The Jilting Princess...

by M.M. Bennetts

Yes, she was a princess.  And yes, she had to marry for reasons of state rather than solely based on her personal fancy, but Princess Charlotte (1796-1817), daughter of the Prince Regent and Caroline of Brunswick was no pawn--kind of more the opposite...

Bearing in mind that at the time when ministers of state, and latterly her parents, were scanning the horizon for suitable royal consorts for her, the Napoleonic wars were heading towards, they hoped, a close.  Whilst at the same time, the remaining heads of state--those which had survived--were wondering how best to restore order to Europe and reinstate legitimate government (read monarchies) to those countries which Napoleon had annexed to France.  So the task of choosing a royal mate was a little more complex than usual.

Nevertheless, in 1812, the government hit upon a plan.  Wouldn't it be perfect if Princess Charlotte were to marry William of Orange?  He was of an age with Charlotte, not too old nor too young, he'd seen active service in the Peninsula, so he was a dashing military hero and he was a Protestant (a necessity). What could be better? 

William of Orange had been raised in exile in England (so he spoke English!), he'd spent two years at Oxford,and from 1811, he served in the Peninsula under Wellington by whom he was known as 'Slender Billy'.

Perhaps he wasn't great looking, but he was known to be amiable, there had been another hugely successful marriage between a Prince of Orange and an English princess...And, bliss of blisses, someday he would rule the Netherlands--so through him and any children they might have, Britain would regain a toehold on the Continent, moreover a toehold that was right across the North Sea, thus securing the sea lanes to the Baltic.  It was ideal!

There was only one problem:  Princess Charlotte.

Because you see, in the autumn of 1812, she had conceived a rather violent passion for a Captain Charles Hesse of the 18th Hussars, and whilst at Windsor had gone out riding with him every day.

And after that, she'd been meeting with him secretly at her mother's home in Kensington, where her mother, helpfully, would "let him into her own apartment by a door that opens onto Kensington Gardens...[then] leave them together in her own bedroom, [with the words] 'A present, je vous laisse, amusez vous'."  [For the moment I'm leaving you, amuse yourselves...]

As may you appreciate, when the Prince Regent discovered, he was incandescent with rage.

And Charlotte was pretty much locked away with a new governess and with very little company.  As the Prince said with some feeling (and almost in echo of Austen's Mr. Bennet):  "I know all that passed in Windsor Park; and if it were not for my clemency I would have shut you up for life.  Depend upon it, as long as I live you shall never have an establishment, unless you marry."  

Hence, when the proposed match with William was put to Princess Charlotte in February 1813, she was not keen.  As she said of him, "I think him so ugly, that I am sometimes obliged to turn my head away in disgust when he is speaking to me."  (Ouch!)  But the idea did eventually take hold--marriage would allow her her own establishment and financial independence.  And the princess was already in debt to the tune of £22,000.  (Over a million pounds in today's money.)

The Prince Regent was delighted and held a dinner at his home at Carlton House so that the two might meet on 11 December, and Charlotte was enjoined to give her father her "fair and undisguised opinion".  After the usual fits and starts, by the end of the evening, Charlotte told her father, "I like his manner very well, as much as I ever have seen of it."

The Prince Regent was rapturous.  Charlotte would later speak of the whole thing as "a dream".

Then, in early April, having been fought to a standstill in France, Napoleon abdicated.  Then followed another remarkable bit of news:  for the first time in centuries European royalty were to visit England!  Caught up in the euphoria of the moment, in early May, the government announced the intended marriage between Charlotte and William, the Hereditary Prince of Orange (who suddenly had a throne again!)...

William himself had already arrived in Britain, ahead of the other European princes--Tsar Alexander and Kaiser Wilhelm and their entourages.  But then, a spoke appeared in the marital-diplomatic wheel--the Grand Duchess Catherine, the Tsar's confidante and sister, who allegedly had designs on William herself--or rather Russia also wanted a toehold in western Europe.

