
simplicity of attire which had distinguished her as a child was
exchanged for rich and tasteful costumes. In the summer of
183s, she accompanied Queen Adelaide to the Ascot races,
and as she drove in the royal procession to the racecourse
her pretty appearance was much talked of. She wore a large
pink bonnet and a rose-coloured satin frock, which matched
the roses on her checks and contrasted nicely with her fair
hair and blue eyes. Mr. Nathaniel Parker Willis, the American
writer, then visiting London, has recorded his impressions of
the Princess as he saw her at Ascot. He came to the conclu-
sion that she was quite " unnecessarily pretty and interesting "
for a royal princess. " She will be sold, poor thing ! " continues
this youth of eighteen, " bartered away by those great dealers
in royal hearts, whose calculations will not be of much
consolation to her if she happens to have a taste of her own."
Not so fast, Mr. Willis ; the Prince Charming will shortly
appear to woo and win the fair Princess in the pink bonnet
and the rose-coloured dress, and she has ** a taste of her own,
and will show it."

In the autumn of this year the Princess and her mother
made another " royal progress," this time through East Anglia.

6o THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

say so, but we are afraid the Princess laughed at the contretemps,
A ball followed, which was opened by Lord Exeter and the
Princess, who after dancing one dance went to bed ; the
Duchess never allowing any festivity to interfere with the
simple routine of her daughter's life. Next day the royal
ladies set off to Holkham, where they were the guests of the
Lady Anne Coke. Separate bedrooms had been prepared
for the Princess and her mother ; but the Duchess desired that
a bed should be provided for her daughter in her own room,
as they never slept apart. The Earl of Albemarle, who came
to assist his sister, Lady Anne Coke, to entertain the royal
visitors, records in his autobiography that the Princess " had
most sweet and winning manners."

In May, 1836, when the Princess was seventeen, there came
to Kensington Palace some very interesting visitors — the Duke
of Coburg and his two sons, Ernest and Albert It was the
first meeting of the Princess Victoria and her cousin Prince
Albert. Fond relatives had destined the two for each other
from their cradles ; but the happiness of the Princess was too
dear both to her mother and to her uncle. King Leopold, for
any coercion to be used. It was arranged for the young
people to meet without reference being made to any tenderer
tie than that of cousinship. They passed several weeks in
each other's society, playing duets on the piano, sketching,
walking and riding in Kensington Gardens, and attending
some functions in town. Prince Albert, writing home regarding
this visit, said : " Dear aunt is very kind to us, and does every-
thing she can to please us, and our cousin also is very amiable."
The Queen, in after years, gave the following description of
her husband at this period : " The Prince was at this time very

handsome, but very stout, which he entirely grew out of after-
wards. He was most amiable, natural, unaffceted, and merry —
full of interest in everything." Baron Stockmar, that judicious
person whose business it was to attentively scrutinise the
Prince Albert, had already reported to "Uncle Leopold" that
he was endowed with the personal characteristics " likely to
please the sex," and that his mental qualities were also of
a high order.

62 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

At the end of a month the Duke of Coburg and his sons
left Kensington and returned to Germany. The Princess
parted from each of her cousins with equal affectionateness,
but we find that Prince Albert is mentioned with special
tenderness in a letter to her Uncle Leopold. Prince Albert
too, during his Continental travels, which followed the visit
to Kensington, collected views of the places which he visited,
and sent them in an album to the Princess, together with a
rose gathered from the top of the Rigi. Now a rose is a rose
the whole world over when passed between man and maid,
even though it be a dried one from the top of the Rigi.
Still we are told that there was nothing between Princess
Victoria and her handsome cousin at this time. It was well
known that the King did not favour such an alliance for his
niece, and was disposed to give his help to one of the other
suitors, for, like " Portia," the young Princess was bewildered
by the number of Princes who came wooing. There were five
suitors at this time besides Prince Albert We find a letter
of the period in which an application is made on behalf of
Prince Adalbert of Prussia that he might be permitted "to
place himself on the list of those who pretend to the hand
of the Princess Victoria." The Duchess of Kent replied that
such an application must be referred to the King, adding,
" But if I know my duty to the King, I know also my maternal
ones, and I am of opinion that the Princess should not marry
till she is much older." So in the meantime Prince Albert
was travelling and studying in order to be a fit consort, if
fortune favoured him, for the Queen of Great Britain ; the
other five suitors were kept at a distance, and the Princess
continued to live her happy, quiet life at Kensington Palace.

THE GIRLHOOD OF QUEEN VICTORIA 65

On the 2 1 St of August, 1836, the King celebrated his
seventy-first birthday by a State dinner, at which the Princess
Victoria occupied a prominent position. Unfortunately it proved
to be the most terrible ordeal through which the Princess had
yet passed. The King in his after-dinner speech made this
cruel thrust at the Duchess of Kent. " I trust in God," he said,
•* that my life may be spared nine months longer, after which
period, in event of my death, no regency will take place. I
shall then have the satisfaction of leaving the royal authority
to the personal exercise of that young lady " (here the King
indicated the Princess Victoria, who sat on the opposite side
of the table), "the heiress-presumptive of the Crown, not in
the hands of a person now near to me" (here the King turned
in an angry manner and glanced at the Duchess of Kent, who
sat at his side). He continued his angry tirade, to the effect
that he had been insulted by the Duchess having kept away
her daughter from his Court, and commanded that in future
the Princess should upon all occasions appear. The Duchess
of Kent received this brutal outburst with dignified silence, but
the warm-hearted Princess burst into tears. After dinner the
Duchess ordered her carriage, and was about to depart with
her daughter ; but by the intercession of the Good Queen
Adelaide she was prevailed upon to remain at the Castle
for the night.

Nine months later, on the 24th of May, 1837, the Princess
Victoria attained her legal majority. This, her eighteenth
birthday, was celebrated with every demonstration of regard
and attachment by the inhabitants of Kensington. At six
o'clock the Union Jack was hoisted at the summit of the old
church on the green opposite the Palace ; while from the

66 THE PUtSOSAL LIFE OF QVEES VICTORIA

Palace itself floated a flag of pure white silk, upon which was
embroidered in letters of blue. ** Victoria.'* Xei'cr had the old
Court suburb looked gayer. Flags and colours were displa3^ed
from ever>- house along the High Street, and as early as six
o'clock in the morning the crowds began to throng into Ken-
sington Gardens. At sc\'cn o'clock a serenade was performed
beneath the w-indows of the Princess's room ; and all through
the day the great worid of London nocked to Kcnangton
Palace to i>ay congratuUior>- homage to the heiress-apparent,
who would ere long be i^^^^^ ^^^ ^c King was fast nearing
his end ; he was, indeed, so ill that their Majesties could not
take part in the festivities. At n.ght a State ball of unequalled
splendour was given at St. James's Faiace, and opened by the
Princess with a quadrille, in which she danced with Lord
Fitzalan, eldest son of the Earl of Surrey, and grandson of
the Duke of Norfolk. It was obscnxd by the guests that the
Princess now took precedence of her mother, occupying the
chair of State between the dances. During the days which
followed came congratulatory addresses from the municipal
authorities throughout the country*, and one from the City of
London. The King presented his niece with a handsome grand
piano, and many beautiful and costly presents were sent to her
from all parts of the empire. Ten days later a Drawing-Room
was held to celebrate the Princess's majority, and this proved
to be her last appearance at Couit as the Princess Victoria,
With her womanhood came also her queenhood.

THE AIAWE.^ AtOXARUl

(>7

66 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

Palace itself floated a flag of pure white silk, upon which was
embroidered in letters of blue, " Victoria." Never had the old
Court suburb looked gayer. Flags and colours were displayed
from every house along the High Street, and as early as six
o'clock in the morning the crowds began to throng into Ken-
sington Gardens. At seven o'clock a serenade was performed
beneath the windows of the Princess's room ; and all through
the day the great world of London flocked to Kensington
Palace to pay congratulatory homage to the heiress-apparent,
who would ere long be Queen, for the King was fast nearing
his end ; he was, indeed, so ill that their Majesties could not
take part in the festivities. At night a State ball of unequalled
splendour was given at St. James's Palace, and opened by the
Princess with a quadrille, in which she danced with Lord
Fitzalan, eldest son of the Earl of Surrey, and grandson of
the Duke of Norfolk. It was observed by the guests that the
Princess now took precedence of her mother, occupying the
chair of State between the dances. During the days which
followed came congratulatory addresses from the municipal
authorities throughout the country, and one from the City of
London. The King presented his niece with a handsome grand
piano, and many beautiful and costly presents were sent to her
from all parts of the empire. Ten days later a Drawing- Room
was held to celebrate the Princess's majority, and this proved
to be her last appearance at Court as the Princess Victoria.
With her womanhood came also her queenhood.

THE MAIDEN MONARCH

Ill

THE MAIDEN MONARCH

ON the 17th of June, 1837, it was rumoured in Court circles
that His Majesty King William IV. was rapidly sinking,
and that the Archbishop had gone to Windsor to administer
the last Sacrament. Three days later came the tidings, " The
King is dead." He expired shortly after two o'clock in the
morning ; and without loss of time my Lord Archbishop Howley
and the Chamberlain, Lord Conyngham, left Windsor, and
took coach for London to announce to the Princess Victoria
her accession to the throne of the British Empire. The old
king of seventy-six was succeeded by the maiden of eighteen.

Driving post haste along the silent roads, in the opening
dawn of the June morning, the Lord Primate and the Lord
Chamberlain reached Kensington Palace at five o'clock. All
was silent, save the singing of the birds, who fittingly were
the first of living creatures to serenade the Maiden Monarch,
as eighteen years ago they had welcomed her birth, in the
same old Palace, with similar song. The lordly messengers
had much ado to awake the sleeping household. They knocked,
they rang, they thumped for a considerable time before they
could rouse the porter at the gates, and they were again kept
waiting in the courtyard. Finally, after much ringing of bells.

70 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

the attendant of the Princess Victoria appeared, and informed
their lordships that her royal mistress was in such a sweet sleep
that she could not venture to disturb her. Then said they : " We
are come to the Queen on business of State, and even her sleep
must give way to that." It did ; and, to prove that she did not

•

keep them waiting, " in a few minutes she came into the room
in a loose white nightgown and shawl, her nightcap thrown off,
and her hair falling upon her shoulders, her feet in slippers,
tears in her eyes, but perfectly collected and dignified."

This piquant bit of description, regarding the young Queen's
appearance, is from Miss Wynn's "Diaries of a Lady of
Quality " ; and although it is repeated by most biographers of
Her Majesty, and has been given the dignity of historic record
by Mr. Justin McCarthy in his " History of Our Own Times,"
it must not be overlooked that Mr. Greville, Clerk of the
Council, who arrived at the Palace a few hours later, and
received his information from the Lord Chamberlain, relates
that, " On the morning of the King's death the Archbishop of
Canterbury and Lord Conyngham arrived at Kensington at
five o'clock, and immediately desired to see 'the Queen.' They
were ushered into an apartment, and in a few minutes the door
opened, and she came in wrapped in a dressing-gown, and with
slippers on her naked feet." We are inclined to think that the
Queen would and did put on her dressing-gown before giving
audience to the Primate and Chamberlain, although in the
excitement of the occasion some one may have mistaken it for
her nightdress. In 1863, when Dean Stanley was on a visit
to Osborne, he asked Her Majesty if she would give him an
account of how the news of her accession was conveyed to her,
which she did in the following words : " It was about 6 a.m.

that mamma came and called mc, and said ! must go to
see Lord Conyngham directly— alone. I got up, put on my
dressing-gown, and went into a room where I found Lord
Conyngham, who knelt and kissed my hand, and gave me the
certificate of the King's death. In an hour from that time
Baron Stockmar came. He had been sent over by King
Leopold on hearing of the King's dangerous illness. At 2 pm.
that same day I went to the Council led by my two uncles, llie
King of Hanover and the Duke of Cambridge." All accounts

72 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

agree that, immediately the momentous tidings of her accession
were conveyed to the Queen, she turned to the Primate, and
said, " I ask your Grace to pray for me." And so was begun,
with the tears and prayers of a pure young girl, the glorious
reign of Victoria.

Immediately after the announcement had been made to the
Queen of her accession preparations were made at Kensington
Palace for the holding of her first Council. Many who were
present at that most memorable Board have recorded their
testimony to the admirable composure of the young girl
suddenly called to such a trying ordeal. " Had she been my
own daughter," said the Duke of Wellington, " I could not have
wished to see her play her part better " ; and Sir Robert Peel,
speaking of the Queen's demeanour, said : " There is something
which art cannot make and which lessons cannot teach ; there
was that in her demeanour which could only be suggested by a
high and generous nature." A little incident occurred during
the administration of the Oath for the security of the Church
of Scotland which showed that the young Queen was not
disposed to be overawed by her Ministers. When she had
occasion to recapitulate the title of an old Act of Parliament in
which the word " intitulatcd " was used instead of " entitled,"
Lord Melbourne, standing by her side, said, " Entitled, please,
your Majesty." She turned quickly towards him with a look of
surprise, and looking again at the paper repeated in a louder
voice, " An Act intitulatcd." When the Council was over, she
went to her mother's room, and with deep emotion expressed
her inability to realise that she really was Queen, and requested
that she should be left absolutely alone for two hours to think
over the responsibilities lying before her.

THE MAIDEN MONARCH

To the Good Queen Adelaide, who had been to her like a
second mother, the young Queen showed the most thoughtful
regard. Almost her first act, after meeting the Council, was to
write to the sorrowing widow a letter of affectionate condolence,
which she addressed to " Her Majesty the Queen," delicately
refusing to remind her aunt that she was no longer entitled to
that diitinction. When Colonel Wood, who was conducting
executive business for the Dowager Queen Adelaide, after the
funeral of the King, represented to Her Majesty that there were
some little things at Windsor Castle which the Dowager would
like to retain, she replied, " Oh, Colonel, let the dear Queen have
them by all means, and anything else in the Castle which she
may desire." Later on, when the young Queen had removed
with her Court to Windsor, she noticed that a bed of violets
which her Aunt Adelaide had cherished were in bloom, and

74 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

gave directions for the flowers to be gathered and despatched,
with her love, to the widowed Queen. A very simple act,
but one which showed that queenhood had not spoiled the
simple, loving nature of Victoria,

At ten o'clock, on the morning after her accession, the
Queen, accompanied by her mother, and attended by a train
of coaches carrying her lords and ladies, and escorted by
cavalry, drove to St. James's Palace to be publicly proclaimed.
All the avenues leading to the Palace were lined with people,
and prominent in one of the balconies was the striking figure
of Daniel O'Connell, whose loyalty knew no bounds. While
the Proclamation was being read, the " little Queen " stood at
the window of the Presence Chamber, in view of the people, a
somewhat pathetic figure. She was dressed in deep mourning
with white cuff's, a white tippet, and a border of white crape,
under what the " Court Chronicle " calls a " small " black
bonnet — small for the period of enormous headgear, we may
add — which was placed far back on her head, showing her
light hair, simply parted over her forehead in the " pure virginal
style." She was looking very pale, but retained her composure
while the routine of the ceremonial was proceeding. When,
however, the cannon began to thunder, the trumpets sounded,
the band struck up the National Anthem, and the plaudits of
the people, crying, " God Save the Queen," rent the air —

*'She saw no purple shine,

For tears had dimmed her eyes ;

She only knew her childhood's flowers
Were happier pageantries!

And while the heralds played their parts
Those million shouts to drown —

76 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VIC20RIA

over this change in her attire, hoping that it might not be
misconstrued as an act of disrespect to the late King, for, she
added, " I was in black, notwithstanding." When Wilkie was
painting the picture, he had occasion to remark upon the
Queen's orderliness. "She appoints a sitting once in two
days/* he writes, "and she never puts me oflF." The painter's
courtly enthusiasm also leads him to descant upon the lovely
form in which the regal power had now appeared. He writes :
" Her Majesty is an elegant person ; seems to lose nothing of
her authority, either by her youth or delicacy ; is approached
with the same awe, and obeyed with the same promptitude,
as the most commanding of her predecessors."

On the 13th of July the Queen, accompanied by her mother,
quitted Kensington, and took up her abode at Buckingham
Palace. It must have been a period of sad good-byes, for the
young Queen was quitting the home of her birth and the haunts
of her childhood, as well as leaving many loyal hearts around
whom her own had entwined. No one was forgotten in her
leave-takings ; even a poor sick girl, the daughter of Hillman,
an old servant of her father's, was made happy by the present
of a book of Psalms marked with the dates of the days on
which the Queen had been accustomed to read them, and in
the book was a marker with a peacock worked on it by her
own hands.

It was a great contrast from historic Kensington,, with its
homely surroundings, to the new grandeur of Buckingham
Palace ; and we fancy the Queen must have experienced a chill
of repugnance as she took up her abode there. It is invariably
spoken of in the journals of the period as the " New Palace at
Pimlico," for it was not yet quite completed, and workmen

Sc^ m£ PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

lVincc5S Charlotte with her first-born son, hoped the Queen
would not rush into the perils of marriage and maternity too
$oon. and some even thought it might be safer for her to copy
the example of Elizabeth in abjuring wedlock altogether. The
)vung folks did not mind so long as she married for love.
The condition of susceptible young men was indeed tragic.
Some shot themselves, and some went mad all for love of the
virgin Queen. One gentleman of position was reduced to
weeding the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens in the hope
of obtaining a sight of her, and when the Queen left for
Buckingham Palace he had his phaeton in readiness, and drove
in front of her carriage all the way to town. He continued to
make himself so obtrusive that the authorities were obliged to
take him in hand.

Charles Dickens was one of the youths who had a severe
attack of Queen fever ; happily he recovered, or we should not
have received anything from his pen beyond the " Pickwick
Papers." His youthful aberration must have come to the great
novelist's memory with amusement when, at the climax of his
fame, he was commanded to lunch with the Queen at Windsor,
and received from her hands a copy of Her Majesty's "Tour
in the Highlands," inscribed with the words : " From the
humblest to the most distinguished author in England"

Meantime in the New Palace Her Majesty was holding
countless functions. A gorgeous new throne, upholstered in
crimson velvet with gold trimmings, had been set up, and the
gay young Queen tried it, in sportive mood, and said that it
was "the most comfortable throne she had ever sat upon."
Deputations from the universities, the corporations, and different
•odeties throughout the kingdom trooped to Buckingham

8a THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

uncovered not in presence of peasant or of king. What was to
be done ? There was no red tape about her youthful majesty,
and a compromise was made with the sturdy Quakers that as
the deputation ascended the grand staircase of Buckingham
Palace the Yeomen of the Guard should lift each man's hat
for him. Miss Grace Greenwood relates that when she asked
Joseph Sturge whether his principles permitted him to kiss the
Queen's hand, he answered, " Oh yes, and found that act of
homage no hardship, I assure thee. It was a fair, soft, delicate
little hand." Another unique ceremony performed by the
Queen was presiding over a Chapter of the Order of the Garter
for the purpose of bestowing the vacant ribbon on her half-
brother, the Prince of Leiningen. The occasion was too
tempting for the gossip-mongers, and a story went the round
of the papers that the Queen, when arranging her dress for
the ceremonial, sent for the venerable Field Marshal, the
Duke of Norfolk, and asked with charming natveti^ " But,
my Lord Duke, where am I to wear the garter?" His
Grace was able to assure Her Majesty that it might be worn
as an armlet, according to the custom adopted by Queen
Anne.

On the 17th of July, scarcely a month after her accession,
the Queen prorogued Parliament in person. It was said that
the Duchess of Kent and Her Majesty's physician endeavoured
to persuade her not to undertake such an exciting ordeal. In
fact, the " old folks " about the young Queen undoubtedly
showed a disposition to keep her away from great public
ceremonials, thinking it not "quite nice" for a young maiden
to be exhibited to a thronging populace. They had counted
without their host Victoria had made up her mind to be a

84 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

of velvet, trimmed with ermine. The robe was confined at
the waist and shoulders with a gold cord and tassels. Her
stomacher was a mass of flashing jewels, and she wore diamond
bracelets and the armlet of the Garter. On her arrival at the
House the upper part of her dress was exchanged for the
parliamentary robes of crimson and ermine. She laughed and
chatted gaily with her ladies as they robed her, and, preceded
by the heralds and lords-in-waiting and attended by all the
great officers of State, entered the House, wearing for the first
time a diadem upon her brow. She ascended the throne with
a firm step, and remained standing and smiling as the lords-in-
waiting completed her attire with the mantle of purple velvet.
Then in musical accents came the words, " My Lords, be
seated," and the time-honoured ceremonial began. The reading
of the Queen's speech was the event of the day. " I never
heard anything better read in my life than her speech," wrote
Charles Sumner, who was present ; and the Duke of Sussex,
when she had finished, wiped his ^y^s as he exclaimed,
" Beautiful ! beautiful ! "

As soon as the Queen was settled at Windsor Castle she
received a visit from her Uncle Leopold, King of the Belgians,
and his consort Louise, daughter of Louis Philippe. One can
imagine that the royal hostess spared no pains to fittingly
entertain the uncle to whose kindness she owed so much in
childhood. The Queen was her own housekeeper, so far as
circumstances permitted, and she managed things right royally,
but never contracted a debt. She arranged dinner-parties,
had delightful impromptu dances, picnics on Virginia Water,
organised riding- and driving-parties, and got up little evening
concerts, at the Castle, at which she frequently sang herself

86 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICIORIA

and skirt and a military cap with a deep gold border. From
Windsor she proceeded to Brighton, took possession of the
Pavilion, and had a gay time as she took the sea air. She was
back again in London in November, and on Lord Mayor's Day
made a State entrance into the City, knighted the Mayor and
the two Sheriffs (one of whom was Sir Moses Montefiore),
and dined at the Guildhall. Never had Gog and Magog looked
down upon a fairer guest than the young Queen in her pink
and silver brocaded silk gown. A little contretemps happened
at the dinner. Her Majesty's lace ruffles, having accidentally
become entangled with her bouquet and fan, which, with her
smelling-bottle, she had laid on the table beside her plate, were
the occasion of breaking the wine-glass from which she had
just drunk the toast of the Lord Mayor and the City of London
— an accident which caused her some little annoyance. On the
20th of November the Queen opened her first Parliament, and
was greeted during her progress to the House by the most
loyal demonstrations. The question of the Civil List was
settled during the session, and the sum of ;^385,ooo was voted
as the annual income for the young sovereign. One of the
first things which Her Majesty did with her income was to pay
her father's debts, contracted before she was born. It was
also said that the Duchess of Kent met with a pleasant surprise
one morning when she found on her breakfast table receipts
for all outstanding debts. It must be remembered that the
Duke of Kent owed his monetary difficulties to his generosity,
and that his income was inadequate for a royal duke.

But to turn to the more arduous side of the Queen's life.
Upon her accession she made her choice in favour of being a
working Queen rather than a show monarch, and it became the

88 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

had read it When the Prime Minister apologised for bringing
so many business despatches, the Queen replied : " My Lord,
the attention required from me is only a change of occupation.
I have not hitherto led a life of leisure, for I have not long left
my lessons." There are many well-known stories about the
business exactitude of the young sovereign and of her conscien-
tious scruples; and it is said that Lord Melbourne declared
that he "would rather manage ten kings than one queen,"
notwithstanding that the courtly Melbourne liked his posi-
tion of chief adviser to a lovely young Queen vastly. He
was close upon sixty years of age, cultured, polished, every
inch a courtier, a man of the world, and a man of honour.
There is no doubt that he was an old beau and devoted to
the sex. He had no family of his own, no one to love, and
he devoted himself to the young Queen with the affection of
a father. He was the leader of the Whig Party, then in
power; but even the Tory leaders acknowledged his aptitude
for the delicate post of adviser to the Maiden Monarch. The
Duke of Wellington said, " I have no small talk, and Peel has
no manners, and so the Queen must be left to Melbourne."
The Prime Minister's attitude to Her Majesty was far from
obsequious, but it conveyed respectful deference, and was
winning and sincere. He lived at the Castle, and for the
Queen's sake accustomed himself to a mode of life which in
other circumstances would have been an intolerable "bore."
In the Queen's presence he usually took care only to speak
the Queen's English, and pruned his speech of all needless
expletives ; but on one occasion he forgot himself. He was
sitting in his accustomed place at the Queen's left hand at
dinner, when the conversation turned upon the recent con-

90 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

her minister that he might discuss the Com Laws with her
in private.

