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 THE BOYHOOD OF A 
 
 GREAT KING
 
 THE BOYHOOD OF A 
 
 GREAT KING 
 
 184I-1858 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE EARLY YEARS OF 
 THE LIFE OF HIS MAJESTY EDWARD VII 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY REPRODUCTIONS OF A 
 UNIQUE SERIES OF CONTEMPORARY ROYAL 
 AUTOGRAPHS, PORTRAITS AND DRAWINGS 
 
 By a. M. BROADLEY 
 
 n 
 
 AUTHOR OF " TUNIS PAST AND PRESENT, AND 
 " HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI "; JOINT-AUTHOR OF 
 
 HARPER AND BROTHERS 
 
 LONDON AND NEW YORK MCMVI 
 
 \ V y
 
 TO 
 
 MY MOTHER 
 
 MY FIRST AND BEST TEACHER 
 
 THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED 
 
 ON HER SEVENTY-NINTH 
 
 BIRTHDAY
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 Introduction ....... I 
 
 I. The Royal Nurseries and School-rooms of the 
 
 Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries . 29 
 
 II. The Upbringing of two Heiresses to the British 
 Throne: Princess Charlotte of Wales [1796- 
 1817], Princess Victoria [1819-1837] . . 50 
 
 III. The Accession, Coronation and Marriage of 
 
 Queen Victoria ...... 67 
 
 IV. Birth of the Prince of Wales, November 9, 
 
 1841 88 
 
 V. Three Years of Happy Childhood, i 842-1843- 
 
 1044 * ■ * * * • * .112 
 
 VI. Who Shall Educate the Prince of Wales ? 
 The Good Advice of Philosophers, Pedagogues, 
 Pamphleteers, and Mr. Punch, i 840-1 845 . 157 
 
 VII. Nursery Days — First Lessons and Impressions — 
 
 Parental Supervision [1843-1845] . . 169 
 
 VIII. Early Voyages and Early Letters — A Visit to 
 
 Astley's — " Punch's " Celebrated Cartoon — 
 
 vii i
 
 Illustrations 
 
 To/act 
 page 
 
 Facsimile of first page of letter from Queen Adelaide, dated 
 
 Funchal, January 21, 1848, to her Grand-Niece, the 
 
 Princess Royal . . . . . . .216 
 
 The Royal Family at Windsor . . . . .230 
 
 Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and the Prince of Wales 
 
 leaving Kingstown Harbour, August 1849 • -234 
 
 Facsimile of first page of letter, dated August 26, 1849, 
 
 from the Duchess of Kent to the Prince of Wales . 236 
 King Edward VII. on horseback, about the age of ten . 238 
 Queen Adelaide . . . . . . . . 242 
 
 First performance of the " Windsor Theatricals " in the 
 
 Rubens Room, Windsor Castle .... 246 
 
 Scene from Racine's Tragedy of " Athalie" . . .252 
 
 " Die Tafel Birnen," February 10, 1853, play acted by five 
 
 of the Royal Children . . . . . .254 
 
 King Edward VII. at the age of eleven . . . .282 
 
 Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and the Prince of Wales at 
 
 Balmoral ........ 286 
 
 The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh as Sailor 
 
 Boys, about 1853 . . . . . . . 292 
 
 King Edward VII. as a Sailor, 1854 .... 300 
 
 Morning Service at Osborne House about 1854 . . 304 
 
 Drawing executed by King Edward VII. about 1853 . 308 
 
 Drawings by the Prince of Wales (1855) and by the Duke 
 
 of Edinburgh {1855) 310 
 
 Pen and Ink Sketch by Queen Victoria of Princess Beatrice 
 
 when nearly three years old ..... 344 
 The first Portraits of Queen Victoria and King Edward VII. 
 
 in the " Almanach de Gotha" .... 372
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 " The most powerful and popular living Sovereign 
 — King Edward VII." It was in these terms that 
 the toast of the great grandson of George III. was 
 enthusiastically honoured by a large gathering of 
 representative Americans assembled in their own 
 country on New Year's Day of the present year. The 
 one remaining link which, as it were, connected the old 
 order of things with the new, was severed just eight 
 days later when the last Parliament of Queen Victoria 
 and the first Parliament of King Edward was dissolved 
 by the King in Council. One has only to contrast 
 the condition of affairs at the beginning of 1901, 
 with that which prevails at the commencement of 
 1906, to realise not only how much has been effected 
 by the personal influence and exertion of the 
 Sovereign of these realms, and how great must 
 therefore be the interest felt, not only throughout the 
 British Empire but indeed all over the world in every- 
 thing which can throw new light on the upbuilding 
 and early development of the resourceful, intelligent, 
 vigorous, and wonder-working personality which has, 
 in many cases unaided, effected so much in such a 
 comparatively short space of time. In January 1901 
 we were in the midst of a costly war which seemed 
 almost interminable ; our arch-enemy of those days 
 had just been welcomed with effusion in the French 
 capital ; British prestige was seriously threatened
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 throughout the length and breadth of Europe ; the 
 only entente cordiale we ever heard of was Franco- 
 Russian ; our policy was regarded with universal 
 distrust ; we had no friends and the centre of 
 preponderating influence was gradually gravitating 
 towards Berlin. Five years have rolled by since 
 then, and the transformation which has been brought 
 about is as complete as it is startling and satis- 
 factory. Not only are we at peace with all the 
 world, but it seems probable that a constitution 
 will shortly be given to our foes of 1899, 1900, and 
 1 90 1 — loyal subjects of the King in 1906. The 
 tie of common sympathy and interest which unites 
 members of the Anglo-Saxon race on both sides 
 of the Atlantic has become immeasurably stronger, and 
 no born American possibly enjoys a greater measure 
 of popularity from the border-lands of Canada to 
 the Adexican frontier than King Edward the Peace- 
 maker. As far as England and France are concerned 
 the old friendship of 1855, when the soldiers of 
 both nations fought and suffered shoulder to shoulder 
 on the heights of the Alma, has been restored and 
 intensified, and this in the very year which brought 
 with it the celebration of the centenary of Trafalgar. 
 When the Members of the London County Council 
 returned the visit to England of their colleagues of 
 the Paris Conseil Municipal, President Loubet 
 spoke frankly of the long and pleasant talk he had 
 had nearly seven years ago with the then Prince of 
 Wales, and of the practical results of their more 
 recent meetings on either side of the Channel. 
 King Edward VII. certainly never forgets either his 
 tete-a-tete drive through the streets of Paris with 
 Napoleon, or the gorgeous fete in the galleries of 
 Versailles — the first great festivity of the kind at 
 which he was ever present. All the passing clouds 
 
 2
 
 A Powerful Personality 
 
 which have arisen in the interval are clean forgotten. 
 If the favourite saying of the Imperial host of those 
 days — VEm-pire c''est le -paix, has long lost all sig- 
 nificance, it is not the less true that the future peace 
 of Europe depends very largely on the maintenance 
 of the re-established Anglo-French entente cordiale. 
 The children of those who shouted Vive la Reine 
 in 1855 have cheered Le Roi Pacific ateur to the 
 echo, and it seems likely that our " good under- 
 standing " with the Third Republic will be of a 
 more lasting character than our alliance with the 
 Second Empire. Since his Majesty's accession the 
 world has witnessed the greatest and bloodiest war 
 which has taken place since all Europe armed itself 
 to resist the unquenchable ambition of Napoleon. 
 It was another " conflict of giants " both by land 
 and sea, and the real extent of the loss of life occa- 
 sioned by it is probably very imperfectly realised. 
 The importance and utility of the role played by 
 King Edward VII. in first limiting the sphere of 
 hostilities, and then bringing about a peace honour- 
 able alike to both the belligerent parties, is an open 
 secret in the Chancelleries of Europe. There is no 
 foreign capital which his A4ajesty has visited since 
 his succession to the throne in which he has not left 
 behind him a legacy of " improved relations." His 
 innate tact and knowledge of statecraft are as remark- 
 able as his dauntless energy and phenomenal activity. 
 As abroad so at home. No movement of public 
 interest or utility escapes his notice ; no detail is 
 too insignificant for his personal attention. Both 
 the King and Queen have become the patrons and 
 protectors of our old hospitals, and the promoters 
 of new ones. The crusade against Disease, 
 and especially the combating of those maladies 
 which afl[ect the poor, is a struggle in which his 
 
 3
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Majesty never tires. Sir James Crichton Browne 
 has recently described him as the hygienic reformer 
 of the age, adding very happily to his remarks on 
 the progress of material sanitation that " The King 
 has raised hygiene into a higher sphere, for he has 
 helped to establish healthy and wholesome relations 
 between the different nations of the earth. His 
 Majesty has purified the streams of international 
 sentiment and has shown us one of the ways in which 
 that horrible epidemic, war, may be warded off." 
 
 King Edward VII. is never idle. He is credited 
 rightly or wrongly with working twelve hours every 
 day. At one moment he is conferring with General 
 Booth or Prebendary Carlile on their life-work 
 amongst the poor and helpless ; at another he is 
 encouraging thrift by inaugurating the central 
 buildings of some great Benefit Society. An octo- 
 genarian soldier appeals in vain for the restoration 
 of his medals lost years ago in a London crowd. 
 He writes of his sorrow to the King, and in due 
 course gets them back from the War Office authori- 
 ties. On the other hand, a second veteran makes 
 the Press ring with the cruel injustice of the with- 
 holding of a pension to which he is entitled as one 
 of the buglers at Waterloo. The King orders a 
 careful investigation, and the imposture is once and 
 for all unmasked and disposed of. Nor is his 
 Majesty ever unmindful of the friends and associations 
 of the boyhood with which this volume deals. A 
 set of the much-coveted apartments at Hampton 
 Court falls vacant. They are promptly bestowed on 
 the only surviving niece of Miss Hildyard, the trusted 
 governess to the children of Queen Victoria, of 
 whom mention will often be made in these pages. 
 
 It is a self-evident fact that in the upbringing 
 good or bad of princes, lies the happiness of nations. 
 
 4
 
 The Copy-books of Kings 
 
 To a great extent the copy-books, exercises, and early- 
 letters and correspondence of kings and princes 
 are beyond the ken of their subjects, although 
 possessing a great and surpassing interest when 
 considered in relation to the after life, both public 
 and private, of their authors. "VVe know some- 
 thing of the early epistolatory skill of Queen Eliza- 
 beth and Mary Stuart. A series of learned letters 
 supposed to be the production of the elder son of 
 James I. testify at any rate to the excellence of his 
 handwriting even if the matter of them was inspired 
 by his erudite tutor, Adam Newton,* to whose 
 care his education was in a measure confided. A 
 book (and by no means an unamusing one) has 
 been written on the over-careful bringing up of 
 the Duke of Gloucester, the precocious son of 
 Queen Anne and Prince George of Denmark, who 
 never lived to become, as he ardently desired, the 
 Prince of Wales.f Very little is known of the boy- 
 hood of the first of the two Georges. Augusta, 
 Princess of Wales, bestowed considerable pains on hav- 
 ing her eldest son (George III.) taught so as to acquire 
 a knowledge of two or three languages, obtain a fair 
 mastery of the Classics, and speak in public with 
 both ease and grace. Like that of nearly all his sons 
 his handwriting was a model both for his contem- 
 poraries and those who came after them. Thanks 
 principally to the cult of autograph collecting a 
 great many data are obtainable as to the royal 
 nurseries of the latter half of the eighteenth and 
 the first half of the ninteenth centuries. Queen 
 Charlotte gave the first laced baby-cap and gown of 
 
 * See p. 31. 
 
 t " Memoirs of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester " 
 [1689-1700], by Jenkin Lewis. Edited by Philip Hayes, Mus. Doc, 
 London, 1789 
 
 5
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 her eldest and favourite son (afterwards George IV.) 
 to the Dowager Countess of Effingham, one of her 
 ladies-in-waiting, together with some of his early Copl- 
 and exercise-books. These curious relics of royalty- 
 came with a well-authenticated pedigree into the 
 possession of Mr. Frederic Madan of the Bodleian 
 Library. Each page is signed and dated in a bold 
 round hand. It is a strange experience to read such 
 lines as these traced by the future King : 
 
 " Chiron to Achilles. 
 " Learn genrous Prince what's little understood 
 
 The godhke happiness of doing good. 
 
 * * * # » 
 
 If y 
 
 And think not that your elevated state 
 Birth, honours, or the empty name of great 
 Can fix your joys ; they ill secur'd unless 
 You know yourself to form your happiness. 
 
 G. P., May 15, 1775." 
 
 About the same time the vellum-bound and neatly 
 written essay and translation books of George IV. 
 and his two brothers, Frederic Duke of York (the 
 constant companion of his studies) and William 
 Duke of Clarence found their way into the sale rooms. 
 Every feature in them is evidently the handiwork 
 of the " royal authors." They are a marvel of 
 neatness. Carefully ruled red lines provide an 
 ample margin. The title-page of the Prince of 
 Wales's production runs thus : 
 
 George P. This volume begun Sept. 24, 1778 
 
 Extract 
 
 of the 
 
 First Oration 
 
 of 
 
 Cicero 
 
 against 
 
 Cataline 
 
 Spoken before their Majesties in the Picture Gallery 
 
 at Windsor Castle on August 12, 1778. 
 
 6
 
 Prince " Florizel " as a Penman 
 
 It also contains the Choice of Hercules byProdicus 
 and select passages from Cicero de natura Deorum. 
 
 Not three years later " Florizel " had already- 
 plighted his troth to " Perdita," and having deserted 
 her was paying his Court to the twice-widowed 
 Maria Fitzherbert at Marble Hall. Prince Frederick 
 writes on the fly-leaf of his book : 
 
 Translations from Terence. Frederick. 
 
 This volume was begun January 9, 1778 
 Dimidium jacti qui bene ccepit habet. 
 The Andrian and the Adelphi. 
 
 Prince William — the " Jolly young Tarry-breeks " 
 of two years later was scarcely as good a penman 
 as either the Prince of Wales or the juvenile Bishop 
 of Osnabriick, but he was getting ready to go to 
 sea, win laurels under Digby, and become for a 
 time the most popular of the five sons of George HI. 
 The Prince of Wales was born in 1762 ; the Duke of 
 York in 1763, and the Duke of Clarence two years 
 later. The MS. remark-books of the latter, 
 while on board the Prince George in 1779, ^7^°? 
 and 1 78 1, would do infinite credit to any lad of 
 fourteen or fifteen. 
 
 Of the early life of Napoleon's only son, the King 
 of Rome, very little is known except what may be 
 gathered from his exercise-books which are constantly 
 being offered for sale in the French autograph market 
 page by page. The orthography of Napoleon H. can 
 scarcely be compared with that of George IV. at 
 the same age, but an essay on the merits of Tasso 
 as a poet, sold the other day for forty francs, affords 
 sufficient evidence of considerable originality of 
 thought. Henry Comte de Chambord (scarcely 
 less fortunate in after life than his political rival 
 the Due de Reichstadt) could, at any rate, boast of 
 
 7
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 a handwriting as good as that of George IV. Almost 
 like copper-plate (to use a now well-nigh forgotten 
 simile) is one of his exercises dated St. Cloud, July 28, 
 1828, and beginning with the words, " Francois 
 Premier apres avoir vaillamment combattu sous 
 les murs de Paris fut fait prisonnier par les Espagnols." 
 At this very time one Miss Pitt was governess at 
 the Court of St. Petersburg, where she enjoyed the 
 entire confidence of the Tsar and Tsarina and the 
 whole of the Romanoff family. Her autograph 
 collection was disposed of a year or two back in 
 London, and to her we are indebted for the copy- 
 book of the then heir to the throne, the future 
 Tsar Alexander II., who in the same year that 
 Napoleon's son was writing about Tasso, penned 
 in four languages, and in a singularly bold and 
 beautiful handwriting the sentence : " He conquers 
 twice who overcomes himself." A still more roman- 
 tic interest attaches itself to a sheet of the copy- 
 book of the unfortunate Empress Charlotte of 
 Mexico, still alive but long since dead to the world. 
 In her childhood she was a playmate of King 
 Edward VII. and his brothers and sisters at Bucking- 
 ham Palace, Windsor, and Laeken. Her handwriting 
 is just what one would expect from the carefully 
 trained daughter of the " Uncle Leopold," who 
 gave his English relatives Queen Victoria and Prince 
 Albert such an imcomparable mentor as Baron 
 Stockmar.* There is something sadly prophetic 
 in the sentence : " II est rare que la jeunesse sente 
 la bonheur et les avantages de sa condition. Char- 
 lotte, Laeken, 16 August, 1852." This melancholy 
 memento of early promise and unfulfilled hopes 
 fetched a high price in a Paris auction-room. In 
 London an exceedingly long and interesting letter 
 
 * See p. 12. 
 
 8
 
 The Upbringing of two Princesses 
 
 from Lady Charlotte Finch to her precocious 
 pupil, the Duke of York (then aged six), quite 
 lately was knocked down to a purchaser " in the 
 know," at the nominal price of sixpence.* 
 
 As far as the first half of the nineteenth century 
 is concerned, a peculiar interest will always centre 
 in the nurseries and school-rooms of the Princess 
 Charlotte of Wales at Shrewsbury House, Black- 
 heath, Cranbourne Lodge, and elsewhere. Her 
 tragic and untimely demise in 1817, when next 
 heiress to the English throne, was the signal for 
 an avalanche of biographies, good, bad, and in- 
 different, from which a good many particulars 
 can be gleaned of her upbringing, which, consider- 
 ing the manifold difficulties which surrounded her 
 from her cradle-days down to the hour of her death, 
 was more satisfactory than one could have imagined. 
 The various authors who have told with more or 
 less eloquence and success the story of the long and 
 honoured life of Queen Victoria have dealt at some 
 length with the days of her youth, spent chiefly 
 in the comparative seclusion of Kensington Palace, 
 at Brighton and other watering-places, or in those 
 excursions regarded with small favour by her kingly 
 uncle, who was pleased to laugh at what they called 
 " Victoria's royal progresses." Possibly this portion 
 of the biography of the late Queen has been most 
 carefully and effectively dealt with by the Duke 
 of Argyll t who in accomplishing what to him must 
 have been a labour of love, had access for the first 
 time to the diary of Dr. Davys, afterwards Bishop 
 of Peterborough, who discharged for many years 
 
 * See p. 45 post. 
 
 t " V.R.I. Queen Victoria : Her Life and Empire." By his 
 Grace the Duke of Argyll. Harper & Brothers, London and New 
 York, 1902. 
 
 9
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 with rare conscientiousness the responsible duties 
 of tutor to the future Queen of England, as well 
 as to sundry memoranda made by the late Duchess of 
 Cleveland, who, as Lady Wilhelmina Stanhope, was 
 one of Queen Victoria's bridesmaids. The details of 
 the upbringing of her late Majesty are worthy of some- 
 thing more than a passing mention, as throwing con- 
 siderable light on the training of all her children, and 
 specially on the early education and home-life of King 
 Edward VII., the immediate subject of this volume. 
 A very readable and reliable life of King Edward 
 VII. has been written with infinite care by Mr. 
 James Penderel-Brodhurst.* It is not probable 
 that anything like an official biography of his 
 Majesty will be attempted during his life time. 
 Indeed, it is generally understood that any attempt 
 at such a work would be regarded with disfavour 
 by his Majesty, and for obvious reasons must 
 be incomplete and unsatisfactory. As far as an 
 unofficial narrative of the life of King Edward VII. 
 up to his Coronation is concerned, Mr. Penderel- 
 Brodhurst has very happily and satisfactorily 
 supplied the natural demand of British subjects 
 in all parts of the world. The present writer was 
 able to place at the disposal of Mr. Penderel- 
 Brodhurst some of the characteristic illustrations 
 of the King's childhood which afterwards led to his 
 acquiring the large and interesting collection of 
 drawings, autographs, etchings and contemporary 
 prints used the compilation of this volume, the 
 object of which is to tell the story of what he has 
 ventured to call, without fear of contradiction, the 
 " Boyhood of a Great King." He will do this as 
 
 * " The Life of His Most Gracious Majesty King Edward VII. from 
 his Birth to his Coronation," by J. Penderel-Brodhurst, with numer- 
 ous illustrations. Four volumes. London: H. Virtue and Co. n.d. 
 
 lo
 
 / 
 
 Troublous Times 
 
 much as possible by the aid of those contemporary 
 illustrations and letters, without entering more than 
 absolutely necessary on the social and political history 
 of England or Europe during those two " troublous " 
 decades of the mid-nineteenth century in which 
 the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Consort 
 grew up to manhood. 
 
 The period of our annals, which lies between 
 1841-1851 was pre-eminently one of disquietude 
 and unrest both at home and on the Continent. 
 Widespread distress amongst the poorer classes 
 and the merits of Free Trade as opposed to Pro- 
 tection were burning questions in 1841, as they are 
 strangely enough in 1906. Possibly they were 
 discussed with even greater vehemence and in- 
 tensity than they are now. The spirit of Chartism 
 was in the air. Rumours of plots and counterplots 
 were ripe, but they came to nought like the great 
 demonstration so adroitly checkmated by the Duke 
 of Wellington, when the future Emperor of the 
 French was amongst those sworn in as special 
 constables. It is evident that troubles such as 
 these were never permitted to disturb the serenity 
 of the atmosphere which pervaded first the nurseries 
 and then the school-rooms of Buckingham Palace, 
 Windsor Castle, and Claremont, and afterwards of 
 Osborne and Balmoral. 
 
 In the " forties " and " fifties " of the last century 
 letter-writing was by no means a lost art as it is 
 at present. Both the Queen and Prince Albert 
 were capable and diligent correspondents. Sir 
 Theodore Martin in his monumental work on the 
 Prince Consort,* has enabled us to realise very 
 
 * The Life of his Royal Highness the Prince Consort," by Theodore 
 Martin, with portraits and views. Five vols. London : Smith, 
 Elder and Co., 1875. 
 
 II
 
 The Bovhood of a Great King 
 
 vividly the rare powers of King Edward's gifted 
 father as a writer of letters, every line of which 
 is strongly imbued with that artistic spirit which 
 entered so largely into his temperament. Both the 
 Queen and her husband wielded the pens of " ready 
 writers," and it may be confidently expected that 
 the important portion of her late Majesty's corre- 
 spondence which is to see the light during the present 
 year, will considerably enhance the high reputation 
 she already deservedly enjoys not only as a consum- 
 mate mistress of statecraft, but as a descriptive 
 writer of more than ordinary ability. As might be 
 expected, letter-writing entered very largely into 
 the carefully thought-out scheme of education 
 which seems to have been the result of the strong 
 common sense, the far-seeing wisdom and the 
 unselfish devotion of Queen \'ictoria, Prince Albert, 
 and Baron Stockmar. described bv Lord Palmerston, 
 a statesman certainly not prone to flattery, as " the 
 most disinterested man he ever knew." It has 
 ever been said that the words actually used w^ere 
 " The only perfectly disinterested man I ever met 
 with." Sir Theodore ^Martin is one of the few who 
 form a living link between the bovhood of King 
 Edward VII. and the first years of his auspicious 
 reign. Possibly the monograph which he is about 
 to publish on Baron Stockmar will tell us more of 
 the share taken by the astute author of the apothegm, 
 " A man's education begins from the day of his 
 birth," in elaborating the programme for the up- 
 bringing of the nine royal children, of which the 
 above sentence may be taken as the key-note. Almost 
 as soon as the Prince of Wales and his elder sister 
 were able to read and write, they began to compose 
 letters as well as to receive them. Possibly, this 
 early letter-writing was a family tradition of the 
 
 12
 
 Lessons and Letters 
 
 House of Hanover. The lengthy epistles addressed 
 to the Duke of York at the age of six, by his gover- 
 ness, Lady Charlotte Finch, and four years later 
 by his tutor, Mr. Leonard Smelt (the friend of 
 Elizabeth Montagu and Fanny Burney) would 
 certainly lend colour to such a supposition. All 
 the daughters of George HL and Queen Charlotte 
 were, from their youth upwards, untiring and by 
 no means uninteresting correspondents. It is even 
 said that a daily exchange of letters was considered 
 de rigueur by Queen \'ictoria as soon as her children 
 were able to pen them. In the large illustrated 
 edition of the Duke of Argvll's * biographv of 
 Queen \'ictoria is given a quaint illustration of 
 letters written by her in her sixth and seventh year. 
 The latter is what one would have expected of the 
 mother of King Edward \'II. A much earlier note 
 by Queen Victoria in printed characters is preserved 
 in the British Museum. Not only were the Princess 
 Royal and the Prince of Wales encouraged to write 
 letters to their parents and to each other, but they 
 carried on a constant correspondence for many 
 years both with " grandmama " (the Duchess of 
 Kent) and their great-aunt the kindly and always 
 sympathetic Queen Dowager, who was always re- 
 garded as a member of the family circle. 
 
 xAbout four years ago a case was purchased by 
 that well-known collector, Mr. Frank T. Sabin 
 of Ii8 Shaftesbury Avenue. It was inscribed 
 " Etchings, Autographs, iScc, of Queen and Royal 
 Family," and contained not only an original 
 drawing by the Prince of Wales (now King Edward 
 VII.) and another by the Princess Royal (her late 
 
 • " V.R I. Her Lite and Empire." By the Marquis of Lome, 
 K.T., now his Grace the Duke of -Ajgyll. London ; Eyre and Spottis- 
 woode, 1901. 
 
 13
 
 The Boyhood ot a Great King 
 
 Imperial Majesty the Empress Frederick) and a 
 series of etchings and etched portraits (including 
 several of the two elder royal children) executed 
 by the Queen and Prince Albert in the earlier days 
 of their happy married life, but several letters 
 written by the Queen, the Duchess of Kent, and 
 Queen Adelaide to them between the years 1846 
 and 1850, and by the Princess Royal to her brother 
 the Prince of Wales. In addition to these etchings 
 and letters (all of them of undoubted authenticity) 
 were other items of equal interest, such as transcripts 
 of the morning and evening prayers used by the 
 Prince of Wales, sheets from the copy-books of both 
 the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred (the late 
 Duke of Edinburgh) and last, but not least, a cha- 
 racteristic portion of an autograph letter or note of 
 the present King which runs as follows : 
 
 Here, at any rate, we have an early confession of 
 faith under the hand of our present sovereign which 
 may console us for the possibility of the oft-repeated 
 story of the exclamation of his royal mother, 
 " I will be good " on seeing the genealogical tree 
 adroitly inserted by Baroness Lehzen in the history- 
 book, being after all apocryphal. There is nothing 
 whatever in this unique collection which may not 
 be published without fear of committing an in- 
 discretion. From first to last the letters on both 
 sides throw a charming light on the happy home- 
 
 14
 
 Death ot the Princess Charlotte 
 
 life which helped so materially to mould the 
 character of King Edward VII., as well as on the 
 personal share taken at all costs alike by mother, 
 father, grandmother, and great-aunt in the first 
 training of the heir to the throne as well as that 
 of his brothers and sisters. It is difficult to realise 
 the far-reaching consequences of the new system 
 of mental and moral education of which Queen 
 Victoria and Prince Albert, aided by Baron Stock- 
 mar, were the pioneers. 
 
 When the Princess Charlotte passed away two 
 years before the birth, and twenty years before the 
 accession of her first cousin Queen Victoria (one of 
 whose numerous biographers persists in styling the 
 former aunt of the latter), the only possible in- 
 heritors of the throne in the younger generation 
 were the two sons of " Brunswick's gallant chief- 
 tain " who fell at Waterloo, and were then aged 
 thirteen and twelve respectively. After the Prince 
 Regent came the childless Duke of York born in 
 1763, and his brother of Clarence, Kent, Cumber- 
 land, Sussex, and Cambridge. Great was the 
 consternation in the minds of those to whom fell 
 the task of chronicling the beauty and the virtues 
 of the high-spirited Princess "dead 'ere her prime," 
 whose father. Lord Houghton assures us, declared 
 that " the nation had had a lucky escape, as she 
 would have made a bad Queen." " The outlook 
 was terrible," wrote one of them, " particularly 
 when we contemplate that it is not beyond the 
 bounds of possibility that the blood of Buonaparte 
 may, at some not very remote period, put forth a 
 claim to the throne of Great Britain ; since the issue 
 of the Princess of Wurtemburg would be strictly 
 (if Protestant and legitimate) within the line of 
 succession in failure of the young Brunswick Princes, 
 
 »5
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 of the present King of Wurtemburg and of his 
 brother Prince Paul ; unless indeed that the 
 British Legislature should add an additional clause 
 to the Act of Settlement, forbidding all such 
 progeny to have any hopes of an interest in the 
 
 succession." * 
 
 As a matter of fact after Duke Charles and Duke 
 William of Brunswick came as numbers 22 and 23 
 on the genealogical tree of which the Baroness 
 Lehzen tells so good a story, Princess Frederic 
 of Wurtemberg and her son Jerome Napoleon 
 Bonaparte, born in 18 14, and destined forty years 
 later to meet Queen Victoria and her Consort in 
 Paris as the unpopular " Plon Plon " of the Crimean 
 War, and the bete noire of the Empress Eugenie. 
 After him came a no less inconvenient personage 
 than Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales, whose 
 vie orageuse was to come to an end three years later, 
 and whom Thomas Hardy, in the masterly sixth act 
 of the second part of The Dynasts depicts as going to 
 her husband's Carlton House fete unbidden and 
 secretly, saying as she resolves to do so : 
 
 " Mine God, I'll go disguised — in some dead name 
 And enter by the leetle, sly, chair-door, 
 Designed for those not opened welcomed openly. 
 There unobserved I'll note my new supplanter ! 
 'Tis indiscreet ? Let indiscretion rule 
 Since caution pensioned me so scurvily."f 
 
 The biographer of the Princess Charlotte adds 
 almost prophetically " of the match between the 
 Duke of Kent and sister of the House of Saxe 
 Coburg, it has been justly asserted that there is 
 
 * " Biographical Memoir of the Public and Private Life of the 
 much lamented Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales and Saxe- 
 Coburg." London: John Booth, 1817. 
 
 t " The Dynasts, A Drama of the Napoleonic Wars," by Thomas 
 Hardy Part second, p. 283. London : Macmillan and Co., 1906. 
 
 16
 
 The Succession in 1817 and 190 1 
 
 ^ no union which the nation would hail with more 
 rapturous delight, and for the establishment of 
 which they would more promptly and liberally 
 contribute.' " 
 
 The marriage thus faintly fore-shadowed takes 
 place, and more than eighty years later Queen 
 Victoria dies full of years, and goes down to her 
 grave amidst the lamentations of an empire. Very 
 different then is the genealogical tree of the House 
 of Hanover placed at the end of the admirable 
 volume of biography issued by the Times * shortly 
 after the Queen's demise. No less than eighty- 
 six of her descendants come next in succession to 
 the British Crown, and those who delight in puzzles 
 and conundrums may amuse themselves by calcu- 
 lating by the aid of the " Almanach de Gotha " 
 the present position in the table of the sons of the 
 Jerome Bonaparte of 1817, whose name seems to 
 have excited the traditional terror notwithstanding 
 the safe detention of his uncle the great Napoleon 
 at St. Helena. When one reflects that amongst 
 these descendants of Queen Victoria are the present 
 Emperor of Germany, Tsarina of Russia and Queen 
 of Norway, to say nothing of the Duke of Saxe- 
 Coburg-Gotha and the Grand Duke of Hesse 
 Darmstadt, — as well as of the future Queens of 
 Sweden, Spain, Greece, and Roumania, — Queen 
 Victoria will live in history as the mother of endless 
 generations of European rulers. Hence the peculiar 
 importance of the system of education and training 
 devised more than sixty years ago by her husband 
 and herself for the benefit of their own children, 
 who have in turn become the fathers and mothers 
 
 * " The Life of Queen Victoria," reproduced from the Times, 
 London : The Times and Sampson Low, Marston and Co., Limited, 
 1901. 
 
 17 B
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 of so many potential kings and queens, and the 
 singular interest of everything which can throw 
 light on the boyhood and upbringing of the monarch 
 rightfully described by one of his many American 
 admirers as " the most powerful and popular of 
 living sovereigns," 
 
 It is in the achievements of King Edward VII. 
 that we shall find the best monument of the wisdom, 
 the self-denial, the devotion and the far-sightedness 
 of both his father and mother, who after all were 
 primarily responsible for the mental, moral, and 
 physical training of their children. Sir Theodore 
 Martin's admirable eulogy of the Prince Consort, who 
 contrived ultimately to find equal favour in the eyes of 
 Lord Melbourne, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Palmerston 
 and Lord John Russell, is fresh in most men's minds. 
 To all of them he was sooner or later " a quite 
 marvellous young man." Somehow or other, one 
 can hardly help feeling that he lived quite half a 
 century before his time. On December 14, 1878, 
 died the " little Alice," her father's darling in the 
 early days of Osborne and Balmoral. She survived 
 him sixteen years to the very day. In her Memoirs,* 
 understood to be prepared by Dr. Sell, a clergyman 
 of Darmstadt, and for which Princess Christian, 
 the Princess Helena of the Queen's Journal, wrote 
 a touching introduction, occurs a brief pen-picture 
 of the Prince Consort which may assuredly be ap- 
 propriately quoted in connection with the immediate 
 subject of this volume : 
 
 " By his strength of character and rare energy 
 of intellect, combined with a thorough self-control, 
 
 * " Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Princess of Great Britain and 
 Ireland," Biographical Sketch and Portraits. London : John Murray, 
 1884. 
 
 18
 
 Albert, Prince Consort of England 
 
 and an unswerving devotion to the duties of his 
 position, he succeeded in gaining the love and 
 esteem of a nation which, though it keeps watch 
 over its rights and privileges with peculiar jealousy, 
 knows also how to show great generosity, when once 
 it has learnt to trust and to love. With his wonderful 
 power of mastering new and difficult subjects he 
 made himself familiar with the history and policy, 
 the social and agricultural conditions, the industries 
 and commercial relations of his adopted country. 
 In his position of intimate confidential adviser to 
 the sovereign he showed the greatest tact, and gained 
 the affection and respect of the Ministers who 
 succeeded one another at the head of affairs ; whilst 
 the more he became known the more his genuine 
 worth was appreciated by the nation at large. 
 Chief of all two nations have acknowledged with 
 grateful admiration, that under his influence there 
 grew up in the midst of the most brilliant Court 
 in Europe a domestic family life, so perfect in its 
 purity in charm that it might well serve for a bright 
 example to every home in the land." 
 
 All that Sir Bernard Burke Ulster, King of Arms, 
 has to record of the present sovereign of these realms 
 (the Prince of Wales of this volume) is as follows : 
 
 " Edward VII. by the Grace of God, of the United 
 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the 
 British Dominions beyond the seas, King, Defender 
 of the Faith, Emperor of India. His Majesty was 
 born at Buckingham Palace, November 9, 1841, 
 and baptized at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, 
 January 25, 1842. He succeeded at his birth to the 
 Dukedom of Cornwall in the Peerage of England, 
 to the Dukedom of Rothesay, the Earldom of 
 Carrick and the Barony of Renfrew in the Peerage 
 
 19
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 of Scotland, and as Lord of the Isles and Great 
 Steward of Scotland. 
 
 " He was created by Patent, December 8, 1841, 
 Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, and by Patent, 
 January 17, 1850, Earl of Dublin, all in the Peerage 
 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 The King ascended the throne at the decease of 
 her Majesty Queen Victoria, January 22, 1901, 
 when the Dukedom of Cornwall and his Scottish 
 honours passed to his only surviving son, while his 
 titles created by Patent merged in the Crown. On 
 his creation as Prince of Wales his Majesty became 
 K.G. in accordance with the statutes of the Order." 
 
 The reason for making this quotation at the 
 onset will be apparent when the time comes to 
 deal with certain controversial questions regarding 
 the " style " of the Heir Apparent which arose 
 immediately after his birth. Like all former writers 
 who have dealt with the life of the late Queen of 
 glorious memory, or the history of the royal family, 
 the writer gratefully acknowledges the help he has 
 derived from such easily accessible sources as the 
 two standard biographies of the Prince Consort,* 
 but a great many more ephemeral and less well- 
 known memoirs and tracts exist from which much 
 interesting information can be gleaned to supplement 
 the different items contained in the collection already 
 alluded to. Other fruitful sources of long-forgotten 
 data connected with the youth of the King are to 
 be found in the pages of the two great newspapers 
 which, as it were, have grown up and become British 
 
 * " The Early Years of his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, 
 compiled under the direction of the Queen," by Licut.-General the 
 Honbl. C. Grey. London : Smith, Elder and Co., 1867. " The 
 Life of his Royal Highness the Prince Consort," by Theodore 
 Martin, 5 vols. London : Smith, Elder and Co., 1875. 
 
 20
 
 The Caricaturists of the '' Forties " 
 
 institutions with his Majesty. Punch is not quite 
 five months the King's senior ; the Illustrated 
 Lofidofi News just eight weeks his junior. In the 
 original prospectus of Punch, dated July 17, 1841, 
 " This Guffawgraph " was spoken of as " intended 
 to form a refuge for destitute wit — an asylum for 
 the thousands of orphan jokes — the superannuated 
 Joe Millers — the millions of perishing puns, which 
 are now wandering about without so much as a 
 shelf to rest on." Gillray, Rowlandson, Woodward, 
 together with several minor but not less merciless 
 tormentors of the last two Georges were dead long 
 before King Edward VII. was born : George Cruik- 
 shank, then verging on fifty, had foresworn political 
 for social subjects of satire, and the portfolio of 
 caricatures from the repositories of Fores and Acker- 
 mann no longer formed an indispensable part of the 
 programme of a fashionable evening party. Punch 
 quietly but effectually ousted all rivals from the field. 
 John Doyle, the popular H. B. of those days, still 
 held his own, but he had no taste for the coarse 
 and brutal onslaughts which made the latter days 
 of the wasted life of George the Magnificent a 
 burden to him. His son, the great " Dicky Doyle " 
 of Punch, then a stripling of seventeen, was just 
 beginning to sketch, and John Leech, seven years 
 his senior, had lately made a great hit by a series 
 of comic designs holding up the much abused 
 Mulready envelopes to possibly well-merited ridicule. 
 Cruikshank was too busy with illustrations for 
 Ainsworth's " Tower of London," and " Guy 
 Fawkes " to think of the happy young couple 
 enjoying, despite sundry worries and anxieties, 
 what appeared to be a perpetual honeymoon at 
 Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle. Unless 
 the writer is much mistaken it was John Leech 
 
 21
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 who drew the first caricature portrait of King 
 Edward VII., destined some sixty years later to 
 confer a knighthood on Sir Francis Burnand, the 
 genial and popular humorist who has just trans- 
 ferred the traditional cap and bells to Mr. Owen 
 Seaman. In his salad days Punch showed an un- 
 mistakable inclination to poke fun at Mrs. Lilly, 
 the nurse who " officiated " at the birth of all 
 the Queen's children. There was something irre- 
 sistible in the idea of having a Court Circular 
 edited by the " Boy Jones " who distinguished 
 himself by frequently effecting an entrance to 
 Buckingham Palace at all sorts of inconvenient 
 times, and whose services the editor announced he 
 had " succeeded in retaining though opposed by 
 the enlightened manager of a metropolitan theatre, 
 whose anxiety to advance the interest of the drama 
 is only equalled by his ignorance of the means." 
 In an early issue, " Mr. Punch " declares its intention 
 of undertaking the onerous duties of the education 
 of the Princess Royal, and as a beginning furnishes 
 a facetious Anglo-Italian version of Ride-a-cock 
 horse, which has received the unqualified approval 
 of Mrs. Ratsey, the nurse of her Royal Highness. 
 The parody is entitled Su Gallo Cavallo, an Italian 
 Cavatina sung with unbounded applause by Mrs. 
 Ratsey at the private concerts of the infant Princess. 
 Next comes " The Royal Rhythmical Alphabet " 
 to be said or sung by the Infant Princess : 
 
 " L's for Mrs. Lilley who was once a nurse of mine ; 
 R's for Mrs. Ratsey who taught me this pretty song ; 
 V's for Victoria ' the Bess of forty-one ; ' 
 X is for the Treble X Lilly drank three times a day." 
 
 From the first the Illustrated London News showed 
 a decorous loyalty to the Queen and a proper venera- 
 
 22
 
 Cake and Caudle 
 
 tion for the Constitution. Under a fanciful vignette, 
 drawn apparently by Mr. Kenny Meadows, a 
 weekly article entitled for many years " The Court 
 and Haut Ton," abundant information was vouch- 
 safed as to the occasional summonings of Mrs. 
 Lilly, the more constant attendance of Lady Lyttel- 
 ton and the daily " airings " of the " royal infants." 
 One of the earliest efforts of the new venture was 
 a picture of the Prince of Wales in a laced cap playing 
 in his mother's arms. 
 
 The " birthday ode " which found favour at 
 the Court of the four Georges had disappeared in 
 1 841, along with the cake and caudle which the 
 public were allowed to indulge in gratuitously on 
 the occasion of royal christenings. The vocation 
 of the Cibbers, Whiteheads, Whartons, and Pyes 
 had disappeared. Nearly eighty-one years separated 
 the birth of the last Prince of Wales of the eighteenth 
 from that of the first and only Prince of Wales of 
 the ninteenth century. It is curious to contrast 
 the circumstances which attended the two 
 events. It is still more interesting to compare 
 the system of education (the word is used in its 
 most comprehensive sense) which prevailed in the 
 case of King Edward VII. and that which formed, 
 as it were, the prelude to the reigns of his predeces- 
 sors from the accession of James I. at the dawn of 
 the seventeenth century down to the death of 
 Queen Victoria in the first month of the first year 
 of the twentieth. At the dispersal of Sir William 
 Eraser's library four years ago, a thick volume was 
 sold, composed partly of MS., partly of tracts, and 
 partly of newspaper cuttings, and bearing the strange 
 title of " Laureated Leaves and Rhymes for Royalty ; 
 New Year and Birth Day Odes, with some Trim 
 Tram of the Times, collected towards a History 
 
 23
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 of the Laureateship." August 12, 1762, the birth- 
 day of George Augustus, Prince of Wales, was 
 the anniversary of the first accession of the House 
 of Hanover. It was signalised, moreover, with the 
 treasure of the captured Spanish galleon Hermione 
 being dragged past St. James's Palace with trumpets 
 sounding, and the enemy's flags flying over the 
 heavily laden waggons. No wonder that cake and 
 caudle was served to all comers, and that the 
 Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal made ready to sing 
 the congratulatory poem sent up red hot from 
 Oxford, by worthy Dr. Wharton, the Poet Laureate, 
 and containing such a verse as : 
 
 " For lo, to Britain and her favour'd pair 
 Heaven's high command has sent a sacred heir ! 
 Him, the bold patron of his patriot Sire 
 Shall fill with early fame immortal fire, 
 In life's fresh spring, ere buds the promis'd prime, 
 His thoughts shall mount to virtues meeds sublime." 
 
 But even more fulsome flatterers were ready to 
 chant the praises of the infant Florizel. 
 Here is a portion of another birthday ode : 
 
 " Britannia, as lately she sat on her Throne, 
 And view'd the vast ocean and view'd it her own, 
 Father Time, her old Crony, hobbled up with his Scythe, 
 
 And told her he'd news which would make her heart blythe. 
 
 ****** 
 
 My heart beats with joy, whilst enraptur'd I sing 
 An English heir's born to your lov'd English King ! 
 
 ^F W ^T W ^c Hf 
 
 Your joys are complete for your lov'd George's line 
 
 Till I, Time myself, am no more, is to shine ; 
 
 I'm hurrying to fate now to cut Matters short all, 
 
 From Jove with an order to make it Immortal. 
 ****** 
 
 May she still by their Care ! Oh ! great Jove ne'er neglect her ! 
 Let her ne'er want a George to revenge or protect her." 
 
 And yet another which beats both the preceding 
 ones in the exuberance of its hyperbolic absurdities : 
 
 24
 
 Birthday Odes and their Makers 
 
 " Britons, rejoice ! let Acclamations ring 
 To us a Prince is born, our children's King ; 
 A Briton from a Briton, we have born, 
 To grace this glorious this auspicious Morn 
 A Morn on which his Grandsire blest our Isle ; 
 'Twas glorious first of August in our Stile. 
 
 To accompany his Birth, oh ! see at Hand 
 The gold of Ophir bless this happy Land ; 
 And as a timely Blessing to our Earth 
 The Clouds drop fatness at th' auspicious Birth." 
 
 William Wordsworth made no sign as to the ninth 
 of November, 1841, although the theme was by no 
 means unpropitious. Sundry impromptu verses 
 were added that evening to the National Anthem 
 and the audience welcomed them with boisterous 
 applause. A little more than three years later 
 the event inspired a poem by one of the cleverest 
 and most beautiful women of the time — Caroline 
 Norton, the fascinating grand-daughter of Richard 
 Brinsley Sheridan. Somewhat scant justice to her 
 remarkable verses is done by her latest biographer,* 
 who tells us that " in 1845 she (Caroline Norton) pub- 
 lished ' The Child of the Islands,' a poem intended 
 to draw the attention of the Prince of Wales (then 
 an infant four years old) to the condition of the 
 people of this country with a view of bridging the 
 gulf between rich and poor . . . but poetry and 
 pamphleteering do not yoke well together." 
 
 It will be remembered that " Lord of the Isles " 
 is one of the hereditary Scotch titles of the eldest 
 son of British sovereigns. The preface written at 
 3, Chesterfield Street, Mayfair, is dated March 20, 
 1845, and explains that the publication of the book 
 was intended to take place on November 9, 1842, 
 
 * " Some Famous Women of Wit and Beauty," by John Fyvie. 
 London : Archibald Constable, 1905. 
 
 25
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 but had been unavoidedly delayed by " a recurrence 
 of domestic affliction." The dainty volume of 
 white and gold has a carefully drawn allegorical 
 frontispiece by David Maclise. On a fly-leaf the 
 use of Jeremy Bentham's words : " If the poor had 
 more justice, they would need less charity " lends 
 colour to Mr. Fyvie's idea as to the moral teaching 
 intended to be conveyed by such undeniably beauti- 
 ful verses as : 
 
 " Child of the Islands ! if the watch of love 
 
 To even the meanest of these fates belongs 
 What shall thine be, whose lot is far above 
 
 All other fortunes woven in my song ? 
 To guard thy head from danger and from wrong 
 
 What countless voices lift their prayers to Heaven ! 
 Those, whose own loves crowd round (a happy throng !) 
 
 Those, for whom Death the blessed tie hath riven ; 
 And those to whose scathed age no verdant branch hath given ! 
 
 There's not a noble matron in the land. 
 
 Whose christen'd heir in gorgeous robes is drest, — 
 There's not a cottage mother, whose fond hand 
 
 Rocks the low cradle of her darling's rest, 
 By whom thou are not thought upon and blest, 
 
 Blest for thyself and for her lineage high 
 Who lulled thee on her young maternal breast ; 
 
 The queenly lady with the clear blue eye. 
 Through whom thou claimest love, and sharest loyalty ! " 
 
 And again : 
 
 " Child oj the Islands J thou whose cradle-bed 
 
 Was hallowed still with night and morning prayer ! 
 Thou, whose first thoughts were reverently led 
 
 To heaven, and taught betimes to anchor there ! 
 Thou, who wert reared with fond peculiar care, 
 
 In happiest leisure, and in holiest light ! 
 Wilt thou not feed the lamp whose lustre rare 
 
 Can break the darkness of the fearful night 
 Midst dim bewild'ring paths to guide faint steps aright ? 
 • «**** 
 
 26
 
 Child of the Islands 
 
 Wilt thou not help to educate the poor ? 
 
 They will learn something, whether taught or no ; 
 The Mind's low dwelling hath an open door, 
 
 Whence, wandering still uneasy, to and fro 
 It gathers that it should, or should not know. 
 
 Oh, train the fluttering of that restless wing ! 
 Guide the intelligence that worked woe ! 
 
 So shall the Summer answer to the Spring 
 And a well-guided youth an age of duty know. 
 
 Keep thou the reverence of a youthful heart 
 
 To Age and Merit in thy native land ; 
 Nor deem Condition sets thee far apart ; 
 
 Above, but not Aloof, a Prince should stand : 
 Still near enough, to stretch the friendly hand 
 
 To those whose names had never reached the throne. 
 But for great deeds, performed in small command ; 
 
 Since thus the gallant wearers first were known. 
 Hallow those names ; although not Royal like thine own." 
 
 Under the heading of Winter : 
 
 " Child of the Islands ! Thou art one by birth 
 
 In whom the weak ones see a human guide ; 
 A Lily in the garden of their earth 
 
 That toilest not, but yet are well supplied. 
 With costly luxuries and robes of pride. 
 
 Thy word shall lead full many a wavering soul, 
 Behoves thee therefore hold thyself allied 
 
 With the Mind-workers, that thy good control 
 May serve His, whose light shines out from pole to pole." 
 
 And in the Conclusion : 
 
 " . . . Royal Child, thou art to me 
 
 Only the sculptured image of a thought ; 
 A type of this world's rank and luxury 
 
 Through whom the poet's lesson may be taught : 
 The deeds which are by this world's mercy wrought, 
 
 Lie in the compass of a narrow bound ; 
 Our life's ability, — which is as nought, — 
 
 Our life's duration, — which is but sound, — 
 And then an echo, heard still faintly lingering round. 
 
 27
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Meanwhile since Death, and Sorrow, and Disease, 
 Bid helpless hearts a barren pity feel ; 
 
 Why to the Poor shall checked compassion freeze ? 
 Brothers be gentle to that one appeal, — 
 Want is the only woe God gives you power to heal." 
 
 If the authoress seriously intended to " point a 
 moral " it makes her verses prophetic as well as 
 beautiful. This is assuredly no case of the ill-starred 
 union of the poetic afflatus with the prosaic instincts 
 of the pamphleteer. It is to be regretted that 
 Mrs. Norton (who died the wife of Sir William 
 Stirling Maxwell the cultured author of the 
 " Cloister Life of Charles V.") never lived to see 
 dreams of the " Child of the Islands " fully realised, 
 for an intelligent sympathy with the legitimate 
 grievances of the poor and an earnest desire to 
 ameliorate their condition enter very largely into 
 the ideas of the enlightened sovereign during whose 
 early boyhood and in whose honour these graceful 
 and sympathetic lines were originally penned. 
 
 28
 
 chaptp:r I 
 
 THE ROYAL NURSERIES AND SCHOOL-ROOMS OF THE 
 SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 
 
 The story of the upbringing of Princes in Stuart 
 times and in that of their successors, the first three 
 Kings of the House of Hanover, begins appropriately 
 enough with the accession of James I. of England 
 and VI. of Scotland on the death of Queen Eliza- 
 beth, the last of our Tudor sovereigns. The monarch 
 who inherited the throne of England on the 24th 
 of March, 1603, was addressed by his followers 
 and flatterers as the Royal Solomon. Posterity 
 has dubbed him the " Wisest Fool in Christendom," 
 and a friendly critic styles him with suflicient 
 accuracy " the most learned, the most pedantic, 
 and the most voluminous of royal authors." His 
 two sons enjoyed in turn the rank and dignity of 
 Prince of Wales. It was for the benefit of Henry 
 Frederick, born on February 19, 159I, and created 
 Duke of Rothesay some six months later [August 30, 
 1594] that he drew up, and published privately at 
 Edinburgh in 1599 the " Basilikon Doron," or 
 " His Majesty's Instruction to his dearest sonne 
 Prince Henry." Here is a specimen of its porten- 
 tous contents : 
 
 Book II. " Ancnt a King's Duetie in his Office." 
 
 " But as ye are clothed with two callings, so must 
 ye be alike carefull for the discharge of them both ; 
 
 29
 
 The Boyhood oi a Great King 
 
 that as ye are a good Christian, so ye may be a good 
 King, discharging your office in the poynts of 
 justice and aequitie ; which in two sundry waies 
 ye must do : the one, in establishing and executing 
 (which is the life of the lawe) good lawes among 
 your people ; the other, by your behaviour in your 
 owne person and with your servauntes, to teach 
 your people by your example ; for people are 
 naturally inclyned to counterfaite (like Apes) their 
 Prince's manners " and so forth. 
 
 It is not astonishing that James Stuart was looked 
 on by his courtiers as a paragon of theoretical virtue, 
 and that he enjoyed the reputation of being the 
 greatest authority of his time on the " making of 
 future Kings." Like begets like. The " Basilikon 
 Doron " was the forerunner of a swarm of dainty 
 volumes devised for the purpose of gratifying the 
 vanity of its author. A typical example of these 
 is George Marcelline's " Les Trophees dv Roi 
 lacqves I. de la Grande Bretaigne, — et Irelande 
 Defensevr de la Foy. Dresses sur ^inscription seule- 
 ment, e son Advertissement a tous les Rois, Princes, 
 & Potentates de la Chrestiente ; confirm^s par le 
 merueilleuses actions de Diev en sa vie, Voyez, 
 dediez, et consacrez av tres-illvstre Prince [Henri] 
 de Galles," published in 1609. In this eulogistic 
 extravaganza the young Prince of Wales is frequently 
 addressed as " Mon Jeune Caesar," and " Grand 
 Alexandre." The edition in French was followed 
 by one in English. The nursery days of " Young 
 Caesar " were apparently short, for before he was 
 a year old [January 28, 1595] Margaret Master- 
 town " mistress-nurse to the Prince " received 
 her discharge, the royal infant being handed over 
 to the care of his " hereditary guardian " Arabella, 
 
 30
 
 The Royal Solomon and his Sons 
 
 Countess of Mar. In July 1599, Adam Newton 
 was appointed to be his tutor.* The death of 
 Queen Elizabeth which gave the father the throne 
 of England, made the son Duke of Cornwall. In 
 August 1605, at the age of eleven, he matriculated 
 at Magdalen College, Oxford. A full year before 
 that proposals for his marriage were receiving serious 
 consideration. On June 4, 1610, he was created 
 Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester. On November 
 6, 161 2, he died. It is to be hoped that the system 
 of educational " forcing " to which he had apparently 
 been subjected, had nothing to do with the catas- 
 trophe. 
 
 Charles Stuart, who was raised to the rank of 
 Prince of Wales just five months after his brother's 
 demise, was born on November 19, 1600, and had 
 already received the titles of Duke of Albany 
 (December 23, 1600), and Duke of York (January 16, 
 1605). Of his early training under the care of 
 Lord and Lady Fyvie, and his governess Lady 
 Cary very little is known. His first letters afford 
 sufficient evidence that, like his brother, he was a 
 ready scholar. If contemporary writers burned 
 their incense liberally at the altar of Henry Frede- 
 rick, the contemporary engraver did not forget the 
 shrine of his brother and successor. Under the pretty 
 little print of the boy-prince by Richard Elstrack, 
 one reads the astounding legend : 
 
 " Great Britain is thy birth ; but the Earth 
 Stoops to thy virtue which exceeds thy birth. 
 Live tJien, and conquer till victorious warre 
 Make thy rule endles as thy virtues are." 
 
 Elstrack may have been an adroit courtier and a 
 good portraitist. He was certainly a bad prophet. 
 
 * See Introduction, p. 5. 
 31
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 That Charles II. (born May 29, 1630), and his 
 brother James II. (born October 14, 1633) ever 
 acquired any book-learning at all is astonishing, 
 for the days of their youth — at any rate the greater 
 and more important part of them — were passed 
 amidst wars and tumults, in marching and counter- 
 marching, in sudden flights by night, and finally 
 in exile beyond the seas. The second Charles 
 Stuart, who was granted an establishment as Prince 
 of Wales at the age of eight, and took his seat in the 
 House of Lords ten days later, was not nineteen 
 when his father, whom he had never seen since 1645, 
 died upon the scaffold. He was unquestionably 
 a boy of more than ordinary intelligence, and learnt 
 his lessons rapidly. His nurse bore (for him) the 
 auspicious name of Wyndham. His first governess 
 was the Countess of Dorset. William Cavendish, 
 Earl of Newcastle, and Bishop Brian Duppa even- 
 tually became respectively his governor and tutor. 
 This was in 1638. Four years later, when (nominally 
 at any rate) he was appointed to the command of 
 a troop of Life Guards, the Marquis of Hereford 
 was made Governor of the Prince of Wales. He 
 was a little later succeeded by the Earl of Berkshire. 
 James II., the last of the Stuart Kings de facto, 
 was never Prince of Wales. The title of Duke of 
 York (not at that time of particularly happy omen) 
 was conferred upon him, either at or shortly after 
 his christening. He learned what he could from 
 his " governors," Sir George Radcliffe and the Earl 
 of Northumberland. His nursery and school-room 
 days were necessarily few. He was reared in *' tribu- 
 lations and dangers oft." Before he was ten he 
 had been refused admission to the gates of Hull, 
 and it was only by rare good fortune that he escaped 
 capture on the field of Edgehill. His natural 
 
 32
 
 A Doctor at Twenty 
 
 ability (later in life displayed to great advantage 
 as head of the Navy) was certainly above the average. 
 
 William III., born at the Hague in the winter 
 which preceded the eventful flight of his brother- 
 in-law King Charles II. {de jure at any rate) after 
 Worcester fight, owed a great deal to the careful 
 training of his able mother, Mary, Princess Royal 
 of England, the eldest daughter of Charles I. His 
 father had died before his birth, and for fourteen 
 years the widowed Princess of Orange devoted herself 
 to personally superintending with more than ordin- 
 ary intelligence, the education of her son — destined 
 by the irony of fate to snatch the sceptre of her 
 unlucky father from the hands of her scarcely more 
 fortunate brother. At the age of nine he entered 
 the famous University of Leyden, He was soon 
 able to speak four languages with equal ease, and 
 understood three others, Charles de St. Evremond 
 declares that " no person of the Prince's age and 
 quality was ever master of so good a turn of wit." 
 
 When the two great English Universities made 
 him a Doctor while in his twentieth year, it was 
 no empty compliment. This was in 1670. Thirty- 
 two years later William of Orange (Doctor of Laws 
 at both Oxford and Cambridge) died King of 
 England after a reign of thirteen years. 
 
 His successor. Queen Anne, was the daughter of 
 ' •5j?jf:^his deposed bfothet^in-law James II. Her educa- 
 tion and early training had not by any means been 
 neglected. Like the Elcctress Sophia of Hanover, 
 who predeceased her by only a few months, she 
 was both a painstaking and capable letter-writer. 
 Beyond informing us that she was a sickly child, and 
 that Lady Frances Villiers, a daughter of the Duke 
 of Suffolk, was her first governess, the writer of her 
 memoirs in the " Dictionary of National Bio- 
 
 33 c
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 graphy," tells us very little of her girlhood. He is 
 presumably more concerned with her theological and 
 political views than with her early mental and phy- 
 sical training. In 1577 when she was twelve, Dr. 
 Edward Lake was appointed to discharge the often- 
 combined duties of chaplain and tutor, and prepared 
 her for confirmation. At this time Bathshua 
 Makin's school at Tottenham enjoyed a well- 
 merited reputation amongst ladies of the higher 
 classes.* Mrs. Makin had in her youth taught 
 Charles I.'s little daughter, the Princess Elizabeth, 
 so efficiently, that " at nine years old, she could 
 write, read, and in some measure understand 
 Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Italian." She was 
 even more learned than her namesake Queen 
 Elizabeth, who, just a century before, was said by 
 Ascham to " read more Greek in a day than many 
 Doctors of her time did Latin in a week." It was 
 to Princess Anne's sister. Queen Mary, that Mrs. 
 Makin (who lived to be the tutoress of Elizabeth 
 Montagu's mother) dedicated her elaborate treatise 
 which she entitled " An Essay to revive the Ancient 
 Education of Gentlewomen in Religion, Manners, 
 Arts, and Tongues : With an Answer to the Objec- 
 tions against this way of Education." It is not 
 impossible that this enlightened lady (whose portrait 
 adorned with no less than four Latin inscriptions, 
 William Marshall has bequeathed to us) had some- 
 thing to do with the upbringing of Queen Mary 
 and Queen Anne, as she was doubtless a -persona 
 grata at Court. Two of her Greek letters are 
 preserved in the British Museum, but there is no 
 record of the date of her death. She kept " schools 
 and colleges of the young gentlewomen " at Putney, 
 
 * " A Lady of the Last Century (Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu),'' 
 by Dr. Doran, F.S.A. London: Richard Bentley, 1855. 
 
 34
 
 A Forgotten Tract 
 
 in 1649, ^^^ ^ quarter of a century later her " female 
 seminary " at Tottenham High Cross was at the 
 zenith of its prosperity. 
 
 It is to Dr. Philip Hayes, a notable musical 
 composer and virtuoso of the eighteenth century, 
 that we are indebted for the preservation of the 
 first detailed account of the upbringing of a pre- 
 sumptive heir to the British Crown.* Philip 
 Hayes occupies a place in the annals of George HI.'s 
 reign akin to that filled a century later by the late 
 Sir Arthur Sullivan and Signor Paolo Tosti. 
 He is the author of anthems, glees, and songs in- 
 numerable. He was at one time Heather Professor 
 of Music at Oxford, Organist of Magdalen, and one 
 or two other Colleges, and a Gentleman of the Chapel 
 Royal. He was literally the heaviest man of a 
 generation distinguished by an abundance of adipose 
 tissue. His favourite name at the University was 
 " Fill Chaise," and when he hired two seats on the 
 London coach to secure a comfortable place the 
 guard non-plussed him by booking one inside, and 
 the other out. He provided all the incidental 
 music for the celebrated Blenheim theatricals, 
 and enjoyed the intimate friendship of the then 
 reigning Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and 
 their talented children. When Philip Hayes died 
 in London in 1797, he was honoured by a public 
 musical funeral in St. Paul's, all the three royal 
 choirs attending it. It was probably in his capacity 
 of Gentleman of the Chapel Royal that Dr. Hayes 
 came across the forgotten tract of Jenkin Lewis, 
 which he completed and re-edited. The memoirs 
 of the Duke of Gloucester thus happily handed 
 down to us, throw considerable light on the system 
 of education in favour at Court during the last 
 
 * See Preface, p. 5. 
 35
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 decade of the seventeenth century. Queen Anne's 
 son was born in the first year of the reign of King 
 William and Queen Mary, his uncle by marriage 
 and his aunt. The event we are assured " gave 
 great joy to the whole nation, which soon spread 
 itself to the Hibernian and Scottish shores." The 
 infant Prince must have suffered from a veritable 
 plethora of nurses. Mrs. Shermon, Mrs. Wanley, 
 and Mrs. Pack, all took him in charge. He had 
 convulsions, and was removed for his health's sake 
 to Lord Craven's house in Kensington Gravel Pits. 
 " There," we learn, " the young Prince thrived and 
 went out every day, when dry, in the afternoon, 
 in his little coach which the Duchess of Ormond 
 presented him with, and often times in the forenoon ; 
 nor was the severity of the winter's cold a pretence 
 for his staying within. The horses, which were no 
 larger than a good mastiff, were under the guidance 
 of Dicky Drury, his coachman. . . ." 
 
 The young Duke is brought back to Camden 
 House, and the great Dr. Radcliffe is called in, who 
 prescribes liberal doses of " Jesuit's powder now 
 called bark," and frequent blisterings. He has a 
 new nurse, Mrs. Atkinson, who is soon known as 
 *' Atty." The siege of Namur and the war in 
 Flanders now come within the range of practical 
 politics. The child-prince, aided by his preceptor, 
 Mr. Prat, takes part in the drilling of a troop of 
 Kensington boys in paper caps armed with wood 
 swords, and the laying out of mimic fortifica- 
 tions.* He writes to his uncle : " Dear King, — 
 
 * A hundred and fifty years later the Comte de Paris and the 
 Due de Chartres indulged themselves in similiar amusements at 
 Claremont. The forts erected by the Prince of Wales and the Duke 
 of Edinburgh at Osborne during the Crimean War were probably 
 more serious undertakings. See p. 303. 
 
 36
 
 The Good Hope and its Owner 
 
 You shall have both my companies with you in 
 Flanders." 
 
 Notwithstanding the frequent blisterings he is 
 able to learn dancing from Monsieur Gory, a rich 
 old French maitre de danse to whom he takes a 
 great liking. We are told that " His breakfasts 
 and suppers were provided by his day nurses . . . 
 for brealcfast, milk porridge and a piece of bread 
 and butter ; for supper, water gruel, with currants, 
 or veal and chicken broth with barley boiled therein." 
 Frugal fare indeed for the heir to the throne. 
 When five years old " A fancy took him that he 
 would have a real ship with masts and rigging made, 
 to be in his presence as a model. He told my Lord 
 [Lord Berkeley] he would shortly have such an one ; 
 and he made me bespeak it at his toy shop in Canon 
 Street. My Lord told him he was very glad he 
 gave his mind to such warlike exercises. He looked 
 up in my Lord's face, and said, ' My Lord you are 
 very old ! ' which Mrs. Duraine reproved him for ; 
 ' I mean my Lord to be out so late at night,' which 
 made his Lordship smile." 
 
 The attention of all England is directed to the 
 Siege of Namur in which King William was taking 
 an active part. A gazette is drawn up at Camden 
 House. " Arrived safe in the Downs, off Kensing- 
 ton Main, the ship called the Good Hofe^ Prince 
 William Master, whom God preserve ; she is a 
 full-rigged ship, built in Canon Street Row, in a 
 creek bordering upon the Port of London, from 
 which she was launched, by order and under the 
 direction, of Jenkin Lewis, Surveyor-General and 
 Engineer to his Royal Highness Prince William, 
 Duke of Gloucester." So proud was the Duke of 
 his ship, that he would often make the boys climb 
 up the masts. " Lewis," said he, " when we are 
 
 37
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 at sea I will cannonade my enemies, and then lie 
 by ; so make them believe they may board us. I 
 will send a boy up the top masts, to let fall from 
 thence a bag of pease, that when the enemy comes 
 to board us, they will fall down by means of the pease 
 and I and my men will rush from the corners of 
 the ships and cut them to pieces." When news 
 was brought of Namur's surrendering to the allies 
 (which happened on August 4 ; the fort and castle 
 on the 22nd) the Duke was very joyous, and ordered 
 his guns should be fired six times round. 
 
 The attention of Prince William is now turned 
 to more serious things. Mr. Prat begins to teach 
 him mathematics, Latin, and " the use of the globe," 
 wisely tempered by lessons in boxing and fencing. 
 In January 1696, King William makes his nephew 
 a Knight of the Garter, but even this dignity does 
 not diminish his love of soldiering. In order to 
 satisfy his martial ardour the words of command 
 were set to music by Mr. John Church of the King's 
 Chapel : 
 
 " Hark ! Hark ! the hostile drum alarms 
 Let ours too, beat and call to arms ! 
 Prepare, my boys, to meet the foe 
 Let ev'ry breast with valour glow ! " 
 
 " Lewis," said he one day, " when I go to conquer 
 France, I will burn all my shipping, that my men 
 may not desert me by coming back." In 1696 
 addresses were sent to the King. The Prince's 
 address was as follows : " I, your Majesty's most 
 dutiful subject, had rather lose my life in your 
 Majesty's cause than in any man's else ; and 
 I hope it will not be long ere you conquer 
 France. Gloster." All his boy followers were 
 required to sign the following pledge devised 
 by him : " We, your Majesty's dutiful subjects, 
 
 38
 
 A Childless Queen 
 
 will stand by you as long as we have a drop of 
 blood." 
 
 He is now the solitary survivor of the seventeen 
 children of the Princess Anne and her Danish 
 husband Prince George. In 1698 he is in his ninth 
 year, and Dr. Gilbert Burnet, bishop, biographer, 
 statesman, and politician, is appointed his Preceptor, 
 and begins to teach him theology, Greek, and 
 Roman History. He is never tired of reading 
 " Plutarch's Lives." The King ordered " five 
 of his chief Ministers to come once a quarter and 
 examine the progress he made ; they seemed amazed 
 both at his knowledge and the good understanding 
 that appeared in him." 
 
 He was not, however, destined either to see the 
 beginning of the eighteenth century or to become 
 Prince of Wales, a dignity for which he always 
 longed. On July 29, 1700, the Princess Anne, 
 mother of so manv children, became childless. A 
 few days later the leader of the Kensington troop 
 of boy-soldiers was laid to rest in King Henrv the 
 Seventh's Chapel at Westminster. 
 
 The bringing up of George I. (born just two 
 months before the Restoration of Charles H.) was 
 as might reasonably be expected, influenced by the 
 clear and lively intellect of his mother the Electress 
 Sophia of Hanover, youngest daughter of Elizabeth, 
 Queen of Bohemia, and daughter of James I., 
 whose life-long ambition was to become (if only 
 for one day) Queen of England. The aged Electress 
 Sophia, like the youthful Duke of Gloucester, was 
 destined to disappointment. She predeceased her 
 " well-beloved cousin " Queen Anne, by exactly 
 seven weeks. Although George I. knew com- 
 paratively speaking, very little English, he was 
 well acquainted with the languages and literature 
 
 39
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 of Holland, Germany, France, and Italy. He was 
 a fair musician although like his son and successor, 
 he had no great fondness for either " bainting " 
 or " boetry." George H. was, like his father 
 (who by the way, was never Prince of Wales), 
 carefully educated under the vigilant eye of the 
 clever and energetic Electress Sophia. In 1705 
 Queen Anne bestowed on him, as presumptive heir 
 to the throne, a variety of English honours and 
 titles, including that of Marquis and Duke of Cam- 
 bridge. He was just thirty-one when declared 
 Prince of Wales at his father's first Council held on 
 September 22, 1714. He was so created by letters 
 patent issued five days later. On February 12, 
 1 71 5, he took the necessary oaths as Duke of Rothe- 
 say. On June 12, 1727, he became King of England. 
 As his eldest son, Frederick Prince of Wales, never 
 lived to succeed to the throne, the question of his 
 early training is not a matter of supreme moment. 
 His natural gifts were probably greater than those 
 of his father, to whom at any rate it must be accounted 
 for righteousness that he possessed a marvellous 
 memory, indulged a passion for genealogy, founded 
 the University of Gottingen, and patronised in 
 turn both Handel and Heidegger. 
 
 Frederick, the eldest son of George II., was born 
 in 1707, while his grandmother the Electress Sophia 
 still lived and hoped to become Queen of England. 
 His grandfather made him Duke of Gloucester in 
 1717, and on his father's accession he was created 
 Duke of Edinburgh. In the previous year Lady 
 Mary Wortley Montagu wrote enthusiastically 
 of his " grace and charms." It was intended that 
 he should espouse Sophia Dorothea Wilhelmina, 
 Princess Royal of Prussia, while his sister was the 
 destined bride of her brother Frederick the Great. 
 
 40
 
 Liliputian Soldiers 
 
 He never came to England till 1728, and was created 
 Prince of Wales in the following January. He 
 was essentially a dilettante in an age of dilettantism. 
 Known to his familiars as *' Prince Titi," he com- 
 posed two songs and supported Buononcini against 
 Handel. His father and mother cordially hated 
 him, but he scarcely merited the well-known rhyme 
 belittling his memory. He died on March 20, 
 1751, from the effects of an abscess caused by either 
 a cricket or tennis ball, while Desnoyers the dancing- 
 master played the violin by his bedside. He was 
 buried three weeks later at Westminster " without 
 either organ or anthem." 
 
 George, the eldest son of Frederick Prince of 
 Wales, and afterwards the third King bearing that 
 name, was born on June 4, 1738. On the principle 
 enunciated a century later by Baron Stockmar, 
 that a man's education begins " in the first year 
 of his life," it is interesting to note that " on the 
 first anniversary of the birthday of the infant heir 
 presumptive, there was a great concourse of nobility 
 and gentry at Norfolk House, to congratulate their 
 Royal Highnesses, accompanied with a whimsical 
 exhibition of sixty youths, all under twelve years 
 of age, sons of eminent citizens, who had formed 
 themselves into a Liliputian company of foot- 
 soldiers, in proper military clothing." "... In 
 the drawing-room they were received by their 
 newly elected Colonel, Prince George, who was 
 adorned with a hat and feathers ; after which they 
 were permitted to kiss his hand, as well as that of 
 the new-born Edward and the Princess Augusta." 
 
 On August I, 1740 he was present at a masque 
 performed at Cliefden with Quin (his future 
 instructor in elocution) and the charming Kitty 
 Clive in the principal rdles, with fireworks by 
 
 41
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the learned Dr. Desaguliers as an additional 
 attraction. At the age of six a precedent was 
 created hy the appointment of Dr. Francis Ays- 
 cough, afterwards Bishop of Bristol to the post of 
 Preceptor. Almost at the same time he com- 
 menced to learn drawing from Goupy, fencing 
 and small sword exercise from Redman and the art 
 of oratory from Quin. When he was nine Addison's 
 Cato was performed in Leicester Square, with the 
 
 ng cast : 
 Fortius . 
 
 
 
 
 Prince George. 
 
 JUBA 
 
 
 
 
 Prince Edward. 
 
 Cato 
 
 
 
 
 Master Nugent. 
 
 Sempronius 
 
 
 
 
 Master Evelyn. 
 
 Lucius 
 
 
 
 
 Master Montagu. 
 
 Decius . 
 
 
 
 
 Lord Milsington. 
 
 Syphax . 
 
 
 
 
 Lord North's son. 
 
 Marcus . 
 
 
 
 
 Master Madden. 
 
 Marcia . 
 
 
 
 
 Princess Augusta. 
 
 Lucia 
 
 
 
 
 Princess Elizabeth 
 
 The prologue spoken by Prince George began : 
 
 " To speak with freedom, dignity, and ease. 
 To learn these arts, which may hereafter please 
 Wise authors say — let youth in earliest age 
 Rehearse the poet's labours on the stage." 
 
 And a little later came the lines : 
 
 " Liberty, oh name for ever dear ! 
 Know, 'tis the first great lesson I was taught. 
 What, though a boy ! it may with pride be said, 
 A boy in England born, in England bred ; 
 Where freedom well becomes the earliest state, 
 For there the love of liberty's innate." 
 
 On June 4, 1750, Prince George gave a silver cup 
 to be competed for by the London watermen. 
 The date has been closely associated with the history 
 of the Thames for over a century and a half. It is 
 still a day held sacred by all Etonians. His father 
 
 42
 
 Treason in the School-room 
 
 died on March 20 following, and on April 22, 1752, 
 Prince George became Prince of Wales by letters 
 patent. From that time to the date of his accession 
 eight years later, the completion of his education 
 afforded abundant matter for party warfare. The 
 formation of his ideas was regarded as a sort of 
 shuttlecock for the battledores of Whig and Tory 
 partisans. In 1752 Lord Harcourt and Mr. Stone 
 held respectively the positions of Governor and 
 Sub-Governor. They were succeeded by the Earl 
 of Waldegrave and Dr. John Thomas, Bishop of 
 Peterborough. High treason was in the air ! The 
 fifteen-year-old lad had been allowed to read such 
 dangerous works as Echard's translation of " The 
 Revolutions of the House of Stuart," by Father 
 Orleans, Ramsey's " Travels of Cyrus," Sir Robert 
 Filmer's " Patriarch," and Pere Perefix's " History 
 of Henry IV." The Constitution was seriously 
 threatened ! The last of the numerous officials 
 entrusted with the formation of the mind of George 
 III. were Dr. Hayter, Preceptor, and Mr. Scott, 
 sub-Preceptor. The results achieved were scarcely 
 commensurate with the pains taken. During the 
 whole of the King's reign his narrowness of view 
 and dogged obstinacy were often only too apparent. 
 He knew something of everything, but nothing 
 thoroughly. His acquaintance with Latin and 
 Greek was only superficial. He wrote English, 
 French, and German fairly well, and could under- 
 stand Italian. He dabbled with music, mechanics, 
 and even printing. He loved poetry, but used 
 to say that Shakespeare wrote sad stuff. Possibly 
 he preferred the birthday odes of Cibber, White- 
 head, Wharton, and Pye sung before him on his 
 own birthdays and those of the Queen. As his 
 family increased these performances became more 
 
 43
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 frequent, and the strain on the inventive faculty 
 of the laureates greater. He patronised painting 
 liberally, but in his heart he preferred Benjamin 
 West to Joshua Reynolds. 
 
 The birth of the fourth and least worthy of the 
 four Georges has already been spoken of.* He 
 was five days later invested (at least in theory) " by 
 cap, coronet, verge, and ring " with the title de- 
 scribed by the most indulgent of his many biographers 
 as " one of the trophies of the conquest of Llewel- 
 lyn." The ceremony could hardly have proved 
 as severe a trial of his physical energies, for he 
 was inoculated the same day. In his third year, 
 on St. David's Day, 1765, he received his first 
 deputation and made his first speech. " He thanked 
 them for their mark of duty to the King, and wished 
 prosperity to the Charity." 
 
 At Christmas he was duly invested with the 
 order of the Garter. His brother Frederick was 
 the chosen companion of his studies. They never 
 quarrelled until the Duke of York as Commander-in- 
 Chief refused a military command to his brother 
 the Prince of Wales. If there is safety in the number 
 of instructors, Prince George should certainly have 
 been the best educated man of his time. Lord 
 Holderness, Lord Bruce, and the Duke of Montagu 
 were in turn his governors, while during his child- 
 hood the post of governess was filled by Lady 
 Charlotte Finch, who was Commander-in-Chief of 
 a perfect retinue of nurses. Amongst his Preceptors 
 was an Archbishop (Dr. Markham), a Bishop (Dr. 
 Hurd), and a Dean of Christchurch, who lived to 
 decline the Irish Primacy (Dr. Cyril Jackson), and 
 Mr. Arnald or Arnold, a clergyman who had wrested 
 the Senior Wranglership from Lord EUenborough's 
 
 * See Preface, p. 24. 
 44
 
 The Bishop-Tutors of Bower Lodge 
 
 brother Dr. Law, who could not be consoled for 
 the disappointment even when Bishop of Brechin. 
 The Bower Lodge at Kew was the scene of a com- 
 prehensive system of education which ranged from 
 classics, modern languages, music, and elocution, 
 to orthography, drawing, and practical husbandry. 
 Both brothers developed in due course a pretty taste 
 for Tacitus,* and the Prince was reputed to play 
 the violoncello better than his master,! and possess 
 a finer bass voice than half the Italian singers at the 
 King's Theatre or the Pantheon. Undeniably his 
 handwriting in 1775 would have done credit to a 
 Crocker or a Bickham. Of the numerous minor 
 teachers who had a finger in the educational pie 
 in process of confection at the Bower Lodge mention 
 is occasionally made of M. de Sulzar and Mr. Myers, 
 but one hears much more frequently of Leonard 
 Smelt the friend and correspondent of Fanny 
 Burney and Elizabeth Montagu, a veritable star 
 in the Blue stocking firmament. Smelt, who had 
 fought at Dettingen and Fontenoy, was just fifty 
 when Lord Holderness introduced him to George 
 IIL in 1771. He remained at the Bower Lodge 
 for ten years. Very curious indeed is the following 
 letter addressed in November, 1769, to her six- 
 year-old charge, the Duke of York, by Lady Char- 
 lotte Finch : 
 
 Lady Charlotte Finch to H.R.H. Frederick 
 Duke of York. 
 
 Lyons, Nov. 7, 1769. 
 
 " Sir, — I have been very impatient to arrive at 
 Lyons that I might have the Honer and Happiness 
 of writing to your Royal Highness, as it is one of 
 the greatest Indulgences I can have whilst I am 
 
 * See Preface, pp. 6 and 7. t Crosdil. 
 
 45
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 debarr'd that of seeing you daily. [Here follows 
 several pages of not unamusing description of the 
 journey from Paris to Lyons.] I should be very 
 happy to find myself so much advanced in my 
 Journey, if that Thought did not at the same time 
 remind me that I am already about six hundred 
 miles distant from your Royal Highness, but if I 
 can but flatter myself that you think one hundredth 
 part so often of me, as I do of all my sweet little 
 Royal Charges I will feast upon that idea until I 
 return, as I am sure no distance can diminish my 
 Zeal and Affection and will hope I shall find myself 
 just where I was in those dear little Tender Hearts 
 that shed Tears at our parting, the Remembrance 
 of which I shall cherish as long as I live [then 
 another page of description of the boat called a 
 ^ diligence ' hired by Lord Winchelsea for the journey 
 down the Rhone to Avignon]. As soon as I arrive 
 at Nice which I believe will be about the 21st of 
 this month I shall do myself the honour of writing 
 to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and giving 
 him an account of our voyage thither, 
 
 " I have the honer to subscribe myself, 
 " Your Royal Highness's 
 " Most dutiful and 
 
 " Most obedient servant, 
 " (sd.) Charlotte Finch." 
 
 Still more strange is the epistle of Mr. Leonard 
 Smelt to his pupil of ten : 
 
 " Rushy Hall, October 15, 1773. 
 
 " I hope your Royal Highness will believe that 
 I have a heart sensible of the honor you do me in 
 being so much interested in the health of my Rela- 
 tions — after many days of despair there is at present 
 
 46
 
 Mr. Smelt the Polite Letter-writer 
 
 a glimmering of hope for my Brother-in-Law, but 
 tho' his friends have so ardently wished his recovery 
 he himself hath been perfectly resigned and grateful 
 that he hath lived to see his children such as he 
 wished them to be. 
 
 " Mrs. Smelt (whatever Mr. Jackson or M. de 
 Saigas may have thought upon the occasion) hath 
 most assuredly been happy whenever she hath been 
 honoured with a look of those lively eyes over the 
 half shutters. If my Myers hath succeeded with 
 your Royal Highness as well as he had done with the 
 Prince of Wales He will have great reason to boast 
 of his performances, and the Lady who is to be 
 honoured with their possession will be most truly 
 happy. When your Royal Highness is pleasure 
 to assure me that you love me, you are not aware 
 how much you may awaken a pride in me which 
 may not so easily be conquer'd, as I have nothing 
 so much at heart as to deserve the approbation and 
 if I may be allowed to say so the affection of your 
 Royal Highnesses, and as I can safely promise for 
 myself that I never shall seek to obtain it, but by 
 the zeal of my endeavours to strengthen the only 
 • foundation for your Royal Highnesses' permanent 
 happiness, so little as my part may be in this, yet 
 I shall from this assurance expect that you will 
 reward en Prince and honor me with a proportion 
 of your affection rather suited to your greatness 
 than my merits. 
 
 " Your Royal Highness is pleased to desire that 
 you may write to me again. Is it usual. Sir, to ask 
 leave to confer the most pleasing honours, for you 
 cannot doubt my receiving it as such. 
 
 " I have troubled the Prince of Wales with so 
 long a letter that I must entreat your Royal Highness 
 to lend Him a little of your patience to supply the 
 
 '47
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 demand there will be for it. But that I may not 
 wholly exhaust it, for perhaps it is not one of your 
 Royal Highness's misfortunes to have too much, 
 I shall only beg leave to add that if I may judge of 
 the progress both your Royal Highnesses have made 
 in your other studies by that in your writing my 
 expectations can scarcely be raised too high ; in 
 this hope permit me to assure your Royal Highness 
 of the perfect respect with which I am 
 
 " Your Royal Highness's 
 " most obedient 
 
 " and dutiful servant, 
 " Leonard Smelt." 
 
 It is not surprising that the upbringing of George 
 IV. and his brother Frederick, Duke of York and 
 Bishop of Osnabriick ended in dire failure. From 
 first to last it was sowing the wind to reap the whirl- 
 wind. At the Bower Lodge there was little or none 
 of that domestic environment which entered so 
 largely into the shaping of the character of him who 
 is the immediate subject of this volume. In the 
 royal nurseries and school-rooms of 1 841-1850 there 
 was a healthy atmosphere of simplicity, truthfulness 
 and sincerity. Imagine for one moment Dowager 
 Lady Lyttelton or Mr. Birch writing such letters 
 to their young charges as that of " the elegant Mr. 
 Leonard Smelt," or even that of Lady Charlotte 
 Finch. The Bishops at Bower Lodge may have 
 occasionally had recourse to a Spartan discipline, 
 but the minor teachers never tired of flattering 
 their pupils and gratifying their vanity. Each 
 succeeding " Governor " was imbued with a strong 
 political bias. They were all Tories of the obsolete 
 type, holding that the divine right of Kings was an 
 article of faith, and teaching the Prince of Wales 
 
 48
 
 The Spoiling of a Future King 
 
 to regard it as such. The foreign prejudices of the 
 Queen were as harmful as the political bias of the 
 King. There was no wholesome mixing with the 
 outside world at the Bower Lodge. Even the 
 most partial of Court historiographers is compelled 
 to admit " that a system of education was pursued 
 in regard to the young Princes something less liberal 
 than ought to have been adopted towards the sons 
 of the sovereign of a great and a free people." 
 
 As a matter of fact, neither George IV. nor his 
 brother ever had a fair chance. The apotheosis 
 of all the fine letter-writing, Ciceronian orations and 
 'cello playing, came with the separate establishment 
 of January i, 178 1, the perfidy of " Florizel " to 
 " Perdita," and the secret marriage with Mrs. 
 Fitzherbert. It ended in what can only be de- 
 scribed as a panorama of disgrace. George IV. 
 utterly destroyed the personality of the sovereign 
 as an element of both home and foreign politics, 
 and a feature in the social life of the Empire. Not 
 only did Queen Victoria restore it during her long 
 and glorious reign, but by the upbringing of her 
 children paved the way for those further develop- 
 ments of useful personal influence both at home 
 and. abroad which have characterised the first years 
 of the reign of a great King. 
 
 49
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE UPBRINGING OF TWO HEIRESSES TO THE 
 BRITISH THRONE 
 
 [Princess Charlotte, 1796-1817. Princess Victoria, 1819-1837.] 
 
 Never were the energies of the poet Pye and his 
 unofficial imitators both great and small, more 
 severely taxed than at the commencement of 1796. 
 In his inevitable New Year's Day Ode (dealing 
 principally with the recent attempt on the King's life 
 — an event which amply justified the apposition of 
 the phrases " Patriot's breast " and " Hell's behest ") 
 the Laureate had foreshadowed the coming event 
 which would obviate the necessity of the nation 
 falling back on the descendants of Owen Tudor, 
 Llewellyn, or the De Burgos : 
 
 " O may thy smiles, blest infant, prove 
 Omens of concord and of love, 
 Bid the loud strains of martial triumph cease 
 And tune to soften mood the warbling seal of peace." 
 
 Exactly a week later Princess Charlotte was born 
 at Carlton House. We are assured that " the anxiety 
 of the Royal Father (the use of capitals was more 
 liberally indulged in in those days than at present) was 
 inexpressible. His Royal Highness, on the preceding 
 evening, had dined with the late Mr. Macnamara at 
 Streatham, to meet a convivial party, among whom 
 were the late Duke of Bedford and Lord Thurlow, 
 whose society, it is well known, had much attrac- 
 
 5^
 
 Mr. Pye and his Birthday Ode 
 
 tion for him ; yet he quitted the festive board at an 
 earlier hour than he had ever been known to do, so 
 feelingly alive was he to his promised hopes, and to 
 the welfare of his Royal Partner." Mr. Pye was 
 an indifferent poet, but he proved a still worse 
 prophet. Smiles, concord and peace played a 
 very small part in the future life of either mother 
 or daughter. The deception and double dealing 
 at which the Prince of Wales was an adept was 
 never more forcibly illustrated than at the realisa- 
 tion of the " promised hopes." He was just then 
 making a pretence at retrenchment, so when the 
 civic authorities desired to offer him their felicita- 
 tions, the Remembrancer was informed that " being 
 under necessity of dismissing his establishment, 
 he was unable to receive those congratulatory 
 compliments in a manner suitable to his rank, and 
 with the respect due to the capital of the empire ; 
 but at the same time he expressed his great regret 
 in not having it in his power to show a proper 
 regard for the good wishes of the City of London 
 towards himself and the Princess of Wales." Such 
 periods as these were eminently worthy of Mr. 
 Leonard Smelt, whose correspondence reminds one 
 strangely of the Pecksniff of half a century later. 
 But the Royal Family could not be put off so easily. 
 They insisted on coming to the christening on 
 February ii, when the King and Queen and the 
 Duke and Duchess of York (the former the boon 
 companion of his brother's early escapades — the 
 youth in the buff coat of Mrs. Robinson's memoirs) 
 were to be sponsors. They duly arrived along with 
 the whole of the royal Princesses, but there was 
 nothing for them but a plain joint and trimmings — 
 " two courses and a dessert." Queen Charlotte 
 held the child in her arms and gave her her own 
 
 51
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 name ; the Archbishop of Canterbury performed 
 the ceremony with proper solemnity, and when it 
 was over there was the usual distribution of cake 
 and caudle, but " in a proportion indicative of the 
 promised reforms." Before another year had passed 
 by the futile playing at economy, which deceived 
 nobody, was given up ; the separation of the Prince 
 and Princess of Wales was declared to be final and 
 irrevocable, and the infant Princess, the subject 
 of Pye's poetic platitudes about peace, smiles, 
 love, and concord, was at Shrewsbury House, under 
 the care of the Dowager Lady Elgin and Miss 
 Garth. Mr. Pye, however, erred in good company 
 as far as his roseate forecast is concerned. His 
 effusion in " Laureated Leaves " is immediately 
 preceded by the ode in honour of the ill-starred 
 marriage entitled " To Hymen," written by Dr. 
 Clarke, and set to music by the great Haydn : 
 
 " Oh long may rosy finger'd morn 
 
 Bestrew their paths with radiant flowers 
 From latent snake or lurking thorn 
 Free as Flora's fav'rite bowers " 
 
 and so on through a dozen verses of rhyming in- 
 anities. It is not surprising that one searched in 
 vain for " To Hymen," amongst the published 
 works of the illustrious composer. 
 