The visit of the crowned heads that June offered an opportunity for endless rounds of parties, balls, dinners and diplomacy, but Princess Charlotte was not invited.  Instead, she remained cooped up in her residence at Warwick House, next door to Carlton House, sequestered away from the fun, even as Grand Duchess Catherine worked on her, visiting, taking tea, souring whatever remained of Charlotte's affection for Slender Billy--especially by recounting just what her fiance was getting up to.

While Charlotte was locked away, William was repeatedly getting drunk, attending all the social events, having a whale of a time...when he'd gone to the Ascot Races, he'd returned to London hanging off the outside of a stage coach.

And there was one other looming problem.  Where would the young couple live?  Charlotte feared that if she  left the country and her father obtained a divorce as he wished to do, her father might remarry and produce a new heir.  And where would that leave Charlotte?  So the demand made in the proposed marriage settlement that she should spend some time with her husband in the Netherlands, as she put it, "living in Holland amongst the fogs and dykes", each year proved the final straw.

(Though it's also said that she'd been secretly seeing the Prussian king's nephew, Prince Frederick, who was said to be very handsome and she was much enamoured...)

Charlotte therefore requested that William pay her a visit on 16 June.  Their consultation together ended with Charlotte's "positive declaration that she will not leave England now..."  And later that evening, Charlotte wrote to William informing him that she was jilting him, that their engagement was "to be totally and for ever at an end".

It was a public humiliation for William...and initially, it didn't work out so well for Charlotte either...though later, she did marry the rather spiffing Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and he was her choice.

This is an Editor's Choice post, originally published April 23 2013

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M.M. Bennetts was one of the driving forces behind teh EHFA blog and contributed many wonderful posts before her early demise some years ago. She was a specialist in early 19th century European history and the Napoleonic wars, and the author of two novels, May 1812 and Of Honest Fame set during the period.  

Prince Leopold's Women

by Anita Davison

King Leopold I of the Belgians circa 1831

King Leopold I of the Belgians has a place in English history as the beloved Uncle of Queen Victoria, her advisor and mentor during her early reign, and the man who encouraged her marriage to his nephew, Albert.  He was once married to the daughter of the Prince Regent, Princess Charlotte, whose tragic death followed a scandalous mis-management of her pregnancy.  Heartbroken Leopold continued to live at Cleremont until he was invited to be King of the Belgians – but what kind of man was Leopold apart from a handsome, Germanic Regency character loved by a princess? I found a good deal about his prowess as a soldier, his qualities as a diplomat and his work on developing Belgium - but what of Leopold’s personal life?

Leopold George Christian Frederick was one of the ten children born to Francis, reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Countess August Reuss. He was born on 16th December 1790 at Ehrenburg Palace in Coburg, Bavaria, the city palace of the Coburg dukes, and raised during the dangerous period following the French Revolution and Napoleon's rise to power. His father died when he was not yet sixteen, propelling his elder brother, Ernst, into a premature role as the duchy’s ruler.

Hortense de Beauharnais

Napoleon invaded the duchy in 1806, confiscating much of the family's property, for which Duke Ernst I obtained restitution. To thank Napoleon, Ernst and Leopold went to Paris, where the handsome Leopold turned down Bonaparte’s offer to be his adjutant, but whilst there conquered several young ladies’ hearts. He was also rumoured to have had an affair with Hortense de Beauharnais, Empress Josephine's daughter and wife of Napoleon's brother, Prince Louis Bonaparte.

At seventeen Leopold entered the Tsar's army and by twenty-three was Major-General of the Cavalry. His eldest sister, Duchess Juliane, had married Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, Tsar Alexander's brother, thus Leopold learned that family fortunes could depend upon a well-connected marriage.

Princess Charlotte of Wales

Leopold became a favourite of Alexander and his sister, Catherine of Oldenburg. He led his own regiment to victory of the Battle of Kulm and participated in the French Campaign which brought him to Paris during the triumphal entry of the allies in spring 1814. During his travels around European capitals he first met Princess Charlotte.