The persons who exercised the chief influence upon the
Queen at this time were Baron Stockmar, the trusted friend
of her uncle, King Leopold, who had been despatched by
him to the British Court to watch over his niece's welfare ;
the Baroness Lehzen, her former governess, and now her
private secretary; the beautiful Duchess of Sutherland, her
favourite lady-in-waiting; and, of course, her mother, the
Duchess of Kent, who was always her daughter's loved com-
panion, though she took no part in affairs of State. Still, it
was to Lord Melbourne that the young Queen always turned
for advice. The oracular Stockmar, who became such an
important figure in Court circles after Her Majesty's marriage,
remained at present in the background. His chief function
was to watch " how the wind blew " with regard to Prince
Albert of Coburg, the devoted lover whom the coy young
Queen was keeping at a distance. In homely phrase, she
meant "to enjoy herself for a few years before she got
married"

The Queen's life at Windsor was regulated with due
regard for her many duties. She rose at eight, breakfasted
with her mother — who was so strict in her observance of
etiquette that she never came to her Queen-daughter's presence
until she was summoned — then, dressed in her white silk robe
de c/t/xmbre^ the Queen received Lord Melbourne in her
boudoir, read the despatches, and transacted State business.
Later in the morning she gave audience, when necessary, to
Cabinet Ministers. At two o'clock she rode out, generally at
full gallop, attended by her numerous suite, and with Lord

h._

92 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

always remained standing in the drawing-room until they made
their appearance. The evening was spent in music and con-
versation, varied by quadrille parties ; the Duchess of Kent
always having her rubber of whist At half-past eleven the
Queen retired. Her life at Windsor was varied by sojourns
at Buckingham Palace and at the Pavilion at Brighton. Where-
ever she was, each hour of the day was mapped out, and she
spent no idle moments, having the happy faculty for working
when she worked and playing when she played. If the
Queen had led a quiet, uneventful girlhood, she certainly made
up for lost time now, and there was no one in Her Majesty's
dominions who enjoyed life with its pleasures and gaieties more
thoroughly.

And so the months passed swiftly by until in the merry
month of June all the town was agog for the Coronation.
Country cousins came flocking in by the thousand. Every hotel
and lodging-house was filled from garret to basement, and
there was not a private house without staying-guests. It was
calculated that there were some five hundred thousand people
from the provinces in London, in addition to the distinguished
representatives from every court in Europe, with their retinues.
On the morning of the 28th, at seventeen minutes past three,
just as the first streak of dawn appeared in the horizon, a salute
of twenty-one guns heralded in the auspicious day, and from
every tower and steeple rang out a joyous peal. The hundreds
and thousands of the poorer folk who had passed the night in
the streets looked anxiously at some ominous dark clouds in
the sky, but after a slight shower they dispersed, and the sun
shone bright and gloriously.

At five o'clock the doors of Westminster Abbey were thrown

open to the eager crowd of ticket-holders, and the bells of
St Margaret's clanged and pealed.

At length the firing of the Park guns announced that the
royal procession had left the Palace. At the boisterous salute
the young Queen put her hands to her ears in mock alarm,
and then chatted merrily with the Duchess of Sutherland, who.
as Mistress of the Robes, rode in the carriage with her. The
Queen wore a dress of crimson velvet and ermine richly
adorned with diamonds and pearls. On her head was a gold
circlet fixed on to a cap of purple velvet hned with white taffeta
and turned up with ermine. Eight lovely girls of the highest
nobility, dressed in white silk, with blush-roses, attended like
a bevy of fairy nymphs to bear her train.

Her Majesty's State carriage was drawn by eight cream-
coloured horses, and the equipages of the foreign ainbassador&

94 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

were in corresponding magnificence. For length and picturesque
effect no such procession had ever passed along the streets
of London. The " old folks " about her had endeavoured to
persuade the young Queen not to have a public procession ;
but while she willingly renounced the time-honoured banquet
at Westminster Hall, she insisted upon coming out amongst
her people, and chose the most circuitous route to the Abbey.
Once the traces of her carriage broke, and she sat with perfect
composure while the damage was repaired ; and when at
another point the crowd pressed so closely that the equipage
was brought to a standstill, she gave orders to wait awhile, and
would not allow her guards to use violence to the people. This
thoughtfulness had its reward. The coronation of the Maiden
Monarch was a white day ; not a single fatal accident marred
its joyousness. The Duchess of Kent's carriage was stopped
more than once by exuberant citizens, who insisted upon shaking
hands with her as a token of approval of the manner in which
she had reared their Queen. Marshal Soult came in for
vociferous cheering, and Waterloo was forgotten as he and the
Duke of Wellington shook hands.

An eye-witness relates that the Queen entered the Abbey
" gay as a lark and looking like a girl on her birthday." A
moment of breathless silence preceded her entry ; then from
choir and organ burst forth the strains of the anlhem, " I was
glad when they said unto me. Let us go into the house of
the Lord," as, with her brilliant following, she swept slowly
along to the centre of the choir. The anthem now gave
place to a thrilling rendering of " God Save the Queen," with
trumpet accompaniment. The cannon boomed, but the sound
was deadened by the tumultuous acclamations within the

THE MAIDEN MONARCH 95

Abbey as the Queen reached the Recognition Chair, beside
the altar. She knelt a few moments in silent prayer. When
she arose, the Westminster boys seized the golden opportunity,
and, rising en masse, shouted with one voice, " Victoria,
Victoria ! Vivat Victoria Regina ! "

The Archbishop now presented the Queen to the people
in the quaint formula, "Sirs, I here present unto you Queen
Victoria, the undoubted Queen of this realm ; wherefore, all
you who are come this day to do your homage, are you
willing to do the same?" which was answered from all points
of the compass, as Her Majesty turned to the north, to the
south, to the cast, and to the west, by " Long Live Queen
Victoria," accompanied by the blowing of trumpets and the
waving of banners.

The Coronation, with its various ceremonies, civil and
religious, lasted more than four hours, and throughout the
Queen played her part with wonderful composure. Care had
been taken to provide a crown suitable for her small head ;
but no one had thought about reducing the size of the orb
which she was required to carry in her tiny hand. "What
am I to do with it?*' she asked in concern. "Carry it, your
Majesty," replied Lord John Thynne. "Am I? It is very
heavy," the Queen answered in a tone of amazement How-
ever, it was too late for protest, and she obeyed the exigencies
of the situation. A worse mistake had been made with regard
to the ruby coronation-ring. The jeweller had made it to fit
Her Majesty's little finger, whereas the Archbishop declared
that according to the rubric it must be put upon the larger
finger, and accordingly forced it into that position. The
Queen bore her painfully swelling finger with the same

96 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

heroism that she carried the weighty orb. Afterwards the
iinger was so much swollen that it had to be bathed in iced
water before the ring could be drawn off.

The supreme moment of the ceremony came when the
crown was placed upon the Queen's head. At the same
instant the peers and peeresses put on their coronets, the
bishops their mitres, the heralds their caps, whilst the trumpets
sounded, the drums beat, the cannon outside fired, the Tower
guns answered, and the people within and without rent the
air with shouts of " God Save the Queen ! " After this came
the ceremony of the Homage, when all the Lords spiritual
and temporal ascended the steps of the throne, and, taking
off their coronets, touched the crown on the Queen's head,
repeated the quaint oath of allegiance, and kissed her hand.
Formerly it had been the cheek of the monarch which was
kissed. During the Homage occurred the episode of old Lord
Rolle, who was so infirm that his effort to ascend the steps
to the throne resulted in his falling down, but such was his
loyalty that he again essayed the impossible feat. Then it
was that the Queen rose from the throne and held out her
hand to the old man, pityingly as a daughter might have
done. An old lady, who was present at the Coronation and
often described the scene to the present writer, when she
came to this part of the story used to lose all control of
the aspirates in her excitement, and invariably finished the
narration with : " And then, my dear, when the sweet young
Queen rose from her throne, and extended her hand for that
gouty old lord to kiss, I thought that the (H)Abbey would
have come down with the cheering."

It was four o'clock in the afternoon before the Queen

THE MAIDEN MONARCH

entered the Stale coach for the return journey. All the way
back to the Palace she smiled and bowed to the exultant
crowds, performing her part beautifully to the last, although
the strain of the day's work would have prostrated most
young ladies. On entering the Palace court and hearing the
bark of her favourite dog, she exclaimed, " There's Dash ; I
must go and give him his bath.*' It is easy to imagine with
what a sense of relief the young Queen put off her State
trappings, the ring which had caused her such discomfort,
and the heavy orb which had made her wrist ache, to have
a frolic with her pet and a brief rest before she received the
one hundred guests who composed her dinner-party that
evening. For several days revelry reigned throughout London,
and indeed in every place in the country. The poor were

98 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

feasted, the school-children had holiday, and business was
forgotten in one loyal burst of enthusiasm. The most notice-
able feature in the metropolis was the great Coronation Fair
in Hyde Park, lasting for four days, which the Queen honoured
with her presence.

BETROTHAL AND EARLY MARRIED UFE OF

QUEEN VICTORIA

BETROTHAL AND EARLY MARRIED UFE OF QUEEN

VICTORIA

WHEN Queen Victoria announced to her Prime
Minister that she had resolved to marry, Lord
Melbourne replied, with paternal solicitude : " Your Majesty
will be much more comfortable, for a woman cannot stand
alone for any time, in whatever position she may be."

This was in the autumn of 1839, and the previous six
months had probably been to the young Queen the most
unhappy which she had ever experienced, owing to the strifes
and jealousies of the two great political parties in the country.
The atmosphere of reserve in which Her Majesty was compelled
to live was very unnatural for a young girl, and oppressive
to one of her open, candid disposition. Often she must have
longed for the companionship of one with whom she could
be herself, unrestricted by r^al considerations. The happy
change which her marriage wrought in her isolated position
is thus expressed by the Queen : " We must all have trials
and vexations ; but if one's home is happy ^ then the rest is
comparatively nothing. . . . My happiness at home, the love
of my husband, his kindness, his advice, his support, and his
company make up for alL"

lOI

I02 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

There were many suitors for the hand of the fair occupant
of the greatest throne in the world, among them the Prince
of Orange ; and it is a curious coincidence that a former
Prince of Orange came a-wooing to the Princess Charlotte.
After a period of indecision, that royal lady dismissed her
suitor peremptorily, not, however, without going to the window
to take a last look at him as he mounted his horse, which
caused the ladies-in-waiting to think that the Princess was
about to relent ; but when, after gazing intently at his
retreating figure, clad in a scarlet uniform surmounted by a
hat with nodding green plumes, she exclaimed, " How like a
radish he looks!" it was felt that his fate was finally settled.
There are not any stories about Queen Victoria either receiving
or dismissing suitors, the proposals for her hand being made
officially and rejected in the same manner. The one love
episode of her life was with her cousin, Prince Albert, second
son of the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and all the
world knows of its happy fulfilment.

When a small boy, Prince Albert was often promised by
his nurse, as a reward for good behaviour, that he should
marry his cousin, the Princess Victoria. Such a union had
been designed by fond relatives when the children were yet
in their cradles, and became the darling hope of Grandmamma
of Coburg and Uncle Leopold, and was favoured by the
Queen's mother, the Duchess of Kent, though it was by no
means popular with King William IV. and the royal dukes.
A visit was paid by Prince Albert to the Duchess ol Kent,
at Kensington Palace, in 1836, and he then made a favourable
impression upon the Princess Victoria. The cousins rode,
sangi played, danced, and walked together, and enjoyed each

i^^^^^^^^^^l

^L ™X OOEI* IN WEDUING DBISS.

BETROTHAL AND EARLY MARRIED LIFE 105

other's society after the usual manner of a youth and maiden
at the impressionable age of seventeen. We have heard of
little love tokens exchanged, but it is not generally known
that a ring — a small enamel with a tiny diamond in the
centre — was given by the Prince to his pretty cousin during
this visit. This early gift from her lover has always been
worn by the Queen, together with her engagement-ring, a
beautiful emerald serpent, above her wedding-ring, which, we
believe, has never been taken off since her wedding-day.
One of her ladies tells the story that, when a sculptor was
modelling Her Majesty's hand, she was in an agony lest
the ring should come off with the plaster, which she would
have regarded as a bad omen.

After the return of the Prince to Germany, letters occa-
sionally passed between him and the Princess Victoria ; but
after her accession to the throne even these cousinly epistles
ceased. In reply to the wish expressed by her Uncle Leopold
that a formal betrothal with Prince Albert should take place,
the young Queen said that she wished the affair to be con-
sidered as broken off, and that for four years she could not
think of marriage. Not that her feelings towards the Prince
had really changed, for Her Majesty says that, " from her
girlhood, she had never thought of marrying any one else."
It was the Prince's youth which stood in the way. Girl
though she was, the Queen had plenty of sound common
sense, and she shrewdly suspected that, though the people
were romantically loyal to a young maiden, their lawful
sovereign, they might not be very enthusiastic about a
consort who was only a youth of eighteen. Moreover, the
Queen had her part to learn, for she had determined to be a

io6 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

ruling monarch, and it seemed better that she should be
unfettered by new ties during her apprenticeship in statecraft
In short, Her Majesty found queenhood enough for the
present, without the addition of wifehood and motherhood.

But when, in after years, she realised the burden of a
crown, and the value of the wise head beside her own, and
the comfort of a loving husband's help, she greatly regretted
that her marriage had not taken place earlier, and with
characteristic candour Her Majesty has expressed the indigna-
tion which she feels against herself at having kept the Prince
waiting. The excuse which the Queen makes is that the
sudden change from the secluded life at Kensington to the
independence of her position as Queen Regnant, at the age
of eighteen, put all ideas of marriage out of her mind. " A
worse school for a young girl," she adds, "or one more
detrimental to all natural feelings and affections, cannot well
be imagined, than the position of a queen at eighteen, without
experience and without a husband to guide and support her.
This the Queen can state from painful experience, and she
thanks God that none of her dear daughters are exposed to
such danger."

It was a few months after her coronation that the Queen
realised the words, " Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."
Party jealousy now began to make her its victim, the Tories
growing jealous of the Whig influences which surrounded the
sovereign. The Queen's father had been a staunch Whig ;
her mother sympathised with his views, as did also her uncle,
King Leopold ; the Whigs were in power at the time of the
Queen's accession, and her chief friend, adviser, and political
tutor was the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne. It was said

BETROTHAL AND EARLY MARRIED LIFE 107

that the Tories, in order to destroy the Whig influences about
the Queen, plotted the fall of Melbourne by hatching a Court
scandal. There was in attendance upon the Duchess of
Kent a beautiful and accomplished woman, the Lady Flora
Hastings, and rumours were set afloat that the behaviour of
this lady was such as to render her continuance about the
person of the Queen's mother a scandal. Things were repre-
sented to Her Majesty in such a light as to leave her no
option but to banish Lady Flora from Court. The Marchioness
of Hastings then demanded an investigation into the charges
made, which resulted in the complete vindication of her
daughter's character. Lady Flora, in writing an account of
the affair to an uncle in Brussels, states that the Duchess of
Kent treated her with great tenderness after the explosion
of the scandal, and that the Queen expressed her regret
'* handsomely, with tears in her eyes." However, a few months
later the unfortunate lady died. It was alleged by many
that Lady Flora had died of a broken heart, and scurrilous
letters were addressed to the Queen's private secretary and
confidante, the Baroness Lehzen, accusing her of having
plotted the downfall of Lady Flora. Capital was made out
of the aff'air by the Tories, and it was argued that Lord
Melbourne was responsible for having allowed such a scandal
to creep into the Court of the young Queen. Shortly after-
wards, upon a narrow Government majority, Lord Melbourne
resigned office.

Her Majesty was in the greatest griel, both concerning
the case of Lady Flora Hastings and at the resignation of the
Melbourne Ministry. She kept her private apartments for a
day, and was in deep sorrow. To part with the Prime

io8 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

Minister seemed like losing her only friend and adviser ; still,
she must face the exigencies of her position, and accordingly
the news went through the town that " the Queen had sent
for the Duke." In the popular mind of those days England
had but one Duke, and that was the hero of Waterloo.
Wellington, however, declined to form a ministry, and the
Queen on his advice sent for Sir Robert PeeL Her Majesty
was naYvely frank with Sir Robert, and told him that it was
a grief to her to part with her late Government; still, she
was prepared to do her duty as a monarch. All went well
until it was intimated that the Ladies of the Royal House-
hold must be replaced by others favourable to the party now
in power ; then the woman arose within her, and the Queen
distinctly refused to part with her loved and valued friends,
foremost among whom was the Mistress of the Robes, the
beautiful Duchess of Sutherland, for whose splendid qualities
the Queen had the greatest admiration. The Duchess was a
daughter of the noble Howard family, and the wife of a
Scotch duke. Her interests in the literary and philanthropic
movements of the day, and in all that affected the well-being
and advancement of women, are well known, and while she
reigned at Stafford House it was a centre of the forward
social movements of the day. It was in her drawing-room
that Harriet Beecher-Stowe pleaded the cause of the slave.
We do not wonder that the Queen did not like losing the
attendance of such a truly noble Duchess, nor of Lady
Normanby, the Duchess of Bedford, and the other ladies ;
but it was, we believe, unconstitutional for her to refuse the
wishes of her Ministers. Writing of the affair to Lord
Melbourne she said: "They wanted to deprive me of my

no THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

Wellington and Sir Robert Peel could get no further con-
cession from Her Majesty than, "You may take my Lords,
but not my Ladies."

Her Majesty was beginning to find that standing alone
was not a very pleasant thing, and when, in the autumn of
1839, Prince Albert, accompanied by his brother, Prince
Ernest, paid a visit to Windsor Castle, her views about
marrying underwent a change. The Prince was now greatly
improved by foreign travel, and had developed into a strikingly
handsome man, with graceful, winning manners. A graphic
sketch of Prince Albert at this period was written by an
English gentleman resident at Gotha : "His Serene Highness
Prince Albert is a fine young man ; his complexion is clear ;
his eyts greyish blue, exceedingly expressive; his features
are regular, the forehead expanding nobly, and giving the
notion of intellectual power. His hair is brown, parted on
the side of the head in the modem fashion. He wears
mustachios, which add much to the manliness of his counte-
nance, and he has also whiskers. He is exceedingly erect in his
person, and is said to excel in all the martial exercises of the
military profession, and to be exceedingly au fait in the more
elegant exercises of the drawing-room, the saloon, and the
ball-room." He was three months younger than the Queen,
having been bom August, 1819, at Rosenau, the summer
residence of his father, the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-
Gotha. An unhappy estrangement took place between his
parents when he was a little fellow of five, and he never
again saw the beautiful mother whom he was said to resemble,
and for whose memory he entertained the deepest affection.
She died murmuring the names " Ernest I " " Albert I " — the

BETROTHAL AND EARLY MARRIED LIFE iii

two boys, whom in her last moments she longed to clasp in
her arms. The young Princes were carefully trained by
their father, and watched with loving solicitude by their two
grandmothers. Prince Albert pursued his studies at the
University of Bonn, and became an accomplished student
in literature and the fine arts. He was thoughtful, reserved,
and dignified beyond his years, and a veritable Galahad in
all the moral virtues; it seemed to every one that he was
just the man to make the young Queen happy.

When the Prince came to Windsor in 1839, he was un-
doubtedly a little touched in his dignity, and had resolved to
tell the Queen, like a man, that he was not going to be played
with ; she must make up her mind to a formal betrothal or
consider the affair at an end. His mind, however, was soon
set at rest. " On the second day after our arrival," he wrote
home to a college friend, "the most friendly demonstrations
were directed towards me, and two days later I was secretly
called to a private audience, in which the Queen offered me
her hand and heart. I think," he adds, " that I shall be very
happy, for Victoria possesses all the qualities which make
a home happy, and seems to be attached to me with her
whole heart."

Her Majesty's superior rank made it imperative that the
proposal of marriage should come from her, and it is variously
reported how she made it. There is a story that she tentatively
asked the Prince such leading questions as, " How did he like
England ? " " Would he like to make it his home ? " But the
Prince says that the Queen declared her feeling for him in a
" genuine outburst of love and affection," with which he was
** quite enchanted and carried away." The proposal was made

xia THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

on the morning of the isth of October, 1839. The Prince
had been out hunting early with his brother, and immediately
after his return the Queen summoned him to her boudoir and
made the interesting communication. The happiness of the
young pair seems to have been beyond expression, and we
find both of them writing ecstatic letters to their near relations ;
the Queen dwelling upon the great sacrifice which the Prince
was making in leaving his country to share her life, and he
in his turn feeling all unworthy of the love which was shown
hinL Uncle Leopold and the worthy Baron Stockmar were
delighted at the news, and both the Duchess of Kent and
Lord Melbourne were pleased also. Beyond these and a
favoured few the engagement was not made known until after
Prince Albert had returned home.

For a whole month the lovers courted in secret. The Queen
took her first holiday from Lord Melbourne's political instruc-
tions, and enjoyed a merry time, galloping about the Park in
the day with the handsome Prince at her side, and having
delightful little dances and festivities in the evening. She
reviewed the troops in the Home Park, dressed in her Windsor
uniform and cap, and mounted on her old charger " Leopold,"
having the Prince in his green uniform of the Coburg troops
on her right hand. It rained and was piercingly cold, but
what did that matter when " dearest Albert " settled her cape
"so comfortably" for her?

The gay, happy time came to an end all too soon. The
Prince and his brother returned home, and the Queen, according
to the gossip of the time, gave herself up to a sweet melancholy,
and would sing only German songs ; and in sympathy with
the royal lovers young ladies warbled " I caught her tear at

BETROTHAL AND EARLY MARRIED LIFE 113

parting," which became the popular song of the day. The
royal lovers corresponded daily, and the miscarriage of one
of the letters was the occasion of an amusing incident. The
Queen was sitting one morning at Windsor Castle in conversa-
tion with Lord Melbourne, when word was brought that a
young man had called
demanding to see
ihc Queen on private

-,-^ , V

^i^

1S1:.

business. Her Majesty of course declined to see the stranger [
but finding that he would not go away unheard, Lord Melbourne
went to inquire what he wanted. He refused to say at first,
but, further pressed, admitted that he had a packet which he
must place in no one's hands but those of the Queen. Finally
he was brought to the royal presence, and drawing forth from
his breast a mysterious package he delivered it to Her Majesty,
who on opening it found that it was a letter from Prince Albert,
which had been omitted by mistake from the royal letter-bag,

114 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

and which the postal authorities had sent by special mes-
senger. The young man received a suitable reward, and was
commended for his fidelity to his trust

In the midst of her new-found happiness the Queen had
important business to perform ; first the Privy Council was
summoned, and she declared to these solemn old gentlemen,
some eighty in number, that it was her intention to marry
Prince Albert of Saxe-Cobuig and Gotha. The reading of
the formal declaration only occupied a few minutes, and Her
Majesty says that she was very nervous, and saw nothing save
Lord Melbourne looking at her with tears in his eyes, and
upon her wrist the medallion of her "beloved Albert," which
seemed to give her courage. Next came a more trying ordeal
still, the announcement of her approaching marriage in a speech
from the throne, in the House of Lords. She did it with the
utmost dignity, and in those clear musical tones so peculiar
to her. Both were doubtless "nervous occasions," but the
Queen confided to the Duchess of Gloucester that neither
of them was half so trying as " having to propose to Albert'*
The troubles were not as yet over, and it seemed that the
course of true love was not in this case to run smooth. There
was heated discussion both in and out of Parliament regarding
the allowance to be given to the Prince. The original proposal
of ;f 50,000 a year was voted down to ;f 30,000, and the discussion
concerning it was in the worst possible taste ; when Mr. Hume
told Lord John Russell that he "must know the danger of
setting a young man down in London with so much money
in his pockets," the House, instead of calling him to order,
roared with laughter. Then came the matter of the Prince's
precedency. The Queen wished a clause put in the Naturalisa*

ii6 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

visiting continental sovereigns. The Queen's sentiments were
very creditable to her womanly feelings, and we do not wonder
that she was highly indignant at the action of Parliament,
for was not the Prince to be regarded, not only as the Queen's
husband, but as the father of our kings to be? The nation
practically insulted itself when it refused him royal status.