 Notwithstanding the manifold disadvantages in- 
 herent in the situation created by the complete 
 estrangement of her parents, the Princess Charlotte 
 proved far more easily amenable to the influence 
 of her numerous teachers than one might have 
 imagined. She was essentially a creature of impulse, 
 and the total lack of parental control in her up- 
 bringing accounts for many of her faults in character. 
 At one moment we hear of her making shrewd 
 remarks on the achievements of Queen Elizabeth 
 
 52
 
 The Precocity of Princess Charlotte 
 
 about whom she delighted to read ; at another 
 she is asking on bended knee the blessing of Bishop 
 Porteous because she is coming to live in his diocese, 
 while a little later she enjoys with undisguised and 
 even boisterous merriment the " bumping " of 
 her matronly governess, Lady de Clifford, in a 
 pony cart over the ploughed fields at Bognor. 
 Bishop Fisher (with whose Garter badge Queen 
 Victoria played twenty years later, and whom 
 ** Sarah Tytler " mixes up hopelessly with Bishop 
 Davys) did his utmost to make his pupil a good 
 woman as well as a well-informed one, but nothing 
 could atone for the lack of that maternal solicitude 
 and affection which proved so invaluable to Queen 
 Victoria. There is no evidence to show that the 
 " First Gentleman in Europe " ever troubled himself 
 an iota about the actual education of his daughter. 
 His one idea was to prevent her falling under the 
 domination of her mother. He was never so happy 
 as at Brighton, where he could forget all about wife, 
 daughter, and debts, while enjoying a series of 
 gorgeous fStes^ and listening to the strains of such 
 deplorable balderdash and unblushing perversion of 
 the truth as : 
 
 *' When Jove's immortal power 
 On Britons deigned to shower 
 
 Freedom sublime, 
 Prince George by high decree 
 On earth was form'd to be, 
 Guardian of Liberty, 
 
 Sacred, divine. ' ' -'} 
 
 Britons, your voices raise, 
 In thanks and songs of praise 
 
 The world convince ; 
 True freedom here abounds. 
 Virtue the throne surrounds 
 
 Long live the Prince." 
 
 If Lord Houghton is right as to George IV. 's 
 
 53
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 unfavourable estimate of his daughter as a possible 
 sovereign, he was himself greatly to blame for the 
 short-comings of her early training. He was too 
 much overcome with grief to attend her funeral, but 
 he found time to reassure the unfortunate Sir Richard 
 Croft, and a carefully sealed letter recently changed 
 hands for a few shillings in which the Prince Regent 
 congratulated Sir Isaac Heard on " the perfect style " 
 in which he had proclaimed the dead Princess' titles 
 at the conclusion of her obsequies. 
 
 It is a relief to turn, by way of contrast, from 
 this sad picture of unfulfilled promise and wasted 
 effort to the happy girlhood of the then unborn 
 cousin who, within twenty years of the death of 
 Princess Charlotte, was called upon to fill the throne 
 which should have been hers. The essential differ- 
 ences in the upbringing of the two Princesses of 
 the House of Hanover, who were in turn described 
 as " heiresses of England " during the first forty 
 years of the nineteenth century, are reflected to a 
 very great extent in the caricatures, popular litera- 
 ture, and street songs of the epoch in which they lived. 
 There was little or nothing in common as far as 
 their respective surroundings were concerned. As 
 has already been pointed out nothing could have 
 been more unfavourable to the formation of the 
 morale of the Princess Charlotte than the wanton 
 profligacy of Carlton House and the Brighton Pavi- 
 lion, and the tawdry untidiness and gossipy tittle- 
 tattle which distinguished the various suburban 
 residences of the deserted mother, whose intimate 
 associates were, for the most part, either undesirables 
 or nonentities. Perhaps it was fortunate that her 
 early death spared the Princess Charlotte the latest 
 and saddest phases of her mother's chequered career. 
 A happy, contented, and peaceful infancy such as the 
 
 54
 
 A Striking Contrast 
 
 future Queen Victoria passed in those pleasant rooms 
 overlooking the shady gardens of Kensington Palace, 
 could never for a moment have been hoped for in 
 the case of her less fortunate cousin, who was com- 
 pelled by force of circumstance to grow up from 
 babyhood in an atmosphere of chronic chicanery 
 and perpetual intrigue. Not only was she the stand- 
 ing object of dispute and wrangle between her 
 heartless father and his hard-living, hard-drinking 
 associates on the one hand, and her tactless mother 
 and her interested, over-zealous partisans on the 
 other, but her governors and governesses were for ever 
 quarrelling amongst themselves. The well-mean- 
 ing old King, as long as a ray of intelligence remained 
 to him had a sneaking regard for his unhappy niece 
 whose life had been ruined by the faults and follies 
 of his eldest son. He did his best to see that his 
 grand-daughter (who used to play to him when 
 overwhelmed by mental and physical blindness) 
 was brought up in as satisfactory a manner as his 
 own lights (limited at the best of times) permitted 
 him to devise. To Queen Charlotte, Caroline of 
 Brunswick was anathema from the very first. Her 
 personal sympathy for the solitary girl who bore her 
 own name was scant indeed. As long as he was 
 able the King wrote long and touching letters to 
 the Princess of Wales in French, imploring her to 
 be patient and, above all, to avoid giving cause of 
 offence, but no sooner did the Queen get a free hand 
 than, at the bidding of her favourite but often faith- 
 less son, she peremptorily excluded his consort 
 from her drawing-rooms and other public assemblies, 
 and that at a time when the presence of the Allied 
 Sovereigns made the affront doubly hard to bear. 
 On the other hand, there was for many years a 
 frequent exchange of visits and friendly letters 
 
 55
 
 The ^Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 between the younger Princesses of the royal family 
 and their child-niece. The caricaturists who never 
 spared George the Magnificent any more than they 
 did the Corsican Ogre, at once ranged themselves 
 on the side of the daughter, who probably lived 
 in perfect unconsciousness of pictures representing 
 her as a bone of contention between her father and 
 mother, or kneeling before an altar at the bidding 
 of Mrs. Fitzherbert. There is a still better-known 
 print in which the " legal wife " (as Mr. Wilkins, 
 her latest and ablest biographer calls her) is depicted as 
 an angel bearing the " heiress of England " heaven- 
 wards, crucifix in hand. Everything conspired 
 to obstruct the development in the mind of the 
 Princess Charlotte of that individuality of character 
 and strength of purpose which distinguished the 
 Princess Victoria long before the death of her uncle 
 made her Queen of England. For this the simple 
 home-life at Kensington and the motherly care of the 
 Duchess of Kent were mainly responsible. Possibly 
 the marked difference between the temperament of 
 the two mothers had something to do with the almost 
 total lack of resemblance between their children. 
 
 The story of the early years of Queen Victoria 
 is doubtless familiar to the great majority of the 
 readers of this volume. Not only does it occupy 
 the first chapters of the various biographies already 
 alluded to, but it formed a prominent feature in 
 the lighter literature brought into existence, first 
 by the jubilee celebration of 1887, and then by that 
 of the second solemnity of ten years later.* The 
 
 * An excellent specimen of this is the double number of the 
 English Illustrated Magazine for July 1897, edited by Mr. Clement 
 Shorter. It deals most picturesquely with every period of the 
 late Queen's life, and should be carefully preserved by those who 
 arc fortunate enough to possess a copy. 
 
 56
 
 Queen Victoria and her Teachers 
 
 narrative of the Princess Victoria's life from her 
 birth at Kensington Palace down to the eventful 
 morning little more than eighteen years later when 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham 
 arrived there at an abnormally early hour and 
 demanded audience of " the Queen," need only 
 be further alluded to in relation to the light which 
 it frequently throws on " the boyhood of a great 
 King," to which it was the natural prelude. The 
 girlhood of Queen Victoria, as far as companions of 
 her own age are concerned, may be fairly described 
 as a solitary one, which contrasts very forcibly 
 with the infancy of her children, who grew up in 
 the happy enjoyment of each other's society. 
 There was, therefore, little resemblance between 
 the modest nursery at Kensington and those over 
 which our late revered Queen presided as wife and 
 mother. Moreover, there was no master-mind 
 like that of the Prince Consort to assist the Duchess 
 of Kent in discharging those duties which it was 
 afterwards confessed she discharged most admirably. 
 Politics undoubtedly entered very largely into the 
 early training of George III. and that of his sons. 
 High Toryism was the order of the day at Bower 
 Lodge, Kew, but notwithstanding the excellent 
 principles carefully impressed on him by Bishop Hurd, 
 his eldest pupil went over to the OppositiorL, and one 
 of the earliest letters of the Princess Charlotte is that 
 which accompanied the gift of a bust of Charles 
 James Fox to Lady Albemarle. The Duke of 
 Kent's mild form of Whiggism was certainly far less 
 objectionable than the ultra-Protestant Toryism 
 of his brother Ernest, but the traditions of the 
 political faith of the former were said to be cherished 
 by his widow, if not actually transmitted to hi» 
 daughter. Politics played no part whatever in the 
 
 SI
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 boyhood of King Edward VII. Absolute political 
 impartiality and indifference on the part of the 
 sovereigns was one of Prince Albert's golden maxims, 
 which is bearing fruit now, and will continue to do 
 so for all time. The poetasters of 1796 and the 
 first decade of the nineteenth century had vanished. 
 Flattery in high places had gone out of fashion before 
 1837 and birthday odes were at a discount. Never- 
 theless a broadside has come down to us containing 
 a set of indifferent verses beginning with the lines : 
 
 " Affection's kind domestic joys we view 
 
 In our late William's short benignant reign, 
 Oh ! may our Queen her grandsire's steps pursue ; 
 And love and glory as reward obtain." 
 
 At the age of four months the future Queen 
 attended a review in her father's carriage. It is not 
 recorded that she attempted a speech on the lines 
 of that which the infant Prince of Wales is supposed 
 to have addressed over fifty years before to the 
 astonished delegates of the Society of Ancient 
 Britons. It was shortly after this that the Duke 
 of Kent wrote from Sidmouth : " My little girl 
 thrives under the influence of a Devonshire climate, 
 and is, I am delighted to say, strong and healthy ; 
 too healthy, I fear, in the opinion of some members 
 of my family by whom she is regarded as an intruder." 
 These ominous words afford a key to the earliest 
 caricatures in which the child-face of the Princess 
 Victoria appears. In the first of them all, however, 
 " H. B." depicts her as a sort of glorified Boy 
 Bishop, wearing portentous lawn sleeves and sitting 
 behind an enormous desk on an episcopal throne. 
 It seems that a proposal had been made to utilise 
 a portion of the revenues of the see of Derry for 
 the upbringing of the " Heiress of England." The 
 rest are directed at the universally disliked and 
 
 58
 
 " H. B.'' and the Duke of Cumberland 
 
 mistrusted Ernest Duke of Cumberland, whose 
 desire to become ruler of England was as intense 
 as that once entertained by his ancestress the 
 Electress Sophia. With both it was the dream of a 
 lifetime destined never to be realised. In " H. B.'s " 
 various productions Princess Victoria was always the 
 victim and Duke Ernest the villain of the piece. 
 Even her caricaturists dealt gently and kindly with the 
 girl pronounced charming on all hands. Of those 
 executed before her marriage, there are few 
 prettier portraits of Queen Victoria than " H. B.'s " 
 sketch of her Majesty in one of the unbecoming 
 bonnets of the period riding between Lord Mel- 
 bourne and Sir Robert Peel. 
 
 The chief episodes connected with the nursery- 
 life of the late Queen Victoria are, by this time, 
 familiar to the majority of the subjects of the 
 " Great King." We all know the story of the un- 
 expected death of her apparently robust and long- 
 lived father while she was still in arms, and the return 
 of her widowed mother to the picturesque palace 
 which had witnessed her daughter's birth. Her very 
 dolls and dolls'-houses have afforded subject-matter 
 for a book. The Queen's first bon-mot about the cor- 
 nelians ; her rides in Kensington Gardens ; her desire 
 to clean the windows as a pastime ; her frank exchange 
 of child-like confidences with the " Infant Lyra ; " * 
 the praiseworthy patience of Baroness Lehzen ; the 
 appearance of the Reverend George Davys on the 
 scene in her fifth year ; the love she bore her half- 
 sister the Princess Feodore, and her old nurse Mrs. 
 Brock (" Boppy ") ; her wish to please her uncle King 
 George by going to Windsor on the donkey given her 
 
 * One of the musical prodigies of the period, who was " com- 
 manded " to play the harp at Kensington Palace before the 
 Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria. 
 
 59
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 by her uncle the Duke of York; her visits to "Uncle 
 Leopold " still at Claremont, but very soon to become 
 King of the Belgians ; her appearance at the ball given 
 in honour of the child Queen of Portugal, and a 
 dozen other anecdotes of the berC trovato type 
 have been recounted too often to justify more than 
 the most passing allusion. Sir Walter Scott saw 
 mother and daughter face to face in Royal Kensing- 
 ton, and records his deliberate opinion that " this 
 lady is educated with much care, and is watched 
 so closely that no busy maid has a moment to whisper, 
 * You are heir of England.' " This is naturally 
 followed by the legend of Baroness Lehzen, in which 
 the genealogical tree surreptitiously inserted in the 
 history-book, and the words, " I will be good," form 
 the chief ingredients. Dr. Davys, in that portion of 
 his journal published for the first time by the Duke 
 of Argyll, does ample justice to Miss Lehzen's dis- 
 ciplinary powers. On April 7, 1823, when teaching 
 the Princess the alphabet, he writes : " Her manage- 
 ment of the Princess is extremely good. She allows 
 no indulgence of wrong disposition, but corrects 
 everything like resistance, or a spirit of contradiction 
 such as all children will indulge in if they can." 
 
 Two years later he tells us : "April 6, 1825. The 
 Princess Victoria began to take lessons of a writing- 
 master, Mr. Steward. I had previously, however, 
 found it necessary, for the sake of fixing the 
 attention of the Princess, to teach her to write, and 
 she can alreadv write on a slate short sentences." 
 Before the death of George IV. (whom she 
 pleased mightily by choosing the National Anthem 
 for performance by his private band) she lost the 
 companionship of the Princess Feodore, who, at 
 the desire of Mr. Davys, had, along with the Baroness 
 Lehzen, complacently stood up with her in class 
 
 60
 
 George IV. 's Last Birthday 
 
 form when she went through her lessons, a nd who now 
 became the wife of Prince Hohenlohe-Langenburg. 
 Long — very long before this the Dowager Duchess 
 of Coburg had written to the Duchess of Kent 
 the ominous words : " The little fellow (Prince 
 Albert) is the pendant of his pretty cousin." If 
 the childish days of Queen Victoria were dull, they 
 were, at any rate, decorous and profitable. Even 
 the sardonic Greville finds a kind word for " our 
 little Victoria." It was on the last birthday 
 that George IV. ever spent on earth, when he 
 was a helpless and fretful invalid, hardly able 
 to write his name, and condemned by his doctors 
 to die in a few months or weeks, he received from 
 his winsome niece the little portrait of herself, 
 bearing her signature, and now preserved amongst 
 the art-treasures of the Windsor print-room. The 
 dying King was deeply touched. Possibly he 
 remembered the dead and gone Princess Char- 
 lotte, and all the misery which his own folly and 
 selfishness had entailed upon others. The King of 
 1829-1830, it may be hoped, bore very little resem- 
 brance to the Prince of Wales of 1796, or the Prince 
 Regent of 1 814. " Little Victoria," as the great 
 diarist affectionately called her, had made good use 
 of her time with Mr. Steward her writing-master, 
 and Mr. Westall, the Royal Academician, who taught 
 her drawing. Mr. J. B. Sale and Monsieur Lab- 
 lache, Madame Bourdin, Monsieur Grandineau 
 and Monsieur Barez, her instructors in singing, 
 dancing, French and German all gave encouraging 
 reports of progress. She had overcome the natural 
 disinclination to work, which Dr. Davys was the 
 first to detect, and began to tackle the difficulties of 
 Latin and Greek with the energy and determination 
 which she displayed nearly sixty year? later when she 
 
 61
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 learned to read and write Hindustani in a way 
 which put some of her great Pro-consuls to shame. 
 Neither the Princess nor her mother attended the 
 coronation of William IV., which the satirists 
 insisted on calling a " half-crownation." Possibly 
 the relations between Windsor and Kensington 
 were not very cordial at first. The honest affection 
 of Queen Adelaide for both mother and daughter 
 paved the way to an entire change of feeling. Till 
 the day of her death " great-aunt Adelaide " * was 
 one of Queen Victoria's firmest and most trusted 
 friends. She was one of the earliest correspondents 
 of the royal children in the " eighteen-forties," 
 and played her part in the up-bringing of the great 
 King. The appointment of the Duchess of North- 
 umberland to the purely ornamental post of 
 State Governess made no difference either in the 
 tranquil home-life at Kensington or the excursions 
 by sea and land now frequently indulged in by the 
 Duchess of Kent, who was always accompanied by 
 her daughter. The future Queen was now in her 
 twelfth year, and in January, 1831, made her first 
 appearance at the Covent Garden Pantomime, 
 which she appears to have thoroughly enjoyed, as 
 well as the farce of " A ^100 Note," which pre- 
 ceded it. Probably the visit to Claremont shortly 
 afterwards was the last paid there prior to *' Uncle 
 Leopold's " removal to Brussels and Laeken, where 
 he was to win the honourable title of the " Juge 
 de Paix de I'Europe." Even then coming events 
 began to cast their shadows before. Prince Albert 
 sent his " best remembrances to our dear cousin.'* 
 At thisjuncturc, 1831, Sir R. Holmes tells us that 
 Earl Grey proposed to appoint Dr. John Kaye, 
 Bishop of Lincoln, to the post of '' preceptor " at 
 
 • Sc" '^. 243, 
 6?
 
 Tours by Sea and Land 
 
 Kensington. Although an ardent reformer he 
 believed in the absolute necessity of some eminent 
 church dignitary taking part in the up-bringing of 
 royal children of either sex. The Duchess of Kent 
 demurred, and the Princess was as disinclined to 
 part with Dr. Davys as she had been loathe to lose 
 " Boppy " six years before. A compromise was 
 effected which ended in the worthy divine who 
 taught Queen Victoria her letters becoming Dean 
 of Chester and eventually Bishop of Peterborough. 
 The writer of the 'Times' " Life of Queen Victoria " 
 gives a very full account of her tour through the 
 west of England in 1833. They left port on 
 July 18, in the yacht Emerald^ towed by the steam- 
 boat Messenger. On the 29th of that month they 
 made a short stay at Weymouth passing the night 
 at the Royal Hotel, where in the autumn of Trafal- 
 gar year* King George had given a dinner and fete 
 in honour of the twenty-second birthday of his 
 favourite daughter Amelia — another Royal Princess 
 soon to die " before her prime." From Weymouth 
 they proceeded by road through Dorchester, 
 Melbury, and Bridport to Lyme Regis, where, from 
 the ancient " Cobb " on which James Duke of 
 Monmouth stumbled when he landed there in 1685, 
 on his way to Sedgmoor and Tower Hill, they 
 embarked for Plymouth. On August 6 they were 
 at Torquay, whence they posted right through 
 Dorsetshire to Swanage, a distance of over a hundred 
 miles. There the royal visitors tarried in an old- 
 world hostelry, once a manor-house. Queen 
 Victoria's powers of memory like those of King 
 Edward VH., were phenomenal. When the Prince 
 of Wales set out on his incognito walking-tour 
 
 • See "The Three Dorset Captains at Trafalgar," by A. M. 
 Broadley and R. G. Bartelot, p. t ^ c:. London : John Murray, 1906. 
 
 63
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 two-and-twenty years later, she told him to be sure 
 and see the room she occupied at Swanage.* Before 
 embarking for Norris Castle on the following morn- 
 ing, the ladies of Swanage presented the Princess 
 Victoria with a straw bonnet " the growth, make, 
 and trade of the place " — a circumstance which 
 seems to have still further impressed the charms 
 of this picturesque Dorset watering-place on her 
 imagination. 
 
 In the following year the Laureate Robert 
 Southey broke the silence which had hitherto been 
 maintained in the ranks of the principal poets 
 on the subject of the future Queen, although it was 
 reserved for one of her own sexf to celebrate in 
 verse some of the most touching incidents of the 
 accession. There was nothing in Southey's lines 
 on Princess Victoria which savoured of the long- 
 since forgotten odes of his Georgian predecessors : 
 
 " When regal glory gems that brow, 
 So humble, meek and gentle now, 
 May England's haughty foeman bow 
 And England's children brave 
 The glory of their name avow 
 The Lords of land and wave." 
 
 Heathen mythology entered no longer into our 
 " Laureated Leaves." Now came another pleasant 
 visit to Tunbridge Wells, followed by two tranquil 
 months spent unostentatiously at St. Leonards. 
 On July 30, 1835, Princess Victoria was confirmed 
 in the old-fashioned Chapel Royal of St. James's 
 Palace, where, before four more years had passed 
 over her head, she was to be married. The visits 
 she paid to Hatfield and Belvoir, Burghley and 
 Holkham, and other " seats of the mighty " now 
 need nothing more than a bare mention. They 
 
 * See p. 329, /o;/. t Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 
 
 64
 
 POIITKAIT OF HER ItOVAL HKJHXESS TFIE 
 DUCHESS OF KKXr
 
 The Coburg Cousins 
 
 doubtless assisted very largely in developing the 
 good seed planted in the school-room at Kensing- 
 ton, so soon to be quitted for ever. In the following 
 year [1836] the young Coburg Princes came to 
 London — and Kensington. " Our aunt Kent," 
 wrote Prince Albert to his friends at home, " is 
 very kind to us and our cousin is also very amiable." 
 Princess Victoria's letter to " Uncle Leopold," 
 breathed the same frank enthusiasm. Possibly the 
 far-seeing King of the Belgians and the " absolutely 
 disinterested Stockmar " had something to do with, 
 this most opportune four weeks' sojourn of the 
 Coburg brothers in the British metropolis. The 
 early training of Prince Albert had been the subject 
 of quite as much care and anxiety as that of his fair 
 young English cousin. Neither the presence of 
 the Princes nor the claims of society were allowed by 
 Dean Davys to interrupt the even progress of his 
 pupil's studies. The child who stumbled so hope- 
 lessly over the alphabet in 1823, is recorded on 
 April 25, 1837, to be deep in the study of "'Hume,' 
 ' Virgil,' ' Paradise Lost,' ' Rokeby,' ' Boswell's Life 
 of Johnson,' ' Paley's Moral Philosophy,' President 
 Jackson's ' Message to Congress,' a speech by Sir 
 Robert Peel to the Glasgow University, and the 
 ' Memoirs of Mrs. Lucy Hutchinson.' " A very 
 different list of books than that which rumour 
 ascribed to the tutors of George HL There is 
 bad news from Windsor now. " On May 24," 
 writes the Duke of Argyll,* " the Princess cele- 
 brated her eighteenth birthday, and attained her 
 legal majority. At seven o'clock in the morning 
 she was attended at Kensington Palace by a band of 
 seventy performers. She sat at an open window 
 
 * " V.R.I. Queen Victoria. Her Life and Empire." London 
 and New York : Harper & Brothers, 1902. 
 
 65 I
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 during the concert, and asked that a song contain- 
 ing expressions complimentary to her mother 
 might be repeated. All through the morning 
 congratulatory visits were paid to the Duchess and 
 her daughter, and numerous valuable presents 
 arrived. The King sent a magnificent grand piano 
 valued at two hundred guineas. In the evening 
 a State ball took place at St. James's Palace, when the 
 QuedR for the first time took precedence of her 
 mother, and occupied the chair of state. The 
 King and Queen were absent owing to the serious 
 condition of the former, who was now upon what 
 proved to be his death bed. London was illuminated 
 at night, and fetes were held in many provincial 
 towns. A notable incident was the visit of the Lord 
 Mayor and Aldermen of London, who proceeded in 
 state to Kensington Palace to present the congratula- 
 tions of the city. For many days afterwards addresses 
 poured in from all parts of the Kingdom." 
 
 Within four brief weeks " The good old Sailor 
 King " was dead, the faults of his youth forgotten 
 and forgiven by those who loved him. He had done 
 much to prepare for the good work shortly to be 
 accomplished by the Princess whose up-bringing 
 has been only briefly sketched, and the clever 
 and handsome cousin whom she chose to share 
 the responsibilities of her exalted position. On 
 June 20, 1837, the Duke of Cumberland became 
 King of Hanover, but his hopes of occupying the 
 throne of England became from that day forth 
 more and more remote. It was reserved for his 
 niece not only to again make felt the influence 
 of the sovereign as a factor in politics, but to super- 
 intend in person the education of him who now 
 fills her place, and has already more than amply 
 justified the appellation of a great King.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE ACCESSION, CORONATION AND MARRIAGE 
 OF QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 Since the death of Queen Anne on August i, 1714, 
 in the same palace which by a strange coincidence, 
 was the scene of the birth, girlhood, and the 
 first announcement of the accession of Queen 
 Victoria, " God save the King " had always been the 
 chorus-line of the national anthem originally devised 
 by one Doctor John Bull in honour of the first 
 appearance of James I. in the City after the turmoil 
 caused by the Gunpowder Plot had subsided. The 
 different versions of the familiar song, some topical, 
 and others political, throw an instructive light on 
 the feelings of the people towards the throne and 
 its occupants at different periods of our history. 
 The compiler of " Laureated Leaves " * has accu- 
 mulated a unique collection of these quaint and 
 instructive variations. In 1745 one portion of 
 the community sang lustily : 
 
 " From France and Pretender 
 
 Great Britain defend her ; 
 Foes let them fall : 
 
 From foreign slavery, 
 
 Priests and their knavery- 
 God save us all," 
 
 while the other chanted with equal vigour the lines 
 current in 1685. Twelve years later the name of 
 
 * See afite, pp. 23-24. 
 67
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the gallant Hawke was on everybody's lips, and the 
 verse : 
 
 " Fleet ! spread thy canvas wings 
 Thy swift and laurels bring 
 
 From Gallia's shore ; 
 And o'er the azure main 
 Our wonted rights maintain, 
 vVhilst in the loudest strains 
 
 Thy thunders roar." 
 
 was added. 1 
 
 George III. succeeded his grandfather, and 
 within a week the subjects of the youthful monarch 
 were either shouting : 
 
 " Let France invasions plot 
 Tell her we value not 
 
 French Gasconade ; 
 George who commands the Sea 
 Will let all Europe see 
 Spite of her boasting, she 
 Dares not invade." 
 
 or, 
 
 " God save great George our King 
 Long live our Native King 
 
 God save the King. 
 * • * * 
 
 Though our Good Monarch's gone 
 His Grandson Mounts the Throne 
 
 To whose just praise. 
 Charge each Glass to the Brim 
 While we, in raptures, sing 
 To George our Native King 
 
 With loud Huzzas." 
 
 As time went on the spirit of the old song became 
 more and more bellicose and maledictory. Defiance 
 of foreign foes and American " rebels " is breathed 
 in sonorous lines in which indifferent grammar 
 struggled for supremacy with bad rhymes. 
 
 From the other side of the Atlantic came back 
 the reply r 
 
 68
 
 Variations ot the National Anthem 
 
 " God save America 
 Free from despotic sway 
 
 Till time shall ceajc ; 
 Hush'd be the din of arras 
 Also fierce war's alarms, 
 And follow in all her charms 
 Heaven-born peace 
 * * * * 
 
 God save great Washington 
 And Freedom's chosen son, 
 
 Long to command. 
 May ev'ry enemy 
 Far from his presence fly, 
 And be grim tyranny 
 
 Bound by his hand." 
 
 The Franco-American alliance becomes an ac- 
 complished fact, and the Baltimore Advertizer 
 immediately adds the stanza : 
 
 " Next in our song shall be 
 Guardian of Liberty 
 
 Louis the King. 
 Tremble God of War 
 Placed in Victorious Car 
 Of France and Navarre, 
 
 Louis the King." 
 
 The Guardian of Liberty of 1778 died on the 
 scaffold in 1793, and for many years the British 
 Laureate is engaged in elaborating new verses in 
 depreciation of Bonaparte, or in praise of the domes- 
 tic virtues of Queen Charlotte. Of " God save 
 the Prince," the air which found favour at Ranelagh, 
 Vauxhall, the Pantheon and Brighton mention has 
 already been made.* Very different was the 
 merciless lampoon which appeared on the Regent's 
 accession to the throne in 1820. It would have 
 been dangerous then to resuscitate the once popular 
 verse : 
 
 * See ante, p. 53. 
 69
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 " May all the Royal line 
 In every virtue shine 
 
 Like George our King, 
 And when to kindred skies 
 His happy Spirit flies 
 May other Georges rise 
 
 Like George our King." 
 
 On June 30, 1830, the Times comes out with a 
 new and orthodox version as a tribute to the roUicking 
 Sailor King, whose predecessor had been dead only 
 four days. On the very day of the accession of the 
 Princess Victoria the words of the now seven-year- 
 old song, " politics," " knavish tricks," and all, are 
 adapted to the altered state of affairs. For sixty- 
 two years the Empire delighted " to sing with heart 
 and voice " " God save the Queen." An unofficial 
 " variation " which appeared at the same time shows 
 the high estimate already entertained of the cha- 
 racter and capacity of the new Sovereign, perhaps 
 even more forcibly than the oft-quoted verses of 
 Mrs. Browning. It ran thus : 
 
 "God Save the Qxjeen (1837). 
 
 God save our gracious Queen ! 
 God save our noble Queen ! 
 
 God save the Queen ! 
 May she ever be 
 Guardian of Liberty 
 Church ! State ! and Equity ! 
 
 God save the Queen ! 
 
 And may her people find 
 Rich stores within her mind, 
 Actions and thoughts refined : 
 
 God save the Queen ! 
 Long may the Crown she wears 
 Grace her through happy years 
 Dispelling doubts and fears ; 
 
 Long may she reign ! " 
 
 70
 
 " Early Victorian " Days 
 
 After the Coronation one more verse was added : 
 
 " May all the nations round 
 Join in the glorious sound 
 Our oum Victoria's crowTi'd ! 
 God save the Queen ! " 
 
 It is not proposed to tell the story of either the 
 accession, the coronation, or the marriage of Queen 
 Victoria, except so far as certain facts connected 
 with them relate more or less directly to the nursery- 
 life and early up-bringing of her children. The 
 writer forbears from touching, except incidentally, 
 on such attractive subjects as the development 
 of gas, railways and steamships, of the electric 
 telegraph and electric light or of the penny post and 
 cheap literature. The accession of Queen Victoria 
 will for all time be remembered as the starting-point 
 of an epoch of progress in Science, Art and Litera- 
 ture. The grossness of the first part of the century 
 was about to be replaced by the refinement of the 
 last. The term " early Victorian " has now almost 
 become one of depreciation and reproach. It 
 was, however, in every respect preferable to " late 
 Georgian," if, indeed, the closing scenes of George 
 IV.'s life left any mark whatever on the annals 
 of England. Those who would care to study the 
 life of Queen Victoria in 1837 and 1838, can do so in 
 a very charming book * published on the occasion of 
 the Jubilee of 1887, dealing lightly with everything 
 from the Wednesday balls then given at Almacks, 
 down to the Gartantuan feasts at the Guildhall, 
 and, in point of time, from the five-o'clock-in-the- 
 morning interview of Archbishop Howley and Lord 
 Conyngham at Kensington on June 20, 1837, down 
 to the newly crowned Queen reverently receiving 
 
 * "The First Year of a Silken Reign (1837-1838)," by A. W. 
 Tuer and C. E. Fagan. London : The Leadenhall Press, 1887. 
 
 71
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the Sacrament at the altar of Westminster Abbey, 
 from the hands of the same Dr. Howley on June 28, 
 1838. During the interval her Majesty had suc- 
 ceeded in winning the golden opinions of all classes 
 of her subjects. Following the precedent set by 
 George III. and Queen Charlotte, Queen Victoria 
 went in state to dine with the Lord Mayor on 
 November the 9th, 1837. The menu is bewildering 
 both in its extent and variety, Messrs. Tuer and 
 Fagan declare it to have possessed a Titanic char- 
 acter. It is evident that the traditions of the past 
 were vanishing but slowly as far as civic gastronomy 
 was concerned. East India, Malmsey, Madeira, 
 Haut Sauterne, Frontignac, Hermitage, Blanc- 
 tinto Madeira, Malvasia, Sillery champagne, Tokay 
 and Parascelta all graced the royal table. Mr. 
 William Lawson made a bold bid for immortality 
 by presenting the Corporation with sherry one 
 hundred and ten years old for the Queen's use. 
 It is recorded that her Majesty drank to the Lord 
 Mayor and to fourteen other persons. Fortunately 
 the historian qualifies his statement by adding 
 *' at least she raised the glass to her lips." Ladies 
 in the twentieth century will doubtless be grateful 
 for the information that the Lady Mayoress [Mrs. 
 afterwards Lady Cowan] was " dressed in green 
 velvet, lined with white satin, trimmed with gold 
 fringe and a border of Brussels lace. Her petticoat 
 was of llama and gold, and her stomacher was of large 
 opals and diamonds. On her neck was an Eliza- 
 bethan ruff, and on her head a plume of feathers." 
 One is reminded forcibly of the caricatures of the 
 Empress Josephine current thirty years before. 
 From an international point of view it is only just 
 to add that " another lady who by her beauty 
 and elegance attracted universal admiration, 
 
 7a
 
 Queen Victoria as a Vocalist 
 
 was a Mrs. Magee, the only American lady in the 
 assembly. 
 
 As one might very well expect both Art and 
 Music were to play a part in the new reign, and later 
 in the upbringing of the royal children. On August 
 17 (1837), the Court " went out of mourning for 
 the day," so as to enable the Queen to give a Concert 
 at Buckingham Palace in honour of the Duchess of 
 Kent's birthday. The chroniclers of the events 
 of the " First Year of a Silken Reign," tell us that 
 " the vocalists were Madame Grisi and Madame 
 Albertazzi, Signer Lablache and Signor Tam- 
 buxini, all of her Majesty's Italian Opera." A 
 little later Stalberg was sent for, and before his 
 departure from England was once more summoned 
 to the palace, where, at a private party he was the 
 sole performer, the Queen giving him five themes 
 to work upon. The Queen herself possessed a 
 pure soprano voice of considerable power, sweetness, 
 and extent. Encouraged by the praises of Lablache 
 she herself took part, later in the year, in a series 
 of musical soirees which were given during the sojourn 
 of the Court at the Brighton Pavilion, the walls 
 of which had once re-echoed very different sounds.* 
 
 In September " Uncle Leopold " and his second 
 wife (Louise, daughter of Louis Philippe, King of 
 the French) paid her Majesty a three weeks' visit 
 at Windsor Castle. There can be no doubt that 
 the question of the Queen's marriage was then fully 
 discussed. The cousins had corresponded ever 
 since the visit of the Coburg brothers to England 
 in 1836. On June 26, Prince Albert had written 
 a letter of congratulation to his " dearest cousin," 
 full of good feeling, but possibly a little over serious : 
 " Now you are Queen of the mightiest land in 
 
 • See ante^ p. 53. 
 73
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Europe, in your hand lies the happiness of millions. 
 May Heaven assist you and strengthen you with its 
 strength in that high but difficult task ! I hope 
 that your reign may be long, happy, and glorious, 
 and that your efforts may be rewarded by the 
 thankfulness and love of your subjects."* 
 
 At first the Queen undoubtedly thought herself 
 too young to marry, and that the realisation of her 
 uncle's dream, although in no way disagreeable to 
 her or contrary to her own inclinations, might be 
 postponed for a season. It was eventually an 
 increased sense of the responsibilities so forcibly 
 pointed out by Prince Albert in the cousinly letter, 
 brought about by the occurrence of certain domestic 
 and political difficulties, which made the young 
 Queen feel that she needed a strong arm to lean on, 
 and a clear head and cool judgment. In the result 
 she did what her nearest and dearest relatives (in- 
 cluding her devoted mother) both hoped and desired, 
 but, as fate willed it, she followed the dictates of 
 her own heart and married a Prince who united 
 in his character the highest ability with a conscien- 
 tiousness and keen sense of duty rarely surpassed. 
 It may be doubted if the public appreciation of the 
 merits of the Prince Consort is even now as great 
 as it deserves to be. As each biography of the states- 
 men and men of letters with whom he was more or 
 less associated in public and private life makes its 
 appearance, fresh light is invariably thrown on the 
 splendid work he accomplished in his all-too-short 
 career. We have yet much to learn of the influence 
 he wielded for good, and of the part he took in the 
 early training of at least seven of his children. 
 
 The education of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg 
 
 * Sir Theodore Martin's " Life of the Prince Consort," vol. i., 
 P-25- 
 
 74
 
 Early Life of Prince Albert 
 
 and Gotha, like that of his eldest son, began " with the 
 first day of his life." To understand many of the 
 opinions enunciated by him in 1842 and 1843, when 
 the whole world and his wife seemed anxious to 
 busy itself about the upbringing of the Heir Appa- 
 rent, one must read the whole of General Grey's 
 admirable book,* and the first portion of the not less 
 valuable work of Sir Theodore Martin. t General 
 Grey carries the story of Prince Albert's boyhood 
 and youth from 1 8 19 down to his marriage on 
 February 10, 1840, and the birth of the Princess 
 Royal in the month of November following. The 
 vivid pictures which he draws of life at Rosenau 
 and Reinhardsbrunn ; student days at Bonn and 
 Brussels and tours in Germany, Switzerland, and 
 North Italy are supplemented by letters of supreme 
 interest, the recollections of one of his tutors, and 
 the reminiscences of Count Arthur Mensdorff, 
 at once the relative of both Queen Victoria and the 
 husband she mourned for forty years. In a letter 
 to the former written in March 1863, Count 
 Mensdorff tells her " Albert as a child was of a 
 mild and benevolent disposition. It was only what 
 he thought unjust or dishonest that could make 
 him angry. Thus I recollect one day when we 
 children . . . were playing at the Rosenau and 
 some of us were to storm the old ruined tower on 
 the side of the castle, which the others were to defend. 
 One of us suggested that there was a place at the 
 back by which we could get in without being seen, 
 and thus capture it without difficulty. Albert 
 declared that ' this would be most unbecoming in a 
 Saxon Knight, who should always attack the enemy 
 in front,' and so we fought for the tower so honestly 
 
 * " The Early Years of the Prince Consort " (see ante). 
 t " Life of the Prince Consort " (see ante). 
 
 7S
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 and vigorously that Albert, by mistake, gave me a 
 blow upon the nose, of which I still bear the mark. 
 I need not say he was sorry for the wound he 
 had given me. Albert was never noisy or wild. 
 He was very fond of natural history and more serious 
 studies, and many a happy hour we spent in the 
 Ehrenburg (the Ducal Palace at Coburg), in a small 
 room under the roof, arranging and dusting the 
 collections our cousins had themselves made and 
 kept there. . . . Albert thoroughly understood the 
 ndiveU of the Coburg national character, and he 
 had the art of turning people's peculiarities into a 
 source of fun, but he was never severe or ill-natured. 
 . . . Whilst still very young his heart was feelingly 
 alive to the su^erings of the poor. I saw him one day 
 give a beggar something by stealth, when he told 
 me not to speak of it * for when you give to the poor,' 
 he said, * you must see that nobody knows of it.' 
 He was always fond of shooting and fishing. I have 
 a letter of our mutual grandmother dated March I, 
 1 83 1. She speaks of the cousins (Prince Ernest 
 and Prince Albert) acting proverbs in her room : 
 * Albert as a quack, with a pigtail and paunch was 
 too ridiculous. Ernest as a lady looked quite like 
 your mother when she was a girl. He distributed 
 the playbills. There v/as a good deal of fun and 
 laughter.' In 1839 during a journey to Carlsbad 
 he told in strict confidence that he was going to 
 England to make your acquaintance, and that if you 
 liked each other you were to be engaged. He 
 spoke very seriously about the difficulties of the 
 position he would occupy in England, but hoped 
 dear Uncle Leopold would assist him with his 
 advice. In one of dearest Albert's letters I found 
 a passage most characteristic of his noble way of 
 thinking. ' The poor soldiers,' he writes, ' always 
 
 76
 
 The Almanach de Gotha 
 
 do their duty in the most brilliant manner, but as 
 soon as matters come again into the hands of poli- 
 ticians and diplomats, everything is again spoiled 
 and confused.' How much these words convey. 
 We again see the Saxon knight, who as a child 
 declared that you must attack your enemy in front, 
 who hates every crooked path ; and, on the other 
 hand, the noble heart which feels deeply the mis- 
 fortune of a government not guided by reason and 
 morality." One cannot help noticing the reflection, 
 as it were, of all Count Mensdorff tells the widowed 
 Queen, about Prince Albert, in all that one knows of 
 the upbringing of his children. 
 
 It is not surprising to learn that Prince Albert 
 was proud of his ancestry, although the satirists 
 of the early " forties " were accustomed to make 
 fun of the title of Duke of Saxony, with which 
 Charles Greville also falls foul in his Memoirs. 
 Anybody who wants to supplement the information 
 given by General Grey as to the genealogy of the 
 House of Coburg, has only to consult the " Almanach 
 de Gotha," on the first page of which the Prince 
 Consort's forbears figured as Dukes of Gotha from 
 the commencement of its appearance in 1763 down 
 to the Franco-German War.* There may be read 
 that wonderful family tree which begins with 
 Wiltekind Duke of Saxony in the time of Charle- 
 magne, and from whom sprang such famous Counts 
 of Wettin and Margraves of Misnia as Conrad the 
 Great, four Fredericks (the Serious, the Severe, 
 
 * A complete set of the Gotha Almanack, known somewhat 
 irreverently as the Diplomatic Bible, would be (if procurable) of 
 enormous value. The suppressed issue of 18 14 alone fetches from 
 ^12 to j^20. In the edition of 1 83 1 the complicated history of 
 Dukes of Saxony and their descendants is dealt with at length. A 
 beautiful portrait of Queen Victoria appears in it in 1838, and one 
 of King Edward VII. in 1862, and again in 1903. 
 
 V
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the Valiant, and the Magnanimous), and finally 
 Ernest the Pious, the more immediate ancestor 
 of Duke Ernest and his brother Duke Albert, 
 always described as belonging to the Ernestine branch 
 of this illustrious family, whose arms Queen Victoria 
 insisted on quartering with those of her children 
 despite the opposition of Mr. Greville and the diffi- 
 culties raised by her Ministers.* 
 
 Prince Albert was only twenty when he came to 
 England, returning to Coburg as the betrothed 
 husband of the Queen of " the mightiest nation in 
 Europe." The story of his brief wooing and his 
 marriage at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, on 
 February lo, 1840, has been told and retold by 
 far more competent historians. 
 
 The position of the youthful bridegroom was one 
 of extraordinary difficulty, but he never for a moment 
 shrank from the responsibilities it entailed upon him. 
 As Sir Theodore Martin very ably puts it : " While 
 renouncing every impulse of personal ambition he 
 resolved to consecrate himself with the most abso- 
 lute devotion to deepening, by the influence of his 
 life and the example of his home, the hold of the 
 Monarchy upon the affections of the People, and 
 to making it a power which, amid the conflicting 
 and often selfish passions of political strife and the 
 tortuous subtleties of diplomacy, should have for 
 its unswerving object to increase that people's 
 welfare and to uphold the power and dignity of 
 the Empire." . . . "He was fortunate," continues 
 the same biographer, " in having by his side in 
 Baron Stockmar a man specially fitted by nature 
 and by experience to direct his course, and to assist 
 and encourage him amid the difficulties by which 
 it was surrounded. Nowhere in the records of 
 
 * See/o//, p. 109. 
 
 78
 
 fer, 
 
 ."•)> 
 
 ^^M 
 
 '%<}•%) 1 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^M 
 
 "^ 
 
 
 1 
 
 . <^y : 
 
 
 <^^i' 
 
 THE I'KIXCE COXSOKT IN 18iu
 
 Stockmar and his Shrewdness 
 
 history has Royalty been served with a devotion 
 so purely noble and unselfish as that of this remark- 
 able man to the Queen and the Prince. Lord 
 Palmerston spoke of him to Bunsen as ' one of the 
 best political heads he had ever met with/ By 
 Bunsen himself he was ' honoured as one of the 
 first statesmen in Europe.' In the ordinary affairs 
 of life his knowledge of men and shrewd practical 
 sense might always be relied on ; while, at the same 
 time, a high moral standard, and strong religious 
 convictions, in which there was no leaven of sec- 
 tarianism, gave a commanding weight and elevation 
 to his character and counsels." 
 
 Before Prince Albert had been twelve months 
 in England Sir Robert Peel spoke of him as " an 
 extraordinary young man," while Lord Kingsdown 
 frankly confessed that " his aptitude for business 
 was wonderful ; the dullest and most intricate 
 matters did not escape his attention ; his judgment 
 was very good ; his readiness to listen to any sug- 
 gestions although against his own opinions was 
 constant, and though I saw his temper very often 
 tried, yet in the course of twenty years I never once 
 saw it disturbed, nor witnessed any sign of im- 
 patience." It was not till ten years after his mar- 
 riage that the Prince Consort in a letter to the 
 Duke of Wellington (from the first the true and 
 trusted friend of the Queen), declining a tempting 
 proposal to succeed him as Commander-in-Chief 
 of the British Army, made a sort of confession of 
 faith as to what he considered to be the duties of 
 his position. In 1850 he writes as follows : 
 
 a 
 
 Whilst a female Sovereign has a great many 
 disadvantages in comparison with a King, yet, if 
 she is married, and her husband understands and 
 
 79
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 does his daty, her position, on the other hand, has 
 its many compensating advantages, and, in the long 
 run, will be found even to be stronger than that of a 
 male Sovereign. But this requires that the husband 
 should entirely sink his own individual existence 
 in that of his wife ; that he should aim at no power 
 by himself or for himself ; should shun all conten- 
 tion, assume no separate responsibility before the 
 public, but make his position entirely a part of 
 hers ; fill up every gap which, as a woman, she 
 would naturally leave in the exercise of her regal 
 functions ; continually and anxiously watch every 
 part of the public business, in order to be able to 
 advise and assist her at any moment in any of the 
 multifarious and difficult questions or duties brought 
 before her, sometimes international, sometimes 
 political, social or personal. As the natural head 
 of her family, superintendent of her household, 
 manager of her private affairs, sole confidential 
 adviser in politics and only assistant in her com- 
 munications with the officers of the Government, 
 he is besides the husband of the Queen, the tutor 
 of the Royal children, the private Secretary of the 
 Sovereign, and her permanent Minister." 
 
 In all probability the months which intervened 
 between the Queen's marriage (February lo) and 
 the birth of the Princess Royal* (November 21, 
 1840), were the happiest of their lives. The points 
 of sympathy between them were very great. They 
 is'ere both endowed with an amount of natural 
 energy and capacity for hard work which may 
 fairly and without exaggeration be described as 
 phenomenal. The Queen's strong sense of duty 
 
 • The late Empress Frederick of Germany is always alluded to 
 in these pages as the Princess Royal. 
 
 80
 
 ^%^»^fe ma 
 
 
 ^X*";: !iaria§ 3?ei%. <Ut\^^ a^J? i>- J^ 
 
 SCENE FROM GOETHE 
 
 SKETCHED BY QUEEN VICTORIA AND ETCHED BV PRINCE ALBERT 
 A FORTNKJHT BEIOKE THK BIKTU OF THE PRINCE OF WALES
 
 Queen Victoria Artist and Etcher 
 
 and desire " to work for the good of her people " 
 was shared to the fullest extent by her young 
 husband. Their ages were almost identical, our 
 Queen having been born on May 24, 18 19, and 
 Prince Albert on August 26 following. They both 
 infinitely preferred a country to a town * life, and 
 revelled in the rustic beauties and pure atmosphere 
 of Windsor and Claremont, where nearly the whole 
 of what may be described as their long honeymoon 
 was spent. Both were artists and art-lovers in 
 the broadest and most catholic sense of the word. 
 Never had the Royal Academy so enthusiastic, 
 intelligent, and critical a chief as the Queen of 
 eighteen ; f Queen Victoria and Prince Albert 
 were both artists and musicians of more than ordin- 
 ary skill. In the halcyon days of 1840 they played, 
 sang, sketched, and etched together to their heart's 
 content. Of the many examples of their handiwork 
 in the collection described in the preface to this 
 volume, the greater number were executed in the 
 first year of their married life. Few sovereigns 
 ever sat so often and so patiently for her portrait 
 as Queen Victoria. Anything like a complete 
 
 * In one of the many annotations made by the late Queen Victoria 
 to General Grey's narrative she says the heavy air of London often 
 gave her headaches. 
 
 t An admirable account of the influence of the late Queen on 
 pictorial art and her life-long association with British artists w^ill be 
 found in the article contributed by Mr. M. H. Spielmann to the 
 Magazine of Art for 1901, pp. 193-197. He tells us that although she 
 had visited the Royal Academy's Exhibition in its new abode only a 
 few weeks before her accession, she came there again as Queen and 
 made a prolonged and careful examination of the pictures. She " con- 
 firmed" the privilege of "access" at all times vested in the President, at 
 that time Sir Martin Archer Shee, and conferred the honour of knight- 
 hood on Callcott, Newton, and Westmacott. Mr. W. P. Frith, R.A., 
 now the Nestor of British painters and still able to use the brush 
 effectively at the age of eighty-seven, was an exhibitor in 1837. 
 
 81 F
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 enumeration of the pictures of her, current during 
 the first decade of her reign, would be a difficult, if 
 not an impossible task. " The Queen," writes 
 Mr. Spielmann, " would have her favourite Guernsey- 
 cow * Buffie ' painted with her calves beside her — 
 and it was Mr. T. Sidney Cooper who had to do 
 it. The Prince Consort in genial terms criticised 
 the dock leaves in the foreground of the picture as 
 * being evidence of bad farming.' The Queen 
 asked her husband what he thought of the cow's 
 hind leg being in a small pool of water. * I like 
 it much,' said the Prince. * So do I,' replied the 
 Queen, * but it's evidence of bad drawing.' " The 
 Knight of Saxony and the Queen of England were 
 evidently humorists in a quiet way as well as acute 
 and observant art-critics. Very few meritorious 
 British artists of those days lacked the Queen's 
 active sympathy and support. Mr. Spielmann 
 alludes in appreciative terms to the various family 
 portraits drawn and etched at this time by the 
 Queen and Prince Consort (sometimes with the help 
 of Sir Edwin Landseer), many examples of which 
 figure in the collection now in possession of the writer. 
 Special mention is made by Mr. Spielmann of the 
 etched portrait of the late Queen's half-sister and first 
 companion, the Princess Feodore and her daughter 
 Adelaide Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, the 
 mother of the present German Empress.* In 
 
 • Most of these etchings were begun and finished at Windsor 
 or Buckingham Palace. They were " bit " principally by Miss 
 Marianne Skerritt, who held nominally the post of " first dresser " 
 from 1837 until July 1862. During that time she conducted most 
 of the Queen's correspondence with the artist. His uncle Mr. Mathias 
 had been Queen Charlotte's sub-treasurer. She possessed a large 
 collection of the Queen's etchings, as well as some very beautiful 
 water-colour sketches by the Princess Royal. Some of the latter 
 realised high prices. 
 
 Sz
 
 The Halcyon Days of 1840 and 1841 
 
 concluding his remarks Mr. Spielmann refutes the 
 idea that her late Majesty's artistic sympathies 
 always remained " early Victorian " in their ten- 
 dency. He points out that towards the end of her 
 life she caused a collection to be made of Whistler 
 etchings, and employed such artists as Mr. de 
 Triqueti and Mr. Alfred Gilbert for the creation 
 of decorative work of the greatest importance. Her 
 daughters, the late Empress Frederick and the 
 Princess Louise (the Duchess of Argyll) — the latter 
 an accomplished sculptress, inherited in a very 
 marked degree their mother's talent. " Future 
 generations," says Mr. Spielmann, " will not perhaps 
 forget that in the ranks of the great army of artists 
 who changed what was once a reproach into a 
 triumph, the Monarch herself has claimed a modest 
 place, and by her example, if not quite by her 
 achievement, had added a great vital force to the 
 gracious advance of Art." A love of animals in 
 general, and of dogs in particular, distinguished 
 both the Queen and Prince Albert. The latter 
 brought " Eos," * a beautiful black greyhound, with 
 him to England, and a year before the Queen is said 
 to have put aside her Coronation robes to give 
 " Dash " his daily washing. In any case " Eos," 
 " Islay " (a Scotch terrier), " Waldmann " (a 
 dachshund), and sundry other canine pets served 
 as models for a number of the royal sketches and 
 etchings which bear the dates of 1840, 1841, and 
 1842. 
 
 Prince Albert's early letters to Coburg afford 
 abundant evidence of the completeness of his 
 domestic happiness. His position, however, as far 
 as the affairs of State are concerned, is fraught with 
 
 * A figure of " Eos " sleeping is placed at the feet of the re- 
 cumbent effigy of the Prince Consort in the Royal Mausoleum. 
 
 83
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 difficulties. He, however, soon begins to make 
 headway, sticking consistently to the resolution 
 he had formed on the subject of political impar- 
 tiality. Lord Melbourne consulted him more and 
 more frequently, and his views, always committed 
 to paper, are often adopted. Mr. Anson is appointed 
 to be his private secretary, and becomes his best 
 friend. The question of his precedence becomes 
 the subject of pamphlets and polemics, but the 
 question is at last satisfactorily settled by Letters 
 Patent. In April the Duchess of Kent removes 
 to Clarence House, and the Prince is occupied in 
 selecting music for the Ancient Concerts of which 
 he has been appointed a director. The Queen 
 continues her singing-lessons with the portly La- 
 blache. Prince Albert often joins in them, and at 
 other times they play together on the piano and 
 organ. On May 24, the Queen's birthday is kept 
 very happily at rural Claremont, a custom rigorously 
 observed, with only one exception, till 1848. Im- 
 provements of various kinds are now commenced 
 at Windsor and in the grounds of Buckingham 
 Palace, where an aviary is established. The attempt 
 on the Queen's life by Oxford (June 10, 1840) was 
 not calculated to increase her love of London, but 
 she bears herself bravely, and her courage increases 
 her popularity. Whenever she appears, she is 
 cheered to the echo. In August they are once more 
 in Windsor. Prince Albert has succeeded in pre- 
 serving George IV. 's fishing-cottage at Virginia 
 Water. He is now forming a stud, improving the 
 " Slopes," and putting in order the forgotten and 
 neglected Flemish farm. Practical husbandry is 
 one of the accomplishments of the Queen's husband, 
 who is now made a Citizen and Goldsmith as well 
 as a Citizen and Fishmonger. Rarely had he spent 
 
 84
 
 Work and Play 
 
 a happier birthday. " In the morning," he writes 
 to his grandmother, " I was awoke by a reveille. 
 We breakfasted at Adelaide Cottage. F^odore's 
 children were dressed as Coburg peasants and very 
 funny they looked." A few days later he informs 
 Baron Stockmar that he has commenced the study 
 of English jurisprudence with the aid of Mr. Selwyn, 
 a distinguished barrister. On September ii, he 
 takes in London the oath as a Member of the Privy 
 Council. No sooner do they return to Windsor 
 than the Queen and Prince Albert commence read- 
 ing together the first volume of Hallam's " Constitu- 
 tional History." 
 
 The conjugal affection of the girl-queen and 
 her youthful consort is soon appreciated by all 
 classes of Her Majesty's subjects, and rapidly 
 finds an echo throughout the length and breadth 
 of England in both art and literature. The 
 " Windsor Pear " is sold in thousands. Nearly 
 half a century ago Edmund Yates * describes one 
 of them in his " Recollections and Experiences," as 
 "a mild pictorial joke — a representation of a fine 
 specimen of the fruit, with what theatrical people 
 would call a ' practical rind,' which being lifted, 
 discovered portraits of the Queen and Prince inside." 
 The Prince's stock or neckcloth (more voluminous 
 than that then in fashion) is also made the object 
 of another " practical " toy, while Mr. Spooner 
 of the Strand published a caricature on the subject 
 entitled " The Royal Tie or a Preparation for 
 Precedency." The walks and drives in Windsor 
 Forest gave rise to at least half a dozen playful skits 
 on the words " dear " and " deer," not very witty, 
 it is true, but certainly neither unkind nor spiteful. 
 
 * " Edmund Yates : His Recollections and Experiences." London : 
 Bentley, 1884.. 
 
 85
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 The Queen and Prince Albert were acclaimed by 
 the voice of the people as fitting recipients of the 
 historic " Dunmow Flitch," and " H. B." signs and 
 produces a humorous version of Stothard's " ad- 
 mired picture of ^he Procession of the Flitch of 
 Bacon, somewhat metamorphosed," of which the 
 central figures are the Queen and Prince Albert 
 on horseback. Before them march Lords Dun- 
 cannon, Morpeth, and Brougham, with Sir Francis 
 Burdett* playing on various musical instruments ; 
 at their side on foot are Lords Palmerston and the 
 Duke of Wellington, and behind them ride Lords 
 Melbourne, Normandy, and John Russell, the 
 Duchess of Kent, and Lord Stanley crowned with 
 roses. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the 
 Dukes of Sussex and Cambridge bring up the rear. 
 Lord Howick and Mr. Charles Wood contemplate 
 the scene from behind a garden wall. The portraits 
 are life-like. Although it manifestly relates to the 
 year 1840, it was not published by McLean, of the 
 Haymarket, till February 1 841. 
 
 On November 21, 1840, the Princess Royal was 
 born at Windsor Castle. Two days later writing 
 to his father, Prince Albert says : " Victoria is as 
 well as if nothing had happened. . . . The little 
 one is very well and very merry. I should certainly 
 have liked it better if it had been a son, as would 
 Victoria also ; but at the same time we must be 
 equally satisfied and thankful as it is." General 
 Grey tells us that during the Queen's illness the 
 Prince saw the Ministers and transacted all necessary 
 
 * His daughter the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, born five years 
 before Queen Victoria, is another living link with the period of her 
 accession and marriage. As the great heiress Miss Angelica Coutts, 
 she figures prominently in the Court news of that epoch. She has 
 more than fulfilled all the expectations which her first acts of lar}?c- 
 handcd but discriminating generosity gave rise to. 
 
 86'
 
 M 
 
 '^»4jt 
 
 
 MKS. LILLY, THE NURSE IN ATTENDANCE AT THE 
 BIRTH OF ALL QDEEN VICTORIA'S CHILDREN 
 
 /•'mm (I (■(inti-inporurn '•'■II 11 " carirtifiirc
 
 .J
 
 Birth of the Princess Royal 
 
 business for her. The Queen makes a good re- 
 covery and is able to return to Windsor earlier than 
 was expected. Public attention is exercised about 
 the nursery and armorial bearings of the newly 
 born " heiress of England." Mrs. Lilly was in 
 attendance at Buckingham Palace and afforded a 
 new subject for the caricaturist. In December the 
 appointment as nurse of Mrs. Packer is announced, 
 and the Times is able to inform its readers that she was 
 " a native of Edinburgh where she was well known 
 as Miss Augusta Gow. She is the daughter of the 
 late Nathaniel Gow of that city, and grand-daughter 
 of the celebrated Neil Gow (' Famous Neil '). Mrs. 
 Packer studied music at the Royal Academy, London, 
 with the view of becoming a public singer, in which 
 character she appeared in Edinburgh at several 
 
 concerts." 
 
 Early in the following year the Queen was able 
 to write that her little girl bore " her Saxon arms 
 in the middle of her English coat, which looks very 
 pretty."* Her Majesty fully shared Prince Albert's 
 veneration for his long line of Saxon ancestors. 
 The Christmas of 1840 at Windsor was a joyous 
 one. The taper-lit and gift-laden Christmas-tree, 
 so closely associated with childish days at Rosenau, 
 is now suppl'^mented by the boar's head as well 
 as by the plum-pudding and roast beef of Old 
 England. 
 
 • The Saxon coat-of-arms has horizontal black bars upon a yellow 
 ground, and diagonally across the field is a cognisance which looks 
 like a green coronet stretched out, but is the heraldic representation 
 of a " wreath of rue," which, in Elizabeth's time, in England used 
 to be called the " herb of grice."
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE BIRTH OF THE PRINCE OF WALES, 
 NOVEMBER 9, 1841 
 
 A GENERAL election and a consequent change of 
 Ministry took place during the twelve months which 
 divided the birth of the Prince of Wales from that 
 of his elder sister the Princess Royal. What two 
 years before would have caused the Queen endless 
 worry and anxiety now only occasioned her a feeling 
 of very natural sorrow and regret at losing the 
 services of an old and trusted friend like Lord 
 Melbourne, who had initiated her into the ways 
 and mysteries of her high office. Although the 
 age of " terminological divergences " was still in the 
 dim future, Prince Albert had no fancy for the 
 turmoil of a general election. 
 
 " The impending dissolution," he wrote, " is 
 now the engrossing topic of interest. It empties 
 purses, sets families by the ears, demoralises the lower 
 classes, and prevents many of the upper whose 
 character wants strength to keep them straight." 
 By this time, however, his sound common sense had 
 prevailed, and the Queen was a convert to his opinion 
 that if Royalty would avoid pitfalls it must eschew 
 politics. In September the Peel Cabinet was 
 formed, and Charles Greville, no longer a hostile 
 critic of the Queen's husband, although he had 
 little sympathy with the Saxon quarterings, makes 
 the following note in his diary of the 4th of that 
 
 88
 
 THE PRIXCKSS ROYAL (EMPRESS FREDERICK) IN 1841 
 
 DRAMN AND ETCHED BV THE QUEEN
 
 " Punch '* as a Prophet 
 
 month : " Went yesterday to Claremont for the 
 Council at which the new Ministers were appointed 
 — a day of severe trial for the Queen, who conducted 
 herself in a manner which excited my greatest 
 admiration and was really touching to see. . . . 
 She looked very much flushed, and her heart was 
 evidently brim full, but she was composed, and 
 throughout the whole of the proceedings, when her 
 emotion might very well have overpowered her, 
 she preserved complete self-possession, composure, 
 and dignity. . . . Peel was charmed with her." 
 
 Early in November the Queen, Prince Albert, 
 and the Princess Royal are once more at Bucking- 
 ham Palace. " Mr. Punch," who had come into 
 existence since the birth of the third " heiress of 
 England " of the nineteenth century, was determined 
 to justify his boast of being able to furnish " the 
 earliest information of the movements of the 
 Fashionable World " (the capitals are his), made 
 mention in his issue of a certain impending event 
 which might occasion possible complications at 
 the Mansion Houses of London and Dublin.* Once 
 more the old saying about a true word being often 
 said in jest, was to be verified almost to the letter. 
 For many years November 9 had been sacred to the 
 great processional pageant by which London cele- 
 brated the inauguration of its Chief Magistrate, 
 installed but not elected on that day. Four years 
 previously the Queen had honoured the sym- 
 posium which followed the time-honoured spectacle 
 with her presence. In 1841 the Lord Mayor's 
 Show was partly aquatic in its conception, the civic 
 dignitaries on their return journey " taking the 
 water " at Westminster and proceeding thence in 
 the direction of London Bridge. In the course 
 
 * See poit, p. 97. 
 „ 89
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 of the day in question the Right Honourable 
 Alderman Thomas Johnson would be Right Honour- 
 able no longer, and the Right Honourable Alderman 
 John Pirie would reign in his stead. The exact 
 date of the birth of the expected child of the Queen 
 might be of great consequence to both these 
 " citizens of credit and renown," and still more so 
 to Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Pirie. The traditions 
 of Lady Cowan's gown of green and gold, still 
 lingered on the further side of Temple Bar. Alder- 
 man Pirie's " show " was to be on a more sumptuous 
 scale than usual. In 1837 Sir John Cowan had 
 distinguished himself by having two colossal figures 
 of Gog and Magog walking in his procession. Under 
 Lord Mayor Pirie's auspices a fully rigged and 
 manned ship on wheels was to be dragged through 
 the streets. Apart from the annual carnival of the 
 wealthiest and most powerful Corporation in 
 Christendom November 9 was remarkable for no 
 event of particular note. Even the saints assigned 
 to it were very minor saints indeed. The world 
 at large knows nothing, and cares less for St. 
 Mathurin, the Priest ; St. Theodorus, surnamed 
 Tyro, the Martyr ; St. Benignus, the Bishop ; and 
 St. Vitonius, the Confessor. Mark Akenside and 
 William Sotheby could, however, both claim it 
 for a birthday, and it was on November 9 that 
 William Camden, Archbishop Gilbert Sheldon, and 
 Paul Sanby died. As it turned out the then 
 juvenile " Mr. Punch " proved not only to be a 
 true prophet, but something more than a prophet. 
 Bow bells were still ringing in honour of the out- 
 going of Thomas Johnson or the incoming of John 
 Pirie, when a second edition of the Times contained 
 the following announcement : 
 
 90
 
 A Notable Ninth of November 
 
 " The Accouchement of Her Majesty. 
 
 " Birth of a Prince of Wales. 
 
 " The Times Office, 
 " Quarter-Past Eleven o'clock a.m. 
 " We have the utmost pleasure in announcing 
 that at lo minutes to eleven o'clock this morning 
 her Majesty was safely delivered of a Prince." 
 
 The official bulletin which appeared a little later 
 was as follows : 
 
 " The Queen was safely delivered of a Prince 
 this morning at 48 minutes past 10 o'clock. 
 
 " Her Majesty and the Infant Prince are going 
 on well. 
 
 " James Clark, M.D. 
 " Charles Locock, M.D. 
 " Robert Ferguson, M.D. 
 " Richard Blagden, M.D." 
 
 It is certain that no Lord Mayor's Show ever hag 
 been or ever will be celebrated in the midst of such 
 a scene of wild and universal enthusiasm as attended 
 the birth of the Great King of 1906, the infant 
 heir apparent of 1841. Considering the distance 
 between Buckingham Palace and Printing House 
 Square, and the probable absence of telegraphic 
 communication, the feat achieved by the leading 
 journal not yet known as " Jupiter " was certainly 
 a remarkable one. 
 
 The event of the morning infused unwonted 
 animation into the subsequent proceedings at the 
 Guildhall, although the baby at Buckingham Palace 
 had supplanted the Right Honourable John Pirie 
 as the hero far excellence of the hour. Her 
 Majesty's name was hailed with deafening cheers, 
 which were renewed over and over again when the 
 
 91
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Lord Mayor called on the company to drink in a 
 loving cup, " Health and long life to the Infant 
 Prince, the Heir Apparent to the British throne." 
 
 One learns from the journals of the following 
 day that : 
 
 " A most gratifying demonstration of the public 
 joy in consequence of the birth of a Prince of Wales, 
 took place last night at the Adelphi Theatre. For 
 some time previous to the hour appointed for the 
 commencement of the performance the house 
 was densely crowded, and as soon as the curtain 
 rose a loud and unanimous cry for " God Save the 
 Queen " arose from all parts of the house. After 
 the confusion had lasted for some minutes Mr. Cullen- 
 ford advanced to the front of the stage and, address- 
 ing the audience, said ' that their wish would be 
 complied with as soon as possible ; that the vocalists 
 of the establishment had not at that time arrived, 
 but whenever they should make their appearance 
 the National Anthem would be sung by the entire 
 strength of the theatre.' This assurance had the 
 desired effect, but immediately after the conclusion 
 of the first act the cries were renewed, if possible, 
 more vociferously than before, upon which Mr. 
 Yates, dressed as the Duke in The Maid of Honour, 
 presented himself, and as soon as a silence could be 
 obtained, spoke as follows : ' Ladies and Gentlemen, 
 — we will do ourselves the honour, and this house 
 the pleasure, of singing God Save the Queen at the 
 conclusion of the piece.' (A voice from the boxes, 
 * No.') ' A gentleman says " No," but I am sure he 
 will say yes when I tell him that the vocal performers 
 are not in the house. As soon as I can muster the 
 necessary strength, your wishes shall be imme- 
 diately complied with.' (Cheers.) As the perform- 
 
 92
 
 Enthusiasm at the Adelphi 
 
 ancc proceeded, the audience occasionally manifested 
 symptoms of impatience. At last when the piece 
 was brought to a conclusion the entire company 
 came on the stage before the drop scene fell, and 
 sang the usual anthem, the following addi- 
 tional verse, extemporised for the occasion by Mr. 
 Plunkett, being given by Mrs. Grattan : 
 
 ' Oh, Lord, in bounty shed 
 Joys round the Infant's Head, 
 
 Shield him from harm : 
 Hear now a nation's prayer, 
 Guard England's youthful heir, 
 Make him thy special care ; 
 
 God save the Queen.' 
 
 " Nothing could exceed the enthusiastic acclama- 
 tion with which the last verse was received, and the 
 manifestations of loyalty and joy displayed by the 
 audience in all parts of the house exceeded anything 
 which we have ever witnessed." 
 
 The Times in its first leading article same day 
 (November lo) strikes a loyal and friendly if more 
 sober note, and that without taking credit for the 
 efficiency of its intelligence department on the 
 previous morning : 
 
 " The auspicious event which we announced 
 yesterday of her Majesty's second happy delivery 
 and the birth of an heir apparent to the English 
 throne will create one universal feeling of joy 
 throughout the kingdom. The public have for 
 some time been expecting this intelligence with 
 impatient anxiety, and the minds of all were made 
 up to the conviction that the illustrious infant 
 would be a Prince of Wales. Providence has 
 graciously been pleased to realise these anticipa- 
 tions, and to bestow upon the British nation the 
 
 93
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 strongest possible guarantee for the continuance 
 of all the innumerable blessings which are involved 
 in that form of Government under which we 
 have the happiness to live." 
 
 In the course of the day (November lo) a London 
 Gazette extraordinary is issued bearing the number 
 20,035 : 
 
 "Tuesday, November 9, 1841. 
 " Buckingham Palace, November 9, 1841. 
 
 " This morning at twelve minutes before eleven 
 the Queen was happily delivered of a Prince, His 
 Royal Highness Prince Albert, Her Royal Highness 
 the Duchess of Kent, several Lords of Her Majesty's 
 Most Honourable Privy Council, and the Ladies 
 of Her Majesty's Bedchamber being present. 
 
 " This great and important news was imme- 
 diately made known to the town by the firing of 
 the Park and Tower Guns ; and the Privy Council 
 being assembled, as soon as possible thereupon, at 
 the Council Chamber, Whitehall, it was ordered 
 that a form of Thanksgiving for the Queen's safe 
 delivery of a Prince be prepared by His Grace the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, to be used in all churches 
 and chapels throughout England and Wales, and the 
 town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, on Sunday the 14th 
 of November, or the Sunday after the respective 
 ministers shall receive the same. 
 
 " Her Majesty and the Infant Prince, are, God 
 be praised, both doing well." 
 
 On the same day in the ordinary Gazette appeared 
 the following : 
 
 " At the Council Chamber, Whitehall, the 9th 
 day of November 1841. By the Lords of Her 
 Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council. 
 
 94
 
 Prayer and Thanksgiving 
 
 n 
 
 It is this day ordered by their Lordships that 
 his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury do prepare 
 a form of Prayer and Thanksgiving to Almighty 
 God for Her Majesty's safe delivery of a Prince ; 
 and that such form of Prayer and Thanksgiving* 
 be used in all churches and Chapels in England and 
 Wales and in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, 
 upon Sunday the 14th day of this instant November, 
 or the Sunday after the respective Ministers thereof 
 shall receive the same. 
 
 " And it is hereby further ordered, that Her 
 Majesty's printer do forthwith print a competent 
 number of copies of the said form of Prayer and 
 Thanksgiving that the same may be forthwith sent 
 round and read in the several churches and chapels 
 of England and Wales and of the town of Berwick- 
 upon-Tweed. 
 
 " C. C. Greville. 
 
 * Archbishop Howley's Thanksgiving Prayer was as follows : 
 " O Merciful Lord and heavenly Father, by whose gracious gifts 
 mankind is increased, we most humbly offer unto Thee our hearty 
 thanks for Thy great goodness vouchsafed to Thy people, in deliver- 
 ing Thy servant our Sovereign Lady the Queen from the perils of 
 childbirth and giving her the blessing of a Son. Continue, we beseech 
 Thee, Thy fatherly care over her ; support and comfort her in the 
 hours of weakness ; and day by day renew her strength. Preserve 
 the Infant Prince from whatever is hurtful either to body or soul ; 
 and endue him as he advances in years with true wisdom and every 
 Christian virtue. Regard with Thine especial favour our Queen and 
 her Royal Consort, that they may long live together in the enjoyment 
 of all earthly happiness, and may finally be made partakers of thine 
 everlasting glory. Implant in the hearts of Thy people a deep sense 
 of Thy manifold mercies, and give us grace to show forth our thankful- 
 ness by dutiful affection to our Sovereign, by brotherly love towards 
 one another, and by constant obedience to Thy commandments ; 
 so that, passing through this life in Thy faith and fear, we may in the 
 life to come be received into Thy heavenly kingdom through the 
 Merits and Mediation of Thy Blessed Son Jesus Chris^ pur Lgrd. 
 Amen." 
 
 95
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 " It is this day ordered by their Lordships that 
 every Minister and Preacher as well of the Estab- 
 lished Church in that part of Great Britain called 
 Scotland as those of the Episcopal Communion, 
 protected and allowed by an Act passed in the tenth 
 year of Her Majesty Queen Anne, Chapter 7, 
 intituled : ' An Act to prevent the disturbing 
 those of the Episcopal Communion in that part of 
 Great Britain called Scotland, in the exercise of 
 their religious worship and in the use of the Liturgy 
 of the Church of England ; and for the repealing 
 the Act passed in the Parliament of Scotland in- 
 tituled, " An Act against irregular baptisms and 
 Marriages," ' do at some time during the exercise 
 of divine Service in their respective churches, 
 congregations, or assemblies, put up their Prayers 
 and Thanksgiving to Almighty God for Her 
 Majesty's safe delivery of a Prince. 
 
 " C. C. Greville." 
 
 If the rest of the world was satisfied, Mr. Greville 
 was not. On November 11, 1841, he writes in 
 the private diary destined to cause so many heart- 
 burnings after his death : 
 
 " November 1 1 . — The Queen was delivered of a 
 son at forty-eight minutes after ten on Tuesday 
 morning the 9th. From some crotchet of Prince 
 Albert's, they put off sending intelligence of Her 
 Majesty being in labour till so late that several of 
 the Dignitaries, whose duty it was to assist at the 
 birth, arrived after the event had occurred, par- 
 ticularly the Archbishop of Canterbury and the 
 Lord President of the Council. At two o'clock 
 a Council was held and the usual thanksgiving 
 ordered. Last year the Prince took the Chair, 
 
 which was all wrong ; and this time I placed him 
 
 96
 
 The Grumbling of Greville 
 
 at the top of the table on the left, the Archbishop 
 next him. None of the Royal Dukes were sum- 
 moned. ' God Save the Queen ' was sung with 
 great enthusiasm at the theatres and great joy- 
 manifested generally. The event came very oppor- 
 tunely for the Lord Mayor's dinner. ... A curious 
 point has arisen interesting to the Guards. It 
 has been the custom for the officer on guard at 
 St. James's Palace to be promoted to a majority 
 when a Royal Child is born. The guard is relieved 
 at forty-five minutes after ten. At that hour the 
 new guard marched into the Palace Yard, and at 
 forty-eight minutes after ten the child was born. 
 The question arises which officer is entitled to the 
 promotion. The officer of the fresh guard claims 
 it because the relief marched in before the birth, 
 and the keys were delivered over to him ; but the 
 other officer claims it because the sentries had not 
 been changed when the child was actually born, 
 his men were still on guard, and he disputes the fact 
 of the delivery of the keys, arguing that in all prob- 
 ability this had not occurred at the moment of 
 birth. The case was decided by Lord Hill in favour 
 of the old guard. It is odd enough that there is 
 a similar case involving civic honours at Chester. 
 The Prince being Earl of Chester by birth, the 
 Mayor of Chester claims a Baronetcy. The old 
 Mayor went out and the new Mayor came into 
 office the same day and about the same hour, and 
 it is doubtful which functionary is entitled to the 
 honour. The ex-Mayor was a Whig banker, and 
 the new one is a Tory linen-draper. I find that 
 during the Queen's confinement all the boxes 
 and business are transmitted as usual to the Palace, 
 and the former opened and returned by the Prince. 
 He established this practice last year. At first 
 
 97 «
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 orders were given to the Foreign Office to send no 
 more boxes to the Palace ; but two days after, 
 fresh orders were received to send the boxes as 
 usual, and to furnish the Prince with the necessary- 
 keys." It is very hard to throw suspicion on an 
 anecdote which has done yeoman service on so many 
 occasions, but it appears that the story of the rival 
 Mayors at Chester is nothing more or less than one 
 more instance of the ben trovato. In the previous 
 year Mr. Greville had written a pamphlet on the 
 question of precedency in the Privy Council in 
 which the following sentence occurs : * 
 
 " The heir apparent is Prince of Wales and Duke 
 of Cornwall, hut he is not necessarily either the one 
 or the other, and except on a certain condition he 
 cannot be the latter. For as the King creates his 
 elder son, or heir apparent. Prince of Wales, he has 
 the power of withholding such creation, and though 
 the eldest son of the King is Duke of Cornwall by 
 inheritance, the dukedom is limited to the first 
 begotten son of the King." Mr. Greville empha- 
 sises this assertion by pointing out first that " two 
 months elapsed between the death of Frederick 
 Prince of Wales, and the creation of his son George 
 III. as Prince of Wales," and then adding : " If 
 for example George IV. had died in his youth his 
 next brother might have been heir apparent with 
 no other title than that of Bishop of Osnaburgh. 
 Henry VIII., after the death of Prince Arthur, and 
 Charles I., after that of Prince Henry, were Dukes 
 of Cornwall, but by special new creation." 
 
 Under these circumstances, and according to Mr. 
 Greville's own showing, what possible claim could 
 either the outgoing or the incoming Mayor of the 
 ancient and picturesque city of Chester have to 
 
 • Greville Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 280. 
 98
 
 A Legend of Chester 
 
 any particular distinction on November 9, 1841 ? 
 The writer is indebted to Mr. N. A. E. Way, Clerk 
 of the Peace, Chester, for the following letter from 
 Mr. Henry Taylor, a local antiquarian and acknow- 
 ledged authority on the history of the metropolis 
 of the Marches, which lays to rest for ever the 
 " good story " of the sardonic Clerk of the Privy 
 Council which has been unhesitatingly adopted as 
 authentic ever since it first saw the light : 
 
 " Greville has evidently been gulled. The Mayor 
 of Chester has no claim either by custom or other- 
 wise to a Baronetcy or even a Knighthood on the 
 birth of an eldest son to the Reigning Sovereign. 
 We in Chester were under the impression that 
 such son became at once on his Father ascending 
 the Throne Earl of Chester, but from the precedent 
 set in the case of the present Prince of Wales this 
 is not so, and he is not Earl of Chester until a Patent 
 is issued so creating him. Mr. Wardell* was a 
 partner with Mr. Thomas Dixon. The firm in 
 1 841 was Dixon & Wardell. They were the Gros- 
 venor Bankers and therefore Whigs. The Dixons 
 were Timber Merchants and became Bankers at 
 the instance of the Grosvenor party. Mr. William 
 Brown t was a leading Citizen, but I am not aware 
 of his party politics." 
 
 The writer will refrain from throwing doubt on 
 any of the items of the legendary lore in connection 
 with the birth of his present Majesty, although the 
 very ancient chestnut about the Duke of Welling- 
 ton arriving in hot haste, and on asking Mrs. Lilly 
 as to whether it was a girl or a boy, and receiving the 
 triumphant reply, " A Prince your Grace," is scarcely 
 reconcilable with Mr. Greville's statement as to the 
 
 * The outgoing Mayor in 1841. 
 
 t The Mayor who came into office on November 9, 1 841. 
 
 99
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 delay in the Duke's reaching the palace. In a 
 little volume published more than a quarter of a 
 century ago* we are, however, told that : " The 
 Duke of Wellington was the first to welcome and 
 eagerly scan the tiny features of the Royal stranger. 
 As he was leaving the Palace afterwards he met 
 Lord Hill, who had been among those summoned 
 to attend, but arrived too late ; in answer to Lord 
 Hill's inquiry, as to how matters were, the Duke 
 replied : ' All over — fine boy, very fine boy, almost 
 as red as you Hill.' " 
 
 Before the eventful day was over, and almost 
 before the echoes of the guns and the cheering had 
 died away the ballad-makers and caricaturists were 
 hard at work. A charming little portrait (imaginary 
 in all probability), sewn on a tiny silk pin-cushion, 
 was sold by the score. A highly coloured picture 
 of the Queen with her two children, the Duchess 
 of Kent and Prince Albert, with the words : 
 
 " Oh Lord in bounty shed 
 Joys round the infant's head ; 
 
 Shield him from harm, &c." 
 
 found a ready market, but far more popular was 
 an anonymous caricature entitled the " Inspection 
 of Royalty," in which the Duke of Wellington in 
 the guise of a nurse is portrayed showing the Duke 
 of Cornwall (the author was, at any rate, perfectly 
 correct in his genealogy) to the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, the Judges, and the rest of the Privy 
 Council, while Prince Albert in flowing dressing- 
 gown and Star of the Garter holds aloft the Princess 
 Royal (" Heiress of England " no longer), saying, 
 " Look at your little brother," to which she replies, 
 " O Pa my occupation's gone." The following is 
 
 * " Early years of H.R.H. Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, 
 K.C," by A. Ward and Lock, 1859. 
 
 100
 
 The Political Prayer of Sydney Smith 
 
 a fair specimen of the ballad literature of November 
 1 841 : 
 
 " Hark, the joyous peal is mingling 
 With the cannons' welcome roar ; 
 Whilst the sounds of myriad voices 
 
 Echo on from shore to shore. 
 Now the Monarch's heart is bounding, 
 
 Now the Mother's joy we share ; 
 Oh how fond the hopes and wishes 
 Millions breathe for England's Heir." 
 
 Thanks to the activity of the Queen's Printer 
 the solemn form of Thanksgiving drawn up by the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury in accordance with the 
 commands of the Privy Council, was used in most 
 English churches throughout the country (certainly 
 in all London ones) on the Sunday following the 
 birth of the heir apparent. By a felicitous coinci- 
 dence, Sydney Smith,* critic, reviewer, essayist, 
 man-of-the-world, and sayer of bons-mots innumer- 
 able, happened to be in residence at St. Paul's. 
 His friends the Whigs, for whom he had laboured so 
 diligently, had done nothing for the brilliant con- 
 versationist and letter-writer, with whom it was 
 said to be an article of faith that everything out- 
 side the parallelogram formed by Oxford Street 
 and Piccadilly on the north and south, and Regent 
 Street and Park Lane on the east and west was 
 
 * In his biography of King Edward VII. Mr. James Penderel- 
 Brodhurst describes Sydney Smith's " impromptu addition " as 
 diplomatically " correct," although wholly lacking in spirit and 
 fervour, and therefore " flat," The composition, from a political 
 point of view, is just what one would have expected of an ardent 
 Whig writing only four years after the death of William IV., and 
 within eleven of the demise of his unpopular predecessor. Sydney 
 Smith prayed politically and possibly a vein of latent humour and 
 covert satire runs through the polished periods of his supplication. 
 The complete transformation to be effected by Queen Victoria 
 and Prince Albert had still to come, and the good beginning already 
 made was as yet only imperfectly realised. 
 
 lOI
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the literary and social Sahara. On Sunday, Novem- 
 ber 14, 1 841, a great opportunity came to the 
 " witty Canon," but he missed it. The congrega- 
 tion at the Metropolitan Cathedral was larger than 
 usual, as a topical sermon was confidently expected. 
 The only notice, however, taken of the great event 
 of the previous week, was the addition of the follow- 
 ing words to the supplication for all sorts of digni- 
 taries both lay and ecclesiastical : " We pray also 
 for that infant of the Royal race whom, in Thy 
 good providence Thou hast given us for our future 
 King. We beseech Thee so to mould his heart 
 and fashion his spirit that he may be a blessing, 
 and not an evil to the land of his birth. May he 
 grow in favour with man by leaving to its own 
 force and direction the energy of a free people. 
 May he grow in favour with God by holding the 
 faith in Christ fervently and feelingly, without 
 feebleness, without fanaticism, without folly. As 
 he will be the first man in these realms, so may he 
 be the best, disclaiming to hide bad actions by high 
 station, and endeavouring always, by his example 
 of a strict and moral life, to repay those gifts which 
 a loyal people are so willing to spare from their own 
 necessities to a good King." 
 
 " Mr. Punch " was pardonably proud of his 
 signal success as a prophet. There was no " special 
 edition," but in his next issue (that of November 13) 
 he takes due credit for all that had occurred since 
 his allusion to the fears which beset the mind 
 municipal, " It will seem," he says, " that we 
 were not premature in announcing the probability 
 of the birth of a Prince of Wales ; and though it 
 was impossible that any one should be able to speak 
 with certainty, our positive tone upon the occasion 
 
 serves to show the exclusive nature of all our intelli- 
 
 102
 
 "Punch's" Satisfaction 
 
 gence. We are enabled now to state that the Prince 
 will immediately take, indeed he has already taken, 
 the title of Prince of Wales, which it is generally 
 understood he will enjoy — at least if a child so young 
 can be said to enjoy anything of the kind — until an 
 event shall happen which we hope will be post- 
 poned for a very protracted period. The Prince of 
 Wales, should he survive his mother, will ascend the 
 throne ; but whether he will be George the Fifth, 
 Albert the First, Henry the Ninth, Charles the 
 Third or Anything the Nothingth, depends upon 
 circumstances we are not able to allude to — at 
 -present ; nor do we think we shall be enabled to 
 do so in a second edition. . . . We very much 
 regret to make an announcement, and are glad to 
 be the first to do so, though we are sorry to advert 
 to the subject, touching an alarming symptom in 
 the Princess Royal. Her Royal Highness, ever 
 since the birth of the Prince, whom we think we 
 may now venture to call her brother, has suffered 
 from an affection of the nose, which is said to be 
 quite out of joint since the royal stranger (for we 
 hope we may take the liberty of alluding to the 
 Prince of Wales as a stranger, for he is a stranger to 
 us, at least we have never seen him) came into 
 existence. We hear it on good authority that 
 when the Princess was taken to see her brother. 
 Her Royal Highness, who begins to articulate a few 
 sounds, exclaimed, ' Tar ! ' with unusual emphasis. 
 It is supposed from this simple, but affecting cir- 
 cumstance, that the Prince of Wales will eventually 
 become a Tar and perhaps regain for the country 
 the undisputed dominion of the seas, which, by the 
 bye, has not been questioned, and probably will not 
 be, in which case the naval attributes of His Royal 
 Highness will not be brought into activity." Far 
 
 103
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 better than all this, perhaps, are the rollicking 
 
 verses : 
 
 " Huzza ! we've a little Prince at last, 
 A roaring Royal boy ; 
 \, And all day long the booming bells 
 
 I ■ Have rung their peals of joy. 
 
 " And the little park guns have blazed away, 
 And made a tremendous noise. 
 Whilst the air has been filled since eleven o'clock 
 With the shouts of little boys." 
 