At nineteen Charlotte was tall for a woman, and voluptuous with expressive blue eyes and abundant light brown hair. She was admired wherever she went, the perfect foil to her unattractive, squabbling parents.

Her mother, Caroline of Brunswick, had been banished from England when her daughter was twelve due to her lax morals and because the prince considered her ugly, coarse, and she refused to bathe. Thus Charlotte was removed from the care of her disreputable and eccentric mother, and handed over to her extravagant and selfish father.

Charlotte was a kind if impetuous child given too much freedom by the standards of the day, and would shake hands in a mannish way. When taken on board ship, she stood with her feet apart and hands clasped behind her back. [Very unladylike for a Regency miss.] She had a radiant outgoing vitality, but she also suffered behavioural and unpredictable mood swings, perhaps due to the bitter and intractable quarrel between her parents who gave her little love, and possibly because her father was jealous of her popularity.

At seventeen she had already been the subject of rumours concerning a supposed relationship with Captain Charles Hesse, an army lieutenant who was said to be the illegitimate son of the Duke of York. Possibly to tame her, the Prince Regent arranged Charlotte’s engagement to William, Prince of Orange, but when she met Prince Frederick Augustus, the King of Prussia's nineteen-year-old nephew, at a dinner party at Carlton House, she fell in love with him, and resolved to break off her engagement.

When the allied sovereigns arrived in London in June 1814 to celebrate their victory over Napoleon, Prince Leopold was among them. He met Princess Charlotte in the lobby of a hotel and escorted her to her carriage. He also cancelled a visit to the opera in order to pay a call on her.

Perhaps the ambitious Leopold had his eye on the throne of England at this stage, as he made several attempts to attract Charlotte’s notice, but she was still infatuated with Prince Frederick, and Leopold made little impression. However, Prince Frederick had returned all Charlotte’s gifts, her engagement was over and at twenty one she wanted her freedom, therefore she turned to her other suitor, Leopold.

Leopold and Charlotte's Wedding at Carlton House

Leopold's penury and lack of royal connections prejudiced him in the Prince Regent’s eyes, though he finally relented, and the couple were married at Carlton House in the Crimson State Room on the evening of May 2, 1816 in the presence of fifty privileged guests.

The couple took up residence at Claremont House near Esher with Camelford House on the corner of Oxford Street and Park Lane as their London town home. They led a domestic and scandal-free life, their sobriety making them popular among the London crowds after the excesses of Charlotte’s parents.

At twenty-six, Prince Leopold’s character was very different from his wife’s. A friend of Leopold said of Charlotte, ‘she's like a boy in petticoats’. Charlotte was  outspoken, roared with laughter, and her manners were abominable, causing continual friction. Leopold was considered cold and formal, a successful soldier and diplomat, but he soon dominated the wild, impetuous, generous Charlotte.

Their every confrontation ended in the same way, with her standing before Leopold, her body pushed forward, hands behind her back, with flaming cheeks and sparkling eyes, she would declare. "If you wish it, I will do it," she would say. "I want nothing for myself." He would then respond: "When I press something on you, it is from a conviction that it is for your interest and for your good."

Unusually for a Regency couple, they went everywhere together, visiting the poor and attending church. Charlotte combed her husband’s hair, folded his cravats and linens, and ensured his bath was prepared when he came home from hunting. She even prepared refreshments for him, which he relished knowing she made them. Leopold, for his part grew a moustache when she asked him to.

Charlotte mentioned to a friend that Leopold insisted on taking her to the opera when he was not feeling well because he knew she wanted to go. When she became agitated or excited, Leopold would whisper, "Doucement, Cherie, Doucement." Thus her nickname for him was ‘Doucement’.

Christian Friedrich Baron Stockmar, Leopold’s friend, personal physician and advisor, said of them: "My master is the best of all husbands in all of the four quarters of the globe, and his wife bears him an amount of love, the greatness of which can only be compare with the English national debt."