With manly independence Prince Albert refused all the
titles which his future wife might have conferred upon him,
and never displayed the least resentment at the recent squabbles
over his income and precedence. " While I possess your love,"
he wrote -to the Queen, "they cannot make me unhappy."

The Queen's wedding was a grand and beautiful pageant.
It took place on the loth of February, 1840, in the Royal
Chapel of St James, before an assembly second only in
magnificence to that which had witnessed her coronation in
Westminster Abbey. The royal bride was pale, but looked
very sweet in her magnificent bridal robe of Honiton lace
over white satin trimmed with the time-honoured orange
blossoms. The train was of white satin trimmed with the same
flowers, and borne by two pages of honour. Her veil was
comparatively short, being only one yard and a half square,
and was worn flowing back from the wreath over her shoulders,
leaving her face uncovered. She wore a necklace and ear-
rings of diamonds, and the armlet of the Garter. The satin
for the dress was manufactured at Spitalfields, and the Honiton
lace was made by two hundred poor lace-workers in the
vills^e of Beer, near to Honiton, the Queen sending Miss
Bidney from London to superintend the work. The joy of
these poor women at being employed, expressly by the
Queen's command, to make her bridal lace was unbounded ;

fiS THE tEJcSOKAL UFE OF QUEES nCTORIA

Royal. First dcmn the grand staircase of the Palace came
the bridegroom^ looking very handsome in his uniform with
the collar of the Garter, suimoont e d b>' two white rosettes,
carrying a Prayer Book bound in green velvet in his hand.
He was accompanied by his &ther, the Duke of Saxe-Cobuig
and his brother, Prince Ernest, and as he passed to his carriage
was saluted by the household wiA the same honours given
to royal personages. When he entered the chapel, the organ
played ♦'See the Conquering Hero Comes." He was the
man who among all the princes of Europe had secured Victoria,
Queen of England, for his bride. After an interval Her
Majesty the Queen, escorted by her Lord Chamberlain, came
fiwcc{iing slowly down the grand staircase in her snowy satin
and lace, graciously acknowledging the obeisances made and
looking very lovely. It was observed that for this occasion
■he had laid aside her crown, and only a i^Teath of orange
blossoms rested upon her brow. She was accompanied by
Ilcr Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, wearing a white
satin drcHs embroidered in silver, and by the Duchess of
Sutherland, Mistress of the Robes, who wore a superb dress
of pink moir<5, embroidered in sea-weed and shell pattern
At the Chapel Royal twelve bridesmaids, young and fair,
dressed in white, with wreaths of pale roses, were ready to
attend her to the altar. She was given away by her uncle
Ot SusseXi of whom a wag of the time said, "The Duke of
SlUiex ii always ready to give away what does not belong

to him.'*

The marriage service was conducted according to the rubric

«f tfM Church of England, the Archbishop having dutifully

Md ^ioa Her Majesty beforehand, to know if the promise

120 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

I thee endow," it was observed by some that the bride gave
him an arch smile. He took the wedding-ring from his own
finger to hand it to the Archbishop, and when it was placed
upon the Queen's slender finger volleys of cannon mingled
with the pealing and the clanging of the marriage bells.
Unfortunately " Queen's weather/' which has since become pro-
verbial, did not prevail ; but the rain did not damp the loyalty
of the people, and the streets were thronged with cheering
multitudes to greet the young Queen and the husband of
her choice. As Prince Albert led his wife from the altar
he held her hand in a position which prominently displayed
the wedding-ring. It is said that the Queen's look of confi-
dence and comfort at the Prince as they walked away together
as man and wife was very pleasing to see. It was such a new
thing for her to have an equal companion, friend, and husband,
a young heart against which she could rest her own. Few
bridegrooms show to advantage at the wedding ceremony ; but
the quiet dignity and stately simplicity of bearing shown by
the Prince filled every one with admiration. After the marriage
register had been signed in the royal attestation book, placed
upon a golden table, the wedding party returned to Buckingham
Palace to a dijeuner. The great feature of the table was the
gigantic wedding cake — three hundred pounds in weight, three
yards in circumference, and fourteen inches in depth, which took
four men to carry it. The ornamentation was superb. On the
top was Britannia blessing the royal couple, and amongst other
figures was a cupid writing in a volume spread upon his knees,
' lOth February, 1840."

The brief honeymoon of three days was spent at Royal
Windsor, where the Prince was seen driving his wife about.

BETROTHAL AND EARLY MARRIED LIFE

tfte-A-Ute, in a pony phaeton. The day after her marriage the
Queen wrote to Baron Stockmar, " There cannot exist a purer,
dearer, nobler being in the world than the Prince." Happy
Queen ! that in the years which followed she never had occa-
sion to modify her young bride's enthusiasm. A Royal Idyll
had indeed begun such as this country had never looked
upon before.

As a memento of the occasion Her Majesty presented
each of the officiating clergy with a handsomely bound volume
containing a suitable inscription, and to each of the bridesmaids
she gave a brooch in the form of a bird, the body being formed
of turquoises, the eyes of rubies, the beak of a diamond, the
claws of pure gold, resting upon pearls of great size and value.

laa THE PERSONAL LIFS OP QUEEN VICTORIA

In accordance also with an early English custom, she ordered
a number of wedding-rings to be made, with her portrait
et^raved in the centre and surrounded by true lovers' knots,
to send as gifts to her special friends. We wonder that this
pretty custom of olden times has not had a modern revival.

On the 14th of February the Queen and the Prince returned
with the Court to Buckingham Palace, the roads along the
route being lined with enthusiastic crowds exhibiting white
favours. Next day Her Majesty held a levee, and was
conducted to her seat by her husband, who took his stand
beside her, a position which he ever afterwards retained at all
State functions. When in the autumn the Queen prort^ed
Parliament in person, the Prince accompanied her, and sat
on the seat of honour beside the throne. By this act Her
Majesty settled the question of her husband's precedency, and
the Duke of Wellington said afterwards, with an inward
chuckle : " I told you that was the best way to settle the
dispute — let the Queen place the Prince where she thinks fit"
My lords and gentlemen were of course powerless to oppose
the action of a young bride, and a Queen to boot, who would
insist upon having her husband at her side.

In the height of the brilliant season which succeeded the
royal marriage, London was startled on the evening of the
loth of June by the report of the attempted assassination
of the Queen. She was driving with Prince Albert up
Constitution Hill when a young man named Oxford presented
a pistol and fired directly at her. The Prince rose in conster-
nation to shield his wife, and meantime the miscreant fired
again, and was this time seized by the bystanders. Her
Majesty displayed the Utmost courage, rising in her seat to

1 24 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

cheers. Previous to this Prince Albert had presided at a
great public meeting in Exeter Hall for the Abolition of the
Slave Trade, and made an excellent speech in English, which
he had rehearsed to the Queen in the morning. One can
imagine how proud she was that his first public effort was in
so good a cause, for it was one which had been of deep interest
to her since those early days when she had listened to slave
stories from the lips of Wilberforce on the Ramsgate sands.
The sweet Quakeress, Caroline Fox, was there to beam ap-
proval upon the Prince, whom she thought "a very beautiful
young man."

Society was soon thrown into a state of interested ex-
pectancy, as the journals spoke of the Queen as looking less
blooming than usual, and the last Drawing-Room of the season
was held by Her Majesty sitting; her dainty white-slippered
feet resting on a gold brocaded cushion. Early in November
elaborate preparations were made at Buckingham Palace for
the approaching accouchement of the Queen, and there on
the 2 1 St of the month at 1.40 p.m. a little Princess Royal
was born. The Prince was a little disappointed that it was a
girl ; but the Queen said, " Never mind, the next one shall be
a boy," adding the hope that she might have as many children
as her grandmother. Queen Charlotte. The next day there
was a scare in the Palace by reason of the discovery of a
disreputable little urchin, known to fame as " the boy Jones,"
under a sofa in a room next to that of the Queen. He
audaciously acknowledged to having listened with interest to
Her Majesty conversing with Prince Albert Being too young
for punishment he was sent to a House of Correction.

The devotion of Prince Albert during his wife's seclusion

was an example to all husbands. The Queen has recorded
ihat he was content to sit by her side in a darkened room,
to read to her and write for her. No one but himself ever
lifted her from her bed to the sofa, and he always helped to
wheel her on her bed or sofa into the next room. For this
purpose he would come instantly from any part of the house.
His care for her was like that of a mother ; " nor could there,"
adds the Queen, "be a kinder or more judicious nurse." A
month after her confinement Her Majesty was keeping
Christmas at Windsor in right merry style, and a Christmas
tree was set up to please the baby, and there were trees also
for the Household — a pretty custom first introduced into this
country by Prince Albert. The stately Castle had never wit-
nessed such homely gaiety in royal personages before. On the
lOth of February, the first anniversary of the Wedding Day, the
Princess Royal received her mother's name, and several others

126 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

besides, with befitting ceremonial in the throne-room of
Buckingham Palace. In the following November, on Lord
Mayor's Day, the Queen was as good as her word, and
presented her husband with a son, and the nation with a
Prince of Wales.

The following amusing incident, in connection with the
framing of the bulletin announcing the royal birth, occurred
After the usual statement the bulletin ran thus : " Her Majesty
and the Prince are perfectly well." When this was shown to
the Queen by Prince Albert, previous to its publication, she
said, with a laugh, "My dear, this will never do." "Why
not?" asked the Prince. "Because," replied the Queen, "it
conveys the idea that you were confined alsa" Prince Albert
was a little dumbfounded, but the bulletin was altered to,
"Her Majesty and the infant Prince are perfectly well."

There was another merry Christmas at Windsor, and this
year there were two pairs of little eyes to view the Christmas
tree. The christening of the heir to the throne was a very
imposing ceremony, and took place on the 25th of January,
1842, in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. The King of Prussia
came to stand as chief sponsor. The infant Prince was named
Albert after his father, and Edward after his grandfather, the
Duke of Kent. At the conclusion of the ceremony the over-
joyed father requested that the Hallelujah Chorus might be
sung. Immediately afterwards the Queen held a chapter of
the Order of the Garter, and appointed the illustrious god-
father a Knight Companion, herself buckling the Garter round
his knee.

The yedr 1842 was a memorable one in the Queen's life
for many things. In June she took her first trip by rail,

BETROTHAL AND EARLY MARRIED LIFE 127

returning from Windsor by the Great Western Railway to
Paddington, the famous engineer, Brunei, driving the engine.
There was a royal saloon provided, and crimson carpets were
laid from the Queen's carriage to the train. The journey
occupied twenty-five minutes, and Her Majesty was received
by a large assembly, with great applause, when she reached
the terminus, although wiseacres probably shook their heads
and wondered that the royal lady had not more sense than
to trust herself to such an infernal machine. In this year two
attempts were made upon the Queen's life ; the first by John
Francis, who fired a pistol at her when she was driving down
Constitution Hill. It appears that he had held a pistol in
a threatening attitude the day before, and the Queen, with
her usual bravery, determined to drive out again and let him
do his worst, rather than have the uncertainty of another
attack hanging over her. She would not allow her ladies to
accompany her, which occasioned much surprise at the time ;
but, upon returning home, she said to Miss Liddell, one of
the maids of honour : " I dare say, Georgy, you were surprised
at not driving with me this afternoon, but the fact was that,
as we returned from church yesterday, a man presented a
pistol at the carris^e window, which flashed in the pan ; we
were so taken by surprise that he had time to escape ; so I
knew what was hanging over me, and I was determined to
expose no life but my own." Francis was tried and sentenced
to death, but was reprieved at the Queen's request. The
next attempt on her life was made by a hunchback, John
Bean, who levelled a pistol at Her Majesty when she was
driving to the Chapel Royal ; fortunately it did not go off.
The London season of 1842 was marked by two functions

128 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

of great splendour. First came what was called at the time
the Queen's Masque ; though it has descended into history
as the Plants^enet Ball. The entertainment took place at
Buckingham Palace, and was a magnificent historical picture
arranged and planned by Her Majesty. The chief feature was

the assemblage and meeting of the Courts of Edward and
Fhilippa with Anne of Brittany, after which quadrilles were
danced by representatives of all nationalities, succeeded by
a general dance in which all -were blended. In the Highland
set the present Duke of Ai^U, then the young Marquis of
Lome, took a spirited part Her Majesty, as Queen Fhilippa,
wore a magnificent dress of the period in blue and gold
brocade trimmed with fur, and having a stomacher literally
blazing with jewels, the cost of which was estimated at ;f 60,000.
It was on view in Hanover Square previous to the day of
the ball, and two hundred and fifty carriages stood at one
time crowded with ladies waiting their turn to get a sight
of the lovely and magnificent robe. A fortnight later came
the famous ball held at Covent Garden for the relief of the
Spitalfields weavers, which was attended by the Queen and
Frince Albert in state. These and other minor festivities
which followed were planned by the Queen with a view to
stimulating trade ; but her motives were misunderstood and
much called in question at the time, and there were papers
which printed the cost of the Court pageants in one column,
and gave the list of those who were dying from starvation
in another.

In the autumn of 1842 the Queen paid her first visit to
Scotland, accompanied by the Frince. She travelled by water,
and was received at Granton Fier by the Duke of Buccleuch,

BBTROTHAL AND EARLY MARRIED LIFE

driving through Edinburgh to Dalkeith Palace. The new
experiences of the first visit paid outside her native land
delighted the Queen, and found very graphic expression in
her Highland Journal. Nothing escaped her quick eyes ; the
many-storied houses of the Old Town, the aged crones
standing at the doors in their white mutches, the bare-footed
lads and lassies, the fish-wives in their short petticoats, with
the " caller herrin', fresh drawn frae the Forth " in krcels
upon their backs, and all the sights of the historic town were
quickly noted down. Her Majesty took oatmeal porridge
to her breakfast, tried the " Finnan baddies," and pronounced
the homely Scottish fare excellent. She held a reception
at Holyrood Palace, and a lev^ at Dalkeith House, visited
Lord Kosebery (grandfather of the present Earl) at Dalmeny,

130 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

and journeyed farther north to the Highlands, visiting all
the places of interest en route. Scott was constantly in her
hand, and she delighted to verify the places and scenes of
which he wrote. Never probably had the Queen so enjoyed
a holiday. She roamed about the lochs and glens, made
friends with the old women in the cottages, and enjoyed
a freedom which was absolutely new to her. Great was her
amusement to see the astonishment of one old woman, when
told that the young lady to whom she had given flowers from
her garden was the Queen. The ancient dame rubbed up her
best English, and endeavoured to make Her Majesty under-
stand that she was richt welcome to Scotland. There were
torchlight dances, and reels and strathspeys for the enter-
tainment of the royal visitors, with all of which the Queen
was greatly pleased, and at the close of the tour she confessed
to having become quite fond of hearing the bagpipes.

Everywhere she was received with enthusiasm, and many
are the stories told of the criticisms, full of pawky humour,
offered by the crowd. A gentleman in Edinburgh said to
his farm-servant, " Well, John, did you see the Queen ? "
" Troth did I that, sir. I was terrible 'feared afore she came
forrit — my heart was maist in my mouth, but when she did
come forrit, I was na feared at a' ; I just lookit at her, and
she lookit at me, an' she bowed her heid at me, an' I bowed
my heid at her. She's a raal fine leddie, wi'oot a bit o'
pride aboot her at a'." The Queen quitted Scotland on the
iSth of September, after staying a fortnight "As the fair
shores* of Scotland receded more and more from our view," she
writes in her journal, " we felt quite sad that this very pleasant
and interesting tour was over ; but we shall never forget it."

BETROTHAL AND EARLY MARRIED LIFE 131

After their return home, the Queen and the Prince took
their two little children on a visit to the Duke of Wellington
at Walmer Castle, to get the sea air. The following spring
sweet little Princess Alice was added to the royal nursery,
and the Queen was now beginning to feel great responsibility
about the training and education of her rapidly increasing
family. " It is hard," she once said, " that I cannot always
hear my children say their prayers." The duty of overlooking
the management of the nursery, which the Queen would
gladly have undertaken herself, if her position had permitted
it, was delegated to Lady Lyttelton, one of the Ladies of the
Bedchamber. The royal nursery became a very lively place,
and many amusing stories are told by Lady Bloomfield,
a lady-in-waiting, about the precocity of the Princess Royal.
Whilst they were out driving one day, the Queen called her
" Missy," which she often did. The Princess took no notice
the first time ; but the next she looked up very indignantly,
and said to her mother, " Tm not Missy, I'm the Princess
Royal." On another occasion, the Queen was talking to one
of her ladies, and not taking any notice of the little Princess,
who suddenly exclaimed : " There's a cat under the trees " —
fertile imagination on her part — but, having succeeded in
drawing attention, she quietly said : " Cat come out to look
at the Queen, I suppose."

And so the early married life of Queen Victoria glided
peacefully by, rich in the love of husband and children ; and
though storms might threaten the political horizon, as yet
there was no shadow on the home.

HOME AND COURT LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

BY the year 1844 people were ceasing to speak of the
" young Queen," for although Her Majesty was young
in years, being only twenty-five, she was now a comely
matron with four children — two boys and two girls — Prince
Alfred having in this year succeeded little Princess Alice. It
was to convey the tidings of Prince Alfred's birth from
Windsor to London that the electric telegraph was first used
to announce such an event.

The home life at Royal Windsor was, indeed, an example
to the nation, and afforded the best object-lesson ever given
as to the possibility of a woman combining public and
political work with the duties of a wife and mother. We
are indebted to a gentleman-at-arms for information regarding
the Queen's mode of spending her day. Her Majesty rose
at 6.30 in summer and 7.30 in winter. After making her
toilet and attending morning service with the household, in
the chapel, she breakfasted upon coffee, bread-and-butter,
eggs or cold meat, then took a walk with her husband in
the gardens and inspected th Home Farm. She was fond
of seeing the poultry fed, and did not disdain to give the
poor pigs a look. Then there were the aviary, studs,

135

136 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

aquarium, and the pet animals to be visited; the favourite
dogs bounded by her side with delight as she moved about,
and the pigeons came out to perch on her shoulders and
on Prince Albert's hat. Returning to the Castle, the royal
mother inspected the nurseries and saw the older children at
their studies ; and having satisfied herself that everything was
en regie, she glanced through the Times and Morning Post,
after which she received the Master of the Household in the
library, discussed the domestic arrangements for the day,
received his report upon letters and applications addressed to
her, and gave commands regarding the guests to be invited
to the Castle. These usually arrived in time to dine, remained
all next day, and returned home on the third, the three days
being called days of " Rest," " Reception," and " Departure."

It may here be stated that in the first years of her
married life the Queen made great alterations in the arrange-
ment of the menage at Windsor. A Master of the House-
hold was appointed to perform the duties which had hitherto
belonged to three State officials, who were rarely on the
premises to discharge their functions. So bad had been the
regulations that if a pane of glass was broken in the scullery
window, it took many weeks before the repair could be
effected, owing to the difficulty of finding out whose duty it
was to attend to it. A gentleman who had occasion to attend
at the Castle related to the present writer that one morning
he saw the Queen enter the dining-room and ring the bell
several times before she could get any one to attend to her
requirements. There was no one even to show guests to
their bedrooms, which on one occasion led to an amusing
incident. M. Guizot was a guest at the Palace, and upon

138 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

before he had advanced many steps into the room he
discovered that a lady was seated before the toilet table with
a maid brushing her hair. The abashed gentleman made a
hasty retreat, and was fortunate when he returned to the
bewildering corridors to find a guide who took him to his
own room. The incident had almost passed from his mind,
when the following evening he was reminded of it by a
laughing allusion made by the Queen. M. Guizot then
discovered that it was Her Majesty's dressing-room he had
entered. Hitherto the unused bread had been wasted in the
royal kitchens, but the Queen now directed that it should
be sent to the inmates of the almshouses within the burgh
of Windsor; and many other reforms were instituted by the
royal housekeeper and her methodical husband.

But to return to her manner of portioning out her day.
Having so far disposed of the household matters, the Queen
turned her attention to affairs of State. At eleven o'clock
the despatch boxes were opened, and their contents discussed
with the principal secretaries of State, when necessary, or
perused with the Prince. In the Foreign Secretary's box
were all the recent correspondence with foreign powers and
the drafts of the proposed replies for the Queen's considera-
tion, and like minutiae were observed in the despatches of
the War, Admiralty, and Home departments. After this
business had been transacted. Her Majesty received visitors
" invited " or " commanded " — artists, publishers, foreigners
with special introductions, people with presents for the
aviary, and tradesmen with novelties to exhibit. At two o'clock
came luncheon, at which the Queen ate and drank heartily
after her morning's work, and was ready to enjoy several

HOME AND COURT LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA 139

hours' riding or driving in the afternoon, accompanied by
the Prince, the Duchess of Kent, and often by one or
other of the children. Whenever the Queen was staying at
Windsor her mother occupied Frogmore House, quite near,
and invariably dined with her daughter. On returning from
driving the Queen and Prince spent some time in private.
Sometimes they amused themselves with drawing etchings
upon copper of their children or pet animals, which were
printed at their private press. One of the most interesting
of these was an etching by the Queen of the Princess Royal
as a baby in long clothes, gazing at a parrot in a cage
placed to arrest her attention. At one time Mr., afterwards
Sir, George Hayter attended at Windsor Castle to give
the Queen and the Prince instruction in etching.

Dinner, which took place at eight o'clock, was a stately
affair, served by servants in scarlet and powder, while a military
band played in an ante-room. The conversation took place
in subdued whispers, except when the Queen addressed a guest.
Politics were by her desire never discussed, and the gentlemen
remained behind over their wine only for a very short time.
An anecdote of the Queen's perfect courtesy as a hostess may
here be mentioned. A certain nobleman, who was an abstainer,
was dining with the Queen, and was asked by a royal Duchess
present to drink wine with her. Upon his polite refusal the
Duchess laughingly appealed to Her Majesty to use her
authority over her water-drinking guest ; but the Queen replied
with a smile : " There is no compulsion at my table." Not
infrequently she would have what one of her ladies termed a
" tite-d'tite dinner," alone with her husband.

After the ceremonious dinner was over, the Queen chatted

140 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

with the ladies and gentlemen in the drawing-room, unless
there were special guests to claim her attention, in a charmingly
free-and-easy manner. In her gay moods she was the life of
the company, and we catch glimpses of her seizing hold of an
astonished lady and whirling her round in a polka, or dancing
a reel, a recent accomplishment which she had learned in the
Highlands. Music played an important feature in the evening's
entertainment, and the Queen would sing duets with her ladies,
and did not disdain to act as accompanist. On one occasion
Jenny Lind was singing before the Queen, and was put to
considerable annoyance by the vagaries of the Court musi-
cian. Her Majesty's quick car detected what was wrong,
and advancing to the piano, she said, " I will accompany
Miss Lind," which she did to perfection. Prince Albert also
shared his wife's taste for music, and was a composer and an
accomplished player upon the organ, which he considered the
finest instrument for expressing the feelings. The prominent
place given to music in the royal household exercised an
immense influence over the life of the people, and these little
impromptu concerts at Windsor Castle were the precursors of
the musical evenings which became fashionable in society,
and which gradually extended to the humbler homes of the
land.

Mendelssohn was more than once an honoured guest at
Windsor, and his letters give some charming accounts of the
skill and enthusiasm of the Queen and Prince Albert in his
own beloved art. The great composer thought very highly
of the Queen's singing, more highly in fact than he deemed
it good taste to admit in her presence ; it was only after her
Majesty's modest confession that she felt too nervous to take

HOME AND COURT LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA 141

a long G properly, that Mendelssohn praised her heartily and
with a clear conscience. It was owing to the efforts of the
Queen and Prince Albert that the Castle band was brought to
such perfection, and the wind largely superseded by stringed
instruments. On one occasion, when some special music had to
be practised, the bandmaster commanded a Sunday rehearsal,
at which two German players, who were Methodists, refused
to comply on conscientious grounds. The affair came to the

142 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

Queen's ears, and she settled it immediately, saying, " I will
have no more Sunday rehearsals."