 Not less diverting were the satiric shafts dis- 
 ciiarged from his bow on the following Saturday, 
 to which was given the title of " The Prince of 
 Wales — His future times." A private letter from 
 Hanover states that at precisely twelve minutes 
 to eleven in the morning of the ninth of the present 
 November his Majesty King Ernest was suddenly 
 attacked by a violent fit of the blue devils. All 
 the Court doctors were immediately summoned 
 and as immediately dismissed by his Majesty, who 
 sent for the Wizard of the North (recently ap- 
 pointed royal astrologer) to divine the mysterious 
 cause of this so sudden melancholy. In a trice 
 the mystery was solved — Queen Victoria was 
 " happily delivered of a Prince." His Majesty 
 was immediately assisted to his chamber — put to 
 bed — the curtains drawn — all the royal household 
 ordered to wear list slippers — the one knocker to 
 the palace was carefully tied up — and (on the depar- 
 ture of our courier) half a load of straw was already 
 deposited beneath the window of the royal cham^ber. 
 The sentinels on duty were prohibited from even 
 sneezing under pain of death, and all things in 
 and about the palace, to use a brand new simile were 
 silent as the grave. " Whilst there was only the 
 Princess Ro}'al there were many hopes. There 
 
 104
 
 King Ernest and the Two Cradles 
 
 was hope from severe teething — hope from measles 
 — hope from whooping-cough — but with the addition 
 of a Prince of Wales — the hopes of Hanover are 
 below par." But we pause. We will no further 
 invade the sanctity of the sorrows of a king ; merely 
 observing that that which makes his Majesty very 
 savage, makes thousands of Englishmen mighty 
 glad. "There are now two cradles between the 
 Crown of England and the White Horse of Hanover." 
 After a playful hit at Colonel Sibthorp (the target 
 far excellence of Mr. Punch in his youth), and an 
 amusing comparison of the omens which attended 
 the birth of George IV. and those which char- 
 acterised the advent of the next Prince of Wales 
 — ^just seventy-nine years separating the two events, 
 the writer once more returns to the felicitous 
 coincidences inherent in the ninth of November : 
 " Oh men of Paisley — good folks of Bolton,* what 
 promise for ye is here ! Turkeys, capons, sirloins, 
 asparagus, pheasants, pine-apples, savoury cakes, 
 Chantilly baskets, mince pies, preserved ginger, 
 brandy cherries, a thousand luscious cates * the 
 sense aches at ! ' What are all these gifts of plenty, 
 but a glad promise that in the time of ' the sweetest 
 young Prince,' that on the birthday of that Prince 
 just vouchsafed to us, all England will be a large 
 Lord Mayor's table ! Will it be possible for English- 
 men to disassociate in their minds the Prince of 
 Wales and the Prince of Good Fellows ? And 
 whereas the reigns of other potentates are signal- 
 ised by bloodshed and war, the time of the Prince 
 will be glorified by cooking and good cheer. His 
 drum-sticks will be the drum-sticks of turkeys — 
 his cannon the popping of corks. In his day, even 
 weavers shall know the taste of geese, and factory 
 
 * Then the scene of great distress. 
 105
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 children smack their lips at the gravy of the great 
 sirloin. Join your glasses ! Brandish your carving- 
 knives ! Cry welcome to the Prince of Wales ! 
 for he comes garnished with all the world's good 
 things. He shall live in the hearts, and (what is 
 more) in the stomachs of his people." 
 
 The subject of the Prince of Wales had seemingly 
 an irresistible fascination for the increasingly popu- 
 lar London Charivari. A series of paragraphs deal 
 most amusingly with the Prince's honours, ward- 
 robe, income, and military rank. We are informed 
 " that his Royal Highness will, for the present, go 
 by the title of ' Poppet,' affectionately conferred 
 upon him by Mrs. Lilly at the moment of his birth. 
 
 * Poppet ' is a title of very great antiquity, and has, 
 from time immemorial been used as a mark of 
 endearment towards a newly born child in all 
 genteel families." As far as the Prince's education 
 is concerned it " will be confined at present to 
 teaching his Royal Highness how to take his pap 
 without spilling it. A professor from the pap-al (a 
 
 * perishing pun ' with a vengeance) will, it is 
 expected, be entrusted with this branch of the royal 
 economy." 
 
 Then turning to the Bulletins the irrepressible 
 Sage of Fleet Street assures his readers that " The 
 documents lately shown at Buckingham Palace are 
 spurious and the real ones have been suppressed 
 from party motives, which we shall not allude to. 
 The following are genuine ; they relate only to 
 the Prince, the convalescence of Her Majesty, 
 being, we are glad to say, so rapid as to require 
 no official notice. 
 
 " Half-past Twelve. — The Prince has sneezed, 
 and it is believed has smiled, although the nurses 
 
 1 06
 
 Bulletins — Real and Imaginary- 
 are unable to pronounce whether the expression 
 of pleasure arose from satisfaction or colic. 
 
 " Two o'clock. — The Prince is fast asleep, and is 
 more quiet. 
 
 " Half-past Two. — The Prince has been shown 
 to Sir Robert Peel, and was very fretful." 
 
 The Globe lost no time in showing a tender interest 
 in the nursery arrangements at Buckingham Palace. 
 The Duke of Cornwall was not a week old, when it 
 was able to inform its readers that " The apartment 
 set apart as the nursery of the Infant Prince imme- 
 diately adjoins the chamber of the Queen, and 
 is frequently visited by Prince Albert. . . . The 
 person fortunate enough to have obtained the situa- 
 tion of nurse is the wife of Brough, an under servant 
 at Claremont, and who was herself, before her 
 marriage, a housemaid in the establishment. It is 
 understood that the last wet nurse received 500/., 
 and it is said that, on the present occasion, all the 
 gratuities are to be doubled in honour of the birth 
 of an heir to the throne." 
 
 The Queen is soon able to resume her journal 
 and her letter-writing. On November 21, her 
 Majesty makes the following entry : 
 
 " Albert brought in dearest little * Pussy ' (the 
 Princess Royal) in such a smart white merino dress 
 trimmed with blue, which Mama had given her, 
 and a pretty cap, and placed her on my bed, seating 
 himself next to her, and she was very dear and 
 good. And as my precious, invaluable Albert sat 
 there, and our little Love between us, I felt quite 
 moved with happiness and gratitude to God." 
 A speedy move is again made to Windsor Castle, 
 whence on December 6, the Queen wrote to King 
 Leopold : " We arrived here sains et saufs with 
 
 107
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 our awfully large nursery establishment yesterday 
 morning. ... I wonder very much whom our 
 little boy will be like. You will understand hotv 
 fervent are my prayers, and I am sure everybody's 
 must be to see him resemble his father in every^ 
 every respect both in body and mind. . . . Oh ! 
 my dearest uncle, I am sure if you knew how happy, 
 how blessed I feel, and how proud in possessing such 
 a perfect being as my husband ! And when you 
 think that you have been instrumental in bringing 
 about this union, it must gladden your heart. We 
 must all have trials and vexations, but if one's home 
 is happy then the rest is comparatively nothing. 
 I assure you, dear uncle, that no one feels this more 
 than I do. I had this autumn one of the severest 
 trials I could have in parting with my government, 
 and particularly from our kind and valued friend 
 (Lord Melbourne), and I feel even now this last 
 very much ; but my happiness at home, with the 
 love of my husband, his kindness, his advice, his 
 support and his company, made up for all and made 
 me forget." 
 
 " Mr. Punch," however, was for once somewhat 
 premature in giving the Heir Apparent the title 
 of Prince of Wales. It was not until December 7, 
 four weeks exactly after the birth of the Heir Ap- 
 parent, that the London Gazette made the following 
 announcements : 
 
 Whitehall, December 4, 1841. 
 " The Queen has been pleased to order letters 
 patent to be passed under the Great Seal for creat- 
 ing his Royal Highness the Prince of the United 
 Kingdom ^^ofi^^Great' Britain and Ireland (Duke 
 of Saxony, Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay, Earl 
 of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles 
 
 108
 
 An Heraldic Dispute 
 
 and Great Steward of Scotland) Prince of Wales 
 and Earl of Chester." 
 
 It is interesting to note from the index of the 
 London Gazette for 1841, part 2, that, on the birth 
 of the Prince of Wales, 125 addresses of congratula- 
 tion were presented to the Queen by " various 
 corporations and guilds, Provosts, Magistrates, and 
 Town Councils of towns, Lords Lieutenant, Vicars, 
 and inhabitants," while no fewer than 160 were 
 presented to Prince Albert. 
 
 The implacable Greville could not, however, 
 be satisfied. On December 5, he writes : " The 
 difficulties and trouble that may be caused by 
 trifles may be well illustrated by a matter which is 
 now pending. Peel sent for me the day before 
 yesterday to talk to me about the armorial bearings 
 of the Prince of Wales, a matter apparently very 
 simple and insignificant, but not at all so in fact. 
 The Queen and Prince are very anxious to allot 
 to this baby his armorial bearings, and they wish 
 that he should quarter the arms of Saxony with 
 the Royal arms of England. . . . The Queen gave 
 the Princess Royal armorial bearings last year by 
 warrant, but it is conceived that more formal 
 proceedings are necessary in the case of the Heir 
 Apparent. The last precedent is that of 1714 
 when George the First referred to the Privy Council 
 the question of the Prince of Wales's arms, who 
 reported to His Majesty thereupon. , . . The 
 difficulty is how to set the matter going. The 
 last Marshal will not stir without an order to do 
 so." . . . . " Graham [the Home Secretary] said 
 it was not worth while to squabble about. He 
 proposed to take it on himself and, on his own re- 
 sponsibility, order the Earl Marshal to draw out the 
 
 109
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 coat-of-arms with the achievement according to the 
 Queen's wishes. There was also a warm and pro- 
 longed controversy as to the insertion of the words, 
 * His Royal Highness ' before the Prince of Wales's 
 name in the Liturgy. It was finally decided in 
 the negative." On December 9 Greville notes that 
 the gazetting of the child as Duke of Saxony was 
 adversely criticised at Holland House by Lord 
 Palmerston and others. 
 
 It is not surprising that a week later Queen Victoria 
 writes to her uncle King Leopold, at Laeken : 
 " We must all have trials and vexations ; but if 
 one's home is happy, the rest is comparatively 
 nothing." In spite of the carping of Greville 
 and other candid friends, and a sufficiently gloomy 
 political outlook both at home and abroad, the 
 Christmas festivities of 1 841 were as enjoyable as 
 those of the preceding year. Prince Albert, as 
 " a true Gotha man," was an adept at all sorts of 
 domestic celebrations. It was now that the Queen 
 writes in her journal : " To think that we have 
 two children now, and one who enjoys the sight 
 already is like a dream." While Prince Albert in 
 his Christmas letter to his father, says : " This 
 is the dear Christmas Eve, on which I have so often 
 listened with impatience for your step, which was 
 to usher us into the present room. To-day I have 
 two children of my own to give presents to, who, 
 they know not why are full of happy wonder at 
 the German Christmas-tree and its radiant candies." 
 
 Long years afterwards Sir Theodore Martin 
 seems, as it were, to catch the infection of these 
 happy times and cheery letters. " The coming 
 year " (1842) he tells his readers was " danced into 
 in good old English fashion. In the middle of the 
 dance, as the clock finished striking twelve, a flourish 
 
 no
 
 A Windsor Christmas 
 
 of trumpets was blown, in accordance with a German 
 custom. This, the QueetC s 'Journal records, ' had 
 a fine solemn effect, and quite affected dear Albert, 
 who turned pale and had tears in his eyes, and 
 pressed my hand very warmly. It touched me too, 
 for I felt that he must think of his dear native 
 country, which he has left for me.' " 
 
 III
 
 CHAPTER V ' '^^ 
 
 THREE YEARS OF HAPPY CHILDHOOD 
 1842 — 1843 — 1844 
 
 The first year of King Edward VII. 's life can hardly 
 be described as " a time of piping peace." Two 
 small wars were in progress in the far East, one 
 in Afghanistan, and the other in China ; while 
 the income-tax controversy and widespread distress 
 in the manufacturing districts were occasion- 
 ing a sufficiency of heart-burning at home. The 
 distaste of both the Queen and Prince Albert for 
 London life was certainly not diminished by the 
 cowardly outrages offered to the royal person at 
 the end of May and the beginning of July. In 
 spite of the cares which beset the throne, the tran- 
 quillity of the pleasant home life at Windsor and 
 Claremont remained undisturbed. Many of the 
 etchings and sketches which were either the work 
 of the Queen or Prince Albert, or not unfrequently 
 their joint production, bear the date of January 
 1842. They somehow or other found leisure to 
 immortalise still further " Lorie," the parrot, and 
 " Cairnach," the terrier, as well as " Islay," " Dandie 
 Dinmont," and the stately and graceful " Eos," 
 while two questions of primary importance occupied 
 their minds. What name was to be giren to the 
 " Heir of England " ? Who were to be his god- 
 fathers and godmothers ? " Mr. Punch " obligingly 
 came to their assistance in an article entitled, " What 
 
 lU
 
 iirjllfr' 
 
 -i '. 
 
 - V- 
 
 V" 
 
 ■ r~ 
 
 THE 1M;1X( ESS IIUYAL (EJIPItESS EREDEltICK) AND KING 
 EDWARD VII. (AT FIVE JIOXTHS OLD) 
 
 AFTER A I'AIN'IINC In SIIJ \l . ROSS, PlHLISIl El) 
 NO^ K:\IliKK 'j. 1S42
 
 Possible Names and God-Parents 
 
 shall be the Prince's name ? " scarcely as happy 
 or witty as usual, but doubtless honestly intended 
 to point a moral in an age which treated pamphlet- 
 eering seriously. " We are convinced of it," says 
 the oracular writer, " it is with us a Shandean 
 belief, possessing — inextinguishable — that not only 
 the temper, but the virtues and the qualities of the 
 Prince of Wales — of the next probable King of the 
 United Kingdom will wholly and solely depend upon 
 his Christian name. When the King of Prussia, 
 on the 26th inst., makes answer to the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, little will he think — good, easy 
 King ! — what weal or woe he may promise to future 
 generations. . . . Now for the Georges. The first 
 and second were nobodies ; the third loved an ugly 
 wife and shoulder of mutton ; and the fourth made 
 a bow with a finer grace than any other gentleman 
 in Europe. No ; we have worn out the Georges. 
 Gentle reader, what think you of King Lazarus ? 
 We are mightily smitten with this name ... we 
 advance the proposition that it may be indicative 
 of an enlarged humanity in palaces. Our Lazarus 
 the First shall heal the wounds of wretchedness — 
 shall gather bloodless laurels in the hospital and 
 workhouse — his ermine and purple shall make 
 fellowship with rags of linsey-woolsey — he shall be 
 a King enthroned and worshipped in the hearts of 
 the indigent." 
 
 The rest of it is very poor stuff indeed. Needless 
 to say, the future King of England (large-minded 
 and large-hearted philanthropist as he has proved 
 to be) was not named Lazarus, nor did the irre- 
 pressible "Uncle Ernest " (now King of Hanover), 
 who put forward a pressing and inconvenient 
 claim to the position at the last moment, figure 
 amongst the sponsors, present or represented by 
 
 113 H
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 deputy at the historic ceremonial of January 25, 
 in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, when the Prince 
 of Wales was christened, receiving the baptismal 
 names of Albert Edward, the first that of his father, 
 the second that of his paternal grandfather, a choice 
 which no one (except possibly the King of Hanover) 
 could very well quarrel with. 
 
 The details of that magnificent ecclesiastical 
 spectacle (in aranging the minutest details of which 
 Prince Albert took an active part) are sufficiently 
 well known, even to those who have not seen either 
 the original or the constant reproductions of Sir 
 George Hayter's commemorative painting. The 
 naval and military knights of Windsor occupied the 
 sides of the aisles, the Archbishop of Canterbury and 
 York, the Bishops of London, Norwich, Winchester, 
 and Oxford stood in front of the font. The sponsors 
 were H.R.H. Duchess of Kent (proxy for the Duchess 
 of Saxe-Coburg), H.R.H. Duke of Cambridge, 
 H.R.H. Princess Augusta of Cambridge* (proxy 
 for the Princess Sophia and H.R.H. Prince Ferdi- 
 nand of Saxe-Coburg), and last, but not least, the 
 King of Prussia. The water made use of had been 
 brought from the Jordan. A calm serenity unusual 
 to infants in the circumstances marked the behaviour 
 of the Royal babe. An anthem in honour of the 
 occasion had been composed by Sir George Elvey, 
 but Prince Albert, who had a fondness for what is 
 known as congregational singing, very happily 
 deposed it in honour of the " Hallelujah Chorus." 
 
 In the evening a State banquet was given in St. 
 
 * Born eighty-four years ago in Hanover, and married at Bucking- 
 ham Palace on the fifth anniversary of Queen Victoria's Coronation 
 Day, to the late Grand Duke Frederic William of Mecklenburg- 
 Strelitz, the Princess Augusta is to-day the sole remaining living re- 
 presentative of Georgian royalty, the only survivor of the sponsors 
 who stood by the baptismal font of King Edward VII. 
 
 114
 
 A Christening Dance 
 
 George's Hall, and after the banquet the Royal 
 Christening Cake was placed in the Waterloo 
 Chamber. As might be expected the christening 
 of her eldest son finds prominent mention in the 
 Queen's Journal. Writing of Frederic, William IV., 
 King of Prussia, who had so obligingly (and in spite 
 of the machinations of that political Pecksniff King 
 Louis Philippe) consented to be the Prince of Wales's 
 godfather, and by so doing had put an end to what 
 promised to be a very pretty family quarrel, her 
 Majesty says : 
 
 " The King is not taller than Albert and very 
 fat.* His features are small, but he has a pleasing 
 countenance, not much hair and very little whiskers. 
 He was in common morning costume, and com- 
 plained much of appearing so before me. He is 
 entertaining, agreeable, and witty, tells a thing so 
 pleasantly, and is full of amusing anecdotes." 
 . . . . " There was a full choral service at the 
 christening. A special anthem had been composed 
 by Mr. [afterwards Sir] George Elvey, for the occa- 
 sion. On the Prince Consort being told of this, 
 and asked when it should be sung, he answered, 
 ' Not at all. No anthem. If the service ends 
 by an anthem we shall all go out criticising the music. 
 We will have something we all know — something 
 in which we can all join — something devotional, 
 The Hallelujah Chorus ; we shall all join in that, 
 
 * The King's stoutness did not prevent his dancing, for the 
 author of the " Private Life of Queen Victoria " (C. Pearson, 
 London, 1901) tells us that '-in 1842 when a party was assembled 
 at Windsor in honour of the Prince of Wales's christening, dancing 
 was started one evening for the amusement of young Prince 
 Leopold of Saxe-Coburg. There were only enough ladies present 
 to make up a quadrille, which the queen danced with the King 
 of Prussia. The evening wound up with a gay country-dance, a 
 form of exercise to which the queen was devoted." 
 
 115
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 with our hearts.' The Hallelujah Chorus ended 
 the service accordingly." It was remarked at the 
 time that the day of the Prince of Wales's 
 christening was also Robert Burns's birthday,* a 
 compliment, accidental no doubt, to Scotland, from 
 which he derived the title of Duke of Rothesay, 
 Earl of Carrick, Baron Renfrew, Great Steward 
 of Scotland and Lord of the Isles. 
 
 " Mr. Punch's " account of the Royal christening 
 is very dull reading, nor does he show a becoming 
 sense of the nation's obligation to the corpulent 
 but complaisant King of Prussia, whose doings are 
 thus chronicled : 
 
 " The King of Prussia does not burn a rush-light, 
 but he has a box of Congreves always ready on his 
 bedroom chimney-piece. 
 
 " The King of Prussia always jumps out of bed 
 as the clock strikes seven. His Majesty sleeps 
 without a night-cap " — and so forth. 
 
 In due course the Court removed to Buckingham 
 Palace, where a costume ball, on the most lavish 
 scale, was arranged with the laudable object of reliev- 
 ing in some measure, however small, the prevailing 
 distress. t 
 
 " We have organised it," Prince Albert wrote, 
 *' with a view of helping trade in London, which is 
 greatly depressed. We are to represent Edward III. 
 and Queen Philippa, and the whole Court is to appear 
 in the Court dress of that period. The Duchess of 
 Cambridge is to head a procession of one hundred 
 and twenty persons, intended to represent France, 
 Italy, and Spain." 
 
 * Robert Burns was born at Alloway, January 25, 1759. 
 t Similar entertainments also took place at Stafford House and 
 Apsley House. 
 
 116
 
 Junketing and Joking 
 
 The memory of this gorgeous fete of the 
 spring of 1842, is perpetuated by a bulky volume, 
 portraying in colours heightened with gold and 
 silver the costumes worn by " King Edward III." 
 (Prince Albert) and " Queen Philippa " (Queen 
 Victoria), and all their principal guests including 
 *' Anne of Britanny" (the Duchess of Cambridge) * 
 and her daughter, the then youthful and still 
 unmarried Princess Augusta, who as " Princess 
 Claude " was attired in " blue edged with azure 
 and embroidered with fleur-de-lys." f Before enter- 
 ing the ball-room the Queen and Prince Consort 
 are said to have visited the nursery of their children,J: 
 but the Prince of Wales, then only five months old, 
 can scarcely have been expected to retain any im- 
 pression of even such a vision of surpassing magnifi- 
 cence as this. He has, however, inherited, in no small 
 degree, his father's love of fun and keen sense of 
 humour, and no one would have appreciated more 
 heartily the clever literary practical joke which the 
 " Plantagenet " ball gave rise to. Let one of his 
 authors — the late Lord Houghton, then plain 
 Richard Monckton-Milnes (the other was Charles 
 Buller), tell the story of the inception of this un- 
 rivalled jett d'es'prit in his own words :§ 
 
 * On the occasion of the first jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887 
 which, as a nonagenarian, she lived to celebrate, the late Duchess 
 of Cambridge showed to some of her puests the slightly faded, but 
 still handsome robe of crimson velvet " with an underskirt of gold 
 brocade and jewelled stole," which had been so much discussed and 
 admired five and forty years before. 
 
 t The Grand Duchess Dowager of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and 
 the Baroness Burdett-Coutts are now, in all probability, almost the 
 sole survivors of those who " danced and costumed " in the halcyon 
 days of 1 842. 
 
 X See fost, p. 122. 
 
 § " Monographs : Personal and Social," by Lord Houghton. 
 London : John Murray, 1873, pp. 239-240. 
 
 117
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 " It was supposed to be a debate in the French 
 Chamber of Deputies on the preceding day, reported 
 hy express in the Morning Chronicle, originating 
 in an interpellation of M. Berryer, to the effect — 
 
 * Whether the French Ambassador in England had 
 been invited to the bal masque which is to be given 
 by the haughty descendant of the Plantagenets 
 for the purpose of awakening the long-buried griefs 
 of France in the disasters of Cressy and Poictiers, 
 and the loss of Calais.' This speech, by Buller, 
 is an excellent imitation of a great orator's manner. 
 Though I remember protesting against the gro- 
 tesqueness of the demand ' Whether M. de Saint 
 Aulaire was going with his attaches, with bare feet 
 and halters round their necks, representing the 
 unfortunate Burgesses.' It concluded with the 
 declaration, ' It is on the banks of the Rhine 
 that the cannon of France ought to accompany 
 the dancers of St. James's. It is by taking the 
 Balearic Isles that we should efface the recollections 
 of Agincourt.' I followed in the name of M. de 
 Lamartine, reproving the speaker for talking of the 
 
 * vilification of France,' and saying France could 
 well aiford to leave to each people its own historical 
 traditions — ' Ah ! let them have their splendid 
 guiiiguette — that people at once so grave and 
 frivolous. Let them dance as they please, as long 
 as the great mind of France calmly and nobly 
 traverses the world.' Lamartine was ansv/ered 
 by M. de Tocqueville (also mine) finding fault with 
 the ball chiefly as a repudiation of the democratic 
 idea, and a mournful reaction against the spirit 
 of the times ; saying with a sad and grave impar- 
 tiality : ' We too have erred — we too have danced 
 and costumed — the heirs of the throne of July 
 have sanctioned this frivolity, but there was no 
 
 ii8
 
 An International Hoax 
 
 quadrille of the Heroes of Fontenoy ! ' M. Guizot 
 (Buller) closed the discussion by stating that Lord 
 Aberdeen had given the most satisfactory explana- 
 tions — that the Queen of England desired to 
 educate her people by a series of archaeological 
 entertainments, but that in deference to the sus- 
 ceptibilities of France Monsieur de Saint Aulaire 
 would represent the Virgin of Domremy — he would 
 go as Joan of Arc. It seems incredible that what 
 was meant for a political squib should have turned 
 out a successful hoax. It was discussed with gravity 
 in the Clubs : and at the ball itself Sir Robert Peel 
 told me, with great satisfaction, that Sir James 
 Graham had rushed into his private room in White- 
 hall Gardens, with the paper in his hand, exclaim- 
 ing, ' There is the devil to pay in France about this 
 foolish ball.' But the Press was the most deluded 
 victim : the Irish Pilot remarked that ' the fact 
 of so slight an occasion having given rise to so grave 
 a discussion is the strongest evidence of the state of 
 feeling in France towards this country.' The 
 Dumfries Courier commented at much length on 
 this as ' one of the most erratic and ridiculous scenes 
 that ever lowered the dignity of a deliberative 
 assembly.' The Semaphore de Marseilles translated 
 the article into French as a faithful report, and the 
 Commerce indignantly protested against the taste 
 for a masquerade going so far as ' to allow the panoply 
 of a woman so cruelly sacrificed to British pride 
 to be worn on such an occasion ; others formally 
 denied that the genuine armour had ever been sent 
 from Paris." 
 
 By a strange coincidence almost at the same 
 moment a Parisian newspaper the National was 
 responsible for the following article on the subject 
 
 119
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 of the Prince of Wales which is quoted in sober 
 seriousness by the Times : 
 
 " The Government of Queen Victoria and even 
 her dynasty have, at this moment, to contend against 
 a kind of opposition which was unexpected, and 
 which in France would appear exceedingly droll. 
 The greater part of the Anglican clergy pretend 
 that the young Prince of Wales having been baptized 
 by a dissenting Minister {fretre dissident) is therefore 
 incapable of ever becoming King of England. In 
 England the head of the State is at the same time, 
 head of the Church, and the clergy therefore think 
 that the national church would lose its priority, 
 and even be destroyed if at the head of its hierarchy 
 were to be placed a Prince who had not received 
 orthodox baptism. The Bishop of London and 
 his clergy have already protested against the legiti- 
 macy of the succession of the Prince of Wales to the 
 throne ; the Bishop of Winchester has followed 
 the example, and not a single clergyman of his 
 diocese has failed to sign his protests. The whole 
 University of Oxford has expressed itself in the same 
 way, and it is announced that the Bishop of Exeter 
 is earnestly and successfully getting up a similar 
 demonstration." 
 
 The ecclesiastical storm in a tea-cup described by 
 the National^ had no more foundation in fact 
 than the debate in the French Chamber evolved from 
 the fertile brains of " Charley " Buller and " Dicky " 
 Milnes, but a story of the kind had been current 
 eighty years before on the occasion of the baptism 
 of George IV. 
 
 After the ball comes a brief period of rest and 
 fresh air at Claremont, and the first number of the 
 Illustrated London News (Saturday, May 14, 1842), 
 
 120
 
 Birthdays at Claremont 
 
 under the heading of " The Court and Haut Ton," 
 gives its readers the following information : 
 
 " Her Majesty and Prince Albert arrived in town 
 on Monday afternoon [May 9] in an open carriage 
 and four, escorted by a party of Hussars from Clare- 
 mont. The equerries-in-waiting. Colonel Arbuth- 
 not and Colonel Wylde, followed in a chariot and 
 four. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales 
 and the Princess Royal occupied another carriage, 
 and the Dowager LadyLyttelton, Lady-in-Waiting, 
 and Lord Byron, Lord-in-Waiting, were in the last 
 carriage. ... A pair of Shetland ponies, intended 
 for the young Prince of Wales's pony phaeton, 
 arrived at the Aberdeen steam-packet wharf, St. 
 Katherine's, last week. A pair of beautiful Pegu 
 ponies from Madras have also been sent to Her 
 Majesty by her Anglo-Indian subjects for the young 
 Prince of Wales." The Queen's birthday was kept 
 " officially " in London on May 19, but the family 
 gathering of five days later took place, as was then 
 customary, at Claremont. The new pictorial 
 venture shows abundant promise of future success. 
 On May 28 a picture of the Queen and Prince of 
 Wales appears, heading an article entitled : " A 
 Scene in the Nursery at Claremont." " Our young 
 and gracious sovereign's twenty-third birthday," 
 writes the contemporary chronicler, " has been 
 celebrated with less pomp than usual ; but if the 
 felicitations were more tacit, they were far more 
 general, heartfelt, and attractive. The concourse 
 flocking to the Drawing-Room, Her Majesty, no 
 doubt, foresaw, particularly after her signal acts 
 of hospitality, would be immense, and Her Majesty, 
 therefore, set apart a day at Claremont to celebrate 
 her birthday in the charms of domestic retirement, 
 after the fatigues of its more ceremonious celebration 
 
 121
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 when the whole of the beau monde overflowed at 
 the Palace. Besides, there was our future King — ■ 
 Ich Dien {sic) — and his pretty sister, who had got a 
 glance at the Royal Edward and Philippa, on their 
 way to the masque, as they laid in their cradles of 
 state, the sounds of revelry temptingly broke in 
 upon their gentle repose, conjuring the lively mille 
 et une nuits dreams of infancy. And why should 
 they not have their holiday and their Masque ? 
 Her Majesty gave them the holiday in the charming 
 retreats of Claremont, and their Royal Highnesses 
 Prince Albert and the Duchess of Kent prepared 
 an agreeable surprise for her Majesty's waking on 
 her birthday — and for the infant scions of Royalty — 
 namely, a masque, ate -petit -pied. Accordingly, on 
 Tuesday, the Prince of Wales and his Royal Sister 
 at earliest morn, suddenly appeared before the 
 Royal Mother, dressed as natives of that picturesque 
 country of Tyrol, where, as Hofer proved, peasants 
 become heroes. 
 
 " But far be it from us to intrude further upon 
 the secrecy of such happy domestic scenes, although 
 the feelings of all fathers and mothers amongst Her 
 Majesty's most loving and loyal of all subjects, cannot 
 be prevented following her in thought and with 
 heartfelt applause and gratulation into the retreat 
 of such domestic felicity. Sully, we believe it was 
 who said, that Henri le Grand never appeared greater 
 in the eyes of good men than when the pompous am- 
 bassador of Spain found him on all fours playing with 
 his children mounted on his back. Queen Victoria 
 will never appear more exalted in the world's 
 opinion than when each side of the picture is thus 
 revealed — the great Queen and stateswoman in the 
 gorgeous palace — the young, lovely, and virtuous 
 mother amidst the pure joys of sylvan retreat and 
 
 122
 
 Lady Lyttelton's Appointment 
 
 domestic relaxation. Our artist lias chosen for 
 illustration one of those happy moments of maternal 
 life when the magnificence and etiquette of the 
 Queen is put aside by womanly tenderness for the 
 expression of a mother's love." In the accompany- 
 ing wood-cut (apparently by J. R. Abbott) Her 
 Majesty is leaning back in one of the ponderous 
 arm-chairs of the period, holding up her hand to 
 attract the attention of the sprightly child-prince, 
 attired in a robe adorned with a plume of feathers 
 and a singularly unbecoming closely fitting lace 
 cap. In spite of stormy weather, the birthday 
 at Claremont seems to have been a joyous one, and 
 very little apparently escaped the notice of the 
 contributor to " The Court and Haut Ton." As 
 early as 7 a.m. a serenade by the band of the Cold- 
 stream Guards began beneath the windows of the 
 Queen's bed-chamber, a German air composed by 
 Prince Albert figuring in the programme. Merry 
 peals were rung at intervals during the day, and 
 " Uncle A^ensdorff " (the common relative of both 
 the Queen and Prince Albert), accompanied by his 
 four sons, was amongst the guests who dined in the 
 library, the table being decorated with " the Lion 
 service of plate and the Warwick vases." The 
 attack on the Queen, perpetrated by Francis not a 
 week later, maybe passed over. On June 10 we are 
 told "The Dowager Lady Lyttelton,* the preceptress 
 of the Princess Royal, has been staying at Buckingham 
 Palace during the last week, having entered on the 
 
 * For over eightyears (1842-1851) Sarah, Lady Lyttelton played 
 an important part in the upbringing of the elder children of Queen 
 Victoria. Sister of George, Lord Spencer, she was the niece of 
 Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, one of the most intellectual 
 and, at the same time, most politically powerful ladies of the Court 
 of George III. Since 1838, Lady Lyttelton had been one of Queen 
 Victoria's Ladies-in-Waiting. 
 
 123
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 duties of her new appointment. Her ladyship 
 will principally reside in future at the palace." 
 
 A few days are passed at Windsor. On June 13 
 the return journey to London was made by railway, 
 this being the Queen's first experience of the new 
 method of locomotion, of which she was destined 
 to have such a lengthy and varied experience,* and 
 in which up to the end of her life she took the deepest 
 interest. Mr. John Pendleton says : f " The Queen 
 made her first railway trip on the Great Western, 
 with Dan Gooch (afterwards Sir Daniel Gooch) 
 in charge of the engine. This was on Monday, 
 June 13, 1842, when her Majesty returned from a 
 sojourn at Windsor Castle by way of the Great 
 Western Railway. The thing was very secret. 
 The royal train consisted of the Phlegethon J 
 engine and tender, drawing the royal saloon in the 
 centre of two other saloon carriages, preceded by 
 a second-class carriage and followed by three carriage 
 trucks. The journey from Slough to Windsor was 
 accomplished in twenty-five minutes." 
 
 Music and art still absorbed much of that portion 
 of the Queen's leisure which could be spared from 
 affairs of State, and the ever-increasing cares of 
 the royal nurseries. Within a week of the railway 
 
 * Up to this time, although the Great Western Railway had been 
 opened for fully three years, the experiment was not considered safe 
 by those in high places, as far as the person of the Queen was con- 
 cerned. It is difficult to realise now the early prejudice against 
 railway travelling. Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy, " the bravest of 
 the brave " (who died the year before), could never be persuaded to 
 enter a railway carriage (z'ide " The Three Dorset Captains at Tra- 
 falgar," p. 227). Fanny Kemble described the engine as " the She 
 Dragon with white flying breath." 
 
 t English Illustrated Magazine, edited by Clement K. Shorter, 
 July 1897, pp. 445-450. 
 
 X "Phlegethon" went to the "scrap-heap" in August 1887. 
 Its fate is now much regretted at Paddington, 
 
 124
 
 Mendelssohn and the Queen 
 
 journey at Paddington the greatest of then living 
 composers was welcomed by the Queen and Prince 
 Albert at Buckingham Palace, 
 
 In the life of Mendelssohn, translated from the 
 German of W. A. Lampadius,* the actual date of 
 the great composer's memorable visit to Queen 
 Victoria is placed in doubt. The editor and some 
 of the late Queen's biographers have apparently 
 overlooked Mendelssohn's letter to his mother 
 of June 21, i842,t in which he not only clearly 
 mentions the exact day of his going to see her 
 Majesty, but gives by far the best and most concise 
 account of what took place. It runs as follows : 
 " Add to this (the crowd of people at Exeter Hall) 
 the pretty and most charming Queen Victoria, 
 who looks so youthful, and is so gently courteous 
 and gracious, who speaks such good German, and 
 who knows all my music so well ; the four books 
 of songs without words, and those with words and 
 the symphony and the ' Hymn of Praise.' Yesterday 
 evening I was sent for by the Queen, who was 
 almost alone with Prince Albert, and who seated 
 herself near the piano and made me play to her, 
 first seven of the ' songs without words,' then the 
 serenade, two impromptus on ' Rule Britannia,' 
 Liitzow's * Wilde Jagd,' and ' Gaudeamus igitur.' 
 The latter was somewhat difficult but remonstrance 
 was out of the question, and as they gave the themes, 
 of course it was my duty to play them. Then the 
 splendid grand gallery in Buckingham Palace, where 
 they drank tea, and where the two boars of Paul 
 Potter are hanging, and a good many pictures 
 
 * " Life of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy," edited by W, L. 
 Gage. London : W. Reeves, 1876, p. 76. 
 
 t " Letters of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy from 1833 to 1847." 
 Translated by Lady Wallace. London : Longmans, 1 863, p. 281. 
 
 125
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 which pleased me well." This is all Mendels- 
 sohn says on a subject which must, for him, have 
 been one of no common interest, and of which his 
 knowledge was, at any rate, first hand. Mr. 
 Gage, however, informs us that as he entered the 
 Queen's room " she asked his pardon for the some- 
 what disorderly appearance of the apartment, 
 and began to rearrange the articles with her own 
 hands," in which Mendelssohn gallantly offered his 
 assistance. Some parrots, whose cages hung in the 
 room, she herself carried into the next apartment ; 
 in which Mendelssohn helped her also. He also 
 says that after the Queen had, in fear and trembling, 
 sung to the eminent maestro, she said, " I can do 
 better ; ask Lablache if I cannot ; but I am afraid 
 of you." On that very night (June 20) we are 
 told " Miss Burdett Coutts gave a brilliant ball 
 and supper on Monday evening in Stratton Street 
 which was attended by the elite of the haut ton. 
 Lord Claude Hamilton, who was erroneously 
 designated as the successful suitor for the hand of 
 the wealthy heiress, has gone on a continental tour." 
 
 July 19 is the birthday of the Princess Augusta, 
 eldest daughter of their Royal Highnesses the Duke 
 and Duchess of Cambridge, who completed her 
 twentieth year, and the Duke and Duchess on this 
 interesting occasion received a select circle to 
 luncheon. " The party assembled shortly after 
 two, and broke up at half-past five o'clock. Her 
 Majesty the Queen Dowager came in the morning 
 from Bushey to pay a congratulatory visit to her 
 youthful and amiable niece." 
 
 The London season is over, and the Queen, Prince 
 Albert, Lady Lyttelton, and the royal infants are 
 once more at breezy Claremont where the omniscient 
 compiler of " The Court and Haut Ton " assures 
 
 126
 
 At Restful Claremont 
 
 us " the Court generally abandons a great portion 
 of its regal state. The Princess Royal may be seen 
 trotting about the grounds on her little pony, or 
 playing on a large cloth spread on the lawn — the 
 Prince of Wales sprawling about, in vain endeavours 
 to reach the boundary of his dominions, that is 
 to say the said table-cloth. The Dowager Lady 
 Lyttelton maintains a constant surveillance over 
 the royal children." A few days later the King 
 of Prussia's christening present arrives, and is 
 described with all the minuteness it merits. " The 
 object of art which excited the greatest interest 
 at Berlin, is the present which the King of Prussia 
 sends to the Prince of Wales as a godfather's gift. 
 This gift is a shield, whose material is gold and gems, 
 with every possible resource of ornament which 
 the art of the goldsmith offers. Stuler is the 
 artist and his graceful inventions for ornaments 
 exceed even those of Schinkel. The gold and gems, 
 however, are secondary to the beautiful designs for 
 the shield, which are by Cornelius, being the first 
 important work he has executed in Berlin. Its 
 form is circular, and the subjects chiefly religious, 
 containing the principal mysteries of the Christian 
 religion." 
 
 The Queen and Prince Albert go for a short 
 yachting excursion, but the little ones at home are 
 always in their thoughts. On September 4 Her 
 Majesty writes in her journal : " On board the 
 Royal George yacht, September 4, 1842. — Received 
 from Lady Lyttelton good accounts of our little 
 children." On the previous day the British public 
 had learned with equal satisfaction that " The Prince 
 of Wales and the Princess Royal are in excellent 
 health and have taken their usual airings accom- 
 panied by the Dowager Lady Lyttelton." On 
 
 127
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 September 24, the Queen and Prince Albert return 
 to Windsor from their first expedition to Scotland. 
 
 On November 9 Lord Mayor Humphrey proposes 
 the health of the Heir Apparent in the presence 
 of the assembled citizens at Guildhall, Sir Robert 
 Peel, Lord Stanley (not yet the " Rupert of 
 Debate ") and Lord John Russell, being all amongst 
 his guests. *' This day," said the newly invested 
 Chief Magistrate, " being the anniversary of the birth 
 of the Prince of Wales will long be memorable in 
 the annals of the country." The menu was worthy 
 of the occasion. It consisted of " 250 tureens of 
 real turtle, containing 5 pints each ; 200 bottles 
 of sherbet ; 6 dishes of fish ; 30 entries ; 4 boiled 
 turkeys and oysters ; 60 roasted pullets ; 60 dishes 
 of fowls ; 46 dishes of capons ; 50 French pies ; 
 60 pigeon pies ; 53 hams (ornamented) ; 43 tongues ; 
 2 quarters of house-lamb ; 2 barons of beef ; 3 
 rounds of beef ; 2 stewed rumps of beef ; 13 sirloins, 
 rumps and ribs of beef ; 6 dishes of asparagus ; 69 
 dishes of mashed and other potatoes ; 44 dishes of 
 shell fish ; 4 ditto of prawns ; 140 jellies ; 50 
 blancmanges ; 40 dishes of tarts (creamed) ; 30 
 ditto of orange and other tourtes ; 40 ditto of 
 almond pastry ; 20 Chantilly baskets ; 60 dishes 
 of mince pies ; 56 salads. The Removes — 80 roast 
 turkeys ; 6 leverets ; 80 pheasants ; 24 geese ; 40 
 dishes of partridges; 15 ditto wild fowl; 2 pea- 
 fowls. Dessert — 100 pine-apples from i lb. to 3 lbs. 
 each ; 200 dishes of hot-house grapes ; 250 ice 
 creams ; 50 dishes of apples ; 100 ditto of pears ; 
 60 ornamented Savoy cakes ; 75 plates of walnuts ; 
 80 of dried fruits and preserves ; 50 ditto of pre- 
 served ginger ; 60 ditto of rout cakes and chips ; 
 46 ditto of brandied cherries ; 4 dishes of Selim's 
 
 (Captain White's) true Indian curries. The last is 
 
 128
 
 A First Birthday 
 
 quite new to the gourmands of the City, and was 
 much appreciated." 
 
 On the evening of the previous day Mr. W. C. 
 Ross had had an audience of the Queen in order to 
 submit to the Queen and Prince Albert a proof 
 impression of an engraving of the Prince of Wales and 
 Princess Royal taken from a drawing executed by 
 Sir William Ross at the express command of the 
 Queen. If there was any lack of enthusiasm in 
 the West End, it was assuredly amply compensated 
 for both in the City and at Windsor. " The illu- 
 mination in town," says the Times, " on the first 
 anniversary of the birthday of the Prince of Wales 
 was by no means general. Several of the club 
 houses were illuminated and a few warrant holders 
 exhibited flares." 
 
 As far as the loyal and " Royal Borough " is con- 
 cerned, we learn that on November 9 " Her Majesty 
 and his Royal Highness Prince Albert took walking 
 exercise both in the morning and afternoon. Her 
 Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent paid a congratu- 
 latory visit to her Majesty and his Royal Highness 
 Prince Albert on the first anniversary of the birth of 
 his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, whose 
 birthday was celebrated at Windsor with great 
 rejoicing. In the forenoon the 2nd Regiment 
 of Life Guards, under the command of Colonel 
 Reid, and the Grenadier Guards, under the com- 
 mand of Colonel Thornton, marched into the Home 
 Park, and fired a fsu de joie. The regiments after- 
 wards marched past in review order. In the evening 
 most of the tradespeople illuminated. The follow- 
 ing is the programme of the music performed at the 
 Palace by the band of the Grenadier Guards : 
 Pas Redouble, specially composed by her Royal 
 Highness the Duchess of Kent, to celebrate the 
 
 129 I
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 first anniversary of the birth of his Royal Highness 
 the Prince of Wales ; Duo ' Quis est Homo ' (' Stabat 
 Mater'), Rossini; Waltz 'Homage to his Royal 
 Highness the Prince of Wales,' composed expressly 
 by Rudolph Sibold ; Grand March, his Royal 
 Highness the Prince of Wales's (Costa) ; National 
 Divertimento, arranged expressly by Rudolph 
 Sibold and Galop (M. S. Labitzky)." 
 
 If the railway was safe for the Queen, the Heir 
 Apparent may very well encounter the same risk, 
 now rapidly diminishing in the minds of the British 
 people. The Queen and Prince Albert had resolved 
 to pay a visit to the Duke of Wellington at the official 
 abode of the Warden of the Cinque Ports — Walmer 
 Castle, once the favourite abode of Pitt. On 
 November lo the whole party (with every available 
 precaution against danger) journeyed from Slough 
 to Paddington, posting then to Walmer by way of 
 Canterbury, the Duke meeting his guests at Sand- 
 wich. 
 
 The Court Circular announces on November ii, 
 that " The Queen and Prince Albert accompanied 
 by the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal and 
 suite arrived by a special train at the Paddington 
 terminus of the Great Western Railway yesterday 
 morning from Windsor Castle. ' The Prince ' 
 was the name of the engine which drew the august 
 party to the metropolis on their way to Walmer 
 Castle."* 
 
 The " royal infants " were carried across the draw- 
 bridge to their apartments, and it was duly announced 
 that " The portion of the fortress appropriated 
 for the exclusive use of their Royal Highnesses the 
 Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, the Dowager 
 
 * The Court Newsman was mistaken. " Prince " was not con- 
 structed till August 1846 and was broken up in 1870. 
 
 130
 
 CO 
 
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 I— I 
 '>< 
 
 b 
 
 O 
 
 w 
 o 
 
 SI 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 M 

 
 The Prince of Wales at Walmer 
 
 Lady Lyttelton and the attendants upon the Prince 
 and Princess, are the outworks, or the north tower, 
 with the windows facing a northerly direction. 
 Four rooms have been thus set apart for the depart- 
 ment of the royal nursery." 
 
 " Mr. Punch " in his happiest vein makes merry 
 of these incidents, and declares that " The room 
 chosen for the royal nursery is generally subjected 
 to squalls. Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal 
 has been presented with a wooden spade and has 
 employed a portion of her leisure in digging small 
 holes in the sand, while her royal brother (' little 
 Wales ' as he is familiarly called) has looked on at 
 the operation with infantine interest." 
 
 On the return journey (December 3) the Queen 
 and her party " posted " through Canterbury, 
 Rochester, Dartford, and Blackheath. After passing 
 through Greenwich, Deptford, New Cross, and 
 Peckham they travelled to Windsor by Great 
 Western Railway. Meanwhile a subject had 
 attracted the grave attention of the Times (Novem- 
 ber 25) : " A short time ago," writes a correspondent, 
 " a curiously wrought mat of 23 11 variegated pieces 
 made by a poor blind widow named Sarah Drew 
 was forwarded to the Secretary of State accom- 
 panied with a written request that he would cause 
 it to be presented to her Majesty for the young 
 Prince of Wales. The following reply from the 
 Home Office, has been received since by the donor : 
 
 ' Whitehall, November 10. 
 
 ' Madam, — I am directed by Secretary Sir 
 James Graham to acknowledge the receipt of a mat 
 sent by you to the Home Ofhce as a present to His 
 Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and I am 
 further requested to inform you that the same has
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 been duly forwarded by him to the Queen at 
 Windsor. 
 
 'I remain, Madam, yours, 
 'S. M. Phillips. 
 
 'To Mr?. Drew, opposite Bartlett's nursery, Sidmouth.' " 
 
 The very name of Sidmouth evidently touched 
 a tender chord in the Queen's heart. The Prince 
 of Wales's second Christmas was at hand. We are 
 told it was kept up at Windsor in good Old English 
 style, although on account of its falling on a Sunday 
 no guests were invited. The royal dinner-table 
 exhibited a noble baron of beef, and the servants 
 were, according to custom, regaled with toast and 
 ale. The marriage of the Princess Clementina of 
 Orleans * to Prince Augustus Saxe-Coburg of Cohari, 
 was now announced as decided on. 
 
 It was now time for the question of the education 
 of the " royal infants," as " Haut Ton " insisted 
 on calling them, to engross the attention of their 
 father and mother, indeed a discussion concerning 
 it had commenced as far back as 1840, after the 
 birth of the Princess Royal. The whole subject, 
 which is as interesting as it is important, will be 
 dealt with in the next chapter. 
 
 The early part of 1843 was spent at Claremont, 
 whither the Princess Royal travelled in the same 
 carriage with the Queen and Prince Albert without 
 any nurse or attendant whatever. The Prince of 
 Wales, however, seems to have remained at Windsor. 
 
 * Princess Clementina is now (1906) the only survivor of the 
 numerous children of King Louis Philippe and Queen Marie Amdlie. 
 Her sister Louise was in 1842 the second wife of the " Uncle Leopold " 
 of Queen Victoria's correspondence. Born only two years after 
 Waterloo and now on the eve of becoming a nonagenarian she is to-day 
 a living link between the reign of George IIL and that of King 
 Edward VIL 
 
 132
 
 
 
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 W 
 
 w 
 
 2 
 
 
 O 
 H 
 
 O 
 
 w 
 
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 ■5 
 
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 > 
 
 c
 
 "Punch" and his " Pencinings " 
 
 The Court returns to Windsor at the end of January, 
 and it was not till Tuesday, March 7, that it 
 " removed to Buckingham Palace, the Princess 
 Royal travelling with the Queen and Prince Albert, 
 the Prince of Wales being accompanied by Dowager 
 Lady Lyttelton." " Mr. Punch " once more appears 
 to take a kindly interest in the Heir Apparent. In 
 His Pencilling LXIV., entitled, " The First Tooth," 
 the venerable Archbishop of Canterbury is depicted 
 in the act of presenting a row of toy soldiers to the 
 Prince — Queen Victoria triumphantly pointing to 
 the fresh development. The caricature is badly 
 drawn by Kenny Meadows, who gives the infant 
 Prince a preposterous cap surmounted by three 
 feathers. Then we have a " Royal Nursery Circu- 
 lar," from which the following items are culled : 
 
 " The Prince of Wales was safely delivered of a 
 tooth one day last week, when Sir Charles Ross, 
 the miniature painter, received instructions for 
 drawing it. 
 
 " The Prince of Wales was rather fretful on 
 Thursday last, and Black Rod was ordered to be in 
 attendance. The aid of Black Rod was, however, 
 dispensed with. 
 
 " On the anniversary of the Queen's marriage 
 an entertainment was given in the royal nursery. 
 Lollipops were laid for two, and in the evening 
 there was an exhibition of the magic lantern." 
 
 A week later (March 14) the Queen Dowager, 
 who takes the deepest interest in all that concerns 
 her husband's successor and her children, comes to 
 see them at Buckingham Palace. On April i 
 following, the Illustrated London News (now nearing 
 its own first birthday) contains a second portrait 
 of the Prince of Wales, in which he is depicted 
 
 133
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 standing by a sofa, with his head resting on a cushion, 
 and wearing a large hat with a plume of feathers, 
 a necklace, sash and lace frock. It is stated to be 
 a companion to a much better-known portrait of 
 the late Comte de Paris, which had previously- 
 appeared in the same journal. Below it are the 
 following verses : 
 
 " Child of the Queen and people — for love's bond 
 Bids them, no less than her, deem thee their own — 
 Now thou art but a baby of the throne, 
 The petted beauty of the fair and fond; 
 The sun of childhood shining in thy heart, 
 While its light frolic plays upon thy cheek, 
 And thou amongst the delicate and weak 
 Of the World's flowers. Years, that strength impart, 
 Shall into manhood thy brave limbs unfold. 
 May Heaven, too, cast thy soul in honour's mould 
 That so, unfurled for greatness, the fair sails 
 Of thy life-ship may fill with fav'ring gales 
 Of popular esteem ; — and pride untold 
 Make England glory in her Prince of Wales. 
 
 " Then, when thy years have unto fulness grown, 
 And thou art as a tree — Oh ! may thy fruit 
 Be worthy of the rich and noble root 
 That thou didst spring from ! Grace thou thy throne 
 Like thy young mother ! So much lustre shed. 
 To shine beyond the jewels in thy crown ! 
 Be like thy sire, when love shall bid thee wed, 
 And wear the virtues which they both hand down ; 
 So shall the Nation bless thee for thy worth, 
 In manhood, as it blesseth thy childhood's birth ; 
 So shall thy fame to other nations ring. 
 And thou unto thy trusting subjects cling — 
 And then, above all other kings of Earth, 
 Will make Old England glory in her King. 
 
 On the same day (a very unfortunate date) an 
 announcement appears that a rumour is current 
 in Court circles that " a separate establishment will 
 shortly be formed for His Royal Highness the Prince 
 
 134
 
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 3! 
 
 W 
 
 2 
 
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 > 
 
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 K 
 
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 A Ridiculous Rumour 
 
 of Wales. There is every reason to believe that a 
 number of domestics will shortly be put to look 
 after the young Prince not in any way connected 
 with Her Majesty's household." 
 
 Such a unique opportunity must not be missed, 
 and exactly one week later (April 7, 1843), we are 
 favoured with : 
 
 " The Prince of Wales's Household. 
 
 " The public will see with infinite satisfaction 
 that the Prince of Wales is about to have a separate 
 household. Some have imagined that a baby- 
 house is alluded to, but we have ascertained that 
 such is not the case, and the following may be relied 
 on as being as accurate a list as it is possible to obtain 
 of the projected establishment : 
 
 "Master of the Rocking Horse 
 Comptroller of the Juvenile Vagaries 
 Sugar Stick in Waiting 
 Captain of the Tin Guard 
 Black Rod in Ordinary- 
 Master of the Trap Ordnance 
 Clerk of the Pea Shooter 
 
 Assistant Battledore 
 
 Lord Privy Shuttlecock 
 
 Quartermaster-General of the Oranges. 
 
 " It is not yet decided by whom these ofHces 
 are to be filled, but there is no doubt His Royal 
 Highness will manifest considerable discretion in 
 making the appointments for the ' separate house- 
 hold ' which has been so properly assigned to 
 him." 
 
 On April 29, 1843, the Queen's second daughter 
 and third child was born at Buckingham Palace, to 
 be later known in the history of the Victorian 
 Royal family as " Princess Alice." The Illustrated 
 
 135
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 London News once more burst into poetry, and 
 favoured its readers with an ode commencing : 
 
 " Sing, gladly sing ! 
 Let voice and string 
 The royal birth proclaim. 
 It comes in peace, 
 Let discord cease, 
 And blow the trump'of fame," 
 
 and ending with the lines : 
 
 " And she — the royal mother — wife 
 To one, but master of all hearts, 
 May she be blessed in the life 
 Whose dawn breaks not o'er nation's strife, 
 But e'en imparts 
 
 Another sigh, like the prismatic zone 
 Which binds the water cloud. 
 That nothing gloomy ever may enshroud 
 Hearts — her love-mates — people, or her throne." 
 
 Mrs. Lilly, who had acted as nurse on the occasion 
 of the birth of the Princess Royal and Prince of 
 Wales, and now almost a national institution, was 
 again in attendance. The Princess was reported 
 to be a line healthy child. 
 
 The addition thus made to the ranks of the 
 Queen's children became the signal for a mild out- 
 burst of caricatures for one of which T. McLean, 26 
 Haymarket, is responsible. It was headed, " A First 
 Lesson on the Welsh Harp," and in it we have the 
 Queen with Princess Alice in arms, and Prince Albert 
 leaning over her chair, with Eos, a parrot and other 
 canine pets in the foreground. The Prince of 
 Wales sits in an impossible baby-chair, a grim nurse 
 holding him^byhis sash^while he plays on a gigantic 
 harp. 
 
 In another, facetiously entitled, " 1855 — A Scene 
 in Perspective," an endless procession of royal 
 olive branches is foreshadowed, while in a third 
 
 136
 
 THE INTERIOR OF "PRINCE ALBERTS STOCK^ 
 
 A TOY-PICTURK PUBLISHED ABOUT 1844
 
 " Tender Annuals " 
 
 to be known as " Tender Annuals," the same subject 
 is dealt with by the aid of an equally large number 
 of miniature cucumber frames. In a fourth Prince 
 Albert is depicted teaching his son his letters from 
 a lengthy pictorial scroll : 
 
 A anticorn law leagues bother the nation 
 
 B at which poor John Bull looks in great tribulation 
 
 C stands for the Church, Constitution and Crown 
 
 D stands for Daniel who would pull them all down 
 * * * * * 
 
 I an Income Tax a terrible thing 
 
 K cries kick it down when you will be King ; 
 
 and so forth; while Queen Victoria with Princess Alice 
 in her arms, and the Princess Royal at her knee, looks 
 on approvingly. It was at this time that colour- 
 prints of the Queen, Prince Albert and their 
 children walking, riding and driving, either at 
 Windsor or in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, 
 achieved a sudden and widespread popularity. Many 
 of them, like the Windsor Pear and Prince Albert's 
 Stock, were made amusing by some " practical " 
 feature.* The newly born Princess was baptized 
 in due course on June 6. " Mr. Punch " just about 
 this time manages to fall foul of the grant of arms 
 to the Prince of Wales which had disturbed the 
 equanimity of Mr. Charles Greville.f We are told 
 that : " Among the items of extravagance for the 
 past year is one of ^^55 13J. 6d. for altering the Prince 
 of Wales's Arms. We presume this must refer 
 to the necessary enlargement of the sleeves of all 
 His Royal Highness's frocks. It is a curious fact 
 that as the sleeve comes down only an inch below 
 the shoulder, His^^Royal Highness is literally out 
 of elbows." 
 
 A little later it is announced that " Some sensa- 
 
 * See «K/if, p. 85. t Sec ^«/^, p. 109. 
 
 137
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 tion has been caused in the royal household by an 
 order recently issued by command of her Majesty. 
 It is well known that the Queen and Prince Albert 
 are early risers and every morning at 9 o'clock 
 they invariably attend prayers in the chapel at 
 which the ladies and women of the bed-chamber, 
 maids-of-honour and all domestics are strictlv en- 
 joined to attend, excepting only those who are, 
 as it is termed, in ' close waiting.' On Sunday 
 also it is expected that all in the royal household 
 attend Divine service twice in the new chapel." 
 
 The political outlook once more becomes gloomy. 
 A projected visit to Ireland has to be abandoned 
 on account of the disturbed state of the country, 
 and another proposed trip to Walmer also falls 
 through. In July Prince Albert goes alone to 
 Bristol (in the new and ornate saloon provided by 
 the Directors of the Great Western Railway for 
 the use of the Queen)* to witness the launch of the 
 Great Britain steamship which was expected to 
 effect something very like a commercial revolution. 
 The following brief record of a Sunday at Windsor 
 (August 1843) reminds one forcibly of Fanny 
 Burney's small talk of half a century previously : 
 
 " Windsor, Sunday, August 6. — This morning 
 Her Majesty and Prince Albert attended Divine 
 service at the chapel in the park. In the afternoon 
 Her Majesty and Prince Albert, with the whole of 
 the distinguished guests and suite, walked out on 
 the grand promenade on the Terrace. The bands 
 of the 1st Lifeguards and the 1st Coldstream 
 Guards were present and the attendance was very 
 numerous. The Prince of Wales, the Princess Alice 
 
 * Now relegated along with other sacred relics of the broad 
 gauge to the historical museum at Swindon. 
 
 138
 
 THE QUEEN AM) llKi; TWO KI.DER CHILDUKN. 1S43 
 
 AKIKK SIU E. l.ANDSKKU
 
 A Marine Excursion 
 
 and the Princess Royal appeared at the windows 
 of the Victoria Tower. Amongst the guests were 
 the King of Hanover, Prince Alexander of Orange, 
 &c." 
 
 During the following week the Queen and Prince 
 Albert go to Stowe, and the birthday of the latter 
 on August 26 is the signal for the usual homely 
 rejoicings at Windsor. A little later the Queen 
 started with Prince Albert on a marine excursion 
 to the beautiful west coast for which she always 
 entertained an unfeigned admiration. Her Majesty 
 did not land either at Weymouth or Portland, but 
 the Mayor of Weymouth * paid his dutiable respects 
 to the Queen on board the royal yacht. 
 
 The now forgotten " Rebecca " riots in Wales 
 gave " Mr. Punch " one more opportunity of acting 
 the candid friend and an amusing article appears 
 which John Leech heads with a delightful vignette 
 portrait of the two-year-old Heir Apparent. 
 
 " The State of Wales. 
 
 a 
 
 We have been given to understand that the 
 Dowager Lady Lyttelton has not been insensible 
 to the necessity of explaining to the Prince of Wales 
 the unhappy condition of the locality from which 
 his Royal Highness derives his title. Her ladyship, 
 we believe, introduced the subject in the following 
 delicate manner : ' Ah do they agitate his little 
 principality, and ruffle his little feathers for him, 
 a dear ? Does Miss Becca pull down the nasty 
 turnpikes ? ' — and so forth." 
 
 These remarks did not presumably vary the daily 
 routine for which Lady Lyttelton was responsible 
 at the Brighton Pavilion, where the Prince of Wales 
 
 * Mr. A. W. Horsford. 
 139
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 and his sisters had gone for the benefit of the pure 
 sea air in the efficacy of which both the Queen and 
 her husband were always firm believers. 
 
 The pilgrimage by sea to the Chateau d'Eu, 
 undertaken doubtless by her Majesty from motives 
 of high expedience, does not come within the scope 
 of this book. Louis Philippe was never popular 
 in England, and the caricatures it gave rise to were 
 not characterised by the usual kindly spirit shown 
 to the young Queen. It is to be hoped that H. H. 
 their author was not H. B. Some very beautiful 
 illustrations of " the great picnic " (which proved 
 much more successful and enjoyable than was ex- 
 pected) appeared both in London and Paris. " Mr. 
 Punch " proved quite equal to the occasion. There 
 was no sting of bitterness in the sketch (possibly 
 by Thackeray) of " Young France " (the Comte 
 de Paris in uniform) and " Young England " (the 
 Prince of Wales — with the traditional gigantic 
 plume of feathers), or in the dialogue : 
 
 " Young England. Ah ! parlez-vous is that 
 you ? _ ^ . , 
 
 "Young France. Oui, Monsieur Vales. 
 
 "Young E. What, you want to play at soldiers 
 again do you ? You've forgotten Waterloo, parlez- 
 vous ? 
 
 "Young F. No Mons Vales. I thank you for 
 reminding me of that injury. 
 
 "Young E. Pshaw! injury — has not it made us 
 friends, -parlez-vous ? 
 
 "Young F. Visiting acquaintances if you please, 
 Mons Vales. Ah ! there is another wrong never 
 to be forgotten. 
 
 "Young E. What do you mean]? 
 
 "Young F. Remember Eu ! 
 
 140
 
 Brighton and its Breezes 
 
 Young E. I was not there — it was my mamma, 
 the Queen, who visited your grandad. 
 
 "Young F. True — but that devastating invasion 
 of my native land — my beloved France — can never 
 be expunged from my memory, or that of the 
 Editor of the National. Listen to the inquiries 
 of that noble but parsimonious patriot, ' What has 
 become of the gigantic cheeses which the King 
 (" my grandad ") imported from England ? ' I make 
 the same inquiry. Let your mamma answer it." 
 
 A patriotic French paper had preferred against 
 the Roi Bourgeois the grave indictment of having 
 imported sundry Cheshire cheeses and barrels of 
 porter for the delectation of his guests. 
 
 The health of the Prince of Wales in the first 
 years of his life was reported to be delicate, and the 
 air of Brighton seems to have done wonders for him. 
 The Queen and Prince Albert joined their children 
 there at the conclusion of their French visit, bring- 
 ing with them the Prince de Joinville, whose face 
 and whiskers always proved a fortune to caricaturists 
 on both sides of the Channel. Later in the year 
 it was whispered that the Prince of Wales was to 
 return there, and Mr. Punch makes the following 
 comments on the current report : 
 
 " It is stated in the papers that if the Prince of 
 Wales goes for his health to Brighton, two com- 
 panies of Grenadiers will be sent to attend on his 
 Royal Flighness. Punch begs leave to propose that 
 the company of his own Granny dear — the Duchess 
 of Kent of course — would be far more conducive 
 to the Prince of Wales's comfort and convenience." 
 
 The " Haut Ton " items of news from Brighton 
 are sufficiently amusing : 
 
 " At 7.30 on Saturday morning, September 9, 
 
 141
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Prince Albert rode to Kemptown unattended, and 
 bathed in the sea from one of Cheeseman's machines, 
 " September ii. — The Prince of Wales and his 
 royal sisters take a carriage airing in the morning 
 to Shoreham, and in the afternoon to Rotting- 
 deane. The Princess Royal and Princess Alice will, 
 it is expected, leave for Windsor next Tuesday on 
 which day their royal parents are expected to return 
 from Ostend. The Prince of Wales, it is said, will 
 remain at Brighton for some time." 
 
 Prince Albert is now (October 1843) sufficiently 
 occupied with the cares of his Flemish farm * at 
 Windsor, and some salutary reforms in the uniform 
 of the British soldier. Mr. Punch accordingly 
 makes the Prince of Wales figure in two amusing 
 and quite innocuous cartoons. In the first he is 
 seen in his father's studio, while the unlucky " in- 
 fantry hat " (doubtless a much-needed and highly 
 sanitary improvement) is poetically addressed : 
 
 " And look at the beautiful Infantry hat 
 Did aught ever bear a resemblance to that ? 
 With its side ventilation, intended, 'tis said, 
 To keep all the soldiers quite cool in the head." 
 
 A week or so later appeared " Prince Albert the 
 British Farmer." He is made to wear a smock- 
 frock emblazoned with the royal arms, while the 
 Prince of Wales munches a turnip, and the Queen 
 gives milk hot from the cow to one of her daughters. 
 The birthday of the Prince of Wales was feted 
 this year [i 843] at Windsor. The following account 
 is given of the proceedings : " This being the anni- 
 versary of the Prince of Wales's birthday the 1st 
 
 * The Flemish farm, Windsor Great Park, originally established 
 in 1798 by George III., was neglected by George IV., taken up 
 again by William IV. and finally made a great success of by Prince 
 Albert. 
 
 142
 
 Another Birthday 
 
 Regiment of Lifeguards under the command of 
 Colonel Hall, and the 2nd Battalion of Grenadier 
 Guards, under Commander Home, marched into 
 the Home Park at lo o'clock this morning. The 
 Lifeguards formed the right angle and the Grenadier 
 Guards the centre and left angle immediately below 
 the south Terrace. Shortly afterwards the Queen 
 and Prince Albert, leading the Prince of Wales, 
 came on the grounds by a subterranean passage 
 to the Grand Parterre, accompanied by Prince 
 and Princess Hohenlohe, and their attendants. 
 The troops presented arms, and the band played 
 ' God save the Queen.' Her Majesty wore 
 a green striped satin dress, with white bonnet, 
 and the prince was dressed in his hunting costume. 
 Colonel Home, the senior officer, took command 
 of both regiments and gave the word to fire a feu 
 de joie, which was done by the Grenadier Guards. 
 After firing the third time both regiments ordered 
 arms, caps off and gave three cheers. A poem 
 was published on the occasion of the anniversary, 
 concluding with the three following verses : 
 
 ' But then the hope of Brunswick's line, 
 Whom a great Empire fondly hails ; 
 Whose sun will rise when ours decline, 
 We greet thee Albert, Prince of Wales. 
 The sword of the Black Prince be thine, 
 And thine Great Henry's kindly soul, 
 To rule our line with sway benign, 
 And know none save the law's control. 
 
 ' Bright is the scene — the royal flag 
 In prouder blazon seems displayed — 
 The cannon roars — and flies the stag 
 Startled through hoary winter's glades 
 Peer and peasant, — castle, cot — 
 All bless tlie royal Mother's smiles ; 
 Less happy in her sovereign lot 
 Than as matron of the British Isles. 
 
 H3
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 May duty guide the Monarch-Child,] 
 May science o'er his boyhood glow. 
 May manhood's passion stern and wild 
 Ne'er strew for him a path of woe 
 Blessing and blessed, may give old age — 
 And when from life his name departs 
 May it shine out in history's page 
 And treasured in the People's hearts.' " 
 
 " Christmas," the same chronicler continues, 
 " was kept as usual at Windsor. On the return 
 of the royal pair from their afteinoon drive her 
 Majesty and Prince Albert very unexpectedly paid 
 a visit to the royal kitchen for the purpose of in- 
 specting several splendid joints of beef previous to 
 being cooked, the produce of beasts fattened on the 
 farm of the Prince Consort in Windsor Great Park. 
 Several Cochin China pullets and other poultry 
 intended for the royal table were also inspected by 
 the Queen and Prince, and greatly admired. The 
 banquet took place in the grand dining-room, the 
 chief dish, according to old English custom, being 
 a splendid baron of beef, nearly four feet long, 
 between two and three feet in width, and weighing 
 nearly i8o lbs. There was likewise placed upon 
 one of the side-tables the hump of the Brahmin 
 ox presented to Her Majesty by Viscount Comber- 
 mere, and slaughtered at the Royal Dairy in the 
 latter part of last month. The hump weighed 
 28 lbs., and was cured after the most approved 
 fashion under the immediate superintendence of 
 the royal purveyor. It possessed a most delightful 
 fiavour, and was greatly admired by Her Majesty's 
 guests." 
 
 Prince Albert is now evidently rapidly gaining 
 
 ground in public opinion. On January 6 [1844] the 
 
 Illustrated London News publishes his portrait with 
 
 some highly laudatory verses in his honour. A few 
 
 144
 
 Mr. Barnum and Tom Thumb 
 
 days arc spent at Clarcmont as usual, and towards 
 the end of the month we are informed that the 
 usual " routine of healthful exercises has been 
 observed at Windsor Castle during the week. Her 
 Majesty and the infantine members of the royal 
 family frequently take carriage drives, while Prince 
 Albert has addicted himself with increasing avidity 
 to sports of the field." 
 
 In March an elaborately carved arm-chair made 
 of Norfolk oak (not a particularly useful present 
 one would think for a child rising three) is pre- 
 sented to the Prince of Wales. In April the King 
 and Queen of the Belgians visit Queen Victoria at 
 Buckingham Palace, and the Princess Royal as well 
 as the Prince of Wales witnessed the performances 
 of " Tom Thumb," otherwise known as Charles 
 H. Stratton. The astute P. T. Barnum was then 
 winning his spurs as the greatest showman of the 
 century, and he flooded the market with pamphlets 
 and pictures (including a good many portraits of 
 P. T. Barnum) dealing with the achievements of 
 the American dwarf at Buckingham Palace on 
 March 23 and April i, 1844. The plume of the 
 Prince of Wales occupies a prominent place in most 
 of Mr. Barnum's pictorial productions, both plain 
 and coloured. The American man-in-miniature 
 (the word dwarf was far too commonplace for the 
 vocabulary of puff) became the rage of the hour, 
 and all London followed in the Queen's footsteps. 
 It is difficult to credit Mr. Barnum's veracity as 
 to the number and value of the presents showered 
 by his royal patrons (King Leopold, Queen Louise, 
 and Queen Adelaide as well as Queen Victoria 
 and Prince Albert) on the fortunate midget. " Mr. 
 Punch " scented a dangerous rival in Mr. Barnum, 
 and a fortnight later proceeded to denounce the 
 
 145 K
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 favours "lavished on the American Tom Thumb, 
 whose astounding genius is to measure in his boots 
 five-and-twenty inches." The Chronicle appears 
 to have given an elaborate account of the second 
 performance of Tom Thumb at Buckingham Palace : 
 " We learn that at the conclusion of the entertain- 
 ment Her Majesty the Queen was pleased to 
 present to the General, with her own hand, a superb 
 souvenir of the most exquisite handicraft, manu- 
 factured of mother-of-pearl and mounted with 
 gold and precious stones. On one side were the 
 Royal initials V.R. and crown, and on the reverse 
 bouquets of flowers in emeralds and rubies. In 
 addition to this splendid gift Her Majesty subse- 
 quently presented the General with a beautiful 
 gold pencil-case with his initials, and coat-of-arms, 
 on the emerald surmounting the case, accompany- 
 ing the royal souvenir with an expression of Her 
 Majesty's high gratification at the versatile talents 
 of the General, and also complimenting Mr. Barnum, 
 his guardian, on the aptness of his pupil. The 
 General then made his conge amidst the congratula- 
 tions of the royal party. Tom Thumb's persona- 
 tion of the Emperor Napoleon appears to have 
 elicited much mirth, the Queen of Belgium, a 
 daughter of Louis Philippe, being amongst the 
 audience. This was followed by a representation 
 of the Grecian statues, after which the General 
 danced a hornpipe and sang several comic songs," 
 
 In Punch's Almanack for 1844, under the title 
 the " Royal Gleaners," another hit is made at the 
 Flemish farm as well as at the simple life led by 
 the Queen at Windsor. History was repeating itself, 
 only happily John Leech sat in the seat of James 
 Gillray. 
 
 Now occurs the first mention of Osborne, destined 
 
 146
 
 On the Shores of the Solent 
 
 during the next few years to play a very important 
 part in the upbringing of the heir to the throne and 
 his brothers and sisters. The original house on the 
 Osborne estate was wholly inadequate for the ac- 
 commodation of a Court even on the most modest 
 scale, and the following paragraph of what would 
 have been called forty years later " society news " 
 speaks for itself : 
 
 " The Royal Nursery. — While Her Majesty and 
 Prince Albert are inhaling the invigorating and 
 genial sea breeze, and rusticating at Osborne in 
 the Isle of Wight, the royal progeny will be domi- 
 ciled at the picturesque seat at Eaglehurst, which 
 has been selected in the marine interests of the royal 
 infants. The stately tower of Eaglehurst is not far 
 from Calshot Castle in the Southampton river, 
 commanding beautiful sea views in all directions, 
 and is surrounded with royal plantations. It was 
 formerly the seat of the Earl of Cavan and originally 
 built by Temple Luttrell. The lofty tower of 
 Eaglehurst is well known as Luttrell's Folly." 
 
 Prince Albert at this juncture paid a flying visit 
 to his native country but is soon back again, and 
 early in May accompanies the Queen when she pays 
 an official visit to the Royal Academy.* Illustra- 
 tions are now published of the eight frescoes by 
 British artists on the walls of the Buckingham 
 Palace pavilion, the neighbourhood of which is 
 " enlivened by the presence of a number of foreign 
 birds which are special favourites with the royal 
 children." Charles Kemble gave a private reading 
 of Cymbeline at Buckingham Palace towards the 
 end of the month (May), but the royal children 
 
 * Many details of the "Academy" of 1844 are given in the 
 reminiscences of Mr. W. P. Frith (see ante, p. 81).
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 were not present. Neither that nor the visits of the 
 King of Saxony and the Emperor of Russia were 
 allowed to disturb the " daily airings " so beneficial 
 to their health and vigour. 
 
 At the end of July the arrival of the indispensable 
 Mrs. Lilly at Windsor is recorded, and the public 
 learn a few days later that " two engines to be 
 attached to special trains have been commanded to 
 be kept in constant readiness with their steam up 
 both day and night at the Paddington terminus 
 of the G.W.R. (the famous railway to the West was 
 already familiarly known by those three initials), to 
 start at 5 minutes' notice for the Slough station for 
 the purpose of conveying the Great Officers of State 
 to Windsor Castle on their being summoned from 
 Town on the interesting and auspicious occasion 
 of the accouchement of Her Majesty. A powerful 
 alarum has just been fixed at the Galvanic Tele- 
 graphy office at Paddington communicating with 
 the telegraph office at Slough for the purpose of 
 arousing the attendant who sleeps at the office, in 
 the event of a telegraphic message reaching the 
 Terminus from Windsor during the night. A 
 trusted person has also been appointed to remain 
 in attendance at the Slough Station throughout 
 the whole of the night. It is computed that a 
 message can be sent from Windsor to Slough in 
 25 minutes."* 
 
 The Queen's second son and fourth child was born 
 at Windsor in the early morning of August 6, 1844, 
 and the projected telegraphic arrangements appear 
 to have worked admirably. "At two minutes past 
 
 * This dispels the legend that the first practical use of telegraphy 
 was to facilitate the arrest of Tawell, the Salt Hill murderer, in 1845. 
 On the contrary it was clearly employed in 1 844 to announce the 
 birth of a Royal Prince. 
 
 148
 
 An Early Telegram 
 
 six A.M.," we are told, "a messenger was despatched 
 from the Castle to Slough, and the intelligence com- 
 municated to the Cabinet in Town by means of 
 the electro-magnetic telegraph within ii minutes. 
 The first special which reached Slough from Pad- 
 dington arrived at the station at 23 minutes past 
 8 o'clock, having performed the 18^ miles in exactly 
 18 minutes, being at the extraordinary rate of more 
 than 60 miles an hour. The second special train 
 from Paddington, which brought down Sir Robert 
 Peel and Lord Stanley, reached Slough at 40 minutes 
 past 8. His Grace the Duke of Wellington arrived 
 in a third special train performing the distance 
 from Paddington to Slough in lyi minutes." 
 
 The Illustrated London News is pardonably 
 enthusiastic : 
 
 " This issue gives an illustration of the electric 
 telegraph station at Slough and more information 
 of the extraordinary feat accomplished on the 
 occasion of the birth of the Duke of Edinburgh. 
 The messenger reached Slough station within 
 eight minutes of his departure from the Castle, 
 viz., 10 past 6 o'clock, and although Mr. Russell, 
 the gentleman who has charge of the telegraph 
 office, and Mr. Howell had to be called from their 
 beds, yet such was the admirable nature of the 
 arrangements made and the extreme rapidity with 
 which they were carried out that within three 
 minutes of the information reaching Slough Station 
 the telegraph was not only at work but a communica- 
 tion was despatched to Paddington and an acknow- 
 ledgment of its receipt returned to Slough, and this 
 was all accomplished within II minutes of the 
 departure of the special messenger from the Castle. 
 Upon the departure of each of the three special 
 
 trains conveying the Cabinet Ministers and Great 
 
 149
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Omcers of State from Paddington the fact was 
 instantly telegraphed to Slough, so that at that 
 station not an instant was lost upon the arrival of 
 the Ministers, Sac, in their proceeding in the Queen's 
 and Royal Hotel carriages to the royal residence 
 at Windsor. This telegraph has been constructed 
 for the Great Western Railway bv ]\Ir. Cooke. 
 Instead of lapng the conducting ^^i^es in iron 
 tubing he suspended them in the open air from 
 lofty poles, the advantages of which are at once 
 manifest. The telegraph is available for the 
 public for the transmission of messages and replies, 
 and the apparatus may be inspected, though at 
 the exhibition charge of is. each person. On the 
 above date also were performed some wonders of 
 railway travelling. The journey from Slough to 
 Paddington Terminus was accomplished in less 
 time than the distance had ever previously been 
 traversed by special trains of the G.W.R. The 
 1 8^ miles only occupied 15 min. 10 sees., or up- 
 wards of 70 miles an hour." 
 
 The further increase of the Royal family by the 
 birth of the Duke of Edinburgh explains Leech's 
 cartoon in the issue of August 17, 1844, based on 
 the old nursery story of the old woman who lived 
 in the shoe. It is entitled " A royal nursery rhjTne 
 for i860," and underneath it ran the lines : 
 
 " Tr.ere was a rich laav that lived in a shoe. 
 She had so many children that she didn't know what to do." 
 
 In the paper of the previous week had appeared 
 a parody of the Gazette, surmounted by the royal 
 arms : 
 
 Her Majesty's Accouchement. 
 
 Punch has had command to announce that in 
 
 150
 
 Presents — Appropriate and Otherwise 
 
 celebration of the birth of the infant Duke of 
 York (" Mr. Punch " here ran a serious risk of losing 
 his old reputation as a true prophet) roast beef 
 and plum pudding will be distributed on Sunday 
 next to the inmates of every Poor Law Union 
 throughout the Kingdom. Underneath are these 
 words : " Vivant Regina et -princepsP 
 
 In the issue of August 17 a picture is also given of 
 the Duke of Wellington in a hackney coach hasten- 
 ing, presumably to Paddington Station, on the occa- 
 sion of the Queen's confinement. Another cartoon 
 portrays the Queen and Prince Albert inspecting 
 two large bee-hives in the neighbourhood of Windsor 
 Castle : " According to an excerpt from a morning 
 paper these hives are so constructed that the honey 
 may be removed without destroying the bees." 
 It is also stated in a short article ** these hives have 
 been expressly fitted up for the instruction of the 
 Prince of Wales, whose dawning mind will, we trust, 
 receive and appreciate the wholesome political and 
 social lesson which they so unequivocally convey." 
 
 The Court remains at Windsor, the usual 
 jHes marking the twentv-fifth birthdav of Prince 
 Albert. Mrs. Lilly takes her departure, and both 
 the Prince of Wales and his father receive presents 
 of fishing-rods from a certain ^Ir. Little, who is at 
 once appointed fishing-rod maker to Prince Albert. 
 The Prince of Wales's rod is described as fitted in 
 a richly ornamented case, enclosing a variety of 
 leads, floats, &c., with the Prince of Wales's feathers 
 highl}- wrought at the end in frosted silver. As 
 might be expected this is too severe a trial for the 
 patience of the observant *' Mr. Punch,*' who, on 
 September 7, thus disposes of the '* Royal Rods " : 
 
 (( 
 
 A paper states that two splendid fishing-rods 
 
 151
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 have been presented to Prince Albert and the Prince 
 of Wales. The construction of the rod intended 
 for the infant Prince is quite different from what 
 has been stated. It is composed of a number of 
 slender twigs of that ornament of our woods and 
 forests the birch, bound together at one end so as 
 to form a handle with gold and silver wire. We 
 may also assert that it has not been put into the 
 Prince of Wales's hands at all, but into the hands 
 of his royal papa, whom we believe has for the 
 present passed it on to Lady Lyttelton with in- 
 structions to use when required." 
 
 On the previous day (September 6, 1844) the 
 newly born Prince was baptized in the Private 
 Chapel at Windsor by the names of Alfred Ernest 
 Albert, his sponsors being Prince George of Cam- 
 bridge,* represented by his father, the Prince of 
 Leiningen (for whom the Duke of Wellington stood 
 proxy), and the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. 
 On this occasion Queen Victoria made the following 
 note in her journal :t 
 
 " The scene in the chapel was very solemn, and 
 the organ has always a moving effect on me. To 
 see these two children [the Princess Royal and the 
 Prince of Wales] there too, seemed such a dream 
 to me. May God bless them all, poor little things, 
 and that our youngest really may be as good as his 
 beloved father was my fervent prayer during the 
 service, as always for all of them." 
 
 Amongst those present on this occasion was the 
 future Emperor of Germany, then Prince William 
 of Prussia. 
 
 * The late Duke of Cambridge. 
 
 t *' Life of the Prince Consort," by Sir Theodore Martin, vol. i. 
 
 P- 233- 
 
 152
 
 A Second Scotch Trip 
 
 The Queen had made up her mind to pay another 
 visit to Scotland. On the day of her departure 
 for Blair Athol, accompanied by Prince Albert 
 and the Princess Royal (Monday, September 9)* 
 Her Majesty writes thus in her journal : 
 
 " We got up at a quarter to six. We breakfasted. 
 Mama came to take leave of us. Alice and the baby 
 [Prince Alfred, not yet quite five weeks old] were 
 brought in, poor little things, to wish us ' good- 
 by.' Then good Bertie [name by which the Prince 
 of Wales is always called in his family] came down 
 to see us and Vicky [Princess Royal] appeared 
 as voyageuse and was all impatience to go." 
 
 In the Scottish trip " Mr. Punch " soon finds 
 further opportunities for indulging his merriment. 
 First comes another " royal proclamation," supposed 
 to have been issued on Her Majesty's arrival : 
 
 " Whereas on each and every one of our royal 
 movements it has been and is the custom of sundry 
 weakly disposed persons, known as our own corre- 
 spondents, our private correspondents, and others, 
 to write and cause to be printed absurd and foolish 
 language touching ourselves, our royal Consort 
 and our beloved babies, it is our will and pleasure 
 that such foolish practices, tending as they do to 
 bring royalty into contempt, shall be discontinued, 
 and that from henceforth all vain, silly and syco- 
 phantic verbiage shall cease, and good, straight- 
 forward simple English be used in all descriptions 
 of the progresses of ourselves, our royal Consort 
 and our dearly beloved children. Given at Blair 
 Athol, September 16, 1844. Signed, Victoria 
 Regina." 
 
 Great fun is also made of such reports of the 
 
 153
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 special correspondents as the following : " The 
 Princess Royal, young though she be, is not slow 
 in these things to imitate her royal mother. Not 
 a child in all broad Scotland likes better to lunch 
 on milk and oaten cake or dine on broth." " Meeting 
 the young son of Lord Glenlyon the other day in 
 the Castle Avenue she told him how much she liked 
 his tartan dress, and that it was the same as worn 
 by the Prince of Wales." Here is another specimen 
 of these harmless trivialities, which " Mr. Punch " 
 ascribes to his natural enemy, the special Jenkins. 
 " The Princess Royal, mounted on her Shetland 
 pony and attended by a groom and servant, always 
 accompanies Her Majesty and the Prince in their 
 morning walk through the grounds of the royal 
 palace, and the royal parents are frequently seen 
 to stop and listen with alternations of interest and 
 amusement to the naive observations of the youthful 
 Princess on the novelty of the objects which meet 
 her view at every instance." 
 
 Meanwhile the Prince of Wales, the Princess 
 Alice, and Prince Alfred are once more enjoy- 
 ing the invigorating breezes of Brighton. Lady 
 Lyttelton is there of course, and Mr. Brown, a 
 Windsor surgeon, was in attendance during the 
 journey thither, now accomplished entirely by train. 
 The " Court Newsman " follows the doings of 
 Lady Lyttelton and her charges at Brighton with 
 an omniscience which is really extraordinary : 
 
 " September 21. — The Queen is expected to 
 return to Windsor, but will probably first pay a 
 visit to the royal children at Brighton. Mr. Brown 
 pays frequent professional visits to the royal family 
 at the Pavilion to keep Her Majesty informed of 
 the health of the children. 
 
 154
 
 Once more at Brighton 
 
 " The Royal Children. — The Prince of Wales 
 and the Princess Alice are at Brighton under the 
 care of the Dowager Lady Lyttelton. They were 
 taken on the pier on Friday, when they amused 
 themselves for some time by running about. 
 
 " The Monkey^ one of H.M. steam vessels, has 
 proceeded to Brighton to take furniture from the 
 royal Pavilion to the Isle of Wight. We are 
 happy to announce that the Prince of Wales, 
 Princess Alice and Prince Alfred continue in 
 excellent health. The royal infants are taken 
 for carriage airings daily on the cliff and the 
 younger ones occasionally take pedestrian exercise 
 on the chain pier attended by the Dowager Lady 
 Lyttelton." 
 
 The temptation to speak of the return visit of 
 King Louis Philippe and Queen Amelie to the Queen 
 at Windsor (October) must be resisted. John Leech 
 is quite equal to the occasion. In a most amusing 
 cartoon he depicts " Mr. Punch " as the " head- 
 pacificator of Europe," inviting the " Citizen 
 King " and Queen Victoria, attired as children, to 
 embrace. In one of the illustrations of the Windsor 
 gaieties Prince Albert seems to be presenting his 
 three elder children to the King of the French 
 in the " Crimson Drawing-room." The husband 
 of the Queen made a deep impression on the father- 
 in-law of " Uncle Leopold," and Her Majesty 
 wrote in evident delight : " He (Louis Philippe) 
 spoke in the highest terms of Albert — ' Oh he 
 will do wonders ; he is so wise. He does not 
 go too fast. He will always give you good 
 advice.' " 
 
 The " royal infants " play no part either in the 
 inauguration of the Royal Exchange or the visit 
 
 155
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 of their parents to Burghley. By the time the 
 third birthday of the Prince of Wales arrives, he is 
 constantly described as taking out-door exercise 
 on his Shetland pony. Mens sana in corpore sano 
 evidently was one of the Prince Consort's " Golden 
 Rules." 
 
 156
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 WHO SHALL EDUCATE THE PRINCE OF WALES ? 
 