Things were not always perfect in that Leopold apparently caused a rift between his wife and her long-term friend, Margaret Elphinstone when he disapproved of her husband. Charles Joseph, Comte de Flahaut, aide-de-camp to Napoleon Bonaparte, had taken refuge in England at the Bourbon Restoration. Margaret was Charlotte’s confidant, though her position created rumours, later refuted, that she betrayed the princess's secrets to the Prince Regent.

Princess Charlotte miscarried twice in the early months of her marriage. Her physicians, such a they were, feared she would not carry her third pregnancy to term, and prescribed bleeding and limiting her diet. Not surprisingly, Charlotte experienced complications and grew very weak. Her subsequent tragic death has been recorded in detail elsewhere so I shan’t repeat it here, however, Leopold was truly devastated and Charlotte’s loss had a large impact on the rest of his life. Sir Richard Croft, the doctor who had made the decision to wait for nature to take its course with a no intervention policy later killed himself. The Princess was buried, her son at her feet, in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on 19 November 1817.

A month after her death, a portrait she had commissioned before she gave birth was delivered on Leopold's birthday as she had intended. Leopold was visibly shaken and the entire household burst into tears. He took the painting with him to Belgium and became very emotional whenever he looked at it. He named his daughter by Louise Marie d’Orleans, Charlotte, but he was never as devoted to his own child as he had been to his first wife.

Caroline Bauer

Eleven years later, during which his close friends said he still grieved for Charlotte, Leopold saw an actress called Caroline Bauer who cannily resembled Princess Charlotte. Leopold sent his chamberlain to ask permission to call on her and within days he had proposed marriage. This action was totally out of character for the cautious, somewhat cold Leopold, however, Caroline came to England with her mother and took up residence at Longwood House, a few miles from Cleremont. By mid-1829 the liaison was over, and the actress and her mother returned to Berlin where Caroline resumed her career.

Caroline claimed she and Leopold had married, and he had created her Countess of Montgomery – a claim strongly denied by her cousin Baron Stockmar. Caroline married in 1863 and died by suicide in Zurich fourteen years later.

Louise-Marie d'Orleans, Queen of the Belgians

In 1830, Leopold was offered, but refused, the crown of Greece, but he accepted the Belgian throne.  At that time, Belgium consisted of Dutch-speaking Flemings in the north, French-speaking Walloons in the south and a small number of Germans in the east. Originally part of the Netherlands, the Belgians revolted in 1830 due to the differences between the large Catholic French speaking population and the Protestant Dutch.

On August 9 1832, King Leopold married the eldest daughter of the King of the French, Princess Louise-Marie Therese Charlotte Isabelle d'Orleans. A descendant of Philippe d'Orléans, Regent for Louis XV, Madame de Montespan, and of Louis XIV and Philippe I, Duke of Orléans both sons of Louis XIII on her father’s side, and on her mother's a descendant of Maria Theresa of Austria and Catherine de' Medici.

Blonde, fair skinned, blue-eyed Louise Marie was a shy, innocent girl of twenty. She had dreaded the idea of becoming Queen, and had cried inconsolably at the thought of separation from her large family. Leopold was a handsome seasoned soldier and statesman, a widower and an experienced lover at forty-two, an ambitious man of the world, somewhat hardened by past sorrows and disappointments. He was also a Lutheran, and, reputedly, a Freemason, whereas Louise-Marie was a devout and pious Catholic.

Leopold confided to a friend "I'm delighted with my good little Queen: she is the sweetest creature you ever saw, and she has plenty of spirit."

Despite her initial reluctance, Louise-Marie fell deeply in love with her husband and became a devoted wife and loving mother. Very shy, she was only seen in public when Leopold insisted, but became very popular at the Belgian court with her generosity and beauty.

Leopold I with Louise-Marie and their Children

At this time, Flanders was stricken by famine, and poverty ran rampant throughout Belgium. Louise-Marie became patroness of many philanthropic, religious and educational institutions. Her friends, servants, and entourage knew her as a gentle and forgiving mistress whose charity was ‘inexhaustible’, and her popularity grew in direct proportion to criticism for Leopold’s infidelities.