And so we find the evenings at the Court being spent in
music, little dances, conversation, and round games. " Patience "
was a favourite game with the Prince, and Vingt-et-un was
sometimes played, and "Follow my leader," and there was
spinning of counters, asking of riddles, and playing tricks with
stuffed mice — in short, a quiet evening at Windsor was very
like an old-fashioned party in ordinary life, even to grand-
mamma having her rubber of whist The Queen could get
amusement out ot very trifling things, and never seemed bored,
or complained of ennui \ the secret of it being that she was
never idle. When one of her former maids of honour, then
an ambassador's wife, told the Empress of Russia that she had
received a letter from Queen Victoria, the Empress exclaimed,
" What ! in her own handwriting? Is it possible that the Queen
finds time to write letters?"

Another trait in the Queen's character was her cheerfulness ;
in fact, when she started to laugh she found it difficult to stop,
and her laugh was no company laugh, but thoroughly hearty.
Mr. Gibson, R.A., tells a story that when Her Majesty was
sitting to him, he asked permission to measure her mouth.
" Oh, certainly," replied the Queen, " if I can only keep it still
and not laugh." The proposal was so unexpected and droll that
it was some time before the Queen could compose herself;
directly she closed her mouth she burst out laughing again.
The same sculptor describes a little conjugal episode which
occurred when he was to model the Queen in evening dress.
She came into the room accompanied by the Prince, who, like
a fond young husband, had his arm round his wife's neck,

144 ^^^ PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

little peacock, and told the Queen, to her amusement, that
her place was " first rate." Charles Kean acted as Her Majesty's
Master of the Revels, and under his superintendence her
friends the " poor players " gave many celebrated performances
at the Castle. In those days the "boards" were trod by
Macready, Phelps, and the Kembles, and Rachel and Grisi
were the stars of the operatic stage. It was the Queen who
first invited Jenny Lind to sing in this country, she having heard
her in Coburg in '45, and when " Jenny " made her memorable
triumph at Covent Garden it was the Queen's bouquet which
was the first to be cast at the feet of the singer. In those
bright, happy days Victoria stood in the forefront of the national
life. She patronised all that was best in literature, art, and
the drama, and gave her sympathy and help to the philan-
thropies of the time. Theatres which aimed at royal patronage
were obliged to conform to the Queen's taste, and gradually
the coarse survivals of a ruder time were swept from the stage.
Society took its cue from her, and the Court became as pure
as a good woman could make it.

The Queen undoubtedly loved the gaieties ot town in the
early years of her reign ; but as the little ones began to
cluster about her knees, she longed for the quietude of
country life, drawn to it also by her thoughtful, studious
husband. We find her running away in the height of the
season to enjoy a quiet time with her husband and children
amidst the flowery glades of Claremont. On one of these
occasions " Vicky " and " Bertie " came to the Queen's room
to wish her many happy returns of her birthday, dressed
Tyrolese fashion, and looking such sweet little foreigners that
their mother hardly knew them. This little surprise was

HOME AND COURT LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA 14;

-r

planned by the Prince and the Duchess of Kent, and alTords
a pleasing glimpse into the home life of the royal pair.

Her Majesty was no stickler for extreme Court etiquette

146 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

when It caused actual discomfort to others. It had been the
custom for the sovereign to hold drawing-rooms seated upon
the throne, thus obliging those presented to mount the steps
to kiss hands, and then retire backwards — no easy task with
a voluminous train behind. To lessen the difficulties of the
ladies, the Queen received them at the foot of the throne,
and permitted them, after retiring a few steps backwards, to
take their trains over their arms and resume their natural
walk.

The same consideration was shown by the Queen to her
maids of honour; no weary standing on tired feet, no hours
of reading aloud, of which poor Miss Burney complained in
the days of old Queen Charlotte, and certainly the ladies did
not get their ears boxed for misdemeanour, a not uncommon
thing in the "good old times." Her Majesty treated her
ladies as friends ; they sang and played with her, accom-
panied her upon horseback or in the carriage, and appear to
have had few actual duties beyond these, and handing the
Queen her bouquet at dinner. She addressed them by their
Christian names, and when they returned to residence received
them with a kiss and inquiries regarding the home circle
which they had just left One thing the Queen did rigidly
exact, and that was punctuality.

Those who have been about Her Majesty invariably speak
of the charm of her conversation and presence. Lady
Bloomfield, writing of a musical evening at Windsor, says :
*'I enjoy nothing so much as seeing the Queen in that nice
quiet way, and I often wish that those who don't know Her
Majesty could see how kind and generous she is when she is
perfectly at her ease and able to throw off the restraint and

HOME AND COURT LIFE OF QUEEN VICTOR/A 147

rorm which must and ought to be observed when she is in
public" The Baroness Bunsen writes to her son in the same
strain after lunching with the Queen at StaUord House:
"The Queen looked well and charming, and I could not help
the same reflection that 1 have often made before, that she
is the only piece of female royalty I ever saw who was abo
a creature such as God Almighty has created. Her smile is
a real iiniU, her grace is natural, although it has received a

■f*

high polish from cultivation-
there is nothing artificial about
her." In evidence of the de-
light which this lady felt in
dining with the Queen, she
relates that in spite of a severe
cold, which inconvenienced her to the extent of necessitating
the use of six handkerchiefs during the morning, she availed
herself of the privilege of dining with the Queen in the
evening. We fancy in former reigns a bad cold would have
been welcomed as a convenient excuse for not obeying the
royal command. Fortunately for the Baroness, it was the time
when ladies carried their mouchoirs in dainty little bags, so
she was not limited in her supply.

148 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

Lady Lyttclton, the second daughter of Earl Spencer,
who had been lady-in-waiting since the Queen's accession,
had, as we have seen, been entrusted by Her Majesty with
the charge of the royal children. She was a kind, motherly
lady, admirably fitted for this important office, which she held
for eight years. The royal mother, however, remained herself
the chief authority in nursery matters, and supervised every
detail of the children's training. In drawing up some rules
for their education, she said : " The greatest maxim of all ts —
that the children should be brought up as simply as possible,
and in as domestic a way as possible; that, not interfering
with their lessons, they should be as much as possible with
their parents, and learn to place their greatest confidence in
them in all things. . . . Religious training is best given to
a child at its mother's knee." Apropos of the latter, there is
a story of that brilliantly clever child, the Princess Royal.
The Queen was reading the Bible with her little daughter,
and came to the passage, " God created man in His own image,
in the image of God created He him," upon which " Vicky,"
who had a sense ol beauty and fitness, exclaimed, "But,
mamma, surely not Dr. Pratorious?" This gentleman was
secretary to Prince Albert, and by no means good-looking.

When the children were young, all goods purchased for
their wear were submitted to the Queen, and it was at her
command that only the plainest fare was sent to the nursery,
"quite poor living — only a bit of roast meat and perhaps a
plain pudding," one of the servants told Baron Bunsen, adding
that the Queen would have made " an admirable poor man's
wife." As the Princesses grew older, they were taught to take
care of their clothes, even to that old-maidish custom of rolling

150 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

was the delight of the Court and of the people ; but her mother
had to exercise severe discipline to keep her in order. For
example, when Dr. Brown, of Windsor, entered the service
of Prince Albert, the little princesses, hearing their father
address him as *^ Brown," used the same form of speech.
The Queen corrected them, and told them to say " Dr. Brown."
All obeyed except " Vicky," who was threatened with " bed "
if she transgressed again. Next morning, when the Doctor
presented himself to the royal family, the young Princess,
looking straight at him, said, " Good morning, Brown ! " Then,
seeing the eyes of her mother fixed upon her, she rose and,
with a curtsey, continued, "and good night. Brown, for I am
going to bed," and she walked resolutely away to her punish-
ment This was the same young lady who, at three years
old, motioned away her governess. Lady Lyttelton, with,
" N^approches pas moi^ moi ne veut pas vousr

When quite young, the children were taken by their royal
parents to see a review of the Guards in honour of the Prince
of Wales's birthday. The troops marched past the royal family,
presenting arms, and afterwards fired a/^« de joie. This rather
frightened the Princess Royal, and when the band struck up
"God Save the Queen," fearing that there was going to be
another volley, she put her hands to her ears, and shocked her
mother dreadfully. The repartee of the little Princess would
have been " delicious " if some one had whispered in her car
that her own mamma had done the same thing when the
cannon thundered on her coronation day.

Thus early the royal children were made accustomed to
pageants, and we find that on the occasion just referred to the
Prince of Wales and tiny Princess Alice stood throughout the

iS2 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

A notable figure in the Queen's married life was that trusted
friend and adviser, Baron Stockmar, who for seventeen years
moved quietly in the background of the Court. He was an
army physician who became attached to the suite of Prince
Leopold, the Queen's uncle, and was with him at Ciaremont
when his young wife, the Princess Charlotte, died. Later on he
accompanied Prince Leopold when he became King of Belgium.
Upon the Queen's accession. Uncle Leopold despatched the
trusted Stockmar to England to watch over the welfare
of his niece. It was not, however, until after the Queen's
marriage that he became a permanent figure in her house-
hold. What "the Duke" was to the nation, "the Baron"
became to the Court, and the wags dubbed him the " Old
Original." He ^was a man of sterling qualities ; upright,
sagacious, with a vast amount of knowledge of the world, and
was equally useful beside a sick-bed or at a writing-table.
In the royal nursery he was a perfect oracle, and is reported
to have said, "The nursery gives me more trouble than the
government of a kingdom would do." Under his judicious
management the delicate little Princess Royal became so fat
and well that he was able to write of her, "She is as round
as a barrel," and the Queen said in one of her letters,
"Pussy's cheeks are on the point of bursting." The queer
old German Baron was a kind of fairy godfather to the little
folks ; it was to his room they ran with their latest toy, or
when they wanted a story. The Princess Royal, however,
was his favourite, her smart wit delighting him vastly.

The Baron was, as might be expected, a privileged person.
He was permitted to sit at Her Majesty's dinner table in
trousers, while other old gentlemen shivered in "shorts."

HOME AND COURT LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA 153

Immediately the meal was over he would be seen walking
off to his own room without ceremony. He never sacrificed
his comfort to etiquette. When the spring came, he suddenly
disappeared, without any adieux ; then would follow letters
of regret from his royal master and mistress, and, after

spending a few months

with his wife and

Mmily in his native

-.^ Coburg, the Baron

would return to Wind-

sor as mysteriously as he had disappeared, and resume his
rdU of chief adviser and general referee,

The Queen had now what she called "a home of her
own," in contradistinction to the royal palaces, having
purchased the beautiful estate of Osborne, in the Isle of
Wight, and built herself there a marine residence at a cost
of j^200,ooo. The grounds were artistically laid out under
the direction of that most skilled of landscape gardeners,
Prince Albert. The original estate was added to, until now,
as a coachman in the island will tell you, the Queen can

IS4 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

drive for twelve miles without going outside her own domain.
The house-warming at Osborne took place in September,
1846, when a maid of honour threw an old slipper for good
luck as the Queen entered her new abode, and at the
Prince's suggestion an appropriate German hymn was sung,
beginning :

"God bless our going out, nor less
Our coming in."

Later on, to celebrate one ol the Queen's birthdays, the
Swiss Cottage was erected in the grounds for the use of the
children. There the boys learned carpentering, under their
father's direction, and the princesses studied culinary arts in
a model kitchen and dairy, entertained their parents to
repasts prepared with their own hands, and made dishes for
the poor. The Cottage also contained a museum of natural
history, the contents being largely collected by the royal
children. In front were the gardens, one for each child,
which they tended themselves, under the direction of a
gardener, who instructed them not only in flower culture, but
in the rearing of fruit and vegetables. Few children have,
indeed, been taught more thoroughly how to use their hands
than the Queen's family. Her Majesty and the Prince were
charmed with their beautiful retreat, with the woods sloping
down to the blue sea, and in summer evenings they walked
in the plantation to listen to the nightingales, which grew so
familiar with the Prince that they would answer his whistle.
The entire building and laying out of the Osborne estate was
not completed until 185 1, the portion known as the Pavilion
being occupied meantime.

The year 1S45 was famous for another of the Queen's
Bals Masque. The period chosen was between 1740 and 1750,
and the prevailing feature of powdered wigs gave it the name
of the Powder Ball. The time was not one at which the dress
was very becoming, and when the royal fiat went forth ladies
were horrified at the idea of wearing powdered toupees,
pomatumed curls, and wide-spreading hoops. The costume was
arranged, however, to look as becoming as possible, and the
ladies became reconciled to it when they discovered that
powdered hair made the complexion look more brilliant, and
that if the hoop disguised the figure the stomacher displayed
it. Half the great houses in London were turned into
milliners' shops, and filled with stuffs, patterns, and drawings
of costumes. Society dames studied the family portraits of

156 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

the period, and the grandmothers* heirlooms were in great
requisition. The Queen, dressed as the Lady of the Feast,
wore a magnificent brocade covered with point lace drawn
from the hoards of her grandmother. Queen Charlotte ; while
Prince Albert looked bravely in a scarlet velvet coat and
gold waistcoat They opened the ball with a polonaise, and
closed it with Sir Roger de Coverley. It would take a long
list to mention the celebrities and beauties who graced the
occasion. The Duke of Wellington was there in a marshal's
uniform of the period, which hung so loosely about his spare
limbs as to render him almost unrecognisable. It was said
that no one would have known him but for his nose. He
walked about with his lovely daughter-in-law, the Marchioness
of Douro, who wore a brocade trimmed with lace flounces
which had once belonged to the vestment of a pope. Miss
Burdett-Coutts, the banker's heiress, was then just coming into
society, and the jewels she wore at the ball were the talk of
the town for many weeks afterwards, prominent amongst them
being a necklace which had belonged to Marie Antoinette.

In 1848 the Prince leased Balmoral Castle as a hunting-
box, and the royal pair had then their Island and Highland
homes (the present Castle was not built until some years
later). Old Balmoral was a pretty little grey castle in the
Old Scottish style, situated amongst the picturesque mountain
scenery of the valley of the Dee. It was originally a farm-
house, and had gradually grown into palatial appearance,
although at the time when the Queen first lived there it was
little larger than an ordinary gentleman's house. It was
surrounded by primitive huts, with the peat smoke issuing
from holes in the roofs— a solitary, picturesque, and peaceful

158 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

on a plaid slung between two Highlanders, had " scratch "
meals in wayside inns, and accompanied her husband on his
deer-stalking expeditions, remaining out sometimes for nine
hours at a time. She was fond of sketching amongst the
hills, and one day had an amusing encounter with a herd
laddie, who found that his flock were timid at the sight of
her upon the sheep track.

"Gang out of the road, lady, and let the sheep gang
by," he cried. Finding that his appeal produced no effect, he
shouted yet louder, " I say, gang back, will you, and let the
sheep pass ! "

"Do you know, boy, whom you are speaking to?" asked
the Queen's attendant.

" I dinna know, and I dinna care," replied the exasperated
lad; "that's the sheep's road, and she has no business to
stand there."

" But it is the Queen," was the reply.
" Well," replied the astonished boy, " why don't she put on
clothes so that folks would know her?"

A Minister of State was always in attendance when the
Queen was at Balmoral, and we fear that some of those
stately gentlemen rubbed their eyes and could not believe
their senses when they beheld the Monarch of the British
Empire and her illustrious Consort living like small gentle-
folk, in a small house, with small rooms, and having only a
few attendants. The Clerk of the Council, who accompanied
Lord John Russell, the Prime Minister, to Balmoral, exclaimed
in horror, "There are no soldiers, and the whole guard of
the sovereign and the royal family is a single policeman"
adding further that the Queen was to be seen running in

and out of the house all day long, and visiting the old
women in the cottages unattended. Worse still, Lord
Palraerston found the Queen sallying forth for a walk in the
midst of heavy rain with a great hood over her bonnet, con-
cealing all the features except her eyes; and poor Lord John
Russell, after dining for the first time at Balmoral, actually
saw the dining-room cleared for the Queen and Prince to
take lessons in reels and strathspeys from a Highland dancing-
master, to the tune of a fiddle. The royal children, too, clad
in kilts and tartans, wandered by the hillside, paddled in the
burn, played with the cottage children, and on Sundays
accompanied their parents to the little Presbyterian church
of Crathie on the other side the Dee. One wonders that
society did not refuse to attend the next Drawing-Room, and
that the Bench of Bishops did not travel express to Balmoral !
Never has the Queen shown herself greater than when she
ha.s put aside the trappings of royalty and stood forth in
the grandeur on her own womanhood. Victoria of England
is great enough to be herself.

i6o THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

It would seem, indeed, that the Queen was safer at
Balmoral, guarded by one policeman, than in London, for in
May, 1849, Her Majesty was again fired at when driving
along Constitution Hill, this time by a mad Irishman,
William Hamilton, and one can sympathise with the indig-
nant words of Lord Shaftesbury (then Lord Ashley) when he
said, "While the profligate George IV. passed through a life
of selfishness and sin without a single troved attempt to take
it, this mild and virtuous young woman has four times
already been exposed to imminent peril." But the good
man thanked God that the Queen and her husband were
what they were, with a moral Court, domestic virtues, and
some public activity in philanthropic things. Nothing daunted
by this attack, in the August following the Queen paid her
first visit ta Ireland, accompanied by the Prince and four of
the children. She landed at the Cove of Cork, which hence-
forth became Queenstown. All sorts of dreadful things had
been prophesied, but nothing could exceed the loyalty and
enthusiasm shown by the people. From one of the triumphal
arches a live dove, sweet emblem of peace, fluttered into the
Queen's lap, and a stout old lady in Dublin exclaimed,
**0 Queen dear! make one of them dear children Prince
Patrick, and all Ireland will die for you." The hint was not
forgotten; when on the ist of May, 1850, the Queen's seventh
child was born, he received the name of Arthur Patrick Albert.

It is noticeable that at this period of the Queen's life she
began to take active interest in social questions and in the
condition of the working people. We find that she and
the Prince sent for Lord Ashley, and asked his advice as to
what they could do to ameliorate the condition of the work-

ing classes, and they entered most sympathetically into his
schemes for the better housing of the poor, and his humane
legislation on behalf of the women and children employed in
mines. The keen anxiety felt by the Queen to promote
peaceful industry and the brotherhood of man, the world
over, had an outcome in that memorable Peace Festival,
when all nationalities displayed their products and industries
— the Great Exhibition of 1851. Wc are used to exhibitions
no^^', but this one was counted a marvel, and even to-day old

i6i THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

people refer to it as an epoch in their lives. " It was when
I was in London in '51, you know, my dear," they will say.
The Exhibition was opened by Her Majesty at nine
o'clock on the morning of the ist of May, 1851. There
were thirty-four thousand people in the building, and nearly
a million on the line of route; but instead of the riots and
disturbances prophesied as the result of this vast gathering of
all nationalities, the Queen was rejoiced to hear that, like her
coronation, it was a white day — not one accident or police
case. One who was present at the opening has told the writer
that never had the Queen looked so radiantly happy as she
did when she entered the beautiful Palace of Crystal, leaning
on the arm of her handsome husband, to whose untiring efforts
this great and unique enterprise was due. She wore a pink
silk poplin, of Irish manufacture, trimmed with white lace,
and upon her head a tiara of diamonds, with white ostrich
feathers drooping gracefully on either side. The Prince of
Wales, then a little fellow of nine, held her hand, while the
Princess Royal, dressed in white with a wreath of roses, held
that of her father, and the people said how like she was to
her mother when she was young. It was, indeed, a complete
and beautiful triumph, and the Queen speaks of it as being
the prvHidcst and happiest day of her life

THE LATER MARRIED LIFE OF QUEEA VICTORIA

•63

THE LATER MARRIED LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

THE Exhibition year of 1851, which marked an epoch
in the history of the nation, marked also the meridian
of Queen Victoria's married life. There seemed to be scarcely
a cloud upon her horizon. She rejoiced in the beautiful
children who clustered at her knee, and in the husband who,
after eleven years of wedded life, was more than ever her
beau idM of all that was noble, good, and true ; and it was
her further happiness to find that the country was beginning
to appreciate him too. The overwhelming success of the
Great Exhibition, Prince Albert's own creation, silenced for
the present his detractors, and Ministers were now eager to
tell the Queen that it was a wonderful conception, and that
the Prince was a very remarkable man, to which Her Majesty
was apt to reply in effect, if not in words, " Didn't I tell
you so ? " Shortly after her engagement she had told Lord
Melbourne that the Prince was perfection, and the old man
smiled at a girl-bride's enthusiasm ; but the day came when
he wrote to the Queen : " You said when you were going to
be married that he [the Prince] was perfection, which I
thought a little exaggerated then ; but really I think now
that it is in some degree realised."

Such happiness and content was naturally reflected in the

165

1 66 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

Queen's appearance at this period. Her face, which in her
girlhood was bright and pretty, had taken a more enduring
charm in its softened, thoughtful expression, and those who
were about her speak of the spiritual serenity of her counte-
nance and the lovableness of her disposition. Baron Stockmar,
who had watched her long and critically, said : " The Queen
improves greatly. She makes daily advances in discernment
and experience ; the candour, the love of truth, the fairness,
the considcrateness with which she judges men and things
are truly delightful, and the ingenuous self-knowledge with
which she speaks about herself is simply charming." For
fourteen years she had wielded the greatest sceptre in the
world, and the experience thus gained was showing itself in
her mastery of the duties and responsibilities of her position.
The young Queen who had resented the downfall of the
Melbourne Ministry because it removed loved friends from
her side had learned to regard such changes from the con-
stitutional standpoint, and not from private feeling. Landseer,
who had many opportunities of judging, told Caroline Fox
that he thought the Queen's intellect superior to any woman's
in Europe. Her memory was so remarkable that he had
heard her recall "the exact words of speeches made years
before, which the speakers had themselves forgotten." The
Queen had now developed into a sagacious stateswoman with
whom Cabinet Ministers had to reckon.

Her Court was at once the purest and one of the most
splendid in Europe, and the season which followed the open-
ing of the Great Exhibition was the most brilliant of any
since the Queen's accession ; the town literally swarmed with
distinguished people from all parts of the world. The two

i68 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

fair hair was plaited with pearls beneath a crown of diamonds.
It might be described as a "gentlemen's night," for they
took the palm for smart dresses ; gay cavaliers were they
all, with love-locks, collars and cuffs of Honiton lace, and
such a profusion of ribbons as had never been seen before.
They wore them hanging in bunches like a Highlander's
philibeg, and even their shirt sleeves were bound and orna-
mented with ribbons. Of course " the Duke " was there, but
he drew the line at love-locks, and wore his own scanty grey
hair, which made him a marked figure in the crowd with flowing
curls. It is interesting to note that Mr. Gladstone figured
as Sir Lcoline Jenkins, Judge in the High Court of Admiralty,
and wore "a black velvet coat turned up with blue satin,
ruffles and collar of old point lace, black breeches and stock-
ings, and shoes with spreading bows."

About a month later came the ball at the Guildhall
given by the Mayor and Corporation to the Queen in celebra-
tion of the Great Exhibition. Her Majesty drove from
Buckingham Palace through dense crowds of people, literally
shouting in every tongue, and to see her return more than
a million people waited in the streets until three o'clock in
the morning. The ball itself was the most amusing affair
possible, many of the guests not having the least idea of
Court, or even of ordinary good behaviour. A nobleman
who was present relates that the ladies passed the Queen at
a run, and then returned to stare at her. Some of the gentle-
men passed with their arms round the ladies' waists, and
others holding them by the hand at arm's length, as if going
to dance a minuet. But when one man kissed his hand to
the Queen, her risibility could stand no more, and she went

LATER MARRIED LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORJA 169

»'^

off into one of those uncoiitroliablc fits of laughter for which
Her Majesty is rather famous, and doubtless the Lord Mayor's
guests thought this the best part of the entertainment.