 THE GOOD ADVICE OF PHILOSOPHERS, PEDAGOGUES, 
 PAMPHLETEERS, PROFESSORS AND MR. PUNCH 
 
 I 840-1 845 
 
 There is a self-evident contradiction between the 
 proverb about the wisdom inherent in many coun- 
 sellors (so conspicuous on the original encaustic 
 tiles of the present Houses of Parliament) and the 
 more homely dictum as to the foolishness of employ- 
 ing too many cooks in the confection of broth. It 
 was certainly a fortunate thing, as far as the des- 
 tinies of England and the history-making of this 
 twentieth century are concerned, that the latter 
 prevailed in the case of the upbringing of King 
 Edward VII. More than a year before his birth 
 the far-seeing and sagacious Stockmar thus writes to 
 the youthful husband of Queen Victoria : 
 
 " Impress upon Anson the necessity of conducting 
 this affair (the selection of a nurse) with the greatest 
 conscientiousness and circumspection, for a man's 
 education begins the first day of his life, and a lucky 
 choice I regard as the greatest and finest gift we 
 can bestow on the expected stranger." 
 
 This excellent advice sank deep into the hearts 
 of those to whom it was addressed, for in the all- 
 important matter of the early training of their 
 children Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their 
 
 157
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 trusted adviser were, from the first, of one mind. 
 The Prince of Wales was not quite four months 
 old when the question of his future formed the 
 subject of the gravest discussion. On March 6, 
 1842, Baron Stockmar again takes up his pen in 
 the best interests of common sense : 
 
 " Good education cannot begin too soon. . . . 
 The first truth by which the Queen and the Prince 
 ought to be thoroughly penetrated is, that their 
 position is a more difficult one than that of any 
 other parents in the kingdom ; because the Royal 
 children ought not only to be brought up to be 
 moral characters but also fitted to discharge success- 
 fully the arduous duties that may eventually devolve 
 upon them as future Sovereigns. Hence the magni- 
 tude of the parental responsibility of the Sovereigns 
 to their children, for upon the conscientious dis- 
 charge of this responsibility will depend hereafter 
 the peace of mind and happiness of themselves 
 and their family, and, as far as the prosperity and 
 happiness of a nation depend upon the personal 
 character of its Sovereign, the welfare of England. 
 
 " To this day England reveres the memory of 
 George III. as the great upholder of the domestic 
 virtues. History already takes the liberty of judg- 
 ing of his merits as a Sovereign, but it remains 
 unanimous in its praise of his private virtues. But 
 George HI. either did not properly understand his 
 duties as a parent or he neglected them. Three of 
 his sons, George IV., the Duke of York, and William 
 IV., were brought up and educated in England. 
 The Dukes of Kent, of Cumberland, of Sussex, and 
 of Cambridge received the greater part of their edu- 
 cation on the Continent. The errors committed by 
 
 George IV., the Duke of York and William IV. 
 
 158
 
 Baron Stockmar's Plain Speaking 
 
 belong already to the domain of history. Un- 
 fortunately the errors of these Princes were of the 
 most glaring kind, and we can find their explanation 
 only in the supposition that their tutors were either 
 incapable of grafting on their minds during youth 
 the principles of truth and morality, or that they 
 most culpably neglected their duties, or were not 
 supported in them by the Royal parents." 
 
 Baron Stockmar never hesitated to use plain 
 language, but it seems doubtful whether he had 
 grasped all the patent absurdities and incon- 
 gruities of the system of education carried on at 
 the Bower Lodge, Kew, between 1770 and 1780.* 
 While generously crediting George III. with the 
 possession of the domestic virtues, he seems to forget 
 that " domesticity " counted for little or nothing 
 in the rearing of his sons. Queen Victoria assented 
 generally to all the opinions of this frank and out- 
 spoken adviser, but she hardly relished the strictures 
 on the " Good old Sailor King," whose wild-oats 
 had been forgotten and forgiven before he came 
 to the throne, and whose manner of life after his 
 marriage contrasted so favourably with that of his 
 predecessor. Queen Victoria always entertained 
 a kindly recollection of the husbandf of " Great- 
 aunt Adelaide " (as her children soon learned to 
 call their friend and correspondent). The Queen 
 and Prince Albert took time fully to discuss and 
 consider the advice which had thus been tendered 
 
 * See ante, p. 45. 
 
 t Since the death of Queen Victoria a very touching account of 
 the latter days of King William has been written and published by 
 tlie Countess of Munster. [" My Memories and Miscellanies." 
 London : Eveleigh Nash, July 1904.] After reading this book one 
 can realise the force of the " quite right too," written by the late 
 Queen opposite Baron Stockmar's somewhat mordant criticisms.
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 them by " the most disinterested " of men, and on 
 March 24 the Queen thus writes to Lord Melbourne 
 from Windsor : 
 
 " Stockmar says, and very justly, that our occupa- 
 tions prevent us from managing these affairs as much 
 our own selves as other parents can, and therefore 
 we must have some one in whom to place implicit 
 confidence. He says, a lady of rank and title with 
 a sub-governess would be the best. But where to 
 find a person so situated fit for the place, and, if fit, 
 one who will consent to shut herself up in the nursery 
 and entirely from society, as she must if she is really 
 to superintend the whole, and not accept the office, 
 as in my case. Princess Charlotte's and my aunt's, 
 merely for the title, which would be only a source 
 of annoyance and dispute ? 
 
 " My fear is that even if such a woman were to 
 be found, she would consider herself not as only 
 responsible to the Prince and Queen, but more to 
 the country and nation and public, and I feel she 
 ought to be responsible only to us and we to the 
 country and nation." 
 
 Lord Melbourne entirely concurred in the view 
 that a lady of rank should be at the head of the 
 establishment. " A person of good condition would 
 better understand the precise nature, duties, and 
 responsibility of her place and would be more likely 
 to fulfil and observe them." 
 
 Lady Lyttelton was now (1842) appointed " Pre- 
 ceptress "* and is henceforth generally described as 
 " Preceptress to the Princess Royal." 
 
 Early in 1843, and long before the second birth- 
 day of the Heir to the Throne, a pamphlet 
 appeared which attracted a larger share of public 
 
 * See p. 123, ante. 
 160
 
 A Pretentious Pamphlet 
 
 attention than it deserved, and certainly far more 
 than the author expected. Here is its title-page : 
 
 WHO SHOULD EDUCATE THE PRINCE OF WALES? 
 
 " Qu'il 'puisse fatre toutes choses, et rCaime a jaire 
 que les bonnes." 
 
 Montaigne 
 
 *.' Though some may make slight of pamphlets, yet you 
 may see by them how the wind sits ; as, take a straw, 
 and throw it up into the air, you shall see by that 
 which way the wind is, which you shall not do by 
 casting up a stone ; more solid things do not show 
 the complexion of the times so well as ballads and 
 pamphlets." — John Selden. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 EFFINGHAM WILSON 
 1 8 Bishopsgate Street Within 
 
 1843 
 
 The modesty of the dedication on the following 
 page needs no comment. 
 
 To the 
 
 QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY, 
 
 as, next to her people, most interested in this momentous 
 question, the author presumes to offer these honest, 
 though, perhaps, ill-expressed thoughts, with every 
 feehng of proper respect for her Royal office, attach- 
 ment to her person, and admiration of her virtues. 
 J.., 
 
 '' Before turning to the Effingham Wilson pamphlet 
 for the brief consideration it merits, it should be 
 noted that a short time before its appearance the 
 following paragraph appeared in the Times (June 27, 
 1843) : 
 
 " The Prince of Wales's Tutor 
 
 " We believe we may mention upon pretty good 
 authority that the individual who has been chosen 
 
 161 L
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 by Her Majesty and Prince Albert to fill this highly 
 important and most responsible appointment, is 
 the Ven. Samuel Wilberforce, M.A., Archdeacon 
 of Surrey, and one of the Chaplains in Ordinary 
 to H.R.H. Prince Albert." 
 
 Was there any unrevealed connection between 
 the paragraph and the pamphlet ? It was in August 
 1843 that the Effingham Wilson pamphlet appeared, 
 and it was on September 2, 1843, that " Mr. Punch " 
 dealt with the subject under the same title and with 
 Leech's most amusing sketch " Punch as Tutor to 
 the Prince." * It was its attractive title which made 
 the fortune of a pamphlet which may be described 
 as a panorama of pompous platitudes and self- 
 evident commonplaces. Had the candidature of 
 the future Bishop of Oxford and Winchester any- 
 thing to do with the following sonorous sentence : 
 " What is education ? I agree with Plato — it 
 is to teach the boy what he ought to do when he 
 becomes a man (who ever doubted it ?). The educa- 
 tion of a subject concerns only his relatives, that 
 of a monarch is the affair of his people (a sufficiently 
 well-ascertained truism). I think the Prince's 
 education should be entrusted neither to a statesman 
 nor a churchman. Though I would desire our 
 future King to listen with attention and profit to 
 the dignitaries of the Church, no churchman must 
 teach him to rule — the world has seen enough of 
 that. . . . The instructor I should choose should 
 have a mind so truly devoted to the adoration of 
 truth, that he could not possibly belong to any 
 party, or, in other words, be a partisan. To the 
 
 * See pamphlet published 1843 [British Museum Library] and 
 Punch, vol. v., July to December 1843, pp. 97-101. By a clerical 
 error Mr. J. Penderel-Broadhurst speaks of both as appearing in 
 1846. The date is of primary importance. 
 
 i6z
 
 Fertile Suggestions 
 
 people neither of these parties can be agreeable," 
 and so forth. The writer then proceeds to confess 
 his partiality for " a man of letters who has passed 
 through the alembic of adversity," a phrase borrowed 
 from another author. Mr. Effingham Wilson (if 
 he was, as Punch assumes, the author as well as the 
 publisher of the brochure) would with a cheerful 
 heart consign the Heir-Apparent to the tender 
 mercies of a Fenelon, a Brooke (" Gustavus Vasa ") 
 or even to Mr. Day, the priggish pedant of " Sand- 
 ford and Merton " fame. This ideal tutor must, 
 moreover, have " a feeling heart, a gentle disposi- 
 tion, a love of children, and clear and quick percep- 
 tion of juvenile character, a tact that will teach 
 him how to mould the pliant mind, and, although 
 exercising the greatest indulgence for their little 
 failings, must have withal so firm a purpose as 
 never to be turned aside by their blandishments 
 from carrying out a principle, or to allow that 
 which is wrong to pass unheeded." After sundry 
 quotations from Montaigne, who says that teachers 
 should have plutost la teste hien faicte que bien 
 -pleine^ we are treated to a picture of the Prince of 
 Wales studying ornithology (presumably by birds'- 
 nesting) in Windsor Park, and making observations 
 " in company of his Governor which would teach 
 him to appreciate the struggles of vice like Tele- 
 machus with Mentor or Clements in the ' Fool of 
 Quality ' " (the source of the alembic of adversity 
 simile). Selden is cited in support of the conten- 
 tion that " the august parent of our Prince should 
 keep from his mind all pleasure derivable from wear- 
 ing a military garb. He will not sit upon the throne 
 as the descendant of William the Conqueror, for 
 knowing that he is a king by the will of a free people 
 he will date, not from 1066, but from 1688." The 
 
 163
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 pamphleteer lays great stress on the catholicity which 
 should distinguish the views of the future Sove- 
 reign : *' With the King religion must be the first 
 consideration. Viewing the conscientious beliefs 
 of his subjects in the spirit of Christianity he must 
 not be the head of a sect. There must above all 
 be no ' paragraphing ' — no announcements as to 
 his sayings, doings, and whereabouts " — an injunc- 
 tion wholly disregarded by contemporary editors 
 both great and small who for several years to come 
 chronicled His Royal Highness's " airings " with 
 laudable assiduity. The pamphlet was promptly 
 sent to the indefatigable Stockmar, from whom it 
 elicited a memorandum of real importance and 
 permanent value. In this the Baron calls the atten- 
 tion of Prince Albert to the transition state in 
 which European opinion then was, adding that 
 *' by the time the Prince shall ascend the throne 
 many of the maxims of government and institutions 
 of society, now in the ascendency, will, according 
 to present probabilities, have either entirely passed 
 away, or be on the very verge of change." Time 
 has satisfactorily justified the absolute truth of 
 Baron Stockmar's prophecy. " If coming events," 
 he continues, " cast their shadows before, we may, 
 without presumption, say that the shadows of great 
 and important changes in the social conditions of 
 Great Britain are already so conspicuously written 
 on the land that the changes themselves cannot be 
 far distant. The great and leading question there- 
 fore is — whether the education of the Prince should 
 be one which will prepare him for approaching 
 events, or one which will stamp, perhaps indelibly, 
 an impression of the sacred character of all existing 
 institutions in his youthful mind, and teach him 
 that to resist change is to serve at once the cause 
 
 164
 
 Baron Stockmar's Prophecies 
 
 of God and of his country. Wisdom appears 
 to dictate the superior advantage of the former 
 course. The education of the Prince should, how- 
 ever, nowise tend to make him a demagogue or a 
 moral enthusiast, but a man of calm, profound, 
 comprehensive understanding, imbued with a deep 
 conviction of the indispensable necessity of practical 
 morality to the welfare of both Sovereign and people. 
 The proper duty of the Sovereigns in this country 
 is not to take the lead in change, but to act as a balance- 
 wheel on the movements of the social body. When the 
 whole nation, or a large majority of it, advances, the 
 King should not stand still, but when the movement 
 is too partial, irregular, or over rafid, the Royal power 
 may well be interposed to restore the pendulum. . . ." 
 In discussing the religious side of the question 
 Baron Stockmar says that the Prince of Wales must 
 be trained in the tenets of the Church of England, 
 which the law declares to be the faith of the Royal 
 Family, but he confesses himself unable to advise 
 as to whether the great questions as to the ultimate 
 relations between scientific discovery and revealed 
 religion should be opened up. Upon one point, 
 however, he is quite clear. " The Prince should be 
 early taught that thrones and the social order have 
 a stable foundation in the moral and intellectual 
 faculties of man ; that by addressing his public 
 exertions to the cultivation of these powers in his 
 people, and by taking their dictates as the constant 
 guide of his own conduct, he will promote the 
 solidarity of the empire and the prosperity of his 
 subjects." The pamphlet, so much discussed in 
 1843, has long since been relegated to the limbo 
 of things that are clean " forgotten out of mind," 
 but Baron Stockmar's logical and incisive words 
 have borne fruit a hundredfold. They sank deep 
 
 165
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 into the heart of the Queen, and in due time were 
 not lost on the then wholly unconscious subject of 
 such serious deliberations. 
 
 Turning from grave to gay it is scarcely necessary 
 to add that the ever-watchful editor of Punch did 
 not miss so splendid a chance of reaping fresh laurels. 
 On September 2, 1843, he assumes clerical garb, 
 and is depicted as teaching the boy-prince his 
 letters, while in the weekly cartoon John Leech 
 puts his glass-bottle sign-manual to a picture of 
 the mirth-moving hunchback clad in college cap 
 and gown, with the " black rod " under his arm, 
 hearing a tiny child, standing on a footstool before 
 him, repeat his lesson. The writer of the accom- 
 panying text declares that Effingham Wilson's 
 pamphlet unquestionably pointed to " Mr. Punch " 
 as " the only moral pedagogue for his Royal Highness 
 now in petticoats. ' There exists,' wrote Mr. 
 Wilson, ' a poet, who, did not age interfere, would be, 
 as far as can be publicly known, the man. An 
 elegant scholar, a poet of the highest order,' &c. 
 If this be not ' Punch ' we should like to know who 
 can be pointed at ? " . . . : " The papers should 
 not prate of his whereabouts as ' yesterday morn- 
 ing his Royal Highness the Prince of W^ales rode 
 out accompanied by his equerries, &c. &c. ; ' no, 
 let him and his tutor sally forth at earliest dawn 
 (rather say twelve at noon : we hate early rising), 
 let the latter as being the stronger, and for no 
 other reason, bear the wallet of plain, cold pro- 
 visions for the day. We have no objection to 
 bear ' the wallet ' ; which, however, shall be pro- 
 vided with two sets of provisions ; the one simple 
 and homely for the Prince, the other luxurious 
 and toothsome for our own mature stomach. 
 We will have dmdon aux tru-ffes^ with hock and 
 
 166
 
 " Mr. Punch " to the Rescue 
 
 Burgundy. The Prince shall rejoice in a captain's 
 biscuit (or a half-pay lieutenant's) and a polony. 
 This he shall wash down with frothing imperial 
 pop ; and as he drinks Punch will philosophise to 
 him upon his future royal a-clations," and so forth. 
 The article concludes thus : " We have not shrunk 
 from the call that has been made to us. We have 
 now laid our plan of education before the Queen 
 and the Country, and have no doubt whatever 
 that we shall be appointed by Parliament and the 
 rejoicing kingdom as Tutor to his Royal Highness 
 the Prince of Wales. And when countless years 
 have passed away, and the King sleeps in St. George's 
 Chapel, his epitaph will be considered to contain 
 all that can be said of royal dust when it shall have 
 these words, ' His Tutor was Punch.' " 
 
 The last words occupy a neat tombstone, and then 
 comes a set of verses illustrated with thumb-nail 
 sketches entitled " Another Proposal " : 
 
 Who'll teach the Prince ? 
 I answered Punch, 
 With my cap and hunch ; 
 And I'll teach the Prince. 
 
 Who'll write his books ? 
 I, answered Brougham, 
 With my goose quill plume ; 
 And I'll write his books. 
 
 Who'll make him dance ? 
 I, answered Peel, 
 For I can turn and wheel ; 
 I'll make him dance. 
 
 Who'll teach him logic ? 
 Says Hume, I've the right, 
 I can vote black and white ; 
 So I'll teach him logic. 
 167
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Who'll teach him dancing ? 
 
 I lisp'd Baron Nathan, 
 
 'Mongth tea-cupth, jughth, and bathin ; 
 
 I'll teach him dancing. 
 
 Who'll teach him writing ? 
 
 I, said Lord William, 
 
 Because a copyist with the quill I am ; 
 
 And I'll teach him writing 
 
 Who'll teach him politics ? 
 Said Graham, that will I 
 That he every side may try ; 
 So I'll teach him politics. 
 
 Who'U pay the piper ? 
 I, said John Bull, 
 On me will come the pull ; 
 I must pay the piper 
 
 i68
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 NURSERY DAYS— FIRST LESSONS AND IMPRESSIONS - 
 
 PARENTAL SUPERVISION 
 
 1 843-1845 
 
 From this time forward both the Queen and Prince 
 Albert took an active part in the education of their 
 children, and especially in that of the elder ones, 
 around whose cradles the controversy of the pam- 
 phleteer had raged. Now we hear of the Queen 
 hearing the Princess Royal read or giving her history 
 lessons in the course of these early yachting tours, 
 when the places visited afforded a convenient 
 text ; now Prince Albert impresses some useful 
 object-lesson on the plastic mind of his eldest son. 
 Tutors and governesses are engaged ; the services 
 of *' eminent professors " are utilised, but the 
 personal superintendence and the watchful vigilance 
 of the parental eye is never for a moment relaxed. 
 It was very many years after reserved for the Princess 
 Christian,* herself a woman of more than ordinary 
 ability, to edit with affectionate care the posthu- 
 mous memoirs and letters of her sister the Princess 
 Alice. t Her father had been many years dead, 
 and his favourite daughter had followed him to 
 the tomb orT'the same fatal December 14. In the 
 preface to the work in question appears the following 
 
 * Princess Helena, born May 6, 1846. 
 t Sec /)0s(, 253.
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 tribute to the care bestowed on their children's 
 upbringing both by the late Queen and the Prince 
 Consort : 
 
 " One of the main principles observed in the 
 education of the Royal children was this — that 
 though they received the best training, of body 
 and mind, to fit them for the high position they 
 would eventually have to fill, they should in no wise 
 come in contact with the actual Court life. The 
 children were scarcely known to the Queen's ladies- 
 in-waiting, as they only now and then made 
 their appearance for a moment after dinner at 
 dessert, or accompanied their parents out driving. 
 The care of them was exclusively entrusted to 
 persons who possessed the Queen and Prince 
 Consort's entire confidence, and with whom they 
 could at all times communicate direct. The Royal 
 parents kept themselves thoroughly informed of 
 the minutest details of what was being done for 
 their children in the way of training and instruction. 
 After the first years of childhood were past, the Royal 
 children were placed under the care of English, 
 French, and German governesses, who, again, were 
 under a Lady Superintendent, and accompanied 
 the children in their walks and watched over them 
 during their games." 
 
 In an interesting little volume on the " Life of 
 Queen Victoria in the Isle of Wight," already 
 referred to, it is stated that " the Prince Consort often 
 spent hours daily with the children, and not only 
 furnished a general plan for their instruction, but 
 superintended it himself. He not only appointed 
 to each one his or her teachers, but thought it 
 his duty to read every book that was about to be 
 put into their hands." The late Professor Tyndall, 
 
 170
 
 Queen Victoria's Unselfishness 
 
 at the inauguration of the Birkbeck Institute, 
 alluded in almost identical terms to his own expe- 
 riences when he visited Osborne, where he gave 
 lectures to several of the royal children. Between 
 1842 and 1857, many tutors and governesses were 
 employed in assisting the Queen in the great educa- 
 tional work which, in the case of the younger children, 
 went on for some time after their father's death, 
 when the Prince of Wales had arrived at years of 
 discretion, and his elder sister the Princess Royal 
 was married and herself a mother. For all of them 
 the Queen invariably showed the greatest kindness 
 and consideration. Mr. J. George Hodgkins in his 
 little book published nearly forty years ago,* 
 relates the following anecdote on the authority 
 of Grace Greenwood (Mrs. Lippincott), who com- 
 municated it to the Chicago Advance : 
 
 " When I was in England I heard several pleasant 
 anecdotes of the Queen and her family from a lady 
 who had received them from her friend, the gover- 
 ness of the Royal children. This governess, a very 
 interesting young lady, was the orphan daughter 
 of a Scottish clergyman. During the first year of 
 her residence at Windsor her mother died. When 
 she first received the news of her serious illness she 
 applied to the Queen to resign her situation, feeling 
 that to her mother she owed even a more sacred 
 duty than to her Sovereign. The Queen, who 
 had been much pleased with her, would not hear 
 of her making this sacrifice, but said in a tone of 
 the most gentle sympathy : ' Go at once to your 
 mother, child. Stay with her as long as she needs 
 you, and then come back to us. I will keep your 
 
 * " Sketches and Anecdotes of Her Majesty the Queen," by J. 
 George Hodgkins. Sampson Low, Son and Marston. London, 
 1868. 
 
 171
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 place for you. Prince Albert and I will hear the 
 children's lessons, so in any event let your mind be 
 at rest in regard to your pupils.' " 
 
 In the year of Queen Victoria's death a volume 
 appeared on the subject of her private life,* con- 
 taining many interesting statements which have 
 since been corroborated and are in perject accord 
 with the spirit of her journals. Her Majesty fre- 
 quently supervised in person the riding and driving 
 lessons of her children in the great Riding School 
 at Windsor. The school-rooms in the various 
 royal residences were always close to the Queen's 
 own apartments, that at Windsor being next to her 
 private audience-chamber, and only one room 
 away from her own sitting-room. Its connection 
 with the first ten years of the life of King Edward 
 VII. is a very close one.f 
 
 The opinions of the late Queen on the subject 
 of religion have been already spoken of in connec- 
 tion with the Stockmar correspondence. The 
 author of the " Private Life of Queen Victoria " 
 says : 
 
 " The religious training of the Royal children 
 was entirely mapped out by the Queen, who herself 
 drew up a memorandum, which, if it were given to 
 the world in full, would prove of inestimable benefit 
 to all parents, so kindly, so truly sympathetic, so 
 earnestly and womanly is it. Touching the Princess 
 in particular, she says : ' I am quite clear that she 
 should be taught to have great reverence for God 
 and for religion, and that she should have the 
 feeling of devotion and love which our Heavenly 
 
 * " Private Life of Queen Victoria," by one of her Majesty's 
 Servants. London, C. Arthur Pearson, 1901. 
 t Posty see p. 346. 
 
 172
 
 KI\(I KinVAKI) \\\. Al'.oUr TUK AGE OF 4
 
 A King's First Prayers 
 
 Father encourages His earthly children to have 
 for Him, and not one of fear and trembling.' The 
 note touching the religious training of the Prince of 
 Wales was even more decided; "The law prescribes 
 that the belief of the Church of England shall be 
 the faith of the members of the Royal Family, and 
 in this faith the Prince of Wales must unquestionably 
 be trained.''^ 
 
 In the collection of drawings and autograph 
 letters (i 846-1 851) described in the Preface are 
 two MS. prayers traced in a child's hand and 
 docketed " Albert Prince of Wales." The one is 
 for morning and the other for evening use. They 
 run as follows : 
 
 " O merciful God, I thank thee for giving me rest 
 during the night past, and refreshing me with quiet 
 sleep. O Lord, grant that I may pass a good and 
 happy day, and be obedient to all those who are set 
 to watch over me. Bless dear Papa and Mama, 
 and give them the comfort of seeing me grow up 
 a good child. Bless and keep my brother and sisters 
 and teach them and me to remember thee our 
 Creator in the days of our youth through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord." 
 
 and : 
 
 " O almighty God, I thank thee for all the mercies 
 which thou hast given me this day. Take me this 
 night under the shadow of thy wing and grant that 
 I may rise again in health and safety for thou only 
 canst protect me. Bless dear Papa, Mama, my 
 brother and sisters, and make me a good boy through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 It would be manifestly premature to speak of the 
 
 173
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Prince of Wales's tutors, Mr. Henry Birch (1849- 
 1852), Mr. F. W.Gibbs (1852-1858), and the Rev. 
 Charles Feral Tarver, who held that responsible 
 post at the time when the present narrative of the 
 boyhood of a Great King comes to a close. 
 
 174
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 EARLY VOYAGES AND EARLY LETTERS— A VISIT 
 TO ASTLEY'S— PUNCH'S CELEBRATED CARTOON— 
 THE DUKE OF CORNWALL VISITS HIS DUCHY 
 
 1845-1846 
 
 The next two years of the Prince of Wales's life 
 were not less happy than those which preceded 
 them. The care bestowed by the Queen and the 
 always over-worked Prince Consort on their children 
 was unremitting and exemplary, although a great 
 deal of worry was caused by the seemingly endless 
 Sikh War and the excitement occasioned by the 
 Puseyite controversy, the anti-corn-law agitation, 
 and the commercial crisis which formed the sequel 
 of the railway mania. Those who knew the real 
 feelings of the Queen and her husband on matters 
 of religion could afford to laugh at caricatures in 
 which Her Majesty is portrayed as a nun, and the 
 heir to the throne as a censer-swinging acolyte, 
 or those representing the Queen and Prince Albert 
 accompanied by the Prince of Wales listening to 
 the harangue of a Roman ecclesiastic in full canoni- 
 cals ; but with the less well-informed section of the 
 community those outward and visible signs of the 
 odium theologicum doubtless created all sorts of 
 erroneous impressions. Possibly they were still 
 in the air two years later (1847) when the venerable
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Wordsworth (regarded by some as the ideal precep- 
 tor for the Prince of Wales indicated by the author 
 of the famous education pamphlet of 1843*) apostro- 
 phised Prince Albert on the occasion of his installa- 
 tion as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 
 in the lines : 
 
 " Like that wise ancestor of thinet 
 Who threw the Saxon shield over Luther's life, 
 When first, above the yells of bigot strife, 
 The trumpet of the Living Word 
 Assumed a voice of deep portentous sound, 
 From gladdened Elbe to startled Tiber heard.^' 
 
 In the early summer of 1846 the obnoxious 
 Corn Laws were repealed, and in the following month 
 the Cabinet of Lord John Russell, Lord Palmerston, 
 and Lord Grey took the place of that of Sir Robert 
 Peel, in which the Duke of Wellington had formed 
 part, though without a portfolio. In February (i 845) 
 the Queen goes to Brighton with Lady Lyttelton 
 and the whole of the royal children. The visit 
 was not a particularly pleasant one. Whenever 
 Her Majesty appeared she was closely followed by 
 an over-inquisitive mob, and the walks and drives 
 she delighted in became almost impossible. *' Mr. 
 Punch " came gallantly to the rescue with a picture 
 not very complimentary to the snobbery of which 
 the Queen with just reason complained, and an 
 article on what was described very humorously 
 as " The New Royal Hunt." " It has been held, 
 as the lawyers have it," said the writer, " that a cat 
 may look at a king, but it is not to be tolerated 
 that a set of unmannerly curs should poke their 
 noses under the bonnet of a Queen, as was the case 
 the other day at Brighton." 
 
 * See ante, pp. 161-163. 
 
 t Frederic, Elector of Saxony, jurnamed " the Wise."
 
 An Amusing Anecdote 
 
 It is not impossible that the Brighton episode 
 hastened the purchase of the Osborne estate, which 
 was now finally resolved on and carried out. It was 
 at this time that Prince Albert found time to 
 compose the anthem, " Out of the deep have I called 
 unto Thee," and the following anecdote found its 
 way into the public papers. " It may not be 
 generally known," wrote a contemporary chroni- 
 cler, " that H.R.H. the Prince of Wales is Duke 
 of Rothesay as well as Duke of Cornwall, which, 
 it would appear from the following incident that 
 recently occurred, was either unknown to or for- 
 gotten by his royal father. One morning a card 
 was presented at Buckingham Palace to H.R.H. 
 Prince Albert, upon which was engraved ' The 
 Duke of Rothesay,' and an audience solicited. His 
 Royal Highness seemed puzzled, and repeated the 
 name several times, saying that he did not recollect 
 having heard of the nobleman, but he consented 
 to give an audience and ordered the Duke of Rothe- 
 say to be shown in, when he was agreeably surprised 
 to see the Heir Apparent in full Highland costume, 
 attended by Her Majesty's piper. The above 
 amusing incident was productive of some entertain- 
 ment in the Royal Circle." 
 
 The prudence of a royal visit to Ireland is dis- 
 cussed, and Punch comes out with a capital cartoon, 
 the " Demon of Discord," in which a well-known 
 portly figure* is seen vanishing through a panto- 
 mime trap on the appearance of the Queen. The 
 idea was abandoned, and towards the end of June 
 the Royal Family proceed to Osborne House. In 
 July the Queen is back once more in London, where 
 the historic -pas-de-quatre danced by Taglioni, 
 Carlotta Grisi, Lucille Grahn and Cerito is 
 
 * That of Daniel O'Connell, 
 
 ^77 M
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 creating a veritable sensation. The second bal costume 
 now takes place at Buckingham Palace. It was 
 scarcely as successful as that of 1842. The period 
 of powder did not lend itself to mise-en-scene as well 
 as the epoch of armour. Punch deals with it in a 
 cartoon in which the Queen is supposed to be 
 pointing out a number of well-known personages, 
 duly bewigged, to one of Louis Philippe's sons. 
 Beneath it ran the legend, " Come, dear Nemours, 
 and look at my dolls." It was about this time that Sir 
 Harris Nicolas discovered Nelson's coat and waist- 
 coat in the possession of the widow of an alderman of 
 London. Prince Albert at once paid £\^o for them 
 and presented them to the nation. His generosity 
 did not at once meet with the reward it merited, 
 for the press continued to carp at a good many 
 much needed reforms in which he was then engaged, 
 and the Laureate is supposed to condole with his 
 ever busy equerries in a sympathetic sonnet of which 
 the following is a specimen : 
 
 " Anson and Bouverie, unhappy pair ! 
 j^ "'. How grievously it wounds the feeling heart 
 
 * * * • 
 
 Albert, your gracious Prince, is not a Turk ; 
 Then why not beg him to abate your work ? " 
 
 Punch continues his attentions to the Prince of 
 Wales, and thus alludes to an interview with the 
 King of the Netherlands, who sojourns for a few 
 days at Buckingham Palace : " The King of the 
 Netherlands having expressed a desire to see les 
 chevreuils de la Reine, was conducted to the royal 
 nursery, where he had an audience of the Prince 
 of Wales. It was explained to His Majesty that 
 the royal infant was le lihre de la couronne (the heir 
 to the crown). He was invited by His Royal 
 Diminutivcness to inspect his set of ring-taws. 
 
 178

 
 '^ Mr. Punch" as Regent-Extraordinary 
 
 The King of the Netherlands asked if they were the 
 celebrated Elgin marbles." 
 
 The Queen and Prince Albert had for some time 
 meditated a visit to Coburg and Germany, and 
 on the day of their departure for the Continen 
 (August 8, 1845) Her Majesty makes the following 
 entry in her journal : 
 
 " August 8. — A very fine morning when we got 
 up. Both Vicky and Alice were with me while I 
 dressed. ' Why am I not going to Germany ? ' asked 
 the eldest. Most willingly would I have taken 
 her, and wished much to have taken one of dearest 
 Albert's children to Coburg ; but the journey is 
 a serious undertaking, particularly the first time, 
 and she is very young, too ; but what chiefly 
 decides me is a visit to the King of Prussia, where 
 I could not have looked after her." 
 
 It was on the occasion of this brief absence from 
 home that the Queen commenced writing letters 
 to her children — to the five-year-old Princess 
 first of all. " Mr. Punch," who so heroically 
 assumed the role of " tutor-in-ordinary " to the 
 Prince of Wales, now poses as " regent-extraor- 
 dinary " of the whole kingdom. He addresses 
 (August 23) a sonnet to the half-deserted palace 
 beginning with the lines : 
 
 " I wonder what the Royal children do, 
 Now that their gracious parents are away ; 
 Whether like mice, when puss is out, they play ; 
 And turn their princely nursery upside down." 
 
 His reign was of very brief duration. Next week 
 appears John Leech's cartoon : " There's no place 
 like home," in which the whole of the Royal Family 
 figure. Prince Albert is made to wear a very foreign 
 cap, and Punchy brimming over with virtuous 
 
 179
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 indignation, has a great deal to say on the iniquity 
 of deer-drives. A spelling-book is improvised for 
 the Prince of Wales (the Sage of Fleet Street has 
 seemingly resumed his tutorial functions) limited 
 to words of one syllable The first sentence in it 
 runs : ' The Deer is a poor weak Brute which it 
 is good to kill." There is also a cartoon in which 
 the Court pastimes of Queen Victoria are contrasted 
 with those of Queen Elizabeth. On the return 
 journey a flying visit had been paid to King Louis 
 Philippe, who was already meditating mischief in 
 the matter of the Spanish marriage. A miscalcula- 
 tion as to the state of the tide is said to have caused 
 the landing of the illustrious guests to take place 
 in a bathing-machine. Nobody probably enjoyed 
 Leech's excellent sketch of the French king driving, 
 the Queen inside, waving her handkerchief from the 
 window, and her liege lord sitting astride the roof 
 wearing a pronounced Coburg hat, half as much as 
 Prince Albert. This, at least, was merriment after 
 his own heart : " There was not water enough to 
 allow of Her Majesty's landing in the customary 
 manner. Louis Philippe, however, was not to be 
 baffled, and he thought at once of a bathing-machine 
 for which Crickett or Foat of Margate would give 
 any money, since it has been immortalised by a 
 royal progress."* 
 
 In the following month the Prince of Wales and 
 his brother and sisters are once more occupying 
 their airy nurseries and play-rooms overlooking the 
 South Terrace at Windsor. The "Court News- 
 man" (October i8) announces that "Her Majesty, 
 accompanied by H.R H. Prince Albert, walked this 
 morning across to the royal aviary and visited the 
 Queen's kennel on their return to the Castle. T.R.H. 
 
 * Punch, vol. ix., July-December, 1845, p. 134. 
 180
 
 a X 
 
 
 O ^j 
 
 ■n 
 
 B 
 
 o 
 
 x Q 
 
 2 -H 
 
 > 
 
 > 
 
 >- 
 
 o 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 IT! 
 
 00 
 
 1^ 
 
 a; 
 > 
 
 wT 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 SI 
 
 
 
 
 ►**• 
 
 
 (» 
 
 
 > 
 
 
 'y.
 
 The King's Fourth Birthday 
 
 the Prince of Wales and the Princesses Royal and 
 Alice took equestrian exercise this morning on their 
 Shetland pony in the private plantation. Prince 
 Alfred was also taken out for exercise on the Slopes." 
 The fourth birthday of the Prince of Wales 
 falls on Sunday, so it is kept with high festival on 
 the following day (Monday November lo, 1845). 
 The bells of St. George's Chapel and the Parish 
 Church rang merrily, and at twelve o'clock a royal 
 salute was fired from the Corporation Ordnance 
 in Bachelors' Acre. Some of the houses of the 
 tradesmen were illuminated in honour of the event. 
 A royal salute was fired at noon from the Belvidere 
 battery. An ode to the Prince of Wales appears : 
 
 *' Child of the Palace, lisping thy sweet way 
 Through infancy's untroubled realms of light ; 
 Whose years, like summer butterflies, do play around thcc 
 And thou dost not miss their flight ! 
 Thou unto braver boyhood now dost sing 
 Thy buoyant way with playful grace, and free, 
 And feelest thyself caress'd — ' the future King ^ 
 Of Proudest Empire that surmounts the Sea.' 
 • « • « • 
 
 " The heart — still keep the heart ! — let every year 
 Hear its fine pulses ever warm and loud ; ' 
 
 Shall the kindling people hold thee dear .' , 
 
 And be all England of thy Birthday proud. 1 
 
 Watch thee to manhood with proud eyes of love, 
 And stir with loyalty that never fails — 
 Bid the Old Nation's honest spirit move 
 To greet and bless Victoria's Princi of Wales. 
 
 A short sojourn at Osborne intervened between 
 these high rejoicings and the usual Christmas 
 jollity at Windsor Castle, when a splendid baron of 
 beef, weighing upwards of 300 lbs., was served at the 
 royal dinner. Christmases were still " merry " 
 in the " forties," and nobody was a whit the worse 
 for it. . 
 
 181
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 The fifth year of the life of the Prince of Wales 
 began with a happy example of the manner in which 
 he was initiated by the Queen and Prince Albert 
 into the active exercise of practical philanthropy. 
 He was present on the occasion of the distribution 
 of Her Majesty's New Year's dole for the benefit 
 of poor and needy families residing within the 
 Borough of Windsor. It took place in the riding- 
 school, where tables were covered with loaves, 
 joints of meat, and half a ton of plum-pudding. 
 The recipients amounted to seven hundred, and 
 were divided into four classes by the local clergy. 
 One hundred and fifty blankets were also given 
 away. For the first time the traditional ale was 
 eliminated from the programme. 
 
 In February the Court removes to Osborne. 
 Here (March 3, 1846), the Queen writes : " Albert 
 is so happy here — out all day planting, directing, 
 &c., and it is so good for him. It is a relief to be 
 away from all the bitterness which people create 
 for themselves in London." 
 
 Before Easter the Prince of Wales was to com- 
 mence his lengthy career as the friend and patron 
 of the drama. Astley's Amphitheatre, where the 
 memories of its original founders and the great 
 Ducrow still lingered, was to be the scene of this 
 important event. To-day not one stone of it 
 remains upon another. The home of the two 
 Astleys, Ducrow and Widdicombe, is as clean gone as 
 its near neighbours Vauxhall and Ranelagh, or the 
 Bankside theatres associated with the fame and 
 achievements of William Shakespeare and Ben 
 Jonson. It was the afternoon of Tuesday, March 
 24, that the Queen and Prince Albert, with the 
 doubtless highly delighted and much excited Prince 
 of Wales and Princess Royal, set out from Bucking- 
 
 182
 
 A Visit to Astley's 
 
 ham Palace for the Westminster Bridge Road. The 
 following advertisement will give an idea of what 
 the spectacle provided for their entertainment 
 consisted : 
 
 ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE. 
 
 Proprietor : Mr. William Batty. 
 
 Most positively the last week before the Easter Holidays. 
 
 Immense Novelty which will combine the attractive entertain- 
 ments expressly prepared by Royal Command on the occasion of 
 the visit of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, Prince Albert, 
 the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal to the Amphitheatre on 
 Tuesday, the 24th next. 
 
 The last six reproductions of 
 
 " THE ELEPHANTS OF THE PAGODA." 
 on 
 
 Monday, March 30. 
 and live following evenings. 
 
 The highly popular spectacle of " The Rajah of Nagpore " from 
 the " Scenes of the Circle," in which Mr. Batty will have the honour 
 of appearing with his celebrated Arabian mare, Beda, on which 
 performance Royalty has been pleased to bestow the most marked 
 encomiums. 
 
 The performance will conclude with a novel afterpiece. 
 Box Office open from 11 to 5. Equestrian tuition daily. 
 
 Stage Manager : Mr. T. Thompson. 
 
 The first announcement of the great event ran 
 thus : 
 
 " The Royal Visit to Astley's. 
 
 " On Tuesday, pursuant to Royal Command, 
 a grand equestrian performance took place at 
 Astley's Amphitheatre, which was honoured by the 
 presence of Her Majesty the Queen, H.R.H. Prince 
 Albert, the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal. 
 Mr. W. Batty, the lessee, had superbly fitted up 
 
 for the royal party a box in the centre of the dress 
 
 183
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 circle, and the theatre was gorgeously decorated. 
 The visit was strictly private. Her Majesty, Prince 
 Albert and their illustrious children and attend- 
 ants arrived soon after 4 o'clock, and were imme- 
 diately ushered into the royal box by Mr. Batty 
 and Mr. T. Thompson, the stage manager, to 
 whom at the close of the entertainment the Queen 
 and Prince Albert expressed their entire approval 
 of the arrangements." 
 
 The same issue of the Illustrated London News 
 curiously enough contains a portrait of Liston, 
 the celebrated comedian, who had just died at his 
 residence in one of those old-fashioned houses in 
 Knightsbridge which has, like Astley's theatre, 
 disappeared from the face of the earth. The 
 public wanted to know a great deal more about the 
 good luck of Mr. Batty, and in the following week 
 the prevailing thirst for information was gratified 
 by what is known in legal phraseology as " fuller 
 and better particulars." 
 
 The same number of the paper gives on the 
 first page a picture of the Royal Family at Astley's. 
 The Heir to the Throne occupies the right-hand 
 corner of the box next to the Prince Consort, the 
 Princess Royal sitting at the opposite end of it by 
 the side of the Queen. A long account is given 
 of the elaborate fitting up of the theatre. It 
 appeared that the Foot Guards lined the passages, 
 whilst sentries were placed at the stage door, and 
 detachments in the stable and at the front entrance 
 in the Westminster Bridge Road. Very elaborate 
 programmes were printed in honour of the occasion. 
 The performance was described as " a grand eques- 
 trian day representation," the riding-masters 
 being Mr. R. Smith and Mr. Widdicombe. There 
 was a variety of graceful feats by M. and Mme. 
 
 184
 
 Birth of Princess Christian 
 
 Dumos, Miss Isabella M. Hinie, and the brothers 
 Candelers. Besides the lilliputian equestrian scene 
 of 1754, Mr. R. Smith introduced his splendid 
 steeds Beauty and Selim, and Mr. Batty led out 
 his admired mare Beda. The day was altogether 
 an auspicious one, for it almost exactly coincided 
 with the announcement of the great victory which 
 ended the Sikh War. 
 
 " Mr. Punch," who never tired of acting as 
 Mentor to the Telemachus of the Prince of Wales, 
 had, as might be expected, his say about the royal 
 visit to Astley's. " Juvenile Royalty," he says 
 with becoming gravity, " must not be left to the 
 absurd supposition that the Battle of Waterloo 
 was fought between 18 Scotch Greys, headed by 
 twelve Field Marshals, against Buonaparte, with a 
 brilliant staff, leading on eight cuirassiers and one 
 Mameluke. . . . History as taught at Astley's is 
 an amusing but not a healthy style of instruction. 
 The illustrious Michelet was ' sold ' when he went 
 to see Mr. Gomersal as Napoleon, and ran wildly 
 into the Westminster Bridge Road declaring that the 
 authors of the piece had endeavoured to stab the 
 honour of France with the steel pen of the drama- 
 tist. In order to avoid mistakes of this sort on the 
 part of the infant Prince and Princesses, we repeat 
 our warning, that historical dramas should always be 
 taken cum grano sails — with a chapter of Pinnock.'"* 
 
 On May 6 the Queen's fifth child and third 
 daughter, the Princess Helena (Princess Christian), 
 was born. Her Majesty as usual made a very happy 
 recovery. 
 
 On May 30 the " Court Newsman " signals the 
 appearance " on the evening of Thursday (May 21), 
 of three Highland dwarfs named MacKiney, natives 
 
 * Punch, vol. X., April 4, 1845, p. 155. 
 18S
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 of the county of Ross, before the whole Royal 
 Family at Buckingham Palace, where they went 
 through a series of national dances and songs, of 
 which Her Majesty was pleased to express appro- 
 bation. The oldest, Finlay, was 23 years old, 
 45 inches high, and weighed 5 stone 1 1 lbs. His 
 brother, John, aged 21, was 44 inches high and 5 
 stone 3 lbs. in weight, and the sister, Mary, aged 19, 
 was the same height as John, and weighed 7 lbs. 
 more." Lord Brougham was credited with being their 
 social sponsor. Tom Thumb, their natural rival, is 
 once more in London, but received no further sum- 
 mons to the presence of Royalty, ^he Times waxes 
 wroth and declares " that the display of a disgusting 
 dwarf attracted hordes of gaping idiots, who poured 
 into the pockets of a Yankee showman a stream of 
 wealth one tithe of which would have redeemed 
 an honourable English artist from wretchedness 
 and death." In a facetious letter signed " Gloriana 
 Westend," Punch now takes up the cudgels for his 
 pet aversion of a former year. " Mrs. Westend," 
 in a P.S. alludes to the Highland dwarfs now 
 honoured with Royal patronage as " the little dear 
 loves who have danced their native flings and reels 
 at Buckingham Palace." A change of Ministry 
 is imminent, and Punch's list of probable appoint- 
 ments includes : 
 
 General Tom Thumb .... Prime Minister 
 
 Lord Chancellor \ q-., rp. 
 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer tt- 1.1 j 
 
 A/T--^ r^L-Lj T\ ^ \ rlignland 
 
 Mmister 01 the rlome Depart- -R . 
 
 ^ Dwaris 
 ment 
 
 The other Appointments . . The Pigmy Children 
 
 Be this as it may, " Astley's," having taken a new 
 
 lease of life, was for some years to come persistently 
 
 186
 
 Dwarfs and Midgets 
 
 advertised as '' patronised by Her Most Gracious 
 Majesty The Queen, Prince Albert, The Prince of 
 Wales and the Princess Royal." 
 
 In August Prince Albert visits King Leopold, and 
 at the end of the same month an anonymous group 
 of the Royal Family appears in Punch with the 
 words " A Case of Real Distress." It possesses no 
 particular point, but indicates the first attempt 
 at something like a likeness of the Prince of Wales, 
 who had already sat over twenty times to various 
 painters for his portrait. 
 
 The latter part of August and the early days of 
 September were spent at Osborne, of which p'ace 
 the Queen and Prince Albert are evidently growing 
 increasingly fond. A popular fete was given there 
 in celebration of Prince Albert's birthday (August 
 26) ; the Prince of Wales was present and his 
 health was proposed and drunk with great enthu- 
 siasm. Such a fete had never been witnessed in 
 the Isle of Wight before. " The rustic sports, 
 consisting of jumping in sacks, quoits, leap-frog, 
 hopping and running, caused great amusement to 
 the Royal children, who were skipping and dancing, 
 the whole of them — to the royal baby in the nurse's 
 arms — being present." 
 
 From August 18 to 25 (prior to the fete cham- 
 fetre) a very enjoyable yachting excursion took 
 place, in the course of which Portland, Weymouth 
 (always affectionately remembered by the Queen 
 on account of its associations with the reign of 
 George III., and now adorned with a hand- 
 some statue of her late Majesty), Dartmouth and 
 Plymouth were all visited. On anchoring in Babbi- 
 combe Bay [August 20] the Queen made the follow- 
 ing note in her Journal : " It is a beautiful spot, 
 which before we had only passed at a distance. 
 
 187
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Red cliff and rocks with wooded hills like Italy, 
 and reminding one of a ballet or play where nymphs 
 are to appear — such rocks and grottoes, with the 
 deepest sea, on which there was not a ripple. . . . 
 We tried to sketch the part looking towards Torbay. 
 I never saw our good children looking better, or in 
 higher spirits. I continued to give Vicky a little 
 lesson by making her read in her English history. . . . 
 Crowds of boats are surrounding us on all sides." 
 Next day [August 21] Plymouth is reached, and 
 Her Majesty once more resumes the pen : " At 
 half-past nine we entered the splendid harbour of 
 Plymouth and anchored again below Mount Edg- 
 cumbe, which, with its beautiful trees, including 
 pines, growing down into the sea, looks more lovely 
 than ever. I changed my dress and read innumer- 
 able letters and despatches, and then went on deck 
 and saw the authorities — the Admirals and Generals. 
 I did Vicky's lessons and wrote." The children 
 were left on board, and Her Majesty and the 
 Prince Consort with all their suite embarked on 
 the Fairy for a cruise up the Tamar, going first 
 a little way up the St. Germans river to see 
 Trematon Castle, " which," the Queen wrote, 
 " belongs to Bertie as Duke of Cornwall." 
 On August 22 a visit to Mount Edgcumbe is made, 
 " where," writes Queen Victoria, " we were wel- 
 comed by Lady Mount Edgcumbe and her two 
 boys,* Prince Albert going to Dartmoor. The 
 children went with their governess and the other 
 
 • Lady Mount Edgcumbe, wife of the third Earl of Mount 
 Edgcumbe, daughter of Admiral and Lady Elizabeth Fielding, died 
 November 1881. Her two sons were Lord Valletort (now Earl of 
 Mount Edgcumbe), born 1832 (see fost, p. 355.), and the Honble. 
 Colonel C. E. Edgcumbe, born 1838. Lord Valletort, who was 
 fourteen in 1846, succeeded to the title in 1861. 
 
 188
 
 KING EDWARD VII. AS A SAILUU, 1816-7 
 
 AFTER A PAIXTINi; BY F. WINTERH ALTER
 
 A Trip to Guernsey 
 
 children into the shade and had luncheon in the 
 house." 
 
 On September 2 the Queen and the Prince 
 Consort, with their two elder children, once more 
 embarked on board the Victoria and Albert bound 
 for the Channel Islands. Neither the Prince 
 nor his sister landed in Guernsey, but we learn 
 on reliable authority, that " Her Majesty was 
 attired in a very plain manner, wearing a white 
 bonnet, lined with pink, a green and white plaid 
 dress, and a scarlet and gold scarf. Her parasol 
 was of mazarine. Her Majesty wore her hair plain 
 and had blended in her countenance an air of 
 affable condescension yet courteous dignity. The 
 Prince was attired in dark coat, dark coloured 
 lavender trousers, and silk waistcoat, varied with 
 green flowers. The little Prince of Wales went on 
 deck dressed as a sailor. A glazed hat, a check 
 shirt, a handkerchief around his collar tied in a 
 sailor's knot as a sailor, blue jacket and white 
 trousers were his costume. The sailors gave the 
 Royal Sailor nine times nine and when this was 
 over he ordered grog to be given to each of them." 
 
 The marine excursion awoke very little enthu- 
 siasm in the heart of " Mr. Punch," who at first 
 contented himself with observing that " while 
 Guernsey has been honoured by royal notice what 
 must be the feelings of Alderney and Sark at their 
 exclusion from a share of royal patronage ? We feel 
 that Alderney will feel itself terribly Cowed, while 
 Sark will almost sink into a premature sarcophagus." 
 
 A little later on he expressed a conviction that 
 " The visit to Guernsey has occasioned much 
 disappointment, as the inhabitants had expected 
 to see Her Majesty arrive in her coronation robes, 
 with the sceptre in one hand and the ball in the 
 
 189
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 other . . . they could not believe that a Queen 
 would wear a white chip bonnet, or anything else but 
 crimson and ermine." The anecdote of the Prince 
 of Wales, however, gave John Leech the opportunity 
 of a lifetime. His cartoon " Every Inch a Sailor " 
 is immortal. In it the five year-old Prince of Wales 
 in nautical attire is depicted on the deck of the 
 yacht, offering a huge glass of grog to a still larger 
 Jack Tar, who has doffed his hat, and is pulling his 
 forelock in grateful acknowledgment — Punchy of 
 course, at the helm, and Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence 
 on the bridge, while the Queen (parasol in hand) 
 and Prince Albert look on admiringly. The ac- 
 companying text richly deserves to live in history. 
 Under the appropriate heading " The Sailor Prince " 
 we are told that " As Britannia happens to rule the 
 waves it is very desirable that we should have a 
 somebody who is superior to the waves, for the 
 office of ruling Britannia. It is gratifying to know 
 that not only is Her Majesty a capital sailoress, 
 but her son, the little Duke of Cornwall, is every 
 inch — that is, every one of his 28 inches of height — 
 a sailor. The young scion of Royalty, during the 
 recent cruise, skipped about the deck as jollily as 
 the skipper himself, and ordered extra allowances 
 of grog to the men, with the true spirit of British 
 seamanship." After dwelling on the limited extent 
 of the little Tar's outfit and the expedient resorted 
 to in order to make up for its shortcomings, we are 
 assured " that His Royal Highness has already 
 adopted some of the phraseology peculiar to the 
 naval service, and has once or twice expressed a 
 desire to have his little timbers shivered. He is 
 frequently engaged in practising the hornpipe so 
 completely identified with the naval service of his 
 country, and he already knows the name of every 
 
 190
 
 A Royal Midshipman 
 
 rope, spar and brace that is required in a vessel. 
 He sings none but naval songs, and his execution 
 of ' We tars have a maxim,' is considered hy all 
 who have heard it to be one of the finest pieces 
 of nautical vocalisation in the English language," 
 John Leech and " Mr. Punch " between them are 
 responsible for the sailor-costumes which for two 
 generations have supplanted the hideous juvenile 
 attire of the early Victorian epoch. ' 
 
 In her Journal Queen Victoria makes the follow- 
 ing entries about the cruise to Jersey : " On board 
 the Victoria and Albert off St. Heliers, Jersey, 
 Wednesday, September 2, 1846. — At a quarter past 
 seven o'clock we set off with Vicky, Bertie, Lady 
 Jocelyn, Miss Kerr, Mdlle. Griiner, Lord Spencer, 
 Lord Palmerston and Sir James Clark and embarked 
 at Osborne Pier. . . . After passing the Alderney 
 Race it became quite smooth, and then Bertie 
 put on his sailor's dress, which was beautifully made 
 by the men on board who make for our sailors. 
 When he appeared the ofl[icers and sailors who were 
 all assembled on deck to see him, cheered and seemed 
 delighted with him," 
 
 The royal excursion was extended in the direction 
 of the coast of Devon, and that delightful line of 
 littoral further westwards, now known throughout 
 the length and breadth of the land as the Cornish 
 Riviera. The squadron first touched at Falmouth, 
 proceeding thence to Mount's Bay, An excellent 
 story is told of an incident which, on one of those 
 balmy September days of 1846, happened on board 
 the Victoria and Albert to the Heir Apparent, who was 
 rated on her books as a midshipman. The Prince's 
 outfit was not of an extravagant character. It 
 consisted of only one white duck jacket and pair of 
 trousers and one blue suit, the former soiled by 
 
 191
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the youngster's pranks on deck. He was bound to 
 appear neat and trim to muster on the Sunday 
 morning, and this he was enabled to do by the 
 good-nature of the captain of the foretop who washed 
 his white jacket and trousers on Saturday night, 
 and dried them by the fire, and for want of a 
 mangling apparatus or an ironing box sat on them 
 to get them smooth, giving them the appearance of 
 a first rate man-of-war wash. Lord Adolphus 
 Fitzclarence on Sunday morning, when all hands 
 were called to muster, noticed the cleanly appearance 
 of the attire, and on inquiring learnt this little cir- 
 cumstance which, on being repeated to Her Majesty, 
 was the subject of much amusement both to the 
 Queen and Prince Albert. It is difficult after the 
 lapse of more than half a century to realise the raptu- 
 rous enthusiasm with which the five-year-old Duke of 
 Cornwall was greeted on arriving within the boun- 
 daries of his own dominion. The Queen writes 
 of all that took place with the simple sincerity 
 which makes her Journal such charming reading : 
 
 " Mounts Bay, September 5. — During our voyage 
 I was able to give Vicky her lessons. At three o'clock 
 we all got into the barge, including the children 
 and Mdlle. Griiner their governess, and rowed 
 through an avenue of boats to the Fairy, where we 
 went on board. . . . We steamed round the bay 
 to look at St. Michael's Mount from the other side, 
 which is even more beautiful, and then went on to 
 Penzance, . . . We remained here a little while 
 without going on, in order to sketch, and returned to 
 the Victoria and Albert by half-past four, the boats 
 crowding round us in all directions, and when Bertie 
 showed himself the people shouted, ' Three cheers 
 for the Duke of Cornwall ! ' " 
 
 192
 
 The Duke in his Duchy 
 
 From Mounts Bay the Royal yachts returned to 
 Falmouth. In the course of the voyage the Queen, 
 Prince Albert and the young Prince and Princess 
 landed at Kynance Cove near the Lizard Point, 
 and remained there for some time picking up shells 
 and other natural curiosities. After their arrival 
 in the Fal the Queen again resumed her narrative : 
 " Falmouth, Monday, September 7. — Immediately 
 after breakfast Albert left me, to land and visit some 
 mines. The Corporation of Penryn* were on board, 
 and very anxious to see the Duke of Cornwall, so 
 I stepped out of the pavilion on deck with Bertie, 
 and Lord Palmerston told them this was the Duke 
 of Cornwall, and the old Mayor of Penryn said, 
 * he hoped he would grow up a blessing to his parents 
 and to his country.' A little after four o'clock we 
 all got into the barge, with the two children, and 
 rowed to the Fairy. . . . We went up the Truro 
 (Fal) which is beautiful. . . . From Malpas one 
 can see Truro, the capital of Cornwall. We stopped 
 here awhile as so many boats came out from a 
 little place called Sunny Corner, just below Truro, 
 in order to see us. . . . They cheered and were 
 enchanted when Bertie was held up for them to see. 
 It was a very pretty, gratifying sight." " Tuesday, 
 September 8. — A wet morning when we rose and 
 breakfasted with the children." 
 
 On Wednesday, the 9th, the whole party were 
 once more in the the Isle of Wight. 
 
 As to the events of the next week there is a serious 
 
 * The first visits of King Edward VII. to the West in 1846 are still 
 well remembered by the " oldest inhabitants." The Mayor of 
 Penryn thus mentioned by the Queen was Mr. Alexander Teague. 
 The other Mayors who paid their respects to the Queen and the 
 Duke of Cornwall were Mr. Benjamin Parham (Plymouth), Mr. 
 W. R. Broad (Falmouth), Mr. Edward Bolitho (Penzance), Mr. 
 Qement Carlyon (Truro), and Mr. William Devenish (Weymouth). 
 
 193 N
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 discrepancy between two of Queen Victoria's most 
 notable biographers. Sir Theodore Martin * men- 
 tions September 15, 1846, as the first night of the 
 occupancy of the new portion of Osborne House, but 
 the Duke of Argyll gives the date as December 16. 
 
 Mr. Patchett Martin is in accord with the former. t 
 Lady Lyttelton thus describes what took place in 
 a letter ;j; dated Osborne House, September 16, 
 1846 : " Our first night in this house is well 
 passed. Nobody complained of the smell of paint 
 or caught cold, and the worst is over. Everything 
 in the house is quite new, and the drawing-room 
 looks very handsome. The lights of the lamps 
 in the windows in this room must have been seen 
 out at sea. At dinner we were to drink the Queen's 
 and the Prince's health as a house-warming, and 
 after it the Prince said very simply and seriously : 
 ' We have a psalm in Germany for such occasions,' 
 and then quoted it. It was ' to bless our going 
 out and coming in, our daily bread and all we do ; 
 bless us to a blessed dying, and make us heirs of 
 heaven.' It was dry and quaint, being Luther's." 
 
 Early in September Queen Adelaide had taken 
 up her abode at Cassiobury, near Watford, the 
 ancient and picturesque seat of the Earls of Essex, 
 since famous as the aboriginal home of croquet. 
 The then owner had a weakness for picnic parties, 
 and was even credited with the forethought of 
 providing excursionists with the necessary plate. 
 Cassiobury was a " show place," full of all sorts of 
 relics of the past, including amongst other treasures 
 the handkerchief which Lord Coningsby applied 
 to the wounded shoulder of King William III. at 
 
 • " Life of the Prince G)nsort," vol. i. p. 339. 
 t "V.R.I." p. 173. 
 
 t " The Queen in the Isle of Wight," 1898, p. 8. 
 
 194
 
 
 ■5 2; 
 
 ■7.
 
 Queen Victoria at Cassiobury 
 
 the battle of the Boyne, and a large series of dramatic 
 miniatures and valuable pictures. In the grounds 
 were two enormous granite cannon balls which had 
 been fired from the Castle of Abydos, at the entrance 
 of the Dardanelles into the Endymion frigate in 
 1807. Beneath one of them is the following in- 
 scription : " These shots of granite, from the ruins 
 of Alexandria, were fired from the Castle of Abydos, 
 on the Asiatic side of the entrance of the Straits 
 of the Dardanelles into the Endymion frigate, 
 commanded by the Honble. Captain Bladen Capel, 
 when the Squadron under the command of Sir John 
 Duckworth entered the Straits in the year 1807. 
 The larger shot weighs upwards of seven cwt., and 
 was fired at the distance of a quarter of a mile ; 
 the losses, killed and wounded, 15 men." 
 
 After the return of the Court to Windsor it was 
 decided that the Queen and Prince Albert should 
 pay a visit to Queen Adelaide at Cassiobury and 
 Lord Salisbury at Hatfield. Rumours of great 
 doings at Windsor in honour of the Prince of Wales's 
 fifth birthday are already rife. On October 12 
 the Queen Dowager had seen the Queen at Windsor 
 Castle. On the 19th Her Majesty and Prince Albert 
 drove to Cassiobury by way of Uxbridge, Harefield, 
 Pinner and Batchworth Heath. On alighting they 
 were received by the Queen Dowager, the Princess 
 of Hesse, and the lords and ladies in waiting. A 
 large party was assembled to meet them. Amongst 
 the guests were the Countess of Gainsborough, 
 Earl Howe, and the youthful Ladies Adelaide and 
 Emily Curzon. During their stay at Cassiobury, 
 excursions were made to Stanmore Priory, Moor 
 Park, and other places. On the 21st the Queen 
 found time to pen the following characteristic 
 little letter to the Princess Royal at Windsor : 
 
 195
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 "Cassiobury Park, 
 ^^ October 21, 1846. 
 
 " My dearest Vicky, — Your little letter has 
 given your dear Papa and me great pleasure. We 
 were very sorry to leave you and Bertie and the others 
 and we shall be very glad to see you again on Satur- 
 day. 
 
 " We hope you will continue to be all good and 
 obedient children. 
 
 " This place is comfortable but dark, and not 
 cheerful. We are however very happy to be with 
 dear good Aunt Adelaide who saw your letter. 
 There are two nice little girls here, Adelaide and 
 Emily Curzon.* 
 
 " Now good bye my good little Vicky. Your 
 dearest Papa sends you a kiss and so do I. 
 
 " Ever your very affte. Mama, 
 
 " V.R." 
 
 The Queen evidently takes special pains to make 
 her own writing sufficiently legible to enable the 
 recipient to read it. 
 
 From Cassiobury the Queen proceeded to Hat- 
 field. Mr. Holmes tells us she was glad to meet 
 Lord Melbourne, whom she had not seen since his 
 retirement from office. As had been arranged 
 for some weeks the fifth anniversary of the birth 
 of the Prince of Wales was celebrated with great 
 rejoicings at Windsor Castle on Monday, November 
 9. Both the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred 
 wore Scotch costumes. The band of the Life Guards 
 once more performed " The Prince of Wales' Quick- 
 step," a march composed for the Prince's birthday of 
 
 * Lady Adelaide Ida Curzon married in 1857 the late Earl of 
 Westmoreland, who died in 1891. Her sister, Lady Emily Mary, 
 woman of the bedchamber to Queen Alexandra, married in the same 
 year CDlonel Sir Robert Nigel Kingscote, K.C.B. 
 
 196
 
 _^ 
 
 
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 ^^ 
 
 FACSIMILE OF COMPLETE LKTIEK, DATKD OCTOBER 21, 18 IC, 
 FROM QUEEN YICTOKIA AT CASSIOBUEY I'AKK 
 TO THE PRINCESS ROYAL AT WINDSOR
 
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 e. - 

 
 One More Birthday 
 
 1842 by the Duchess of Kent, who on this occasion 
 paid the Queen a visit of congratulation. A banquet 
 was given in the evening in the grand dining-hall 
 and a public dinner took place in the town, presided 
 over by Mr. Neville, one of the members for the 
 Borough. At the former an enormous cake, manu- 
 factured by Mr. Mawditt, Her Majesty's first 
 yeoman-confectioner, was placed on the banquet- 
 ing table in the Castle in the morning and partaken 
 of by Her Majesty's royal and illustrious guests. 
 A portrait of the young Prince is given in the next 
 issue of The Illustrated London News, and two odes 
 in honour of his birthday are published, the first 
 of them commencing with the verse : 
 
 " The voice of nations rises on the gale, 
 Across the Island of the brave and free, 
 On this, thy festival, to bid thee hail 
 Young Lord of Empire over land and sea ! 
 Great as thy heritage is great to be 
 It is no greater than the hope we twine 
 With the fair years of thy futurity. 
 Thou scion of sceptre-bearing line 
 Oh ! Heir to all its power — be all its virtues thine." 
 
 The other composition is more martial in its 
 conception, two of its couplets being the following : 
 
 " There's Scotland in her bonnet blue 
 Steady and firm as rock of steel ! 
 Her tartans waved at Waterloo, 
 When onward rushed the sturdy ' Chiel.' 
 There's England's glorious chivalry 
 And Erin's lance that seldom fails ;] 
 Match me old Earth ! these nations through 
 Whose shields bear up the Prince of Wales, 
 
 " Fair child, thy years are barely five, 
 And yet to them the freeborn wave 
 Hath welcome been, where * Jack's Alive." 
 Right well thou lov'st the sailor brave, 
 197
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 For Nelson, Nile and Trafalgar 
 
 Are not yet quite forgotten . , . Quails 
 
 The Tricolor before the Tar, 
 
 Who ramparts well the Prince of Wales." 
 
 Another visit is paid to Osborne (November i8), 
 and three days later, the sixth birthday of the 
 Princess Royal (now the Queen's correspondent) 
 is duly f6ted there ; while at Osborne the Queen 
 and Prince Albert go to Arundel Castle, where they 
 are entertained by the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk. 
 As usual Christmas is kept at Windsor Castle, and 
 both the Queen and her husband showed much 
 interest in the Royal School, Cumberland Lodge, 
 Windsor Great Park, now completed. Christmas 
 was commemorated with the various observances 
 which reminded Prince Albert of old days at Rosenau, 
 and the frost was so severe that on the last day of 
 the year he was able to captain the victorious side 
 in an exciting game of hockey played on the frozen 
 surface of the lake. 
 
 198
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 FROM GOVERNESS TO TUTOR : HOME LIFE AT 
 
 WINDSOR, OSBORNE, AND BALMORAL 
 
 I 847-1 850 
 
 The fifth birthday of the Prince of Wales (Novem- 
 ber 9, 1846) marks in many ways an epoch in the 
 annals of his boyhood. Amongst the visitors 
 invited by the Queen to Windsor on that occasion 
 was Madame de Bunsen, whose letters* throw an 
 interesting light on the nursery-life which was 
 gradually shaping the receptive mind of the Heir 
 Apparent for the serious studies of the school-room. 
 In a letter to Mrs. Waddington dated Carlton 
 House Terrace, November 13, 1846, this observant 
 lady writes : 
 
 "... I was invited to Windsor Castle to spend 
 the birthday of the Prince of Wales, for the first 
 time, as it is not usual with the Queen to have 
 foreign guests on that occasion. In the morning I 
 accompanied the Royal party to the terrace to see the 
 troops, who fired a feu de joie in honour of the Prince 
 of Wales, who enjoyed it much, in extreme serious- 
 ness and returned duly, by a military salute, the 
 salutation he received as the colours passed. I 
 inquired of Prince Albert whether he had formed 
 any idea yet of his position at this early age (five 
 years). He told me that last month in travelling 
 through Cornwall, he had asked for an explanation 
 
 * " Memoirs of Baron de Bunsen," vol. ii. p. 120, 
 
 199
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 of the cheers accompanying the cry of ' The Duke 
 of Cornwall for ever ! ' When Prince Albert 
 informed him that there had been, long ago, a great 
 and good Prince of Wales, called the Black Prince, 
 who was also Duke of Cornwall, and he had been 
 so beloved and adored that people had not forgotten 
 him, and the title being given to the eldest son of 
 the Sovereign, together with that of Prince of 
 Wales, it ought to teach him to emulate the merits 
 of that great Prince in order to be equally beloved 
 and remembered. 
 
 " I had brought with me German books for the 
 children, and received permission to present them. 
 The Queen brought the Royal Family into the 
 corridor after luncheon on purpose to give me 
 that opportunity. The Prince wanted to have 
 the pictures explained, and I sat on the floor in the 
 midst of the group ; we all spoke German, and 
 the Princess Royal, by desire of the Queen, read a 
 fable out of one of the books perfectly well. The 
 Queen often spoke with me about education, and 
 in particular of religious instruction. Her views 
 are very serious but at the same time liberal and 
 comprehensive. She (as well as Prince Albert) 
 hates all formalism." 
 
 Six weeks later (December 31, 1846), she again 
 writes : 
 
 « 
 
 . . To return to Windsor Castle (whence I 
 just perceive the dawn of the last day of the year, 
 looking towards the Long Walk) — the Queen is a 
 wife and a mother as happy as the happiest in her 
 dominions, and no one can be more careful of her 
 charges. She often speaks to me of the great task 
 before her and the Prince in the education of the 
 Royal children, and particularly of the Prince of 
 
 200
 
 Lady Lyttelton on **Princey" 
 
 Wales and the Princess Royal. She brought them 
 all into the corridor the day before yesterday, to 
 shake hands with me. . . ." 
 
 As might be expected the five-year-old Prince 
 becomes more and more the subject of good stories. 
 His biographer of 1859 informs us that just about 
 this time he sat to Burnand the Cornish sculptor 
 for a bust.* A room was fitted up for the artist 
 near the nursery, and he used to say afterwards 
 that he heard many a rumpus (why not a " row 
 royal " ?) amongst the children. Miss Hildyard, 
 of whom frequent mention is made in Queen 
 Victoria's Journal, was now his principal attendant 
 and teacher. Although she familiarly called him 
 " Princey " (as seemingly did Lady Lyttelton), 
 " the young gentleman," writes " A," " was fully 
 aware of his own importance, and while sitting to 
 Burnand always expected a stool to be placed for 
 him when he wished to rest his royal feet. He 
 was never still and talked a great deal. He entreated 
 Burnand to let him model his own face ; so Burnand 
 made him a cast to fill with clay and amuse himself ; 
 with this he was very much delighted, and when 
 he had filled his cast he brought it to Burnand to 
 look at. And being full of fun he merrily dashed 
 it in the poor artist's face." 
 
 The Princess Alice (now in her fourth year) 
 was at this time the constant playfellow of her 
 elder brother. Her brightness, good temper and 
 sweetness of disposition soon made her the favourite 
 of all the inmates of the royal nursery, but possibly 
 the pretty anecdote of her kind-heartedness told by 
 
 * Nevill Northey Burnand, born 1 8 18, died 1878. Obtained 
 in 1832 the first prize of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society 
 for a cast of the Laocoon, Exhibitor at the Royal Academy 
 1855-1867. 
 
 201
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the late Empress Frederick of Germany,* occurred 
 somewhat later. One of the Queen's dressers was 
 unusually tall, so much so that when she passed 
 through the corridor, where the Royal children 
 were playing, the Prince of Wales made it the 
 subject of a joke. Thinking it might pain her 
 the little Princess rejoined : " It is very nice to 
 be tall ; Papa would like us all to be tall." 
 
 Punchy who alludes in terms of sympathy to the 
 presence of the Prince of Wales at the distribution 
 of the New Year's gifts already referred to, says : " It 
 is with warm and unaffected satisfaction that we 
 call attention to a distribution of beef, bread, and 
 pudding, to the poor on New Year's Day, in the 
 presence of Her Majesty at Windsor. Nor were 
 the interior linings of the needv the sole subject 
 of regard, for there were blankets, cloaks, rolls of 
 flannel, and other materials, intended to provide 
 comfortable external covering for the recipients of 
 the royal bounty. A slice of beef is well enough 
 for the hour, but a good bit of flannel will last the 
 entire season. Pudding is delicious for the day, 
 but there is more permanent advantage in a petti- 
 coat." The interior arrangements of the new 
 House of Lords are now in progress and a discussion 
 arises as to the dimensions of the chair-of-state 
 for the accommodation of the Heir Apparent to 
 be placed near the throne. Punch, on January 30, 
 thus deals with the whole question : " The pretty 
 little chair to be placed to the right of the Throne 
 for the pretty little Prince of Wales, has been a general 
 object of affectionate interest. Unfortunately, 
 however, while his Royal Highness is happily 
 growing bigger every year, the pretty little chair 
 never grows at all, and there must be a sad want of 
 
 • y'uie " Life of Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse " (see ante)) p. 10. 
 
 202
 
 Sledging and Droschki Driving 
 
 proportion between the seat and its intended 
 occupant. We can only recommend the applica- 
 tion of horticultural skill in such a manner that 
 the chair may be planted in the ground, made of 
 the wood of some living tree, and trained or kept 
 clipped in the form that may be required to suit 
 the dimensions of Walesian Royalty." 
 
 Towards the middle of February the Court 
 removes to Buckingham Palace (the greater part 
 of the journey from Windsor being effected by rail), 
 and the continuance of an unusually severe frost 
 gave the Prince of Wales his first experience of 
 sledging. We learn that the Queen now used for 
 the first time the sledges and droschki presented to 
 her by the Tsar Nicholas. The Queen and the Prince 
 of Wales drove in the first sledge, to which was 
 attached the pair of ponies trained expressly for that 
 purpose, gaily caparisoned in their Russian bell har- 
 ness. The droschki which followed was driven by 
 one of the royal grooms attired in Russian costume. 
 
 In March (1847) the election of Prince Albert 
 as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 
 took place, although he declined to become a candi- 
 date for the post. Punch (March 6) proceeds to 
 caricature George Cruikshank's inimitable picture 
 of the election of a Beadle, introducing the words 
 *' Vote for Albert, Five small children and a Wife," 
 on one of the supposed electioneering placards. 
 The Public Orator at Cambridge rejoiced in the 
 euphonious name of Crick, and in the following 
 issue of the paper his address to the newly chosen 
 Chancellor is thus travestied : 
 
 " From factious sacrilegious claws 
 Keep Church and Bishopric ; 
 Support our academic cause ; 
 Uphold our rights ; defend our laws 
 [Ejaculated Crick], 
 
 203
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 The speech was done, he made a pause 
 For Albert and for Vic ; 
 Three' most vociferous huzzaws 
 Then broke from mighty Whewell's jaws, 
 Who, as a proof of his applause. 
 Straight to the buttery goes and draws 
 A pint of ale for Crick." 
 
 In the course of April the Duchess of Kent 
 writes one of her touching little letters to the 
 Princess Royal : 
 
 " My Beloved Victoria, — I send here a little 
 locket for dear Alice. I put my hair in ; the ugly 
 string I made myself. I will give her a chain for 
 it or at least another snap. Be so good as to return 
 it to me to-morrow. 
 
 " Ever your very affectionate 
 
 " G-MOTHER. 
 
 I "Sunday, April 25, 1847." 
 
 This has evidently to do with the fourth birth- 
 day of the Princess Alice, in commemoration of 
 which a juvenile party took place at Buckingham 
 Palace. On the previous afternoon the Queen and 
 Prince Albert, accompanied by the tiny Princess, 
 paid a visit to Gloucester House, to the Duchess 
 of Gloucester, whose birthday it was. Winter- 
 halter's pictures, painted for the Queen, were now 
 on view in the Queen Anne room, St. James' 
 Palace, where they attracted large crowds of 
 visitors, admitted by ticket. Opposite the large 
 family group in which all the five children of the 
 Queen and Prince Albert are portrayed, was a small 
 picture of the Prince of Wales, attired in a sailor's 
 dress — blue jacket, duck trousers and flat black 
 straw hat, the orthodox costume in the Royal Navy. 
 Everybody who was anybody seems to have paid a 
 visit to the exhibition, and the engraving of the 
 
 204
 
 Artistic Jealousies 
 
 pictures was entrusted to Alderman Moon, a future 
 Lord Mayor of London — an arrangement which, 
 if the utterance of Punch may be trusted, occasioned 
 considerable jealousy. The Queen and the Prince 
 Consort paid about this time a brief visit to Strat- 
 ford-on-Avon, and now the Prince of Wales saw 
 Shakespeare's abode for the first time. Punch 
 gives a full account of the proceedings, informing 
 its readers that " when the royal carriage came to 
 the beginning of the street, the Queen ordered it 
 to stop. Then Prince Albert lifted her out ; and 
 the Queen and Prince Albert taking their children 
 by the hand, walked — just like any pilgrims — down 
 the street to the immortal homestead." Later on 
 we are gravely told that " The Queen has ordered 
 a foreign painter, Winterhalter by name [Winter- 
 halter and Moon are apparently equally objects 
 of jealousy] to paint the scene [at Shakespeare's 
 House] in a way that will bring in the Prince of 
 Wales in the Queen's lap, signing his name* in 
 Shakespeare's birth-room, Prince Albert and the 
 two little girls looking on." Winterhalter's large 
 family picture is reproduced in the Illustrated 
 London News, with two verses, one addressed to the 
 Prince of Wales, and the other to the Princess Alice. 
 The former runs as follows : 
 
 " Still rings the People's glad acclaim. 
 What calls their fervent blessing down ? 
 Youthful heir of spotless fame 
 Heir to Old England's love and crown, 
 
 * Mr. Richard Savage, the courteous Secretary and Librarian of 
 Shakespeare's birthplace, informs me that the property was not 
 acquired by the nation till September l6, 1847, and the visitors' 
 books up to that date have gone to America. None of the royal 
 signatures appear in the Church Album, nor in that of Anne Hatha- 
 way's Cottage, begun in October 1847. 
 
 205
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Prince of Wales, that glorious name, 
 Cressy and Agincourt well knew ; 
 When sank the oriflamme in shame 
 Before St. George's banner true." 
 
 The verse dedicated to the Princess Alice was the 
 following : 
 
 " Loudly the Welkin peals again. 
 What .'' View ye not yon blooming child, 
 Sweet as the Hly without stain 
 Or rose-bud in the desert wild — 
 The Princess Alice ? Royal Flower ! 
 May parental virtues beam 
 Bright in thy soul as in a bower, 
 By Seraphs built on Love's fair stream." 
 
 It is only now that the Prince of Wales begins to 
 visit public places in London. On the return of 
 the Court from a brief sojourn at Osborne, he, as 
 well as the Princess Royal, accompanied the Queen 
 and Prince Albert to the exhibition of the Royal 
 Botanic Society. In the following month they 
 were both present in the Queen's carriage at a 
 military review, when the youthful Heir Apparent 
 appears to have discarded his habitual sailor's 
 costume for a singularly unbecoming one including 
 the peaked cap and broad collar then in vogue. 
 
 Neither of the royal children went to Cambridge 
 in July, where, to the intense delight of Queen 
 Victoria, Prince Albert was installed as Chancellor 
 of the University with much " pomp and circum- 
 stance." Wordsworth's ode, set to music by Mr. 
 T. A. Walmisley, the University Professor, was 
 performed and portions of it were greatly admired. 
 One portion, referring to Luther's celebrated 
 hymn bearing his name, was very cleverly intro- 
 duced, and Mr. Phillips was loudly applauded in 
 the bass solo beginning : " Albert, in thy race we 
 cherish." 
 
 206
 
 In the Attire of an ''A.-B'* 
 
 On the evening of August 1 1 began the now 
 customary autumn trip to Scotland, the Royal 
 squadron consisting of the two yachts, with an 
 escort of four ships of war. On Thursday (August 
 12) it was reported (presumably by telegraph) from 
 Torbay that " the Queen had remained on deck 
 some time after the yacht had anchored, closely 
 attended by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales in the 
 costume of an A.-B.* Her Majesty, it was said, 
 looked remarkably well and answered the cheers of 
 her subjects, who crowded in boats round the 
 vessels, by gracious smiles and bows." 
 
 On Friday, August 13, the Royal yacht anchored 
 off Scilly. On landing at St. Mary's, the Queen and 
 Prince Albert were received by Mr. Augustus 
 Smith, who then held the Island from the Duchy 
 of Cornwall. No English Sovereign had ever set 
 foot in Scilly since the remote days of King Athel- 
 stan, and the only other Prince of Wales who had 
 ever been there was Charles II., who had taken 
 refuge there during the civil wars after leaving 
 Pendennis Castle. In her Journalf the Queen notes 
 the prevalence of sea-sickness, which somewhat 
 
 * Punch, always proud of Leech's immortal Jack Tar and grog 
 cartoon, now provides the following note : " At the celebration of 
 a birthday of one of the Royal Family, the two little Princes were 
 dressed in the costume of true British sailors, after a well-known 
 design in a former number of Punch. We perfectly approve of Her 
 Majesty's desire to keep up in her own family the naval glories of 
 England, by making hearts of oak out of those interesting little acorns 
 already to be found in the royal abode. We have heard, however, 
 that other classes object to the preference given to the navy by Her 
 Majesty's choice ; and the poor Protectionists are crying out for the 
 adoption of their costume," and so forth. 
 
 t " Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands from 
 1848 to 1861, with some Account of Earlier Visits to Scotland, 
 and Tours in England and Ireland, and Yachting Excursions." London; 
 Smith, Elder and G)., 1868. 
 
 207
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 marred the pleasure of the short stay at the Scilly 
 Islands. On the following day (Saturday, the 14th) 
 the squadron reached Milford Haven, where the 
 Queen received a very enthusiastic greeting from 
 her Welsh subjects. Loud cheers were given for 
 the Prince of Wales, who sat on deck by his mother's 
 side. The Queen herself writes : " Numbers of 
 women came out in boats with their curious high 
 crowned men's hats, and Bertie was much cheered, 
 for the people seemed greatly pleased to see the 
 Prince of Wales." The scene so simply described 
 in the Queen's diary was afterwards made the subject 
 of a poem.* 
 
 Shortly afterwards (August 15) the Queen, Prince 
 Albert, the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal 
 passed through the Menai Straits, and the Royal 
 children saw for the first time the venerable castle 
 of Carnarvon, in which the first Prince of Wales 
 had been born. Mr. Turner, the Mayor of Car- 
 narvon, came on board to pay his respects to the 
 
 * Two of its verses ran thus : 
 
 " But when the Mother brought her Child 
 Upon the^deck and cried, " Behold 
 Your Prince ! the Prince of Wales," a wild 
 Exulting shout like thunder roU'd 
 Up to Plinlimmon, Penmaenmawr 
 Answered in lusty Jubilee, 
 Sending the shout to Snowdon hoar. 
 Who peal'd it bravely o'er the Sea. 
 ***** 
 
 " And well may Cambria's heart beat high 
 Harry of Monmouth then arose ; 
 And Cressy paled at Edward's cry 
 When fled the lilies from the rose. 
 The blood of Tudor proudly flows 
 Commingled in each bounding vein 
 Of the young Royal Tar who glows 
 With pleasure o'er the subject main." 
 208
 
 The Prince in his Principality 
 
 illustrious visitors, and a little later the Corporation 
 of Bangor arrived. Loud calls were made for the 
 Prince of Wales, and Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, 
 evidently at the Queen's suggestion, lifted him on 
 to a side seat in full view of the whole assemblage. 
 This was the signal for an outburst of tremendous 
 cheering. The little Prince, doffing his glazed 
 hat, bowed his acknowledgments. He was dressed 
 in a blue jacket, white trousers and " sou'wester." 
 The Princess Royal was on the other side of the 
 Queen. On Monday, the i6th, the Clyde was 
 reached. The hills surrounding Loch Ryan were 
 ablaze with bonfires. On the following day (17th) 
 a short halt was made at Dumbarton, the Fairy, 
 upon which the royal party now embarked, next 
 proceeding towards Rothesay, and on Wednesday, 
 the 1 8th, the romantic scenery of the Kyles of Bute 
 was enjoyed. It was now that the Queen wrote 
 with unfeigned pleasure : 
 
 " The children enjoy everything extremely and 
 bear the novelty and excitement wonderfully. The 
 people cheered the Duke of Rothesay (a title belong- 
 ing to the eldest son of the Sovereign of Scotland) 
 very much, and also called for a cheer for the Princess 
 of Great Britain." 
 
 It was on this day that the Queen paid a visit 
 to the ancient and historic home of the Camp- 
 bells, where the Duke of Argyll had made prepara- 
 tions for doing honour to Her Majesty on a very 
 lavish scale. A Celtic guard of honour from three 
 to five hundred strong was commanded by the Duke 
 of Argyll in Highland costume as Mac-Callum 
 More and Campbell of Islay. Amongst the many 
 guests who were assembled were the young Marquess 
 
 209 o
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 of Stafford* and Lord Blantyre.t In ascending the 
 steps of the Castle the Queen recognised the little 
 Marquess of Lome, a graceful child about three 
 years old, in Highland costume.^ She immediately 
 stooped down, took him by the hand, lifted him up, 
 and kissed him. A carriage was sent for the Prince 
 of Wales and the Princess Royal. The Prince of 
 Wales was very plainly but neatly dressed in nursery 
 costume as if the sending for him had not been 
 premeditated. He lifted his cap to the assembly 
 in acknowledgment of their cheers. The Princess 
 Royal wore a pea-green silk polka, a purple or 
 brown dress trimmed with fringe, and straw 
 bonnet. 
 
 In his biography of the late Queen Victoria, 
 the present Duke of Argyll § publishes the following 
 interesting letter of his father written on the day 
 following the royal visit : 
 
 " August 19, 1847. 
 
 " All went off perfectly yesterday. The Queen 
 visited Inverary. The day cleared up gloriously 
 just as the squadron hove in sight. ... A show of 
 kilts to the number of at least three hundred and 
 fifty. . . . The Queen in very good spirits and good 
 humoured. Campbell of Isla alone brought two . 
 hundred men in Highland dress, and these Camp- 
 bell gentlemen stood with halberds and axes around 
 the table when the Queen was at lunch. . . . 
 The Queen was most kind and civil to everybody, 
 
 * Afterwards third Duke of Sutherland, born 1828, died 1892. 
 
 t Charles, 12th and last Baron Blantyre, born 18 18, died 1900. 
 
 \ In her Journal the Queen thus describes her future son-in-law 
 and biographer : " Just two years old, a dear, white, fat little fellow 
 with reddish hair, but very delicate features ; a merry and inde- 
 pendent little child." 
 
 § " V.R.I. ," by the Marquis of Lome now Duke of Argyll. By 
 a clerical error the letter bears date 1848, an obvious mistake. 
 
 210
 
 In Kilt and Tartan 
 
 and Isla's little boy Walter,* when he was presented 
 to her, knelt and kissed her hand. My little Ian t 
 positively refused to kiss the hand of the little 
 Princess Royal, much to the amusement of the 
 Queen." 
 
 From lona and Loch Linnhe, Fort William is 
 reached (August 19-20), and on the 21st the 
 Queen arrives at Ardverekie Lodge,J where it is 
 proposed she should stay till September 18. The 
 holiday at Ardverekie seems to have been a 
 thoroughly enjoyable one. The Prince of Wales 
 now dons Highland costume, and the young Cluny 
 Macpherson, also in kilt and tartan, is presented 
 to him. Daily rides on Shetland ponies are in- 
 dulged in, and much delight is expressed at the 
 Highland games and trials of athletic skill witnessed 
 by the whole of the Royal Family. The twenty- 
 eighth birthday of Prince Albert is kept with the 
 usual rejoicings at the Lodge. § 
 
 Early in October the Court is again installed 
 
 . * Now Captain Walter Campbell of Islay and Woodhall, 
 Lanarkshire. In 1883 Queen Victoria made him Deputy Ranger 
 of Windsor Great Park^ a post which he still holds. His sisters 
 were Lady Granville, mother of the present peer, and Mrs. Bromley- 
 Davenport. 
 
 t The present Duke of Argyll. 
 