Louise-Marie personally handed out clothing for the poor in inclement weather, organised recurring lotteries on behalf of the poor, and gave household items to any exhibition where the poor would benefit. When a farmer once said in her hearing that he admired a pedigree cow and that one like that would transform his life, Louise-Marie allegedly sent him two of the creatures as a gift.

In Brussels and in the provinces alike, when people heard a tale of hardship, they exclaimed: "If only the Queen knew!" which after her death became: "If only the Queen were still alive!"

Leopold and Louise-Marie had four children: Louis-Philippe who died a year after his birth, Philippe Eugene, whose son Albert I was the third King of Belgians and reigned during World War I, and Marie-Charlotte, who married Archduke Maximilian I of Austria and became the Empress of Mexico.

Arcadia Claret-Meyer

In 1840, Leopold was instrumental is arranging the marriage of his niece, Queen Victoria, the daughter of his sister, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Edward Duke of Kent, to his nephew, Prince Albert, son of his brother, Duke Ernest I. Leopold had offered Victoria advice in the early days of her monarchy, although she asserted her independence early in her reign.

In 1844, Leopold met the eighteen-year-old Arcadia Eugenia Claret-Meyer – he was fifty-three. He housed her in a mansion at No. 47 Rue Royale with a staff of servants who wore his livery.

Their son, George Frederick Ferdinand Henry, was born in the convent of St. Joseph Girls, Cross Street Louvrex Liège.

Leopold then purchased Chateau Stuyvenberg for Arcadia, where she gave birth to their second son, Christian Frederick Arthur. Leopold asked his nephew, Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to create his second family titles. These sons were made Baron von Eppinghoven and Arcadia was made Baronin von Eppinghoven with an income and property to go with it.

After the Revolution of February 1848, Queen Louise-Marie’s father, King Louis Philippe, abdicated and his family fled to England. They remained in exile at Cleremont, where he died in August 1850.

Marie d'Orleans

The death of Louise-Marie’s brother, Ferdinand-Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, in a coaching accident at the age of 31 and of her sister Princess Marie of consumption at 25, had been terrible blows, as had the loss of her first born son at a year old. By the time of her father's death, Louise-Marie was already very ill with consumption.

She died in Ostend two months later, on 11 October 1850 at the age of 38. King Leopold never returned Louise Marie’s passionate devotion and he wasn’t faithful, but he sincerely mourned her and paid her this touching tribute: "Her death was saintly, like her life."

On December 10, 1865, at the Palace of Laeken, in Brussels, Leopold was on his death bed, calling:

"Charlotte...Charlotte..." although no one was sure as to whether he was calling to his daughter, the Empress of Mexico, or to his first wife, Princess Charlotte.

Leopold I in Later Life

His daughter-in-law Marie-Henriette, the wife of Leopold II, asked, "In the name of the love you bear for the Queen's memory, will you not be converted to her religion so that you may meet her again in Heaven?"

"Nein..." he whispered, then died.

I am convinced it was his first love he called for, because before she died, Princess Charlotte had asked that Leopold be buried beside her when his time came. Leopold instructed that a space be made for him in her tomb in St George’s Chapel at Windsor, and asked Queen Victoria again before his own final illness; a request which strangely was not granted.

Louise-Marie wanted to be buried in Laeken, so Leopold had the church of Our Lady Of Laeken in Brussels constructed in her memory. The first stone was laid by Leopold I in 1854. The church was consecrated in 1872, but not completed until 1909. The crypt holds the tombs of the Belgian royal family, including those of all the former Belgian kings.

Sources - For those interested in the historic trials and troubles Catholic Belgian Royal Family, I recommend an excellent blog called, The Cross of Laeken

Accounts of Princess Charlotte’s labour and death
Jane Austens World Blog
Death of Charlotte
Princess Charlotte and Leopold

Charlotte and Leopold are also featured in The Companion of Lady Holmeshire by Debra Brown.