In accordance with the spirit of peace and goodwill to all
men with which the Queen and Prince Albert had initiated
the Exhibition, religious, philanthropic, and scientific institu-
tions received a marked share of attention. A monster meeting
on behalf of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
in Foreign Parts was held, at which Prince Albert presided,
and made a remarkably fine speech ; and he was also active
on behalf of the British Association. At length there came
a lull in the routs, meetings, and festivities — town was out of
town, for the Queen had left for the Highlands,

170 7 HE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

It was on this occasion that Her Majesty first travelled
by the Great Northern Railway. She halted at Peterborough
to receive her " kind, good master," Bishop Davys. Canon
Davys, the son of the Bishop, has told the present writer that
Her Majesty never visited his father at Peterborough Palace,
as some writers allege, knowing the simple life which he led ;
but she never failed to invite him to meet her at the station
when she passed through Peterborough on her way to Scotland.
She always received her old tutor in the royal saloon carriage
like a valued friend, and would show him her children, and
talk over their futures with him. Canon Davys attended as
chaplain on such occasions, and he well remembers the Queen
bringing forward Prince Alfred (the present Duke of Saxe-
Coburg), and saying, " We are going to make this boy a
sailor." Proceeding to Edinburgh, the Queen passed a night
at Holyrood Palace. It may not be generally known that
Her Majesty has always shown a sympathetic interest in the
fate of Mary Queen of Scots, and this her first sojourn in the
Palace so intimately connected with her was full of romantic
interest, and she told Sir Archibald Alison that she was glad
that she was descended from Mary Stuart and not from
Elizabeth Tudor. From Holyrood the royal party proceeded to
Balmoral, which had now been purchased by Prince Albert, he
having previously rented it. Here the autumn was passed by the
Queen in that free, simple manner which she loved — walking,
driving, riding, sketching, and visiting the cottagers. At first
the simple Scotch folk were a little disconcerted by the royal
visits ; but when one of the old women expressed her nervous-
ness to the Queen, Her Majesty replied that she hoped that
they would not allow any feeling of that kind to trouble them

THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QVEEN VICTORIA

as she was just a woman like themselves, The following story
will illustrate the feeling which speedily grew up between the
Queen and her poorer neighbours. A man from Balmoral was
being examined as a witness before the jury, when the presiding
judge spoke rather sharply to him. " Just allow me to tak'
time, my lord," said the man ; " I'm no accustomed to sic a
company " ; adding to the bystanders, after he left the witness-
box, " The Queen has been to my hut, and she speaks pleasantly
and draws pretty pictures for the bairns. I would far rather
speak to the Queen than to yon chap in the big wig,"

After leaving the Highlands the Queen paid her first visit
to Liverpool and Manchester. The festivities at Liverpool

172 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VIC TORI A

were marred by a steady downpour ; but at Manchester the
weather was more propitious, and an interesting demonstration
took place in Peel Park, where eighty thousand school children,
belonging to the various religious denominations, were assembled.
The " canny " Manchester folk had hit on the right thing to
please the Queen's motherly heart. Her look of delight as she
gazed at the children, ranged tier above tier, fourteen deep, was
long remembered by the people. Continuing her journey to
London, the Queen paid a farewell visit to the Exhibition,
where she found Mary Kerlynack, the plucky old woman who
walked all the way from her native Cornwall to see the wonder,
still hovering about the doors, and appeared ready to cry
when the Queen looked* at her. The Exhibition was closed on
the I Sth of October, the twelfth anniversary of Her Majesty's
betrothal to Prince Albert. Its success had exceeded the most
sanguine expectations ; yet a feeling of sadness seemed to be
in the heart of the Queen and of the nation, a half-conscious
foreboding that this Peace Festival was to be the herald of a
darker instead of a brighter time, for already the war-clouds
were gathering which burst in the Crimean war.

While the Queen was staying at Balmoral in the autumn of
1852 she received a pleasant surprise in the shape of a legacy
of ;£'2 50,000, left to her by Mr. John Camden Neale, a man of
penurious habits, who had accumulated this large sum by
denying himself the necessaries of life. When one of Mr.
Neale's executors came to Balmoral to make the communication,
the Queen laughingly said that she " could not think what had
led the old gentleman to do it," and at first she refused to accept
the legacy. Finding subsequently that there were no relations
to inherit, she decided to take the money, first increasing

LATER MARRIED LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA 175

Mr. Neale's bequest to his executors oi £\qo to ;f 1,000. She
also provided for his old housekeeper, for whom he had made no
provision, although she had been with him for twenty-six years.
It was while still in Scotland that the Queen received the
news of the death of the Duke of Wellington, which filled her
with grief. " One cannot think of the country without the
Duke, our immortal hero," she said. A curious coincidence
occurred on the morning when the Queen received the tidings.
She was out walking, and suddenly missed the watch given
her by the Duke, which she always wore. Later in the
morning a servant returned to the Queen, who was sketching
at the Glassalt Shiel, to say that the watch was all right at the
Castle, but at the same time handing Lord Derby's telegram
giving the news of the Duke's death. Her Majesty returned
to town to witness the funeral procession, which was the most
remarkable death pageant of her reign. It took place on the
l8th of November, 1852, and passed to St. Paul's through
streets draped in black ; a " masquerade in ink," Dickens
rather flippantly called it. Duty to the Crown had always
been the mainspring of Wellington's life, and his devotion to
the Queen, over whom he had watched with a fatherly pride
from her earliest years, was quite romantic.

On the 7th of April, 1853, the Queens eighth child and
fourth son was born at Buckingham Palace, and received,
among others, the name of Leopold, after her beloved uncle,
the King of the Belgians. Only three weeks before this event
an alarming fire had broken out at Windsor Castle close to
the white drawing-room, where the Queen and Prince were
sitting; but Her Majesty displayed her usual intrepidity, and
received no harm. A few months after her confinement, she

176 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

had her family " down with the measles," and suflfered a slight
attack herself. Happily all quickly recovered, and in the
succeeding August the royal party visited Ireland to open the
Exhibition of Art and Industry at Dublin.

In the autumn of 1853 the Queen was considerably
" worried ** by a revival of the charges of " foreign influence "
directed against her husband. War was now imminent with
Russia, and the popular feeling was in its favour ; still, there
was hesitation and dissension in the Cabinet, and this was
attributed to the influence " behind the throne." The feeling
displayed drew from the Queen a letter to Lord Aberdeen,
in which she said that the Prince was one and the same with
herself, and that attacks upon him were the same as attacks
upon the throne. When Parliament met in January, 1854,
the calumnies against the Prince were refuted in both Houses,
and for the first time the right of the Prince to advise the
sovereign — his wife— was officially accepted. Shortly after
this dark cloud had been lifted, the Queen kept the fourteenth
anniversary of her marriage at Windsor, when the royal
children performed a Masque of the Seasons, which the
Baroness Bunsen, who was present, describes as being a
wonderfully pretty sight. Spring was represented by Princess
Alice, Summer by the Princess Royal, Autumn by Prince
Alfred, and Winter by the Prince of Wales. A separate
tableau was given for each season, and the children recited
suitable verses from Thomson's " Seasons." As a finale, all
the seasons stood in a group while the little Princess Helena,
dressed as Britannia, pronounced a blessing on their parents.

The Queen's elder children were now entering upon their
teens, and it was a conscientious duty with her that they should

178 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

randum, that "she should have great reverence for God and
rch'gion, but that she should have the feeling of devotion and
love which our heavenly Father encourages His earthly
children to have for Him, and not one of fear and trembling ;
and that the thoughts of death and an after life should not
be represented in an alarming and forbidding view, and that
she should be made to know as yet no difference of creeds, and
not think that she can only pray on her knees, or that those
who do not kneel are less fervent and devout in their prayers."
Her Majesty, indeed, kept the religious instruction of her
children largely in her own hands. A story is told that
when the Archdeacon of London was catechising the young
Princes he said, " Your governess deserves great credit for
instructing you so thoroughly." At which the boys piped up,
**Oh, but it is mamma who teaches us our Catechism." It
is not perhaps generally known that the Queen occasionally
taught a Bible-class for the children of those in attendance at
Buckingham Palace, and that, it having come to her knowledge
that the children of the servants and attendants at the Palace
were without the means for ordinary instruction, she com-
manded that a school should be started for them in Palace
Street, Pimlico, and herself showed the greatest interest in its
management.

Her Majesty encouraged her own boys to choose their
profession when they were quite young, and had them educated
in accordance with their choice, excepting of course the Prince
of Wales, who was born to wear the purple, and had no option
in the matter. His training and education were, however,
a conscientious study with his parents, who placed him suc-
cessively under the care of Mr. Birch and Mr. Gibbs, and

i8o THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

tutors was quite touching. Lady Canning writes from Windsor
Castle in June, 1852 : "Mr. Birch [the tutor] left yesterday. It
has been a terrible sorrow to the Prince of Wales, who has
done no end of touching things since he heard that he was to
lose him, three weeks ago. He is such an affectionate, dear
little boy ; his little notes and presents, which Mr. Birch used
to find on his pillow, were really too moving."

Prince Alfred early expressed his wish to be a sailor,
and he was sent from home at twelve years of age to pursue
his studies in a separate establishment, at the Royal Lodge,
Windsor Park, under the care of Lieutenant Cowell, a young
officer of engineers, afterwards Sir John Cowell, K.C.B., Master
of Her Majesty's Household ; later on, the sailor-Prince
had an establishment at Alverbank, near Portsmouth, for the
greater convenience of his naval studies. Prince Arthur
decided to be a soldier, and began his training when nine
years of age, under Captain Elphinstone, of the Engineers,
afterwards Sir Howard Elphinstone. Thus the education of
the three elder Princes was settled.

Great grief was felt by the Queen and Prince Albert
when, in 185 1, Lady Lyttelton retired from the post of
governess to the royal children. She was succeeded by Lady
Caroline Barrington, sister of Earl Grey, who held the im-
portant position for twenty-four years, and was greatly beloved
by the young Princesses. The Princess Royal became very
remarkable as a girl as she had been clever as a child, and
the constant companionship of her scholarly father developed
her natural intellect to an astonishing degree. She was more
of a woman at fifteen than most girls are at twenty. Princess
Alice inherited her mother's affectionate nature and musical

LATER MARRIED LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA i8i

voice, and we find on festive occasions in the royal house-
hold that "Alice" did the recitations and speechifying.

A girl of such strong personality as the Princess Royal
needed the curb occasionally, and how promptly the royal
mother applied it is illustrated by the following story.
When about thirteen years old the Princess accompanied
her mother to a military review, and seemed disposed, as she
sat in the carriage, to be a little coquettish with some of
the young officers of the escort. The Queen gave her some
warning looks without avail, and presently the young Princess
dangled her handkerchief over the side of the carriage
and dropped it — evidently for the purpose. There was an
immediate rush of young officers to pick it up ; but the royal
mother bid the gentlemen desist from their gallant intention,
and turning to poor unfortunate " Vicky," said in a stern
voice, " Now, my daughter, pick up your handkerchief your-
self." There was no help for it ; the footman let down the
steps, and the young Princess did her mother's bidding, with
flaming cheeks and a saucy toss of the head, though. Another
time it was " Princey " who received a wholesome lesson.
He was riding in company with his father, and for once forgot
his usual politeness, and neglected to acknowledge the salute
of a passer-by. Prince Albert observing it said, " Now, my son,
go back and return that man's bow," which he accordingly
did. One might go on multiplying these stories, but suffi-
cient has been said to show that the Queen's children were
taught respectful obedience to their parents and elders in a
manner not common to-day.

It always seems to have been the fate of English queens
to have one important war. Queen Elizabeth fought the

182 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

Spaniard and vanquished the Armada, Mary had her disastrous
war with the French and lost Calais, Queen Anne's reign was
famous foi the victories of Marlborough, and Victoria had
the Crimean war. It was on the 28th of February, 1854, that
Her Majesty signed a formal declaration of war with Russia.'
In doing so si e acted from the strongest sense of duty. The
nation had maie up its mind that Russian aggressions in the
East must be checked, and the war-cry in the country was too
strong to be disregarded. It is quite evident that the Queen
and Prince Consort would have avoided the contest if they
could have found an honourable means of doing so. In reply
to the King of Prussia, who wrote at the eleventh hour urging
peace, the Queen sent a letter full of patriotic spirit, and ending
with the famous quotation :

" Beware of entrance to a quarrel ; but being in,
Bear it, that the opposer may beware of thee."

For the next two years her life was passed in consuming
anxiety regarding this campaign. First she bid God-speed to
her gallant troops as they started for the seat of war; then
came the farewell to the magnificent war fleet as it sailed for
the Baltic under command of Sir Charles Napier, and the
launching and christening of the Royal Albert^ a monster iron-
clad sent to the Crimea with reinforcements after tlie battle
of Inkermann. With throbbing heart the Queen received the
tidings of the battles of Alva, Inkermann, Balaclava, and the
Charge of the Light Brigade ; and as the cry of the widow
and orphan began to be heard in the land, she and the
Prince felt that something must be done to aid the dis-
tressed. In October, 1854, the Patriotic Fund, headed by

THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

30 guineas apiece. The Queen and her ladies spent much of
their time in knitting and sewing garments for the soldiers
and preparing bandages, while " Vicky " and " Alice," with all
the enthusiasm of young girls, longed and even planned to
go out and join Florence Nightingale and her noble band of
nurses at Scutari. In fact, the sympathy and enthusiasm of
the royal children were stirred to the highest pitch, and we
find one of the young Princes saying to Lord Cardigan, when
he returned to Windsor to visit Her Majesty, " Do hurry back
and take Sebastopol, or else it will kill mamma."

Frequent letters were written by the Queen to the seat of
war, expressing concern at the gross mismanagement of the
commissariat in the early part of the campaign, and vehemently
urging that every effort should be made to save the brave
men from privation. During a war debate in Parliament in
January, 1855, Mr. Augustus Stafford thrilled his hearers by
telling them that he had seen a wounded man in the hospital,
after hearing one of the Queen's sympathetic letters read,
propose her health in a glass of bark and quinine. "It is a
bitter cup for a loyal toast," said Mr. Stafford, to which the
man replied, " Yes ; and but for the words of the Queen I
could not have got it down." In opening Parliament during
this period of national sorrow, for the first time the Queen's
silvery accents failed her, and the speech from the throne was
read by her in broken accents and with tears streaming down
her face. " It was a sight never to be forgotten," says one
who was present, " for the whole assembly was convulsed with
grief ; there was scarcely one present who had not the loss of
a dear one to mourn." When the melancholy contingents of
wounded began to return home, the Queen constantly visited

1 86 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

past her with gaunt forms, pallid faces, and maimed and disabled
bodies ; but it was beautiful to see how the faces of the men
brightened as she spoke kind and grateful words to them.
An amusing story is told by the Earl of Malmesbury of the
"density" of the Minister for War, Lord Panmure, on this
occasion. " Was the Queen touched ? " asked a lady of him,
referring to the pathetic spectacle. " Bless my soul, no I " was
the reply ; " she had a brass railing before her, and no one
could touch her." "Was she moved, I mean?" persisted the
lady. " Moved ! " answered Lord Panmure ; " she had no
occasion to move." The sequel to this lack of intelligence
on the part of the Minister of War may be found in the fact
that the Queen's quick eyes had detected many flaws in the
management of the military hospitals during her visits, and
she had addressed remonstrances to Lord Panmure on the
subject It was owing to the Queen's efforts that, after the
war, the beautiful military hospital at Netley was built.

In connection with the distribution of the Crimean war
medals, a story is told of an old lady who kept the Swiss
Cottage on the Duke of Bedford's estate at Endsleigh. When
Her Majesty was paying a visit to the Cottage, the old lady
thought, " Now's my chance," and plucking up heart she said,
" Please, your Majesty, ma'am, I had a son, a faithful subject
of your Majesty, and he was killed in your wars out in the
Crimea, and I wants his medal." " And you shall have it,"
replied the Queen, with a soft voice and melting eye, as she
took the old woman's hand.

The friendly alliance entered into between France and
England during the Crimean war was the occasion of an
interchange of visits between the sovereigns. The Emperor

LATER MARRIED LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA 187

Napoleon, with his lovely young Empress Eugenie, visited
Windsor in April, 1855, and a few months later the Queen
and Prince Albert returned the visit, taking the Prince of
Wales and the Princess Royal along with them. A series of
brilliant entertainments took place in Paris, and the friendship
between the Queen and the amiable and lovely Eugenie,
which has lasted until the present time, was begun. Often
one fancies that the two royal widows must sadly talk together
of those bright, happy times. The two children enjoyed their
visit to Paris immensely, and the Prince of Wales conceived
the brilliant idea that he and his sister might remain behind
and continue the festivities after the departure of their
parents. The Empress made the usual reply which hostesses
give to importunate juveniles — that their "papa and mamma
would not be able to spare them," to which " Bertie " replied,
" Oh, they can do without us ; there are six more at home."

Shortly after the return of the Queen from France, the joy
bells rang through the land that at length Sebastopol had
fallen, and the war was practically at an end.

The years 1856-57 were spent largely by the Queen amongst
the returning warriors. It was a season of military reviews
and decorations, and the enthusiasm of the troops at Aldershot,
as Her Majesty rode down the lines on her chestnut charger
in the uniform of a field marshal, draped below the waist
with a dark blue skirt, was unbounded ; and when on another
occasion she delivered a stirring speech to the soldiers from
her carriage, the scene of excitement beggars description—
" bearskins and shakos were thrown into the air, dragoons
waved their sabres, and shouts rang all down the lines." The
Queen showed her appreciation of Miss Nightingale's noble

|88 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

work by inviting her to Balmoral immediately after she had
settled in the newly built castle. On the 26th of June, 1857,
came the crowning act of the Queen in the Crimean period,
when she distributed the Victoria Crosses, a badge for valour
specially struck at this time, in Hyde Park to those who had
performed special acts of bravery during the war. It was at
this time of wide distribution of honours that Her Majesty
conferred upon her noble husband the title of Prince Consort
Her Majesty's ninth, and youngest, child, the Princess
Beatrice, was born on the 14th of April, 1857, and no sooner
does one cease to record this, the last birth in the royal
househoh], than it becomes the pleasing duty to start with the
weddings. One of the first acts of the Queen, when she
had recovered from her confinement, was to announce to
Parliament the formal betrothal of her daughter, the Princess
Royal, to Prince Frederick William of Prussia, eldest son of
the Prince and Princess of Prussia, and direct heir to the
throne. Prince Fritz had visited Windsor during the Great
Exhibition in 1851, and had greatly admired the young
Princess at that time. When he returned in 1855, he found
her "woman grown," though only fifteen years of age, and as
they rode together one day among the hills of Balmoral, he
declared his love by presenting the " Rose of England " with
a spray of white heather. The Queen and Prince Albert gave
their consent to the betrothal on condition that it was regarded,
for the present, as a private family matter, the extreme youth
of the Princess rendering anything more public undesirable,
and the Queen felt that the marriage should not take place
until her daughter had attained her seventeenth year. The
two years which intervened before the Princess's marriage

I go THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

the marriage of her daughter the Queen addressed a beautiful
letter to Sir Colin Campbell, the hero of Lucknow, and a
pathetic picture of the " Relief of Lucknow " was one of the
last pieces of work done by the Princess Royal before her
marriage.

This, the first wedding in the Queen's family, was attended
with all the little home touches which makes Her Majesty's
life so charming. She and the Prince themselves arranged
the bride's presents to be viewed by their friends. The
details of the marriage ceremony were identical with those
of the Queen's own wedding. She calls it the " second most
eventful day" in her life, and said that she felt as if she
were "being married over again herself." The very youthful
bride looked charming in her white silk and orange blossoms,
with the famous myrtle in her bouquet, a shoot of which,
planted at Osborne, has grown into a tree which supplies the
royal brides of the present time. The marriage was cele-
brated, like the Queen's, at the Chapel Royal, St James's
Palace, and took place on the 2Sth of January, 1858. A pretty
little scene was enacted when, as the bride advanced to the
altar, the bridegroom knelt to kiss her hand. Unlike her
royal mother, the young Princess had to leave home and
kindred for a foreign land, and the parting, after the brief
honeymoon at Windsor, was a heart-breaking one for all.
The Princess had said to her mother, "I think it will kill
me to say good-bye to papa " ; and when the time came for
her to sail for Germany, the poor young bride — clever, wilful,
independent "Vicky" of the old days — was quite broken
down. The Queen did not trust herself to see her daughter
oflF, and those who saw the Prince Consort's white, rigid face

193 THB PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

saying, " I mean no harm, but I always say just what I
think, not what is fut" (fit). The Queen's comment on the
incident was : " Dear old lady, she is such a pleasant person."
Her Majesty dislikes, above everything, cringing servility, and
delights in those honest, candid people who say what they
think, not what is fuL

In the following August the Queen and Prince Consort
visited their daughter in her new home, and the Queen was
rejoiced to find her " quite the old Vicky still " ; but in taking
leave of her after a pleasant stay in Germany, the royal
mother felt sad that it was impossible for her to return again
to the young Princess at that critical time when "every
other mother goes to her child." On the 27th of January,
1859, the Princess Frederick William was confined of a son,
the present Emperor William, and Her Majesty found herself
at thirty-nine with the ancient dignity of "grandmamma"
conferred upon her. In the September of i860 the Queen
and Prince spent some time in Coburg, and were visited by
"Vicky" and "Fritz" and the wonderful "baby William,"
who was duly brought to grandmamma's room every morning,
and was pronounced "such a darling."

But the time has come when the shadow of death encom-
passed the life of our beloved Queen. Her mother, the
Duchess of Kent, had been for some time in declining health,
and in March of 1861 the Queen was summoned to Frog-
more, and found her in a dying condition. She passed
peacefully away, solaced by the daughter whom she had
reared with unsurpassed love and care, and to whom her
death came as the first great grief in life. "What a blessed
end ! " the Queen writes in her diary ; " her gentle spirit at

rest, her sufferings over ! But I — I, wretched child — who had
lost the mother I so tenderly loved, from whom for these
forty-one years I had never been parted except for a few
weeks — what was my case? My childhood — everything seemed
to crowd upon me at once. I seemed to have Hved through
a life, to have become old I" The Queen was much depressed
in the months which followed, despite the loving sympathy
of her husband and children ; and indeed she had not
recovered her spirits when ten months later came a loss
which made all others seem trivial. For the last ten years
the health of the Prince Consort had been unsatisfactory; the

194 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

great mental strain which he underwent in organising the
Exhibition of 1851, followed by the hard work and con-
stant anxiety attendant on the Crimean war and the Indian
Mutiny, had weakened his constitution, and when in December
of 1 86 1 he was seized with an attack of typhoid fever, he
had no strength to resist the disease. The agonised suspense
of his wife during the fortnight which followed his seizure
was in proportion to the absorbing and passionate love she had
borne him throughout the twenty-one years of their wedded
life. When hope was abandoned, and the doctors could no
longer conceal their fears from her, the Queen writes : " I
went to my room, and felt as if my heart must break."
Then came a change in the Prince's condition, and the wife's
heart beat fast with hope ; but it was only for a few hours.
As the day advanced it became evident that the Prince was
sinking. Bending over him the Queen whispered, "'Tis your
own little wife," and he turned his head and kissed her.
After ten o'clock, on the fatal 14th of December, came the
end, and the great and good Prince, who had worn, through
good report and ill, "the white flower of a blameless life,"
passed to his reward, and the Crown was left indeed a
"lonely splendour."

THE WIDOWED MONARCH

'95

VII

THE WIDOWED MONARCH

QUEEN VICTORIA kneeling at the death-bed of her
"dear lord and master," as she ever called the Prince
Consort, will remain one of the most pathetic scenes in
the history of this country. Queen she remained to the end, in
spite of her woman's anguish. When the last sigh was
heaved, and the spirit of her beloved had fled, she gently
loosed the hand which she had held as he passed through
the valley of the shadow of death, saw the lids closed over
the eyes which to the last had turned their love-light upon
her, rose from the bedside, thanked the physicians for their
skill and attention, spoke some soothing words to her orphaned
children sobbing around the bed, and, walking from the room
calm and erect, sought the solitude of her chamber, and
went through her Gethsemane alone.