 X Placed at her Majesty's disposal by the Marquis of Abercorn, 
 who rented it from Lord Henry Bentinck. The walls were adorned 
 with drawings by Sir Edwin Landseer, which were afterwards 
 destroyed by fire. 
 
 § A sonnet was addressed to him by a contributor of The Ilhis- 
 trated Londcni Nnvs, which, after saluting him as " Patron of ArtSj" 
 and " Freeman's faithful friend," concluded with the lines : 
 
 " Happy may every year the Future brings 
 Shine round thee, Prince ! 
 While thou in Blessing bless'd 
 Shalt prove the Father of a line of Kings 
 Who to Old England shall be Trai und Fest** 
 211
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 at Windsor, and on the nth of that month, while 
 the Prince of Wales and his sister the Princess Royal 
 were riding in the New Park on their Shetland 
 ponies the animals were frightened by the antics 
 of a Java pony, and ran away before the groom 
 could secure them, bolting across the Park in 
 different directions. The Prince managed to retain 
 his seat ; the Princess Royal was thrown, but 
 fortunately sustained no injury. On the previous 
 day the Dowager Queen Adelaide, whose health 
 had been failing of late, had embarked at Ports- 
 mouth for Madeira on board the Howe, with the 
 intention of paying a short visit to the Queen of 
 Portugal at Lisbon en route. Three weeks later 
 a private exhibition of Wombwell's menagerie 
 (which had proved a great attraction at Windsor 
 Fair) took place in the quadrangle of the Castle, 
 where the vans containing the different animals 
 were drawn up and arranged in the centre. At 
 3 o'clock, the Queen accompanied by the Prince 
 Consort, the Duchess of Kent and the four elder 
 of the royal children, proceeded to the exhibition 
 in which they were much interested. The Queen 
 afterwards suggested that the Eton boys would like 
 to avail themselves of this opportunity of seeing 
 the show, and they came in very great numbers. 
 The Princess Helena now begins for the first time 
 to take rides on her pony, sitting on a sort of 
 pack-saddle. Illustrations appear in the Illustrated 
 London News of all the Royal children indulging 
 in^^equestrian exercise. 
 
 fe=' At this time it appears that the Prince of 
 Wales became the object of much persecution on 
 the part of the self-advertising present-sender, 
 with whom Punch proceeds to deal with well- 
 merited severity. First a facetious version of a 
 
 212
 
 A Plague of Presents 
 
 letter from Sir Denis le Marchant declining one 
 of these offerings is given, and then comes a para- 
 graph in which " 522 old ladies " are described as 
 " making pincushions for the Princess Royal." Sir 
 Denis announces that the " Royal servants had 
 received orders to take in no package whatever 
 directed to the Royal children." Upon which 
 Punch says : " If the sentries had received orders 
 to shoot the driver and lad of the Parcels' Delivery- 
 cart, we should not for ourselves have expressed 
 the least objection to the proceedings." 
 
 At the civic feast of November 9, Lord Mayor 
 Hooper in proposing the health of the Prince of 
 Wales is reported to have said, " the day was dear 
 to them, not only on account of their civic privileges 
 then exercised, but by reason of it being the birth- 
 day of the Prince of Wales. He was sure that all 
 entertained towards His Royal Highness every 
 feeling of attachment. He hoped as he grew in 
 stature he would grow in wisdom, and prove a 
 blessing to the country." 
 
 The sixth birthday of the Prince^of Wales was 
 celebrated in very|much the same|^fashion as in 
 the previous year, the Prince, as well as Prince 
 Alfred, the Princess Royal and the Princess Alice, 
 being all present at the inspection of the troops and 
 the firing of a feu de joie. It was announced that 
 a few days previously Messrs. Roth and Freeman, 
 of Old Bond Street, had been ordered by Royal 
 Command, to make several suits of clothes of new 
 fashion and materials for the Prince of Wales, and 
 a portrait of him is given wearing one of these 
 dresses which seem to have been made from a 
 Turkish design. One of the jackets was bright blue, 
 lined with crimson silk and trimmed with braid. 
 Another was of dark lake with white, and a third 
 
 213
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 of maroon with blue. A variety of waistcoats 
 were provided of different colours varying from 
 plain black to white sateen, whilst a fancy Scotch 
 tartan was employed for the trousers. From the 
 specimen which figures in the illustration it is cer- 
 tainly fortunate that such a costume did not, like 
 the naval dress, ever become popular. 
 
 It was possibly the laureate of this enterprising 
 Bond Street firm who sang as follows : 
 
 " Ere now, the boy has worn the garb that Sanctifies our Wars ; 
 The Blood-dyed red on Nelson's breast gave the Jacket of our Tars ! 
 And had poor Dibdin lived — (the pride of all our Sailor bards) 
 When young " Wales " walk'd the quarter-deck, and Britain mann'd 
 
 the yards 
 He must have felt that victory will stiU swell full our sails, 
 While proud Victoria lives and Prince of all, Sailor Prince of Wales, 
 * • • • • • • 
 
 Old London claims him citizen — for evermore her own, — 
 For he was born when London's King was ushered to his Throne ! 
 For six brief years — with civic feast — his festival they mix, 
 y^nd now the finest Birthday comes — and brightest of the six. 
 Oh ! Never such a canopy of blue November wore, 
 Never so shone, o'er aU the land — November's sun before. 
 Then if an omen Heaven born be one that never fails 
 SUN OF BLUE SKY shall bless the life of OUR DEAR PRINCE 
 OF WALES. 
 
 The Court goes to Osborne for three weeks, and 
 a rumour is current that another Church dignitary 
 viz., Dr. Philpott, Master of Catherine Hall, who 
 as Vice-Chancellor performed the honours during 
 Prince Albert's installation at Cambridge, was about 
 to be appointed tutor of the Prince of Wales. '^'»' 
 
 The festive season was the signal for the usual 
 joyous gathering. On Christmas night the Royal 
 table was laden, we are assured, " with a magnificent 
 display of viands recherche and substantial, set out 
 with infinite taste and splendour." At the conclu- 
 sion of the banquet the whole of the guests retired 
 
 214
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA, PRINCE ALBERT. AND THE PRINCE 
 OF WALES .\r WINDSOR, AliOUT lK-17 
 
 Front (I coiiti iii/iiiriiri/ /Ui.r/ir /iriiit
 
 Christmas Festivities 
 
 to the Green Drawing-room. In this apartment 
 were five trees between six and eight feet high, 
 placed in ornamental stands, the trees being imitation 
 firs, and the leaves frosted to resemble snow. Sus- 
 pended from the branches were hundreds of packets 
 for Christmas presents. Each tree was brilliantly- 
 illuminated with upwards of eighty coloured lights. 
 Mr. McKay, her Majesty's piper,* was in attendance 
 and marched round the room playing Scotch airs. 
 The Queen's private band afterwards gave a concert 
 in the Red Drawing-room. 
 
 At the close of 1847 one of the many early bio- 
 graphers of the Prince of Wales f describes him as 
 " a light, active, fair-haired boy, with vivacity 
 and intelligence beaming out of his bright blue eyes ; 
 health mantling on his cheek, and a childish dignity, 
 very pretty to witness, characterising all his move- 
 ments in public." The year on which he was about 
 to enter lives in the annals of Europe as that of 
 many revolutions. In England the much-talked 
 of Chartist demonstration ended in smoke, but long 
 before it took place, Louis Philippe had lost his 
 throne, paving the way for the election and pro- 
 clamation, nine months later, of Louis Napoleon 
 Bonaparte as President of the second French 
 Republic. J In March an insurrection broke out 
 in Berlin, while Spain remained in what may be 
 described as a chronic state of unrest. The month 
 of January was spent by the Court at Windsor. 
 The news of the health of the Queen Dowager 
 which came from Madeira was encouraging, and 
 none of her pensioners and poor dependents at 
 Bushy and elsewhere were forgotten either at 
 
 * See post, p. 270. 
 
 t " Memoirs of the Prince of Wales." Marlborough & Co. n.d. 
 
 X Sce/>ost, p. 288. 
 
 215
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Christmas or the New Year. On January 21 she 
 penned the following kind and sympathetic letter 
 to her great-niece, the seven-year-old Princess 
 Royal : 
 
 " Funchal, January 21, 1848. 
 
 " My dearest Grand-niece, — I have to thank 
 you for two very nicely written letters, which have 
 given me much pleasure. I am coming here in 
 person to give you a kiss ; if you will draw the curtain 
 of this Palanquin you will find me behind them ; 
 will you try ? I wish you could, and that I could 
 have the happiness of seeing you and your brothers 
 and sisters again. I have so much to tell you, to 
 amuse you, and so much to show. All this I hope 
 to do on my return to England. In the meantime 
 I must tell you that I have here two very pretty 
 and tame parrots, and a voliere full of pretty canary 
 birds. They are all on the veranda outside of our 
 windows. I was much pleased to hear that you 
 all liked the little carriage which I sent you at 
 Christmas. I hope to see you some day in it. 
 Give my love to your dear brothers and sisters, also 
 to kind Lady Lyttelton. God bless and protect 
 you, dearest child, prays 
 
 " Your most affectionate 
 
 " Grand-Aunt Adelaide." 
 
 In February the Queen and her children are once 
 more at Buckingham Palace, and on the loth of 
 that month (the eighth anniversary of Her Majesty's 
 marriage) an abridged version of Mendelssohn's 
 " Oedipus " was performed at Buckingham Palace. 
 The Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal had both 
 been present at the rehearsals which the Queen and 
 Prince Albert superintended in person. 
 
 The news from the Continent grows more and 
 
 216
 
 
 
 
 ^^. 
 
 /i^^^^y^gi-^!^:^^ 
 
 FACSI3I1LE OF FIKST PAGE OF LETTER FROM QIEEX 
 
 ADELAIDE, DATED FINCHAL, JAMAKY 21, 1848, TO 
 
 HEK GRAXD-XIECE THE T'RIXCESS ROYAL
 
 Birth of Princess Louise 
 
 more gloomy, and Prince Albert (February 27) 
 writes almost in despair to Baron Stockmar : 
 
 " The posture of affairs is bad. European war 
 is at our doors. France is ablaze in every quarter ; 
 Louis Philippe is wandering about in disguise, so 
 is the Queen. . . . Guizot is a prisoner, the republic 
 declared, the army ordered to the frontier, the in- 
 corporation of the Rhenish provinces proclaimed. 
 Here they refuse to pay the income tax, and attack 
 the Ministry. Our poor good grandmamma (the 
 Duchess Dowager of Gotha) is taken from the world." 
 
 On Saturday, March 18, the Princess Louise 
 (now the Duchess of Argyll, and the wife of 
 the bonny child of whom the Queen had written 
 seven months before — August li, 1847 : " Outside 
 stood the Marquis of Lome just two years old, 
 a dear, white, fat, fair little fellow with reddish 
 hair, but very delicate features, like both his father 
 and mother ; he is such a merry, independent 
 little child. He had a black velvet dress and jacket 
 with a ' sporran ' scarf and Highland bonnet ") 
 was born at Buckingham Palace. During the 
 following weeks the Prince of Wales and his sister 
 visit some of the sights of London, the picture- 
 galleries and one or two of the theatres. The 
 question of saving life at sea comes to the fore, 
 and the model of a life-boat is, by way of object- 
 lesson, presented to the Prince of Wales.* She was 
 built of bird's-eye maple, and fitted up with an 
 elegantly carved chair, the seat covered with crimson 
 velvet, the back supported with the Prince of 
 Wales's feathers carved in maple, and ornamented 
 with gold ; the rowing mat was of the same material 
 as the chair, and there was a footstool of Utrecht 
 
 * " Albert Edward Prince of Wales." Ward, Lock and Co. 
 1859. 
 
 217
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 velvet. The oars were of mahogany and very- 
 light ; the boat was a single rowing skiff, and lined 
 throughout with Captain Light's new patent 
 material, which gives all the buoyancy of a lifeboat. 
 The beautiful specimens of swimming belts and a 
 small life-buoy were also presented to the Prince 
 of Wales. 
 
 Rumour is again busy with the appointment of 
 a tutor to the Heir Apparent, and on March 27 
 a special correspondent at Oxford sends to London 
 an announcement that " the learned Headmaster 
 of Westminster School, the Rev. H. G. Liddell, 
 formerly student of Christ Church, has been ap- 
 pointed tutor to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales." 
 The much-coveted post, however, was not destined 
 to fall to the lot of this illustrious scholar and divine. 
 In May the Queen and Prince Albert are frequently 
 at the Opera, where the appearance of Madame 
 Pauline Viardot Garcia at the Opera excited much 
 interest. She was then described as " sister of the 
 lamented Mme. Malibran and Manuel Garcia, 
 now Professor of Singing at the Conservatoire of 
 Paris, who has written one of the best standard 
 works on ' The Art of Singing,' and was the master 
 of Jenny Lind." Another " star " of the same year 
 was Mme. Tadolini. 
 
 In July the Court is at Buckingham Palace, and 
 the Queen and Prince Consort go down to Bushey 
 to see the Queen Dowager, whose health has been 
 improved by her sojourn in Madeira. In August 
 the choice of a tutor for their son occupies the 
 attention of the Queen and Prince Albert. The 
 
 • Madame Viardot is still alive and well in Paris, while her 
 brother Manuel, who celebrated his loist birthday, on March 17, 
 1906, forms a connecting link between the days before Trafalgar and 
 the fifth year of tlic reign of King Edward VII. 
 
 218
 
 Mr. Birch becomes Tutor 
 
 name of Mr. Henry Birch, one of the Assistant 
 Masters at Eton, was mentioned to them as in every 
 way fitted for this position of singular importance 
 and respectability. An interview is arranged for, 
 and on August 6 the Prince Consort writes thus 
 to Lord Morpeth : " The impression he has left 
 upon me after a preliminary interview is a very 
 favourable one, and I can imagine that children 
 will easily attach themselves to him." 
 
 The Times on August 21 (1848) thus gives cur- 
 rency to the whisper about Mr. Birch's appoint- 
 ment : 
 
 " It is rumoured in well-informed quarters that 
 the choice of a tutor during the early period of the 
 Prince of Wales's education has fallen upon one of 
 the Assistant Masters of Eton College, from whose 
 success in engaging the attachment of the pupils 
 as well as the confidence of their parents, the best 
 results may be anticipated in the more prominent 
 sphere to which it is proposed to transfer him." 
 
 After much deliberation Mr. Birch was finally 
 chosen. He had been educated at Eton, where he 
 became captain of the school. He had taken high 
 honours at Cambridge and had then gone back 
 to Eton as an assistant-master. The Prince Consort 
 at once wrote to the Duchess of Coburg on the 
 subject and said : 
 
 " Bertie will be given over in a few weeks into 
 
 the hands of a tutor, whom we have found in a Mr 
 
 Birch, a young good-looking amiable man. . . 
 
 It is an important step and God's blessing be upon 
 
 it, for upon the good education of Princes, and 
 
 especially of those who are destined to govern, 
 
 the welfare of the world in these days greatly 
 
 depends." 
 
 219
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 It was not, however, until the spring of the 
 following year (1849), when the Prince of Wales 
 had passed his seventh birthday, that the reins of 
 office were to pass from the capable hands of Miss 
 Hildyard to those, not less capable, of Mr. Henry 
 Birch.* The letter to the Dowager Duchess of 
 Coburg, just quoted, bears the date of April 10, 
 1849. Late in July (1848) the Prince of Wales 
 and his sister accompany the Queen and Prince 
 Albert on a visit to the Botanic Gardens at Kew, 
 and early in August they were again in London, 
 but the three younger royal princesses and the 
 Dowager Lady Lyttelton remained at Osborne, 
 together with her Serene Highness Princess Hohen- 
 lohe Langenburg and her three daughters. 
 
 A fortnight later the Royal Squadron was once 
 more conveying the Queen and her children to 
 Scotland, Aberdeen being on this occasion the 
 first place to be visited. No sooner had the Victoria 
 and Albert anchored than cheers were given for 
 the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, who 
 were both with their royal parents on deck. The 
 Prince of Wales once more wore his sailor dress.f 
 On the Queen seeing the interest excited by the 
 appearance of the royal children she led them 
 forward to a position in which they could be seen 
 by all. " All the people in Aberdeen," writes 
 Queen Victoria in her Journal, " crowded to the 
 harbour and were soon delighted by seeing the 
 
 * See/(7i/, p. 227. 
 
 t Punch was evidently determined not to lose the credit due for 
 the never-to-be-forgotten cartoon. We now have [vol. iv. p. 130]: 
 " By our own halfpenny-a-liner. 
 " The youthful Prince of Wales was dressed after your celebrated 
 picture of him, where he is represented handing a glass of grog to 
 a tar to drink his mamma's health." 
 The slight confusion of cause and effect is quite pardonable. 
 
 220
 
 First Visit to Balmoral 
 
 Queen and her little children walk ashore with the 
 Prince. . . ." 
 
 Friday, September 8, 1848, will be very memor- 
 able in the history of Scotland as the date of Queen 
 Victoria's first sojourn at Balmoral. Gravely and 
 with due sense of its own importance does the 
 Aberdeen Herald discuss the outlook : "It being 
 one of the objects of Her Majesty in taking a High- 
 land residence to afford Prince Albert an opportunity 
 of showing his dexterity in the sporting line, Bal- 
 moral was well chosen. Having had an opportunity 
 of traversing H.R.H.'s beat we should say that as 
 regard grouse the prospect is not very favourable, 
 and we ground our opinion on the number of 
 barren birds we encountered. If the ptarmigan 
 are not wild, good sport might be expected among 
 the craigs on the summit of Lochnagar, but if 
 the weather breaks he will have some difficulty 
 and delay in following from cliff to cliff. The deer 
 will, no doubt, be driven, so sport in that way may 
 be expected ; but there is no doubt that His Royal 
 Highness will have access to better beats such as 
 Invercauld and Mar forests. One of the best 
 grouse shootings, viz., the Moss of Monaltrie, is 
 not far distant. The only dog about the place is 
 the late Sir Robert Gordon's deer hound ' Danger.' 
 The Queen appeared to be in excellent spirits on 
 her reaching Balmoral. In the course of the after- 
 noon Her Majesty not only inspected the Castle 
 but walked through the grounds and ascended the 
 Craig of Balmoral, a hill immediately over the castle 
 — from whence she obtained a fine view all the way 
 to the Pass of Ballater. A winding walk has lately 
 been made to a point on the northern side of the 
 hill, from which the prospect is most comprehen- 
 sive and imposing. Below lies a deep wooded 
 
 221
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 valley within an amphitheatre of hills ; and from 
 thence the eye wanders over a scene of great magni- 
 ficence and in parts of great beauty. When night 
 set in, a pile of fuel, which the Invercauld tenantry 
 had erected on Craig Linne, was kindled, and showed 
 a bright glare down on the Castle, while the gro- 
 tesque figures of about lOO men dancing around the 
 fire added to the wildness of the nocturnal welcome. 
 At Crathie there was a display of fireworks 
 given by one of the proprietors of the Lochnagar 
 Distillery, Mr. Begg, of Aberdeen, who also kindly 
 invited the young folks of the district to a ball. 
 In the course of the evening the health of Her 
 Majesty was toasted as well as that of Prince Albert, 
 the Prince of Wales and the other members of the 
 royal family." 
 
 And thus wrote Queen Victoria of her first im- 
 pressions of the Highland home she loved with all 
 her heart for more than half a century, even when 
 sorrow and long years had dimmed the memory 
 of its earliest and brightest associations : 
 
 " It was the first experience of many happy days 
 and many happy years spent among the beautiful 
 mountains of Aberdeen, in the keen and healthy 
 air that blew from the peaks of Lochnagar, over 
 the fine forest of Ballochbuie and Mar. The fine 
 and peculiar colouring of the landscape was espe- 
 cially pleasing. The more level ground near the 
 impetuous river was still clothed, despite the 
 autumn, in green. Then came, near the edge 
 of the woods, the bright russet of the fern, lining 
 the dark verdure of the Scotch firs, which rose, 
 ridge above ridge, until they became scanty and 
 widespread, while the bloom of the heather was 
 still in full flower, to be succeeded on the higher 
 
 222
 
 Queen Victoria on her New Home 
 
 ranges by the cold escarpments of the gray, granite 
 
 rock." 
 
 » # * * * 
 
 Of the then existing mansion, the Queen says : 
 " It is a pretty little castle in the old Scottish 
 style. There is a picturesque tower and garden 
 in front, with a high wooded hill. There is a nice 
 little hall with a billiard-room ; next to it is our 
 dining-room. Upstairs, immediately to the right, 
 is our sitting-room, a fine, large room ; then our 
 bedroom, opening into it a little dressing-room 
 which is Albert's. Opposite, down a few steps, 
 are the children's and Miss Hildyard's three rooms. 
 The ladies lived below and the gentlemen upstairs. 
 After lunch we walked out and went to the top 
 of the wooded hill opposite our windows, where 
 there is a cairn, and up which there is a pretty 
 winding path. The view from here is charming. 
 To the left the beautiful hills surrounding Loch- 
 nagar ; to the right the glen along which the Dee 
 winds, and the wooded hills which reminded me 
 very much of the Thliringerwald. It was so calm, 
 and so solitary. It did one good as one gazed 
 around ; the pure mountain air was most refreshing. 
 All seemed to breathe freedom and peace, and to 
 make one forget the world and its sad turmoils. 
 The scenery is wild and yet not desolate, and every- 
 thing looks much more prosperous and cultivated 
 than at Laggan. Then the soil is delightfully dry. 
 We walked beside the beautiful, rapid Dee, which 
 is close behind the house. The view of the hills 
 towards Invercauld is exceedingly fine. When I 
 came in at half-past six, Albert went out to try his 
 luck with some stags." 
 
 Her Majesty next proceeds to describe the first 
 deer-drive at Balmoral ; " Several gillies were with 
 
 223
 
 The Boyhood ot a Great King 
 
 us. They took us up a beautiful path winding through 
 trees and heather in the Ballochbuie, but when we 
 had gone about a mile they discovered deer. A 
 ' council of war ' was held in a whisper, and we 
 turned back and went the whole way down again 
 and rode along to the keeper's lodge, where we 
 turned up the glen immediately below Craig Daign, 
 through a beautiful part of the wood, and went along 
 the track till we came to the foot of the craig, 
 where we all dismounted. We scrambled up an 
 almost perpendicular place to where there was a 
 little box made of hurdles and interwoven with 
 branches of fir and heather about five feet in height. 
 There we seated ourselves with Bertie [Prince of 
 Wales], Macdonald lying in the heather near us 
 watching and quite concealed. Some had gone 
 round to beat, and others, again, were at a little 
 distance. We sat quite still and sketched a little, 
 I doing the landscape and some trees, Albert drawing 
 Macdonald as he lay there. This lasted for nearly 
 an hour, when Albert fancied he heard a distant 
 sound, and in a few minutes Macdonald whispered 
 that he saw a stag, and that Albert should wait and 
 take a steady aim. We then heard them coming 
 past." 
 
 After the " drive " was over, both the Queen and 
 Prince Albert mounted their ponies, " Bertie riding 
 Grant's pony on the deer saddle, and being led by 
 a gillie. Grant walking by his side." 
 
 Punch evidently brooks of no rival as self-appointed 
 Court Newsman. The editor has no sympathy for 
 the cohort of Jenkinses who record the doings of the 
 Queen and her children at Balmoral, and produces 
 a capital cartoon entitled " A Gross Outrage : or 
 Paul Pry in the Highlands," in which a kilted and 
 corpulent Liston is portrayed in the act of making 
 
 224
 
 Prince Albert as a Highland Laird 
 
 a sketch through the keyhole. The success of the 
 visit, however, satisfies everybody, and when Prince 
 Albert purchases for ^14,900 the Birkhall estate 
 adjoining Balmoral, the Aberdeen Herald^ with true 
 Scotch sagacity, says, " From this circumstance it 
 is but reasonable to conclude that Balmoral will 
 henceforth take its place in the same category 
 with Osborne and the other royal residences where 
 Her Majesty regularly spends a portion of each 
 year. When His Royal Highness arrives in Deeside 
 next year he must be welcomed in his new character 
 of a Highland laird." 
 
 On the return journey south a brief halt is made 
 at Newcastle,* where the Mayor read an address, 
 and a member of the Corporation presented the 
 Prince of Wales with '* a transparent ivory-handled 
 paper-folder, with a single penknife, the shoulder 
 being formed of a crown inlaid with diamonds and 
 other precious stones. On the handle were the 
 Royal Arms with the rose, shamrock and thistle 
 embossed in gold, and engraved on each side were 
 different views of Windsor." 
 
 On the re-assembling of the Law Courts the case 
 of the piracy of the royal etchings is much discussed. 
 The victims! of the misdoings of Messrs. Judge and 
 Strange have no more stalwart champion than 
 Punch. After enumerating no less than sixty-one 
 of the stolen pictures, the writer observes with 
 righteous indignation : 
 
 * In 1848 the Mayor of Newcastle was Mr. Stephen Lowrie. 
 The Prince of Wales again visited Newcastle with the Queen and 
 Prince Albert both in 1849 and 1850, when a more prolonged 
 sojourn was made there. In 1849 Captain James Dent Weatherley 
 was Mayor, and in the following year Mr. Joseph Crawhall. On 
 the latter occasion Queen Victoria inaugurated the new Central 
 Railway Station. 
 
 t Punch, vol. XV. 212. See ante, p. 81, ^ndi post, p. 238. 
 
 225 f
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 " Let us confess that the shabby knave who stole 
 the royal property, making unlawful use of the 
 Queen's plate, has, without intention, done good 
 service. Punch recollects no thief since the time 
 of Mercury, who has done so pleasant a grace by 
 robbery. . . . The pillory unfortunately is gone. 
 We recognise, however, another good in the larceny. 
 Prince Albert has been in Chancery. The Queen 
 and the Prince now personally feel what it is to be 
 robbed, pillaged and pirated. Will they then do 
 their best to push an International Law of copy- 
 right with our kind friends in America, who live 
 by robbing ' us youth ' and against whose wicked- 
 ness there is not even the forlorn hope of the Vice- 
 Chancellor ? " 
 
 The celebration of the seventh birthday of the 
 Heir Apparent took place as usual at Windsor on 
 November 9, Queen Adelaide (the constant corres- 
 pondent of the Queen's elder children) being amongst 
 the guests. At the inauguration of Lord Mayor Sir 
 James Duke, on the same evening at the Guildhall, 
 one of the chief features of the decorations was the 
 plume and motto of the Prince of Wales, wrought in 
 spun glass and nine feet in height. In the Christmas 
 supplement of the Illustrated London News is given 
 a full-page picture of a Christmas tree at Osborne, 
 in which portraits of the Prince Consort, the Queen, 
 as well as those of their five elder children, and the 
 Duchess of Kent are introduced. The " Windsor 
 Theatricals," which were now to enter so largely 
 into the upbringing and home association of the 
 Prince of Wales during the next few years, were 
 inaugurated on the evening of December 28, 1848. 
 They will be dealt with at length in a separate 
 chapter. 
 
 On New Year's Day, 1849, the Prince of Wales 
 
 226
 
 New Year's Gifts at Windsor 
 
 was once more present at the distribution of the 
 royal gifts to the poor, which took place, on this 
 occasion, in the new riding-school at Windsor. 
 Before the Court removed to London the miniature- 
 portrait of the Queen and Prince of Wales, by 
 Thorburn, was engraved by Heath and published. 
 Beneath it was a short poem, containing the follow- 
 ing verse : 
 
 " And while the gentle Mother claims a meed 
 Of loving homage from her subject lands, — 
 Homage not forced but free in word and deed, — 
 A bud of promise grows beneath her hands. 
 Upon his youthful head what hopes arise 
 From all the myriads of our towns and dales, 
 The artless cynosure of EngUsh eyes, 
 Treasure of EngUsh hearts, the Prince of Wales." 
 
 It was in the early days of February, when the 
 Prince of Wales was seven years and two months 
 old, that all the doubts and controversies about 
 the next phase of his upbringing were put an end 
 to by the announcement that " Mr. Birch, Assistant 
 Master at Eton, has now entered upon his respon- 
 sible duties as tutor of the Heir Apparent. Mr. 
 Birch will reside with the Royal Establishment, 
 and will travel with his royal and illustrious pupil 
 from place to place as Her Majesty may feel dis- 
 posed to change her residence. The Rev. R. 
 Joynes has succeeded Mr. Birch at Eton." 
 
 As a matter of fact, Mr. Birch did not commence 
 work for some weeks later. In the letter of Prince 
 Albert to the Dowager Duchess of Coburg already 
 referred to,* the " giving over " of the Prince of 
 Wales to the care of the " young, good-looking and 
 
 * The letter is dated April lo, 1849 (see ante, p. 219). Amongst 
 other honours Mr. Birch had carried off the Newcastle Scholarship. 
 After resigning his post in 1851, Mr. Birch became Rector of Prest- 
 wich, Manchester (see/>os(, p. 278). 
 
 227
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 amiable Mr. Birch," is spoken of as still some weeks 
 off. In May the Queen and the Court are again 
 at Buckingham Palace, and the Prince of Wales 
 accompanies his parents and two elder sisters to the 
 official visit to the Royal Academy, where the 
 Coming of Age in the Olden Time of the still living 
 Mr. W. P. Frith, R.A., was one of the most attrac- 
 tive features of the exhibition. At the end of June 
 the Queen, Prince Albert, with the Prince of Wales, 
 Prince Alfred and the Princess Royal attended the 
 Scottish fete held in Holland Park. The greater 
 part of July was spent at Osborne, which as each 
 succeeding season went by obtained a stronger hold 
 on the affections of both the Queen and Prince. 
 Earlier in the year Prince Albert had written to 
 Coburg : " In our island home we are wholly given 
 up to the enjoyment of the warm summer weather. 
 The children catch butterflies, Victoria sits under 
 the trees, and I drink the Kissingen Water Ragotzky. 
 To-day Mama-Aunt (the Duchess of Kent) and 
 Charles (Prince Leiningen) are to stay a fortnight 
 with us, then we go to town to compress the pleasures 
 of the season into four weeks. God be merciful 
 to us miserable sinners." 
 
 The Baroness Bunsen has given us a charming 
 pen-picture of the everyday life of the Queen and 
 her family in the Isle of Wight at the end of the 
 eventful forties : 
 
 " It is at Osborne House that the Queen more 
 especially feels herself at home ; she there enjoys 
 her domestic life and family happiness to her heart's 
 content. She walks out in the beautiful garden 
 and pleasure-grounds with the Prince and her 
 children, in prospect of the sea and of the grand 
 men-of-war of Great Britain, in the midst of a quiet 
 
 228
 
 Home Life at Osborne 
 
 rural population. In the afternoon we all drove 
 to St. Clair, the country residence of Lady Catherine 
 Harcourt, near Ryde, where a Bazaar was prepared 
 for the benefit of the hospital. The Queen made 
 purchases to a considerable amount and distributed 
 a part among the accompanying party. In the royal 
 char-a-banc I sat near the Prince of Wales and behind 
 the two eldest Princesses : they all spoke German 
 like their native tongue even to one another. The 
 Heir Apparent has gained in appearance of strength 
 and has a pleasing countenance ; he will be eight 
 years old in November. I called his attention to 
 the eagerness with which all the inhabitants crowded 
 round to behold the Queen, because she was so good 
 and therefore beloved." 
 
 Writing later of Osborne, the Baroness Bunsen 
 says : 
 
 " A large portion of the pleasure-grounds was 
 appropriated to the young Princes and Princesses, 
 who each had a flower and vegetable garden, green- 
 house, hothouse, and forcing-frames, tool-houses, 
 and even a carpenter's shop. Here the Royal 
 children used to pass much of their time. Each 
 was supplied with a set of tools marked with the name 
 of their owner, and here they worked with the enthu- 
 siasm of an amateur and the zeal of an Anglo-Saxon. 
 There was no branch of gardening in which the 
 Royal children were not au fait. 
 
 " Moreover, on this juvenile property was a 
 building (the Swiss Cottage), the ground floor of 
 which was fitted up as a kitchen with pantry closets, 
 dairy larder, all complete in their arrangements ; 
 and here might have been seen the young Princesses 
 arrayed a la cuisiniere, floured to the elbows, deep 
 in the mysteries of pastry-making, like rosy English 
 
 229
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 girls, cooking the vegetables from their own gardens, 
 preserving, pickling, baking, sometimes to partake 
 among themselves, or to distribute among the poor 
 of the neighbourhood the result of their handi- 
 work. The Queen had determined that nothing 
 domestic should remain unlearned by her children ; 
 nor were the young people ever happier than 
 during their sojourn at Osborne. 
 
 " There was also a museum of natural history 
 furnished with curiosities collected by the Royal 
 party in their rambles and researches — geological 
 and botanical specimens, stuffed birds and animals, 
 articles of their own construction, and whatever 
 is curious or interesting classified and arranged by 
 themselves." 
 
 In 1849 the Swiss Cottage at Osborne had not 
 attained the importance it enjoyed during the 
 early " fifties," but Baroness Bunsen's narrative 
 throws an important light on one of the most novel 
 and useful sources of good in the general scheme 
 devised by the Queen and Prince Albert for the up- 
 bringing of their children. The long-talked-of 
 visit to Ireland was to come off at last, and before 
 the end oi]uly, Punch published a cartoon described 
 as " A Morning Call," in which the Queen and 
 Prince of Wales (it need hardly be said in sailor 
 attire) are portrayed as paying a visit to a comely 
 Irish peasant woman, representing Hibernia. The 
 public were at the same time assured that " Her 
 Majesty's visit will be homely and unpretending. 
 On landing at Cork she will make the round of the 
 city in a car, occupying one side of it with Prince 
 Albert and the Prince of Wales, the other being 
 balanced by Maids of Honour. All Her Majesty's 
 dress will be of Irish manufacture ; Irish poplin ; 
 
 230
 
 
 H 
 
 •-H 
 
 = O 
 
 
 fe o 
 
 '-r^?"~ :>^^'
 
 A Visit to Ireland 
 
 bonnet of Irish straw with blossoms of the national 
 fruit. . . . Little Prince Alfred will be created 
 Duke of Liffey." 
 
 The Times dealt at considerable length with the 
 Queen's visit to Ireland, which occupied the whole 
 of the first part of August, 1849. 
 
 The squadron in which the Royal party left 
 Cowes on August i consisted of the Victoria and 
 Albert, the first yacht of that name, commanded 
 by Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence ; the Stromboli, 
 tender, commanded by Lord A. Beauclerk ; the 
 Sphinx, corvette, Commander Howett ; the Black 
 Eagle, yacht, commanded by Master Commander 
 Cooke ; and the Vivid, packet, commanded by 
 Master Commander Luke Smithett. Some other 
 vessels had been sent on to the Cove of Cork to 
 prepare for the Royal arrival. On Wednesday 
 night the squadron passed the Land's End, and 
 arrived at the Cove of Cork between eight and 
 nine o'clock on Thursday evening. The ships 
 present were the Hogue (80), Ganges (80), Arrogant 
 (46), and several smaller vessels. Of the latter the 
 Lucifer, Trident, Shearwater, and Gossamer went out 
 to welcome the Royal Flotilla and pilot it into 
 port, the whole of the squadron being illuminated 
 with blue lights and rockets. 
 
 Next morning (Friday, August 3), after Admiral 
 Manly Dixon, commanding at the port, with other 
 naval and military officials, had been on board the 
 Victoria a7id Albert to pay their respects to the 
 Queen, the Royal party were transferred to the 
 Fairy, yacht, under a salute from the ships, which 
 also manned yards. The Fairy, after steaming 
 round the harbour to give the Royal passengers an 
 opportunity to inspect the scenery, proceeded to 
 the Columbine Quay, where addresses were pre- 
 
 231
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 sented, and Her Majesty graciously authorised the 
 alteration of the name of the port from Cove to 
 Queenstown. Then the Fairy, attended by the 
 Vivid and Banshee, proceeded up the river to Cork, 
 where further festivities took place. The Royal 
 party returned the same evening and went on 
 board the Victoria and Albert in readiness to sail 
 on the following morning. The special corre- 
 spondent of The Times, in describing the scene in 
 Queenstown Harbour prior to the departure of the 
 yacht, says : 
 
 " The Royal party, with that considerate con- 
 descension which has marked their conduct through- 
 out, and with an evident desire to gratify an ex- 
 cusable and laudable curiosity, came on deck 
 repeatedly, and leant over the side of the yacht 
 so that the sightseers should be sent away perfectly 
 satisfied. The Queen was on deck at nine o'clock, 
 dressed in a morning wrapper, and plain straw 
 bonnet with green veil. Prince Albert had on a 
 military cap with gold bands, and a shooting- jacket 
 with light trousers. The Prince of Wales was 
 dressed in a sailor's hat and jacket ; and, if one could 
 judge by the manner in which he bounded along 
 the deck, seemed in the best of health and spirits. 
 The Royal Princesses were under the care of the 
 governess, and the three Royal children were con- 
 stantly to be seen gathering round the Queen, and 
 evidently posing Her Majesty by their questions." 
 
 The Queen somehow or other found time to 
 make several lengthy entries in her Journal during 
 the Irish tour. She was frankly enchanted with 
 Cork, where an old woman called out that one of 
 the Royal children ought to be called Patrick. " I 
 cannot describe our route," writes Queen Victoria, 
 
 232
 
 A Hearty Welcome 
 
 " but it will suffice to say that it took two hours, 
 that we drove through the principal streets — twice 
 through some of them — that they were densely 
 crowded, decorated with flowers and triumphal 
 arches, that the heat and dust were great, that we 
 passed by the new college which is building — one 
 of the four which are ordered by Act of Parliament 
 — that our reception was most enthusiastic, and that 
 everything went off to perfection, and was very well 
 arranged. Cork is not at all like an English town, 
 and looks rather foreign. The crowd is noisy, 
 excitable, but a very good-humoured one, running 
 and pushing about, and laughing, talking, and 
 shrieking. The beauty of the women is very re- 
 markable, and struck us much ; such beautiful dark 
 eyes and hair, and such fine teeth. Almost every 
 third woman was pretty ; some remarkably so. 
 They wear no bonnets, and generally long blue 
 cloaks. The men are very poorly, often raggedly, 
 dressed, and many wear blue coats and short breeches 
 with blue stockings." 
 
 A little later she writes : " Albert decided on 
 going to Waterford, ten miles up the river, in the 
 Fairy with the boys, and as I felt giddy and tired, 
 I preferred remaining quietly on board sketching." 
 
 Mr. Birch was in attendance as well as Miss 
 Hildyard. On landing at Kingstown Prince Albert 
 held the hand of the Prince of Wales, while the 
 Queen led the Princess Royal, Princess Alice and 
 Prince Alfred. The motto which met the eye in 
 all directions was " Cead mille jailthe.^"* On a 
 banner was emblazoned an additional verse to the 
 National Anthem : 
 
 " Oh ! May thy cheerful smile 
 Long bless our native Isle. 
 Health to our Queen. 
 233
 
 The Boyhood ot a Great King 
 
 Firm round thy throne we'll stand, 
 True to thy just command. 
 Long in our happy land. 
 God save the Queen." 
 
 During the progress through the streets of Dublin 
 a fawn-coloured dove, ornamented with white 
 ribbons, was lowered to Her Majesty from the arch 
 in Eccles Street. The Queen, who seemed very 
 pleased, held the bird out to the Royal children, 
 and the Prince of Wales finally obtained possession 
 of it. At the Levee the Queen wore a dress of 
 exquisitely shaded Irish poplin of emerald green, 
 richly wrought with shamrocks in gold embroidery. 
 No British sovereign had visited Ireland since 182 1, 
 when George IV. spent some days in Dublin. 
 
 Punch once more takes credit for the Prince of 
 Wales's " Jack Tar " costume, and " hastens to con- 
 tradict an absurd rumour that it is the intention 
 of our Most Gracious Sovereign to reside perma- 
 nently in the sister island. This ridiculous report 
 has arisen from the prevalent impression that Her 
 Majesty has gone to Ireland for good." 
 
 Before quitting Dublin the Queen paid a visit 
 to the venerable Duke of Leinster, whose uncle, 
 Lord Edward Fitzgerald, had died, "attainted" 
 just half a century before, of wounds received while 
 resisting his arrest on a charge of high treason. 
 Of her genial host at Carton the Queen writes with 
 undisguised enthusiasm : 
 
 " The Duke is one of the kindest and best of 
 men. After luncheon we walked out and saw 
 some of the country people dance jigs, which was 
 very amusing. The Irish is quite different from 
 the Scottish reel, not so animated, and the steps 
 different, but very droll. The people are very 
 
 234
 
 
 ^ o 
 00 H 
 
 *! 
 > 

 
 Irish Enthusiasm 
 
 poorly dressed, the men in thick coats, and the 
 women in shawls, other men in blue coats and short 
 breeches and blue stockings. There were three 
 old pipers playing. The Irish pipe is very different 
 from the Scottish. They do not blow into it, but 
 merely have small bellows which they move with 
 the arm. We walked around the pleasure-grounds, 
 and after this got into a carriage with the Duke 
 and Duchess, our ladies and gentlemen following 
 in a large jaunting-car, and the people riding, 
 running, and driving with us. The Duke is so 
 kind to them that a word from him will make them 
 do anything. It was very hot, and yet the people 
 kept running the whole way, and in the thick 
 woollen coats which it seems they always wear 
 here." 
 
 Queen Victoria quitted Dublin with unfeigned 
 regret. " We stood," she tells us, " on the paddle- 
 box, as we slowly steamed out of Kingstown amid 
 the cheers of thousands and thousands, and salutes 
 from the ships. I waved my handkerchief as a 
 parting acknowledgment of their loyalty." Then 
 came a rough voyage northwards to Belfast, " The 
 weather got worse and worse," writes the Queen, 
 " and blew a real gale. Though we had only two 
 minutes' row in the barge to go on board the Fairy, 
 there was such a swell at the getting in and out, 
 and the rolling and tossing of the boat were very 
 disagreeable. We had to keep in a little pavilion, 
 as the squalls were so violent as to cover the Fairy 
 with spray. As we reached Belfast the sun fortu- 
 nately came out. A very fine landing-place was 
 arranged, where thousands were assembled." 
 
 " Queen's weather " (already a household word 
 in Scotland) prevailed after all. The visit to 
 
 235
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Protestant Belfast was as pleasurable an experience 
 as that to Catholic Cork, and the practical outcome 
 of her brief but enjoyable sojourn there is thus 
 placed on record by the Queen : 
 
 *' We left amid immense cheering, and reached 
 the Victoria and Albert at half-past six. Many 
 bonfires were lighted on the surrounding hills and 
 coast. I intend to create Bertie Earl of Dublin 
 as a compliment to the town and country, though he 
 is born with several Scottish ones (belonging to the 
 heirs to the Scottish throne, which he has inherited 
 from James VI. of Scotland and I. of England), 
 and this was one of my father's titles " [Sunday, 
 August 12, 1849]. 
 
 The enthusiasm provoked by the Queen's Irish 
 fortnight found a sympathetic echo in Punch's 
 cartoon : " Ireland a dream of the future." Before 
 Loch Ryan was reached the Royal travellers expe- 
 rienced a nasty squall. " Poor little Affie [Prince 
 Alfred — the future sailor Prince far excellence^ 
 was thrown down and sent rolling over the deck, 
 and was drenched, for the deck was swimming with 
 water." 
 
 " The Court " now revels for a whole month in 
 its Highland villeggiatura. Prince Albert enjoys 
 some record " drives " ; the Queen reads, sketches 
 and keeps up her Journal, and the " Royal children," 
 as the Court Newsman calls them, write letters and 
 take lessons in the intervals of health-giving walks, 
 rides and mountaineering. One of their most in- 
 dustrious correspondents was the Duchess of Kent 
 (the kindly and affectionate '^ grandmama-aunt " 
 of Prince Albert's letters to Coburg). In February, 
 1848, she had written the Princess Royal the follow- 
 ing letter, on a sheet of paper, edged all round with 
 
 236
 
 
 
 
 
 FACSIMILE <»F FIRST PAGE OF LETTER, DATED AVGUST 2fi, 18 1» 
 
 FKOM THE DUCHESS OF KENT TO 111 I riilNCE OK WALES
 
 A Grandmother's Letters 
 
 garlands of foliage and flowers in black and gold, 
 with angels at the top and figures of dancers in 
 niches on either side : 
 
 " My dearest Vicky, — I thank you very much 
 for your kind and pretty letter, which I received 
 this morning. I am very sad that my indisposition 
 prevents me from going to town to see dear, dear 
 Papa and dear Mama, you my beloved grand- 
 daughter, and your sisters and brothers, to whom 
 I beg you to give my kindest love. 
 
 " I am happy to hear that you are all well, pray 
 my dearest Vicky do not forget 
 
 " Your very affectionate and devoted 
 
 " Grandmama. 
 
 " Frogmore, lo February, 1848." 
 
 It was now the Prince of Wales's turn to receive 
 a letter, and on the thirtieth birthday of Prince 
 Albert, the Duchess of Kent writes thus : 
 
 "Tunbridge Wells, August 26, 1849. 
 
 " My dear Bertie, — I thank you very much for 
 your good wishes on my birthday. When I found 
 on my writing-table on the morning of my birthday, 
 papa's, mama's, your sister's and Alfred's letters, 
 and none from you, my dear Bertie, it made me 
 quite sad ; doubly pleased was I to receive your kind 
 note the day after my birthday. I wish you many 
 happy returns of dear papa's birthday. I wish I 
 could have passed this happy day with you all at 
 Balmoral. God bless you, my dearest Bertie. 
 " Ever your very affectionate 
 
 " Grandmother." 
 
 In one of the Court Circulars of this time it was 
 chronicled that " the Prince of Wales had ridden 
 out on horseback accompanied by Mr. Birch." 
 
 237
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 " This announcement," says Punch, with less good- 
 nature than usual, " suggests a congratulatory 
 remark on the progress of Royal education. James 
 the First in his nonage was horsed and flogged, 
 like any other youthful scholar, by his tutor. It 
 is pleasing to reflect that the Prince of Wales's ride 
 attended by Birch was a bona fide equestrian 
 
 exercise."* 
 
 During the month spent at Balmoral the Queen, 
 Prince Albert and all their children went in pony 
 phaetons to the Braemar gathering, and thoroughly 
 enjoyed the Highland games. The resolution taken 
 on board the yacht on that tranquil Sunday morning 
 after leaving Belfast, was now carried into effect, 
 and the Gazette announced that " the Queen had 
 been pleased to direct Letters Patent to be passed 
 under the Great Seal granting the dignity of an 
 Earl of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
 Ireland unto His Royal Highness Albert Edward, 
 Prince of Wales, Knight of the Most Noble Order 
 of the Garter, and his heirs, the Kings of the said 
 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, for 
 ever by the name, seal and title of Earl of Dublin." 
 The title thus created has now " merged in the 
 Crown." 
 
 Allusion is made once more to the Royal etch- 
 ings law-suit. Mr. Judge, one of the defendants, 
 was imprisoned for non-payment of costs, but not- 
 
 * What was approved of by the Queen at Balmoral did not always 
 meet with her sanction in London. In the collection of Royal 
 autographs frequently referred to in the course of this volume is 
 the following letter from Her Majesty to Mr. Birch : 
 
 " Queen Victoria to Mr. Birch. 
 
 " The Prince of Wales told us that he had been riding in the streets 
 on Saturday. We do not wish him to do this at present, and alto- 
 gether not to ride out there at present except rarely, and in that case 
 in the Park would have been the best place." 
 
 238
 
 KING EDWAKI) VII. OX lIORSEJiACK, ABolT THE A(;E 
 
 OF 10 (ISSl) 
 
 FROM A PAINTiNC HY A. HINT. K.N(IHA\E1) UV .1. 15. Ill NT
 
 A Memorable Civic Ceremony 
 
 withstanding the persecution to which for a long 
 time he had exposed both Her Majesty and Prince 
 Albert, a cheque for ^^iSo was sent by Mr. Anson, 
 the Prince's private secretary, from Balmoral, to 
 Mrs. Judge, in order that she " might pay her 
 husband's costs and extricate him from prison, 
 and this in the hope that he would henceforth 
 support his family by a more honourable industry." 
 
 The Queen and Prince Albert returned to Windsor 
 much invigorated by their sojourn at Balmoral, and 
 on October 15 Lord John Russell informed the Lord 
 Mayor that the Queen would visit the City on the 
 day of the opening of the Coal Exchange, and that 
 she would be accompanied by Prince Albert, and 
 it was hoped the Prince of Wales. It was about 
 this time that the first mention is made of the 
 fact that Prince Albert had suggested to the Royal 
 Society of Arts, of which he was president, a great 
 exhibition in London of the arts and manufactures 
 of all nations. On October 20, the Lord Mayor 
 announced that the Queen, in order to gratify the 
 citizens of London, would allow the Prince of Wales 
 and the Princess Royal to accompany their Royal 
 Parents upon the occasion of their visit to the city 
 on the 30th inst., and that the invitation of the 
 Corporation had been accepted by the Duke and 
 Duchess of Cambridge as well as by the Duke of 
 Wellington. In the early days of the following 
 week the Queen became indisposed, and finally the 
 disorder she was suffering from was found to be 
 chicken-pox, which, though not severe, would 
 certainly prevent her intended visit to the city. 
 It thus came to pass that although the Queen was 
 actually represented by Prince Albert, the Prince 
 of Wales played a more prominent part than was 
 perhaps originally intended, in what may almost 
 
 239
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 be described as his first public function. It was 
 certainly one of a very interesting character, made 
 more picturesque by the fact that the City was 
 approached by water from Whitehall stairs. 
 
 The Royal barge, which had originally been built 
 for Her Majesty's great grandfather, Frederick, 
 Prince of Wales, had been re-gilt, and was rowed 
 by twenty-two men. The Admiralty barge, drawn 
 up close to it, was originally the gift of Prince 
 George of Denmark to the council of the Admiralty. 
 It was upon this barge that nearly forty-three years 
 before the remains of Lord Nelson had been con- 
 veyed from Greenwich to St. Paul's. The scene 
 was one never to be forgotten, the water being 
 almost entirely covered with barges, boats, and 
 wherries, including the last built Royal steamer. 
 A fresh breeze from the west proved favourable 
 to the display of the silken civic banners, and a line 
 of brilliant colour was furnished by the crimson 
 uniform of the watermen. The State barge was 
 steered by Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, and the 
 oarsmen wore their gold badges and black velvet 
 caps. No spectacle of the kind had been seen on 
 the Thames since the memorable water procession 
 of August I, 1835, when William IV^ and Queen 
 Adelaide were entertained by " Nelson's Hardy," 
 at Greenwich. The Prince of Wales, who appeared 
 to feel the solemnity of his first appearance within 
 the boundaries of the City, looked a little pale. 
 It is recorded that he wore a white waistcoat and 
 trousers, black velvet coat with a single row of gilt 
 buttons, a white turn-down collar, black neckerchief, 
 and white cap with black band. The Princess 
 Royal is said to have won all hearts in a pink quilted 
 satin bonnet, with a small feather of the same colour 
 at the side, black velvet mantle drawn in at the 
 
 240
 
 The Recorder's Address 
 
 waist, a green silk frock with white stripes and three 
 flounces, and pale drab boots. The decorations 
 of the new building were all of a very elaborate 
 kind, and on seeing them the Duke of Cambridge 
 could not forbear exclaming audibly, as was his 
 wont, " Beautiful, beautiful ; very handsome." 
 Amongst the diplomatists was the Prussian Minister, 
 the Chevalier Bunsen, in whose memoirs is to be 
 found so much about the domestic life of the 
 English Royal Family at this epoch. 
 
 The Address was read so emphatically by 
 the Learned Recorder [the Honourable Charles 
 Ewan Law, Q.C.] that the Prince of Wales could 
 hardly take his eye off him. This is hardly to be 
 wondered at when we know he had to listen to 
 such sonorous sentences as that in which his 
 own presence and that of his sister was described 
 as " betokening the pledges and promise of a line 
 of illustrious descendants to preserve to the united 
 house of Her Majesty and Your Royal Highness 
 through future generations the hereditary throne 
 of these realms." In his reply Prince Albert said : 
 " Her Majesty ever relies on the fidelity of her free, 
 loyal and religious people. It is our earnest hope 
 that the Prince of Wales maybe regarded with those 
 feelings of affection which have, at all times, been 
 the best security of the Throne." 
 
 Mr. John Wood, Chairman of the Committee 
 of Management, was afterwards introduced to 
 Prince Albert and called his attention to the chair 
 provided for the youthful Prince with its beautiful 
 canopy of feathers. The Duke of Cambridge had 
 some talk with his nephew and niece, patting the 
 Prince of Wales very affectionately on the head. 
 A very elaborate dejeuner followed. The Illus- 
 trated Lofidon News says : " We are informed that 
 
 241 Q
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the sherry was seventy years old and formed part of 
 the same vintage of which a cask had been sent to 
 Lord Nelson a few days before the battle of Trafalgar, 
 and that the Prince of Wales partook of another 
 kind such as had been supplied a short time pre- 
 viously for the table of the younger branches of 
 the Royal Family of Spain." As another special 
 compliment to the illustrious visitors the Royal 
 Chair of State, so frequently used by the late Duke 
 of Kent when presiding over charity dinners at 
 the Albion Tavern, had been re-gilt, and brought 
 down to the Coal Exchange, The health of the 
 Prince of Wales was received with vociferous 
 applause. The return journey was made on board 
 the Fairy yacht, and before Prince Albert took his 
 leave of the City dignitaries, he is reported to have 
 said to his children : " Remember you are indebted 
 to the Lord Mayor for one of the happiest days 
 of your life." On the same evening Lord John 
 Russell informed Lord Mayor Sir J. Duke that 
 the Queen had directed that he should be created 
 a Baronet, and at the same time expressed her 
 special gratification at the reception accorded to 
 Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales and the Princess 
 Royal. 
 
 There are mentions both in the Queen's Journal 
 and the correspondence of Lady Lyttelton, whose 
 pride in the Prince of Wales was unbounded, of the 
 memorable visit of " Puss " (the Princess Royal) and 
 " the boy " (the Prince of Wales) to the City. 
 
 Queen Victoria was delighted to hear that " All 
 London turned out to meet the gallant little Prince 
 and his sister." Lady Lyttelton in a letter to Mrs. 
 Gladstone gives a charming account of the event, 
 and tells her how the Prince Consort was careful to 
 put the Prince of Wales forward, and that some 
 
 242
 
 yUKEX ADELAIDE
 
 A Narrow Escape 
 
 city dignitary addressed the young Prince as " the 
 pledge and promise of a long race of kings," but, 
 adds Lady Lyttelton naively, " poor Princey did 
 not seem to guess at all what he meant." 
 
 It is not generally known that while staying 
 at Osborne in the late autumn of 1849, ^^ ^^^ 
 occasion of a battue in the grounds, the Prince of 
 Wales had a narrow escape from a severe and possibly 
 fatal accident. He had, as usual, accompanied 
 Prince Albert, and with the thoughtless impetuosity 
 of the child, ran forward to pick up a bird which 
 had been shot. At that moment a hare which had 
 leaped up a little to the side of the direction the 
 Prince had taken, was covered by Lord Canning's 
 gun. Colonel Grey, who fortunately saw the 
 Prince's danger, with admirable presence of mind, 
 threw himself alongside of the Prince and received 
 the charge in his coat, which otherwise would have 
 lodged in the Prince's head and face. Lord Canning 
 was so overcome by the accident that he fainted on 
 the spot. 
 
 There were to be few birthday or Christmas 
 festivities this year at Windsor. On November 9, 
 the much-loved Queen Dowager, who had written 
 so many interesting letters to her great nephew, 
 the future King of England, as well as to his sister 
 the Princess Royal, was on her death-bed. On 
 December 2 she passed away, and before Christmas 
 had been carried to her last resting-place beneath 
 St. George's Chapel, on the shoulders of those 
 sailors in whose welfare her husband, a sailor from 
 his youth upwards, always took the deepest interest. 
 The fifth decade of the nineteenth century ended 
 in mourning and gloom, but neither the poor of 
 Windsor nor those who had been the object of Queen 
 Adelaide's bounty were forgotten by Queen Victoria. 
 
 243
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 EARLY THEATRICAL EXPERIENCES AND REMINIS- 
 CENCES OF KING EDWARD VII. THE WINDSOR 
 THEATRICALS [1848-185 8]. ROYAL NURSERY-PLAYS 
 AND TABLEAUX [185 3-1 855]. THE GREAT AMATEUR 
 PANTOMIME AT DRURY LANE [1855]. 
 
 From the joyous days of the Restoration onwards 
 the sovereigns of these realms have been consistent 
 friends and patrons of the " player-folk," as they 
 w^ere familiarly known at a time when nine-tenths 
 of our British Thespians were " rogues and vaga- 
 bonds " by Statute. While David Garrick, in laced 
 coat and hat, went to at least one levee at St. James's 
 every season, and while the fortunate actors and 
 actresses attached to the privileged Patent Theatres 
 were pompously designated " His Majesty's Ser- 
 vants," their humbler provincial brothers and 
 sisters (a Kemble and a Siddons amongst them) 
 were stigmatised as " barn-stormers," and hunted 
 pitilessly from pillar to post by over-zealous country 
 Shallows and their myrmidons. George HI. doubt- 
 less entertained that polite admiration for the 
 famous " Davy," which was fashionable at the time 
 of his accession, but all the enthusiasm of his riper 
 years was reserved for Sarah Siddons (upon whose 
 classic features Queen Victoria may have gazed) 
 and John Quick, the low comedian, dubbed by 
 Mathews in the days of his retirement, the " Diocle- 
 tian of Islington," in whose quips and jokes, uttered 
 
 244
 
 The Windsor Theatricals 
 
 *' with a squeak like a Bart'lcmew fiddle," the King 
 took much delight. Year after year they were 
 " commanded " to Weymouth, and weighty indeed 
 must be the State business which could interfere 
 with their Majesties' engagements at the cosy 
 little theatre, where, on the rising of the curtain, 
 Elliston is said one evening to have discovered King 
 George fast asleep in the recesses of the royal box. 
 Since then the meteoric career of Edmund Kean 
 had begun and ended, leaving Macready, the Etonian, 
 to become the principal star in the dramatic con- 
 stellation during the first years of Queen Victoria's 
 reign, when Mary Amelia Warner and Fanny 
 Kemble also enjoyed a large share of Court favour. 
 Charles Kean, Benjamin Webster and John Baldwin 
 Buckstone were all three at the zenith of their 
 fame in 1848, when the " Windsor Theatricals " 
 (soon to become a power in the land) were planned 
 and carried out under the auspices of Queen Victoria 
 and Prince Albert. At the end of the first season 
 the whole of the text of the various plays produced, 
 together with the official lists of the company 
 present, and the different programmes edged with 
 paper filagree-work, were collected by Mr. Webster, 
 and published, with gorgeously illuminated title- 
 pages in the form of what would now be called an 
 edition de luxe. In letters of gold " Royal Enter- 
 tainments," as this dainty quarto volume was 
 named by its compiler, is respectfully dedicated to 
 the " nobility, gentry and public in general, who 
 have loyally and liberally seconded the patronage 
 bestowed by Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen 
 Victoria." 
 
 The moving spirit from the onset behind the 
 curtain was Charles Kean, like Macready an 
 Etonian. Off the stage the chief organiser of the 
 
 24s
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 a 
 
 ?) 
 
 Windsor Theatricals " for many years was Colonel 
 the Honourable C. B. Phipps. The first perform- 
 ance took place in the Rubens Room, Windsor 
 Castle, on the evening of Thursday, December 28 
 1848. On this occasion " Her Majesty's Servants 
 performed by command Shakespeare's play of 
 the " Merchant of Venice," with the following 
 caste : 
 
 Duke of Venice . . . Mr, Diddear 
 
 Antonio (the Merchant of Fenice) . Mr. Rogers 
 
 Bassahio (his friend) . . . Mr. A. Wigan 
 
 Salanio ^ r ■ j ^ • » ^Mr. Boyce 
 c ^ ■ -T nends to Antomo and ■» , ^ 
 
 balarino j- R 1 ^^- Conway 
 
 GratianoJ IMr. Webster 
 Lorenzo (in love with Jessica) . Mr. Leigh Murray 
 Shylock (a Jew) .... Mr. Charles Kean 
 Tubal (a Jew, his friend) . . Mr. Howe 
 Launcelot Gobbo (a Clown — ser- 
 vant to Shylock) . . . AIr. Keeley 
 Old Gobbo (Father to Launcelot) . Mr. Addison 
 Leonardo (Servant to Bassanio) . Mr. Field 
 
 Balthazar! o . . n ^- TMr. Clarke 
 
 c 1 \ Servants to Fortta .{-mt r^ 
 
 DtepnanoJ i^JViR. Coe 
 
 Portia (a rich Heiress) . . Mrs. Charles Kean 
 
 Nerissa (her Waiting Maid) . Mrs. Keeley 
 
 Jessica (daughter to Shylock) . . Mrs. Compton 
 
 Director, Mr. Charles Kean 
 
 Assistant Director, Mr. George Ellis 
 
 Prompter and Stage Manager, Mr. Fred. Webster 
 
 The Theatre Arranged and the Scenery Painted by 
 
 Mr. Thomas Grieve. 
 
 The name of the Prince of Wales does not appear 
 in the list of those present on this notable " first- 
 night," but he clearly figures in the illustration of 
 the scene from the " Merchant of Venice," which 
 forms the frontispiece of Mr. Webster's book. 
 About that there can be no mistake. The second 
 performance came off a week later. Here is 
 
 246
 
 
 s 
 
 O 
 
 O C 
 
 ~ [H - 
 
 2 -^ ^ 
 
 •? w 2 
 
 o z 
 
 fo 
 
 VI 
 
 CC u 
 
 it- ►- 
 
 00 'T- 
 
 X
 
 A Windsor Programme 
 
 the programme and the full list of Her Majesty's 
 guests : 
 
 ROYAL ENTERTAINMENT. 
 
 By Command. 
 
 Her Majesty's Servants will Perform, at Windsor Castle, 
 
 On Thursday, January 4, 1849, 
 
 A Comic Drama, in Two Acts, adapted from the French by 
 Dion Boucicault, entitled, 
 
 USED UP. 
 
 Sir Charles Coldstream, Bart. 
 Sir Adonis Leech . 
 Honorable Tom Saville 
 Wurzel {a Farmer) . 
 John Ironbrace (a Blacksmith) 
 Mr. Fennell (a Lawyer) . 
 James ..... 
 Mary 
 
 Lady Clutterbuck 
 
 Mr. Charles Mathews 
 
 Mr. Granby 
 
 Mr. Bellingham 
 
 Mr. F. Cooke 
 
 Mr. Howe 
 
 Mr. Horner 
 
 Mr. Clarke 
 
 Mrs. Jacob Barrow 
 
 (Late Miss Julia Bennett) 
 
 Mrs. Humby 
 
 After which, a Farce, in One Act, by John Maddison Morton 
 
 entitled 
 
 BOX AND COX, 
 
 A romance of real life. 
 
 John Box {a Journeyman Printer) . Mr. Buckstone 
 
 James Cox (a Journeyman Hatter) . Mr. Harley 
 
 Mrs. Bouncer {a Lodging-house Keeper) Mrs. Stanley 
 
 Director 
 
 Mr. Charles Kean 
 
 The Theatre Arranged and the Scenery Painted by 
 Mr. Thomas Grieve. 
 
 her most gracious majesty the queen. 
 HIS royal highness prince albert. 
 
 HIS royal highness THE PRINCE OF WALES. 
 HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS ROYAL.
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS ALICE MAUD MARY. 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE ALFRED ERNEST. 
 
 The following Distinguished Persons were -present : 
 
 Her Royal Highness the Duchess 
 
 of Kent. 
 Their Royal Highnesses the 
 
 Duchess of Cambridge and 
 
 the Princess Mary. 
 Their Serene Highnesses the 
 
 Princesses Amelie and Elise 
 
 of Hohenlohe Schillingsfurst. 
 His Serene Highness the Prince 
 
 Edward of Saxe Weimar. 
 His Excellency Monsieur Van 
 
 de Weyer and Madame Van 
 
 de Weyer. 
 His Excellency the Chevalier 
 
 Bunsen. 
 The Hon. and Rev. C. L. 
 
 Courtenay. 
 The Viscountess Canning. 
 The Marchioness of Waterford. 
 The Countess of Mansfield and 
 
 two Ladies Murray. 
 Lady Fanny Howard. 
 Lady Augusta Cadogan. 
 Lady Caroline Somers Cocks. 
 Lady Mary Berkeley. 
 The Dowager Lady and Miss 
 
 Lyttelton and Miss Carew. 
 Hon. Miss Matilda Paget. 
 The Lord and Lady Ruthven. 
 The Viscount Clifden. 
 Mr. and the Hon. Mrs. G. E. 
 
 Anson. 
 
 and Mrs. Ashley. 
 Lady Isabella 
 
 Scott. 
 
 Challoner. 
 Lady Couper 
 
 The Hon. Mr 
 General and 
 
 Wemyss. 
 General and Mrs 
 General Bowles. 
 Colonel the Hon. C. B. and Mrs 
 
 Phipps. 
 Colonel and Mrs. 
 Sir George and 
 
 and Miss Couper 
 The Lord in Waiting. 
 The Groom in Waiting. 
 The Equerry in Waiting. 
 The Baron Stockmar. 
 Captain F. Seymour. 
 Mr. and Miss Meynell. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Seymour. 
 Mrs. Crutchley. 
 The Equerry in Waiting on His 
 
 Royal Highness Prince Albert. 
 Baron Knesebeck, 
 Dr. Meyer. 
 Mr. Glover. 
 The 
 
 two Officers 
 
 Life Guards. 
 The Commanding Officer and 
 
 two Officers of the Coldstream 
 
 Guards. 
 Miss Hildyard.* 
 Madame Roland de la Lonso* 
 
 and Mdlle. Griiner.* 
 
 Commanding 
 
 Officer and 
 the Second 
 
 " Hamlet " was the play selected for the following 
 week (January ii, 1849). The caste was as follows : 
 
 . Mr. Diddear 
 
 . Mr. Charles Kean 
 
 Claudius (King of Denmark) 
 Hamlet . . . . 
 
 * These three ladies were all governesses in the Royal Family for 
 several years, and took some part or other in the early education of 
 King Edward VH. 
 
 248
 
 " Hamlet's Coming 
 
 ?» 
 
 Polonius 
 
 
 
 . Mr. W. Farren 
 
 Horatio 
 
 
 
 . Mr. Howe 
 
 Laertes 
 
 
 
 . Mr. Leigh Murray 
 
 Rosencrantz 
 
 
 
 . Mr. Conway 
 
 Guildenstern 
 
 
 
 . Mr. Boyce 
 
 Osrick 
 
 
 
 . Mr. a. Wigan 
 
 Marcellus 
 
 
 
 . Mr. J. Howard 
 
 Bernardo 
 
 
 
 . Mr. Clifford 
 
 Francisco 
 
 
 
 , Mr. a. Brindal 
 
 Ghost 
 
 
 
 . Mr. Vandenhoff 
 
 First Actor . 
 
 
 
 . Mr. G. Cooke 
 
 Second Actor 
 
 
 
 . Mr. Clark 
 
 Gertrude {Queen of Denmark) . Mrs. Warner 
 
 Ophelia {Daughter to Polonius) . Mrs. Charles Kean 
 
 Actress 
 
 
 
 . Mrs. F. Savile 
 
 The Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, the Princess 
 Royal, and Princess Alice were all present, sitting 
 in front of the raised seats occupied by Queen 
 Victoria and Prince Albert. Amongst the guests 
 were Baron Stockmar, Lady Lyttelton, Miss Plild- 
 vard, Madame Roland and Mdlle. Gruner. On 
 January i8 " The Stranger," and John Oxenford's 
 " Twice Killed," brought the four performances 
 to a triumphant conclusion. The Keeleys played 
 in both pieces, parts in " The Stranger " being 
 taken by Mr. Creswick and Mrs. German Reed 
 (late Miss P. Horton), who had not appeared at 
 either of the preceding performances. Of course, 
 some jealousy (a feeling not altogether strange to 
 the actor's calling) was rife. As regards the first 
 night's programme. Punch observed that " The 
 actors had been picked and sifted from the various 
 London theatres. . . . Her Majesty had graciously 
 commanded the presence of all her Ministers. The 
 sublimity of Portia's appeal for mercy made its 
 way direct to the feelings of the Home Secretary." 
 
 " Hamlet," of course, afforded a still better 
 opportunity, and under the attractive title of 
 
 249 iii
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 " Hamlet's Coming," the public were gravely 
 assured that " the tragedy of Charles Kean, as was 
 expected, will have a lasting effect on the minds 
 of the Royal children. We have the best authority 
 for stating that when any of the illustrious infants 
 are at all refractory Lady Lyttelton has only to 
 say ' Hamlet's coming,' and they are still as mice." 
 
 For eleven years the Windsor Theatricals held 
 their own, until interrupted for a very lengthy 
 period by the death of the Prince Consort. Nearly 
 five years after the first performance Colonel Phipps 
 addressed the following letter to Mr. Benjamin 
 Webster, which explains very clearly the totally 
 disinterested motives which prompted the Queen 
 to seek, by this new departure, to assist the best 
 interests of the English stage : 
 
 " Brighton, Oct. 17, 1853. 
 
 " My dear Sir, — Mr. Kean will always in future 
 write you a note when it is wished to have the 
 advantage of the assistance of a Gentleman or Lady 
 of your Company. I hope this may be satisfactory. 
 If you will be good enough to refer again to my 
 Letter in which I proposed a plan which I regret 
 to say I have found it impracticable to carry out 
 this season, you will find that it is no part of that 
 proposal that any theatre should give an ' unassisted 
 performance.' What I wished was that each theatre 
 should in its turn bring forward some new or 
 stock play, which they should have the advantage 
 of afterwards bringing out with the prestige of 
 having been selected for performance at Windsor. 
 By this it was intended to benefit both Managers 
 and Authors, but although naturally the majority 
 of the parts would be cast in the Company by which 
 it was to be afterwards performed, the principle 
 
 350
 
 Mr. C. B. Phipps Explains 
 
 which has ever ruled the performances at Windsor 
 of making the representation as perfect as possible 
 by selection from the whole profession was always 
 to have been carried out ; and it was on account 
 of the maintenance of this principle that some of 
 the managers with whom I communicated, objected 
 to its feasibility, 
 
 " The managers would probably prefer that the 
 piece should be put upon the Royal Stage, exactly 
 as it was to be brought out at some particular 
 theatre. But I cannot see that in this way any step 
 in advance would be gained, or the object would 
 be achieved of showing how perfect an English 
 play might be made. In the present state of the 
 Drama in London the theatres are so numerous, 
 and so nearly upon a par, that although the enter- 
 tainment at any one theatre may be very amusing 
 and highly creditable, it is not possible to collect 
 in one Company all those who would best delineate 
 the great varieties of comic or tragic character. 
 To give you an instance. I have seen in your former 
 theatre the Haymarket some of the most perfect 
 comic performances I ever witnessed, but to prepare 
 these plays again it would be necessary to get yourself 
 and the Keeleys from the Adelphi — Buckstone 
 from the Haymarket, Kean from the Princess's, 
 and Wigan from the Olympic, and yet it would be 
 a fallacy to suppose that these parts could be equally 
 well fitted by others. 
 
 " The object of the Windsor plays has been to 
 raise the character of the British Drama in every 
 way — to show how nearly perfect it may be made, 
 and thus to cause it to be admired, and become 
 fashionable (which is the great element of success 
 in London). I believe that this object has been to 
 a great degree obtained. The English theatres 
 
 251
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 are very much frequented now by the leaders of 
 fashion (as they are called), the Drama forms a 
 constant subject of conversation, and I believe all 
 theatres have felt the advantages of these circum- 
 stances. When in London I shall be happy to 
 receive the advantage of some personal communica- 
 tion with you to discuss these matters, as I shall 
 always be anxious to receive the opinions of practical 
 people on these matters. 
 
 " Sincerely yours, 
 
 " C. B. Phipps." 
 
 The histrionic ability of the Prince of Wales 
 at this time (1849-185 3) was certainly not less 
 marked than that of his great-grandfather. King 
 George III., who played Cato at nine,* or his great- 
 uncle. King George IV. ,t who delivered Cicero's 
 oration against Cataline before his royal father and 
 mother in the Picture Gallery at Windsor Castle 
 on the evening of his sixteenth birthday. By a 
 strange coincidence the performance at Leicester 
 House took place exactly a century before the 
 institution of the Windsor Theatricals, nor is it 
 less curious that the apartment which was the scene 
 of George, Prince of Wales's oratory on August 12, 
 1778, was seventy years later again utilised for 
 almost an identical purpose by his great nephews 
 and nieces. In January 1853 (while Mr. Kean 
 was engaged on the impending production of 
 "Paul Pry" and "The Lucky Friday") some 
 scenes from Racine's " Athalie " were given by 
 the Prince of Wales and his brothers and sisters 
 with complete success, and to the unfeigned delight 
 of their parents and those members of the Royal 
 
 See ante, p. 5. t See ante, p. 6. 
 
 252
 
 2 
 > 
 
 
 5 c >: 
 
 = - p> 
 
 ^_ y. ~ 
 
 m 
 
 /^ / 

 
 King Edward VII. as " Abner " 
 
 Household who were present. The caste was as 
 follows : 
 
 ATHALIE, January 1853. 
 Abner .... Prince of Wales (aged 11) 
 Athalie .... Princess Royal (aged 12) 
 
 Josabeth . . . H. Seymour (aged 10) * 
 
 Joad .... Princess Alice (aged 10) 
 
 Levite . . . C. Phipps (aged 9) t 
 
 Levite . . . . H. Seymour (aged 10) 'X 
 
 Zacharia . . . Princess Louise (aged 5"^ 
 
 Salomith . . . F. Seymour 
 
 Joas .... Prince Alfred (aged S^) 
 
 Agar .... Princess Helena (aged 7) 
 
 Long years after, in her preface to her life of her 
 sister, Princess Alice, the Princess Christian (the 
 seven-year old Agar of 1853) writes as follows : 
 
 " Little theatrical pieces performed by the Royal 
 children on festive anniversaries in the family — 
 partly, too, with a view of gaining facility in foreign 
 languages — were the field in which the young 
 Princess decidedly distinguished herself. No child 
 ever performed the part of the High Priest Joad 
 in Racine's ' Athalie ' with more dignity and with 
 a more pleasing intonation : and a more delightful 
 German * Red Ridinghood ' than the Princess 
 in the little piece of that name by Madame Jonas, 
 never appeared upon the stage. "§ Two or three 
 
 * The present Marquis of Hertford. Son of Sir Francis Seymour 
 (Equerry to the Prince Consort), born 1 85 3. 
 
 t Eldest son of the late Sir C. Phipps (I'reasurer of the Household 
 to the Prince Consort). Mr. C. Phipps, who was born in 1844, now 
 lives in British Columbia. Mrs. Chaine and the Honble. Harriet 
 Phipps are his sisters. 
 
 X Horace Seymour, afterwards Master of the Mint. He was the 
 son of Captain and Lady Augusta Seymour, and was born in 1843. 
 Charlotte, Countess Spencer, was his sister. 
 
 § " On the loth February (1855) the anniversary of the Queen's 
 marriage-day, there was, as usual, a home festival, with the nursery 
 
 253
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 weeks later (February lo, 1853) the little German 
 play known as " Die Tafel Birnen " (" Dessert 
 Apples ") was given, this time exclusively, by the 
 youthful Princes and Princesses : 
 
 Max Prince of Wales 
 
 Louise Princess Royal 
 
 Annette Princess Alice 
 
 Albert Prince Alfred 
 
 Conrad Princess Helena 
 
 Minna Princess Louise 
 
 In the " Memoirs of Baron Bunsen " (p. 328) 
 his widow gives a very full account of a masque 
 or series of tableaux : " contrived " by the Royal 
 children in honour of the fourteenth anniversary 
 of the wedding of the Queen and Prince Albert 
 (February 10, 1854), which is also alluded to by 
 Princess Christian, when writing of the extra- 
 ordinary powers of acting possessed by the Princess 
 Alice. It was of this very day that Queen Victoria 
 wrote in her Journal : " Fourteen happy and blessed 
 years have passed, and I confidently hope many 
 more will, and find us in old age, as we are now, 
 happy and devotedly united. Trials we must 
 have; but what are they if we are together?"* 
 " Between five and six in the evening," says the 
 Baroness Bunsen, "the company followed the Queen 
 and the Prince to a room where a red curtain was 
 let down. We all sat in darkness till the curtain 
 was drawn aside, and the Princess Alice, who had 
 been dressed to represent Spring, recited some verses 
 taken from Thomson's ' Seasons,' enumerating the 
 flowers which the spring scatters around, and she 
 
 drama of ' Little Red Riding Hood,' performed by the younger mem- 
 bers of the family, and appropriate verses spoken by the Princess 
 Alice, who seems to have been the chosen declaimer among the 
 princes and princesses " [Tytler, vol. ii. p. 131]. 
 
 Life of Queen Victoria," by Sarah Tytler, vol. ii. pp. 124-125. 
 
 254 
 
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 w
 
 Tableaux by the Royal Children 
 
 did it very well, speaking in a distinct and pleasing 
 manner, with excellent modulation and a tone of 
 voice like that of the Queen. Then the curtain 
 was (again) drawn up and the whole scene changed, 
 and the Princess Royal represented Summer, with 
 Prince Arthur* lying upon some sheaves, as if tired 
 with the heat of the harvest work ; the Princess 
 Royal also recited verses, and looked very well. 
 Then there was another change, and Prince Alfred, 
 with a crown of vine-leaves and a panther's skin, 
 represented Autumn, and recited also verses, and 
 looked very well. Then there was a change to 
 Winter landscape, and the Prince of Wales repre- 
 sented Winter, with a white beard and a cloak with 
 icicles or snow-flakes (or what looked like such), 
 and the Princess Louise, warmly clothed, who seemed 
 watching the fire ; and the Prince also recited well 
 a passage altered from Thomson. Then another 
 change was made, and all the seasons were grouped 
 together, and far behind, on high, appeared the 
 Princess Helena, with a long veil hanging down 
 on each side to her feet, and a long cross in her hand, 
 pronouncing a blessing on the Queen and Prince 
 in the name of all the seasons. These verses were 
 composed for the occasion. I understood them to 
 say that St. Helena, remembering her own British 
 extraction, came to utter a blessing on the rulers 
 of her country ; and I think it must have been so 
 intended. ... At any rate the Princess Helena 
 looked charming. This was the close, but when 
 the Queen ordered the curtain to be drawn back, 
 we saw the whole royal family, and they were helped 
 to jump down from their raised platforms. At the 
 dinner-table, the Princesses Helena and Louise and 
 Prince Arthur were allowed to come in and stand 
 * Not yet four ye^rs old. 
 255
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 by their mamma, the Queen, as it was a festival day. 
 In the evening there was very fine music in St. 
 George's Hall, and the Princess Royal and the 
 Princess Alice were allowed to stop up and hear it, 
 sitting to the right and left of the chairs where sat 
 the Queen and Prince Albert, and the Duchess of 
 Kent." It was the tableaux of the Seasons which 
 gave the first idea of the four well-known statuettes 
 of the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the 
 Princess Alice and Prince Alfred, sculptured by 
 Mrs. Thornycroft, and subsequently engraved by 
 W. Roffe. The story of these school-room dramas 
 as played in the early " fifties " of the last century 
 at Windsor and Osborne, illustrates very happily 
 the important part which the Queen and Prince 
 Albert allowed the dramas of England, France and 
 Germany, to play in shaping the minds and develop- 
 ing the intelligence of all their children. 
 
 Later, in the spring of the same year in which 
 " Little Red Riding Hood " was " planned and 
 played " by the Princess Alice and her brothers 
 and sisters, the Prince of Wales accompanied the 
 Queen and Prince Albert to witness a theatrical 
 performance within the historical walls of " Old 
 Drury," which excited at the time an amount 
 of public attention almost without a precedent in 
 the annals of the stage. Although all the principal 
 actors in the Amateur Pantomime of 1855 have 
 passed away, some of them have left on record 
 their appreciation of the alertness, keen sense of 
 humour, and unflagging attention, manifested by 
 the Prince of Wales in the quips and cranks of three 
 of the most daring and successful mirth-provokers* 
 of the mid-nineteenth century. Under the aus- 
 pices of the Fielding Club " Harlequin Guy Fawkes " 
 
 • Thomas Knox Holmes, Edmund Yates and Albert Smith. 
 
 256
 
 The Great Amateur Pantomime 
 
 had achieved on March 31a triumph which threw 
 all former successes of the now vanished " Olympic " 
 into the shade. John Oxenford had used words 
 of commendation in The Times such as rarely fall 
 to the lot of the ordinary actor. " It was," he wrote, 
 " when Mr. T. K. Holmes entered in the dress of 
 Guy Fawkes, and bowed his forehead down to his toes, 
 with all that freedom from bone which is peculiar 
 to pantomimic art, that the new sensation was pro- 
 duced. Yes ! people really began to believe that 
 an amateur pantomime was possible." " Tom " 
 Holmes, the son of " Billy " Holmes, the great 
 Tory wirepuller of a hundred years ago, who had 
 seen Sarah Siddons act, had supped with " Davy " 
 Garrick's widow, and had taken the message announc- 
 ing the victory of Waterloo to the Alfred Club, lived 
 down to the very threshold of the twentieth century. 
 He left behind him ample materials for a biographical 
 volume of surpassing interest, but the opportunity 
 was missed. In 1887 he made the following note : 
 " The amateur pantomime at Drury Lane was 
 honoured by the presence of all the Royal Family. 
 The gross receipts were above _^I200, but as the 
 5J". gallery tickets were afterwards sold at £l is. 
 a-piece, above ^^2000 was paid by the audience ; 
 the largest amount ever taken in that theatre. In 
 that I played the principal character in the opening 
 scenes. This performance was in aid of Wellington 
 College, to which it contributed ;^700. Never can 
 I forget the hearty enjoyment it afforded to the 
 Prince of Wales with whom all our jokes seemed 
 to go home at once." In his " Recollections,"* 
 Edmund Yates says ; "The fame of the performance 
 (at the Olympic) reached the ears of Royalty. 
 The consequence was a command to repeat the 
 
 • Vol. i. p. 277. 
 
 257 R
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 pantomime in the presence of the Queen and the 
 Prince Consort, a command which we obeyed 
 shortly after at Drury Lane Theatre, with enormous 
 success ; H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, then a lad 
 of fourteen, taking especial delight in the perform- 
 ance. The large receipts were handed, at Her 
 Majesty's suggestion, to the Royal Naval Female 
 School — an admirable institution, which, in grati- 
 tude for the bounty of the Fielding Club, made 
 three of its committee-men life governors, the 
 privileges of which permission I still enjoy. A 
 large addition to the funds of Wellington College — 
 the proceeds of the amateur pantomime, with a 
 different ' opening ' in the June of the following 
 year — did not, if I remember rightly, elicit any- 
 thing but a bare expression of thanks." Mr. 
 Holmes and Mr. Yates are in evident disaccord 
 as to the ultimate destination of the proceeds of 
 " Guy Fawkes," but they are in perfect agreement 
 as to the impression their wit made on the mind 
 of the Heir Apparent. Mr. Bidwell (a name still 
 associated with the honoured traditions of the 
 Foreign Office) was Harlequin, and Mr. J. Robins, 
 Clown ; the roles of Pantaloon and Catesby fell 
 to Arthur and Albert Smith ; Edmund Yates was 
 the lover, and Miss Rosina Wright, one of the most 
 charming actresses of that time, Columbine. " Hot 
 Codlins " was demanded with an insistence King 
 Edward VH. still probably remembers, and Mr. 
 Oxenford has made it historical that " The famous 
 legend of the little old woman," was sung by Mr. 
 J. Robins,* " with all contortions of voice and 
 
 • The " Amateur Pantomime " ended by provoking a very pretty 
 quarrel. Mr. J. Robins was the son of the grandiloquent auctioneer, 
 George Robins. A few days after the performance a letter appeared 
 from one Julian Robins, protesting that he was not the J. Robins 
 
 258
 
 King Edward VII. and the Drama 
 
 countenance which would have satisfied the most 
 rigid judge of pantomimic proprieties." 
 
 Fifty years all told have fled since " Harlequin 
 Guy Fawkes " was the talk of all London west of 
 Temple Bar. During the whole of this half-century 
 of movement and change, the national stage has 
 had no more discriminating and loyal friend and 
 consistent protector than the Sovereign of to-day, 
 who, as Prince of Wales, fostered and encouraged 
 all the good work accomplished and salutary reforms 
 effected by the talents and energy of Sir Henry 
 Irving, Sir Squire and Lady Bancroft, Sir Charles 
 Wyndham (whose well-merited honours immediately 
 followed the King's accession), the late Sir Augustus 
 Harris, Mr. John Hare, and Mr. George Alexander ; 
 and somewhat later, by Mr. H. Beerbohm Tree, and 
 Mr. Arthur Bourchier. It has been (despite the 
 protests of the cavillers and the croakings of the 
 faddists) a period of healthy progress, and the "player- 
 folk " acknowledge with gratitude to-day all that 
 has resulted from that broad and comprehensive 
 scheme of education, devised in the forgotten 
 " forties," which made an intelligent experience of 
 the drama (in the most catholic sense of the term) 
 part and parcel of the early upbringing of a great 
 King. 
 
 who played the Clown. " As people have been good enough to take 
 me for the buffoon (our initials being similar) I most respectfully 
 beg insertion for this letter, not caring to be thought a Clown myself, 
 nor wishing to rob the great Mr. J. Robins of his just meed of honour " 
 It was written from 14 Albert Road, Regent's Park. It was promptly 
 replied to by Edmund Yates and W. P. Hall, Joint Secretaries of the 
 Garrick and Fielding Clubs, and correspondence appeared in several 
 papers, acrimonious in the extreme, and certainly not in the best 
 taste. 
 
 259
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 WORK AND PLAY IN THE EARLY " FIFTIES "— 
 THE DAYS OF THE PALACE OF CRYSTAL 
 
 1850-1853 
 
 The next four years were fraught with many 
 momentous events as far as the history of the British 
 Empire is concerned, although nothing was allowed 
 to disturb the even tenour of the studies pursued 
 by the Prince of Wales, first under the care of Mr. 
 Henry Birch (1849-185 1), and then under that of 
 Mr. F. W. Gibbs (1852-1855), both tutors being 
 at all times subject to the vigilant care and constant 
 supervision of the Queen and Prince Albert. In 
 the opinion of Mr. Birch as well as in the estimation 
 of Mr. Gibbs, the Heir Apparent showed an aptness 
 for study and a natural intelligence far above the 
 average possessed by boys of his own age. Gifted 
 with a memory for facts and faces almost phenomenal, 
 he acquired foreign languages with astonishing 
 rapidity, and his taste for art in the widest sense of 
 the term was certainly hereditary. Very few con- 
 temporary statesmen can, like King Edward VII., 
 speak and write at least three languages with equal 
 fluency and correctness. His tact also seems to be 
 innate, and his powers as an impromptu speaker 
 have scarcely met with the recognition they merit. 
 The foundations of much that distinguishes him 
 to-day were laid carefully and patiently in those 
 first years of the sixth decade of the nineteenth 
 
 260
 
 The Early "Fifties" 
 
 century which were destined to witness the deaths 
 of Wordsworth, Peel and Wellington ; the forma- 
 tion and collapse of two Cabinets ; the passing away 
 from the ranks of Royalty of the Duke of jCambridge 
 and the Queen of the Belgians : the general unrest 
 caused by the Papal Aggression, and the inception, 
 erection and successful inauguration in Hyde Park 
 of the Great Exhibition of all Nations, which far 
 from proving the harbinger of a long and universal 
 peace, turned out to be the immediate prelude 
 of the coup (TEtat which made the quondam 
 exile Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the 
 French, and the forerunner of the Crimean War. 
 Before the four years were ended, the English and 
 French fleets had entered the Bosphorus, and the 
 outbreak of hostilities was regarded on all hands 
 as imminent and inevitable. 
 