Anita Davison is a Historical Fiction Author whose latest release, ‘Royalist Rebel’ a biographical novel set in 17th Century England, is released by Pen and Sword Books under the name Anita Seymour
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Queen Charlotte?

Or how Queen Victoria almost wasn't.

by V.R. Christensen

The matter of royal accession during the reign of George III should not have been a matter of any great debate. George IV had already served as regent (off and on) during his father’s madness. The line of George IV was further ensured by the fact that he had a legitimate child, even if she was merely a daughter.

A princess though she was, Charlotte was not much pampered or loved. She was pawn, as children too often are, in the acrimonious game between her rivalling parents, estranged from the time of her conception. She was an unhappy young woman, and desperate to escape the confines of her life. Her ticket out? Marriage.

Because of the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 (passed by George III to ensure that his children's choice of spouses met with his approval) Charlotte's choices were relegated to a few foreign princes whom she'd never met. She made a run at Frederick of Prussia, but he was unresponsive. And then, at a ball given by the Duke and Duchess of York, she met the handsome Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield. Not only was he charming, ambitious and a renowned lady’s man, but he was also heavily in debt and looking for a solution. Charlotte was not very much in love with Leopold at the outset; she simply saw him as a means of escape. Neither was Leopold in love with her, but he was very much enamoured of the idea of being consort to a rich princess, and one who would very probably become Queen. Perhaps taking a lesson from her father's miserable marriage, Leopold considered it wise to fortify his position by convincing Charlotte to love him, at least to rely on him. By all accounts, he succeeded quite brilliantly in his aim to win her heart. He was an an affectionate and attentive husband. So successful was he, that, in the course of his efforts, Leopold found himself very much in love with her in turn. He gave up his rakish ways and took up the part of faithful husband and indispensable helpmate. Charlotte was so dependent on him in fact, that she made a royal declaration that she would subject herself to her husband’s rule, making him King upon her accession. All he needed more to secure his position was an heir.

In due course, an heir was on its way, but Charlotte was subject to the ‘skill’ of the royal doctors, who prescribed a ‘lowering’ treatment for the expectant mother. This consisted of a liquid diet of meatless, vegetable-free broth and restriction from all exercise. Consequently, when her time came, two weeks after the due date, she lacked the necessary strength to deliver the baby. After a gruelling fifty hours of labour, the baby, a beautiful, perfectly formed boy, emerged—dead. Charlotte had not even the strength to feel her devastation. To make matters worse, her placenta had not detached, and she endured a procedure which essentially tore it from her uterus. Her torso was then wrapped tightly in bandages, and when she complained of pain, she was given warm compresses. She was bleeding internally, though she was wrapped so tightly no one was yet aware of it. Until it was too late.

At 2:30 in the morning, Charlotte died, and two generations of royalty were swept away.

It was 1817 and the question of accession was once more brought to the fore.

Charlotte’s death had sent her father, George IV, into a nearly fatal fit of illness, and it was generally believed he would die. He rallied, however. He might have done more to ensure the endurance of his own line. When his wife, Caroline died in 1826, he declared his intention to find a new wife and to produce another heir. But, lazy, fat, old and in poor health, he did nothing.

The next in line after the Regent, was George III’s second son Frederick, but the Duke of York had, as had his brother before him, separated from his wife within a year of their marriage, having produced no children. Also out of the running was the sixth brother, Augustus, whose marriage had not satisfied the requirements of the Royal Marriages Act.

That left William, Edward, Ernest and Adolphus vying for position.

William, Duke of Clarence, was next in line. It was Charlotte’s death that induced him to leave his beloved mistress (Mrs. Dorothy Jordan, with whom he had ten children) and look for a wife. He decided upon Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, whom he chose sight unseen. She was sickly, unattractive, but intelligent and pious—all of which rather counted against her with the world-wise (if not world-weary) prince. Adelaide was a mere 25 to his 52, yet despite all this, their marriage was a happy one.