Away in the city the great bell of St. Paul's tolled the
sad tidings through the midnight air, and next morning —
Sunday — it seemed that a pall had fallen over the land, and
there was scarce a dry eye in the churches when the Prince
Consort's name was significantly omitted from the Litany,
and the ministers impressively paused in the prayer for "the
fatherless children and widows, and all that are desolate and

197

198 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

oppressed." To many, indeed, this was the first intimation
of the great loss which the monarch and the country had
sustained. As the awestruck worshippers dispersed they
gathered in little knots, and spoke in whispers of the grief-
stricken wife at Royal Windsor, recalled her joy-days, when,
gay as a lark, she had entered the Abbey on her coronation
day, or walked from the altar a proud and happy bride, and
again had hung with a mother's love over the cradle of her
little ones ; and now, in the heyday of life and happiness
she was a widowed Queen, more desolate by reason of her
exalted position than any woman in the land, similarly
bereft. That angel of comfort. Princess Alice, whose lovely
character all the world reveres, was the support of her mother
in this time of sorrow. She was aided in her ministrations
by Lady Augusta Bruce (afterwards the wife of Dean Stanley),
who had been the beloved friend and attendant of the
Duchess of Kent in her last years; and by that other dear
friend of the Queen, the Duchess of Sutherland, herself but
lately a widow, who was specially summoned by her
royal mistress to stay with her at this time of bereavement
Anxious days and nights were passed by these devoted ladies
in the Queen's room, for the reaction from the enforced
restraint had been so great that Her Majesty was completely
prostrated, and her pulse became so weak at one time that
death appeared imminent It is scarcely realised to-day how
near the country was to a double tragedy, and when the
tidings were flashed through the land that at last the Queen
had obtained some hours' sleep it seemed like the joy-bells
succeeding the funeral peal. The feelings of the people were
beautifully expressed by Mrs. Crosland in her poem :

THE WIDOWED MONARCH

"Sleep, tor the night is round thee spread,
Thou daughter of a line of kings ;
Sleep, widowed Queen, while angels' wiuga
Make canopy above thy head I

Steep, while a mitliou piaj-ers rise up

To Him who knew all earthly sorrow,

Tliat day by day each soft to-morrow
May melt the biller from thy cup."

When the first agony of her grief was over, the Queen
summoned her children around her, and told ihein that,
though she felt crushed by her loss, she knew what her
position demanded, and asked them to help her in fulfilling
her duty to the country and to them. Little Prince Leopold,

«00 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

the delicate one of the Queen's bairns, who was at this time
at Cannes for his health, when told that his father was dead,,
cried piteously, " Do take me to my mamma " ; and that old-
fashioned little tot, Baby Beatrice, would climb on her mother's
knee to look at ''mamma's sad cap." Fearing the worst
consequences should Her Majesty have another relapse, the
physicians were urgent that she should leave Windsor before
the funeral took place ; but the Queen cried bitterly at the
suggestion, saying that her subjects never left their homes
or the remains of their dear ones at such times, and why
should she. It was only when Princess Alice represented to
her that the younger children might suffer if they remained in
the fever-tainted Castle that she consented to go with them
to Osborne. Before leaving she drove to Frogmore, where
only ten months before she had laid to rest her devoted
mother, and walking round the gardens on the arm of Princess
Alice, chose a bright sunny spot to bury her dead. The
same feeling which led the Queen to create homes of her
own, apart from the royal palaces, prompted her to have
a family burying-placc. With a truly democratic spirit. Her
Majesty preserves her own individuality, and declines to be
considered a mere royalty, whose affairs are to be regulated
by the State, and whose body must lie in a cold and dreary
royal vault, along with kings and queens for whom she cares
nothing at all. When the sad time comes, our greatest
monarch will probably lie with her mother and husband in
the beautiful God's acre of her own choosing. The funeral
of the Prince Consort took place, with the honours befitting^
so great and good a Prince, on the 2^rd of December, 1861,.
the cofKn being temporarily placed at the entrance to St»

202 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

green moss and violets, made by the Queen and Princess
Alice. The unmistakable reality of the sorrow at the funeral
was very striking, and was manifested, not only by the heart-
broken sobs of the young Princes, but by the tears of veteran
statesmen and ambassadors mingling with those who were of
royal kin. Though there can be no doubt that the Prince had
won for himself a place in the hearts of those present, one
feels that the tears flowed as much in sympathy for her who
sorrowed as for him who was gone. In reading the letters
and memoirs of courtiers of this period, it is evident that
they felt that the Queen had well-nigh received her death-
blow ; all speak of her calm, pathetic sorl-ow being heart-
breaking to witness. Amongst others. Lord Shaftesbury writes
at this time: "The desolation of the, Queen's heart and life,
the death-blow to her happiness on earth ! God in His
mercy sustain and comfort ! The disruption of domestic
existence, unprecedented in royal history, the painful with-
drawal of a prop, the removal of a counsellor, a friend in
all public and private aff'airs, the sorrows she has, the troubles
that await her — all rend my heart as though the suffering
were my own."

Her Majesty spent the first three months of her widow-
hood in absolute retirement at Osborne, where she was
greatly comforted by her beloved half-sister, the Princess
Hohenlohe, who had hastened from Germany to her side.
The Princess told Dean Stanley that the Queen found "her
only comfort in the belief that her husband's spirit was close
beside her — for he had promised her that it should be so " ;
and she further related that the Queen would go each morn-
ing to visit the cows on the Prince's model farm, because

KH THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VIC20RIA

Consort's plans, which- the Queen would not have put on
one side, for a prolonged tour in the East, accompanied by
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (Dean of Westminster). The Queen's
ddest daughter was bound by the ties of her German home,
and It was therefore upon Princess Alice that everything
devolved during those first terrible week3. The nation has
never foi^otten the tact and judgment in dealing with
MInbters and officials, in the Queen's place, shown by this
young girl of eighteen, and her remarkable conduct called
forth a special article in the Times,

The advocates of modem funeral reform might complain
that Her Majesty was too punctilious in her outward signs
of mourning ; but, as she once playfully said to Lord
Melbourne in her young days, " What is the use of being
a queen if you cannot do as you like ? " It is said that she
refused to sign a Commission because the paper was not
bordered with black ; and we know that for at least eight
years after the Prince Consort's death the royal servants wore
a band of crape upon the left arm, while in her own attire
Her Majesty has never, throughout the succeeding years of her
widowhood, worn any but mourning colours. So complete
was her isolation during her retirement at Osborne that she
dined alone save for one of the royal children, who took it
in turns to be with her, the other members of the family
and the visitors, even her uncle Leopold, dining separately.
At her command the late Prince's apartments at Windsor,
Osborne, and Balmoral were closed, and remain to-day exactly
as they were at his death. His favourite horse, Guy
Mannering, was turned out to a life of ease in Bushey Park,
the saddle never again being placed upon his back ; while the

THE WIDOWED MONARCH lOS

memory of his favourite dog, Eos, which predeceased him, was
preserved on the Prince's tomb, where the faithful greyhound
is sculptured at his master's feet. This dog accompanied the
Prince when he came to be married ; and his brother, Duke
Ernest, tells the story that as he and Prince Albert passed
through a little German town on their way to England in 1839,
the country people came out to see them, and Prince Albert for
a "lark" put his little black greyhound up at the carriage
window for the people to stare at, while he and his brother,
convulsed with laughter, crouched down in the bottom of the
carriage out of sight Not only were the Prince's rooms
preserved in the state in which he left them — a custom which
the Queen follows with all her nearest departed relatives — but
her own boudoir at Windsor Castle is kept in the same state
to-day as it was whrti the Prince Consort died. On the door
is inscribed, " Every article in this room my lamented husband
selected for me in the twenty-fourth year of my reign." In

jo6 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

this rcx)m the Queen's bridal wreath and the first bouquet
which the Prince presented to her lie withered in a glass case.

She wasted no time in idle tears, and a simple little incident
occurred at the time which showed that some of Her Majesty's
old interest in life was returning. When out driving in the
neighbourhood of Windsor one afternoon, she was attracted
by a poor Italian vendor of images, and ordering the carriage
to be stopped, astonished the man by buying up a large portion
of his stock-in-trade; but still greater must have been his
surprise when it transpired that neither the Queen nor her
suite had sufficient cash to pay for the purchases. However,
matters were eventually arranged to the perfect satisfaction of
the man with the images, who doubtless ever afterwards dubbed
himself, " By Appointment"

Nowhere has the Queen such a sense of quiet and home-
liness as at Balmoral, where, amongst her faithful Highlanders,
she lives on terms of mutual aid and sympathy which recall
the Scottish laird among his clansmen, and it would seem
that, like Sir Walter Scott, she cannot live a year without a
sight of the heather. Up to the time of her bereavement she
had only stayed there in the autumn, when the Prince was
deer-stalking ; but the year after his death she began the custom,
since continued, of spending her own birthday in May, and
that of the Prince in August, in the Highland home endeared
to her by so many memories of the dead. The first visit paid
by the Queen when she went there in the spring of 1862 was
to an old cottager, who like herself had lately lost her husband,
and the two widows, so differently placed in life, mingled their

tears together. The old woman apologised for indulging her
grief; but the Queen told her that she "was so thankful to

THE WIDOWED MONARCH 107

cry with some one who knew exactly how she felt." Her
Mitjcsty is always a Scotchwoman when she is at her Highland
home, and during this time of sorrow, in characteristic Scotch
fashion, the first thing she did was to send for the minister.
It was to the Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod that she appealed
for religious guidance, and deeply grateful was she for his
faithful coun.sel. When he pointed out to her the duty of
resignation to the divine Will, she received his admonitions
very sweetly, and sent him a touching letter of thanks. Dr.
Macleod afterwards wrote : " I am never tempted to conceal
any conviction from the Queen, for I feel she sympathises with
what is true, and likes the speaker to utter the truth exactly
as he believes it." Her Majesty was first attracted by Dr.
Macleod's preaching in 1854, when he was officiating at Crathic

2o8 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTOEIA

Church, and the references in his prayer to herself and her
children gave her, as she sa3rs, a ** lump in her throat* Later
in the day Her Majesty and Prince Albert were taking dieir
usual evening stroll, when they encountered the minister sittiDB
on a block of granite in quiet meditation. The Queen at oooe
advanced towards him and thanked him for his sermon, and
the conversation which followed was the beginning of a friend-
ship which ended only with Dr. Macleod's death. He was
constantly at Balmoral during the Queen's early widowlMX>d ;
in fact, it would seem that Her Majesty could hardly get on
without him. She asked not only his spiritual guidance, but
made him her confidant in matters relating to the training of
her children, as she perpetually felt the responsibility of being
a widow with a large family. "No one," she said, "ever
reassured and comforted me about my children like Dr. Mac-
leod." At times he turned entertainer for Her Majesty, and
would read Burns and Scott to her as she sat spinning. In
this homely occupation the Queen is proficient, having taken
her first lessons from an old woman at Balmoral, who for
many years had in her possession flax spun by Her Majesty,
until it was begged away thread by thread by enterprising
tourists. The Queen has an interesting collection of spinning-
wheels, and has sent specimens of her work to exhibitions.
It is interesting to find from Dr. Macleod that her favourite
poem from Burns was, " A man's a man for a' that" This,
however, is but further evidence of Her Majesty's democratic
sentiments, which are very evident, notwithstanding her imperial
spirit, which brooks no encroachment upon her authority as a
constitutional sovereign.

In the course of his talks with the Queen, Dr Macleod

told her of an old Scotchwoman, \vho had lost her husbaml
and several children, and had had many sorrows, but when
asked how she could bear them said : " When he was taen,
it made sic a hole in my heart that a' other sorrows gang
lichtty through." " So will it ever be with me," was the Queen's
remark when she heard the story. One imagines that there
was something of the feeling that one loss more could make
her loneliness little greater, in the Queen's consenting to part
with her beloved daughter Princess Alice, who had been
betrothed to Prince Louis of Hesse before her father's death,
and whose marriage and removal to Germany took place in
the July following. I'ainful indeed is the contrast between
the marriages of the Queen's two eldest daughters : the one
a joyous repetition of the gay ceremonies which attended her
own brid'il, and the second performed privately at Osborne

210 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

in a scene of partial mourning, when everybody cried, even to
the Archbishop. The sweet young Princess, whom her father
called " the beauty of the family," looked pathetically lovely
in her dress of crystalline silk, trimmed with Honiton flounces
made from a design chosen by the Prince Consort She was
given away by her paternal uncle, Duke Ernest of Coburg,
the Queen sitting in deep mourning in the background of the
bridal party. There was no wedding breakfast, but after the
ceremony the young couple lunched privately with the Queen
and "Baby," as Princess Beatrice was yet called. This was
indeed the " sad marriage " in the royal family.

The following month Her Majesty was again at Balmoral,
where she erected the Cairn to the Prince Consort on the
Craig Lowrigan. " I and my poor six orphans," she writes,
''all placed stones on it, and our initials, as well as those of
the three absent ones." Below the inscription is the beautiful
motto from the Apocrypha chosen by the Princess Royal :

"He being made perfect in a short time fulfilled a long time;
For his soul pleased the Lord.
Therefore hastened He to take him away from among the wicked."

During the first years of her widowhood the Queen could not
bear to listen to music, still less to take part in its performance,
which had hitherto been such a delight to her; neither did
she feel able to amuse herself with her favourite pastime of
sketching. Mr. Leitch, the artist, who was drawing-master
to the Queen and royal family for twenty-two years, describes
in a letter to his mother the sadly altered life at Balmoral
at this period. He writes : " The Queen is still the kind,
good, gracious lady that she always was; but I need hardly

THE WIDOWED MONARCH

tell you that there is a change, indeed the whole place is
changed. Everything very quiet and still. How different from
my first visit here — the joyous bustle in the morning when
the Prince went out; the Highland ponies and the dogs; the
gillies and the pipers coming home ; the Queen and her ladies
going out to meet them ; and the merry time afterwards ; the
torchlight sword dances on the green, and the ser^'ants' ball
closing." In the following autumn Her Majesty was persuaded
to resume sketching, and Mr. Leilch gives a graphic account of
an outdoor drawing-party. The Queen set out on her High-
land pony led by John Brown, Lady Jane Churchill, one
of the ladies-in-waiting to whom the Queen was specially
attached during this period of loneliness, walking alongside
the pony, the Princess Louise and Mr. Leitch trudging along

312 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

the road together after them. When the place selected for
sketching was reached, the Queen seated herself in the^ middle
of the country road, with a rough stone from the Dee as
a rest for her paint-box, Lady Churchill holding an umbrella
to shade the Queen's eyes. Princess Louise sat on a stone
a little farther away, while Mr. Leitch attended the party
as instructor, and John Brown looked after the pony. The
country folk stared in astonishment as they passed by, and
Her Majesty heartily enjoyed the fun, and seemed to revive
a little of her lost animation. She sketched for two hours,
and then remarked how quickly time passed when she was
drawing, and expressed her determination to do more of it.
So in her second loneliness the Queen found consolation in
the use of pencil and brush, as she had done in her rather
dull and monotonous childhood.

At the marriage of the Prince of Wales with the Princess
Alexandra of Denmark in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on
the loth of March, 1863, the Queen sat apart in her grief,
unable to mingle in the gay festivity. It was after the birth
of a son to the young couple in January, 1864, that she gave
the first sign of returning interest in public life, and com-
manded that in honour of the event her birthday in the
succeeding May should be celebrated in London with the
trooping of the colours and general festivities, which had been
suspended since the death of the Prince Consort. The people
were, however, disappointed in the hope that Her Majesty
was going to resume her old place in society, and indeed
the charming manner in which her son's wife was taking her
place seemed to render it unnecessary, especially when the
Queen was already overburdened with governmental work, the

214 ^HE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

wonderfully made that her friends declined to taste it,
she said philosophically, " Never mind ; I will give it to
the donkey, as Dean Stanley is not here," the little
Princess being aware that the Dean had neither taste nor
smell, and was therefore an undiscriminating person regarding
pasties. The Princess Louise had the reputation of being
the best cook among the royal children, and we find her
coming to the rescue on one of the Queen's Highland
expeditions, when the luggage had broken down on the way,
and making her mother some delicious coffee. The story
comes from Balmoral that Princesses Helena and Louise
called one day, as was customary for them, to ask one of the
cottage children to come and play with them ; the mother
replied that her daughter must finish baking some oatcakes
first "Oh, we'll help," volunteered the Princess Louise, and
not being able to lay her hands on the cutter, she seized
the teapot lid in her anxiety to get the business over, and
succeeded in getting the unfortunate cakes into such a sticky,
misshapen mess that the guid wife promptly despatched
her daughter with her over-officious visitors and finished the
baking herself.

An amusing incident is told of the Queen's third son,
Prince Arthur, when he was at the Ranger's Lodge, Blackheath,
pursuing his military studies. His sister's former governess.
Miss Hillyard, was staying for her health in the neighbour-
hood, and each morning he was in the habit of walking to
her house to inquire how she was, and in doing so passed
by the apple-stall of an old Irishwoman, named Kitty, who
from his cadet's dress took him for a private in the artillery.
One day she asked a policeman if he could tell her who

2i6 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

had at length been admitted to Parliament. At noon the
streets recalled the palmy days of the Queen's wedded life ;
crowds of spectators lined the route to Westminster, and a
long line of carriages filled with ladies in full-dress stretched
from Pall Mall to the Peers' entrance. Before the appearance
of Her Majesty, the Princess of Wales, looking lovely in a
white tulle dress trimmed with black lace, was conducted to
a seat on the woolsack, facing the throne, whereon was spread
the State robes which the Queen had no heart to wear. It
wa§ a moment of thrilling and pathetic interest when Her
Majesty entered, dressed in a robe of deep violet velvet,
trimmed with ermine, and wearing a white lace cap, d la
Marie Stuart, with a gauze veil flowing behind ; her dress,
indeed, gave her a remarkable likeness to the unfortunate
Queen of Scots. She was accompanied by the Princesses
Helena and Louise, dressed in half-mourning costumes, and
escorted to her seat by the Prince of Wales. She sat with
downcast eyes, looking very grave and sad, while the speech
from the throne, which in happier days had been delivered
by her with such rare elocutionary power, was read by the
Lord Chamberlain. One feels that the occasion was a little
trying for Princess Helena, as the formal announcement was
made of her approaching marriage with Prince Christian of
Schleswig-Holstein.

In the March following the Queen reviewed the troops
at Aldershot, and both this and the opening of Parliament by
her gave the greatest pleasure, not only to the nation, but to
the Queen's own family, and Princess Alice wrote to tell her
mother how happy she was that she had made " the great
effort." ** How trying," she says, " the visit to Aldershot must

2HE WIDOtVED MONARCH

have been ; but it is so wise and kind of you to go. I cannot
think of it without tears in my eyes. Formerly that was one
of the greatest pleasures of my girlhood, and you and darliny
papa looked so handsome together." During the same year
the Queen attended two weddings, that of the Princess Mary
of Cambridge and the Duke of Teck, which took place at
Kew on the oth of June, 1866, and that of the Princess Helena
and Prince Christian, which was celebrated at Windsor on the
following sth of July, the Queen giving away the bride. At
the close of this year the growing discontent of the people
that Her Majesty sliowed no disposition to resume her old
place in Court functions was made the occasion of public
demonstration at a meeting at St. James's Hall, in support

2i8 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

of the enfranchisement of the working classes, when Mr.
Ayrton, M.P., condemned the Queen's retirement in strong
terms. This brought John Bright to his feet, who warmly
vindicated Her Majesty from Mr. Ayrton's charge that she
had neglected her duty to society. " I am not accustomed,"
said Mr. Bright, "to stand up in defence of those who are the
possessors of crowns, but I feel that there has been a great
injustice done to the Queen, and I venture to say this, that
a woman — be she the queen of a great realm or the wife of
one of your labouring men — who can keep alive in her heart
a great sorrow for the lost object of her life and affection, is
not at all likely to be wanting in a great and generous
sympathy with you." As the great orator ceased, a remark-
able ovation took place, the entire audience rising and singing
" God Save the Queen " with every demonstration of love and
loyalty. When two years later the name of John Bright was
submitted to Her Majesty for a seat in Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet,
she expressed her pleasure, saying that she was under the
greatest obligation to him for the many kind words he had
spoken of her, and despatched a special messengef to tell
Mr. Bright that if it was more agreeable to his feelings as a
Quaker to omit the ceremony of kneeling and kissing hands,
he was at liberty to do so, of which permission Mr. Bright
availed himself The Princess Royal was present during his
reception at Windsor, and told him that both herself and all
the members of the royal family were greatly indebted to
him for the way in which he had spoken of their mother.
Mr. Bright has recorded his estimate of the Queen's character
to the effect that she was the " most absolutely straightforward
and truthful person " he had ever known.

VICTORIA, QUEEN AND EMPRESS

919

VIII

VICTORIA, QUEEN AND EMPRESS

FAR away in sunny India was enacted, on the ist of
January, 1877, a scene the most brilliant and unique
of any connected with the glorious reign of Victoria. At the
Imperial Camp, outside the walls of Delhi, where the Mutiny
had raged the fiercest. Her Majesty was proclaimed Empress
of India. On a throne of Oriental splendour, above which was
the portrait of the Empress, sat Lord Lytton, her Viceroy ;
the Governors, Lieutenants, State officials and the Maharajahs,
Rajahs, Nabobs, and Princes, with their glittering retinuqs
grouped around him. Behind rose the vast amphitheatre, filled
with foreign ambassadors and notables, around was the concourse
of spectators and a brilliant array of fifteen thousand troops,
while to complete the gorgeous scene the whole assemblage was
surrounded by an unbroken chain of elephants decked with
gay trappings. After the Proclamation had been made with all
the pomp of heraldry, the Viceroy presented to each of the
feudatory Princes the Empress's gift, a magnificent standard,
made by Messrs. Elkington, after a design chosen by Her
Majesty. The standards were oramented with the sacred
water lily of India, spreading palms of the East, and the rose

of England, it being the desire of the Empress to indicate

221

222 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

that as the rose and lily intertwined beneath the spreading
palm, so was the welfare of India to become one with that
of her older dominions ; and the motto, " Heaven's light our
guide," illustrated the spirit in which she desired to govern
the enormous empire of which she ever fondly speaks as " a
bright jewel in her crown." Most noticeable in the brilliant
gathering was the Begum of Bhopal, a lady Knight of the
Most Noble Order of Queen Victoria. There was nothing
to be seen of the lady save a bundle of floating azure silk^
which indicated that she was inside, and upon the place where
the left shoulder was supposed to be was emblazoned the
shield of the Star of India. Much cheap wit was expended
after Her Majesty's accession on the rise of the "royal sex,"
and it was said that the young Queen intended to establish
an Order of Female Knighthood. The prophecy of the scoffer
seemed to have been more than fulfilled in the figure of this
Hindoo lady wearing the Order of the Star of India. Though
she was not valiant enough to show her face, yet her presence
was a good omen for that emancipation of the women of her
country from the seclusion of the Zenana which is fittingly
distinguishing the reign of the British Empress. On the day
of the Proclamation at Delhi, the Queen conferred the Grand
Cross of India upon the Duke of Connaught, and when in iS/g*
she became a great-grandmother, by the birth of a daughter
to the Princess of Saxe-Meiningen (Princess Charlotte of
Prussia), she celebrated her ancient dignity by investing twelve
noble ladies of her Court with the Imperial Order of the Crown
of India.

The keenest interest has always been shown by the Queen
in the condition of Hindoo women. It was with heartfelt

VICTORIA, QUEEN AND EMPRESS 225

thankfulness that she saw the barbarous suttee abolished, and
it was her influence which inspired the rapid spread of Zenana
work. In July, i88i,shc received at Windsor Miss Beilby, a
medical missionary from India; and after listening to her
account of the sufferings of Hindoo women, in time of illness,
for need of doctors, the Queen turned to her ladies and said,
" We had no idea that things were as bad as this." Miss Beilby
then took from a locket which she wore round her neck a
folded piece of paper containing a message to Her Majesty
from the Maharanee of Poonah. " The women of India suffer
when they are sick," was the burden of the dark-eyed Queen's
appeal. The Empress returned her a message of sympathy and
help, and to the women of our own land the Queen said,
" We desire it to be generally known that we sympathise
with every effort made to relieve the suffering state of the
women of India"; and when Lord Dufferin went out as
Governor-General, she commissioned Lady Dufferin to establish
a permanent fund for providing qualified women doctors for
work in India. Her Majesty continues to take the greatest
interest in this work, and is in constant communication with
the Viceroy's wife regarding its further organisation and
extension.