 The weather during the first days of January 
 (1850) was very severe, and Prince Albert and his 
 elder sons were able to indulge in their favourite pas- 
 times of sledging and skating. Before the month 
 was over a representative meeting held in the City 
 had declared itself, with every token of enthusiasm, 
 in favour of the proposed World's Fair, which was 
 to bring all Europe to London in the spring and 
 summer of the following year. Undeterred by a 
 passing wave of unpopularity in the provinces, 
 Prince Albert devoted the whole of his constitutional 
 energies to the realisation of his favourite project. 
 On February i the first of the dramatic performances 
 of the season took place in the Rubens room at 
 Windsor Castle.* The play presented was " Julius 
 Caesar," the title role being interpreted by Mr. 
 Charles Fisher, with Mr. Macready as " Marcus 
 Brutus," Mr. Charles Kean as " Marcus Antonius," 
 
 • See chap, ix., pp. 244-259. 
 261
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 and Mr. Leigh Murray as " Octavius Caesar." Mrs. 
 Warner (always a great favourite with Queen 
 Victoria) acted the part of " Portia," and Mrs. 
 Saville that of Caesar's wife. Both the Queen's 
 Closet and the King's Council Chamber were placed 
 at the disposal of the actors, who possessed a Green 
 Room such as no theatre in the world could boast 
 of. The two plays selected for performance on 
 February 8 were " King Rene's Daughter," from 
 the German version of a Danish poem, abridged and 
 adapted for stage representation by the Hon. 
 Edmund Phipps with Mr. James Wallack as King 
 Rene, Mr. Charles Kean as Count Tristram, Mrs. 
 Charles Kean as lolanthe, and Mrs. F. Saville as 
 A'lartha. The play was admirably mounted and 
 was followed by Mr. J. R. Planche's " Charles XII," 
 Mr. Webster taking the title role, with Mr. Charles 
 Kean, Mr. Leigh Murray, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Wallack 
 and Mr. Harley in other parts. The female parts 
 were played by Miss Jane Mordaunt and Miss 
 Kathleen Fitzwilliam. The Windsor productions 
 now, as the Queen hoped, began to find favour 
 in the eyes of the London managers, and within a 
 few days of this notable performance the production 
 of " Charles XII." was announced simultaneouslv 
 at two London theatres. 
 
 In April the Court was, as usual, at Buckingham 
 Palace, and on the 20th of that month the Prince 
 of Wales was present (in happy unconsciousness 
 of the difficulties of Algeciras conferences half a 
 century later) at the inspection of Arab horses sent 
 to the Queen by the then Sultan of Morocco. 
 The Moors who came to England with the gifts for 
 the Queen were taken to see the whole of the sights 
 of London, including the Zoological Gardens, 
 Astley's, Albert Smith's entertainment, the Colli- 
 
 262
 
 A Birthday Party 
 
 seum, three panoramas, and the Tower. Before 
 they left, their confession " There is only one God, 
 and Mahommed is His Prophet," was supplemented 
 by the cry " There is no other Queen but the Queen 
 of England." On April 21 the Prince received 
 the following letter from the Duchess of Kent : 
 
 " Clarence House, Afril 21, 1 850. 
 
 " My dearest Bertie, — I thank you very much 
 for your kind inquiries ; my cold is nearly gone. 
 I trust I shall very soon have the happiness to receive 
 a visit from you, as that will show me that you have 
 been a good boy, which nobody is more anxious 
 you should always be than 
 
 " Your very affectionate 
 
 " Grandmama." 
 
 On April 27 the seventh birthday of the clever 
 and popular Princess Alice was commemorated by 
 a juvenile party at Buckingham Palace. She was 
 now the pet as well as the beauty of the family, 
 and the chosen playmate of her elder brothers, who 
 doted on her. A year later than this (April 25, 
 1 851) Lady Lyttelton wrote: 
 
 " Dear Princess Alice is too pretty, in her low 
 frock and pearl necklace, tripping about and blush- 
 ing and smiling at her honours. The whole family, 
 indeed, appear to advantage on birthdays ; no trades- 
 man or country squire can keep one with such hearty 
 simple affection and enjoyment. One present I 
 think we shall all wish to live further off ; a live 
 lamb, all over pink ribbons and bells. He is already 
 the greatest pet, as one may suppose. Princess 
 Alice's pet lamb is the cause of many tears. He 
 will not take to his mistress, but runs away lustily, 
 and will soon butt at her, though she is most coaxy, 
 and said to him in her sweetest tones, after kissing 
 
 263
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 his nose often, ' Milly, dear Milly ! do you like 
 me r 
 
 It was of the Princess Alice's birthday fete of 
 1850, that Punch says : 
 
 " At five o'clock in the afternoon Her Majesty 
 received a small juvenile party. The Queen, 
 accompanied by the Royal children, received the 
 youthful visitors in the saloon, in which the juveniles 
 danced, and afterwards proceeded to the library 
 where refreshments were served. Here is an ad- 
 mirable example to those who are in the habit of 
 giving children's parties, commencing at 8 or 9 p.m., 
 and terminating at one or two in the morning, 
 when the jaded juveniles crawl away with at least 
 six months' health taken out of them by late hours, 
 excitement and fatigue." * 
 
 Three days after the royal " small and early," 
 the Queen's seventh child and third sont was born, 
 like the Prince of Wales, at Buckingham Palace. 
 Mrs. Lilly had once more assumed the reins of 
 office. The following bulletin was issued : 
 
 " Buckingham Palace, Wednesday, May I, 1850. 
 
 " The Queen was safely delivered of a Prince 
 at 17 minutes after 8 o'clock this morning. Her 
 Majesty and the infant Prince are well. 
 
 " James Clarke, M.D. 
 
 " Charles Locock, M.D. 
 
 " Robert Ferguson, M.D." 
 
 The Queen's recovery was unusually rapid, 
 and before a fortnight was over the approaching 
 
 * Punch, vol. xviii. p. 117. 
 
 t Now the Duke of Connaught, K.G., Inspector-General of his 
 Majesty's Forces, and Most Worshipful Grand Master of English 
 Freemasons. 
 
 264
 
 Birth of Prince Arthur 
 
 removal of the Court to Windsor was discussed. 
 This in no way interfered with the gaieties of the 
 London season, and the papers are full of the 
 magnificent entertainment given by Miss Coutts 
 " at her mansion in Stratton Street to His Grace 
 the Duke of Wellington, and a distinguished 
 circle of nobility." Somehow or other, the 
 intended name of the " May Prince " leaked out, 
 and Punchy always equal to the occasion, gravely 
 writes : 
 
 *' It has been authoritatively announced that the 
 new Prince, having been born on the birthday of 
 the Duke of Wellington, is to be called Arthur, 
 in compliment to the Hero of Waterloo. We 
 perfectly approve of the arrangement, and regret 
 that we cannot second the suggestion of a highly 
 respectable deputation of chimney sweeps, who 
 waited outside our office on Wednesday last, with 
 a proposal that in consequence of the royal infant 
 having been born on Chimney Sweepers' Day, 
 he should be called the Black Prince."* During the 
 stay of the Queen at Osborne, excursions were made 
 to various parts of the Isle of Wight, and on June 22 
 — two days after the thirteenth anniversary of 
 the Queen's accession — the newly-born Prince was 
 baptized at Buckingham Palace by the name of 
 Arthur William Patrick Albert. The Prince of 
 Wales and Prince Alfred, who were both present, 
 were in Highland costume. His godfathers were 
 the conqueror of Napoleon I. in 1 815, and the future 
 overthrower of Napoleon HI. in 1 870-1 871. Could 
 anything be more appropriate for the Inspector- 
 General of His Majesty's forces in 1906 ? At the 
 banquet the Lord Steward gave the following 
 toast : " His Royal Highness Prince Arthur, His 
 
 • Punch, vol. xviii. p. 182. 
 265
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Royal Highness the Prince of Prussia, the Queen 
 and Prince Albert." 
 
 On this occasion a chorale, specially composed 
 by H.R.H. Prince Albert, was performed : 
 
 *' In life's gay morn, ere sprightly youth 
 By vice and follies is enslav'd, 
 Oh ! may thy Maker's glorious name 
 Be on thy infant mind engraved. 
 So shall no shades of sorrow cloud 
 The sunshine of thy early days ; 
 But happiness in endless round 
 Shall still encompass all thy ways." 
 
 Five days later the Queen received a blow from 
 a stick levelled at her by a miscreant named Robert 
 Pate, who had once held a commission in the Army. 
 Although somewhat severely bruised. Her Majesty 
 went to the Opera the same evening, when the 
 whole audience vociferously demanded the singing 
 of " God save the Queen." The first verse was 
 given by Castellan ; the second by Viardot, and the 
 third by Grisi. 
 
 Punch at this juncture published a capital cartoon 
 on the Duke of Wellington visiting his godson, 
 entitled " A real case of Caudle." The Exhibition 
 question, and notably the controversy about the 
 removal of some of the trees in Hyde Park, accounts 
 for several other caricatures of the summer of 1850, 
 such as " The Industrious Boy," " Albert, Spare that 
 Tree," " A certain good Queen intercedes with a 
 certain Prince for the unhappy Belgravians and other 
 citizens," and the " Belgravians' Lament," with the 
 lines : 
 
 " ' I too would ride,' she sweetly cried, 
 ' So, Albert, if you please. 
 Don't — there's a darling — for my sake — 
 Please don't cut down the trees.' " 
 
 On July I the Prince of Wales once again attended 
 
 266
 
 The Marlborough House Controversy 
 
 the Scottish fete at Holland House. The deaths 
 of Sir Robert Peel and the Duke of Cambridge 
 put an end to the usual round of London festivities. 
 It was at this time that Lord John Russell brought 
 up a message from Her Majesty recommending 
 her faithful Commons to grant Marlborough House 
 to the Prince of Wales on his attaining the age of 
 eighteen, A discussion took place on the subject 
 in the House of Commons, after which, in spite of 
 the protest of Mr. Hume, the proposal as to Marl- 
 borough House was agreed to. As the result 
 arrived at would not take effect for some years. 
 Lord John Russell said Her Majesty had meanwhile 
 directed that it should be appropriated for the re- 
 ception of the Vernon pictures from the National 
 Gallery. 
 
 It was now that John Leech produced a cartoon* 
 almost as famous as the " Jack Tar " picture so 
 frequently referred to. In it he depicts the Prince 
 of Wales on a rocking horse with the British Lion 
 as paterfamilias, — a profile picture of George IV. 
 and the pagoda-like roofs of the Brighton Pavilion 
 on the wall. The British Lion (log.) : " You want 
 Mar'boro' House, and some stables ! ! Why, you'll 
 be wanting a Latch Key next, I suppose."! 
 
 The greater part of the summer was spent at 
 Osborne, of which place both the Queen and Prince 
 Albert grew increasingly fond. A frying visit to 
 King Leopold gave Punch an opportunity for some 
 
 * Punch, vol. xix. p. 63. 
 
 t The wrangle over the grant of Marlborough House to the Prince 
 of Wales originated in an absurd misunderstanding. From an auto- 
 graph letter of the Princess Charlotte written in 1816, recently sold, 
 it appears that at that date Prince Leopold had resolved (after much 
 negotiation) to take a twelve years' lease of that residence from the 
 then owner. The idea was abandoned on her death. 
 
 267
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 harmless couplets entitled " The Progress to 
 Ostend," commencing with the lines : 
 
 " King Leopold walked in plain olive surtout. 
 And welcomed the Queen with a ' How d' ye do ? ' 
 And then the Prince Consort and then the Princesses, 
 Then the Princes (so neat in their man-of-war dresses)." 
 
 On August 27, the Queen and Prince Albert set 
 out on their journey to Scotland by rail, the Prince 
 of Wales, Prince Alfred, the Princess Royal and 
 Princess Alice travelling with Her Majesty. On 
 the way to Holyhead, a visit was paid to Castle 
 Howard, which the Queen appears to have thor- 
 oughly enjoyed. During the brief stay made in 
 Edinburgh the Prince Consort laid the foundation- 
 stone of the National Gallery, and the Queen wrote 
 with pleasant memories of a drive with her four 
 children over the new road round Arthur's Seat. 
 Balmoral is reached in due course, and a few days 
 later the Court Newsman gravely informed the 
 Empire " that the Prince of Wales had, on Septem- 
 ber 3, driven out, accompanied by Mr. Birch." Of 
 the Highland games of 1850 the Queen writes in 
 her Journal : " We lunched early, and then went 
 at half-past two o'clock with the children and all 
 our party, except Lady Douro, to the gathering 
 at the Castle of Braemar, as we did last year." 
 
 In October the Court is once more at Windsor, 
 and it is decided that four theatrical performances 
 were to take place this year at the Castle, the first 
 to be on November 25. The only variation in 
 the usual birthday festivities on November 9 was 
 the appearance in the evening of Mr. Roberts, 
 Welsh harper to the Prince of Wales, " who had the 
 honour of performing before Her Majesty." 
 
 The Exhibition buildings in Hyde Park were now 
 progressing rapidly, and necessitated the frequent 
 
 268
 
 Retirement of Lady Lyttelton 
 
 presence of Prince Albert in London, although the 
 prophecies of peace were sadly belied by the Papal 
 Aggression outcry and the holding of meetings of 
 solemn protest all over the country. 
 
 The January of 1851 brought with it the first 
 break in the early associations of the Prince of Wales. 
 At the end of the first fortnight of the new year, 
 Lady Lyttelton finally retired into private life, 
 after nine years' devoted and unselfish service. 
 On the previous December 5 she had written : 
 
 " The Queen has told me I may be free about 
 the middle of January, and she said it with all the 
 feeling and kindness of which I have received such 
 incessant and unvarying proofs during the whole 
 long twelve years that I have served her." 
 
 Six weeks later she thus records her last interview 
 with the Queen (January 17, 1851) : 
 
 " In the evening I was sent for to my last audience 
 in the Queen's own room, and I quite broke down 
 and could hardly speak or hear. I remember the 
 Prince's face pale as ashes, and a few words of praise 
 and thanks from them both, but it is all misty ; 
 and I had to stop on the private staircase and have 
 my cry out before I could go up again."* 
 
 Early in February the Queen and Prince Albert 
 were present at Macready's farewell performance, 
 and on Monday, February 17, the Queen and Prince 
 Albert, with their three elder children, paid a 
 prolonged visit to the Exhibition Building in Hyde 
 Park, now rapidly nearing completion. They must 
 
 * Sarah, Lady Lyttelton, who was born at the time Fanny Burney 
 was in waiting at Windsor, lived till 1870, maintaining her keen 
 interest in all that concerned her Royal charges of 1842-1851 till 
 the very last. 
 
 269
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 have returned to Windsor in the evening, as next 
 day the Princess Royal (under the care of Miss 
 Hildyard) wrote the following characteristic letter 
 to the Prince of Wales (busy presumably, with Mr. 
 Birch ) : 
 
 (( 
 
 Dearest Bertie, — Thank you very much for 
 your kind letter that I received lately. This evening 
 Miss Hilyard has sent for Mackai* to play a reel 
 for us on the bagpipe in our gallery, and we will send 
 for you if he can come at a quarter past six o'clock. 
 We saw the little donkey this afternoon ; he had a 
 run and a roll in the riding-school, and Jones took 
 a large whip and made a noise with it, so that the 
 little creature ran round faster than ever, and kicked 
 up his little heels in the air with delight in the most 
 laughable manner. I am afraid I cannot write a 
 very long letter now, as I must continue my lessons, 
 so good-bye, dear Bertie, and believe me for ever, 
 
 " Your most affectionate sister, 
 
 " Victoria. 
 
 ''February 1 8, 185 1." 
 
 The old saw about " all work and no play " had 
 evidently no place in the educational programme 
 of the Queen and Prince Consort. An interchange 
 of correspondence between the young Princes and 
 Princesses was doubtless encouraged as an agreeable 
 form of writing-lessons. The Court removes to 
 London for the season, and on the morning of 
 Tuesday, April 8, the Queen and Prince Albert, 
 accompanied by the Princess Royal and the Princess 
 Helena, paid a visit to the studio of Sir Edwin 
 Landseer, in St. John's Wood, and in the evening 
 of that day the Prince of Wales for the first time 
 accompanied his parents to the performance of 
 
 * Mackay. 
 270
 
 A Memorable May Day 
 
 " Masaniello," at the Italian Opera. On that 
 occasion Sir Michael Costa conducted, and the 
 principal parts were taken by Madame Castellan, 
 Herr Formes and Tamberlik. 
 
 We now come to the eventful first of May on which 
 day the great Exhibition was opened. This cere- 
 mony has been very often described, and it still 
 lives in the inimitable drawings of George Cruik- 
 shank. The Queen and Prince Albert, accom- 
 panied by the Prince of Wales and the Princess 
 Royal, arrived at lo minutes to 12. The Queen 
 wore a dress of pink satin, brocaded in gold ; Prince 
 Albert was attired in a Field Marshal's uniform ; 
 the Prince of Wales was in Highland costume, and 
 the Princess Royal was attired in a dress of white 
 lace, with a wreath of flowers around her head. 
 We are assured that the whole party, especially 
 the young Prince of Wales, appeared to be struck 
 and delighted with the stately grandeur of the scene 
 which burst upon their view. In the procession 
 which followed, the Queen led the Prince of Wales, 
 and Prince Albert the Princess Royal. They were 
 followed by the Prince of Prussia and the Duchess 
 of Kent. A Chinese Mandarin, who figured amongst 
 the foreign ambassadors and ministers, swayed 
 so much from side to side, that it was necessary 
 to leave him a wide berth for his onward progress.* 
 Far more interesting and suggestive of reminiscences 
 was the bent form of the Duke of Wellington, 
 leaning on the arm of his old comrade in arms. Lord 
 Anglesey, linking, as it were, the peaceful professions 
 
 * The " distinguished foreigner " in question was neither an 
 Ambassador nor a Mandarin, but the captain of a Chinese junk, 
 placed for the nonce in the ranks of the Corps Diplomatique with a 
 view of assisting the mise-en-scene, and adding to the picturesqueness 
 of the grouping. 
 
 271
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 of 1 85 1 with the warlike traditions of 1 815. It is 
 thus that Queen Victoria recorded her own im- 
 pressions of a pageant which she always regarded 
 as second only in splendour to that of the Corona- 
 tion : " The great event has taken place. A 
 complete and beautiful triumph, and a glorious and 
 touching sight ; one which I shall ever be proud 
 of for my beloved Albert and my country. Yes, 
 it is a day which makes my heart swell with pride 
 and glory and thankfulness. We began it with 
 the tenderest greetings for the birthday of our dear 
 little Arthur. At breakfast there was nothing but 
 congratulations. Mamma and Victor were there, 
 and all the children and our guests. Our humble 
 gifts of toys were added to by a beautiful little 
 bronze replica of the Amazon statue at Berlin 
 from the Prince of Prussia, a beautiful paper-knife 
 from^the Princess, and a nice little clock from 
 
 mamma 
 
 The Park presented a wonderful spectacle — 
 crowds streaming through it, carriages and troops 
 passing, quite like the Coronation Day. And for 
 me the same anxiety — no, much greater anxiety, 
 on account of my beloved Albert. 
 
 " The day was bright, and all bustle and excite- 
 ment. At half-past eleven the whole procession 
 in State carriages was in motion. The Green Park 
 and Hyde Park were one densely crowded mass 
 of human beings, in the highest good-humour 
 and most enthusiastic. I never saw Hyde Park 
 look as it did — people as far as the eye could reach. 
 
 " A little rain fell just as we started, but before 
 we came near the Crystal Palace the sun shone and 
 gleamed upon the gigantic edifice, upon which the 
 flags of all the nations were floating. We drove 
 
 up Rotten Row, and got out at the entrance on 
 
 272
 
 Opening the Great Exhibition 
 
 that side. The glimpse of the transept through 
 the iron gates, the waving palms, the flowers, 
 statues, myriads of people filling the galleries and 
 seats around, and the flourish of trumpets as we 
 entered, gave us a sensation which I can never 
 forget, and I felt much moved. We went for a 
 moment to a little side room, where we left our 
 shawls, and where we found mamma and Mary 
 [Duchess of Teck], and outside which were standing 
 the other Princes. 
 
 " In a few seconds we proceeded, Albert leading 
 me, having Vicky at his hand, and Bertie holding 
 mine. The sight as we came to the middle, where 
 the steps and chair, which I did not sit on, were 
 placed, and the beautiful crystal fountain just in 
 front of it, was magical — so vast, so glorious, so 
 touching. One felt, as so many did whom I have 
 since spoken to, filled with devotion, more so than 
 by any service I have ever heard. 
 
 " The tremendous cheers, the joy expressed 
 in every face, the immensity of the building, the 
 mixture of palms, flowers, trees, statues, fountains ; 
 the organs, with two hundred instruments and six 
 hundred voices, which sounded like nothing, and 
 my beloved husband, the author of this peace 
 festival which united the industry of all the nations 
 of the earth — all this was moving indeed, and it was, 
 and is, a day to live for ever. God bless my dearest 
 Albert ! God bless my dearest country, which 
 has shown itself so great to-day ! One felt so 
 grateful to the great God, who seemed to pervade 
 all and to bless all. 
 
 " The only event it in the slightest degree re- 
 minded me of was the Coronation ; but this day's 
 festival was a thousand times superior — in fact, 
 it is unique. The enthusiasm and cheering, too, 
 
 273 s
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 were much more touching, for in a church naturally 
 all is silent. 
 
 " There must have been nearer a million than 
 any other number of people who turned out to post 
 themselves as they could to see some parts of the 
 show, and Mayne, the head of the police, said he 
 thought there were about thirty-four thousand 
 in the glass building. 
 
 " The Queen, her husband, her eldest son and 
 daughter gave themselves in full confidence to this 
 multitude, with no other guard than one of honour 
 and the accustomed supply of stick-handed con- 
 stables to assist the crowd in keeping order among 
 themselves. Of course there were in reserve, at 
 proper stations, ample means of repressing any 
 disorder if any had been attempted ; but nothing 
 was brought out and shown beyond what I have 
 mentioned, and it was impossible for the invited 
 guests of a lady's Drawing-room to have conducted 
 themselves with more perfect propriety than did 
 this sea of human beings. 
 
 " The Royal party were received with continued 
 acclamation as they passed through the Park and 
 round the Exhibition house, and it was also very 
 interesting to witness the cordial greeting given 
 to the Duke of Wellington. I was just behind him 
 and Anglesey, during the procession round the 
 building, and he was accompanied by an incessant 
 running fire of applause from the men, and waving 
 of handkerchiefs and kissing of hands from the 
 women, who lined the pathway of the march during 
 the three-quarters of an hour that it took us to 
 march round. The building itself is far more worth 
 seeing than anything in it. How many of its 
 contents are worth admiration ? " 
 
 Only a fortnight before (April 15, 1851), Prince 
 
 274
 
 The Iron Duke and his Godson 
 
 Albert had thus written to the Dowager Duchess 
 of Coburg : 
 
 " Just at present I am more dead than ahve 
 with overwork. The opponents of the Exhibition 
 work with might and main to throw all the old 
 women into panic, and to drive myself crazy. 
 The strangers, they give out, are certain to com- 
 mence a thorough revolution here, to murder 
 Victoria and myself, and to proclaim the Red 
 Republic in England ; the plague is certain to 
 ensue from the confluence of such vast multitudes, 
 and to swallow up those whom the increased price 
 of everything has not already swept away. For 
 all this I am to be responsible, and against all this 
 I have to make efficient provision." 
 
 The May Day of 1 85 1 ended as happily and 
 auspiciously as it began. In the afternoon the victor 
 of Waterloo (whose first commission bore the date 
 of March 7, 1787, and who had won his spurs at 
 Boxtel in September 1794) paid a visit to his god- 
 son, the future Inspector-General of His Majesty's 
 Forces of 1906. " I must not omit to mention," 
 writes the Queen, " an interesting episode of this 
 day, viz., the visit of the good old Duke on this his 
 eighty-second birthday, to his little godson, our 
 dear little boy. He came to us both at five, and 
 gave him a golden cup and some toys, which he had 
 himself chosen, and Arthur gave him a nosegay." 
 
 Her Majesty was deeply moved by Thackeray's 
 May Day Ode, in which the great satirist, not always 
 a supple courtier, and never a flatterer of Royalty, 
 had said of her : 
 
 " Behold her in her Royal place ; 
 A gentle lady — and the hand 
 That sways the sceptre of the land, 
 How frail and weak ! 
 275
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Soft is the voice, and fair the face ; 
 She breathes Amen to prayer and hymn, — 
 No wonder that her eyes are dim 
 And pale her cheek." 
 
 Of the many letters of congratulation which 
 now reached the Queen, that from Lady Lyttelton 
 gave her special pleasure. She had already been 
 succeeded as governess by Lady Caroline Barrington,* 
 a sister of Earl Grey, who Sir Theodore Martin says, 
 " continued in office until her death in February, 
 1875, endeared to the Queen and the Royal children 
 not less by her truly kind heart than by the strong 
 sense and independence of character, which distin- 
 guishes the family to which she belongs." 
 
 In " Mr. Punch " the Palace of Crystal found a 
 friendly and amusing critic. A certain Mr. Malony 
 was first made to give an account of 
 
 " This Palace tall, 
 This Crystal Hall, 
 Which Emperors might covet, 
 Stands in High Park 
 Like Noah's Ark, 
 A rainbow bint above it. 
 
 " 'Tis here that roams, as well becomes 
 Her dignitee and stations, 
 Victoria great, and houlds in State 
 The Congress of the Nations ; " 
 
 while in " The May Queen," the Sovereign was 
 pictured as singing : 
 
 " Little Albert shall go with thee — 
 'Tis well he should be seen ; 
 And you'll take care and bow 
 Dear, when they cry God Save The Queen, 
 When I can't bow to them myself, 
 Any longer, that's to say ; 
 For I am the Queen, and it's May, my dear ; 
 I am the Queen and it's May." 
 
 * " Life of the Prince Consort," vol. ii. p. 370. 
 276
 
 Victoria Felix 
 
 The flattering account of the inaugural ceremony- 
 was adorned with a vignette of the Iron Duke 
 saying to his brother veteran, " Anglesey lean on 
 me," while nothing could possibly have been more 
 gratifying than the verses " Victoria Felix," or 
 the three cartoons, the best of which was John 
 Leech's "Great Derby Race of 1851 " — Punch, 
 Prince Albert, Sir Joseph Paxton, and John Bull 
 leading — the rest nowhere. 
 
 In the course of the summer (one of the busiest 
 and happiest of the Queen's long and eventful reign) 
 frequent visits were paid to the now universally- 
 popular " World's Fair " in Hyde Park. In the 
 second week of June the Prince of Wales, attended 
 by Mr. Birch, and the Princess Royal and Princess 
 Helena, accompanied by Miss Hildyard, went there 
 for the purpose of inspecting the vertical printing 
 machine constructed for the Illustrated London 
 News, which had been already visited by their 
 parents. During the season the Queen and Prince 
 Albert went to see Rachel in " Andromaque," * and 
 also attended the performance at Devonshire House, 
 of Sir E. L. Bulwer's " Not so Bad as we Seem," 
 by Dickens, Jerrold, Foster, and other promoters 
 of the Guild of Literature and Art. 
 
 In the first days of July, Prince Albert became 
 the guest of Sir William Middleton at Shrublands, 
 for the meeting of the British Association at Ipswich. 
 On July 4 he thus wrote to the Queen at Osborne : 
 " Hearty thanks for your dear kind letter. Thank 
 the children also for theirs, and tell Bertie his letter 
 was very well written. Now farewell." 
 
 On the following day the King of the Belgians 
 arrived in the Isle of Wight, accompanied by his 
 
 * Queen Victoria admired Rachel as an actress quite as much as 
 she did Jenny Lind as a singer. 
 
 277
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 wife, Queen Louise, and his three children — the 
 Duke of Brabant (now King of the Belgians), the 
 Count of Flanders (who died a few months ago), 
 and the Princess Charlotte, destined to become 
 afterwards the Empress of Mexico, then a handsome 
 girl of eleven.* It was in the course of this month 
 that Mr. Birch again made known to the Queen 
 his intention of resigning his post as tutor to the 
 Prince of Wales. f He had seemingly manifested 
 an intention to retire in the spring of 1850, for an 
 unknown and hitherto unpublished letter addressed 
 by Lord Beaconsfield to his sister — dated " House 
 of Commons, May 3, 1850" — contains the passage : 
 " Tuesday was not a bad division and according 
 to my friends my best speech this year, though 
 meagrely and coldly reported in The Times. Yester- 
 day the government received another apoplectic 
 stroke. They are drifting, but I suppose and 
 perhaps hope they may escape the breakers this 
 year. Did I tell you that Prince Albert wanted 
 Mr. Birch not to teach the Prince of Wales his 
 catechism, and that Birch resigned, but resumed 
 on condition of catechism, but I think I told you 
 all this ? Whether it be Lutheranism, Pantheism 
 or Bunsenism that Albert professes is not yet known." 
 Lord Beaconsfield's criticism, it may be pointed out, 
 in no way agrees with the published letters of both 
 the Queen and Prince Albert on the subject of 
 their views as to the religious training of the Heir 
 to the Throne. On the recommendation of Sir 
 James Stephen, Mr. Frederick W. Gibbs, M.A., 
 was selected to succeed Mr. Birch, but, as he under- 
 took to go through certain preliminary studies 
 in Edinburgh at Prince Albert's suggestion, the 
 departure of Mr. Birch was postponed for a time. 
 
 * See <?«/(?, p. 12. t See /w/, p. 281. 
 
 278
 
 Once More at Balmoral 
 
 Nearly the whole of August was spent at Osborne, 
 where on Monday, the 1 8th, three Chinese ladies, 
 accompanied by a Chinese gentleman, dressed in 
 the costume of their country, arrived from London, 
 and were introduced to the Queen and Prince Albert. 
 In the afternoon the Queen and Prince, with 
 the youthful Princesses, embarked on board the 
 Fairy, and proceeded to the Needles to view the 
 regatta of the Royal Yacht Squadron. At this 
 time the Prince of Wales presented Inspector 
 O'Brien of the London Police with a gold watch 
 as a mark of appreciation of the attention shown 
 him during his visits to the Exhibition. The usual 
 rural fete took place in honour of Prince Albert's 
 birthday, and at the end of the month (August 28) 
 a start was once more made for Balmoral, three 
 superb saloon carriages, built by the Great Northern 
 Railway, being used for the first time. One of 
 these was designed for the special accommodation 
 of the Prince of Wales. The weather at Balmoral 
 was unusually fine, and the Prince of Wales con- 
 stantly accompanied his father deer-stalking. The 
 Gathering of Clans for the Highland Games took 
 place at Braemar Castle on Friday, September 12, 
 and amongst the guests welcomed by the Queen 
 to the Castle were Hallam and Liebig. On Tuesday, 
 October 7, the Royal Family set out on their 
 journey southwards, several semi-state visits having 
 been arranged to take place en route. On Thursday, 
 the 9th, the Queen writes in her Journal : " To 
 our despair a wet m-orning and hopelessly so ! At 
 ten o'clock we started in close carriages, Vicky and 
 Bertie with us, the two others in the next carriage." 
 Brief halts were made at Edinburgh, Carlisle, 
 Lancaster (from which Queen Victoria and King 
 Edward VII. derive the title used when travelling 
 
 279
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 incognito) and Liverpool. Between visits to Crox- 
 teth and Worsley Halls, came an excursion on the 
 Bridgewater Canal. From Manchester the Queen 
 returned to Windsor Castle. 
 
 On October 15, 185 1, the Great Exhibition 
 which had been visited by millions, was closed, 
 and within ten days of the final shutting of the 
 doors of the Temple of Peace, rumours of half a 
 dozen possible revolutions were rife ; a " leading 
 journal " announcing boldly, the unpleasant fact 
 that " the causes of discontent in Europe are so 
 many, the rottenness of such Governments as 
 Austria, Prussia, Rome and Naples is so great, and 
 the train of powder which is laid is so heavy, 
 that a spark less potent than that which France 
 might apply at any time would be more than suffi- 
 cient to cause an explosion." 
 
 Before a month was over, the presence of Kossuth 
 gave England and London a taste of the dangerous 
 electricity with, which the diplomatic atmosphere 
 of Europe was then charged. Queen Victoria, 
 however, might find some consolation in the fact 
 that one of the leading statesman of the day had 
 pronounced Prince Albert to be a far greater and 
 more extraordinary man than Louis Napoleon, 
 then meditating the dissolution of the National 
 Assembly which was to take place a month hence, 
 as a first step to the foundation of the Second 
 Empire. The once unfriendly critic of the husband 
 of the Queen had written, " In regard to the pos- 
 session of the soundest judgment, the highest 
 intellect and the most exalted qualities of mind, 
 he is far superior to the Emperor."* 
 
 The tenth birthday of the Prince of Wales fell 
 
 * Sir Theodore Martin. " Life of the Prince Consort," vol. ii., 
 
 P- 429- 
 
 280
 
 A Royal Copy-book 
 
 on a Sunday, and on that day the Queen gave a 
 dinner-party in the evening, Mr. Henry Birch, 
 his tutor, being one of the guests. On Monday, 
 the Prince and his brothers and sisters, were present 
 with the Queen and Prince Albert at the firing of 
 the usual feu de joie in the Home Park. 
 
 A fortnight later died Ernest, King of Hanover, 
 the last survivor of the Queen's uncles, who had 
 been born in 1771. He had lived to see no less 
 than eight cradles come between him and the crown 
 he coveted. Marshal Soult also passed away, while 
 France stood on the threshold of the Coup d'Etat. 
 The Court came up from Osborne [December 20] 
 for the usual Christmas junketings at Windsor. The 
 following exercise by the Prince of Wales was written 
 at Osborne just three days previously : 
 
 ,y^^-Uf^ y^n<>t£- C^^Z^r^ ,<:f^>€^?€<iir '^%Cyay^l^^,i€~ yU^ O^^^t^i^ 
 
 -//^3c<^,»^ry/jr/ 
 
 i-SfU^f fct-y^. ^ yf -•S-C^,^*^*-*'^/^*'*' C^^. ^ 1^ — ' • . 
 
 On Monday, December 22, the Queen's Christmas 
 Bounty was distributed in Middle Scotland Yard. 
 The average age of the four hundred chosen reci- 
 pients was eighty-two, fifty out of them being over 
 ninety, and three fully fledged centenarians. 
 
 The loss of Mr. Birch, to whom the ten-year-old 
 Prince of Wales was sincerely attached, was for a 
 time keenly felt by his pupil. Writing this year 
 from Windsor Castle, Lady Canning, speaking of 
 Mr. Birch's departure, says : 
 
 281
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 " It has been a trouble and 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 fellow ; 
 his notes and presents which Mr. Birch used to find 
 on his pillow were really too moving." 
 
 On the evening of January i6, 1852, the second 
 of the customary Windsor theatrical performances 
 took place, the Prince of Wales being amongst the 
 audience. On this occasion, Mr. Planche's comedy 
 of " Not a Bad Judge," and the farce entitled, " The 
 Lottery Ticket," were represented by the actors 
 of the Lyceum and Haymarket Theatres, under 
 the direction of Mr. Charles Kean. On Monday, 
 February 2, the Queen and Prince Albert came to 
 London for the opening of Parliament, but returned 
 to Windsor the following day. On the Friday 
 of that week, " King John " was played in the 
 Rubens Room. Never had such care been bestowed 
 on the mounting of Shakespeare's great historical 
 play, and its success eclipsed all former Windsor 
 records. Mr. Charles Kean's performance of the 
 part of King John was pronounced to be magnificent. 
 The parts of Constance, Prince Arthur and Falcon- 
 bridge were taken by Mrs. Kean, Miss Kate Terry, 
 and Mr. Wigan. In April the Court is again in 
 residence for the season at Buckingham Palace, 
 and on Monday, the 24th of that month, the Queen 
 and Prince Albert, with all the elder Royal children, 
 went to the Gallery of Illustration in Regent 
 Street, where they viewed the new diorama illus- 
 trating the campaigns of the Duke of Wellington. 
 The Queen determined to spend her birthday 
 in " retirement " at Osborne, and on that day, at 
 an early hour, the band of the Royal Marines 
 
 282
 
 / 
 
 KIX(i EDW VI;D mi. at the age or I]
 
 Ascot in 1852 
 
 attended and performed a matinale in honour of 
 Her Majesty's birthday. The Duke of Cambridge 
 paid a visit to the Queen on the same afternoon. 
 A company of Tyrolese singers arrived from London, 
 and had the honour of singing before the Queen 
 and the Royal Family both in the morning and 
 afternoon. The Duchess of Kent was also at 
 Osborne. 
 
 The Court arrived at Windsor from Buckingham 
 Palace on Monday, June 7, and on Tuesday, the 8th, 
 the Queen attended Ascot Races. The first carriage 
 in the Royal procession of six open landaus-and- 
 four, and two open pony carriages-and-four con- 
 veyed the Queen, Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, 
 and the Duke and Duchess of Montpensier. On 
 Thursday, June 23, the Queen and Prince Albert, 
 accompanied by the Prince of Wales, the Princess 
 Royal, Prince Alfred, and Princess Alice, visited 
 Westminster Hall, and afterwards inspected the 
 new palace at Westminster. In the evening the 
 Queen and Prince Albert, with the Prince of Wales, 
 the Princess Royal, and Princess Alice were present 
 at the performance of the Royal Italian Opera, 
 when Meyerbeer's " Huguenots " was played for 
 the sixth time. A week later, the Princess Gau- 
 romma, daughter of the ex-Rajah of Coorg, was 
 baptized in the private chapel at Buckingham 
 Palace, the Queen being the principal sponsor. 
 Amongst those present were Prince Albert, the 
 Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, Prince Alfred 
 and the Princess Alice. On Thursday, July i, the 
 Queen went in state to close Parliament. 
 
 July is spent almost entirely at Osborne, where 
 Mr. Gibbs's lessons were gently tempered by 
 frequent excursions. On Thursday, the 8th, the 
 Queen and Prince Consort, accompanied by the 
 
 283
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Prince of Wales, and Prince Albert, went for a 
 cruise on board the Fairy. Two days later Prince 
 Albert, taking the Prince of Wales and Prince 
 Alfred with him, inspected the breakwater at 
 Portland, then in course of construction.* About 
 this time the Court Newsman announces that on 
 Wednesday, July 14, " the Duchess of Gloucester 
 honoured Mrs. Hicks with her company in the 
 evening. Mrs. Hicks is the only surviving grand- 
 daughter of Lady Charlotte Finch, who was gover- 
 ness to the fifteen children of George HI. The 
 Duchess of Gloucester was at that time the sole 
 survivor of these children."! The third cruise 
 is a somewhat longer one. Torquay, Dartmouth, 
 and other places on the south coast were visited 
 and a day and a half spent in the enjoyment of the 
 beauties of Mount Edgcumbe, and the coast and 
 river scenery near Plymouth. The orange-trees and 
 
 * The Dorset County Chronicle of July 15, 1852, gives the following 
 account of the visit to Portland : " On Saturday morning last the 
 Prince Consort, the Prince of Wales, and the Prince Alfred, attended 
 by the Hon. Colonel Gordon, Mr. Gibbs, and Captain Crispin, R.N., 
 embarked on board the royal steamship Albert, at Osborne Pier, at 
 a quarter past eight o'clock, and proceeded to Portland Isle for the 
 purposes of inspecting the Breakwater, now in course of construction 
 tliere. The Royal party arrived at Portland at half-past twelve, and 
 in the presence of Mr Rendel, the Engineer-in-Chief, they were 
 received by Mr. Code, the residing Engineer, who conducted them 
 over the breakwater stage, and explained the principal engineering 
 operations involved in carrying on the works, which they examined 
 with much interest. The Prince expressed himself highly gratified 
 with the progress made since the first stone was deposited by his 
 Royal Highness in 1849. After examining some of the large piles 
 with the screws attached, and prepared for setting in place, the Royal 
 party left for Osborne about 2 o'clock, amidst the hearty cheers 
 of the assembled workmen, and landed at the pier at a J after 6 p.m." 
 
 t In the midst of the upbringing of the children of Queen 
 Victoria occurs this interesting reminiscence of the early days of the 
 much more numerous family of her grandfather, George III. 
 
 284
 
 A Visit to Belgium 
 
 limes at Osborne are now in full bloom, and Prince 
 Albert writes to the Dowager Duchess of Saxe- 
 Coburg : " Our little ones prosper. We took 
 four of them to sea last week on a little cruise to 
 the south-west coast." A visit to Belgium had 
 been for some time in contemplation, and on 
 Monday evening, August 9, the weather having 
 moderated, the Queen, with Prince Albert, the 
 Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, the Princess Royal, 
 and the Princess Alice, embarked on the Royal 
 yacht off Osborne, Lord Adolphus FitzClarence 
 being, as usual, in command of the Victoria and 
 Albert. Prince Albert went on shore at Walmer 
 Castle, and paid a brief visit to the Duke of Welling- 
 ton, after which the ships of the royal squadron 
 weighed anchor and proceeded in the direction of 
 Antwerp, where the Royal party landed on Wednes- 
 day, August II, at 8 o'clock, and were welcomed by 
 King Leopold. On Thursday morning the whole 
 of the royal party proceeded to the Belgian Royal 
 Palace at Laeken. The Prince of Wales was 
 attended by his tutor, Mr. Gibbs. King Leopold 
 was accompanied by his three children, the Duke 
 of Brabant, the Count of Flanders, and the Princess 
 Charlotte. The weather being very bad, the return 
 journey was considerably retarded, and the Victoria 
 and Albert did not reach Osborne until Tuesday, 
 the 17th. On the following day (August 18) the 
 Queen wrote to the King of the Belgians : " Let 
 me express to you my very warmest and most 
 affectionate thanks for all your very great kindness 
 to us all, and to the children, who intend to write 
 to you themselves." 
 
 The Queen and Prince Albert gave their annual 
 fete in honour of the Prince's birthday (August 25), 
 to the labourers and workpeople employed on the 
 
 285
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 estate, and their wives. Amongst the guests were 
 the Duchess of Cambridge and the Princess Mary, 
 who remained to witness the rural sports, and also 
 some tableaux organised by the Prince of Wales, 
 and his brothers and sisters. On August 29, the 
 Queen again wrote to the King of the Belgians : 
 
 " I cannot sufficiently thank you for the extreme 
 kindness and affection of your two letters of the 
 25th and 26th with the enclosure for my dear 
 Albert's birthday. I know well, dearest uncle, that 
 I and the nation are in a great measure indebted 
 to you for the immense blessing of having such 
 a dear and admirable being as my husband. . . . 
 He has indeed exceeded every expectation. . . . 
 With the greatest modesty, gentleness, and sweet- 
 ness, with the absence of any shade of selfishness, 
 he possesses a powerfully creative mind with every 
 requisite for our difficult times. . . . We spent the 
 dear day very happily, and he seemed much pleased 
 with all we tried to do, to do him honour and give 
 him pleasure. The children exerted themselves 
 very much to please their dear papa, and in the 
 afternoon six of them represented some tableaux 
 vivants very successfully." 
 
 On Monday, August 30, the Queen, Prince Albert, 
 and their elder children left for Balmoral, travelling 
 by way of Derby and Edinburgh. During the 
 time they spent in the Scotch capital they occupied 
 the State apartments at Holyrood Palace, from 
 whence shortly after their arrival. Prince Albert 
 and his two elder sons started for a drive through 
 the town. On Wednesday, September i, the Royal 
 party once more started for the North. On 
 Wednesday, the 8th, the Queen drove to Gairn 
 Shiel. On Thursday, the 9th, the Queen, with 
 
 286
 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 2 
 
 o 
 
 ?3 
 
 
 
 «5 
 
 O 

 
 Death of the Duke of Wellington 
 
 Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, the Princess 
 Royal, Princess Alice, Princess Helena, and Prince 
 Alfred, drove to Castletown to be present at the 
 annual gathering of Highlanders at Deeside. There 
 was a deer drive on the loth, and in the evening 
 the Queen and Prince Albert went to a " Balla 
 Dannsadh Na Leus," given at Carrie Milzie Cottage 
 by Lady Agnes Duff. On Sunday, the 12th, they 
 were present at Divine Service in Crathie Church, 
 and on Monday, the 13th, Prince Albert went out 
 deer-stalking, while in the afternoon the Queen 
 and Prince Albert were present at a ball at Aber- 
 geldie, given by the Duchess of Kent to the tenants 
 and servants of the estate. On Tuesday, the 14th, 
 the Queen and Prince Albert went to Ballochbuie, 
 and on the following day they received, by special 
 messenger, the melancholy intelligence of the death 
 of the Duke of Wellington at Walmer, which had 
 been transmitted to Edinburgh by electric telegraph. 
 On the eve of once more going South (October 11, 
 1852), the Queen laid the first stone of the cairn 
 on the summit of Craig Gowan, and Prince Albert, 
 the second. All their children did the same in 
 order of seniority, and their example was followed 
 by all the bystanders. Then the piper played, 
 and the whisky circulated briskly. The process 
 of building continued for an hour, during which 
 many merry reels were danced to the " piper's 
 tune." On the following day (October 12) the 
 Queen and the whole of the Royal Family quitted 
 Balmoral, and proceeded to Edinburgh on their 
 way to North Wales. Addresses were presented 
 to the Queen both at Preston and Chester,* from 
 which city they travelled to Bangor. On Thursday, 
 
 * The Mayor of Chester who presented the address was Mr. P. 
 S. Humberston, for some time M.P. for his city. 
 
 287
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the Queen in the state carriage was drawn through 
 the tube of the Britannia bridge by a number of 
 men ; Prince Albert and the Prince of Wales walking 
 over the bridge with Mr. Stephenson, the engineer. 
 After this the journey south was resumed with but 
 one stoppage, and that for the purpose of receiving 
 an address under the walls of Conway Castle. The 
 rest of the journey to Windsor was completed by 
 the Great Western Railway. On October 23* it 
 is announced " that the Presidential chrysalis has 
 assumed the last and perfect form, and that which 
 was once a grub now soars on wings of Imperial 
 purple. M. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte has been 
 hailed by his subjects by the style and title of 
 Napoleon III. Although not anointed, nor robed, 
 nor crowned, he is to all intents and purposes a 
 real Emperor." 
 
 On Wednesday, November 10, the Queen and 
 Prince Albert arrived at Buckingham Palace, and 
 on the following day Parliament was opened. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 17th, the Queen and Prince 
 Albert again came to London, accompanied by 
 the Duke of Brabant, the Count of Flanders, and 
 the Princess Charlotte of Belgium, who viewed the 
 funeral procession of the Duke of Wellington, first 
 from the windows of Buckingham Palace, and then 
 from those of St. James's Palace. With the Queen 
 were the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, Prince 
 Alfred, and the Princess Alice, as well as the Princes 
 and Princesses of the Belgian Royal Family. 
 
 The customary Christmas festivities took place 
 on a somewhat smaller scale than usual at Windsor. 
 The Illustrated London News published a large 
 folding plate of the seven elder children of the Queen. 
 
 * The Second Empire was officially proclaimed on December 2, 
 the first anniversary of the Cou'p (TEiat. 
 
 288
 
 More Windsor Theatricals 
 
 Prince Alfred is depicted as riding on a pony, and 
 the Princess Royal and her brother, the Prince of 
 Wales, the latter in Highland costume, occupy the 
 centre of the picture. In the poem which accom- 
 panies it, one verse runs thus : 
 
 " Green branches of our Kingly race, 
 We love you with a selfish joy ; 
 In each young life and blooming face 
 Of blushing girl and boy 
 We find a pledge and warrant sure 
 That all these blessings shall endure." 
 
 The New Year's Day of 1853 was celebrated at 
 Windsor by a grand musical entertainment, given 
 for the first time in St. George's Hall. Several 
 leading residents in Windsor and the neighbourhood 
 were invited to be present, and the orchestra of 
 one hundred performers was conducted by Mr. 
 Anderson, director of Her Majesty's private band. 
 On Friday, January 28, the farce of " Paul Pry," 
 and " The Lucky Friday," were performed as usual 
 in the Rubens Room, Mr. Wright and Mr. Wigan 
 respectively representing the heroes of the enter- 
 taining pieces. On February 4, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Charles Kean had the honour of appearing before 
 Her Majesty in " Macbeth," and it was at once 
 rumoured that a costly revival of the play is con- 
 templated at the Princess's Theatre. The Prince 
 of Wales was present on both occasions. The Court 
 removes somewhat early to Buckingham Palace, 
 and on February 28, the Prince of Wales and Prince 
 Alfred, attended by Mr. Gibbs and the Hon. and 
 Rev. Gerald Wellesley, visited Apsley House, to 
 see the collection of memorials of the late Duke of 
 Wellington. 
 
 On Wednesday, March 2, the Queen and Prince 
 
 Albert, accompanied by the Prince of Wales, the 
 
 289 T
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Princess Royal and Prince Alfred, went to the 
 Princess's Theatre to witness the performance of 
 " Macbeth," followed by the farce " An Unfortu- 
 nate Propensity." 
 
 It is now announced " that arrangements have 
 been entered into for the building of a new Mansion 
 House for Her Majesty and Prince Albert at Bal- 
 moral, and that the work will be proceeded with 
 as soon as the weather permits." On Saturday, 
 March 5, the Prince of Wales and the whole of 
 his brothers and sisters paid a visit to the Duchess 
 of Kent at Clarence House, where the Tyrolese 
 minstrels attended and gave a concert for the 
 gratification of the " Royal circle." On Thursday 
 evening, the loth, the Prince of Wales, the Princess 
 Royal, Prince Alfred and the Princess Alice were 
 again at the Princess's Theatre with their parents. 
 On this occasion " The Corsican Brothers," 
 "Charles H," and "A Roland for an Oliver," 
 were played. 
 
 On the Monday following. Prince Albert took the 
 
 Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred over the various 
 
 departments of the Bank of England, under the 
 
 auspices of the Chairman of the Board of Directors. 
 
 In the evening the Queen and Prince Albert went to 
 
 the Haymarket Theatre to witness " The Retirement 
 
 of Mr. Benjamin Webster." The Court removed 
 
 to Windsor on the afternoon of the 19th March. 
 
 Scarcely had the Royal party arrived there than a 
 
 fire of a most alarming description broke out in 
 
 the immediate vicinity of the apartments occupied 
 
 by the Queen and Prince Consort. It was got under 
 
 with great difficulty, but not until much damage 
 
 had been done. Curiously enough the tower in 
 
 which the fire origmated was known as the Prince 
 
 of Wales's Tower, and one of the apartments most 
 
 290
 
 Birth and Baptism of Prince Leopold 
 
 seriously injured was the beautiful Gothic dining- 
 room very often used by the Royal Family. 
 
 At the end of the month [March 30] the Court 
 once more goes into residence at Buckingham Palace, 
 and a week later it is recorded in the journalese of the 
 period that " The interesting event which had been 
 looked forward to with national anxiety for some 
 weeks past, took place on April 7, when at a quarter 
 after one in the afternoon, the Queen was safely 
 delivered of a Prince. Mrs. Lilly was for the eighth 
 time in attendance on Her Majesty. Most of the 
 Great Officers of State were present, although the 
 birth of Prince Leopold could scarcely have been 
 expected as the Queen drove out on the previous 
 day in an open landau, and had given a dinner- 
 party afterwards at which Lord John Russell was 
 present. The bulletin is signed by James Clarke, 
 Charles Locock, and Robert Fergusson." On 
 Tuesday, April 19, the Prince Consort, accompanied 
 by the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred, and 
 attended by Lieut. -Col. F. Seymour, and Mr. 
 Gibbs, went to the Royal Mint, of which they 
 visited every department. It was decided that the 
 newly born Prince should receive the names of 
 Leopold George Duncan Albert, the new King of 
 Hanover, the Princess of Prussia, Princess Mary 
 of Cambridge, and the Prince of Hohenlohe Langen- 
 burg being his sponsors. On Monday April 25, 
 a birthday visit was paid to the Duchess of Glouces- 
 ter by the Prince of Wales and his brothers and 
 sisters, and in the evening they accompanied their 
 father to see " Macbeth," for a second time at the 
 Princess's Theatre. On May 28, the ceremony of 
 Churching the Queen was performed in the private 
 chapel at Buckingham Palace, and at noon the Prince 
 
 Consort, accompanied by the Prince of Wales, 
 
 291
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Princess Royal, Prince Alfred, Princess Alice, and 
 Princess Helena, paid the usual official visit to the 
 Exhibition of the Royal Academy, to which they 
 were welcomed by the President, Sir Charles 
 Eastlake. 
 
 Early in June the Queen goes to Windsor, and 
 Prince Albert, accompanied by the Prince of Wales 
 and Prince Alfred, went to Eton College to be 
 present at the delivery of the annual speeches. 
 On Thursday, the 9th, the Prince of Wales again 
 occupied a place in the first carriage of the proces- 
 sion to Ascot, Prince Alfred and the Princess 
 Alice being in the second carriage. The Court 
 soon returned to Buckingham Palace, and on June 18 
 (Waterloo Day) Prince Albert, accompanied by 
 the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the Prince of 
 Wales, and Prince Alfred, went to Southwark for 
 the purpose of inspecting the brewery of Messrs. 
 Barclay and Perkins, where a few years before, 
 the Austrian Marshal Haynau had received a well- 
 merited castigation at the hands of the draymen, 
 a circumstance which prevented the Court of 
 Vienna being represented at the Duke of Welling- 
 ton's funeral. The christening of Prince Leopold 
 took place at Buckingham Palace on June 28, the 
 fifteenth anniversary of the Coronation. In the 
 course of that day the Prince of Wales was attacked 
 with measles, and was confined to his room for nearly 
 a week. The Queen was unremitting in her attend- 
 ance, and with a kind precaution absented herself 
 from all assemblies where a chance of contagion 
 to other children might arise. One by one the 
 malady attacked all the children, with the exception 
 of the two youngest, and finally the Queen herself 
 took it. The Crown Prince of Hanover and the 
 
 Duke and Duchess of Coburg also fell ill, and the 
 
 292
 
 THE PKINCK OF WALES AND THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH 
 AS SAILOR BOYS 
 
 /•;■(■/// (I ran- litlioi/rapli in tlif aillcction of Coininiintlir 
 C. \. Jlohinson, Ji.y., cir. 1853
 
 Midgets and Measles 
 
 infection was likewise transmitted to the Duke of 
 Brabant and Count of Flanders. Under these 
 painful circumstances the Heir Apparent was un- 
 able to enjoy the exhibition of the Aztecs brought 
 to England from Central America, for he left 
 London the same day for Windsor, as a change of 
 air had been strongly recommended for him. It 
 was not till July 23, that Queen Victoria herself 
 fell ill at Osborne, but she soon recovered, and 
 royal visits were paid to the camp at Chobham, 
 Her Majesty being accompanied on the last occasion 
 by the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, Prince 
 Alfred, and the Princess Alice. On August 10, 
 Queen Victoria wrote to " Uncle " Leopold in 
 Brussels : " We went thrice more to our dear camp, 
 and had two interesting days there. It has been 
 most successful, and the troops have been particularly 
 well all the time. When I think that this camp, 
 and all our large fleet, are without doubt the result 
 of Albert's assiduous and unceasing representations 
 to the late and present Governments, without which 
 I fully believe very little would have been done, 
 one may be proud and thankful ; but, as usual, 
 he is modest and he allows no praise." 
 
 On August 20, the Prince of Wales and Prince 
 Alfred (both in sailor garb) were interested specta- 
 tors of the great Naval Review at Spithead. The 
 Russian War was already casting its shadow before. 
 On Monday, August 29, the Queen left Osborne 
 for Holyhead, the through train from Southampton 
 being joined at Basingstoke by Earl Granville. 
 At Tamworth an address was presented to the 
 Queen. The passage from Holyhead to Kingston 
 was a smooth one, and " Queen's weather " seemed 
 to favour the Royal visit. Immediately the Queen 
 appeared on deck the Lord Lieutenant, Lord Saint 
 
 293
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Germans, introduced various high functionaries 
 to her. The Queen, who looked a little fatigued, 
 and somewhat flushed, wore a muslin dress, white 
 ground and printed flowers of pink and green, a 
 pink silk visite, and a white bonnet with white 
 feathers. After the introductions, however, the 
 silk visite was changed for a white Indian em- 
 broidered shawl. The Prince was dressed in a 
 black coat and white waistcoat with the ribbon 
 and star of the Garter. " The young Princes," 
 we are told, " were dressed simply and neatly, and 
 seemed singularly amused." In the Exhibition 
 building chairs of state were provided for each of 
 the Princes. Before leaving Dublin, the Queen paid 
 a visit to Mr. Dargan, who had himself defrayed 
 the greater portion of the cost of the Exhibition, 
 and who had modestly declined a baronetcy. The 
 Prince of Wales is said to have been much pleased 
 at the beautiful scenery of Mount Annville, the 
 towers of which commanded a view of the whole 
 of the Bay of Dublin and the Wicklow Hills. 
 
 The greater part of September and October, 
 1853, was spent at Balmoral, where the " pleasant 
 retirement " of the Royal Family, as it was called, 
 grew gradually to be less the subject of daily 
 " report." The foundation-stone of the new Castle 
 was " well and truly laid," as narrated in Her 
 Majesty's Journal, and everybody was sorry when 
 the time came to return to Windsor, where, on 
 October 29, arrived the King of the Belgians, the 
 Duke and Duchess of Brabant,* the Count of 
 
 • The Duchess of Brabant was then a bride, having only married 
 the Due de Brabant (now King Leopold II.) on August 22, 1853. 
 Queen Marie Henriette, an amiable and accomplished woman, whose 
 artistic tastes were in sympathy with those of Queen Victoria, died 
 at Spa, on September 1 1, 1902. 
 
 294
 
 Birthday Festivities 
 
 Flanders, and the Princess Charlotte. On Thurs- 
 day, November lo, " Henry V." was performed before 
 Her Majesty, the characters being represented by 
 the members of the Sadlers Wells company, assisted 
 by Messrs. Bartley, Leigh Murray, Harley, Wilkin- 
 son and Cooper. On the previous day, the twelfth 
 birthday of the Prince of Wales had been celebrated 
 with the usual festivities, the Duchess of Kent, 
 his grandmother, being the first to arrive at the 
 Castle to offer her congratulations, and breakfast 
 with the Queen. At ten o'clock the troops forming 
 the Windsor Garrison paraded in the Home Park. 
 The Queen was accompanied by Prince Albert, 
 the Duke and Duchess of Brabant, the Prince of 
 Wales, Prince Alfred, and the Princess Royal and 
 the younger branches of the Royal Family. As soon 
 as they took up a position immediately under the 
 East Terrace the line presented arms, fired a feu 
 de joie, and gave three cheers for the Prince of 
 Wales. The troops then marched past in slow and 
 quick time, wheeling into line and again presenting 
 arms, then again returning to their barracks. On 
 the afternoon of the same day Captain Inglefield, 
 R.N., had an audience with the Queen and Prince 
 Albert and submitted to them his drawings con- 
 nected with the Arctic Expedition.* 
 
 On the Monday following, the Duke and Duchess 
 of Brabant left Windsor for a tour in the West of 
 England, returning thence on Thursday, the 17th, 
 
 * The late Admiral Sir Edward Augustus Inglefield, K.C.B., 
 the descendant of two distinguished sailors, whose son now worthily 
 represents the naval traditions of the Inglefields and the Hallowells 
 in the fourth generation. Admiral Inglefield was, and deservedly 
 so, one of the most popular men of his day. He frequently exhibited 
 at the Royal Academy, and was an intimate friend of the Princess 
 Louise (Duchess of Argyll) of whose journey to Canada he painted 
 several water-colours. 
 
 29s
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 on the evening of which day the second dramatic 
 performance, which was the close of a series, took 
 place. The pieces selected on this occasion were 
 a comedy in three acts, by Mr. Slingsby Lawrence, 
 entitled " A Game of Speculation," and a comic 
 drama in one act by Mr. Charles Mathews, entitled 
 " Little Toddlekins." The principal parts were 
 filled by Messrs. C. Mathews, R. Roxby, J. F. 
 Cathcart, F. Matthews, B. Baker and Suter, Mes- 
 dames Melfort and F. Matthews, Miss M. Oliver 
 and Miss Ellis. 
 
 The Christmas festivities at Windsor were cele- 
 brated in the usual fashion. The exceedinglv 
 cold weather of the last week of the year gave Prince 
 Albert and his two elder sons an excellent oppor- 
 tunity of indulging in skating on the sheet of water 
 in the Home Park nearly every day. On Thursday, 
 December 29, the Queen, as well as Lord and Lady 
 John Russell, were amongst the numerous specta- 
 tors who foregathered on the borders of the frozen 
 lake. 
 
 296
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 ENGLAND AT WAR WITH RUSSIA— THE PRINCE OF 
 WALES'S FIRST VISIT TO FRANCE — A DRIVE 
 THROUGH PARIS BY THE SIDE OF NAPOLEON III— 
 MEMORIES OF VERSAILLES AND ITS MAGNIFICENCE 
 
 I 854-1 855 
 
 The nation had virtually declared itself for war 
 before the advent of the New Year, and " Mr. 
 Punch " voiced the prevailing popular sentiment 
 admirably when he wrote : 
 
 " Fight — with determined fury fight ! 
 We know that we are in the right, 
 For Freedom's holy sake we rise 
 And have the best of battle-cries — • 
 
 Victoria ! 
 Fight for the Queen — in the Queen's own name, 
 'Tis an omen of conquest, an earnest of fame, 
 On with it, brave men, through smoke and flame — 
 
 Victoria ! Victoria ! " 
 
 It was, however, reserved for another generation 
 to add the words Jingo, Jingoes and Jingoism to 
 the English language. For some little time longer 
 there was nothing to disturb or interrupt the even 
 tenour of domestic life and its innocent enjoyments 
 at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. The 
 first fortnight of January was characterised by 
 almost Siberian weather, and the Royal sledges 
 were once more requisitioned, although war was 
 to be declared against the donor within ten short 
 weeks. The Prince of Wales, accompanied by 
 
 297
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the Earl and Countess of Shelborne, drove out 
 in a sledge, following the Queen, attended by 
 Viscountess Jocelyn, in a similar vehicle. The 
 younger members of the Royal Family used a 
 third and more homely sledge made out of a 
 carriage, and drawn by a pony. Four days later 
 (January 19) Tobin's comedy of " The Honey- 
 moon," and the topical farce of " The Camp 
 at Chobham," provoked shouts of laughter on 
 the part of the youthful Princes and Princesses, 
 sitting at the foot of the dais in the Rubens Room. 
 After the opening of Parliament " The Tempest " 
 was produced on the same staee with such an artistic 
 setting as at that time only the combined efforts 
 of Kean and Grieve could devise. Towards the 
 end of February the Court finally removed to 
 Buckingham Palace, where, on the last day of the 
 month, the Heir Apparent, standing by his mother's 
 side in the central balcony, was one of those who 
 witnessed with beating heart the departure of the 
 troops for the East. Even after the lapse of half 
 a century, one can scarcely view without emotion 
 Punches exquisite cartoon — " Throwing the Old 
 Shoe," in which the Queen is depicted holding the 
 future Inspector-General of Forces in her arms, 
 with the rest of her sons and daughters grouped 
 around her. There is a clarion sound still in the 
 verses : 
 
 " Thrice thirteen years have passed away since England sheathed the 
 
 sword, 
 And battle-scarred, war-wasted, gave God thanks for peace restored, 
 With leisure for life's quiet tasks, and toils and aims and arts, 
 In the hum of the world's workshops, and the press of the world's 
 
 marts. 
 
 " Then take thy stand and lift thy hand, O England, calm and high, 
 And look the great sun in the face that lights our own free sky ; 
 
 298
 
 War with Russia Declared 
 
 And breathe a prayer, head bowed and bare, for a blessing on the 
 
 blade 
 That never was drawn lightly, ne'er ignobly down was laid." 
 
 During the afternoon of that never-to-be-for- 
 gotten day, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, 
 Princess Alice, Prince Alfred, and the Princesses 
 Helena and Louise heartily enjoyed the diversions 
 provided at Astley's Theatre. The pieces played 
 were " the new, grand and romantic hypo-drama 
 of ' The Woodman's Horse,' or * The False Knight,' 
 and the pantomime ' Billy Button's Journey to 
 Brentford.' " 
 
 Only ten days later (March lo) the Queen, accom- 
 panied by Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, the 
 Princess Royal and Prince Alfred, journeyed to 
 Spithead for the purpose of reviewing the Fleet. 
 
 France and England were now arming simul- 
 taneously. On March 28 war against Russia was 
 formally declared with all the pomp and circumstance 
 which only the venerable survivors of the Great 
 War remembered. Military spectacles like that of 
 February 28 now became frequent, and the Queen 
 notes in her Journal that " The last battalion of 
 the Guards and the Scottish Fusiliers embarked 
 to-day. They passed through the courtyard here 
 [Buckingham Palace] at seven o'clock this morning. 
 We stood on the balcony to see them. The morn- 
 ing was fine, the sun was shining over the tower at 
 Westminster Abbey, and an immense crowd col- 
 lected to see the fine men, and cheered them 
 immensely. It was with difficulty they marched 
 along. They formed up, presented arms, and then 
 cheered us very heartily, and went off cheering. 
 Many sorrowing friends were there, and one saw 
 
 299
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the shaking of many a hand. My best wishes and 
 prayers be with them all." 
 
 Never did Prince Albert give more striking 
 proof of the possession of a cool head and a sound 
 judgment than at this critical juncture, but a 
 cloud of mistrust and suspicion seemed to darken 
 men's minds, and once more he became un- 
 popular. In the result he again triumphed, but 
 Queen Victoria was almost in despair when she 
 wrote to the ever-faithful Stockmar : " That you 
 should be absent when we are tried in the basest 
 and most disgraceful manner, and when the Prince 
 is being badgered for weeks by the ultras of both 
 parties, is very unfortunate." 
 
 On May Day a juvenile ball took place at Bucking- 
 ham Palace, in celebration of the birthday of Prince 
 Arthur. The invitations numbered two hundred 
 and sixty. At a quarter to nine o'clock the Queen 
 and Prince Albert, accompanied by the Prince of 
 Wales, the Princess Royal, the Princess Alice, 
 Prince Alfred, Princess Helena, Princess Louise, 
 Prince Arthur, the Duchess of Kent, and the 
 Duchess and Princess Mary of Cambridge, entered 
 the Throne room, which was arranged for dancing, 
 and immediately commenced with a quadrille. 
 The Royal Princesses wore dresses of white tulle 
 over white silk trimmed with apple blossom and 
 wreaths of the same. The Prince of Wales and 
 Prince Alfred wore Highland dresses. The Lords 
 Ronald* and Albert Leveson Gower,t sons of the 
 
 * Lord Ronald Gower, born August 2, 1845, and well known as 
 an artist, author and critic. A Trustee of the National Portrait 
 Gallery. Alive in 1906. 
 
 t Born November 21, 1843 ; died, December 23, 1874. Albert 
 Leveson-Gower was two years the senior of his younger brother 
 Lord Ronald. He died at the age of thirty -one, two years after 
 
 300
 
 KixG j:dwaru vir. as a sailor, is.n
 
 A Birthday Juvenile Ball 
 
 Duke and Duchess of Sutherland ; the Marquess 
 of Douglas, son of the Duke and Duchess of Hamil- 
 ton ; * the Marquess of Lorne,t and the Lords 
 Walter X and Archibald Campbell §, sons of the 
 Duke and Duchess of Argyll, and other youthful 
 scions of the Scottish aristocracy wore Highland 
 costume. Her Majesty's private band provided 
 the music, and supper was served in the State dining- 
 room. The Queen (despite all her cares and anxieties) 
 wrote a cheerful letter to the Premier (Lord Aber- 
 deen) " commanding " his presence to see *' a 
 number of happy little people, including some of 
 his grand-children, enjoying themselves." One 
 of the Gordon grand-children of 1854 ultimately 
 succeeded to the title, but perished at sea while 
 serving as a common sailor, while his brother was 
 killed at Cambridge by the bursting of a gun. 
 
 It was about this time that Prince Alfred, now 
 in his tenth year, wrote the exercise, reproduced 
 on the next page, from the autograph collection fre- 
 quently referred to. 
 
 On Saturday, May 13, the Royal Albert was 
 launched from the Woolwich dockyard in the 
 presence of the Queen, the Princess Royal and 
 Prince Alfred. The bottle of wine used by the 
 Queen for the baptism of the ship was decorated 
 with roses, shamrock, and thistles. Then came 
 one of those fortnights of spring-time at Osborne, 
 
 his marriage to Miss Grace Abdy, sister of Sir F. Abdy. His only- 
 son, Mr. F. N. Leveson-Gower, was until the present year M.P. for 
 Sutherland. 
 
 * Afterwards twelfth Duke of Hamilton, born March 12, 1845, 
 died May 16, 1895. 
 
 t Now Duke of Argyll. See ante, pp. 211 and 217. 
 
 X Bom July 30, 1848 ; died May 2, 1889. 
 
 § Born December 18, 1 846. In 1906 heir presumptive to the 
 Dukedom of Argyll, 
 
 301
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 in which both the Queen and Prince Albert revelled. 
 It was of this period* that the Princess Christian, 
 exactly thirty years later, wrote with so much tender 
 feeling. 
 
 i=-=2e^ -<^ 
 
 ^.^CTt/^urcc^'fz-ce^ a,^\«r>^n^/t<iufi^ -6^)/^e't-^;y a.-rn.oc^ ^^tus^. 
 
 .*'J/^i5«^//« 
 
 <aus-i^<r7;»^y^^,<:1i'*'^-^ »?*'-«'*-V/<ss-4'M'fcd</^J^s^i-- 
 
 ^'^^ZH^Ti^-^tC^ 
 
 ^i-C-C^TTJ-t^^Z-'y'^^ < 
 
 au^^n't<-<f-^''?'^ZA<^tX^ c.2^ 
 
 * " The Swiss cottage at Osborne, in like manner, with its museum, 
 kitchen, store-room and little gardens, was made the means of learn- 
 ing how to do household work, and to direct the management of a 
 small establishment. The parents were invited there as guests, 
 to partake of the dishes which the Princesses themselves had pre- 
 pared ; and there, too, each child was allowed to choose its own 
 occupation, and to enjoy perfect liberty. The life in the Highlands, 
 free from the restraint of Court life, brought the Royal children into 
 closer contact with the humbler classes, and called into play their 
 sympathies for the poor. They were permitted to visit the humblest 
 cottages — nay, were encouraged to do so. There it was, no doubt, 
 that a feeling of pity for, and an ardent desire to help the poor, the 
 sick, and the needy, were first aroused." 
 
 ?03
 
 Mimic Warfare 
 
 It was now that the Prince of Wales and Prince 
 Alfred commenced the construction of the minia- 
 ture forts at Osborne, in which every feature was, 
 as much as possible, the outcome of their own 
 industry and handiwork.* The Heir Apparent, 
 as became a future Grand Master of Free- 
 masonSjt proved himself to be an expert brick- 
 layer, and even the guns mounted for the defence 
 of the mimic citadel were, if tradition may be 
 trusted, cast in situ. After the keeping of the 
 Queen's birthday with the usual festivities, the 
 Court removed to London, where, on Wednesday, 
 May 31, the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal 
 accompanied their parents to the French plays, 
 when the dramatic idyl called " Au Printemps," 
 by M. Leopold Laluye, was produced. A few days 
 later the Heir Apparent and his brother, Prince 
 Alfred, went with Prince Albert, the King of 
 Portugal, and the Duke of Oporto to Eton College 
 for the purpose of hearing the speeches. On the 
 following day Prince Albert took the Prince 
 of Wales with him to inspect the new hotel at 
 the Paddington terminus of the Great Western 
 Railway. 
 
 June was a still busier month for the Prince of 
 Wales. He was present at the solemn inauguration 
 of the removed and reconstructed " Palace of 
 Crystal," at Sydenham. On Thursday, June 29, 
 the Prince of Wales accompanied Prince Albert 
 to hear the speeches at Harrow. Both Lord John 
 Russell and the Earl of Harrowby were there, and 
 Lord Palmerston rode down according to almost 
 immemorial custom. The Prince Consort and 
 
 * See ante, p. 36. 
 
 t His Majesty King Edward VII. is now Protector of that Ancient 
 and Honourable Confraternity. 
 
 303
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the Prince of Wales sat on the right hand of Dr. 
 Vaughan, the head master. Amongst those who 
 recited was Chaplin major (afterwards the Prince 
 of Wales's contemporary at Oxford), now the 
 Right Hon. Henry Chaplin. The clever ren- 
 dering of Moliere by Messrs. Earle and Ashley 
 was warmly applauded, and several prizes were 
 carried oS by the clever son of the Earl of Shaftes- 
 bury.* 
 
 About the middle of July the Queen and Prince 
 Albert with all their children once more arrived 
 at Osborne, for another only too brief period of 
 much-needed rest. A cruise to the Channel 
 Islands occupied two days (August 8 to lo), and 
 Mr. Gibbs accompanied his pupils. A novel attrac- 
 tion was provided for Prince Albert's birthday 
 fete (August 26) in the shape of the now celebrated 
 Mont Blanc entertainment of Albert Smith, who 
 four years later was to be the Prince of Wales's 
 cicerone at Chamounix. A few days afterwards 
 Prince Albert crosses to Boulogne to visit the French 
 Emperor. Punch summarises the situation in a 
 cartoon entitled the " Entente Cordiale," in which 
 Napoleon and Prince Albert are seen pledging each 
 other across the dinner-table, glass in hand. Quoth 
 the former, " Well, now you have found your way 
 here, we hope to see you oftener," to which the 
 latter replies, " Oh yes ! and the next time we have 
 a holiday I hope our wives may be present." The 
 three first verses of the three portions of a poem 
 called " Three Epochs of Half a Century," are 
 well worth remembering, although the title is a 
 patent misnomer : 
 
 * The Right Honourable Anthony Evelyn Melbourne Ashley, 
 P.C., born 1836. The able biographer of I/Ord Palmerston now 
 resides at Broadlands. 
 
 304
 
 o 
 
 w 
 
 CO 
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 O 
 
 K 
 
 O 
 
 CO 
 
 W 
 
 o 
 
 to 
 
 a 
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 n 
 
 J> 
 
 W 
 
 o 
 ►5
 
 L'Entente Cordiale 
 I. 1804. 
 
 " I wonder what his thoughts were — that sallow, silent man — 
 As athwart the lines of bayonets the dancing sunlight ran. 
 Steeping in golden glory the white tents on the down, 
 And the old gray Roman watch-tower that looms o'er Boulogne 
 town ? " 
 
 2. 1840. 
 
 " I wonder what his thoughts were — that shabby, silent man — 
 As thirty-six years later to shore a pinnace ran. 
 Bearing a homeless, penniless adventurer with his train 
 A draggled pinioned Eagle and some cases of champagne ? " 
 
 3. 1854. 
 
 " I wonder what his thoughts were — that sad-eyed silent man — 
 As alongside Boulogne's jetty England's royal steamer ran ; 
 While with a King beside him, that adventurer was seen 
 Greeting, as Emperor of France, the Consort of our Queen ? " 
 
 A little later than in former years (September 14), 
 the Royal Family set out from Buckingham Palace 
 for Balmoral, where great progress had been made 
 with the new buildings and other improvements. 
 Within the week Her Majesty received the joyful 
 news of the victory of the Alma (September 20). 
 The annual tenants' ball at Balmoral took place 
 on October 5, the Prince of Wales being amongst 
 those present. During the return journey to 
 Windsor (October 12) several addresses were pre- 
 sented to the Queen. The battle of Balaklava 
 was fought on the 25th of that month, and that of 
 Inkerman on the anniversary of the Gunpowder 
 Plot. A rumour was now current as to the future 
 career of the Prince of Wales, and in dealing with 
 it, Punch contrived gently to satirise the Manager 
 of the Windsor Theatricals. 
 
 " The Prince of Wales a Sailor 
 
 " The young Prince, it is said, is about to enter 
 the navy, and will take rank as lieutenant on board 
 
 305 u
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the line-of-battle ship the Albert christened after 
 his Papa, His Royal Highness, it is said, is im- 
 patient to be afloat before Charles Kean's Tragedy 
 at Windsor sets in with its usual severity. We do 
 not vouch for the accuracy of the statement, but 
 are bound to give it as one very current at the 
 Clubs." 
 
 The gravity of the political situation necessitated 
 a short special Parliamentary Session which was 
 summoned for December 12, " under circumstances 
 more critical and more momentous than any that 
 had occurred since 1 81 5." At a few minutes 
 before two o'clock Her Majesty, Prince Albert and 
 the Prince of Wales,* attended by the Duke and 
 Duchess of Wellington and Lady Churchill,t left 
 Buckingham Palace for Westminster, in the State 
 carriage, drawn by eight cream-coloured horses. 
 The weather was unusually fine, and the Queen 
 received a hearty greeting from the spectators. 
 The Christmas festivities at Windsor were much 
 curtailed, but all the Royal doles were duly dis- 
 tributed with the accustomed liberality. 
 
 The year 1855 opened gloomily. A frost of 
 almost unprecedented severity set in, and the Royal 
 sledges once more became an object of interest 
 in Hyde Park. The apparently interminable siege 
 
 * This is certainly the first record of the Prince of Wales's going 
 to the House of Lords, but no mention is made of the place he 
 occupied after his arrival there. Several of the biographers of King 
 Edward VII. represent him as " occupying the chair-of-state opposite 
 (sic) the throne " on the occasion of the presentation to the Queen 
 of the addresses of both Houses in reply to the Sovereign's message 
 announcing the declaration of war, on April 3, 1854. This ceremony, 
 however, took place at Buckingham Palace, and not at Westminster. 
 
 t Lady Churchill only predeceased Queen Victoria, whose trusted 
 friend she was, by a few weeks. Her son, Victor, Viscount Churchill 
 (to whom the late Queen was sponsor), acted as Lord Chamberlain 
 at the Coronation of King Edward. 
 
 306
 
 Death of the Tsar 
 
 of Sebastopol began to drag out its weary course, 
 and Mr. (now Sir) W. H. Russell's trenchant 
 exposure of the shortcomings of the Commissariat 
 created a widespread excitement, the intensity of 
 which is now ver^ difficult to realise. The mortality 
 prevalent in tkv; Crimea had its pendant in the 
 presence of much sickness at home. Before Feb- 
 ruary was over Lord Palmerston had replaced Lord 
 Aberdeen as Prime Minister. On March 2, the 
 Tsar Nicholas, the prime mover of this great Euro- 
 pean convulsion, died, and Punch once more im- 
 mortalised itself with the cartoon " General F^vrier 
 turned Traitor." An obituary notice of our 
 departed foe commenced with the following strident 
 phrases : 
 
 " The Tsar Nicholas is gone to his account. 
 The disturber of nations is at rest. The absolute 
 lord and master of sixty million human beings — 
 the inheritor of the largest Empire on the Globe — 
 a man whose will was law ; upon whose lips hung 
 the issues of destiny ; who, but yesterday, convulsed 
 Europe, and troubled Asia, and brought into 
 collision the forces of barbarism and civilisation ; 
 the scourge of the World ; the pest of humanity — 
 the most selfish, the most cunning, the most majestic 
 of despots, has been suddenly stricken down in the 
 plenitude of his power and splendour." 
 
 The news from the front grew worse and worse. 
 It was abundantly evident that some one had blun- 
 dered, and blundered considerably. A week later 
 (March lo) the Queen (Prince Albert and the Prince 
 of Wales at her side as usual) sought to cheer and 
 encourage her wounded and disabled Guards in 
 the Great Hall of Buckingham Palace. Hardly 
 in sympathy with this womanly kindness was 
 
 307
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 PuncFs cartoon, " Inspection of the Imbeciles 
 of the Crimea," calling the attention of all and 
 sundry to the criminal negligence (if nothing 
 worse) denounced hj the powerful correspondent 
 of The Times. Meanwhile an Art Exhibition and 
 Sale in aid of the Patriotic Fund had been organised 
 in Pall Mall. During a short stay at Osborne, 
 the five elder children of the Queen had not been 
 idle, and their contribution to the good cause took 
 the form of five sketches of more than average 
 merit. Early in April the Illustrated London News 
 in glowing language thus invites the notice of its 
 readers to the subject : " We alluded last week 
 to the contribution made by H.R.H. the Prince of 
 Wales and his brothers and sisters to the Patriotic 
 Fund Exhibition of works of amateur artists, and we 
 are this week able to engrave two characteristic 
 examples of the series — one by the Prince of Wales, 
 ' The Knight,' the other by Prince Alfred, ' The 
 Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry V.' Critics 
 as well as courtiers see proof of merit in these 
 drawings. They evince a taste for art worth culti- 
 vation. We see this, and more. We see a chivalric 
 feeling in them which would warm the blood of 
 Sir Philip Sidney or Lord Herbert Cherbury." 
 A month later we are told that the Patriotic 
 Fund Exhibition had been removed to Burlington 
 House, where " the drawings of the Princess Royal, 
 the Prince of Wales, and the other members of the 
 Royal Family continue to be its staple attraction. 
 The highest bid for the clever ' Battlefield ' of the 
 Princess Royal still continues to be ;^200, but there 
 are hopes of a considerably higher bid before the 
 day appointed for the sale." The sketches were 
 finally sold, and it was announced that " at the sale 
 of the drawings by the Royal children on May 14, 
 
 308
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
 
 ■■Hvar 
 
 
 •! i.^m k^A ^tjuz^ 
 
 DRAWIXG EXECUTKli BV Kl.\(; KDWAKD VII.. ABOIT 1S53 
 
 TWO VEAHS BKFORK HIS SKKTCH KOK THE PATRIOTIC II ND 
 BAZAAR rETCriKD £5")
 
 Sale of Royal Drawings 
 
 the Princess Royal's sketch brought 250 guineas, 
 and that of the Prince of Wales 55 guineas, and the 
 other three 30 guineas each. At the request of a 
 good many influential people the purchasers con- 
 sented to their remaining on exhibition for some 
 time longer." A little later in the day The Times, 
 which had no compassion for dishonest contractors 
 and incompetent doctors, thus refers to those 
 whom Horace Walpole would have dubbed " Royal 
 and Noble Artists " : 
 
 " The five works of the Queen's children — com- 
 prising ' The Knight,' by the Prince of Wales ; 
 the ' Battlefield,' by Princess Royal ; ' Prince Hal,' 
 by Prince Alfred ; ' Prayer,' by the Princess Alice, 
 and the ' Girl Asleep,' by the Princess Helena, were 
 among the most famous of London ' lions ' when 
 they were on view in Pall Mall ; and now they are 
 lodged in more stately and more systematic fashion 
 their power of attraction is proportionately in- 
 creased. Each of the exhibition rooms is named 
 after the Royal donor whose work is therein con- 
 tained, and each of the five contributions stands 
 as the chief gem among a number of works from 
 contributors more or less aristocratic. It is late 
 in the day to remark that the coloured drawing 
 by the Princess Royal is the most remarkable work 
 in the collection, and that a subscription list is 
 open for its publication in chromolithography,"* 
 
 The visit of the Emperor and Empress of the 
 French to Windsor scarcely enters into the story 
 of this eventful boyhood, but Napoleon HI. was 
 very strongly impressed with the abundant promise 
 of future greatness which already distinguished 
 the Prince of Wales. Queen Victoria has herself 
 perpetuated in her own way, at once graphic and 
 
 * June 29, 1855. 
 309
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 pathetic, the circumstances of the friendly welcome 
 accorded at Windsor Castle to the nephew of the 
 most powerful enemy that England had ever van- 
 quished. At the ball given in the Waterloo Room, 
 Queen Victoria danced, as very few women of her 
 day could dance, with her imperial guest. " How 
 strange," she afterwards wrote, " to think that I, 
 the granddaughter of George III., should dance 
 with the Emperor Napoleon, nephew of England's 
 great enemy, now my nearest and most intimate 
 ally, in the Waterloo Room, and this ally only six 
 years ago living in this country an exile, poor and 
 unthought of ! " " Strange indeed," moralises 
 Sir Theodore Martin, " and none could have been 
 so deeply impressed by the contrast as the Emperor 
 himself, when he looked round at the portraits 
 of the great statesmen and soldiers, the struggle 
 and glory of whose lives it had been to hold his 
 famous ancestor in check." 
 
 On Tuesday, May i, the birthday of Prince 
 Arthur, the Queen gave another ball at Buckingham 
 Palace, " to the juvenile nobility and gentry, for 
 which about two hundred and forty invitations 
 were issued." The guests began to arrive soon 
 after eight o'clock with their parents, and at ten 
 minutes before nine the Queen and Prince Albert 
 entered the Throne Room, accompanied by the 
 Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, Princes Alfred 
 and Arthur, and the Princesses Alice, Helena and 
 Louise, the Duchess of Kent, and several other 
 members of the Royal Family. The Princess Royal 
 and the other Royal Princesses were dressed in light 
 blue tulle over a blue silk glace slip, trimmed with 
 ruches of white blonde, and ribbon. They carried 
 bouquets of white hyacinths, and each wore wreaths 
 of the same flower. The Princess Mary of Cam- 
 
 310
 
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 Prince Arthur's Birthday Ball 
 
 bridge wore a dress with three skirts of pink tulle 
 over a rich pink glace silk petticoat, looped up with 
 bunches of apple blossom and green crepe leaves. 
 The Princesses Adelaide* and Feodoref of Hohenlohe- 
 Langenburg, came in flounced dresses of white 
 tarletan trimmed with white silk fringe, and with 
 garlands of pink roses and white lilies. The ball 
 was opened by a Royal quadrille. The Prince of 
 Wales and Prince Alfred were attired in Highland 
 dress, which costume was worn by the sons of the 
 Duke of Argyll, and other young Scotch nobles 
 present. The festivities ended at midnight. Three 
 weeks later the Prince of Wales witnessed the dis- 
 tribution of medals by the Queen at the Horse 
 Guards ; and on June 4, he once more accompanies 
 his father and his younger brother. Prince Alfred, 
 to the prize-giving and speech-making at Eton 
 College. The camp before Sebastopol was at length 
 placed in direct communication with London, 
 and much disappointment was occasioned by the 
 intelligence that the attack on the Redan, planned 
 to coincide with Waterloo Day, had failed. On 
 June 22 the venerable Duchess of Gloucester gave 
 a juvenile ball at Gloucester House, at which the 
 Queen and Prince Albert, together with all the 
 youthful Princes and Princesses, were present. The 
 Duchess received her visitors in the Lower Drawlng- 
 Room, opening out of which was the ball-room 
 where a dais had been erected for Her Majesty, 
 with raised seats for the other members of the Royal 
 
 * Born July 20, 1835 ; married September 1 1, 1856, Frederic, 
 Hereditary Prince of Schleswig-Holstein, died January 25, 1900, 
 The eldest of her four daughters married the reigning German 
 Emperor, William II, 
 
 t Born July 7, 1839 ; married October 23, 1858, George, Hereditary 
 Prince of Saxe-Meiningen ; died February 10, 1 872.
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Family. Highland dresses were again very exten- 
 sively worn, and a contemporary chronicler assured 
 his readers " that the other youthful members of 
 the Royal Family were attired in unpretentious 
 costumes of exquisite taste." The supper is des- 
 cribed as " elegant," and midnight was the signal 
 for departure. 
 
 Early in July the King of the Belgians came to 
 England, with his second son the Count of Flanders, 
 and the Princess Charlotte. On the 7th the news 
 of the death of Lord Raglan occasioned the Queen 
 the deepest sorrow, and a week later she paid her 
 first public visit to the encampment at Aldershot, 
 accompanied by the King of the Belgians, the Prince 
 Consort, the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred. 
 The Royal party travelled by train to Farnboro', 
 whence they proceeded in pony phaetons to the 
 camp itself. 
 
 On July 31 the Prince of Wales was one of those 
 who came with the Queen from Osborne to Ports- 
 mouth to witness the launch of the Marlborough. 
 As the return visit to Paris was to occupy nearly 
 the whole of the last fortnight in August, Prince 
 Albert's always much-looked-forward-to birthday 
 fete was given on August 3. The programme 
 included a procession and a dinner on an unusually 
 large scale, served in marquees, which was followed 
 by a series of rural sports. 
 
 The visit to France unquestionably marked an 
 
 epoch in the boyhood of the Prince of Wales, now 
 
 nearing his fourteenth birthday. It was at the 
 
 personal entreaty of the far-seeing French Emperor 
 
 that the Queen and Prince Albert had decided, 
 
 after mature reflection, to allow their two eldest 
 
 children to accompany them. The Queen devoted 
 
 a great many pages of her Journal to describing the 
 
 312
 
 Paris 671 fete 
 
 laying the foundation, in 1855, of that friendly 
 feeling which is bearing such abundant fruit in 
 1906. Of her first arrival at Boulogne, Her Majesty 
 
 says : 
 
 " He [the Emperor] led me on shore, amid acclama- 
 tions, salutes, and every sound of joy and respect. 
 We four [the Queen, Prince, Prince of Wales, and 
 Princess Royal] entered a landau carriage and drove 
 through the crowded and decorated streets, the 
 Emperor escorting us himself on horseback to 
 the railway station, which was thronged with an 
 enthusiastic crowd largely composed of ladies." 
 
 Then of Paris itself : 
 
 " Imagine this beautiful city, with its broad streets 
 and lofty houses, decorated in the most tasteful 
 manner possible, with banners, flags, arches, flowers, 
 inscriptions, and, finally, illuminations ; full of 
 people, lined with troops — National Guards and 
 troops of the line and Chasseurs d'Afrique — beauti- 
 fully kept and most enthusiastic ! And yet this 
 gives but a faint notion of this triumph as it was. 
 There were endless cries of ' Vive la Reine d'Angle- 
 terre ! Vive I'Empereur ! Vive le Prince Albert ! ' 
 The approaching twihght rather added to the 
 beauty of the scene, and it was still quite light 
 enough when we passed down the new Boulevard 
 de Strasbourg (the Emperor's creation) and along 
 the Boulevards, by the Porte Saint-Denis, the 
 Madeleine, the Place de la Concorde, and the Arc 
 de Triomphe de I'Etoile. 
 
 " In all this blaze of light from lamps and torches, 
 amid the roar of cannon and bands and drums and 
 cheers, we reached the palace. The Empress, with 
 Princess Mathilde and the ladies, received us at 
 
 313
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the door, and took us up a beautiful staircase to our 
 rooms, which are charming." 
 
 On August 24 the Emperor and his guests 
 go to the Invalides, and Queen Victoria once more 
 takes up her pen : 
 
 " The coffin is not yet in the vault, but in a small 
 side chapel of St. Jerome. Into this the Emperor 
 led me, and there I stood, on the arm of Napoleon 
 III., his nephew, before the coffin of England's 
 bitterest foe ; I the grand-daughter of that king 
 who hated him most, and who most vigorously- 
 opposed him, and this very nephew, who bears his 
 name, being my nearest and dearest ally ! The 
 organ of the church was playing ' God save the 
 Queen' at the time (Her Majesty had heard the 
 familiar tune rendered as a polka at the ball given 
 on the previous evening at the Hotel de Ville), 
 and this solemn scene took place by torch-light, 
 and during a thunderstorm. Strange and wonder- 
 ful indeed ! It seems as if in this tribute of respect 
 to a dead foe, old enmities and rivalries were wiped 
 out, and the seal of heaven placed upon that bond 
 of unity which is now happily established between 
 the great and powerful nations. May heaven bless 
 and prosper it ! " 
 
 An excursion was made next day (Prince Albert's 
 thirty-sixth birthday) to St. Germains, and emotions 
 are awakened in the Queen's breast at the thought 
 of the war waged against England by the great- 
 grandfather of Louis XVIII. (to whom England 
 gave back his throne) for the restoration of James II., 
 the sworn foe of Her Majesty's Hanoverian ancestors. 
 
 Good stories of all sorts were soon afloat concern- 
 ing the bons-mots of the Prince of Wales, including 
 
 3H
 
 Prince Charming 
 
 the ancient chestnut of his telling Napoleon III. 
 that " he and his sister would like to remain a little 
 longer in Paris, and they could easily do so, as on 
 account of the extent of the Royal Family, they 
 would not be missed." Probably the two events 
 which fixed themselves indelibly in his memory 
 were his tete-a-tete drive with the Emperor through 
 the crowded streets of Paris, he chatting and joking, 
 while his host smoked a large cigar, and did his 
 utmost to captivate the King in fetto, and the 
 dazzling fete at Versailles, of which his mother 
 wrote : " It was one of the finest and most magnifi- 
 cent sights we had ever witnessed ; there had not 
 been a ball there since the time of Louis XVI., 
 and the present one had been arranged after a 
 print of a fete given by Louis XV." 
 
 Paris has rarely seen anything so brilliant either 
 before or since. It was the Prince of Wales's first 
 ball, and he appeared in that Highland costume 
 which the fair Parisians pronounced to be ravissant. 
 The Queen and Empress were literally blazing with 
 diamonds. The Princess Royal, on the contrary, 
 was simple in her dress as a school-girl in white, 
 with a wreath of roses for her head-dress. The 
 Emperor waltzed with the Princess Royal, and the 
 dancing of the Prince of Wales was greatly praised 
 by the French critics.* Supper was served in the 
 Theatre, a gorgeous service of gold plate being 
 used by those in the Imperial box. Amongst those 
 
 * Queen Victoria was always a most graceful and untiring dancer. 
 She made a special study of ancient figure-dances, and was an excel- 
 lent judge of the merits of every kind of dancing, from the fas de 
 quatre to the Scotch reel or the sailors' hornpipe. The Prince of 
 Wales soon trod in his mother's footsteps as far as this particular 
 accomplishment was concerned. At the Duchess of Kent's Frog- 
 more parties the performance of the contre danse known as grand- 
 pere (" follow my leader ") by the Royal children, was a sight to see.
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 who were present both at Versailles and the ball 
 at the Hotel de Ville was Prince Jerome Bonaparte, 
 who had been spoken of nearly forty years before 
 as a possible heir to the Throne of England ! It 
 is difficult to realise the irony of fate which destined 
 the artless British maiden with the wreath of roses 
 to become within the next few months (informally 
 at any rate) the afhanced bride of the Teuton 
 Prince, who, before another fifteen years were over, 
 would materially assist in the destruction of the 
 Second Empire, and the bringing about of another 
 period of exile for the descendants of the Man of 
 Destiny. 
 
 " Mr. Punch " in the meantime had not slum- 
 bered. His cartoon " French Shawls for 1855 — 
 Tricolor a la Victoria and Union Jack a la Eugenie " 
 was a masterpiece, and so was the picture " La 
 Belle Alliance, 1855," in which Queen Victoria 
 is seen stroking the beak of a formidable-looking 
 French eagle, while a still more ferocious British 
 lion places its head in the lap of the Empress Eugenie, 
 while Napoleon HI. and Prince Albert tranquilly 
 smoke their cigars in the background. What could 
 possibly have been cleverer than the lines : 
 
 " Our gracious Queen — long may she fill her throne, — 
 Has been to see Louis Napoleon. 
 The Majesty of England — bless her heart ! — 
 Has cut her mutton with a Bonaparte ; 
 And Cousins Germans have survived the view 
 Of Albert taking luncheon at St. Cloud. 
 In our young days we little thought to see 
 Such legs stretched under such mahogany ; 
 That British Royalty would ever share 
 At a French Palace, French Imperial fare ; 
 Nor eat — as we should have believed at school— 
 The croaking tenant of the marshy pool. 
 At the Trots Freres we had not feasted then, 
 As we have since, and hope to do again. 
 
 316
 
 From Osborne to Balmoral 
 
 This great event of course could not take place 
 Without fit prodigies for such a case ; 
 The brazen pig-tail of King George the Third 
 Thrice with a horizontal motion stirr'd, 
 Then rose on end, and stood so all day long 
 Amid the cheers of an admiring throng."* 
 
 After a few days' rest at Osborne the Queen 
 returned to London on Wednesday, September 4, 
 when the Royal Family started for Balmoral direct 
 by the Great Northern Railway. The Prince of 
 Wales and the Princess Royal drove to the station 
 with the Queen and Prince Albert. It was about 
 this time that the Rev. C. F. Tarver, M.A.,t was 
 first appointed one of the tutors to the Prince of 
 Wales, but Mr. F. Gibbs remained with him for 
 some time longer. 
 
 Deer-stalking, grouse-shooting, long walks and 
 drives, and Highland sports are once more the order 
 of the day at Balmoral, and early in September 
 came the welcome news of the long-expected fall 
 of Sebastopol. On October 6 a ball was given 
 
 * In writing of the Paris visit to Stockmar, Prince Albert said : 
 " You will be pleased to hear how well both the children behaved. 
 Nothing could be more unembarrassed, more modest or more friendly. 
 They have made themselves general favourites — especially the Prince 
 of Wales, qui est si gentil I As the French are sarcastic and not 
 generally partial to strangers, this is much the more important." 
 In a letter to the Duchess of Kent, he told her that " the children 
 pleased everybody. The task was no easy one for them, but they 
 discharged it without embarrassment and with natural simplicity." 
 
 t The following paragraph occurs in The Times of September 15, 
 1859: 
 
 " The Rev. C. F. Tarver, M.A., who has since 1855 superintended 
 the studies of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, will, upon H.R.H. leaving 
 Holyrood previous to commencing his studies at Oxford, retire from 
 the service of the Prince, and resume his parochial duties as Rector 
 of Ilketshall, St. John's, Suffolk. We have reason to believe that 
 Mr. Tarver has discharged his important duties to the entire satisfac- 
 tion of the Royal parents of the Prince of Wales." 
 
 317
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 to which not only the tenants and gillies, but 
 the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the 
 79th and 93rd regiments, who had served in the 
 Crimea, were bidden by the Queen. Amongst the 
 Castle house-party was Prince Frederick William 
 of Prussia.* On the i6th the whole of the Royal 
 Family take their departure for Windsor, where 
 the resumption of the interrupted " Theatricals " 
 on November 20, is decided on. Hitherto the 
 performances had taken place in the Rubens Room. 
 St. George's Hall " has now been fitted up for the 
 purpose, its noble dimensions being better adapted 
 for the convenience of the Court, and at the same 
 time affording more space for scenic effect. A 
 large quantity of new scenery has been prepared 
 by Mr. Grieve, who has now been entrusted with 
 the whole arrangement of this department. The 
 stage, which will occupy about one-third of the Hall, 
 is situated at the western end leading into the 
 Guard Chamber, thus leaving the Throne end 
 for the accommodation of Her Majesty and the 
 distinguished guests who may be honoured with 
 invitations." 
 
 The fourteenth birthday of the Prince of Wales 
 was very generally observed in London, the Royal 
 Standard being hoisted at the Tower, and the 
 various public offices, the steamers and ships on 
 the river being gaily decorated with the flags of 
 all nations, that of Russia only excepted. There 
 were the usual festivities at Windsor. The Prince 
 of Wales accompanied his father on a shooting 
 
 * The following note appeared a week later in Punch : 
 
 " From the Highlands. 
 " A very suspicious looking Eagle has been observed hovering 
 about the Royal Palace of Balmoral. It is supposed that the bird 
 of ill omen has an eye towards Her Majesty's dovecote." 
 
 318
 
 A Good Shot 
 
 expedition in the Royal preserves, during which 
 the Heir Apparent killed several head of game with 
 his own gun. 
 
 On the evening of November 20 the comedy 
 of " The Rivals " was successfully produced under 
 the direction of Charles Kean. In the early days 
 of December, Victor Emanuel II., King of Sardinia, 
 arrived on a visit to Windsor, and was invested with 
 the Order of the Garter. In the midst of the Christ- 
 mas festivities of 1855 died, at the age of ninety- 
 two, the well-known banker-poet, Samuel Rogers, 
 of whom it had been said that " Death had forgotten 
 him." Samuel Rogers had been for many years 
 the link which connected the days of Johnson and 
 Goldsmith with those of Dickens and Thackeray. 
 
 319
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 PEACE PROCLAIMED— BETROTHAL OF THE PRINCESS 
 ROYAL— A WALKING TOUR IN WESSEX 
 
 1856 
 
 Before the beginning of the year 1856 (which was, 
 however, fated to witness hostilities on a more 
 modest scale with both Persia and China) the 
 Crimean War had worn out its welcome, and peace 
 negotiations were already in progress. During 
 the month of January two notable dramatic per- 
 formances were given at Windsor Castle, under the 
 able management of Mr. Charles Kean,* at both 
 
 * The Illustrated London News at this time published a portrait 
 of Charles Kean, with the following suggestive and complimentary 
 paragraph. " When Her Majesty commenced the series of private 
 performances at Windsor Castle, which have had such a beneficial 
 influence on our National drama and restored the prestige and 
 fashion which had long been withdrawn, Mr. C. Kean was selected 
 as Director, a post of great honour and a most flattering mark of 
 royal favour, but one, at the same time beset with difficulty, re- 
 quiring in its discharge the most consummate tact, impartiality and 
 delicacy, all of which rare qualities he has exhibited on many oc- 
 casions. It was at one time currently reported that he was about 
 to receive a more permanent and substantial token of the satisfaction 
 he had given in the highest quarters. We feel quite sure that the 
 realisation of these rumours would have been hailed with delight by 
 the public and the profession of which Mr. Kean is such a distin- 
 guished ornament. Whether in his private character or on public 
 grounds as an actor and manager a more appropriate instance 
 could hardly be selected as an exception to the rule of precedent. 
 Poets, painters and sculptors, scientific and scholastic professors 
 have often been distinguished by titles, pensions and honorary 
 degrees ; but the art which combines to some extent the blended 
 
 320
 
 At the Old Adelphi 
 
 of which the Prince of Wales was present. Amongst 
 the Queen's visitors during the early days of February 
 Lord and Lady Palmerston,* and Sir Henry Keppelf 
 all three of whom made a great impression on the 
 mind of the Heir Apparent. On February lo the 
 Court removed to Buckingham Palace, and two 
 days later the Prince of Wales, with the indefatig 
 able Mr. Gibbs, was visiting the British Institution 
 and the Architectural Exhibition in Suffolk Street. 
 
 On February 23 the Queen, ever mindful of 
 the amusements, as well as of the lessons of her 
 children, " commanded " a special afternoon per- 
 formance at the " Old Adelphi," of which Benjamin 
 Webster and " Madame Celeste " were now lessees. 
 Her Majesty was accompanied to the theatre by 
 the Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, the Princesses 
 Helena and Louise, and Prince Arthur. Several 
 juvenile members of the nobility had the honour 
 of being invited to share the enjoyment of a pro- 
 gramme which included " Betsy Baker," " That 
 Blessed Baby," and the pantomime " Jack and the 
 Beanstalk," with the celebrated Madame Celeste 
 as "Jack and Harlequin," and Miss Wyndham as 
 
 qualities and excellences of all, has never yet in England been made 
 the subject of equal consideration." The honour of being the premier 
 Knight of the Sock and Buskin was, however, reserved for Sir Henry 
 Irving. 
 
 * As in the case of Mr. Disraeli, the Queen had now forgiven and 
 forgotten her old distrust of Lord Palmerston, and at lengtli fully 
 recognised the wisdom of his views about the entc7ite cordialc with 
 France. Lady Palmerston (whose Piccadilly salon was a power in 
 the land) kept up a brisk and confidential correspondence with the 
 Countess Walewskia durmg the Crimean War (1854-1855) of a very 
 interesting character. 
 
 t Sir " Harry " Keppcl, who lately died on the verge of becoming a 
 centenarian, became the life-long friend of King Edward VII., and 
 lived to see his Coronation, five and forty years after their first meet- 
 ing at Windsor. 
 
 321 X
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 " Mother Goose and Columbine." Ten years 
 (save a single month) had now elapsed since the 
 famous visit to Astley's of March 24, 1846.* Two 
 nights later (February 25) the Prince of Wales and 
 his two elder sisters went to the Princess's, where 
 Charles Kean tempered the classical severity of 
 the " Merchant of Venice," with the pantomime 
 frivolities of " Harlequin, the Maid, and the 
 Magpie." 
 
 Early in the following month (March 5) the 
 Prince of Wales was to see from the windows of 
 Buckingham Palace the glare of the flames which 
 informed all London that Covent Garden Theatre, 
 of which the Prince Regent had laid the foundation- 
 stone with full masonic ritual, half a century before, 
 and where he himself had listened to grand 
 opera for the first time, was being burned to the 
 ground. The catastrophe is described with some 
 acerbity of language in the serious " summary " 
 of events which Punch used to favour its readers 
 with every half-year : 
 
 " During the ' operatic recess,' Mr. Gyc, the lessee 
 of Covent Garden Theatre, had sublet it to Mr. 
 Anderson, a popular performer and conjurer, who 
 styled himself ' Professor ' and Wizard of the North, 
 and who brought forward a very capital panto- 
 mime. Mr. Anderson's speculation, which ex- 
 tended over six weeks, had been successful, and he 
 designed to terminate his season with a ' Great 
 Carnival Benefit.' The waste walls and hoardings 
 of the Metropolis — indeed the walls of all the large 
 towns — were covered with immense placards an- 
 nouncing this ' Grand Carnival Complimentary 
 Benefit and Dramatic Gala, to commence on 
 
 * See p. 183. 
 322
 
 Confirmation of the Princesg Royal 
 
 Monday morning, and to terminate with a bal 
 viasquc on Tuesday night.' This abandoned sacrifice 
 to vice was destined to present its crowning offering 
 in the conflagration of the temple. During the follow- 
 ing afternoon the still smoking ruins were visited 
 by the Queen and Prince Albert, accompanied by 
 the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal." 
 
 A day or so afterwards tlic Prince of Wales and 
 Prince Alfred were at the British Museum, note- 
 book in hand, with Mr. Gibbs (soon to become a 
 C.B.) as mentor. 
 
 On Monday, March 17, the King of the Belgians 
 arrived in England to be present at the Confirma- 
 tion of his god-daughter, the Princess Royal, which 
 took place in the private Chapel at Windsor Castle,* 
 on Thursday, the 20th, the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury and the Bishop of Oxfordf officiating. In 
 a contemporary picture of that ceremonial, the 
 Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred, as well as the 
 Princesses Alice, Helena and Louise, are all shown 
 to be present, sitting in a row next to the Queen. 
 The proclamation of peace eleven days later was 
 cheered just as heartily as the declaration of war 
 had been two years before. On April 25 a third 
 juvenile ball, on the same lines as the preceding 
 ones, was given at Buckingham Palace, and Mr. 
 Gibbs arranged for the benefit of his pupils a series 
 of visits to several noted printing and lithographic 
 establishments in London. At this time Prince 
 
 * Formerly the music-room of Fanny Burney's Memoirs. It was 
 converted into a chapel in 1843, and fitted up somewhat elaborately 
 with pews, a pulpit, &c. One of the late Queen's biographers says 
 it was consecrated in 1843 by Samuel W'ilberforcc, Dean of West- 
 minster. Dr. Wilbcrforce, however, only became Dean in 1 845, 
 and Bishop of Oxford some months later. 
 
 i John Bird Sumner, D.D., and Samuel W'ilberforce, D.D. 
 
 323
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Albert's quite harmless pack of harriers had excited 
 some adverse comment, but a friendly newspaper 
 rejoined by expressing a fervent hope " that before 
 many years are passed by, the Prince of Wales and 
 his Royal brothers will be seen following their own 
 pack of foxhounds in Windsor Forest, drowning 
 the inevitable cares of state in the hearty, healthy, 
 manly and truly English sport." 
 
 On Sunday, May 4, the day appointed for a 
 general thanksgiving for the restoration of peace, 
 the Queen and Prince Albert, with the Prince of 
 Wales and the rest of the Royal Family, attended 
 the service in the private chapel at Buckingham 
 Palace. A few days later (May 12) the Queen and 
 Prince Consort, with the Prince of Wales, Prince 
 Alfred and the Princess Royal, went from Osborne 
 to Portsmouth Dockyard to inspect some of the 
 cavalry regiments just returned from the Crimea. 
 On the following day they embarked on the Fairy., 
 and visited some of the ports of the Isle of Wight. 
 Prince Frederick William of Prussia arrived once 
 more in England, where he was now recognised, 
 not as the " eagle of ill-omen," but the favoured 
 suitor of the eldest daughter of the Queen, in whose 
 company he visited early in June the great bazaar 
 given in the grounds of Wellington Barracks for 
 the purpose of providing funds for building schools 
 and nurseries for the children of the Brigade of 
 Guards. The Queen and Prince Albert, as well as 
 the Prince of Wales and several of his brothers and 
 sisters, were all present at this brilliant gathering. 
 The London season was an unusually busy one, and 
 on July 14, with the King of the Belgians and two of 
 his children, as well as Prince Oscar of Sweden,* 
 
 * Now Oscar II., King of Sweden, born January 21, 1829. He 
 was married in June, 1857. Succeeded 1871 
 
 324
 
 A Review at Aldershot 
 
 being her guests at the time, the Queen went down 
 to the camp at Aldershot for the purpose of review- 
 ing the regiments of the Guards and of the line 
 recently returned from the Crimea. She was 
 accompanied by her foreign visitors as well as by 
 the Prince of Wales. After having driven round 
 the camp and personally inspected the huts of 
 several of the men, the Queen entertained the 
 Duke of Cambridge, and a large number of officers, 
 in the Royal Pavilion. On the following morning 
 the parade took place in detestable weather. Despite 
 a torrential downfall the Prince of Wales rode about 
 on a little bay pony, " quite glossy with the rain." 
 The Queen wore a military plume in her hat, and 
 read her address to the troops, which excited a 
 spirit-stirring demonstration on the part of the 
 soldiers. The Royal party returned to Buckingham 
 Palace in the afternoon, and on the following morn- 
 ing (July 1 6) the Queen, together with her visitors 
 and the whole of the Royal children, viewed the 
 march past of the Crimean battalions of the Foot 
 Guards from the central balcony of Buckingham 
 Palace. The Queen afterwards reviewed the Grena- 
 dier Guards in Hyde Park. 
 
 The greater part of August was spent at Osborne, 
 from which several pleasant excursions were made 
 both by land and sea. On Monday, August 4, Prince 
 Albert went in the Royal yacht once more to 
 inspect the progress of the breakwater works at 
 Portland, attended by Captain Du Plat.* The 
 Queen, accompanied by her four eldest children, 
 and the Duchess of Kent, embarked in the after- 
 noon in the Fairy, and joined the Prince in the 
 Victoria arid Albert on his return voyage, returning 
 to Osborne quite late in the evening. 
 * Afterwards General Du Plat. 
 
 \M 325
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 The Queen and Prince Albert, accompanied by 
 the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, Princess 
 Alice and Prince Arthur, embarked at Cowes in 
 the Victoria and Albert on the afternoon of Sunday, 
 August lo, and steamed to the westward on a cruise 
 to Plymouth and the Channel. A squadron was 
 in attendance on Her Majesty, and on Sunday night 
 the yacht anchored off Portland, but proceeded at 
 nine o'clock on Monday morning to Dartmouth. 
 At three o'clock in the afternoon Prince Albert and 
 the Prince of Wales embarked in the hired steamer 
 Dartmouth^ and proceeded up the Dart. The 
 Queen was prevented from accompanying them, 
 but later in the afternoon, the weather having 
 improved, Her Majesty, with the Princess Royal 
 and Prince Arthur, rowed up the river in her barge 
 and took a drive in the neighbourhood. Mr. 
 Gibbs was also with the Prince of Wales on board 
 the Dartmouth^ and when the Queen joined the 
 Prince Consort in the State barge, he expressed his 
 sorrow that she had missed seeing some of the most 
 beautiful scenery he had ever met with. 
 
 On Tuesday, August 12, the Queen left Dart- 
 mouth, where the Mayor * and Corporation had paid 
 her their respects, and proceeded to Plymouth, 
 where the naval and military authorities received 
 her with the usual honours. Accompanied by the 
 Princess Royal, Princess Alice, and Prince Arthur, 
 Her Majesty landed at Mount Edgcumbe, and drove 
 for some time in the neighbourhood. Prince Albert, 
 with the Prince of Wales, visited the Docks and 
 the new barracks and works at Mount Wise. On 
 Wednesday, the 13th, the Queen and the rest of 
 the Royal Family embarked in the Fairy, and, 
 under salutes from all the ships in commission, 
 
 * Mr. Timothy Carevv. 
 326
 
 Loyal Addresses 
 
 went up the Hamoaze as far as Cothele, where, 
 in consequence of the insufficient depth of water, 
 they left the Fairy ^ and went on board the steamer 
 Gipsy, which proceeded through the winding river 
 to Morwellan. Here the Queen landed, and, with 
 the rest of the party, drove to Endsleigh Cottage, 
 a summer residence near Tavistock belonging to 
 the Duke of Bedford. After spending some hours 
 in the grounds and gardens of Endsleigh, the visitors 
 returned by the morning route and re-embarked 
 on the Victoria and Albert, about 6.30 p.m. Mean- 
 while a violent gale had sprung up. 
 
 The weather becoming more and more boisterous, 
 the Queen resolved to return by railway. On 
 Friday, August 15, they left Plymouth for Exeter, 
 where they received an address from the Mayor 
 [Mr. T. G. Norris] and Corporation. At 12.57 
 the Royal train reached Bristol, where the Queen 
 was met by the Mayor [Mr. J. Vining] and sundry 
 members of the Corporation, who had not, like 
 their Exeter confreres, donned the full panoply of 
 municipal splendour. The royal visitors were also 
 saluted by Lord Barrington, the Chairman, and 
 several of the Directors of the Great Western 
 Railway, as well as by the high officials of the Bristol 
 and Exeter line. The train again left at 1.15 p.m. 
 The local pressmen took careful note of the costumes 
 of Bristol's illustrious guests on that eventful 
 occasion, so we are able to learn after the lapse of 
 just half a century, that " Her Majesty wore a 
 white bonnet and a lace veil, and a blue mantle 
 trimmed with black lace, over a French barege 
 dress," while " Prince Albert was habited in a 
 black frock coat, light vest, and shepherd's pattern 
 trousers " and the Prince of Wales looked very smart 
 " in a blue jacket and trousers, white waistcoat, 
 
 327
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 and turned-down collar." At Salisbury a still 
 longer halt took place, for after the Mayor [Mr. 
 Abraham Jackson] and Corporation had presented 
 their address, the Queen, Prince Albert and their 
 children took a late lunch at the White Hart Hotel, 
 and afterwards viewed the glorious old Cathedral 
 " with the Dean [Henry Parr Hamilton] and Chapter 
 in attendance." They then proceeded to Southamp- 
 ton, and embarked on board the royal yacht, Elfin, 
 and arrived at Osborne at a quarter before seven. 
 
 Lord and Lady Palmerston were this year amongst 
 the guests at the annual fete champHre in honour of 
 Prince Albert's birthday. 
 
 On Wednesday (August 27) the Queen and Prince 
 Albert, with Prince Alfred and the Princess Royal, 
 left Osborne, and proceeded to Richmond Park 
 to visit the Duchess of Gloucester, going thence 
 to Buckingham Palace. On Thursday, August 28, 
 they left London for Edinburgh, passing the night 
 at Holyrood Palace, and going thence to Balmoral. 
 This particular sojourn in the Highlands does not 
 enter into a narrative of the early life of King 
 Edward VH. While there, Queen Victoria wel- 
 comed Miss Florence Nightingale,* the Prince of 
 Orange and other illustrious visitors, but the Prince 
 of Wales, and his little brothers Prince Arthur 
 (now aged six) and the three-year-old Prince Leo- 
 pold remained at Osborne. There were several 
 reasons for this change. It had been thought 
 proper that the Prince of Wales should now make 
 an excursion, on lines not hitherto adopted. It 
 was a fresh departure in the educational scheme 
 now nearing its later phases. Queen Victoria's 
 keen appreciation of the natural beauties of Dorset, 
 
 fT. * Still happily alive at the jubilee of her splendid services in the 
 Crimea. 
 
 ^28
 
 An Incognito Walking Tour 
 
 Devon and Cornwall have frequently been alluded 
 to in these pages.* All through her long life she 
 never forgot her early impressions of Penzance, 
 Falmouth, Mount Edgcumbe, Torbay and Sid- 
 mouth, or of Lyme Regis, Bridport, Melbury, 
 Dorchester, Weymouth, or Swanage, which she had 
 quitted regretfully in October, 1833, wearing the 
 simple bonnet of plaited straw which she had 
 received from the hands of the representatives of 
 a now almost entirely neglected local industry. 
 Old associations were doubtless renewed by the 
 only too brief sea-trip just ended, and the rapid 
 homeward journey by rail. Walking-tours, in these 
 days of lightning locomotion, are generally regarded 
 as an extinct form of exercise and enjoyment ; but 
 before the end of August (1856) the Queen had 
 decided that an expedition of this healthy and 
 instructive kind, with Mr. Frederick Gibbs and 
 Colonel Cavendish, one of her grooms-in-waiting, 
 as " guides, philosophers and friends," should this 
 year take the place of the Prince of Wales's annual 
 sojourn at Balmoral. It was to commence in the 
 Wessex soon to be immortalised on both sides of 
 the Atlantic through the marvellous pen-pictures 
 of Thomas Hardy. It thus came to pass that on 
 Thursday, September 25, the Prince and his friends, 
 who had left Osborne two days previously, had 
 found comfortable quarters at the " Crown," in 
 Wimborne, and were busily employed in visiting 
 the ancient Minster, which had sheltered the bones 
 of two Saxon Sovereigns, and its wonderful library 
 of chained books. By luncheon time on the follow- 
 ing day they were at Swanage, and the picturesque 
 home of the " paviors " and the straw-plaiters, 
 where the flotilla of the stone-cutters (and in still 
 
 * See ante, p. 64. 
 329
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 more remote times that of the smugglers) used to 
 ride at anchor in the sheltered bay, on the shores 
 of which a seventeenth-century manor-house had 
 been converted into a commodious hotel, known, 
 since the events of October 1833, at any rate, as the 
 " Royal Victoria." A very pleasant place is " Sunny 
 Swanage," with its mysterious caves and giant cliffs, 
 in close proximity to Corfe Castle, and a dozen other 
 notable historic sites. In 1856 Mr. Richard Roe 
 was the landlord of the " Royal Victoria," to which 
 the Queen had particularly directed her son's 
 attention. Swanage had made rapid strides towards 
 becoming a popular pleasure-resort during the 
 quarter of a century which had elapsed since the 
 Duchess of Kent and her daughter had embarked 
 there for Norris Castle, and on September 26, 1856, 
 the hotel was full to overflowing. The incognito 
 of the newly arrived visitors was well preserved, 
 nobody, as yet, having the slightest suspicion of their 
 identity. On asking for three beds, Mr. Richard 
 Roe (the name was ominous, to legal ears at any 
 rate) replied that two only were available, and that 
 " the young gentleman " must put up with a sofa 
 in the corridor. In the course of the night a 
 storm arose which did considerable damage, a large 
 pleasure-boat, belonging to a man named Hixson, 
 being dashed to pieces. Before leaving the 
 strangers made many inquiries as to what had 
 happened, and some weeks after a cheque arrived 
 which quite consoled the sufferer for his loss.* 
 
 The fortunate Hixson lost no time in re-building 
 the damaged craft, which now received the name 
 of the Prince of Wales, and may, it is said, be 
 
 * Mr. W. M. Hardy of Swanage has collected several interesting 
 details connected with the Prince of Wales's brief sojourn there 
 in 1856. 
 
 330
 
 An Adventure at Swan age 
 
 still seen at Poole. Next morning the Prince asked 
 to see the "ball room" of the hotel, but Mr. Roe 
 was still too busy to "attend to boys." After 
 leaving Swanage the three much-amused travellers 
 walked westwards along the cliffs to St. Alban's 
 Head, and thence to Kingston, where a carriage 
 and their luggage awaited them. From the " Red 
 Lion," at Wareham, they came on to the " King's 
 Arms," at Dorchester, the ancient hostelry as- 
 sociated with the memories of Nelson and Hardy, 
 which Thomas Rowlandson had sketched sixty 
 years before. Next day was Sunday, and the 
 Prince of Wales, Mr. Gibbs and Colonel Cavendish 
 attended service at St. Peter's Church. Before 
 the end of the week the secret had oozed out, 
 and the Sherborne Journal, alluding to the presence 
 of the Prince of VVales in Dorset, said : " Such was 
 the studied strictness of his incognito that he took 
 his departure before the loyal inhabitants of the town 
 were aware of the honour conferred upon them by 
 the visit of the Heir Presumptive to the Crown of 
 these Realms. The young Prince walked the streets 
 with the jaunty independent air of an Englishman, 
 and chatted without the smallest restraint or without 
 the slightest show of formal condescension with the 
 poorest of the inhabitants. He had even entered 
 into a personal negotiation with the owner of an 
 extraordinarily sagacious dog, with a view to the 
 purchase of the animal." The teapot used by the 
 three visitors at the King's Arms now bears the 
 Prince of Wales's plume of feathers. 
 
 On Monday morning another move was made 
 towards the west, and after following the Roman 
 Via Iceniana for some distance, they arrived at 
 Bridport, passing within a mile of the town the 
 very spot at which, little more than two centuries 
 
 331
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 before, Charles, Prince of Wales and King of 
 England de jure, had saved his life by turning 
 suddenly down a narrow lane, thus checkmating two 
 parties of his pursuers.* Here they put up at the 
 Bull, another of those old-world " inns " for which 
 Wessex is justly famous, and in front of which one 
 of the skirmishes of Monmouth's ill-starred rebellion 
 of 1685 had been fought. Before the end of the week 
 the jealously guarded incognito was an incognito no 
 longer, and Queen Victoria noted in her Journal 
 that " Bertie had been recognised at Dorchester."! 
 Five days later (October 4) the vigilant editor of the 
 Bridport News (then only in the second year of its 
 existence) informed its readers that " had our towns- 
 folk been aware of the exalted personage who was in 
 their midst on Monday last (September 29) no little 
 sensation would have been created. On that day 
 about one o'clock, two gentlemen and a youth of 
 cheerful and open countenance, took up their 
 quarters at the Bull Hotel, but no other notice was 
 taken of them than is customary of gentlemanly 
 strangers. They having made inquiries with respect 
 to the manufacturers of the town, Mr. KnightJ 
 
 * In 1901, on the 250th anniversary of September 23, 1651, an 
 appropriate memorial was placed at the juncture of the Dorchester 
 Road and Lee or Lea Lane, through which Charles IL reached 
 Broadwinsor by way of Bradpole and the valley of the Brit. 
 
 i" In his correspondence with Baron Stockmar, Prince Albert made 
 several allusions to the walking tour of September, 1856, and all 
 that it was hoped to achieve. In one letter he informed him that 
 the Prince of Wales had started from Osborne on September 23, 
 adding the words " May the experiment succeed." In another letter 
 he says : " Bertie's tour has gone off well, and seems to interest him 
 greatly. Unfortunately, as I have just heard, he was recognised 
 at Dorchester, and an article has appeared in the Dorset local paper." 
 A fortnight later he assured the Baron that " Bertie had manifestly 
 profited by his tour." 
 
 X The father of " mine host " of 1906. 
 
 332
 
 Trade Secrets in Danger 
 
 took the opportunity of Mr. Joseph Gundry * 
 being at the hotel, to introduce that gentleman to 
 the strangers of whom they asked permission to 
 inspect his manufactures ; permission being given, 
 the gentlemen made their way to Mr. Gundry's 
 warehouse ; after remaining there a few minutes, 
 they were accompanied by Mr. E. Crabbe to the 
 spinning walks of Mr. R. Powell, in St. Michael's 
 Lane, where Mr. Crabbe explained to them the 
 principal processes in the manufacture of lines. 
 
 " It was observed that one of the gentlemen was 
 particular in repeating the explanations to the youth, 
 but of course not the slightest idea of the reason 
 was entertained. t After a gratuity of five shillings 
 to the workmen in the walk, the party took their 
 leave, expressing their thanks to Mr. Crabbe for 
 his kind attention. On arriving at the top of St. 
 Michael's Lane they asked their way to Charmouth, 
 and took that direction. A carriage from the Bull 
 followed shortly afterwards. We understand that 
 Mr. Gundry much regretted that he was not aware 
 of the rank of his illustrious visitors. Mr. Crabbe, 
 too, was sorry for the same reason, and had he known 
 that he was giving explanations to the Heir Presump- 
 tive to the Crown, would have presented him with 
 a fishing line of such remarkably fine texture as 
 would have made it something worth preserving 
 as a memorial of his visit to this town. His Royal 
 Highness is making a tour of the provinces incognito.'''' 
 
 At Charmouth the travellers passed the door 
 of the old " Queen's Head," where Charles H. 
 
 * The grandfatlicr of the present owner of the Hyde, Bridport. 
 
 t To tliose who read between tlie lines it is evident that some 
 suspicion must have arisen at the time in the minds of those chiefly 
 interested, that the sacred secrets of tlie " trade of the town " were 
 in imminent danger. 
 
 333
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 had passed the night of September 22—23, 1651, 
 while waiting for the boat which never came, and 
 they must have found much to interest them at 
 " Lyme of the King " (the scene of Monmouth's 
 landing in 1685), and where only twenty-three years 
 previously (1833) Queen Victoria had embarked for 
 Plymouth. At Honiton (where in 1833 the Queen 
 had started on her posting journey of over a hundred 
 miles to Swanage) the walking-tour appears to have 
 abruptly ended. The secret was out, and before 
 the end of the week the Prince of Wales was once 
 more hard at work in the school-room at Osborne. 
 
 Within a fortnight of his return from Wessex, 
 the Prince of Wales travelled to Windsor to welcome 
 the Queen and Prince Albert, who returned there 
 on October 16. On Saturday, October 25, the 
 Prince Consort went to inspect the works at Welling- 
 ton College, while the Prince of Wales and Prince 
 Alfred journeyed to London to call on the Duchess of 
 Gloucester. In the course of the next day or two 
 it was settled that Prince Alfred, who, to a great 
 extent, had been the companion of his elder brother 
 both in work and play, should go for a time 
 to Geneva for the purpose of studying modern 
 languages. In the early days of October he left 
 Windsor, attended by Sir Frederick Stovin and 
 Lieutenant Cowell, travelling to Switzerland by 
 way of Bonn. The Prince of Wales accompanied 
 his brother as far as Dover. The Belgian 
 royalties are once more in England, and it was 
 announced that on Thursday, November 13, the 
 " School for Scandal " and " Hush-Money " were 
 to begin auspiciously the Windsor Theatricals of 
 the season of 1 856-1 857. It was arranged that 
 Mr. Webster should play the part of " Sir Peter 
 Teazle," with Mr. Wigan as " Joseph Surface," 
 
 334
 
 A Family Bereavement 
 
 Mr. G. Vining as " Charles Surface," and Miss 
 Heath* as " Lady Teazle." But rhomme propose 
 et Dieii dispose. Queen Victoria's half-brother fell 
 suddenly ill, and everything had to be altered. 
 The customary festivities in celebration of the Prince 
 of Wales's birthday were omitted ; the departure 
 of the Duke and Duchess of Brabant was expedited, 
 and all invitations to the Castle were cancelled. 
 On Saturday (November 8) Prince Frederick William 
 of Prussia, the fiance of the Princess Royal, arrived 
 at Dover, and came on to Windsor, where a week 
 later Queen Victoria received the news of Prince 
 Charles's death at Wald Leiningen, of a third 
 attack of apoplexy. At his funeral on November 20, 
 Sir Alexander Malet represented the Queen. Before 
 that date Prince Frederick William of Prussia 
 had quitted England to make the acquaintance 
 of the Emperor and Empress of the French at the 
 Tuileries. The Court, having spent three weeks at 
 Osborne, returned to Windsor for Christmas, which 
 was unattended by the usual gaieties. It was, 
 however, whispered that Sheridan's great comedy 
 would after all be played on January 15. 
 
 * Afterwards Mrs. Wilson Barrett. 
 
 335
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE YEAR OF THE INDIAN MUTINY— A SOJOURN IN 
 
 RHINE LAND— WITH ALBERT SMITH AT 
 
 CHAMOUNIX 
 
 1857 
 
 The New Year opened brightly for the Prince of 
 Wales, whose prowess in the hunting-field began 
 to be talked of, and who doubtless keenly en- 
 joyed the production of the postponed Sheridan 
 masterpiece at Windsor on January 15, when 
 Miss Woolgar (Mrs. Alfred Mellon) did ample 
 justice to the part of " Lady Teazle." Between the 
 performance of Planche's " Secret Service " and 
 Dance's " Hush-Money " (with Messrs. Robson 
 and F. Matthews and Miss Woolgar and Miss 
 Heath in the casts) on the 28th of that month, 
 and that of " Richard H." on February 5, the fifth 
 session of the fourth Parliament of Queen Victoria 
 was duly opened, while the Prince of Wales, who 
 did not go to London, enjoyed some excellent 
 skating at Frogmore. Prince Alfred still remained 
 at Geneva, and early in March the following in- 
 teresting information was vouchsafed to the public : 
 " His Royal Highness takes lessons from the best 
 masters, and gives them great satisfaction. Prince 
 Alfred has distinguished himself on the ice before 
 all the youths of Geneva in the art of skating. 
 The Prince occupies the first floor of the Hotel des 
 Bcrgers. The second floor is occupied by the 
 
 33<^
 
 Prince Alfred's Diplomacy 
 
 Grand Duchess of Leuchtenberg, sister of the 
 Empress of Russia, with her suite. Lately the 
 Grand Duchess asked the Prince to show her some 
 portraits and sketches he possessed, amongst them 
 being some engravings representing scenes in the 
 Crimean War. On coming to a particular one the 
 Prince appeared greatly embarrassed, and en- 
 deavoured to remove it unnoticed. This movement 
 of her young friend was seen by the Duchess, who 
 laughed, and, taking up the engraving, said, ' No, 
 no ; let me also look at this one.' The subject 
 it represented was the taking of Russian colours by 
 English soldiers." 
 
 The Berlin papers were already busy with the 
 coming marriage (now quite an open secret) of 
 Prince Frederick William and the Princess Royal. 
 All sorts of dates were discussed for the ceremony, 
 and it was announced that a house was already in 
 process of fitting up for their prospective accom- 
 modation. A little later " Mr. Punch " oblivious 
 of the sly hits at the " eagle of ill-omen," sings in 
 chorus with the rest of them : 
 
 '* Daughter of England, just about to wed 
 The Prussian youngster — blessings on your nead ! 
 When your Mamma — ^Time spins so fast iway — 
 Was married, seems but just the other day. 
 Perhaps she will, in quite as short a space, 
 Have a granddaughter in her daughter's case. 
 
 If so, so be it 
 
 May we all live to see it, 
 
 And to see yet more 
 
 That we may roar 
 
 And shout Hurrah ! 
 And sing, God save great Grandmamma ! 
 May you enjoy no end of happy life, 
 Have a good husband and prove a good wife." 
 
 On the nineteenth anniversary of the Queen's 
 marriage [February lo], a grand concert took place 
 
 337 Y
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 in St. George's Hall, Windsor. The performers 
 numbered one hundred and forty, and Mrs. Ander- 
 son, who had been the Queen's music-mistress many- 
 years before, resumed her duties as pianist. The prin- 
 cipal soloists were Madame Clara Novello, Madame 
 Bassano, Mr. Sims Reeves and Mr. Weiss. The 
 Court removed to Windsor, and on Monday, Feb- 
 ruary 1 6, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal 
 and the Princess Alice were present at the marriage 
 in the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace of 
 Colonel Biddulph, Master of the Queen's Household, 
 to the Hon. Mary Frederica Seymour, one of her 
 Majesty's Maids of Honour. 
 
 The storm-cloud in the Far East which called 
 forth that wonderful cartoon : " Oh ! God of Battles, 
 steel my soldiers' hearts. Henry V. Act IV." 
 [October 14], and the bitter denunciations of 
 " Clemency " Canning, the " Sepoy Governor- 
 General " [October 24] had not yet burst. Early 
 in April the Prince of Wales was once more out 
 with the hounds in the neighbourhood of Windsor, 
 and practised hands declared " he had lately attained 
 great proficiency in crossing the country." On 
 Tuesday, April 14, the Princess Beatrice was born, 
 and the following bulletin was issued by the Queen's 
 medical attendants : 
 
 "Buckingham Palace, April 14, 1857, 3 p.m. 
 " The Queen was safely delivered of a Princess 
 this morning at 45 minutes past one o'clock. Her 
 Majesty and the infant Princess are well. 
 
 " James Clark, M.D. 
 " Charles Locock, M.D. 
 " Robert Fergusson, M.D." 
 
 News of the happy event was at once telegraphed 
 to the Emperor of the French. Exactly a fortnight 
 
 338
 
 Death of the Duchess of Gloucester 
 
 later, passed tranquilly away the venerable Duchess 
 of Gloucester, the last surviving child of George III. 
 and Queen Charlotte, at the advanced age of 
 eighty-one. In her youth she had been " the 
 lovely Princess Mary " of Miss Burney's Memoirs. 
 She had survived her husband and cousin two and 
 twenty years, and ever since 1850 had been Ranger 
 and Keeper of Richmond Park. On May 8 the 
 Duchess was buried at Windsor, the Prince of 
 Wales and his father being amongst the mourners. 
 The house in which the Duchess died had once been 
 the property of the Earl of Elgin, and, from having 
 sheltered the Elgin Marbles, had been called a 
 " stone-shop " by Lord Byron, who spoke of it 
 in " English bards and Scotch reviewers " as 
 
 . . . . " General mart ' 
 
 For all the mutilated blocks of art." 
 
 In the state drawing-room was an embroidered 
 carpet, presented to the Duchess by eighty-four 
 ladies of rank, each of whom had herself worked 
 a compartment. House, furniture, and needlework 
 have now vanished for ever from human ken. 
 
 " The dead Duchess's obsequies " were, we 
 learn with interest, " conducted by Mr. Banting, 
 of St. James's Street, whose experience in ceremonials 
 of this character now includes no le?s than fourteen 
 royal interments dating back to the time of Princess 
 Charlotte."* 
 
 The greater part of the month of May was passed 
 at Osborne, where the thirty-eighth birthday of 
 Queen Victoria, which fell on a Sunday, was cele- 
 brated m fatnille, the public rejoicings in London 
 
 * A few years later Mr. W. Banting astonished the world by a 
 pamphlet on the rational treatment of obesity, which went through 
 many editions, and finally added the name of the author both as a 
 noun and a verb to the English language. 
 
 339
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 taking place on the Tuesday following [May 26]. 
 A few days later the Grand Duke Constantine of 
 Russia arrived at Osborne on a short visit to the 
 Queen. The second son of the Emperor Nicholas 
 was a man of more than ordinary intelligence, and 
 was credited with having invented the apothegm 
 " the best diplomacy is the army." On Tuesday, 
 June 9, the Court removed to Windsor Castle for 
 Ascot, the Prince of Wales being accompanied by 
 Mr. Gibbs. On Thursday, the nth, Ascot was 
 visited, and it was announced that " H.R.H. the 
 Prince of Wales will, in the course of the present 
 summer, make a tour on the Continent, residing 
 for about six weeks on the banks of the Rhine at 
 Koenigswinter at the foot of the Drachenfels, where 
 a commodious hotel has been engaged for His 
 Royal Highness. It is expected when the season 
 advances His Royal Highness will proceed by the 
 Rhine to Switzerland for the purpose of visiting 
 the Alps. He will be attended by Major-General 
 the Hon C. Grey, Lieutenant-Colonel Ponsonby, 
 Mr. Gibbs, the Rev. Mr. Tarver, and Dr. Arm- 
 strong, R.N." 
 
 On June 16 the newly born Princess was baptized 
 with water brought from the Jordan by Captain 
 Nightingale. She received the names of Beatrice 
 Mary Victoria Feodore, and her sponsors were the 
 Duchess of Kent, the Princess Royal and Prince 
 Frederick William of Prussia. At a Council held on 
 Thursday, June 25, an order was passed for publish- 
 ing a Letter Patent by which the Queen granted to 
 Prince Albert the title of Prince Consort during 
 their joint lives. Her Majesty was also pleased 
 to declare her Royal will and pleasure that in all 
 prayers, litanies and collects for the Royal Family, 
 the words " The Prince Consort," be inserted instead 
 
 340
 
 The Order of Valour 
 
 of the words " Prince Albert." On the following 
 day (June 26) the " Order of Valour " [the Victoria 
 Cross] was inaugurated by the Queen in Hyde Park, 
 in the presence of six thousand of her troops. The 
 weather was magnificent, and there were no less 
 than sixty-one recipients of the honour — twelve 
 from the Navy, two from the Royal Marines, and 
 the rest from the Army. The Queen was mounted 
 on a roan charger, and wore a riding habit of dark 
 blue skirt and scarlet body or jacket, resembling a 
 military tunic, and a gold embroidered sash over 
 the left shoulder. Her black riding-hat was sur- 
 rounded with a gold band, and ornamented with 
 red and white feathers. Lady Churchill and Miss 
 Bulteel both wore black habits. The Prince Consort 
 and Prince Frederick were in uniform, and the Prince 
 of Wales and Prince Alfred were kilted, and rode 
 ponies. At the end of the month a visit was paid 
 by the Queen, accompanied by the Prince Consort, 
 Prince Frederick William of Prussia, the Prince of 
 Wales, the Princess Royal, Princess Alice and Prince 
 Alfred — the latter having now returned from Geneva 
 — to the Art Treasures Exhibition at Manchester. 
 On Monday, June 29, the Royal party reached 
 Worsley Hall, where they were the guests of the 
 Earl and Countess of Ellesmere. They returned 
 to London on Thursday, July 2, and on the follow- 
 ing Saturday evening [July 4] the Queen, with the 
 Prince Consort, their elder children, and the whole 
 of her foreign guests, honoured the amateur per- 
 formance, under the management of Mr. Charles 
 Dickens, of Mr. Wilkie Collins's drama of " The 
 P'rozen Deep," at the Gallery of Illustrations in 
 Regent Street. On Monday, July 6, a ball was 
 given at Prussia House, the residence of the 
 Prussian Legation, in celebration of the approaching 
 
 34^
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 matrimonial alliance between the Prince of Prussia 
 and the Princess Royal. 
 
 There is some discrepancy in the different accounts 
 given of the actual date of departure of the Prince 
 of Wales for the banks of the Rhine. In the 
 " Life of the Prince Consort,"* he is supposed 
 to write to Baron Stockmar on July 26, 1857 : 
 " Bertie set out to-day at noon for Kcenigswinter — 
 he will take a week to get there. Of the young 
 people only Lord Derby's sonf will go with him in 
 the first instance ; Wood,t Cadogan§ and Gladstone || 
 will follow " ; but long before that date one reads 
 that " The Prince of Wales, who is travelling under 
 the name of Baron Renfrew, reached Liege on the 
 evening of the 9th [July], by steamer from Namur. 
 The Prince, accompanied by his suite, arrived at 
 Aix-la-Chapelle on the evening of the nth. After 
 receiving the compliments of the military authorities 
 stationed at Aix, the Prince went to the Hotel 
 Grand Monarque, which was suitably prepared for 
 his reception. The spacious courtyard of the Hotel, 
 enlivened by many of the national flags of England 
 waving above tiers of choice flowers, was filled with 
 the English residents there, who were all eager 
 to behold their young Prince. The Prince after 
 gracefully acknowledging this welcome, took posses- 
 sion of the suite of apartments reserved for his 
 reception, being the same as were occupied by his 
 father, Prince Albert, on his journey to England 
 
 * 
 
 Vol. iv. p. 70. 
 
 i" Frederick ArtJiur Stanley, now l6th Earl of Derby, K.G., G.C.B., 
 G.C.V.O., born 1848. 
 
 X Charles Lindley Wood, now 2nd Viscount Halifax, born 1839. 
 § George Henry Cadogan, now 5th Earl Cadogan, K.C., P.C., 
 born 1840. 
 
 II William Henry Gladstone, eldest son of the late Rt. Honblc. 
 W. E. Gladstone. Mr. W. H. Gladstone died in 1891. 
 
 342
 
 At Koenigsvvinter 
 
 to claim the hand of Victoria. On the following 
 day, after making inspection of the monuments of 
 this ancient city, the Prince left by the afternoon 
 train for Koenigsvvinter." Be this as it may, Sir 
 Theodore Martin gives the fullest information as 
 to the suite at Koenigswinter, which consisted of 
 " General Grey,* Colonel H. Ponsonby,t his domes- 
 tic tutor, Mr. Gibbs, his classical tutor, the Rev. 
 Charles Tarver,t and Dr. Armstrong. "§ 
 
 On July 26 the Prince Consort was one of those 
 who witnessed the marriage of King Leopold's 
 only daughter, the Princess Charlotte, to the Arch- 
 Duke Maximilian of Austria. At this very time 
 the English papers were busying themselves about 
 the visit of Prince Jerome Napoleon (" Plon Plon ") 
 to the lakes of Southern Ireland, and the banquet 
 given in his honour by the Mayor of Cork. On 
 Thursday, August 6, the Emperor and Empress of 
 the French arrived at Osborne in the steam yacht 
 La Reine Hortense. They remained at Osborne till 
 
 * General Sir Charles Grey, author of the " Early Years of the 
 Prince Consort." Born in 1804, and from 1861 until his death in 
 1870 Private Secretary to Queen Victoria. 
 
 t Afterwards General Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby, G.C.B. 
 Born in 1825, he became in 1870 Private Secretary to Queen Victoria, 
 and held that important post till his death in 1895. 
 
 X More than one of the King's biographers assert that Mr. Gibbs 
 was a Nonconformist. In any case when he quitted the Royal 
 service on November 9, 1858, the Rev. Charles Tarver (afterwards 
 Canon of Chester) was formally appointed " Director of Studies 
 and Chaplain to the Prince of Wales." He continued to act in that 
 capacity till the autumn of 1859. 
 
 § Sir Alexander Armstrong (1818-1899) was a distinguished naval 
 medical officer, who had been appointed to the Royal yacht in 
 1846. In 1871 he was made a K.C.B., and although he was for 
 many years a constant correspondent of both King Edward VH. 
 and the late Duke of Coburg, his close connection with their early 
 training is not mentioned in the D.N.B., where his career is dealt 
 with in Supplemental Volume I. 
 
 343
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Monday, the loth. The next few days are spent 
 by the Queen and the Prince Consort in the tranquil 
 enjoyment of their delightful island-home, the 
 nurseries of which were now only tenanted by the 
 four-year-old Prince Leopold and the infant Princess 
 Beatrice. If the former already showed signs of 
 that ability which afterwards distinguished him, 
 the " Baby" of 1857 ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ following years 
 was the " sunshine " of the house. To the hour 
 of his death she was her father's darling and the 
 object of her mother's ceaseless care. In April, 
 1858, the Prince Consort wrote to Baron Stockmar : 
 " Little Beatrice is an extremely attractive, pretty, 
 intelligent child, indeed the most amusing baby 
 we have had." The nurseries at Osborne in the 
 latter years of the late Queen's life, when tenanted 
 by the children of Princess Henry of Battenberg, 
 the " Baby " of the late " eighteen-fifties," had 
 not varied, to any appreciable extent, from what 
 they were in 1857. When one reflects that it was 
 here that the future Queen of Spain and her three 
 brothers* passed a great portion of the happy days 
 of childhood, one may be excused for quoting a 
 portion of the graphic description given of them 
 from a work already referred to. f The spacious and 
 airy nurseries, which were specially arranged by Queen 
 Victoria and the Prince Consort, were in the Queen's 
 wing of the house, and commanded charming views 
 of the Solent and the gardens. Needless to say, 
 they were in direct communication witli the Queen's 
 
 * Princess Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena, born October 29, 1887, 
 betrothed to Alfonso XIII., King of Spain (born 1886), March 1906 ; 
 Prince Alexander Albert, born 1886 ; Prince Leopold Arthur l^ouis, 
 born 1889 ; Prince Maurice Victor Donald, born 1 891. 
 
 t " The Private Life of Queen Victoria," by one of Her Majesty's 
 servants. 
 
 344
 
 ,y^^4inm,*/<4 
 
 
 ^v^ 
 
 J Y.^ : 13. /^^ 
 
 :-',^»*™iiBP:at*Ka»«} 
 
 PEN AND INK SKKTCH 
 
 BY QUEEN VICTORIA OF PRIMESS HKATKICF. WHEN NEARLY THREE 
 
 -SEARS OLD. CIVEN BV THE (^lEEN TO PRINCE ARTHIR (DUKE OF 
 
 CONNAUGHT) FEBRUARY 23, 1860
 
 A Royal Nursery 
 
 own apartments. " As all nurseries should be," 
 writes the author of the " Private Life of Queen 
 Victoria," " the whole suite is arranged indiscrimin- 
 ately for sleeping and living. The largest of these 
 rooms is almost the prettiest, being decorated with 
 a fresh white paper besprent with gay flowers and 
 bright chintzes that match. A zig-zag patterned 
 carpet covers the floor, the entire centre of which 
 is left free of furniture. A nursery guard stands 
 before the fire, and two ample screens, one of scraps, 
 the other chintz-covered, mask the doors. A round 
 tabic, littered with toys, and some side-tables bearing 
 photographs and books, have their full complement 
 of wide, low chairs. The cots in the room arc 
 quite old-fashioned, being mahogany with cane sides, 
 the white fringes that hang round them forming 
 an ideally neat little valance. The bedclothes have 
 a simple arrangement of strings, by which they are 
 kept over restless little bodies during the night. 
 Two tiny rush-seated armchairs suggest delightful, 
 childish days. All round the room arc literally 
 stacks of toys. The pictures on the wall follow 
 out the Queen's taste in such matters. A few arc 
 of sacred subjects, the rest are portraits, among 
 them being the likenesses of the Prince Consort 
 and of the children, and their many cousins. Traces 
 of the little ones at Osborne are found in the shape 
 of sundry toys in the Observatory Tower of the house, 
 and down in Osborne Bay where in a well-arranged 
 floating bath they learn to swim, as their Royal 
 aunts and uncles did before them ; as well as in the 
 Lower Alcove, a most delectable and picturesque 
 garden retreat on the Lower Terrace, which faces 
 the big fountain, and has a charming view of the 
 Valley Walk, where on wet summer afternoons 
 the Royal children have a picnic tea in just the same 
 
 345
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 simple homely fashion as the Queen so loved in 
 earlier days." 
 
 The Princess Ena and her little brothers were 
 also the latest occupants of that " large, airy apart- 
 ment at Windsor overlooking the South Terrace, 
 the Stables and the Home Park, which was next 
 to the Queen's private audience-chamber, and one 
 room away from her own sitting-room." In 1901, 
 numberless sketches and paintings executed by 
 Queen Victoria's children, of scenes in Scotland, 
 pet animals and birds, and various essays at family 
 portraits, still decorated the walls. It was only when 
 the sons and daughter of Princess Beatrice (the 
 " amusing baby " of 1857 and 1858) began to grow- 
 up that the grand riding-school which played so 
 important a part in the upbringing of King Edward 
 VII. once more came into constant use. 
 
 On August 17 the Queen and Prince Consort, 
 with their four children,* made a cruise in the 
 yacht Victoria and Albert, going first to the Channel 
 Islands and afterwards to Cherbourg, where they 
 were shown all over the new works by Admiral 
 Count de Gourdon, the Prefet Maritime. They 
 returned to Osborne on Wednesday, the 19th. 
 It was now a time of great anxiety both for the 
 Queen and the Prince Consort. The Indian Mutiny 
 had broken out, and a feeling of irritation with 
 France began to make itself felt, to become intensi- 
 fied during the following year. No sooner had the 
 Queen returned from her short cruise than the 
 question of our national defences began to fill her 
 mind. Her personal observations at Cherbourg 
 helped her to realise the inherent weakness of 
 
 * Prince Alfred, Princess Alice, Princess Helena and Princess 
 Louise. It was the first excursion of the kind in which the sturdy, 
 high-spirited and lovable Princess Alice took part. 
 
 346
 
 Mountaineering at Chamounix 
 
 Portsmouth and Plymouth, and no time was lost 
 in calling for confidential reports on the subject 
 drawn up by the most competent experts available.* 
 At the end of August the Court sets out for 
 Balmoral. For the second time the Prince of 
 Wales was to miss the deer-stalking, the grouse- 
 drives, the Braemar Gathering and the cheery 
 Tenants' ball. He was, however, now in Switzer- 
 land boldly breasting mountains more formidable 
 than those of Aberdeenshire. On September 5, 
 accompanied by the Prince of Leiningen,t General 
 Sir W. Codrington,J Colonel Ponsonby, Mr. Gibbs 
 
 * The following unpublished letters of the Prince Consort in the 
 possession of the writer abundantly testify to the untiring personal 
 efforts put forth by the Queen and himself to put the country in a 
 proper state of defence : 
 
 I. 
 " My dear Lord Panmure, — I return the Plan for the defence 
 of Portsmouth, whicli has received the Queen's approval. 
 
 " Ever yours truly, 
 " B.P. 27/1/58." "Albert. 
 
 II. 
 
 " My dear General Peel, — The Queen wishes me to say that she 
 has seen with much regret that according to the returns of the last 
 quarter which she received last evening, the small arms completed 
 for the service (the Enfield rifle pattern, 1853) are so very insignificant 
 in amount. The Government factory at Enfield has turned out only 
 15,412 in 3 months, London only 3130 and Birmingham only 2244. 
 All the efforts which the nation may make for its defence will be 
 unavailing without arms. Should not a vigorous effort be made 
 on the part of the Govt, to put the country in safety in this respect. 
 May I take tliis opportunity also for asking whether any steps are being 
 taken to secure the ground for the new Guards' Barracks in this town. 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "B.P. 13/5/59." "Albert. 
 
 t Probably Prince Edward, b. 1833. 
 
 X Sir William John Codrington (l 804-1 884) had apparently taken 
 the place of General Grey. He had been Commander-in-Chief 
 at Scbastopol (1855-1856), and in 1 859 was appointed Governor of 
 Gibraltar. 
 
 347
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 and Dr. Armstrong, he had arrived at Chamounix 
 from Martigny by the Tete Noir. It was the Prince's 
 intention to pass a few days in the valley, which is 
 crowded with visitors. Two days later one learns 
 " that the Royal party, accompanied by Mr. Albert 
 Smith, who is now at Chamounix, and had the 
 honour of acting as guide on this occasion, visited 
 the Cascade du Dard, and afterwards traversed the 
 Glacier du Boissons." The Indian cloud grows 
 darker and darker. Delhi was captured at last, 
 but fierce fighting continued around Lucknow, 
 and Campbell's victory at Cawnpore had still to 
 be won. October 7 was declared to be a day of 
 National fast and humiliation. It was nowhere 
 more strictly observed than by the Queen and her 
 family at Balmoral. The outlook at home was 
 scarcely more cheering than that abroad. It was 
 a period of profound financial depression, and there 
 were already indications of the great commercial 
 crisis, which, a few weeks later (November 12)^ 
 necessitated the suspension of the Bank Charter 
 Act of 1844. Nevertheless, a quarter of a million 
 sterling was collected for the sufferers from the 
 unspeakable horrors wrought by the revolted Sepoys. 
 The Queen left Balmoral on October 13, and after 
 passing one night at Haddo House, as the guest of 
 the Earl of Aberdeen, and another at Edinburgh, 
 she arrived at Windsor Castle on the evening of the 
 15th. On Monday, the 24th, the Prince of Wales 
 reached Dover, and, after sleeping at the Lord 
 Warden Hotel, came to Windsor the following 
 day. The dinner-party in the evening included 
 the Duchess of Kent, tlic Prince of Wales and the 
 Princess Royal. The Prince of Wales's suite, 
 viz., Sir W. Codrington, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Ponsonby, Dr. Armstrong, R.N., and Mr. Gibbs 
 
 348
 
 At Home Once More 
 
 were also invited.* The Prince's sixteenth birthday 
 was celebrated at Windsor, on Monday, Novem- 
 ber 9, with the usual parade of Household troops. 
 After the review the Prince Consort and his two 
 elder sons went out shooting. Both the Prince 
 of Wales and the Princess Royal were certainly 
 present at the dinner-party given at the Castle 
 that evening. 
 
 The death of the young Duchesse de Nemours 
 at Claremont on the day following, revived for a 
 moment the sad memories of the Royal tragedy 
 of forty years before. f On the birthday of the 
 Princess Royal, November 21, the Queen pre- 
 sented the Victoria Cross to several soldiers who 
 had won the distinction by their valorous deeds 
 during the late war. The Prince Consort was present, 
 with the Prince of Wales and his elder brothers and 
 sisters. The first three weeks of December were 
 spent at Osborne. It was there the first news of 
 Sir Colin Campbell's success at Cawnpore reached 
 the Queen. This Christmas was a sad one. There 
 was little merriment, but much charity. 
 
 * Sir Kinloch Cooke locates the first dinner-party of the King 
 as taking place at Kew Cottage (1858). It seems quite evident that 
 from the day of his return from Koenigswinter (October 1857) he 
 was generally included amongst those who dined with the Queen 
 at Windsor and elsewhere. 
 
 i' The Duchesse de Nemours was the daughter of Ferdinand, 
 Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She died as has been stated on 
 November 10, 1857. The Princess Charlotte died on November 6, 
 1817. The circumstances attending the death of each were almost 
 identical, and the room occupied at Claremont by the French 
 Princess was immediately over that of the Princess Charlotte. 
 
 349
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 CONFIWVIATION OF THE PRINCE OF WALES AT 
 WINDSOR— AT THE WHITE LODGE— " BLARNEY " 
 AND KILLARNEY-A MEMORABLE BIRTHDAY 
 AND HISTORIC LEITER— COLONEL AND KNIGHT 
 OF THE GARTER— FAREWELL TO BOYHOOD, 
 
 1858 
 
 The last year of what both Queen Victoria and the 
 Prince Consort evidently regarded as the boyhood 
 of their eldest son commenced, as so many previous 
 years had done, with the usual distribution of food 
 and clothing for the poor in the Riding-school at 
 Windsor Castle, and in the evening the Queen gave 
 a large dinner-party, at which the Prince of Wales 
 was amongst the guests. At the end of the 
 month the illustrious guests invited to the marriage 
 of the Princess Royal with Prince Frederick William 
 of Prussia began to arrive, and on the afternoon of 
 Monday, January 18, the Prince of Wales was pre- 
 sent at the dinner given by the Queen at Buckingham 
 Palace in honour of the numerous royalties then in 
 England, and of which King Edward VII. and the 
 King of the Belgians are now probably the only 
 survivors. A Court ball, at which the Prince of 
 Wales was not present, took place two evenings 
 later, the ball being opened by a quadrille in which 
 the Queen, in a magnificent dress, trimmed with 
 lace, heart's-ease, and ornamented with diamonds 
 
 danced with King Leopold. The wedding, which, 
 
 350
 
 Marriage of the Princess Royal 
 
 like that of the Queen twenty years previously, 
 took place in the Chapel Royal, St. James's, was 
 celebrated on the following Monday (January 25). 
 " Lord Palmerston bore the massive sword of state 
 in its gold and crimson scabbard with a ponderous 
 dignity defiant as a British Lion and careless that 
 more than seventy summers had passed over his 
 brow. The Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred 
 followed in Highland costume, and then came the 
 Queen leading in either hand Prince Arthur and 
 Prince Leopold, and the little Princesses Louise 
 and Helena dressed in pink tulle, were just behind." 
 So writes one of the contemporary chroniclers of 
 the first separation in the domestic circle of Queen 
 Victoria. In John Phillip's picture, the four sons 
 of the Queen are depicted as wearing kilts and 
 tartan. " Such a houseful," wrote Her Majesty 
 at the beginning of the third week in January 
 1858, " such bustle and excitement ! After dinner 
 a party and a very gay and pretty dance. It was 
 very animated, all the Princes dancing. Albert 
 did not waltz. Ernest [Duke of Coburg] said it 
 seemed like a dream to see Vicky dance as a bride, 
 just as I did eighteen years ago, and I still (so he 
 said) looking very young. In 1840 poor dear papa 
 [the late Duke of Coburg] danced with me as Ernest 
 danced with Vicky." And again on January 25, 
 " The second most eventful day in my life as regards 
 feelings. I felt as if I were being married over again 
 myself, only much more nervous, for I had not that 
 blessed feeling which I had then, which raises and 
 supports one, of giving myself up for life to him 
 whom I loved and worshipped then and ever." 
 
 When all was ready for proceeding to the Chapel 
 Royal at St. James's Palace, the Queen and Crown 
 Princess were daguerreotyped, together with the 
 
 351
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Prince, " but," says the Queen, " I trembled so, 
 my likeness has come out indistinct. Then came 
 the time to go. The sun was shining brightly ; 
 thousands had been out since very early, shouting, 
 bells ringing, &c. Albert and uncle, in field- 
 marshal's uniform with batons, and the two eldest 
 boys, went first. Then the three girls in pink 
 satin trimmed with Newport lace, Alice with a 
 wreath, and the two others with only bouquets 
 in their hair of cornflowers and marguerites. Next 
 the four boys in Highland dress. The hall full. 
 The flourish of trumpets and cheering of thousands 
 made my heart sink within me. Vicky was in the 
 carriage with me, sitting opposite. At St. James's 
 I took her into a dressing-room prettily arranged, 
 where were uncle, Albert, and the eight brides- 
 maids, who looked charming in white tulle with 
 wreaths and bouquets of pink roses and white 
 heather. Went into the gallery, where mamma 
 (looking so handsome in violet velvet trimmed with 
 ermine, and white silk and violet) and the Cam- 
 bridges were. All the foreign Princes and Princesses, 
 except uncle, the Prince of Prussia, and Prince 
 Albert of Prussia, were already in the chapel. 
 
 " Then the procession was formed, just as at 
 my marriage, only how small the former Royal Family 
 has become ! Mamma last before me — then Lord 
 Palmerston with the sword of state — then Bertie 
 and Alfred, I with the two little boys on either side, 
 and the three girls behind. The effect was very 
 solemn and impressive as we passed through the 
 rooms, down the staircase, and across a covered in 
 court." After the ceremony the Prince of Wales 
 attested the register, his signature appearing between 
 that of his grandmother, the Duchess of Kent, and 
 his brother Prince Alfred. His wedding present to
 
 Confirmation of the Prince of Wales 
 
 his sister consisted of a beautiful opal and diamond 
 necklace, brooch and earrings. " Punch's poem " 
 in honour of the wedding, entitled " Epithalamium," 
 is quite worth remembering : 
 
 " Farewell, young Royal Lady, 
 Ne'er may your life wax shady. 
 Still may your path be shiny 
 All rosy, nothing spiny. 
 
 * * • • 
 
 " May the first line long sit in 
 The royal seat of Britain, 
 On Prussia's throne the second, 
 From you to doomsday reckoned. 
 
 " United in alliance 
 May these two lines, defiance 
 Bid ever more to treason 
 By governing with reason." 
 
 And in an equally kindly spirit was the cartoon 
 " A National Toast " : 
 
 " Health and Happiness to the Bride and Bridegroom (Hurrah ! ) " 
 
 The Court remained some time longer at Bucking- 
 ham Palace, and on February 8 the Prince of Wales 
 was amongst those who listened to the debates in 
 the House of Lords. Two days later he was one of 
 the guests at the Queen's dinner-party, after which 
 a performance was given by Dr. Mark and his 
 juvenile corps in the Picture Gallery. Before the 
 end of the month (February), the Queen and Prince 
 Consort, with all their children, left London for 
 Osborne, the Prince of Wales being, as usual, 
 attended by Mr. Gibbs. After a short stay in the 
 Isle of Wight, the Court removed first to Bucking- 
 ham Palace, and then to Windsor, where, on 
 Maundy Thursday (April i) the Prince of Wales 
 was confirmed by the Archbishop of Canterbury,* 
 
 * John Bird Sumner. 
 
 353 z
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 after a lengthy examination as to his theological 
 knowledge on the previous day by the Dean of 
 Windsor.* All the Great Officers of State and the 
 Ladies and Gentlemen in Waiting occupied seats 
 immediately behind the Royal Family. The Bishop 
 of Oxfordt read the preface, and the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury performed the ceremony, which he 
 concluded with an Exhortation. The late Duchess 
 of Teck was amongst those present at the Confirma- 
 tion ceremony. In her diary for April i, 1858, 
 she wrote : " Breakfasted at nine, and soon after 
 Alice came to us for a little while ; then I wrote 
 till it was time to dress for the Confirmation. We 
 assembled shortly after twelve in the Queen's 
 Closet, and thence proceeded to the Chapel, where 
 the Archbishop confirmed the Prince of Wales, 
 who seemed much impressed. . . . The ceremony 
 concluded, we repaired to the green drawing-room, 
 where the guests were conversed with. We then 
 withdrew to the late King's room to give our presents 
 to the Prince of Wales, and afterwards lunched as 
 usual en jamille?'' A change of Ministry had taken 
 place five weeks before, but Lords Derby, Palmerston 
 and John Russell were all present. This circum- 
 stance seems to have afforded the Prince Consort a 
 text for the following interesting letter to Baron 
 Stockmar on the subject of the Confirmation of 
 the Prince of Wales, and the new phases in his 
 education then about to commence. 
 
 " The Confirmation went off with great solemnity, 
 and, I hope, with an abiding impression on his mind. 
 
 * Gerald Valerian Wellesley [1809-1882], Dean of Windsor, 
 1854-1882. His widow, a great-niece of Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu, 
 is still alive (1906). 
 
 t Samuel Wilberforce. 
 
 354
 
 A Choice of Companions 
 
 The previous day his examination took place before 
 the Archbishop and ourselves. Wellesley prolonged 
 it to a full hour, and Bertie acquitted himself 
 extremely well. To-day we take the Sacrament 
 with him. . . . Next week he is to make a run of 
 fourteen days to the South of Ireland with Mr. 
 Gibbs, Captain de Ros,* and Dr. Minter, by way 
 of recreation. When he returns to London he is 
 to take up his residence at the White Lodge in 
 Richmond Park, so as to be away from the world, 
 and devote himself to study, and prepare for a 
 military examination. As companions for him 
 we have appointed three very distinguished young 
 men of from twenty-three to twenty-six years of 
 age, who are to occupy in monthly rotation a sort 
 of equerry's place about him, and from whose 
 intimate intercourse I anticipate no small benefit 
 to Bertie. They are Lord Valletort,t the eldest 
 son of Lord Mount Edgcumbe, who has been 
 much on the Continent, is a thoroughly good, 
 moral, and accomplished man, and never was at 
 a public school, but passed his youth in attendance 
 on his invalid father ; Major Teesdale J of the 
 Artillery, who distinguished himself greatly at 
 Kars, where he was aide-de-camp and factotum to Sir 
 Fenwick Williams ; Major Lindsey of the Scots 
 Fusilier Guards, who received the Victoria Cross for 
 Alma and Inkerman (as Teesdale did for Kars), where 
 he carried the colours of the regiment, and by his 
 courage drew on him the attention of the whole 
 
 * Now 24th Baron de Ros, K.P., K.C.V.O., Premier Baron of 
 England. Lord de Ros was born in 1827, He had been appointed 
 Equerry to the Prince Consort in 1853. 
 
 t Now Earl of Mount Edgcumbe (see ante, p. 188). 
 
 : Sir Christopher Charles Teesdale, V.C. [1833-1893], Aide-de- 
 camp to Queen Victoria, 1877. 
 
 355
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 army. He is studious in his habits, lives little 
 with the other young officers, is fond of study, 
 familiar with French, and specially so with Italian, 
 spent a portion of his youth in Italy, won the first 
 prize last week under the regimental adjutant for 
 the new rifle drill, and resigned his excellent post 
 as aide-de-camp to Sir James Simpson*, that he 
 might be able to work as lieutenant in the trenches. 
 Besides these three, only Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Tarvert 
 will go with him to Richmond. As future governor, 
 when Gibbs retires at the beginning of next year, 
 I have been able as yet to think of no one as like 
 to suit, except Colonel Bruce, t Lord Elgin's brother, 
 and his military secretary in Canada, who now 
 commands one of the battalions of Grenadier 
 Guards, and lives much with his mother in Paris. 
 He has all the amiability of his sister, with great 
 mildness of expression and is full of ability." 
 
 During the following week (April i to 7) Mr. 
 Disraeli, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
 who eight years before had taken so keen an interest 
 in the Prince of Wales's learning the catechism, 
 was one of the Queen's visitors at Windsor. Doubt- 
 less, by this time, he had been reassured as to the 
 Prince Consort's orthodoxy. The Court removed 
 to London on April 12, and two days previously 
 the Prince of Wales, accompanied by Captain 
 Dudley de Ros, Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Minter, had set 
 
 • Sir James Simpson, G.C.B. [1792-1868], wounded at Quatre 
 Bras, 1 81 5. Succeeded Lord Raglan in the Crimea. 
 
 t Charles Feral Tarver (see ante) became Canon of Chester, 
 May 10, 1873, died 1 886 at his living at Stisted, Essex, where he is 
 buried. 
 
 X The Honble. Robert Bruce [1813-1862]. He married a daughter 
 of Sir M. S. Stewart. Lady Augusta Bruce, who married Dean 
 Stanley, was his sister. 
 
 356
 
 Blarney and Killarney 
 
 out for Southern Ireland. It was just about this 
 time that he had acquired his first velocipede, the 
 successor of the old hobby-horse and the fore- 
 runner of the present bicycle. He had seen one 
 in Dover on the occasion of his visit there during 
 the previous autumn, and the manufacturer seeing 
 the interest he took in the new invention, prepared 
 a special machine for his acceptance, which was then 
 described as " a beautiful structure and capable 
 of going at the rate of eight miles an hour ! " 
 
 The presence of the Heir Apparent in Ireland 
 excited a good deal of attention. On the road 
 to the Lakes of Killarney he visited Bandon, Bantry 
 and Skibbereen, and an alleged daring attempt to 
 kiss the Blarney stone, evoked from " Mr. Punch " 
 some amusing stanzas after the manner of the 
 following : 
 
 " And Captain de Ros, too, it's well he was close to 
 The Royal offspring his legs to secure, 
 While Biddy Casey, that keeps the kays, she 
 Was takin it aisy on the second flure. 
 Little was dhramin, how the Prince was schamin 
 To be let hang craning down over the wall, 
 For a kiss of the stone there, which it's well known there, 
 Makes a man a deludther for good and all." 
 
 On May 5 (after a short stay in London) the 
 Prince of Wales took up his abode in White Lodge, 
 Richmond Park, where it was announced he would 
 " keep an establishment for some months." This 
 was in 1858. Exactly thirty years later, and on the 
 fiftieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's coronation, 
 the present writer passed a day at White Lodge, 
 where the last months of the boyhood of King 
 Edward VII. had been spent. Since then Queen 
 Victoria, the venerable Duchess of Cambridge, 
 the Duke of Teck, and the kindly, charitable and 
 
 357
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 unselfish Princess whose record of the Prince of 
 Wales's Confirmation has briefly been alluded to, 
 have all vanished, one after another into the world 
 of shadows, but the account then given of the historic 
 house and its inmates,* has, it is hoped, still sufficient 
 interest to justify its reproduction in connection 
 with the latest phase of the up-bringing of King 
 Edward VII. 
 
 " Fifty years have rolled by since the Princess 
 Mary Adelaide, then a fair-haired, rosy-cheeked, 
 blue-eyed maiden in her fifth year, was led to the 
 drawing-room windows of Cambridge House to 
 see the glittering pageant pass slowly along Picca- 
 dilly, on its way to Westminster. The jubilee of 
 the Coronation has come and gone ; the pleasant 
 mansion overlooking the Green Park, which became 
 the scene of Lady Palmerston's famous parties 
 after its Royal denizens migrated to the ' Old 
 Dutch House ' at Kew, has been converted into 
 a service club ; the great majority of those who 
 played a part in the gorgeous procession of June 28, 
 1838, are now dead and forgotten ; but the venerable 
 Duchess of Cambridge still survives to send, in her 
 ninety-first year, a congratulatory message to her 
 Royal niece from St. James's Palace, while her always 
 popular daughter spends the memorable anniversary 
 with her husband and children at the White Lodge, 
 Richmond Park, where Jeannie Deans pleaded with 
 native eloquence the desperate cause of her sister 
 Eifie before Queen Caroline, in ' a deep and narrow 
 valley, carpeted with the most verdant and close- 
 shaven turf, and screened from the sun by the 
 branches of lofty elms ; ' where Lord Nelson in 
 1802 drew out roughly on a table his plan of breaking 
 the enemy's line while taking wine with Lord 
 
 * The World, vol. xxix. for 1888, p. 6. 
 358
 
 The White Lodge and its Associations 
 
 Sidmouth, the Ranger ; and where some three 
 years later, and only a few months before his own 
 death, William Pitt took a last farewell of le Sieur 
 Addington, medecin rnalgre lui. ' The fiower- 
 wreathed brow of Richmond Hill ' and the ' mean- 
 dering stream ' below it are still quite as beautiful 
 as when Alaric Watts and Alexander Pope sang 
 their praises ; * the boundless landscape,' des- 
 cribed by Thomson, is still as fair to look upon in 
 summer-time as it was when broad-faced, jolly- 
 looking Robert Walpole rode down in hot haste 
 one afternoon in June, 1727, to announce the death 
 of George I. to his son and successor ; and if the 
 Hermitage and Merlin's Cave, designed by Stephen 
 Duck and good Queen Caroline, have disappeared 
 under the reforming hand of ' untutor'd Brown,' 
 the deer still graze beneath the shade of the ' time- 
 worn giants ' and the ' vigorous plantations of 
 matured and maturing trees ' which you pass on 
 your way from Richmond Gate to the White Lodge. 
 " Standing on the steps of the Doric portico 
 facing the east, you catch a glimpse through the 
 trees of Putney Heath and the tents on Wimbledon 
 Common. Lord Sidmouth, during his long tenure 
 of office, added considerably to the Italian villa 
 which Queen Caroline built as a sort of summer- 
 house, to command the finest view of ' the boundless 
 landscape.' It was ' the Doctor ' who planned the 
 semicircular wings with corridors and broad windows 
 leading to groups of apartments which now possess 
 an historical interest. In the modest rooms looking 
 towards Kew the Queen and the Prince Consort 
 passed six weeks of the summer which followed the 
 death of the Duchess of Kent in tranquil retire- 
 ment. It was in the south wing that the Prince 
 of Wales lived as a bachelor when he first attained 
 
 .359
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the dignity of an ' establishment.' The gray stone 
 of the corridors is entirely concealed by a tangle 
 of jasmine, roses, and magnolia ; white and yellow 
 blossoms hang in festoons over the windows ; and 
 ivy from Bestwood nearly surrounds the open door, 
 before which ' Romo,' a gigantic St. Bernard, 
 gambols with ' Duke,' a long-haired Pomeranian, 
 ' Cavell,' a large-eared basset-hound, ' Boxer,' a 
 wire-haired terrier, and one or two other canine 
 companions. Shrill cries proclaim the fact that the 
 red and green parroquets, which the Princess Mary 
 is keeping for the Duchess of Connaught, decline 
 to live in amity with their neighbour ' Cocky,' one 
 of the oldest inhabitants of the White Lodge. 
 Deep stands faced with blue tiles are filled with 
 pink and white azaleas ; the heads of wild boar 
 from Wildpark, in Wurtemberg, and deer slain at 
 Ashridge and Balmoral look down on tables heavily 
 laden with blue and white china ; and close to the 
 entrance hang quaint portraits of Anne and William 
 of Holland in Dutch faience, and paintings of 
 George II. 's eldest daughter, who was the Duke 
 of Teck's great-great-grandmother, and Christo- 
 pher Duke of Wurtemberg, who was a contemporary 
 of Henry VIII. The master of White Lodge, in 
 a straw hat and serge suit, has been looking after 
 his rhododendrons with that diligence which be- 
 comes the President of the Botanic Society, and 
 having calmed the too demonstrative transports 
 of the dogs, takes you away to the south corridor, 
 where he keeps his Egyptian relics. Faded engrav- 
 ings of George III. and his consort surmount the 
 door ; a few paces further on you sec Queen Caroline 
 in a morning gown nursing her daughter, the future 
 Queen of Wurtemberg ; Princess Amelia as a baby 
 holding a dove in her hand ; and George III. and 
 
 360
 
 Interesting Mementoes 
 
 his youthful brothers and sisters playing in a garden. 
 The deep bay-window looks out on a balcony 
 covered with Gloire de Dijon roses, a thicket of 
 acacias and sweet-scented syringa, the spreading 
 Spanish chestnut-tree beneath which the Princess 
 Mary delights to welcome her friends on Sunday 
 afternoons, and the Pen Ponds beyond. You have 
 no time to enjoy the delightful prospect. You 
 pass rapidly from one historical engraving to 
 another, from the Baron Marochetti's bust of 
 the Duchess of Teck to the inlaid furniture, which 
 was a birthday gift from the Queen ; from the pastels 
 of Mary and Amelia of Orange to the marqueterie 
 cabinet containing the battered Arab standard- 
 top, the embroidered pouches, and the swords 
 which came from Tel-el-Kebir. Lord Wolseley 
 used to describe those relics facetiously as the 
 Duke's ' loot.' They have at last found a home 
 in the Prince of Wales's wing of the White Lodge 
 close to the little breakfast-room, opening on a wide 
 verandah, surrounded by honeysuckle, Virginia 
 creeper, wisearia, and tea-roses. 
 
 " The broad stone staircase within sight of the 
 classical portico dates from Queen Caroline's time. 
 It is hung to-day with ancient Windsor tapestry, 
 and a door a few paces beyond it leads you to the 
 white and gold salon^ with a lofty coved ceiling, 
 and a high wooden mantelpiece, having the mono- 
 gram G.C.R. on a panel in the centre. The windows 
 directly face the aisle-like avenue of trees commonly 
 known as the Queen's Ride, which stretches away 
 westwards in the direction of Richmond Hill, and 
 seems to lose itself at last in the picturesque beauties 
 of ' Ham's embowered walks.' The floor is covered 
 with a red velvet-pile carpet ; the collection of 
 blue and white faience scattered about the room 
 
 361
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 once belonged to the handsome Prince of Transyl- 
 vania, who smiles with grim satisfaction on his 
 descendant from the walls of the central corridor ; 
 the draperies are of gray-blue Louis XIV. satin, 
 with Chinese figures in colour ; a tall palm stands 
 in a huge vase of white and blue china ; and a screen 
 of gold brocade shelters at once a bust of Charles I., 
 an Italian picture of the Holy Family, and Queen 
 Charlotte's inlaid jewel cabinet, which enshrines 
 the archives of the Surrey Needlework Guild, 
 though the arms of England and Wurtemberg 
 have not yet lost their original splendour. A door 
 in the southern corner of the room is opened, and 
 you find yourself in the boudoir where the Princess 
 Mary and her daughter the Princess Victoria, in 
 the simplest of black dresses, are busily engaged in 
 putting up the papers connected with the ' Dis- 
 tressed Irish Ladies,' and dealing with an accumula- 
 tion of letters about the Surrey and London Needle- 
 work Guilds, in the well-being of which they both 
 take the keenest interest. The Princess Mary is 
 amongst the most constant visitors at the Royal 
 Cambridge Asylum for Soldiers' Widows, which her 
 father founded ; the children of poor prisoners 
 are in many cases saved from ruin by the good work 
 she does in the village homes at Addlestone, which 
 bear her name ; the Training Home for Young 
 Servants has no more ardent supporter ; in the 
 large-hearted Princess Mary, Mr. George Holland 
 has found the most zealous and able coadjutor for 
 his philanthropic labours amongst the destitute 
 poor of Whitechapel and the East End ; and she is 
 a Dame Chevaliere of the Order of St. John of 
 Jerusalem. Before the time of mourning came, 
 she had already ' opened ' no less than ten charitable 
 fetes in the course of the first five months of the 
 
 362
 
 A Home in Richmond Park 
 
 year, and the state of her ' own room ' at White 
 Lodge affords abundant proof of her determination 
 to make the most of her leisure. The Persian 
 carpet was a present from her brother the Duke 
 of Cambridge ; the Duke of Westminster sent her 
 the reproduction of the ' Blue B07,' which rests 
 on an easel ; the ' Surrey Guild ' cabinet near the 
 window, on a level with the tops of the almond- 
 trees, was a gift from the late Lord Wilton ; and 
 the Princess ' May,' the most patient and capable 
 of amanuenses, writes at a little rosewood escritoire 
 near the door. An old-fashioned card-table placed 
 between them (possibly the one on which Lord 
 Nelson drew his plan) is tenanted by rows of docketed 
 letters, and a Louis XVL chair is given up to the 
 last reports of the London Needlework Guild, from 
 which you learn that out of a total of 16,739 ' ^^ticles ' 
 provided, the Duchess of Teck and her daughter 
 are responsible for 2165. The plethora of tables 
 and screens in this Royal workroom is at first a 
 little perplexing, but you speedily discover that 
 everything has its use. The Princess Mary's writing- 
 table is covered with serviceable purple cloth ; 
 the sofas and chairs are upholstered in homely blue 
 and white chintz ; even the official envelopes of 
 the ' messenger cards ' are utilised for charity 
 letters ; and on the glass screen close to her hand 
 are placed a water-colour sketch of the late Duchess 
 of Gloucester (who spent the last summer of her 
 life at the White Lodge) and portraits of the Queen 
 and the other members of the Royal Family. The 
 walls are covered with Garter-blue flock-paper, 
 the Board of Works is responsible for a gray and 
 white ceiling, and nothing could be prettier than 
 the hangings of blue and cream-colour, with a 
 small Persian pattern. On one of the numerous 
 
 363
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 tables rests an excellent portrait of the Empress 
 Victoria, with her name in enamel ; there is a space 
 between the two windows set apart entirely for the 
 valuable miniatures of the Princess Mary's illus- 
 trious ancestors, and her friends ' Lady A,'* Lady 
 de Grey, and Lady Delawarrf have each a place 
 in her collection of photographs. Over the minia- 
 tures is a French fan, given her long ago by the 
 Empress Eugenie ; close to it is a copy of Angeli's 
 picture of her mother ; above the ' Blue Boy ' is 
 a crayon drawing of her father ; on either side of 
 it are Koberwein's water-colour heads of Prince 
 Adolphus and Prince Francis of Teck ; and on the 
 opposite wall is Sydney Hodges' picture of the Duke 
 of Teck in his ribbon of the Bath. There is nothing 
 amongst her belongings which is associated with 
 more pleasant reminiscences of the past than the 
 finished study for the head of the Princess of Wales, 
 which William Frith gave her as a reward for her 
 valuable assistance in enabling him to ' catch * 
 the most difficult of sitters. The Princess Mary 
 has a great many letters to finish before post-time. 
 There is, however, much remaining to be seen at 
 the White Lodge ; so you follow Prince Teck to 
 the dining-room, where you admire an original 
 Sir Peter Lely, and the portrait of Anne of Wurtem- 
 berg, bequeathed him by the Duchess of Inverness. 
 The paintings of the King and Queen of Bohemia 
 are by Mirevelt ; and on the tapestry-draped 
 staircase the robust form of Schiller's patron, 
 Duke Charles of Wurtemberg, baton in hand, 
 towers above a fireplace lined with Delft tiles. 
 " The mistress of the White Lodge always speaks 
 
 * Maria, Dowager Marchioness of Ailesbury, one of the most 
 popular granges dames of the " eighteen-eighties." 
 t Now the Dowager Countess Delawarr. 
 