No opportunity is lost by Her Majesty to show her
interest in her Indian Empire, and doubtless had the Prince
Consort been spared she would have made a progress through
the country. This was done in her stead by the Prince of Wales
in 1875-6, and it was while he was making the tour that Lord
Beaconsfield introduced the Royal Titles Bill into Parliament,
conferring upon the Queen the title of Empress of India, a
distinction regarded by John Bull as superfluous to a Crown

236 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

the most distinguished in the world ; but Her Majesty
personally desired it, not, as gossip affirmed, because of the
advent at Court of her second son's imperial bride, but as a
means of binding her Indian subjects to her in a closer
manner. It is said that she showed more interest in the
Indian Court of the Colonial Exhibition, 1886, than in any
other, and at each of her visits chatted freely with the native
workmen. When the Indian delegates to the Exhibition first
saw their Empress, a homely-looking lady in a black silk
gown, they expressed disappointment, having expected to see
her decked out in the pomp and. circumstance of a mighty
potentate. " But, after all," said they, " what a great power
the Queen must wield when she can command such an array
of illustrious personages to attend upon her, while she appears
as the most simple of all the Court." Of late years Her
Majesty has had Indian servants in native dress as personal
attendants ; she is also an assiduous student of Hindustani,
being able to speak and write in that language ; and her
favourite State jewel is the priceless Koh-i-noor, about which
hangs a tale. When it came into the possession of the East
India Company, in 1850, it was handed at a Board meeting
to John Lawrence (afterwards Lord Lawrence, the Viceroy)
for safe keeping. The precious diamond was laid amongst
folds of linen in a small box, and Lord Lawrence slipped
it into his waistcoat pocket, and forgot all about it until
some days later it was suggested that he should forward it
to the Queen. One can imagine his consternation when he
rushed to his house to sec if it was to be found. " Have
you seen a small box in one of my waistcoat pockets?" he
asked breathlessly of his servant. " Yes, sahib," was the reply.

228 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

It is always kept at Windsor, a facsimile being in the royal
crown at the Tower.

An interesting event in the Queen's family circle took
place in February, 1871, when at St. George's Chapel, Windsor,
she gave away her clever, handsome daughter Princess Louise
to the heir of the Argyles. The Queen has constantly testified
her regard for the old Scottish nobility by visiting their
castles. She stayed for the first time as tl.e guest of the
Duke of Argyle at Invcrary in 1847, and this interesting note
about her future son-in-law occurs in her " Journal " : " The
pipers walked before the carriage, and the Highlanders on
either side as we approached the house. Outside stood the
Marquis of Lornc, just two years old, a dear, white, fat little
fellow with reddish hair, but very delicate features, like both
his father and mother; he is such a merry, independent little
child." In the years which followed. Her Majesty had other
opportunities for observing Lord Lome ; but before she con-
sented to the betrothal of her daughter she consulted " the
minister," and was assured by Dr. Macleod that he had a high
opinion of the young Marquis. A gentleman who saw the
festivities at the home-coming of the newly wedded pair to
Inverary has told the present writer that the bride's dancing
at the Tenants' Ball made quite a sensation — she " footed it "
in the reels and strathspeys in a way which did credit to the
wife of a Highland chief. Three years later came the marriage
of Prince Alfred to the Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, at
St Petersburg, which was the first and only wedding in her
family at which the Queen was not present ; but she com-
missioned her dear friends Dean Stanley and his wife, Lady
Augusta, to convey her maternal greetings and little private

VICTORIA, QUEEN AND EMPRESS 229

gifts to the bride, and was most anxious that her Russian
daughter-in-law should wear myrtle in her bridal attire. Myrtle
is the German marriage emblem, and Her Majesty is most
particular that all the royal brides shall wear it along with
their orange blossoms.

During this period the hand of death was laid on many
of the Quccn*s loved ones. Her uncle Leopold, good old Baron
Stockmar, and her beloved half-sister the Princess Hohenlohe,
had all passed away, and the life of her eldest son had hung
by a thread in December, 1871, but the greatest loss of all
came with the death of Princess Alice. The pathetic story
of the Princess's devoted nursing of her husband and little
ones when they were attacked with diphtheria at Darmstadt
is well remembered, and when she succumbed to the disease
herself it was felt than she would never rally. Princess
Christian says that her sister Alice had never really recovered
from the fearful shock she received in 1873, when her little
boy Fritz fell from a top window, and was dashed to the
ground before the eyes of his agonised mother. Visits to the
Queen at Osborne or Balmoral would revive her spirits and
bring back the roses to her cheeks, but only for a time. The
end came on the anniversary of her father's death, the fatal
14th of December, 1878. Almost the last thing she did was
to read a letter from her mother, which Sir William Jenner,
who had been despatched by the Queen, had brought It
seemed as though her spirit had been lingering for this message
from home, and laying it beside her she said, " Now I will fall
asleep " ; but it was the sleep of death upon which she entered.
Her last request to her husband was that the dear old English
flag might be placed upon her coffin, and she hoped that the

230 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

people of her adopted country would not mind. The life of
Princess Alice had been singularly beautiful, and like that
of her elder sister, the Empress Frederick, full of high
endeavour on behalf of her sex. It was a consolation to the
Queen to gather the motherless children from Darmstadt
around her at Osborne, where they completed their con-
valescence, and in the early spring she took one of those
Continental trips from which she always receives much benefit.
This year she travelled incognita as the Countess of Balmoral,
and spent a month at the Villa Clara, charmingly situated
at Baveno, near Lake Maggiore, where she made informal
excursions in the district, accompanied by Princess Beatrice.

The Egyptian campaign of 1882 was a period of great
anxiety to the Queen, and recalled the days of the Crimean
war. She received the news of the victory of Tel-el-Kebir
when at Balmoral, and ordered a bonfire to be lighted on
Craig Gowan, as had been done at the fall of Sebastopol
twenty-one years before. In the earlier war she regretted
she had not a son old enough for service ; but now with the
tidings of Tcl-cl-Kcbir came Sir Garnet Wolseley's telegram
that hor soldier-son, ihc Duke of Connaught, had "behaved
admirably, leading his brigade to the attack." His young wife,
Princess Louise of Prussia, to whom he had been married
in March, 1879, was staying at Balmoral at the time; and
the Queen, with characteristic impulse, hastened with the
telegram to her daughter-in-law's room, and, embracing her,
wept together with her for joy that their beloved one was
safe and so much praised. On the same auspicious day Her
Majesty welcomed home her youngest son, the Duke of
Albany, with his bride. Princess Helen of VValdeck ; and the

232 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

visited after her husband's death, and she was greatly touched
by a dying soldier lifting his eyes to her and saying, " I
thank God that He has allowed me to live long enough to
see your Majesty with my own eyes." During another visit
she talked with a man who had been shot through the lungs
at Lucknow. It was the Queen's custom after going the
round of the wards to visit the married quarters for the
accommodation of the wives and children of the patients in
the hospital, and the women received an agreeable surprise
when the Queen looked in upon them in the midst of their
household occupations. After the Egyptian campaign she
delighted the inmates by the gift of five knitted quilts, one
being entirely her own work, and it bore the royal crown and
the initials ** V. R." in the corner ; another was knitted by
Princess Beatrice, and marked with her initials ; while the
remaining three were worked by ladies of the Court, a border
being added to each by the Queen's own hands. We fancy
there must have been some difficulty at Netley in deciding
who was to have the honour of sleeping under the Queen's
quilt At this time Her Majesty testified her regard for the
noble band of nurses by establishing the Order of the Red
Cross for Ladies. The installation took place at Windsor,
when the Princess of Wales and Princess Beatrice were the
first names enrolled, and ten lady nurses received the honour
for their services in the Zulu and Egyptian campaigns.

We cannot pass away from this period of the Queen's life
without a reference to her literary activities and the delight she
took in the society of men of letters, as evinced by the fact
that her most frequent visitors were Dean Stanley, Sir Arthur
Helps, and Sir Theodore Martin. Sir Arthur Helps edited

234 ^^^ PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

a very pretty young lady, and clever too, as I found out in
talking to her afterwards. The Queen came softly forward,
a kindly smile on her face, gently shook hands with all the
three women, gently acknowledged with a nod the silent
bows of us male monsters ; and directly in her presence every
one was at ease again. She is a comely little lady, with a pair
of kind, clear, and intelligent grey eyes; still looks almost
young (in spite of one broad wrinkle which shows on each
cheek occasionally) ; is still plump ; has a fine, low voice, soft ;
indeed, her whole manner is melodiously perfect. It is
impossible to imagine a politer little woman ; nothing the least
imperious; all gentle, all sincere, looking unembarrassing —
rather attractive, even ; makes you feel, too (if you have any
sense in you), that she is Queen." On this occasion Robert
Browning, Sir Charles Lycll, and Grote the historian were
present ; and with each the Queen had her little say, and made
inquiries as to the work upon which they were engaged. A
year later Dickens was commanded to Windsor, and he was
most struck by the simple naivete of the Qucen*s manner and
her acquaintance with literature. The works of George Eliot
were a constant source of pleasure to her ; and it need hardly
be said that she admired the author of " Idylls of the King,"
the dedication of which remains the most beautiful tribute to
her husband's memory. She paid a visit to Tennyson at
Freshwater, as she did to Lord Beaconsfield at Hughenden,
although she appreciated the latter more as a statesman
than as a litterateur. She sent her three sons to attend his
funeral, and a wreath of primroses was laid upon the coffin
with the inscription, *' His favourite flowers, from Osborne ; a
tribute of affection from Queen Victoria." In short. Her

VICTORIA, QUEEN AND EMPRESS 235

Majesty prides herself upon having personally known most
of the famous authors of her reign, from Wordsworth to
Tennyson, and she is not without appreciation for the rising
school.

Simple confidence in her readers is shown in her High-
land Journals, in which the little incidents of her family life
in Scotland are so frankly told. Apart from the interest
attaching to the royal author, the books arc of value for the
graphic sketches which they contain of Highland life and
scenery. Whether it be a christening, a wedding, a burial, or
a sheep-clipping, the celebration of the Sacrament at Crathie
Church, a torchlight dance, or the festival of Hallowe'en, it
is described as it passed before the writer's eyes, and leaves
upon the reader an impression lasting and vivid. Specially
interesting is the author's description of Scott's country and
Abbotsford, where she had tea in the room in which the
novelist died, and lingered about the study where he wrote.
When requested that she should inscribe her name in his
journal, she replied that "it would be a presumption for her
to do so," but finally yielded to the wish of those present.
Equally entertaining is her account of Prince Charlie's
country, through which, curiously enough, she was conducted
by Cameron of Lochiel, whose great-grand-uncle was the real
moving cause of the rebellion of '45 to dethrone Her
Majesty's great-great-grandfather. " Yes," she writes, " I feel
a sort of reverence in going over these scenes in this most
beautiful country, which I am proud to call my own, where
there was such devoted loyalty to the family of my ancestors
— for Stuart blood is in my veins, and I am now their repre-
sentative, and the people are as devoted and loyal to me as

236 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

they were to that unhappy race." The demand for the
Queen's " Highland Journal " was enormous. It is said that
the circulating libraries ordered it by the ton, and the press
swarmed with reviews, which the royal author read with
great interest, although we fancy the spice of the experience
was lost by the previous overlooking of the reviews by the
ladies-in-waiting. The proceeds of the sales were devoted to
establishing bursaries, male and female, in the parish school
of Crathie and the Queen's Schools at Girnock. The dedica-
tion of the second volume, " More Leaves," by the Queen to
her " Loyal Highlanders, and especially to her devoted
personal attendant and faithful friend, John Brown," was the
cause of much comment. This instance of a mighty queen
and empress dedicating her book to a servant is unique in
literature ; but Her Majesty regards a faithful servant as an
honoured friend, and one of the most beautiful traits in her
character is that she never forgets those who serve her.
Honest John was as plain-spoken as he was faithful, and the
story is told in Deeside that one day, when the Queen was
out, she desired to sketch, and asked for a table to be
borrowed from a neighbouring cottage. There was great
difficulty in finding one of the right height ; table after table
was returned, and the eager people were in despair at not being
able to suit the royal requirements. At length John Brown
seized hold of the most likely one of the discarded tables, and
setting it down before his royal mistress, said with irresistible
logic, "They canna mak' one on purpose for you," at which
the Queen laughed, and settled down to her sketching. Brown
had his eye, too, on his mistress's appearance, and did she
come out in a warm comfortable garment a little antiquated

in cut, he would remark, " What's that you've got on the
day?" Despite his brusqueness, the faithful fellow would
have stood between the Queen and a buUct any day, and
indeed anxiety for her safety caused his death. During the
years 18S1-2 attempts had been made upon the Queen's life
on two occasions, and she was feeling nervous with regard
to the Fenian outrages, when a great scare was created in
Windsor by Lady Florence Dixie declaring that she had
been attacked by Fenians in the grounds of her house, not
far from the Castle. So anxious was Her Majesty that she
sent John Brown to explore the shrubberies of Lady Florence
Dixie's house, and in doing so he took a chill, which resulted in
his death, on the 27th of March, 1 883, after three days' illness,

238 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

His royal mistress gave orders that his body should be con-
veyed to his native Highlands for burial. The grave can be
seen by the visitor to Crathie churchyard, along with that of
Francic Clark, who succeeded Brown as Her Majesty's personal
attendant, and died a short time ago. Inside the church a
monument was erected to his memory by "his grateful and
affectionate sovereign and friend, Victoria R.I.," with the
inscription, ** Kings love him that speaketh right" Apropos
of the Queen's kindness to her servants, a story was lately
told the writer by a gentleman acquainted with the girl to
whom it relates. She was one of the housemaids at Balmoral,
and the Queen, chancing to meet her on the staircase one
day, saw that she had been crying, and asked the reason of
her grief. Seeing that the girl was reluctant to speak, Her
Majesty commanded her to come to her private sitting-room,
and there tell her what was the matter. The girl reluctantly
explained that she had received notice to leave because she
objected to attending the Established Kirk along with the
rest of the Balmoral servants. Upon hearing this, the Queen
sent for the head of her household, and desired that the
housemaid in question should have her notice withdrawn,
and that in future no one in her service should be persecuted
on account of their religious views.

The death of John Brown came at a time when the Queen
was suffering severely from a fall on one of the staircases at
Windsor Castle, which sprained her knees and crippled her
for several weeks ; and in the following year, before she had
recovered her health and spirits, she was smitten by a still
heavier blow in the death of her youngest son. Prince Leopold,
suddenly at Cannes, whither he had gone for a change.

240 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

and hasten to comfort the young widow at Claremont, whose
delicate condition rendered the shock of the tidings more
serious. The Empress Eugenie, who was staying near Osborne,
came to the Queen to offer consolation, and after spending
some hours with her was able to report that Her Majesty was
greatly relieved by being able to talk over her loss with one
who knew what bereavement was. Some years before the
positions had been reversed, and it was the Queen who had
comforted the Empress, first, after the death of the exiled
Emperor, and again when her only son met such a terrible
death in the Zulu war of 1879. Prince Leopold, like his
father, had premonitions of death. " He would talk to me
about death," writes one who was with him a few days before
he died, *' and said he would like a military funeral." I asked,
"Why, sir, do you talk in this melancholy manner?" As he
was about to answer he was called away, and said, " I'll tell
you later." I never saw him again, but he finished his answer
to me, to another lady, and said : " For two nights now
Princess Alice has appeared to me in my dreams, and says
she is quite happy, and that she wants me to come and
join her." The body of the Prince was brought from Cannes
and interred at St. George's, Windsor.

In 1885, the year following Prince Leopold's death, came
the last marriage in the Queen's family, that of " Baby "
Beatrice, who had now for fourteen years been her mother's
devoted attendant, to the late Prince Henry of Battenberg.
Princess Beatrice, having been so much with grown-up people
when a child, was a little quaint in her ways, and several
stories are told of her funny little speeches. When a little lady
of six she found it very difficult to get proper respect shown

24i THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

from Osborne at the little ivy-clad village church of Whipping-
ham. Only semi-State was observed. The bride wore her
mother's Honiton lace and veil, and was attended by her ten
young nieces in white tulle frocks. Little children strewed
flowers and decked the wayside with homely tributes of
affection, and the whole scene was an ideally perfect village
wedding. It was arranged that the bride should continue to
live Ivith her mother as Princess in waiting. The marriage
proved one of great happiness, and in her new son-in-law
Her Majesty found one who joined with his wife in unselfish
ministrations to her comfort. His untimely death was a real
personal loss, as well as grief to the Queen.

Although it had long been apparent that Her Majesty
would never again resume her old place in society, she had
during the past ten years officiated at a number of public
ceremonials, and had held occasional drawing-rooms, as well
as now and again rc-opening Parliament, and in May of 1886
she opened the Colonial and Indian Exhibition at South
Kensington. This notable ceremony, which vividly recalled
to her the Exhibition of '51, seemed like a gathering together
of the representatives from all parts of her mighty empire as
a prelude to the celebration of her jubilee in the following
year. In the May preceding Jubilee Day, the Queen visited
the East End to open the People's Palace. The route, seven
miles long, was decorated in gay and characteristic style by
the East Enders, and it was noticed that the Queen eyed
the quaint, humorous devices with great pleasure, and at the
opening ceremony at the Palace bowed and smiled at the
references made to herself, in the speeches, in a delightfully
informal manner. On the way back she visited the Lord

244 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

of questions about East London and the state of labour at

the docks, and then told him how she dealt with her cottagers

at Balmoral, and about the schools she had established. " I

could hardly realise," added this gentleman, "that I was

talking with the Queen ; she dismissed me filled with a vivid

perception of her fine, royal courtesy, as well as her personal

knowledge of and concern for the needy in her realm." In

times of special distress in East London, the Queen has

privately forwarded money for distribution. Another clergyman

relates that when he was a boy in the Isle of Wight he saw

the Queen coming out of a cottage where she had been to

visit a sick person, and heard one workman say to another, " I

like the Queen, Bill. I like having somebody to look up to " ;

and his companion replied, "Yes, and she is so good too."

There have been three royal jubilees in the history of this

country, but not one in any way comparable to the jubilee

of the 2 1 St of June, 1887, when the whole land, together with

the distant colonies and every quarter of the globe where

the British flag waves, rang with the voice of jubilation that

the great woman who had ennobled the crown was spared

in health and strength to celebrate the fiftieth year of her
reign. It was a thrilling moment when, in the blaze of the

glorious June sunshine, the Queen drove out through the gates

of Buckingham Palace on her way to Westminster Abbey,

just as she had done fifty years before on her coronation day.

But the bright young girl was now a grey-haired woman who

had seen much sorrow and battled with many difficulties.

Still, there was a gleam of triumph in her face, for were there

not sons and daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren

rising up to call her blessed, while the shouts of the multitudes

VICTORIA, QUEEN AND EMPRESS 245

which rent the air testified that throughout these fifty years
she had retained the love and loyalty of her people? The
scene in the Abbey was brilliant, as had been that earlier
scene ; but there was a hush of reverence over the assembly,
for the monarch had come to publicly give thanks to Almighty
God that she had been spared to see that day. At the end
of the service the numerous members of her family were to
personally offer their congratulations. The Lord Chamberlain
had arranged it in correct style, but the Queen waived cere-
mony, and drawing each one in turn for a motherly embrace,
turned the grand pageant into a happy family reunion. Fitting
close, next day, to the festivities which had reigned everywhere
throughout the country, was the monster school treat in Hyde
Park, where thirty thousand school children of London were
entertained. In the cool of the summer evening the Queen
drove down the ranks and viewed the little ones ; then the
Prince of Wales brought to her carriage Florence Dunn, who
had not missed an attendance at school for six years, and the
Queen smiled down at the little champion, and, handing her
the jubilee mug, said, " I am pleased to give you this memorial
of my jubilee, dear child " ; and this characteristic act closed
the great celebration. It was an interesting coincidence that
the minister of a country parish who had preached a sermon on
the Queen's coronation also preached one on her jubilee ; and
still more wonderful was the case of an old lady in the town
of Chipping Sodbury who had been present at George III.'s
jubilee, and came out hale and hearty to help in the local
celebration of Queen Victoria's, wearing the same bonnet,
a Leghorn of coal-scuttle shape, which she had worn at the
former jubilee.

246 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

After a few days' rest at Windsor, Her Majesty came to
town again, and on the 30th of June opened the HoUoway
College for Women, thus testifying her interest in the advance
of that higher education amongst women which, along with
their improved legal and social status, has fittingly marked
her reign. In the;, spring succeeding her jubilee, the Queen
spent some weeks in Florence, always a favourite resort
with her, as it had been with the Prince Consort. She was
to be seen each morning, in the park adjacent to her villa,
taking an airing in her donkey chair, and later in the day
driving through the country districts, visiting the churches,
and interesting herself in the life of the people. For one
brief day she dropped her incognita and drove in public with
her suite, and it seemed as though all Florence swarmed
into the streets to greet her. The Queen did this to show
her gratitude to the people for respecting her desire for
privacy. She was fond of chatting with the country folk
and one morning seeing two little girls gathering violets ii
a field near her villa, entered into conversation with them,
and presented each of them with a jubilee sovereign, at
which they rushed home to tell their mothers that the
"Regina d'Inghilterra had given them a gilt medal with her
likeness on it." On her way back from Florence the Queen
visited her dying son-in-law, the Emperor Frederick, at
Charlottcnburg, a visit inexpressibly sad ; but Her Majesty
was not only able to comfort her daughter and cheer the
dying Emperor— she acted as a peacemaker in the friction at
Court caused by the Empress Frederick favouring the marriage
of her daughter. Princess Victoria, with Prince Alexander
of Battenberg. The Queen persuaded her daughter to drop

248 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

Of late years her life has flowed on in the same steady,
even course, with little jaunts to the Continent, visits to the
Highlands, Christmas spent in good old English style at
Osborne, and the discharge of occasional public Court
functions in London ; but wherever she may be her hand is
at the helm, and telegraph and telephone messengers and
despatch-boxes keep her hourly informed of everything
which transpires even in the remotest part of her vast
dominions. Her naturally robust constitution is preserved by
the simplicity of her mode of life, spent largely in the open
air, and her mind is kept bright and fresh by the interest
she takes in the doings of the younger members of her
extensive family circle. One hears much of Grand Old Men
in these days ; but who amongst them can say that he has
been at his present post for sixty long years without one
single day "off"? In all love and loyalty we would say
that the Grand Old Woman upon the throne has "beaten
the record." Her day is not done yet, therefore the time for
a risumi of her glorious reign has not arrived ; but when
the tale comes to be fully told, we know that there does not
exist in the annals of this or any land a period so fraught
with moral and material greatness as the reign of VICTORIA,
Queen and Empress.

PERSONAL TASTES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF

QUEEN VICTORIA

249

PERSONAL TASTES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF

QUEEN VICTORIA

WHEN the women of Great Britain were subscribing
their Jubilee gift to the Queen, a colony of Japanese
women at Knightsbridge added their contributions with this
characteristic wish : " Truly she must be a great * Lady King ' ;
may she live on an unshaken throne yet another fifty years,
and after that the perpetual bliss ! " Nearly ten years have
rolled by since that memorable year of loyal enthusiasm, and
our " Lady King " is with us still, venerated and beloved by
all sections of the community at home and throughout her
vast colonial dominions, as well as among the swarthy
millions of India, who, though they have never seen her face,
yet regard her as their Empress-Mother. She is honoured
in the Courts of Europe as no English monarch has been
before. It seems, indeed, that the Continent is rapidly coming
under the sphere of British influence through the alliances
made by the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren
of Queen Victoria. When Russian ministers propose any
course of procedure likely to upset the peace of Europe and
bring England into the fray, the young Czar and Czarina
promptly reply, " It must not be ; we cannot have Grand-
mamma worried." The autocrat of all the Germans is not

2SI

252 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

quite so considerate, perhaps ; but if there is any one who
can curb his impetuosity, and put the drag upon his ambition,
it also is Grandmamma of England.

In America, where royalty is at a discount, and friction
still shows itself in relations with the mother country, the
influence of our " Lady King " is not unfelt American citizens
still remember the hearty greetings which Queen Victoria
sent to President Buchanan, forty years ago, along the lines
of the newly laid Atlantic cable ; such felicitations, however,
were enough to make her grandfather. His Majesty King
George III., turn in his grave. Neither can America forget
the words of womanly sympathy and feeling which the Queen
addressed to the wife of its murdered President, James Garfield.
Upon that American citizen, the great philanthropist, George
Pcabody, she would gladly have conferred the Grand Cross
of the Order of the Bath, but he declined all such honours.
When asked what he would accept, he replied, " A letter from
the Queen of England, which I may carry across the Atlantic
and deposit as a memorial of one of her most faithful sons."*
It should be a bond of union between the two countries that
in the Peabody Institute in the United States the miniature
of Queen Victoria, which she sent to Mr. Peabody along
with her letter, is deposited in a vault of famous relics side
by side with a cane which belonged to Benjamin Franklin.
It was owing to the tact of the Queen and Prince Consort
in the wording of that famous despatch on the Trent affair,
at the outbreak of the Civil War in America, that peace was
preserved between England and the United States. Her
Majesty has ever been more ready to try the power of moral
suasion than of force, and only within the last year we have

254 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

his attitude to England over the rebellion and raid in the
Transvaal.