 364
 
 An Ideal Library 
 
 with grateful enthusiasm of the many marks of 
 attention she has received from English authors 
 of all classes. The old library on the other side 
 of the drawing-room is used by her husband as a 
 study, and here, behind an open screen of Corin- 
 thian pillars supporting an elaborately carved 
 frieze, you see the presentation volumes which 
 contain on the fly-leaves the autographs of Samuel 
 Wilberforce, Alison, Motley, Lords Malmesbury, 
 Dulferin, Albemarle, Macaulay, and Stratford de 
 Redcliffe, Fred Burnaby, and twenty other well- 
 known writers. Landseer's portrait rests close 
 by on an easel ; a tall jar bristles with spears from 
 Zululand ; and a writing-table is placed crossways 
 between the windows looking towards Richmond 
 and Kew. Near it is Mr. Downey's life-like photo- 
 graph of the Princess Mary bending over her 
 youngest son ; her portrait by Weigall hangs 
 above the mantelpiece, on which stands a marble 
 bust of Karl Duke of Wurtemberg, surrounded by 
 brass plates and pewter water-ewers from Tel-el- 
 Kebir and Kassassin. 
 
 " From the study you pass into the northern 
 corridor, which brings you to the more modern wing, 
 where the Queen and the Prince Consort spent 
 six weeks of the memorable year which was to end 
 so mournfully. The Princess ' May ' has a plainly 
 furnished sitting-room of her own close to the study 
 used by her brothers, Prince Adolphus, who is going 
 out to India to join the 17th Lancers, Prince Francis, 
 still a cadet at Sandhurst, and Prince Alexander, 
 who is acquiring experience in Mr. Austin Leigh's 
 house at Eton. Nothing can be more interesting 
 than to talk to the Princess Mary, whose memory 
 is as good as her mother's, of the engravings hanging 
 on the walls of the corridor, which relate to State 
 
 365
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 pageants and ceremonies at which she was present. 
 Like her sister and brother, the Princess Mary was 
 born at the vice-regal palace in the old-world city 
 of Hanover. In 1837 ^^^ came with her father 
 and mother to Cambridge House, and in the follow- 
 ing summer saw the Coronation procession from the 
 balcony, and wore, she tells you laughingly, pale 
 blue bows on her shoes in honour of the event. 
 Standing before the engraving from George Hayter's 
 painting of the Queen's marriage, she points out all 
 the various personages who, one after another, 
 have died since she held her mother's hand in the 
 Chapel Royal, St. James's. Queen Adelaide, the 
 Duchess of Kent, Leopold King of the Belgians, 
 the stalwart Duke of Sussex, and nearly all the 
 noble guests have passed away ; but the Duchess of 
 Cambridge and her son (then a slim young officer 
 of Cavalry) still live, and it is the little girl with a 
 white dress, golden curls, and a broad sash, in the 
 left-hand corner of the picture who speaks to you. 
 Her father always admired Hayter's dainty figure 
 of his daughter, and the finished study for it is 
 preserved in St. James's Palace. She was a child 
 when the great ball took place at Buckingham 
 Palace, and she remembers her mother, as Anne of 
 Bretagne, dancing with the late Duke of Beaufort, 
 as Louis Xn., while her elder sister in blue and 
 silver, in the character of Reine Claude, was the 
 partner of Lord Pembroke, who personated Fran- 
 cois L Her father died in 1850; and ten months 
 later his young daughter, in deep mourning, was 
 one of the Royal group which assembled in Hyde 
 Park at the opening of the Great Exhibition. The 
 Duchess of Cambridge and her daughter now moved 
 to Kew, and in the following year the Queen gave 
 them rooms at St. James's. Phillips's historical 
 
 366
 
 An Historic Picture 
 
 picture of the Princess Royal's marriage has at the 
 present moment a melancholy interest. You have 
 little difficulty in recognising Princess Mary, who 
 wore a robe of blue silk, white lace, and pink roses, 
 amongst the figures in the foreground. The old 
 German Emperor, the Duke of Albany — the little 
 lad in kilt and tartan, upon whose shoulder the 
 Queen lays her hand so tenderly — Lord Palmerston, 
 who carries the Sword of State, Lord Breadalbane 
 with his wand, Lord Clarendon, Archbishop Sumner 
 who performed the ceremony, and now the young 
 bridegroom himself, are all gone, and of the three 
 bridesmaids kneeling immediately behind the 
 Princess, Lady Cecilia Bingham is the solitary 
 survivor. The Princess Mary speaks with true 
 womanly feeling of the many old friends she has 
 lost, and she preserves amongst her treasures an 
 engraved portrait of Archbishop Longley, who 
 married her in St. Anne's Church, Kew, to the 
 Duke of Teck, just two and twenty years ago. 
 Three years previously she had gone to Mr. Frith's 
 studio in her dress of lilac and silver, to sit for her 
 portrait in his picture of the Prince of Wales's 
 marriage, and she still laughs merrily over her adven- 
 tures at Pembridge Villas. From 1867 till 1883 
 the Princess Mary and her children lived at Kensing- 
 ton Palace, where she laboured as indefatigably 
 in the cause of charity and good works as she has 
 done since her removal to the old home of her 
 favourite aunt, amongst the leafy glades of Rich- 
 mond Park. In the corridor you may notice several 
 other portraits of her husband's ancestors. Maria 
 Dorothea, Empress of Russia, was the sister of the 
 Duke of Teck's grandfather, and he himself bears 
 a strong resemblance to his father, whom you see 
 in his Lancer uniform. The Princess Mary goes 
 
 367
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 back to the weighty ajffairs of the Surrey Needle- 
 work Guild, while the Duke, closely followed by 
 his faithful ' Romo ' (the gift of his friend Paolo 
 Tosti), leads you across the turf to show you his 
 fernery, his grotto, and his clumps of rhododendrons, 
 which excite the envy of the authorities at Kew. 
 The air is sweet with the scent of many flowers ; 
 and as you pass the open gate of the stable-yard, 
 after your pilgrimage round the most beautiful 
 of gardens, you may, perchance, see the model 
 phaeton which Sir John Whittaker Ellis presented 
 a few days ago to the Princess * May,' in the name 
 of the grateful inhabitants of Richmond. Like 
 her warm-hearted and generous mother, she is 
 already doing her utmost to strengthen, by her own 
 care and consideration for the wants of others, 
 those bonds of affection and respect which draw 
 the hearts of the English people so closely to the 
 members of the Royal Family." 
 
 Towards the end of May the Prince Consort 
 left Osborne for Coburg, where, during a short visit 
 to his brother, he hoped to see the Princess Frederick 
 William and her husband. On the 24th of that 
 month the Prince of Wales ran down to Osborne 
 for the Queen's birthday. On the following day 
 (Tuesday, the 25th) the birthday of the Princess 
 Helena was kept. A noted conjurer, Signor Carlo 
 Andreoletti, came from London to exhibit his 
 feats of legerdemain. 
 
 The life at White Lodge in the summer of 1858 
 appears to have combined very happily the require- 
 ments of both study and pleasure. In his interest- 
 ing " Life of the Duchess of Teck," Sir Kinloch 
 Cooke tells us that the Prince of Wales " often rowed 
 from Richmond to Mortlake, and, mooring his boat 
 alongside the landing-stage at Brentford Ferry, 
 
 368
 
 A Flying Visit to Berlin 
 
 would get out and take a stroll in the gardens with 
 his aunt and cousin," adding that " the first dinner- 
 party the Heir Apparent attended was at the 
 Cottage, Kew Green."* 
 
 During his absence on the Continent the Prince 
 Consort, in consequence of the Princess Frederick 
 William of Prussia having suffered a severe sprain 
 and being therefore unable to come to Coburg, 
 had gone to see her at Berlin, travelling in strict 
 incognito. In the early days of the following 
 month the Court removed to Buckingham Palace, 
 and on Monday, June 7, the Queen, with the 
 Princess Alice and Princess Helena, paid a visit to 
 the White Lodge in Richmond Park. On the follow- 
 ing day the Prince Consort returned to England. 
 On Saturday, June 26, the King and Queen of the 
 Belgians, accompanied by the Princess Charlotte 
 and the Duke and Duchess of Brabant, arrived at 
 Windsor Castle. On the following Monday the 
 Queen and Prince Consort, with the whole of the 
 foreign Royalties then in England, made a lengthy 
 inspection of the mammoth steamship the Great 
 Eastern^ called in its early days the Leviathan^ to 
 the pious horror of the over-critical. At the 
 beginning of July several of the London newspapers 
 began to discuss the possibility of the Prince of 
 Wales's marriage, and one of them proceeded to 
 state that unless he would select a Consort much 
 older than himself his choice was practically limited 
 to the following seven ladies, the only Princesses 
 of Royal blood who were Protestants : 
 
 (1) Princess Alexandrina, daughter of Prince 
 Albert of Prussia, born February i, 1842. 
 
 (2) Princess Ann of Hesse-Darmstadt, niece of 
 
 * See ante, p. 34.9. 
 
 369 2 A
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 the Grand Duke of Hesse and of the Empress of 
 Russia, born May 25, 1843. 
 
 (3) Princess Augusta of Holstein-Glucksburg, 
 born February 27, 1844. 
 
 (4) Duchess Wilhelmina of Wurtemberg, born 
 July II, 1844. 
 
 (5) Princess Alexandra, daughter of Prince Chris- 
 tian of Denmark, born December i, 1844. 
 
 (6) Princess Mary of Saxe-Altenburg, born June 
 28, 1845. 
 
 (7) Princess Catherine of Oldenburg, sister of 
 the Grand Duchess Nicholas of Russia, born Sep- 
 tember 21, 1846. 
 
 In view of the great event of four years later 
 this comparative matrimonial table is certainly 
 interesting, although it attracted very little notice 
 at the time. On Monday, August 2, the Prince of 
 Wales arrived at Osborne from White Lodge, 
 attended by Lord Valletort and Mr. Gibbs, and 
 embarked with the Queen and Prince Consort on 
 a visit to the Emperor and Empress of the French 
 at Cherbourg. In spite of the feeling of distrust 
 which had arisen on both sides, the Cherbourg 
 fetes proved a great success. The Emperor was 
 described as wearing a General's uniform and the 
 ribbon of the Legion of Honour, while the Empress 
 looked her best " in a travelling tortelle at once 
 elegant and simple and a crinoline of very reasonable 
 dimensions." The Queen and Prince Consort, 
 with the Prince of Wales, dined with the Emperor 
 and Empress of the French on board the Bretagngy 
 and the Emperor proposed the Queen's health 
 at dessert in the following terms : " I drink to the 
 health of Her Majesty the Queen of England, and 
 to that of the Prince who shares her Throne, and 
 
 370
 
 On the French Admiral's Ship 
 
 to that of the Royal Family. In proposing this 
 toast in their presence, on board the French 
 Admiral's ship in the port of Cherbourg, I am happy 
 to show the sentiments we entertain towards them. 
 Indeed, facts speak for themselves, and they prove 
 that hostile passions, aided by a few unfortunate 
 instances, did not succeed in altering either the 
 friendship which exists between the two crowns 
 or the desire of the two nations to remain at peace. 
 Therefore I entertain a sincere hope that if attempts 
 be made to stir up the old resentment and the passion 
 of another epoch they will break to pieces upon 
 public common sense as the waves break upon the 
 breakwater which at this moment protects the 
 squadrons of the two Empires against the violence 
 of the sea." 
 
 PuncFs Cherbourg cartoon represented the 
 Emperor showing the Queen a cannon, saying, 
 " A fine gun, your Majesty," to which she replies, 
 " Yes, exactly like a number we have at Woolwich."* 
 The Queen and the Prince Consort reached 
 London on Monday, August 9, leaving next day 
 for Potsdam. The Prince of Wales returned to the 
 scholastic quietude of White Lodge, and did not 
 accompany the Queen to Leeds, where, on Sep- 
 tember 7, she inaugurated a new Town Hall, but 
 four days later he left Richmond on a visit to her 
 Majesty at Balmoral. By a strange coincidence 
 in the newspaper which gave a glowing account of 
 the glories of Leeds appeared the following modest 
 note : " The Rev. Dr. Temple, headmaster of 
 
 * See ante, p. 347. for correspondence of the Prince Consort on 
 the subject of our national defences. It was in 1858 that many 
 pamphlets on the subject appeared, e.g.. Key and Williamson's 
 " Invasion invited by the Defenceless State of England " ; Hyslop's 
 (Col.) " The Defence of our Coast," and others. 
 
 371
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Rugby School, in order to encourage the study of 
 botany amongst the pupils of that Institution, 
 had offered prizes of ^^5 and ^3 for the best collec- 
 tion of dried wild flowers and plants grown within 
 four miles of the school." Four and forty years 
 later the same Dr. Temple, was, as Primate of All 
 England, destined to crown the student at White 
 Lodge, King of these realms. In 1858 the Essays 
 and Reviews controversy was still in the womb 
 of futurity, and the patron of wild flowers was not 
 even looked on as a probable candidate for the 
 honours of the Episcopacy. At Balmoral the Prince 
 and Major Teesdale got a fair amount of grouse- 
 shooting and deer-driving, and, before the Queen 
 returned to Windsor, her eldest son was back again 
 at his books in the north wing of the White Lodge. 
 On October 16, the coming retirement of Mr. F. W. 
 Gibbs, C.B., was announced, and on October 25 
 the Prince Consort thus writes to the Prince of 
 Prussia, afterwards (1870) German Emperor: "The 
 day after to-morrow, I take Alfred to his ship 
 at Spithead. That same evening he goes to sea.* 
 His departure will be another great trial for us. 
 The second child lost to our family circle in one 
 year." 
 
 Prince Alfred had been for many years the 
 *' Affle " of Queen Victoria's Journal and correspond- 
 ence, and for some time his absence from home was 
 keenly felt. On November 9 the Prince of Wales 
 would enter on his eighteenth year, and it seems 
 to have been tacitly understood that this particular 
 
 • " The Euryalus" says Sir T. Martin, " to which Prince Alfred 
 was attached, was destined for the Mediterranean station, where the 
 frigate was to remain for the next two years. The Prince Consort 
 and the Prince of Wales accompanied the young sailor to Spithead, 
 and saw his vessel bearing away on her course before they left him."
 
 a 
 
 
 SI 
 
 > Z 
 
 ft o 
 
 
 •as^vyBJ*- . 
 
 
 
 
 o
 
 Emancipation 
 
 birthday should practically be regarded as the 
 end of boyhood, and the beginning of another 
 epoch in his career. On that very day the Prince 
 Consort wrote to the Prince of Prussia : " I 
 ought not to tease you with family trifles, still I 
 will let you know that Bertie, who to-day solemnises 
 his eighteenth birthday, proposes to pay a fortnight's 
 visit to his sister, and asks leave to present himself 
 to you. It will not be a State but purely a family 
 visit, and we, therefore beg you only to show him 
 such slender courtesies as are suitable to a member, 
 and a very young one, of the family. To-day he 
 becomes a Colonel in the Army (unattached), 
 and will receive the Garter. Colonel Bruce, Lord 
 Elgin's brother, has become his Governor. Mr. 
 Gibbs retires to-morrow." 
 
 Five days previously (November 4) Mr. Greville 
 made the following entry in his diary : " I hear the 
 Queen has written a letter to the Prince of Wales 
 announcing to him his emancipation from parental 
 authority and control, and that it was one of the 
 most admirable letters that ever were penned. 
 She tells him that he may have thought the rule 
 they adopted for his education a severe one, but 
 that his welfare was their only object, and well 
 knowing to what seductions of flattery he would 
 eventually be exposed, they wished to prepare and 
 strengthen his mind against them, that he was 
 now to consider himself his own master, and that 
 they should never intrude any advice upon him, 
 although always ready to give it him whenever he 
 thought fit to seek it. It was a very long letter, 
 all in that tone, and it seems to have made a pro- 
 found impression on the Prince, and to have touched 
 his feelings to the quick. He brought it to Gerald 
 Wellesley in floods of tears, and the effect it produced 
 
 373
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 is a proof of the wisdom which dictated its compo- 
 
 sition."* 
 
 The seventeenth birthday or the beginning of 
 the eighteenth year of the life of the Prince of Wales 
 was signalised by his appointment by Brevet to a 
 Colonelcy in the army. When he arrived at Windsor 
 from White Lodge on the previous day, the Duchess 
 of Cambridge and her daughter, and several other 
 guests, were assembled for the celebration of the 
 morrow's anniversary. After the firing of the feu 
 de joie and the usual parade of the troops the Prince 
 of Wales went out shooting with his father and 
 the Duke of Cambridge. The Queen gave a very 
 large dinner-party in the evening, at which the Prince 
 of Wales, Colonel Bruce, the Rev. C. F. Tarver,t 
 Mr. Gibbs and Major Teesdale were all present. 
 The Illustrated London News^ in honour of the occa- 
 sion, published a new portrait of the Prince of 
 Wales in Highland costume, which is said to be from 
 a photograph by Mr. Lake Prince, taken the previous 
 year, and lithographed by Mr. R. J. Lane and Mr. 
 J. H. Lynch, stating as a reason for doing so that 
 much interest was excited by the fact " that the 
 two eldest sons of Her Majesty had entered on that 
 phase of life which amongst the ancients was marked 
 by the assumption of the toga virilis.^^ The birth- 
 day was also kept in London, where the Royal 
 Standard was duly displayed at the Tower and 
 Greenwich Hospital. Punches tribute to the future 
 King on this occasion was a sketch entitled " A 
 
 * 
 
 *' The Greville Memoirs," vol. viii. p. 217. 
 t In 1858 when Mr. Gibbs retired, Mr. Tarver was appointed 
 his Director of Studies and Chaplain, in which capacity he accom- 
 panied the Prince to Rome, Spain and Portugal, and then went 
 with him to Edinburgh, remaining with the Prince till the autumn 
 of 1859, when his education ceased to be conducted at home. 
 
 374
 
 Favourable Impressions at Berlin 
 
 little Souvenir to H.R.H. Colonel the Prince of 
 Wales." In it the Sage of Fleet Street, in the garb 
 of a Field-Marshal, is portrayed in the act of present- 
 ing an enormous " Life of the Duke of Wellington " 
 to the youthful soldier. 
 
 It was announced on November 27 that the Queen 
 had appointed Colonel the Hon. Robert Bruce 
 to be Governor of the Prince of Wales ; Brevet- 
 Majors R. J. Lindsay,* C. Teesdale, and Captain 
 C. Greyt to be equerries, and Viscount Valletort 
 to be extra equerry. 
 
 The Prince of Wales's trip to Germany proved a 
 triumphant success. The Prince of Prussia spoke 
 with enthusiasm of his tact and savoir faire, and the 
 excellent impression he had made at the Court of 
 Berlin. Lady Bloomfield was delighted to hear 
 so much good spoken of him, and writes to England, 
 that " we gave a ball to the Prince of Wales, which 
 was attended by the Royal Family, and which was 
 opened by the Prince of Wales and the Princess 
 Frederick Charles. I danced with Prince Frederick 
 William as their vis-a-vis. It was rather a curious 
 coincidence that my first waiting was at the time 
 of the Prince of Wales's christening, and his first 
 ball seventeen years later at my house." 
 
 On December 1 1 the Illustrated London News 
 published another portrait of the Prince of Wales 
 in his uniform as a Colonel in the Army, from a 
 photograph by Mayall, observing that some of the 
 Berlin papers had erroneously asserted that he had 
 appeared in the garb of a Colonel of the Household 
 
 • Robert James Loyd-Lindsay, V.C., born 1832, died 1901, wa* 
 created first Baron Wantage in July, 1885. He was one of the 
 pioneers of the Volunteer movement. On his death the title 
 became extinct. 
 
 t Afterwards General Charles Grey. Father of the fourth and 
 present Earl Grey, born 1804, died 1870. 
 
 375
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Brigade. " It is in the neat and simple uniform 
 which unattached officers of the Army alone are 
 allowed to wear that His Royal Highness appears 
 in the portrait before us, and there is only the 
 Ribbon and Star of the Order of the Garter and his 
 youthful countenance to distinguish him from any 
 other officer in the rank and position he holds in 
 the Army," On Christmas Eve the Prince Consort 
 informed Baron Stockmar that the Prince of Wales 
 " is now very hard at zuork.''^ 
 
 The " emancipation " of November 9, 1858, by 
 no means indicated a cessation of mental activity, 
 and the next two years were probably the busiest 
 of the whole of the Prince of Wales's early life. 
 His boyhood, however, is over, and one must 
 sternly resist the temptation to follow him on his 
 tours in Italy and Spain, and to say something of 
 his educational experiences in Edinburgh, and at 
 Oxford and Cambridge. Just nine months later 
 the Prince Consort once more writes to Baron 
 Stockmar, " in Edinburgh I had an Educational 
 Conference with all the persons who are taking part 
 in the education of the Prince of Wales. They all 
 speak highly of him, and he seems to have shown 
 zeal and good will. Dr. Lyon Playfair is giving 
 him lessons in chemistry . . . Dr. Schmitz (the 
 Rector of the High School of Edinburgh, a German) 
 gives him lectures on Roman history. Mr. Fisher, 
 who is to be the tutor for Oxford, was also at 
 Holyrood. Law and history are the subjects 
 on which he is to prepare the Prince." 
 
 It is scarcely to be wondered at that just three 
 weeks later Punch in a series of really witty verses, 
 once more asserted his right to have a voice in the 
 " making of the future Sovereign." 
 
 2>7^
 
 A Playful Protest 
 
 A Prince at High Pressure 
 
 The dear little Wales, sure the saddest of tales 
 
 Is the tale of the studies with which they are cramming thee, 
 
 In thy tuckers and bibs, handed over to Gibbs, 
 
 Who for eight years with solid instruction was ramming thee. 
 
 Then, to fill any nook Gibbs had chanced to o'erlook 
 In those poor little brains, sick of learned palaver, 
 When thoud'st fain roll in clover, they handed thee over j 
 To the prim pedagogic protection of Tarver. 
 
 In Edinburgh next, thy poor noddle, perplext. 
 
 The gauntlet must run of each science and study,' 
 
 Till the mixed streams of knowledge, turned on by the College, 
 
 Through the field of thy boy-brains run shallow and muddy 
 
 To the south from the north, from the shores of the Forth, 
 Where at hands Presbyterian pure science is quaffed. 
 The Prince, in a trice is whipped to the Isis, 
 Where Oxford keeps springs medieval on draught. 
 
 Dipped in grey Oxford mixture (lest that prove a fixture). 
 The poor lad's to be plunged in less orthodox Cam, 
 When dynamics and statics, and pure mathematics. 
 Will be piled on his brain's awrful cargo of cram. 
 
 Where next the boy may go to swell the farrago. 
 We haven't yet heard, but the Palace they're plotting in ; 
 To Berlin, Jena, Bonn, he'll no doubt be passed on. 
 And drop in, for a finishing touch, p'raps at Gottingen. 
 
 'Gainst indulging the passion for this high-pressure fashion 
 Of Prince training. Punch would uplift loyal warning ; 
 Locomotives we see, over stoked soon may be 
 Till the supersteamed boiler blows up some fine morning. 
 
 The Great Eastern'' s disaster should teach us to master 
 Our passion for pace, lest the mind's water-jacket 
 Steam for exit fiercely panting, and safety valves wanting — 
 Should explode round the brain, of a sudden, and crack it."* 
 
 Notwithstanding this well-meant protest, both 
 
 * Punch, September 24, 1859. 
 377
 
 The Boyhood of a Great King 
 
 Dr. Liddell* and Dr. Whewell had in turn some- 
 thing to do with the last stage of the Prince of 
 Wales's education, and assuredly no one is likely to 
 quarrel with the general result arrived at. 
 
 Speaking of the late Queen Victoria Sir R. Holmes 
 (one of the ablest of her biographers) says, " No 
 monarch who has ever ruled will be regretted more 
 deeply or mourned more sincerely than Queen 
 Victoria ; and her monument will be in the hearts 
 of her subjects, in the ideal of sovereignty which she 
 created, and in the undying tradition by which her 
 name will be hallowed while the Empire shall 
 endure." Surely it will be conceded that the most 
 remarkable memorial of the prudence, the wisdom, 
 the foresight, the firmness, the broad-mindedness, 
 the sound judgment, and the untiring industry of 
 both Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort f 
 is to be found in those achievements which 
 make their eldest son to-day not only the most 
 powerful but the most popular of living potentates. 
 That he occupies the unique position he does at 
 the beginning of the twentieth century is mainly 
 
 • See ante, p. 218. 
 
 t As far back as June 4, 1853, in responding at the Trinity House 
 to the toast of the Royal Family, the Prince Consort made the follow- 
 ing prophetic utterance : " It is a blessing attaching to the monarchi- 
 cal institutions of this country that the domestic relations and the 
 domestic happiness of the sovereign are inseparable from the relations 
 and happiness of the people at large. In the progress of the Royal 
 Family through life is reflected as it were, the progress of the 
 generation to which they belong, and out of the common sympathy 
 felt for them arises an additional bond of union amongst the people 
 themselves. I have often been keenly touched by the many proofs 
 of kindness, and, I may say, almost parental affection, with which 
 the Prince of Wales and the rest of our young family have been 
 welcomed on their earliest appearance. May God grant that they 
 may some day repay that affection, and make themselves worthy 
 of it by fulfilling the expectations which the country so fondly 
 cherishes." 
 
 378
 
 Practical Results 
 
 attributable to the wholesome home-influences, 
 the practical common sense, and the never-failing 
 solicitude which surrounded the boyhood and 
 moulded the character of the Great King who 
 fortunately guides the destinies of the Empire at one 
 of the most critical periods of our eventful history. 
 
 379
 
 INDEX 
 
 Aberdeen, Earl of, enter- 
 tains Queen, 348 
 Aberdeen Herald, royal visit 
 
 to Balmoral, 221, 225 
 Abergeldie, ball at, 287 
 Addison, Cato, performance 
 
 of, 42 
 Adelaide, Princess of Hohen- 
 
 lohe-Langenberg, 82 
 Adelaide, Princess of Schles- 
 wig-Holstein, 311 and note 
 Adelaide, Queen, 13, 14 
 
 Affection for Duchess of 
 
 Kent and Princess 
 
 Victoria, 62 
 
 At Cassiobury, 194 ; 
 
 Queen Victoria's visit, 
 
 195 
 Cruise to Madeira, 212, 
 
 218 
 
 Death, 243 
 
 Interest in Queen Vic- 
 toria and her children, 
 
 133 
 Letter to Princess Royal, 
 
 216 
 Admiralty barge, 240 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, Prince of 
 
 Wales at, 342 
 Albemarle, Lady, 57 
 Albert, Prince Consort, 340 
 Ancestry, 77, 87 
 As correspondent, 11-12 
 Buys Birkhall estate ad- 
 joining Balmoral, 225 
 Chorale, 266 
 Educates his children, 
 
 1^9, 170 
 
 Albert, Prince Consort — contd. 
 Education, 65, 75 
 Elected Chancellor of the 
 University of Cam- 
 bridge, 203 
 Installed, 206 
 Letters : 
 
 On National defences, 
 
 347 
 
 To Duchess of Co- 
 burg, about Mr. 
 Birch, 219, 220, 
 227 
 
 On Great Exhi- 
 bition, 275 
 
 To Duke of Welling- 
 ton on duties of his 
 position, 79 
 
 To Prince Frederick 
 William, 372, 373 
 Letters to Stockmar, Feb. 
 27, 1848, 217 
 
 Confirmation of 
 Prince of Wales, 
 
 354 
 Education of the 
 Prince of Wales, 
 
 376 
 " Little Beatrice," 
 
 344 
 Paris visit, 317 note 
 Prince of Wales' 
 walking tour, 332 
 note 
 Letters to Queen, July 
 4, 1851, 277 
 On her Accession, 7;^ 
 Occupations, 84, 87, 142 
 On General Election, 
 1841, 88 
 
 381
 
 Index 
 
 Albert, Prince Consort — contd. 
 On political impar- 
 tiality of sovereigns, 58 
 Pack of harriers, 324 
 Position in England, 78, 
 
 80, 84 
 Presents Nelson's coat 
 and waistcoat to na- 
 tion, 178 
 Projected the Exhibition 
 of all Nations, 185 1, 
 261 
 Reply to toast of " Royal 
 
 Family," 378 note 
 Sketch of, 18 
 Tastes and accomplish- 
 ments, 81 
 Unpopular, 300 
 Visits Coburg, 368 
 
 England, 1836, 65 
 French Emperor, 304 
 Aldershot Camp, royal re- 
 view at, 312, 325 
 Alexander, George, 259 
 Alexander II., Tsar, hand- 
 writing, 8 
 Alexandra of Denmark, Prin- 
 cess, 370 
 Alexandrina of Prussia, Prin- 
 cess, 369 
 Alfonso XIII. of Spain, 344 
 
 note 
 Alfred, Prince, Duke of Edin- 
 burgh ; Duke of Saxe- 
 Coburg-Gotha : 
 At Geneva, 334, 336 
 Attached to the Euryalus, 
 
 372 and note 
 Birth announced by tele- 
 gram, 148 
 Christening, 152 
 Exercise when ten years 
 
 old, 302 
 Forts at Osborne, 36 note 
 Alice, Princess, Grand Duchess 
 of Hesse : 
 Birth, 135 
 Death, 18 
 Disposition, 201 
 Fourth birthday, 204 
 Seventh birthday, 264 
 
 Alma, battle of the, 2 
 
 " Almanach de Gotha," yj 
 
 and note 
 Amateur pantomime at Dury 
 
 Lane, 256 et seq. 
 Amelia, Princess, 63 
 Anglesey, Earl of, at opening 
 
 of Great Exhibition, 271 
 Anglo-French entente cordiale,^ 
 Anne of Hesse-Darmstadt, 
 
 Princess, 369 
 Anne, Queen, early training, 
 
 33 
 Anson, Mr., Prince Albert's 
 
 private secretary, 84 
 Ardverekie Lodge, royal visit 
 
 to, 211 and note 
 Argyll, Duke of, account of 
 
 royal visit to Inverary, 210 
 Argyll, Duke of, "V. R. I. 
 
 Queen Victoria : Her life 
 
 and Empire," 9 and note, 
 
 13 and note, 65 
 Armstrong, Sir Alexander, 
 
 340, 343, and note, 348 
 Arthur, Prince, Duke of Con- 
 naught, birth, 264 
 Arundel Castle, royal visit 
 
 to, 198 
 Ascham, Roger, on Queen 
 
 Elizabeth's reading Greek, 
 
 34 
 Ascot Races, Royal Family at, 
 
 283, 292 
 Ashley, Rt. Hon. Anthony 
 
 E. M., 304 and note 
 Astley's Theatre, royal visit 
 
 to, 182, 299 
 Athalit played by royal 
 
 children, 252 
 Augusta of Holstein-Glucks- 
 
 burg. Princess, 370 
 Augusta, Princess, Grand 
 Duchess of Mecklen- 
 burg-Strelitz, 1 14 and 
 note, 117 and note 
 Birthday party, 126 
 Ayscough, Dr. Francis, Bishop 
 
 of Bristol, preceptor to 
 
 George III., 42 
 Aztecs in London, 293 
 
 382
 
 Index 
 
 Balaklava, battle of, 305 
 Balmoral : 
 
 New mansion at, 290, 
 
 294, 305 
 
 Queen Victoria's first 
 
 sojourn at, 221 
 
 Royal visits to, 221, 
 
 236, 268, 279, 286, 
 
 294. Z^7, 328, 347. 
 
 Bancroft, Sir Squire and 
 
 Lady, 259 
 Bank of England, royal visit 
 
 to, 290 
 Banting, W., 339 and note 
 Barez, M., 61 
 Barnum, P. T., showed " Tom 
 
 Thumb," 145 
 Barrington, Lady Caroline, 
 
 governess to royal children, 
 
 276 
 Battenberg, Princess Ena of, 
 
 344 and note 
 Beaconsfield, Earl of, on 
 
 resignation of H. Birch, 
 
 278 
 Beatrice, Princess, birth, 338 
 
 Christening, 340 
 Belfast, royal visit to, 
 
 235 
 Bentham, Jeremy, " If the 
 poor had more justice," 
 &c., 26 
 Berkshire, Earl of, 32 
 Berlin, insurrection in, 215 
 Birch, Rev. Henry, tutor to 
 Prince of Wales, 174, 
 219, 220, 227 and note, 
 233, 260, 281 
 Resigns, 278 
 Birthday odes, 23-25 
 Blair Athol, Queen Victoria 
 
 at, 153 
 Blantyre, Baron, 210 and 
 
 note 
 Bloomfield, Lady, on Prince 
 
 of Wales at Berlin, 375 
 Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon 
 
 {see Napoleon III) 
 
 Bonaparte, Prince Jerome 
 Napoleon," Plon PI on," 
 16, 17, 316 
 Visits Ireland, 343 
 Bourchier, Arthur, 259 
 Bourdin, Mme., 61 
 Bower Lodge, Kew, system 
 of education at, 45, 48, 
 
 57, 159 
 Brabant, Duke and Duchess 
 
 of, in England, 294, 295 
 Bridport, 331 ; Charles II. 
 
 at, 332 and note 
 Brighton, Royal Family, at, 
 
 141, 154, 176 
 Bristol, Royal Family at 
 
 station, 327 
 Britannia Bridge, 288 
 British Museum, Prince of 
 
 Wales at, 323 
 Brock, Mrs. (" Boppy "), 59, 63 
 Browne, Sir James Crichton, 
 
 on Edward VII. as hygienic 
 
 reformer, 4 
 Browning, E. B., on Queen 
 
 Victoria's accession, 64 
 Bruce, Hon. Robert, governor 
 
 to Prince of Wales, 356 
 
 and note, ^7^, 375 
 Bruce, Lord, 44 
 Buckingham Palace, aviary 
 
 in grounds, 84 
 Buckstone, John 
 
 24s 
 Bull, Dr. John, 
 
 Anthem, 67 
 Bulteel, Miss, 341 
 Bulwer, Sir E. L., 
 Bad as we Seem, 
 Bunsen, Baron de, 79, 241 
 Bunsen, Baroness de, account 
 of Royal Family at 
 
 Osborne, 228, 229 
 Account of visit to Wind- 
 sor Castle, 199, 200 
 Burdett-Coutts, Baroness, 86 
 and note, 1 17 and note 
 Ball on June 20, 1842, 
 
 126 
 Entertainment to Duke 
 of Wellington, 265 
 
 Baldwin, 
 National 
 
 " Not so 
 
 ' 277 
 
 383
 
 Index 
 
 Burnand, Sir Francis, 22 
 Burnand, Nevill Northey, 
 bust of Prince of Wales, 
 201 and note 
 Burnet, Dr. Gilbert, pre- 
 ceptor to Duke of Glou- 
 cester, 39 
 Burney, Fanny, 13, 45 
 Burns, Robert, birthday, 116 
 and note 
 
 Cadogan, Earl, 342 and note 
 Campbell, Sir Colin, relieves 
 
 Cawnpore, 349 
 Campbell, Capt. Walter, of 
 
 Islay, 211 
 Cambridge, Duchess of, 117 
 
 and note 
 Cambridge, Duke of, 114 
 
 Death, 267 
 Cambridge, George, Duke of, 
 
 152 
 Canning, Lady, on H. Birch's 
 
 departure, 282 
 Canning, Lord, saves Prince 
 
 of Wales from accident, 
 
 243 
 
 Caroline of Brunswick, Prin- 
 cess of Wales, 16, 55 
 
 Cary, Lady, governess to 
 Charles I., 31 
 
 Cassiobury, relics at, 194 
 
 Catherine of Oldenburg, Prin- 
 cess, 370 
 
 Cawnpore, Sir Colin Camp- 
 bell relieves, 349 
 
 Cerito, pas-de-quatre, 17 j 
 
 Chambord, Henry Comte de, 
 handwriting, 8 
 
 Chamounix, Prince of Wales 
 at, 347-348 
 
 Channel Islands, royal visit 
 to, 189 
 
 Chaplin, Rt. Hon. Henry, 
 
 304 
 Charles, I., 31 
 Charles II. at Bridport, 332 
 
 and note 
 
 Charles XL, his early years, 
 
 32 
 Charlotte, Empress of Mexico, 
 278 
 Handwriting, 8 
 Marriage, 343 
 Charlotte, Princess, 9 
 Character, 52 
 Christening, 51 
 Death, 15 
 
 Letter to Lady Albe- 
 marle, 57 
 Upbringing, 50, et seq. 
 Charlotte, Queen, 51 
 
 Gave early relics of 
 George IV. to Countess 
 of Effingham, 6 
 Treatment of Princess 
 of Wales, 55 
 Charmouth, 333 
 Chartism, 11, 215 
 Chartres, Due de, 36 note 
 Cherbourg fetes, 370 
 Chester, Mayor of, and birth 
 
 of Prince of Wales, 97, 99 
 Chronicle, " Tom Thumb " 
 at Buckingham Palace, 146 
 Church, John, 38 
 Churchill, Lady, 306 and 
 
 note, 341 
 Churchill, Victor, Viscount, 
 
 306 
 
 Cibber, birthday odes, 43 
 
 Claremont, death of Princess 
 
 Charlotte and Duchesse de 
 
 Nemours at, 349 and note 
 
 Claremont, Royal Family at, 
 
 84, 112, 120, 126, 132 
 Clarence, William, Duke of, 
 
 early exercise books, 6, 7 
 Clark, Sir James, 191 
 Clementina of Orleans, 
 Princess of Saxe-Coburg- 
 Cohari, 132 and note 
 Cliefden, masque at, 41 
 Clifford, Lady de, 53 
 Coal Exchange, City, opened, 
 
 239 
 Coburg, Dowager-Duchess of, 
 on Prince Albert and Prin- 
 cess Victoria, 6 1 
 
 384
 
 Ind 
 
 ex 
 
 Duke Ernest, 65, 
 
 Buckingham 
 17, 1837, 71 
 
 338 
 
 Duke, at 
 
 Coburg, 
 
 76 
 Codrington, Sir W., 347 and 
 
 note 
 Concert at 
 
 Palace, Aug. 
 Concert at Windsor 
 Constantine, Grand 
 
 Osborne, 340 
 Conyngham, Lord, at Ken- 
 sington Palace, 57, 71 
 Cooke, constructed G. W. R. 
 
 telegraph, 1 50 
 Cooke, Sir Kinloch, Life of 
 
 Duchess of Teck, 368 
 Cooper, T. Sidney, painted 
 
 Buffie, 82 
 Cork, Cove of (Queenstown) 
 
 royal flotilla at, 231, 232 
 Com Laws repealed, 176 
 Correspondence (early) of 
 
 kings and princes, 5 et seq. 
 Covent Garden Theatre burnt 
 
 down, 322 
 Cowan, Lady, dress at Guild- 
 hall banquet, 72 
 Cowan, Sir John, 
 
 Mayor's show, 90 
 Coweil, Lieut., 334 
 Craig Gowan cairn, 287 
 Crimean War, 299, 305 et seq. 
 Peace proclaimed, 320 
 Thanksgiving for peace, 
 
 324 
 Croft, Sir Richard, 54 
 Crosdil, taught George IV. 
 
 the violoncello, 45 
 Cruikshank, George, 21 
 Crystal Palace, Sydenham, 
 
 303 
 Cumberland, Ernest, Duke of, 
 
 57, 59 
 Death, 281 
 King of Hanover, 66 
 Curzon, Lady Adelaide Ida, 
 Countess of Westmoreland, 
 196 and note 
 Curzon, Lady Emily Mary, 
 Lady Kingscote, 196 
 
 his Lord 
 
 38s 
 
 Dancing in Royal Family, 
 
 no, 315 note 
 Dartmouth, royal visit to, 
 
 326 
 Davys, Rev. George (Bishop 
 of Peterborough), 9, 59, 
 61, 63 
 Journal quoted, 60 
 Derby, i6th Earl of, 342 and 
 
 note 
 Desaguliers, Dr., 42 
 Die Tafel Birnen — play by 
 
 royal children, 254 
 Disease, crusade against, 3 
 Disraeli, Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer, at Windsor, 
 356 
 Dixon, Admiral Manly, 231 
 Doran, Dr., " A Lady of the 
 Last Century (Mrs. Eliza- 
 beth Montagu)," 34 note 
 Dorchester, 331 
 Doyle, " Dicky," 21 
 Doyle, John (H.B.), 21 
 
 Caricatures of Princess 
 
 Victoria and Duke of 
 
 Cumberland, 58 
 
 " Procession of the Flitch 
 
 of Bacon," 86 
 
 Drama, Edward VII. and, 
 
 259 
 Drawings by royal children, 
 
 308-309 
 Drew, Sarah, makes mat for 
 the Prince of Wales, 131 
 Drury Lane, amateur panto- 
 mime at, 256 et seq. 
 Duke, Sir J., Lord Mayur^ 
 
 239, 242 
 Duppa, Bishop Brian, 3? 
 
 E 
 
 Eastlake, Sir Charles, 292 
 Edinburgh, royal visits to, 
 
 268, 328 
 Education, Royal systems of, 
 
 12, 15, 17, 29 et seq. passim. 
 
 2 B
 
 Index 
 
 Edward VII. 
 
 Armorial bearings as 
 Prince of Wales, 109, 
 
 137 
 As Duke of Rothesay, 
 
 177, 209 
 As hygienic reformer, 4 
 At British Museum, 323 
 At Carnarvon, 208 
 At Cherbourg, 370 
 At Dublin Exhibition, 
 
 294 
 At Harrow Speech day, 
 
 303 
 At inauguration of 
 
 Palace of Crystal, 303 
 At opening of Great Ex- 
 hibition, 27 1 
 At review at Aldershot, 
 
 32s 
 At Royal Academy Ex- 
 hibition, 228, 292 
 Begins to visit public 
 
 places, 206 
 Birth, gi et seq. 
 
 Thanksgiving for, 95 
 note, loi 
 Birthdays, First anniver- 
 sary, 129 
 Second anniversary, 
 142, poem on, 143 
 Fourth anniversary, 
 
 ode, 181 
 Fifth anniversary, 
 
 odes, 197 
 Sixth anniversary, 
 
 213 
 Seventh anniversary, 
 
 226 
 Tenth anniversary, 
 
 280 
 Twelfth anniversary, 
 
 295 
 Fourteenth anniver- 
 sary, 318 
 Sixteenth anniver- 
 sary, 349 
 Seventeenth anni- 
 versary, 372, 374 
 Chair of State, 1847, 202 
 Characteristics, 260 
 
 Edward VII. — continued 
 Childhood, 10 
 Christening, 114 
 Colonel in the Army, 374 
 Confirmation, 353 
 Continental tour, 340, 
 
 342 et seq., 347 
 Contribution to Patriotic 
 
 Fund Exhibition, 308 
 Cruise to Channel Islands, 
 
 191, 304 
 Drama, 259 
 Drawing, 13, 309 
 Earl of Dublin, 236, 238 
 Early letters, 12, 13, 14 
 Early voyages and letters, 
 
 175 et seq. 
 
 Effects of his personality, 
 I ei seq. 
 
 Escape from gun acci- 
 dent, 243 
 
 Established at White 
 Lodge, 357, 368, 371, 
 
 372 
 Exercise when ten years 
 
 old, 281 
 Expedition to Ireland, 
 
 355, 357 
 First ball, 315 
 First dinner party, 348, 
 
 349 and note, 369 
 First prayers, 173 
 First velocipede, 357 
 Forts at Osborne, 36 
 
 note, 303 
 Histrionic ability, 252 
 
 et seq. 
 Home life, 1847-1850, 
 
 199 et seq. 
 Hunting, 336, 338 
 111 with measles, 292 
 In Duchy of Cornwall, 
 
 192, 193 
 In House of Lords, 306 
 
 and note, 353 
 In Scotland, 209, 211 
 
 (see Balmoral) 
 Industry, 4 
 Lessons and excursions, 
 
 283 
 Nursery days, 169 et seq. 
 
 386
 
 Index 
 
 Edward VII. — continued 
 
 Personal appearance, 
 
 1847, 215 
 Possible Consorts, 369- 
 
 370 
 Presents Inspector 
 
 O'Brien with gold 
 
 watch, 279 
 Sailor costume, 191, 207 
 
 and note 
 Saw Masaniello at Italian 
 
 Opera, 271 
 Sits to Burnand, 201 
 Sledging and skating, 203, 
 
 261, 296, 297, 336 
 " The most powerful and 
 
 popular living Sove- 
 reign," I, 18, 378 
 Three companions, 355 
 
 and note 
 Three earliest years, 112 
 
 et seq. 
 Titles, 19 
 Trip to Germany, 373, 
 
 375 
 Visits Astley's, 182, 299, 
 322 
 Bank of England, 
 
 290 
 City, 1849, 239 etseq. 
 Eton, 292, 31 1 
 France, -^12 et seq. 
 Great Exhibition, 
 
 277 
 Ireland, 233 e^ seq. 
 Walking tour in West, 
 
 329 et seq. 
 Wedding present to Prin- 
 cess Royal, 353 
 Who should educate ? 
 
 161 et seq. 
 Witnessed departure of 
 troops for Russia, 
 298 
 Work during 1859-1860, 
 
 Effingham, Dowager-Countess 
 
 of, 6 
 Elgin, Dowager-Lady, 52 
 Elizabeth, Princess, early edu- 
 cation, 34 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, early epis- 
 
 tolatory skill, 5 
 Elizabeth, Queen, reading 
 
 Greek, 34 
 Ellesmere, Earl and Countess, 
 entertain Royal Family, 34 1 
 Elstrack, Richard, portrait 
 
 of Charles Stuart, 31 
 Elvey, Sir George, anthem for 
 christening of Prince of 
 Wales, 114, 115 
 Endymion, cannon balls fired 
 
 into, 195 
 England : 
 
 Financial crisis, 1857, 
 
 348 
 In 1841-1851, II 
 In 1842, 112 
 In 1850, 261 
 
 In 1 901 and in 1906, 1-2 
 English Illustrated Magazine, 
 July, 1897 
 Queen Victoria's Life, 56 
 note 
 First railway journey, 
 124 
 " Eos," 2i2 and note, 112 
 Etchings, Autographs, &c., 
 of Queen and Royal Family, 
 
 13 
 Etchings, piracy of royal, 225, 
 
 238 
 Eton College, royal visit to, 
 
 292, 311 
 Europe in 1848, 215, 217 
 
 In 1851, 280 
 Eugenie, Empress, 16 
 Exeter, Royal Family at 
 
 station, 327 
 Exhibition of all nations, 261, 
 266 
 Buildings, 268, 269 
 Closed, 280 
 Opening, 271, et seq. 
 
 Fagan, C. E.,and A. W. Tuer, 
 " First year of a Silken 
 Reign," 71 
 
 Falmouth, royal visit to, 193 
 
 387
 
 Index 
 
 Feodore, Princess (Princess 
 
 Hohenlohe-Langenberg),59, 
 
 60, 61, 82, 220 
 Feodore, Princess of Saxe- 
 
 Meiningen, 3 1 1 and note 
 Fisher, Bishop, 53 
 Fisher, tutor to Prince of 
 
 Wales at Oxford, 376 
 Finch, Lady Charlotte, gover- 
 ness to George III.'s 
 children, 44, 284 
 Letter to the Duke of 
 York, 9, 13, 45 
 Fitzclarence, Lord Adolphus, 
 
 190, 192, 209, 231, 240 
 Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, 234 
 Fitzherbert, Maria, 7, 49, 56 
 Flemish Farm, Windsor Great 
 
 Park, 142 and note 
 Franco-American Alliance, 69 
 Fraser, Sir William, " Laure- 
 
 ated Leaves and Rhymes for 
 
 Royalty," 23 
 Frederic, Elector of Saxony, 
 
 176 and note 
 Frederick William of Prussia, 
 
 Prince, visits England, 318, 
 
 324, 335 
 Frederick the Great, 40 
 Free Trade and Protection, 1 1 
 Frith, W. P., 81 note 
 
 "Coming of Age in the 
 olden Time," 228 
 Fyvie, John, " Some Famous 
 
 Women of Wit and Beauty," 
 
 25 and note 
 Fyvie, Lord and Lady, 31 
 
 Gage, W. L. " Life of Mendels- 
 sohn " : visit to Queen 
 Victoria, 126 
 
 Gainsborough, Countess of, 
 
 195 
 Garcia, Manuel, 218 and note 
 Garcia, Pauline Viardot, 218 
 
 and note 
 Garrick, David, at levee at St. 
 
 James's, 244 
 Garth, Miss, 52 
 
 Gauromma, Princess, baptized 
 at Buckingham Palace, 283 
 George I., early education, 39 
 George II., education, 40 c/ sej. 
 George III. : 
 
 Early education and 
 
 handwriting, 5 
 Early life, 41 et seq. 
 Histrionic ability, 252 
 Letters to Princess of 
 
 Wales, 55 
 Patronised actors, 244 
 George IV. : 
 
 Birthday celebration, 24, 
 
 44 
 Early relics of, 6 
 Estimate of Princess 
 
 Charlotte as Sovereign, 
 
 15. 54 
 Histrionic ability, 252 
 
 In Dublin, 234 
 Instructors, 44 
 Gibbs, F. W., tutor to Prince 
 of Wales, 174, 260, 
 278, 283, 340, 343 and 
 note, 347, 356, 374 
 Arranged visits to print- 
 ing and lithographic 
 establishments, 323 
 Retires, 372, 373 
 Gillray, 21 
 Gladstone, William Henry, 
 
 342 and note 
 Globe, birth of Prince of Wales, 
 
 107 
 Gloucester, Duchess of, 204, 
 284, 291 
 Death and burial, 339 
 Juvenile ball, 311 
 Gloucester, Prince William 
 Henry, Duke of. Memoirs 
 of, 5, 35 etseq. 
 Good Hope and its owner, ^y 
 Gooch, Sir Daniel, 124 
 Gory, M., 37 
 Goupy, taught George III. 
 
 drawing, 42 
 Gourdon, Admiral Count de, 
 
 346 
 Gower, Lord Albert Leveson, 
 300 and note 
 
 388
 
 Ind 
 
 ex 
 
 Gower, Lord Ronald, 300 and 
 
 note 
 Grahn, Lucille, pas-de-quatre, 
 
 177 
 Grandineau, M., 61 
 Great Britain, steamship, 
 
 launched, 138 
 Great Eastern {Leviathan), 369 
 Great Western Railway, 124, 
 
 148, ISO, 288, 303, 327 
 Greville, C. C. Diary, Nov. 11, 
 1 84 1 . Birth of Prince 
 of Wales, 96 
 Dec. 5, 1841. Armorial 
 bearings for Prince of 
 Wales, 109, 137 
 Dec. 9, 1 84 1. Titles of 
 
 Prince, no 
 Nov. 4, 1858. Queen's 
 letter to Prince of 
 Wales, 373 
 On meeting of Privy 
 Council, 1 84 1, 89 
 Grey, Major-General Hon. C, 
 340, 343 and note, 375 
 and note 
 " Early Years of H.R.H. 
 the Prince Consort, 20 
 and note, 75 
 Grisi, Carlotta, pas-de-quatre, 
 
 \77 
 Griiner, Mile., 191, 192 
 
 H 
 
 Halifax, Viscount, 342 and 
 
 note 
 Hamilton, Lord Claude, 126 
 Hanover, Sophia, Electress 
 
 of. ZZ> 39. 40 
 
 Harcourt, Lord, governor to 
 George III., 43 
 
 Hardy, Admiral Sir Thomas, 
 would not travel by rail- 
 way, 124 note 
 
 Hardy, Thomas, " The 
 Dynasts," 16 and note 
 
 Hare, John, 259 
 
 " Harlequin Guy Fawkes," 
 256 et seq. 
 
 Harris, Sir Augustus, 259 
 Harrow Speech day, 303 
 Harrowby, Earl of, 303 
 Hatfield. Queen Victoria's 
 
 visit to, 196 
 
 Hayes, Dr. Philip, edited 
 
 " Memoirs of Prince 
 
 William Henry, Duke 
 
 of Gloucester," 5 note, 
 
 35 
 Sketch of career, 35 
 Haynau, Marshal, 292 
 Hayter, Dr., preceptor to 
 
 George III., 43 
 Hayter, Sir George, painting 
 of christening of Ed- 
 ward VII., 114 
 Painting of Queen's mar- 
 riage, 366 
 Heard, Sir Isaac, 54 
 Helena, Princess Christian : 
 Birth, 185 
 
 Introduction to Memoirs 
 of Alice, Grand Duchess 
 of Hesse, 18, 169, 
 170 
 Theatricals by royal 
 children, 253, 254 
 Hereford, Marquis of, 32 
 Hertford, Marquis of, 253 and 
 
 note 
 Hicks, Mrs., 284 
 Hildyard, Miss, governess to 
 Queen Victoria's children, 
 4, 220, 233, 270 
 Hodgkins, J. George, "Sketches 
 and Anecdotes of Queen 
 Victoria," quoted 171 
 Holderness, Lord, 44, 45 
 Holmes, Sir R., on']. Queen 
 Victoria and ^ her 
 monument, 378 ■ ^ 
 
 Thomas Knox, 256, 257 
 Honiton, 334 
 Houghton, Lord, 15, 53 
 
 Account of Plantagenet 
 ball, 118 
 Howe, Earl, 195 
 Howley, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, at Kensington 
 Palace, 57, 71 
 
 389
 
 Index 
 
 Howley, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury — continued 
 Thanksgiving Prayer for 
 birth of the Prince of 
 Wales, 95 note, loi 
 
 Hurd, Bishop, 44, 57 
 
 Illustrated London News, 21,22 
 Banquet on opening of 
 
 Coal Exchange, 241 
 Birth of Prince Alfred 
 
 announced by tele- 
 gram, 149 
 Birthdays at Claremont, 
 
 121 
 Copy of Winterhalter's 
 
 picture of Royal 
 
 Family, 205 
 Ode on birth of Princess 
 
 Alice, 136 
 Odes on Prince of Wales' 
 
 fifth birthday, 197 
 Portrait of Prince of 
 
 Wales and verses, 133, 
 
 134 
 Portrait of Prince Albert, 
 
 144 
 Portrait of Prince of 
 
 Wales as colonel, 375 
 Portraits of royal chil- 
 dren, 288 
 Prince of Wales's 
 household, 135 
 Printing machine in 
 Great Exhibition, 277 
 Royal children riding, 2 1 2 
 Royal contribution to 
 Patriotic Fund Exhibi- 
 tion, 308 
 Royal visit to Astley's, 
 
 183, 184 
 Sonnet to Prince Albert, 
 2 1 1 note 
 Indian Mutiny, 346 
 
 Delhi captured, 348 
 National Fast, 348 
 " Infant Lyra," 59 
 
 Inglefield, Admiral Sir 
 Edward A., drawings of 
 Arctic Expedition, 295 and 
 note 
 
 Inkerman, battle of, 305 
 
 Inverary, royal visit to, 209, 
 210 
 
 Ipswich, meeting of British 
 Association at, 277 
 
 Ireland, royal visit to, 1849, 
 230 et seq. 
 
 Ireland, state of, in 1843, ^3^ 
 
 Irving, Sir Henry, 259 
 
 Jackson, Dr. Cyril, 44 
 James I., " Basilikon Doron " 
 
 quoted, 29 
 James I., his writings, 30 
 James II., early life, 32 
 Jocelyn, Viscountess, 191,298 
 Johnson, Thomas, 90 
 Joinville, Prince de, 141 
 Joynes, Rev. R. 227 
 Judge and Strange, pirate 
 
 royal etchings, 225, 238 
 Judge, Mrs., Prince Albert's 
 
 generosity to, 239 
 Juvenile balls at Bucking- 
 ham Palace, 300, 310, 323 
 
 K 
 
 Kean, Charles, 245 
 
 Manages theatricals at 
 Windsor, 320 and note 
 Kean, Mr. and Mrs. Charles, 
 in Macbeth at Windsor, 289 
 Kean, Edmund, 245 
 Kemble, Charles, reads Cym- 
 beline at Buckingham 
 Palace, 147 
 Kemble, Fanny, 245 ; de- 
 scription of railway engine, 
 124 note 
 Kent, Duchess of, 13. 57, 114 
 Ball at Abergeldie, 287 
 Excursions, 62, 63, 64 
 Letters to Prince of 
 Wales, 237, 263 
 
 390
 
 Index 
 
 Kent, Duchess of — continued 
 Letters to Princess Royal, 
 
 204, 237 
 Pas redouble, 129, 196 
 Royal children visit, 290 
 Kent, Duke of, on Queen Vic- 
 toria at Sidmouth, 58 
 Kent, Duke of, Whiggism, 57 
 Keppel, Sir Henry, 321 and 
 
 note 
 Kerr, Miss, 191 
 Kingsdown, Lord, estimate of 
 
 Prince Albert, 79 
 Kingstown, royal visit to, 
 
 233, 235 
 Koenigs winter. Prince of 
 
 Wales at, 342, 343 
 Kossuth in London, 280 
 
 Lablache, M., 61, 73, 84 
 Lake, Dr. Edward, 34 
 Lampadius, W. A., transla- 
 tion of Mendelssohn's Life, 
 125 and note 
 Landseer, Sir Edwin, 82 
 
 Drawings at Axdverekie 
 
 Lodge, 211 note 
 Royal visit to his studio, 
 270 
 Law, Dr., Bishop of Chester, 
 
 45 
 Law, Hon. Charles Ewan, 
 
 address on opening of Coal 
 Exchange, 241 
 Lawson, William, presents 
 sherry for Queen Victoria's 
 use, 72 
 Leech, John, 21 
 
 Caricature portrait of Ed- 
 ward VII., 22 
 " Every Inch a Sailor," 
 
 190, 207 note 
 Great Derby Race of 
 
 1851, 277 
 The British Lion, 267 
 Vignette portrait of 
 Prince of Wales, 139. 
 {see also Punch) 
 
 Leeds, royal visit to, 371 
 Lehzen, Baroness, 59 
 
 Story of genealogical tree, 
 14, 16, 60 
 Leiningen, Prince of, 152 
 Leiningen, Prince Charles of, 
 
 death, 335 
 Leiningen, Prince Edward of, 
 
 347 and note 
 Leinster, Duke of, 234 
 Leopold, King of the Belgians, 
 60, 62 
 Visits England, j^, 145, 
 278, 312, 323, 324, 334 
 Leopold, Prince : 
 Birth, 291 
 Christening, 292 
 Letter-writing in " forties " 
 
 and "fifties," 11 
 Letter-writing in royal edu- 
 cation, 12 
 Leuchtenberg, Grand Duchess 
 
 of, at Geneva, S37 
 Lewis, Jenkin, " Memoirs of 
 Prince William Henry, 
 Duke of Gloucester," 5 note, 
 
 35. 37 
 Liddell, Rev. H. G., 218, 378 
 Lilly, Mrs., 22, 87, 136 
 Liston, comedian, 184 
 Liltle Red Riding Hood, by 
 
 royal children, 256 
 Loyd-Lindsey, Robert James, 
 
 Baron Wantage, 355, 375 
 
 and note 
 London County Council visit 
 
 Paris, 2 
 London Gazette, Nov. 9, 1841. 
 
 Birth of Prince of Wales, 94 
 London Gazette, Dec. 4, 1841. 
 
 Titles of Prince of Wales, 
 
 108 
 Lord Mayor's (Humphrey) 
 
 banquet, 1842, menu, 128 
 Lord Mayor's show, 1841, 89, 
 
 Lome, Marquess of, 210 and 
 
 note 
 Loubet, President, Edward 
 
 VII. and, 2 
 Louis Philippe, abdicated, 215 
 
 391
 
 Index 
 
 Louis Philippe and Queen 
 Amelia's visit to Windsor, 
 
 155 
 Louis Philippe, unpopular in 
 
 England, 140 
 Louise, Princess (Duchess of 
 
 Argyll), birth, 217 
 Louise, Queen of the Belgians, 
 
 73, 132 note, 145, 278 
 Lyme Regis, 334 
 Lyttelton, Sarah, Lady, 23, 
 123 and note, 127, 269 
 note 
 Appointed preceptress to 
 the Princess Royal, 160 
 First night in new por- 
 tion of Osborne House, 
 194 
 Last audience with Queen, 
 
 269 
 On Princess Alice and her 
 pet lamb, 263 
 
 M 
 
 McKay, Queen Victoria's 
 piper, 215 
 
 McLean, T, " A First Lesson 
 on the Welsh Harp," 136 
 
 Mackiney dwarfs at Bucking- 
 ham Palace, 186 
 
 Maclise, David, 26 
 
 Macready, 245 
 
 Farewell performance, 
 269 
 
 Madan, Frederic, 6 
 
 Magazine of Art, 1901. Queen 
 Victoria's influence on art, 
 81 
 
 Makin, Bathshua, sketch of, 
 
 34 
 Malet, Sir Alexander, 335 
 
 Malibran, Mme., 218 
 Manchester Art Treasures 
 Exhibition, royal visit to, 
 
 341 
 Mar, Arabella, Countess of, 30 
 Marie Henriette, Queen of the 
 
 Belgians, 294 and note 
 Markham, Archbishop, 44 
 
 Marlborough House granted 
 to Prince of Wales, 267 and 
 note 
 Marshall, William, 34 
 Martin, Sir T : 
 
 Eulogy of Prince Con- 
 sort, 18 
 " Life of the Prince Con- 
 sort," II and note, 75, 
 78 
 Monograph on Baron 
 Stockmar, 12 
 Mary of Saxe - Altenburg, 
 
 Princess, 370 
 Mary, Queen, 34 
 Mary Stuart, Queen, early 
 
 epistolatory skill, 5 
 Maximilian of Austria, Duke, 
 
 343 
 
 Maxwell, Sir William Stirling, 
 28 
 
 Meadows, Kenny, 23, 133 
 
 Mecklenburg - Strelitz, Prin- 
 cess Augusta, Grand 
 Duchess of, 114 and 
 note, 177 and note 
 Birthday party, 126 
 
 Melbourne, Viscount, at Hat- 
 field, 196 
 
 Melbourne, Viscount, consults 
 Prince Albert, 84 
 
 Mendelssohn, letter to his 
 mother, June 21, 1842, visit 
 to Queen Victoria, 125 
 
 Mensdorff, Count Arthur, on 
 Prince Albert as a child, 75 
 
 Middleton, Sir William, enter- 
 tains Prince Albert, 277 
 
 Mint, royal visit to, 291 
 
 Minter, Dr., 355, 356 
 
 Monmouth, James, Duke of, 63 
 
 Montagu, Duke of, 44 
 
 Montagu, Elizabeth, 13, 45 
 
 Montagu, Lady Mary Wort- 
 ley, on Frederick, Prince of 
 Wales, 40 
 
 Moors in London, 262 
 
 Mount Edgecumbe, Earl of, 
 355 and note, 375 
 
 Mount Edgecumbe, Lady, 188 
 and note 
 
 392
 
 Index 
 
 Mulready envelopes, 2 1 
 Munster, Countess of, latter 
 
 days of William IV., 159 
 
 note 
 
 N 
 
 Namur, siege of, 36, n, 38 
 Napoleon II., King of Rome, 
 
 exercise-books, 7 
 Napoleon III., 215, 288 
 
 And Empress Eugenie 
 
 visit England, 309, 343 
 
 " L'erapire c'est lapaix," 
 
 3 
 Entertains English royal- 
 ties, 313 
 National Anthem, different 
 versions, 67 et seq., 93 
 Impromptu verses to, 25 
 National defences, 346, 347, 
 
 371 and note 
 National on Prince of Wales, 
 
 120 
 Naval review, Spithead, 293, 
 
 299 
 Nemours, Duchesse de, death, 
 
 349 
 Newcastle, royal visits to, 
 
 225 and note 
 
 Newcastle, William Caven- 
 dish, Earl of, 32 
 
 Newton, Adam, tutor to 
 Henry, Prince of Wales, 5,31 
 
 Nicholas, Tsar, death, 307 
 
 Nicolas, Sir Harris, discovers 
 Nelson's coat and waist- 
 coat, 178 
 
 Nightingale, Florence, 328 
 and note 
 
 Norfolk, Duke and Duchess 
 of, entertain Queen Vic- 
 toria, 198 
 
 Norris Castle, 330 
 
 North Wales, royal visit to, 
 287 
 
 Norton, Caroline, " The Child 
 of the Islands," 25, 28 
 Extracts from, 26, 27 
 
 Northumberland, Duchess of. 
 State governess, 62 
 
 Northumberland, Earl of, 32 
 
 O 
 
 "Old Adelphi," royal visit 
 
 to, 321 
 Orange, Mary, Princess of, li 
 Ormond, Duchess of, ^6 
 Osborne estate, 146 
 
 Miniature forts at, 36 
 
 note, 303 
 Riding-school, 346 
 Osborne House, nurseries, 
 
 344-346 
 Osborne House, royal visits 
 
 to, 177, 181, 182, 187, 194, 
 
 198, 214, 228, 243, 265, 267, 
 
 279, 282, 283, 301, 304, 308. 
 
 3'^7> 325. 335» 339. 344. 349. 
 
 353. 368 
 Oscar II. of Sweden, 324 and 
 
 note 
 Oxenford, John, on Holmes 
 
 as Guy Fawkes, 257 
 
 Packer, Mrs. (Augusta Gow), 
 
 87 
 Paddington Station, 149, 150 
 Palmerston, Viscount, 79, 176 
 191 
 At Harrow Speech day, 
 
 303 
 On Baron Stockmar, 12 
 
 Palmerston, Viscount and Vis- 
 countess, visit Queen, 321 
 and note, 328 
 Paris, Comte de, 36 note 
 Paris, English Royal Family 
 
 visit, 313 et seq. 
 Patriotic Fund Exhibition, 
 contributions by royal chil- 
 dren, 308 
 Peel, Sir Robert, 128, 149 
 Death, 267 
 
 Estimate of Prince Al- 
 bert, 79 
 Penderel-Brodhurst, J., "Life 
 of King Edward VII.," 
 10 note 
 Sydney Smith and birth 
 of Prince of Wales, 10 1 
 note 
 
 393
 
 Index 
 
 Pendleton, John, on Queen 
 Victoria's first railway jour- 
 ney, 124 and note 
 
 Phillip, John, picture of Prin- 
 cess Royal's wedding, 351, 
 
 Philpott, Dr., 214 
 
 Phipps, C. B., 253 and note 
 
 Phipps, Hon. C. B., letter to 
 B. Webster on Windsor 
 theatricals, 250 
 
 Phipps, Hon. C. B., organised 
 "Windsor Theatricals," 
 246 
 
 " Phlegethon," engine, 124 
 and note 
 
 Pirie, John, 90, 91 
 
 Pitt, Miss, autograph collec- 
 tion, 8 
 
 Plantagenet ball at Bucking- 
 ham Palace, \\6 ct seq. 
 
 Playfair, Dr. Lyon, ^7^ 
 
 Plymouth, royal visit to, 326 
 
 Politics had no part in educa- 
 tion of Edward VII., 57 
 
 Politics in early training of 
 George III. and his sons, 
 
 57 
 Ponsonby, Lt.-Col., 340, 343 
 
 and note, 347 
 Portland breakwater, royal 
 
 visitors to, 284 and note, 
 
 325 
 Prat, preceptor to Duke of 
 
 Gloucester, 2,6, 38 
 Princess Royal, Empress Fre- 
 derick 
 Affianced to Prince Fre- 
 derick William of Prus- 
 sia, ^Z7 
 Birth, 80, 86 
 Confirmed, 323 
 Drawing Battlefield, 308, 
 
 309 
 Early letters and draw- 
 ing, 13, 14 
 Letter to Prince of Wales, 
 
 270 
 Wedding, 351 
 Protection and Free Trade, 
 II 
 
 Prussia, Frederic William IV., 
 King of, 114, lis 
 Christening present to 
 Edward VII., 127 
 Prussia, Sophia Dorothea, 
 
 Princess Royal of, 40 
 Punch : 
 
 A Case of Real Distress, 
 
 187 
 A Real Case of Caudle, 
 
 266 
 A Morning Call, 23Q 
 A Royal Nursery Rhyme, 
 
 150 
 Bal costume at Bucking- 
 ham Palace, 178 
 Belgravians' Lament, 266 
 Birth of Prince of Wales, 
 
 89, 102 et seq., 108 
 Burning of Covent Gar- 
 den Theatre, 322 
 Cherbourg cartoon, 371 
 Christening of Edward 
 
 VII., 116 
 Demon of Discord, 177 
 Entente cordiale, 304 
 " Epithalamium," 353 
 French Shawls for 1855, 
 
 316 
 General Fevrier turned 
 
 Traitor, 307 
 Ireland a Dream of the 
 
 Future, 236 
 Jack Tar cartoon, 190, 
 
 207 note 
 La Belle Alliance, 316 
 Louis Philippe's Visit to 
 
 Windsor, 155 
 New Royal Hunt, 176 
 " Oh ! God of Battles, 
 steel my Soldiers' 
 Hearts," 338 
 On Prince of Wales' 
 
 Name, 113 
 Original Prospectus, July 
 
 17, 1841, 21 
 Palace of Crystal, 276 
 Paul Pry in the High- 
 lands, 224 
 Piracy of Royal Etchings, 
 22s 
 
 394
 
 Index 
 
 Punch — continued 
 
 Presents to Prince of 
 
 Wales, 212 
 Prince Arthur's Name, 
 
 265 
 Prince at High Pressure, 
 
 277 
 Prince of Wales a Sailor, 
 
 305 
 Prince of Wales* Visit to 
 
 Ireland, 357 
 Princess Alice's Seventh 
 
 Birthday, 264 
 Princess Royal's Engage- 
 ment, 2)2i7 
 Progress to Ostend, 268 
 Prussian Eagle, 318 note 
 " Punch as tutor to the 
 
 Prince," 162, 166 
 Queen Victoria's New 
 
 Year's Gifts, 202 
 Queen Victoria's Visit to 
 
 Chateau d'Eu, 140 
 "Rebecca" Riots in 
 
 Wales, 139 
 Royal Fishing-rods, 151 
 Royal Nursery Circular, 
 
 133. 147 
 Royal Scottish Trip, 153 
 Royal Visit to Astley's, 
 
 Royal Visit to Guernsey, 
 
 189 
 The Sailor Prince, 190 
 " There's no Place like 
 
 Home," 179 
 Throwing the Old Shoe, 
 
 298 
 Tom Thumb and High- 
 land Dwarfs, 186 
 Victoria Felix, 277 
 " Vote for Albert," 203 
 War with Russia, 297 
 Windsor Theatricals, 249. 
 {see also Leech, John) 
 Putich's Almanack, 1844, 
 
 " Royal Gleaners," 146 
 Pye, birthday odes, 43 
 New Year's Day ode, 
 
 1796,50 
 To_Hymen, 52 
 
 
 
 Queenstown, 232 
 
 Quick, John, " Diocletian of 
 
 Ishngton," 244 
 Quin, instructed George IH. 
 
 in elocution, 41, 42 
 
 R 
 
 Rachel in Andromaque, 277 
 
 and note 
 Radcliffe, Sir George, 32 
 Raglan, Lord, death, 312 
 Railway travelling, 124 and 
 
 note 
 " Rebecca " riots, 139 
 Redan, attack on, 311 
 Redman, taught George III. 
 
 fencing, 42 
 Roberts, Welsh harper to 
 
 Prince of Wales, 268 
 Robins, J., 258 and note 
 Rogers, Samuel, death, 319 
 Ros, Baron de, 355 and note, 
 
 356 
 
 Ross, Sir William, drawing of 
 Edward VII. and Princess 
 Royal, 129 
 
 Rowland son, 21 
 
 Royal Academy exhibition, 
 royal visitors, 147, 228, 292 
 
 Royal Albert christened, 301 
 
 Royal barge, 240 
 
 Royal nurseries and school- 
 rooms of the seventeenth 
 and eighteenth centuries, 
 29 et seq. 
 
 Russell, Lord John, 128, 176 
 At Harrow Speech day. 
 
 Z'^2) 
 Message about Marl- 
 borough House, 267 
 Russell, Lord and Lady John, 
 
 296 
 Russell, Sir W. H., on Com- 
 missariat in the Crimea, 
 
 307 
 Russo-Japanese War, 3 
 
 395
 
 Index 
 
 Sabin, Frank T., 13 
 
 St. Evremond, Charles de, ^^ 
 
 Sale, J. B., 61 
 
 Salisbury, Royal Family at 
 
 station, 328 
 Savage, Richard, 205 note 
 Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, 
 
 Duchess of, 152 
 Schmitz, Dr., 376 
 Scilly, royal visit to, 207 
 Scott, sub-preceptor to George 
 
 III., 43 
 
 Scott, Sir Walter, on educa- 
 tion of the Princess Vic- 
 toria, 60 
 
 Seaman, Owen, 22 
 
 Sebastopol, fall of, 317 
 
 Sebastopol, siege of, 307 
 
 Sell, Dr., 18 
 
 Seymour, Horace, Master of 
 the Mint, 253 
 
 Shee, Sir Martin Archer, 81 
 
 Shelborne, Earl and Countess 
 of, 298 
 
 Siddons, Sarah, 244 
 
 Sidmouth, 132 
 
 Sikh War, 175 
 
 Simpson, Sir James, 356 and 
 note 
 
 Skating and sledging, 203,261, 
 296. 297, 306, 336 
 
 Skerritt, Marianne, Queen 
 Victoria's " first dresser," 
 82 note 
 
 Smelt, Leonard, tutor to Duke 
 of York, 13, 45, 51 
 Letter to his pupil, 46 
 
 Smith, Albert, 256 
 
 At Chamounix, 348 
 Mont Blanc entertain- 
 ment, 304 
 
 Smith, Sydney, on birth of 
 Prince of Wales, 102 
 
 Soult, Marshal, death, 281 
 
 Southcy, Robert, lines on 
 Princess Victoria, 64 
 
 Southwark, royal visit to, 
 292 
 
 Spencer, Earl, 191 
 
 Spielmann, M. H., Queen Vic- 
 toria's influence on art, 8 
 note, 82 
 Stanhope, Lady Wilhelmina, 
 
 Duchess of Cleveland, 10 
 Stanley, Lady Augusta, 356 
 
 note 
 Stanley, Lord, 128, 149 
 Steward, Princess Victoria's 
 
 writing-master, 60, 61 
 Stockmar, Baron, 8, 41, 78, 85 
 On education of the royal 
 children, 157, 158, 165 
 Plan for education of 
 royal children, 12, 15 
 Stone, sub-governor to George 
 
 III., 43 
 Stovin, Sir Frederick, 334 
 Stowe, Queen Victoria and 
 
 Prince Albert at, 1 39 
 Stratford - on - Avon, royal 
 
 visit to, 205 
 Sullivan, Sir Arthur, 35 
 Sultan of Morocco sends Arab 
 horses to Queen Victoria, 
 262 
 Sulzar, de, 45 
 
 Sumner, John Bird, Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, 
 323 and note 
 Confirmed Prince of 
 Wales, 354 
 Sutherland, Duke of, 2 10 and 
 
 note 
 Swanage, 329 
 
 Queen Victoria at, 6^, 64 
 Swiss Cottage, Osborne, 229, 
 230, 302 note 
 
 Tableaux by royal children, 
 
 254 
 Tadolini, Mme., 218 
 Taglioni, pas-de-quatre, 177 
 Tarver, Rev. Charles Feral, 
 tutor to Prince of Wales, 
 174, 317 and note, 340, 343 
 and note, 356 and note, 
 374 
 
 396
 
 Index 
 
 Taylor, Henry, on Greville's 
 story of Mayor of Chester, 
 
 99 
 Teck, Princess Mary, Duchess 
 
 of: 
 
 Account of Prince of 
 
 Wales' confirmation, 
 
 354 
 At White Lodge, 360 
 et seq. 
 Teesdale, Sir Christopher 
 Charles, 355 and note, 372, 
 
 375 
 Telegraphy, first practical 
 
 use of, 148 and note 
 
 Temple, Dr., Archbishop, 371, 
 
 372 
 "Tender Annuals," 137 
 Thackeray : May Day ode, 
 
 275 
 Thames, water procession, 
 
 1835, 1849, 240 
 Thomas, Dr., Bishop of Peter- 
 borough, 43 
 Thorburn, miniature portrait 
 of Queen and Prince of 
 Wales, 227 
 Thornycroft, Mrs., statuettes 
 
 of royal children, 256 
 Times, Nov. 10, 1841. Birth 
 of Prince of Wales, 93 
 On illuminations on 
 Prince of Wales' birth- 
 day, 129 
 Prince of Wales's tutor, 
 
 161 
 Royal contribution to 
 Patriotic Fund Exhi- 
 bition, 309 
 Royal visit to Ireland, 
 232 
 "Tom Thumb," Charles H. 
 
 Stratton, 145, 146, 186 
 Tosti, Paola, 35 
 Tree, H. Beerbohm, 259 
 Truro, royal visit to, 193 
 Tuer, A. W., and C. E. Fagan : 
 " First Year of a Silken 
 Reign," 71 
 Tyndall, Professor, on educa- 
 tion of royal children, 171 
 
 U 
 
 Ulster, Sir Bernard Burke, 
 Edward VII., 19 
 
 Vaughan, Dr., headmaster of 
 
 Harrow, 304 
 Victor Emanuel II. visits 
 
 England, 319 
 Victoria Cross (Order of 
 
 Valour) inaugurated, 341 
 Victoria, Queen : 
 
 Accession, 71 seqq. 
 Annotations to Grey's 
 
 narrative, 81 note 
 Appreciation of West 
 
 Country, 328-329 
 At Dublin Exhibition, 
 
 294 
 Correspondence, 11-12, 
 
 13 
 
 Cruise in West of Eng- 
 land, 326 
 
 Cruise to Channel Is- 
 lands, 304, 346 
 
 Dancing, 315 and note 
 
 Descendants, 17 
 
 Description of Balmoral, 
 222, 223 ; first deer 
 drive, 223 
 
 Dines in State with Lord 
 Mayor, 72 
 
 Early years, 56 et seq., 9 
 
 Education, 60 et seq., 65 
 
 Eighteenth birthday, 65 
 
 Etchings, 82 and note, 
 83, 112, 225, 238 
 
 First autumn trip to 
 Scotland, 207 
 
 First railway journey, 1 24 
 
 First visit to Balmoral, 
 221 
 
 111 with measles, 292 
 
 Influence on art, 8 1 note, 
 82, 83 
 
 Journal, Nov. 21, 1841, 
 107 
 Babbicombe Bay, 
 Aug. 20, 1846, 187 
 
 397
 
 Index 
 
 Victoria, Queen — continued 
 Journal : 
 
 Christening of Prince 
 Alfred, 152 
 
 Cruise to Jersey, 
 Sept. 2, 1846, 191 
 
 Dancing with Napo- 
 leon III., 310 
 
 Departure of troops 
 for Russia, 299 
 
 Description of Mar- 
 quess of Lome, 
 Aug. II, 1847, 210 
 note, 217 
 
 Fourteenth anniver- 
 sary of wedding, 
 Feb. 10, 1854, 254 
 
 Highland games, 
 Aug. 1850, 268 
 
 Irish tour, Aug. 1849, 
 232, 233, 234, 235, 
 236 
 
 Mount Edgecumbe, 
 Aug. 22, 1846, 188 
 
 Mounts Bay, Sept. 5, 
 1846, 192 
 
 On board the Royal 
 George, Sept. 4, 
 1842, 127 
 
 Opening of Exhibi- 
 tion, May 1851,272 
 
 Princess Royal's 
 wedding, Jan. 
 
 1858, 351. 352 
 
 Plymouth, Aug. 21, 
 1846, 188 
 
 Visit to Blair Athol, 
 
 153 
 Visit to Coburg,Aug. 
 
 8, 1845, ^79 
 Visit to France, 313 
 
 ei seq. 
 Voyage to Scotland, 
 
 Aug. 1847,207, 209 
 Learns Hindustani, 62 
 Letters to : H. Birch — 
 
 Prince of Wales 
 
 riding, 238 note 
 King of the Belgians, 
 
 107, no, 285, 286, 
 
 293 
 
 ! Victoria, Queen — continued 
 Letters to : 
 
 Lord Melbourne — 
 governess for royal 
 children, 160 
 Princess Royal, Oct. 
 
 21, 1846, 196 
 Stockmar — Prince 
 Albert badgered, 
 300 
 Love of dogs and other 
 
 animals, 83 
 Marriage, 78 
 Memory, 63 
 New Year's dole, 182 
 On King of Prussia and 
 Edward VII. 's chris- 
 tening, 115 
 Opens Parliament, Dec. 
 
 12, 1854, 306 
 Presents Victoria Cross, 
 
 349 
 
 Prevented by illness from 
 opening Coal Ex- 
 change, 239 
 
 Receives wounded 
 Guards, 307 
 
 Struck by Robert Pate, 
 266 
 
 Takes active part in edu- 
 cating her children, 
 169, 170, 172 
 
 Tastes and accomplish- 
 ments, 81 
 
 Tour in West of England, 
 
 ."^^33^ 63 
 Visits Cherbourg, 370 
 
 Hatfield, Belvoir, 
 
 &c., 64, 196 
 Louis Philippe, 140 
 Queen Adelaide at 
 
 Cassiobury, 195 
 White Lodge, 369 
 Voice, 77, 
 Villiers, Lady Frances, 33 
 
 W 
 
 Waldegrave, Earl of, 43 
 Wales, Albert Edward, Pi'ince 
 of {see Edward VII.) 
 
 398
 
 Index 
 
 Wales, Augusta, Princess of, 
 education of her eldest son, 
 
 5 
 Wales, Frederick, Prince of, 
 
 40 
 Wales, Henry Stuart, Prince 
 of, 5, 29 
 Sketch of, 30-3 1 
 Wales, Prince of {see title 
 
 as King) 
 Wallace, Lady, translation of 
 Mendelssohn's Letters, 125 
 note 
 Walmer Castle, royal visit 
 
 to, 130 
 Walmesley, T. A., 206 
 Warner, Mary Amelia, 245 
 Way, N. A. E., 99 
 Webster, Benjamin, 245 
 At Old Adelphi, 321 
 " Royal entertainments," 
 
 245 
 Wellesley, Gerald V., Dean of 
 
 Windsor, 289, 354 and note, 
 
 355 
 Wellington, Duke of, 11, 79, 
 
 149 
 At birth of Prince of 
 
 Wales, 100 
 At opening of Great Ex- 
 hibition, 271 
 Death at Walmer, 287 
 Funeral procession, 288 
 Godfather to Prince 
 
 Arthur, 265 
 Royal visitors, 130 
 Visits his godson, 275 
 Westall, R. A., taught Prin- 
 cess Victoria drawing, 61 
 Wharton, Dr., Poet Laureate, 
 
 birthday odes, 24, 43 
 Whewell, Dr., 378 
 White Lodge, Richmond Park, 
 
 account of, 357 et seq. 
 Whitehead, birthday odes, 
 
 43 
 Wilberforce, Samuel, Bishop 
 
 of Oxford, 162, 323 and note 
 Wilhelmina of Wurtemberg, 
 
 Princess, 370 
 William IIL, early life, 2 2 
 
 William IV. : 
 
 Account of his latter 
 
 days, 159 note 
 Coronation, 62 
 Death, 66 
 William, Emperor of Ger- 
 many, 152 
 Wilson, Effingham, pamphlet 
 on education of the Prince 
 of Wales, 161, 163 etseq. 
 Windsor Castle : 
 
 Christmas, 1843, ^^' M4 
 Fire at, 290 
 Improvements at, 84 
 Sunday at, 1843, ^3^ 
 " Windsor Pear," 85 
 Windsor theatricals, 226, 245 
 et seq., 261, 262, 282, 
 289, 295, 296, 298, 318, 
 320 and note, 334, 336 
 Guests, 248, 249 
 Object of, 251 
 Programme, 247 
 Plays performed : 
 
 A Game of Specula- 
 tion, 296 
 Box and Cox, 247 
 Camp at Chobham, 
 
 298 
 Charles XII., 262 
 Hamlet, 248 
 Henry V., 295 
 The Honeymoon, 298 
 Hush-money, 334, 
 
 336 
 Julius CcBsar, 261 
 King John, 282 
 King Rene's Daugh- 
 ter, 262 
 Little Toddlekins, 
 
 296 
 The Lottery Ticket, 
 
 282 
 Lucky Friday, 289 
 Macbeth, 289 
 Merchant of Venice, 
 
 246 
 Not a Bad Judge, 282 
 Paul Pry, 289 
 Richard II., 336 
 Rivals, 319 
 
 399
 
 Index 
 
 Windsor theatricals — contd. 
 Plays performed: 
 
 School for Scandal, 
 
 334, 336 
 The Stranger, 249 
 Tempest, 298 
 Twice Killed, 249 
 Used Up, 247 
 Winterhalter, painting of 
 
 Royal Family, 204 
 Wombwell's menagerie at 
 
 "Windsor, 212 
 Wood, John, 241 
 Woodward, 21 
 Wordsworth, William, 25 
 
 Ode on Prince Albert, 
 176, 206 
 
 World, account of White 
 Lodge, 358 e/ seq. 
 
 Wurtemberg, King of, 16 
 
 Wurtemberg, Princess Fre- 
 deric, 16 
 
 Wyndham, Sir Charles, 259 
 
 Yates, Edmund, 256, 259 note 
 On " Harlequin Guy 
 
 Fawkes," 257 
 On " Windsor Pear," 85 
 
 York, Frederic, Duke of, 15 
 
 44, 51 
 Early exercise-books, 6, 7 
 Education, 48 
 
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