Her Majesty has now sat upon the throne of this country
for a longer period than any of her predecessors. The glories
of the sixty years of her reign, and the unexampled prosperity
which the country has enjoyed under her beneficent rule, are
for the historian to tell ; but when one pauses to study the
personal character of the Queen, and the attributes which have
made her beloved at home and revered abroad, they are to
be summed up in one simple phrase — she is a good woman.
Not faultless, certainly ; the charming wilfulness of the child
has a survival in maturer age. Strong and passionate in
her attachments, the Queen could be, in her young days,
quick and hasty even with those whom she loved best ; but
shallowness is no part of her nature, neither does she harbour
resentment. Absolute truthfulness and sincerity are the
qualities which dominate her character, and also gratitude
towards those who have served her faithfully, be they great
Ministers of State or humble servants. It is a part of the
nobleness of her disposition that she does not assume that
she has a right to special attention because of her high position.
One frequently meets in her diaries with expressions of pleasure
at kindness shown to her when visiting at the houses of her
subjects, as though it were something unmerited. Among
the many touching incidents of her gratitude to those who
had been her faithful friends was the visit paid by her to
Sir John Biddulph when he lay dying at Abergeldie Mains.
" You have been very kind to me, your Majesty," said the
dying man. "No," replied the Queen, as she pressed his
hand, " it is you who have been very kind to meP

PERSONAL TASTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 255

An utter detestation of shams is another of Her Majesty's
characteristics, shown by the fact that those who have obtained
her greatest confidence have been honest, even to bluntness.
She likes to get at the root and reality of things, and the time-
server stands no chance before her keen scrutiny. Her fondness
for her faithful Highlanders has become almost a proverb, and
she is never so happy as when talking with the old folks at
Balmoral without form or ceremony, and much of her love
for her Scottish home may be attributed to the fact that there
she can throw off the restraints of royalty more thoroughly than
in any other place. She is an exemplary landowner, and has
erected schools, model cottages, established a free library, and
provided a trained sick nurse for the tenants at Balmoral. To
her cottagers at Osborne she is also ever the friend in time of
need ; and when she erected alms-houses on her estate for the
use of poor old women, she retained one tiny room for herself,
thus, as it were, becoming an alms-woman herself and keeping
her poorer neighbours company. In matters of religion the
Queen has shown herself singularly free from prejudice. At
Balmoral she has always worshipped according to the simple
style of the Scottish Church and partaken of its rites in
communion, while she chose for her chief spiritual guides
Dr. Norman Macleod and Principal Tulloch. In England the
service in her private chapels is the simplest form of the
Episcopalian Church, and her close friendship with Dean
Stanley would point to the fact that she inclines to the broader
school of thought, and thinks more of deeds than of creeds.
She has ever set a good example in Sabbath observance ; and
many years ago, when it came to her knowledge that trades-
people were employed to bring provisions to Buckingham

256 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

Palace on Sunday morning, she at once ordered that no eatables
were to be brought into the Palace on Sunday.

The Queen is fond of quoting the saying of Schopenhauer,
" If it were not for the honest faces of dogs, we should forget
the very existence of sincerity " ; and from her childhood to the
present time she has always had dogs about her. Her earliest
favourite, "Dash," a black-and-tan spaniel, was her constant
companion when, as the Princess Victoria, she took her morning
walk in Kensington Gardens, and his joyous bark was the first
welcome she received on her return to Buckingham Palace from
her coronation. " Looty," a lovely silken, long-haired dog
brought by a British officer from China, was a later favourite.
When the Summer Palace at Pekin was burning, this little dog
was discovered curled up amongst soft shawls and rugs in one
of the wardrobes, and the officer who rescued him and brought
him to England as a present to the Queen gave him the
significant name of " Looty." A picture of him by Mr. F. W
Reyl was exhibited in the Royal Academy many years ago.
Her Majesty has a special fondness for collies, and among these
faithful animals " Noble *' and " Sharp " were for many years
chief favourites, and always travelled with her to and from
Balmoral. "* Noble,'" she writes in her diary, "is the most
biddable dog I ever saw. He will hold a piece of cake in his
mouth without eating it, until he may. If he thinks we are not
pleased with him, he puts out his paws and begs in such an
affectionate way." A beautiful collie named " Darnley II." has
been for many years Her Majesty's chief pet He has a special
" cottage " of his own, apart from the kennels of the other d(^[s.
In their beautiful homes in the grounds of Windsor Castle are
to be seen skyes, collies, pugs, and dachs, in great variety ; but

ihe Queen's particular pride are her Italian " Spitzes," a breed of
beautiful buff-coloured dogs which she was the first to introduce
into this country. " Marco," with his lovely white coat and
almost human intelligence, is another chief favourite with his
royal mistress. It would be a mistake to suppo;ie that these
pets are unduly pampered, for the Queen believes that plain
living induces high thinking in dogs as well as in human
beings.

Her Majesty has been one of the most accomplished horse-
women of her time, and her ponies have an almost equal share
of attention with her dogs. There is " Jessie," which was her
favourite riding mare for twenty-five years, and carried her
through many a Highland expedition; then there arc her two
Shetland ponies, and " Flora " and " Alma," presented by King
Victor Emmanuel, and a grey Arab, a present from the Thakore
of Morvi. The royal mews at Windsor cover an extent of four

258 THU PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

acres, and have accommodation for one hundred horses. The
harness-horses are nearly all of them grey, and those for the
broughams are dark chestnut. But specially proud is the
Queen of her twelve cream-coloured horses, which I have been
privileged to sec in the mews at Buckingham Palace, looking
very beautiful indeed with their long, silky tails nearly touching
the ground. Their ancestors took the girl Queen, nearly sixty
years ago, to her coronation, and the stock is always kept up for
Her Majesty's use on State occasions.

An amusing little favourite of the Queen was " Picco," which
she used to drive in a pony-carriage some years ago. He was a
Sardinian pony, presented by the King of that country, and
was only forty-four inches high. That charming naturalist
Frank Buckland has given an amusing account of his attempts
to sketch this fussy, nervous little fellow, who was highly
indignant at having his measurements taken. The Queen was
greally diverted by the account of her pet's behaviour, for she
is fond of studying the characters of the animals about her, and
likes them to have their pictures taken. Bushey Park is used
as a kind of home of rest for the pet horses who are no longer
fit for active service. There " Picco " was sent to end his days,
and, as a useful lesson in humility, he had " Alderney," a
costermonger's rescued victim, given him for a companion.
One day, when the Queen was driving in the Isle of Wight,
she saw a costermonger savagely beating a beautiful white
pony, and, stopping her carriage, she offered to buy the ill-used
animal, in order to save him from his life of misery. She
gave him the name of " Alderney," and promoted him to a
life of ease in Bushey Park, where he doubtless entertained
his aristocratic friend " Picco " with the doings of costerland.

26o THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

shady glades at Osborne, and has accompanied Her Majesty
to the Highlands and to Florence and the Riviera.

The Queen's love for the brute creation does not limit itself
to those animals who have the good fortune to be her pets.
She has been a warm supporter of those societies which labour
to ameliorate the sufTerings of animals, and views the modem
thirst for scientific discovery by means of vivisection with
apprehension. In a letter sent at her command by Sir Thomas
Biddulph, in 1872, to Lord Harrowby, then President of the
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, this passage
occurs : " The Queen hears and reads with horror of the
sufferings which the brute creation often undergo from the
thoughtlessness of the ignorant, and, she fears, also, sometimes
from experiments in the pursuit of science. For the removal of
the former the Queen trusts much to the progress of education,
and, in regard to the pursuit of science, she hopes that the
entire advantage of those anaesthetic discoveries from which
man has derived so much benefit himself in the alleviation of
suffering may be freely extended to the lower animals." Her
Majesty is a great sympathiser with that branch of the Society^s
work which aims at educating the children in the board schools
to a sense of kindness to dumb animals by means of prizes
given for essays upon the subject.

The Queen's anxiety to protect lambs from what she con-
ceived to be premature killing resulted in rather an amusing
^asco some years ago. She had been reading gloomy articles in
the newspapers about the decrease of English sheep, and she
immediately attributed it to the excessive slaughter of very
young lambs, and gave orders that no lamb was to be used in
the royal household. The price of the meat at once fell to

PERSONAL TASTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 261

fourpencc a pound, and it became necessary to explain to the
Queen that the consumption of lamb was not the cause of the
trouble, it was a question of breeding, and she then withdrew
her mandate. This little incident is but one of many which
serve to show her anxiety to promote the public good by her
example. Many years ago, before county councils existed
for the supervision of public amusements, the Queen made her
influence felt in Birmingham. At a fete in Aston Park a
woman who had been forced to walk on a rotten tight-rope was
dashed to pieces in a shocking manner. Such was the callous-
ness of the committee that they permitted the festivities to
proceed in spite of the dreadful occurrence. A few days later
the Mayor of Birmingham was the astonished recipient of a
letter from the Queen's Secretary, to this effect : " Her Majesty
cannot refrain from making known her personal feelings of
horror that one of her subjects — a female — should have been
sacrificed to the gratification of the demoralising taste, unfortu-
nately prevalent, for exhibitions attended with the greatest
danger to the performers. If any proof were wanting that
such exhibitions are demoralising, it would be found in the
decision arrived at to continue the festivities, the hilarity, and
the sports of the occasion after an event so melancholy. The
Queen trusts that the Mayor, in common with the townspeople
of Birmingham, will use his influence to prevent in future the
degradation by such exhibitions of the park which she and the
beloved Prince Consort opened for the rational recreation of
the people."

In the early days ol railway travelling the Queen, who, with
characteristic fearlessness, had been one of the first to trust
to the "steam demon," was very active in bringing pressure

262 THE PERSONAL LIFE OP QUEEN VICTORIA

to bear upon the railway companies to induce them to take
greater precaution for the protection of passengers. It was she
who, in conjunction with the Prince Consort, put an end in this
country to the barbarous custom of duelling. Recently, when
standing on Wimbledon Common looking at the spot where the
last duel in this country was fought, an old man came up to me
who had himself been a witness of the scene, and he described
it in quaint and graphic language. " I shall never forget,*' he
said, " my feelings as a lad when I saw the man who had been
shot lying with his dead, upturned face upon the turf, and Lord
Cardigan, who had shot him, hurrying away with his friends.
Ah, well ! the Queen put an end to that sort of thing ; she's done
a few good things in the course of her time."

To-day, now that legislation has become so much more
humanitarian in its scope than it was forty or fifty years ago,
one is apt to lose sight of the immense influence of royal
example. In the good old days the chief restraint on social
customs was fashion. As was the Court, so were the people.
Probably no English monarch has done more for the purification
of society and for the elevation of a simple domestic life than
Victoria. If great ladies to-day prefer to spend their leisure
hours in the support of pet philanthropies instead of the excite-
ment of lotteries, was it not the Queen who set the vogue by
associating her great name with schemes of beneficence ? She
was a visitor in the wards of our great hospitals long before
ladies of birth and social position took up such work to any
extent. That philanthropy is to-day fashionable is due to a
wave of influence coming from the throne and permeating all
classes of society. All the Queen's daughters, and indeed
daughters-in-law also, are women who delight in good works ;

364 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

a position in the country than did the insignificant husband of
Qjecn Anne.

Another of Her Majesty's characteri<:ttcs which has in-
fluenced the national life of her own sex is the Queen's love of
fresh air and outdoor exercise. There is a connection between
our venerated sovereign taking her breakfast in a tent on the
lawn and spending many hours of each day driving, whalcvcr
the weather may be, and the fine, healthy, well-developed
girl of the period swinging her tennis racket, playing hockey,
and boating and cycling. When the Queen was young such
things were not, and the mammas of that time were probably
shocked when they first heard, fifty and more years ago,
of Her Majesty going deer-stalking with her husband for
nine hours at a stretch, undertaking perilous mountain
expeditions, and walking about in the wilds of Balmoral
with a hood drawn over her bonnet to protect her face from
the rain. She was fond, too, of taking an early walk before
breakfast ; and on one occasion, when paying a visit to Blair
Athole, she set out alone early one morning before any one
was about, and wandered so far — beguiled by the fresh
autumn air— thnt she lost her way, and was obliged to
appeal to some reapers whom she saw working in a field
to show her the way back. She always encouraged her
daughters to take plenty of outdoor exercise, and they
were expert skaters at a time when the pastime was an
uncommon one for ladies. Princess Alice was a particularly
graceful skater, and after her marriage found that she was
nearly the only lady in Darmstadt who could skate.

The Queen gave her countenance to ladies riding the
tricycle at a very early stage of the introduction of that

PERSONAL TASTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 26^;

i66 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

at those who were in the learner's stage, and had not
mastered the mystery of maintaining the balance. That
latest innovation in the way of vehicles — the motor-car— is
regarded by the Queen with special interest, for when she
was a girl there was an effort made to introduce coaches
run by steam on to the roads, but the pubhc did not take
to the idea of these horseless carriages, and so they dropped
out of existence, and " Jarvey " won the day. On at least
one occasion Her Majesty rode in one : it was when she
was about twelve years of age. With her mother, the
Duchess of Kent, she had been to visit His Majesty King
Geoi^e IV. at the Royal Lodge, and they made the return
journey from Windsor to London in a steam coach. There
is an old man still living at Windsor who is not a little
proud that he can recall the occasion.

In her attitude to modern inventions the Queen has
hitherto shown herself ready to accept new ideas, but it Is
said that she does not take to the electric light, and will not
have it introduced into the royal palaces. At Balmoral she
has the rooms lighted by candles, and burns wood fires, as
she finds this old-fashioned style cosier, and it reminds her
of her young days. The Queen first adopted gas in 1854,
when it was used to light the new ball-room at Buckingham
Palace on the occasion of the first visit of Napoleon and
the Empress Eugiinic to this country. The ceiling of the
room was decorated in various colours to enable Her Majesty
to form an idea of the effect of the new illuminant. She
and the Prince Consort were so pleased with it that they
shortly afterwards introduced it into Windsor Castle.
Probably the Queen thinks that to have witnessed one

266 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

of each of her children. One might say that Her Majesty
has a passion for having memorials of her domestic joys
and sorrows, and she is most punctilious in the observance
of anniversaries. She keeps her own birthday, and has a
birthday cake like other people, and is keenly appreciative of
the presents which are sent to her by every member of her
family, even to the youngest branches. The Prince Consort's
birthday is also observed, and his health drunk in silence^

Since her great bereavement her mind has naturally dwelt
much on death observances, and she has herself drawn up a
complete code of directions for the arrangement of royal
funerals and layings out Different shrouds are directed to
be used for the male and female members of the family,
also for the married and unmarried ; and female members
of the royal family abroad are to be represented by one
of their own sex. When the Duchess of Cambridge died
in 1889, the Queen insisted that the funeral should be in
semi-State, although the ^ed Duchess had herself desired
to be buried quite privately. She was one of the few left
who had known the Queen in the heyday of her youth and
had really loved and cared for her, and Her Majesty was
determined that her much-revered aunt should be buried
with the observances due to her high birth as well as to
her excellent character. The apartments used by deceased
royalties in the Queen's palaces and houses are kept locked
up. Those of Princess Charlotte at Claremont have been
preserved as she left them for more than seventy years.
Prince Albert's private rooms at Windsor, Osborne, and
Balmoral, and the Duchess of Kent's at Frog more, also
I undisturbed, and the Queen has testified her special

a/Q THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

Prince Imperial at the hands of the Zulus, and the im-
possibility there was of preserving his body for the Empress
to take a last look at it, the Queen so far relaxed her regu-
lations as to permit the various accessories for embalming
being taken out when one of the royal family undertook
foreign service. The wisdom of this arrangement has been
sadly seen in the case of Prince Henry of Battcnberg.

Her Majesty is a little behind the spirit of the times
In regard to regulations for mourning. She advocates
absolute retirement for a time in the case of bereaved
people, and the most lugubrious signs of outward mourning.
It would seem, also, that she does not favour the re-marriage
of widows, judging from the significant fact that not one
of the royal widows, be she young or be she middle-aged,
has been provided with a second husband. In the case
of widowers Her Majesty's strictures are not so severe.

She has instituted several changes with regard to royal
weddings. She herself set the example of being married
in the morning, royal marriages having formerly been
celebrated in an evening. It was not customary in former
reigns for royalties to retire for a honeymoon ; His Majesty
King George III. remained at St James's and held levees
immediately after his marriage. The Queen and Prince
Albert had a brief honeymoon of two days at Windsor ;
then the Duchess of Kent and all the Court came flocking
down to escort the royal pair back to a round of functions
and festivities in London. Even that very young bride
the Princess Royal had, like her mother, only two days
of absolute retirement. Since that the royal honeymoons
have been gradually increasing in length, and the latest

27a THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

Lord Beaconsfield, "and that is the Queen." He took the

first opportunity of asking the question. " The Duca di ? "

replied Her Majesty. "Oh yes, I remember perfectly," and
she forthwith gave a full history of his family. Prime
Ministers of modem times have sometimes found the Queen's
remarkable memory a little embarrassing, as in discussion on
political questions she will confront them with the views of
Peel or Palmerston, or with the advice given her by Lord
Melbourne in the first year of her reign ; and it is reported that
Lord Salisbury was once driven to delicately hint that there
was a difference between the state of affairs in '37 and '87.

Her Majesty has always been very strict with regard to
regulations for Court dress. All ladies, of whatever age, are
required to appear in bodices with low necks and short sleeves.
Plumes must always be worn standing erect from the back of
the head ; no modification is permitted. When a lady who
formerly reigned as a society beauty and is now a theatrical star
was to be presented, she arranged her Court head-dress in quite
an artistic manner, pinning down the feathers upon her lovely
hair in a most becoming manner. All went well until she
passed before the Court functionary preparatory to making
the entree ; then she was ordered to remove the pins, as no
lady was permitted to enter the Presence except with her
plumes erect.

It had always been the practice to forbid the attendance
at drawing-rooms of ladies divorced, even though it was for no
fault of their own ; but the Queen, with her admirable sense of
justice, came to the conclusion that this was scarcely fair, and
decided that a lady of blameless life ought not to be excluded
from Court by reason of her husband's misdeeds. The matter

274 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

To one so fond of outdoor life and the beauties of nature as
Her Majesty, flowers are naturally a special delight, and she
prefers to see them growing rather than when used for indoor
decoration. In the grounds at Osborne there is a flower-bed
specially planted for the Queen's pleasure with pinks and
carnations, as she is very fond of these old-fashioned flowers,
and frequently takes tea on a spot near to the bed. During her
drives from Osborne to Newport she had noticed the lovely
gardens and houses belonging to Mr. Nunn, the famous manu-
facturer of the lace called by his name, and one day expressed a
wish to see over them. Ever afterwards a basket of Mr. Nunn's
choicest blooms was sent daily to the Queen when she was at
Osborne, and the gift gave her the greatest pleasure. At the
time of the Jubilee a loyal gentleman suggested the wearing of
the Queen's favourite flower as a badge, and wrote to Sir Henry
Ponsonby to inquire what it was. Her Majesty replied that in
summer she perferred the rose to any other flower. Probably it
is the sweet and delicate odour of the national flower as 'well as
its beauty which pleases, the Queen, as she greatly dislikes
strong perfumes.

Speaking of scents, one is reminded that Her Majesty had
such a dislike to the smell of cigars and tobacco that smoking
was for many years prohibited in Windsor Castle, a restriction
in which the Prince Consort fully concurred. Cards requesting
that gentlemen would not smoke were neatly framed and hung
in the rooms of the lords-in-waiting and equerries of the royal
suite, and the servants and workpeople were forbidden to smoke
inside the Castle. No such rigid restriction exists to-day, which
is attributed to the influence of John Brown, who liked his pipe,
and, being as canny as he was faithful, persuaded the Queen

PERSONAL 2ASTES AND CHARACTERISTICS 275

that a little tobacco smoke was ** no a bad thing to have about
a hoose."

Previous to the death of the Prince Consort the Queen was
devoted to music, and spent a great deal of time both in singing
and playing. They were both most anxious to see music more
universal in the homes of the people, and strongly advocated
its being taught in the public schools— a fact which may be
interesting to those engaged in controversy to-day regarding
the use of pianos in the board schools. Since the death of the
Prince she has scarcely played at all, but she remains to the
present time one of the kindest patrons of singers and musicians,
who count a command to perform before the Queen a personal
pleasure, as she is so appreciative, and will talk with them of
the great ** stars " whom she has listened to in the days gone by
Sketching was the Queen's favourite recreation as a child, and
so it remains to-day. She is particularly prcud of her art
collection at Windsor, and, when there, does not let many weeks
go by without taking a look round the Royal Library, which
contains one of the finest collections of engravings and speci-
mens of old masters, both English and foreign. But her
unrivalled collection of miniatures is her particular pride, and
she boasts sometimes that she had but one rival in the
country, and that was his Scottish majesty, the late Duke
of Buccleuch.

The Queen will live in history as the most enlightened and
consistent of constitutional monarchs, as well as being revered
as a great and noble woman. Those who have been privileged
to enjoy her friendship all speak of the beautiful blending of
naiveti and kindness with great personal dignity which render
her so charming in private life. As a ruler she is wise, judicious

276 THE PERSONAL LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA

and sagacious, and above everything distinguished by a high
sense of duty. Reverence deep and lasting lives for her in
the hearts of the people, and in concluding this story of her
personal life one can but echo those beautiful lines of Mrs.
Crosland :

"Victoria! writ large in lines of light,

The name through coming ages will remain
In foremost rank with those great few that blight
Ne'er tarnished, shining on without a stain.*'

Printed by HaatU^ Watton^ d* Viney^ Ld,^ London and jlyftsbtuy.

THE PERSONAL LIFE

QUEEN VICTORIA.

EXTRACTS FROM NOTICES OF THE PRESS.

" The volume should meet the wishes of a large public in these days
of diamond jubilees." — Times.

** The book is liberally illustrated, well printed, and handsomely
bound. For a ladies' library there could be nothing of its kind more
suitable, and even men, whose interest lies chiefly with the public and
wider aspects of the Queen's life, will find many parts of it attractive."
— Standard.

** The writer has been at great pains to collect her material, some of
which is from new sources, and she has utilised the information to good
purpose Her style, which is clear and flowing, renders her book easy
reading." — Globe.

** Altogether a very attractive personal biography." — Pall Mall Gazette.

" Mrs. Tooley, in addition to the ordinary sources of information,
has been favoured with many special anecdotes and particulars of
incidents in the Queen's career. This gives her book a distinct value.
It is very pleasantly written, and contains many interesting illustrations."
— Westminster Gazette.

"In dealing with the personal side of the Queen's life, as distinct
from that aspect of it which has to do with Her Majesty's public
career, Mrs. Tooley has been ennabled, apparently by persons moving
in Court circles, to add largely to the store of pleasant anecdotes and
incidents. " — Scotsman,

" Written with fine taste and delicate reserve, the biography presents
the Queen in such a manner as to enhance the affection with which
all her subjects regard her. The illustrations are numerous and
admirable, and the book is handsomely bound in red buckram." —
Independent.

** Among the many biographies which have been published in recent
years, there is none which presents a more charming picture of Her
Majesty's home and personal life. . . . The story, which is throughout
concise and connected, is told in simple and direct language." —
St. Jame^ Budget.

" One of the most popular books of the present season. ... A more
charming or acceptable gift-book it would be impossible to find." —
Court Journal.

"An important addition to the many biographies that have been
written about Her Majesty. . . . Mrs. Tooley has accomplished her
task in a manner which holds the reader's attention from beginning to
end" — Queen.

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'*Racy, humorous, and altogeher delightful."— rrtcM.

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** Tbcre is not a dull page in Lis book, which is packed full of good utojien,"-~A berdeen
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writea crisply and vifrorouslv, and relates personal observations and judgmenta. Very
readable and entertainiug."— Bn'i/o/ Mercury,

London: HODDER & STOUGHTON, 27, Paternoster Row.

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