The next in line after William was Edward, Duke of Kent. Edward was a favourite of Charlotte and Leopold and it was they who played matchmaker. Leopold introduced him to his sister Victoire. Edward was taken with her and proposed. She refused him. She had been married before, to a much older, unattractive and inattentive husband, who, as it so happened, had been the widower of her maternal aunt (yes, that made him her uncle). Consequently, she had no desire to enter again into that unhappy state called matrimony. Her interests, as well as those of her two children, were best served by remaining a widow. Disappointed, Edward returned to the arms of his mistress—until events catapulted him back into the hunt. With the announcement of Charlotte’s death, he tried once more for Victoire’s hand, this time begging the influence of her brother, who, though shattered over his wife's death, was ever the man of political strategy (he would later exhibit the foresight to train his nephew up to be the Queen’s consort). He saw in this match another opportunity to advance his own interests, and so persuaded Victoire to see them too. Circumstances had changed, and Edward was no longer a longshot for the throne.

Next was Ernest, Duke of Cumberland. But Cumberland was much feared and loathed by the people. It was generally believed at the time (though modern scholars doubt the allegations hold any truth) that he had murdered his valet and homosexual partner, and that he had fathered a child with his sister, Sophia. His choice of bride was almost as notorious as he. His first cousin, Frederica of Mechlenberg-Sterlitz, was once engaged to his brother Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, but eloped with the Prince of Solms, whom she was later suspected of murdering. Ernest's marriage to Frederica, solemnised in 1815, satisfied all provisions of the Royal Marriages Act.

The last of the qualifying princes was Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. Cambridge, the youngest of the seven sons, was also the most temperate of all the brothers, though perhaps no less ambitious. Within two weeks of Charlotte’s death, he was married to Augusta of Hesse-Kassel.

And so, in March of 1819, two years after Charlotte’s death, these four brothers, with their respective and very pregnant wives, rightly held very high hopes for the throne.

Cambridge (Adolphus) was the first to produce a post-Charlotte heir. Upon hearing of the delivery of the Cambridge child, Clarence (William) went to see for himself, sending a message to the King soon after informing him of the arrival (at long last) of a legitimate grandson. The child was called George in honour of his uncle and King.

On the 27th of March, the Duke and Duchess of Clarence had a daughter, but she did not survive her first day.

On the 29th of May, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Adolphus) announced the birth of their son, also named George. The King was well pleased, for he’d taken great measures to ensure that his throne should pass to no woman. The Regent, too, felt very strongly that a King should be the head of England.

Except that five days earlier, the Duchess of Kent had given birth to a daughter, and the Kent child was ahead of the little Georges in succession, Kent (Edward) being next in line after William, who so far had no heir (nor would he, as all of his children by Adelaide died in infancy).

But then the Duke of Kent died. The laws of accession did not rule out his young daughter’s claim, but a King could take certain precautions, as had George III with his own daughters, denying them marriages and thereby guaranteeing they had no claims upon the throne. Perhaps to protect her from such devices, or perhaps to shield her from the unsavoury influences of his profligate brothers (for custom would dictate she fall under George’s care, then William’s upon the former's death) Kent made legal arrangements that his wife should maintain care of their child after his death, a thing virtually unheard of at the time.

Six days after Kent’s death, the King followed. In the shock, George IV fell ill as well, and it was believed he, too, would die. He rallied, however, despite surrendering 150 ounces of blood to the royal doctors.

George IV, once recovered, turned his back upon his niece and was prepared to turn them over to the Coburgs in Germany. Leopold, however, stepped in once again. Such royal neglect on the part of the English relatives proved to be just as well. It was Leopold who arranged for the burial of Kent's body at Windsor, as well as settling all of his sister's outstanding debts. He intereceded with George IV's favourite sister and arranged for them to assume residence at Kensington Palace, where Victoria was trained, very quietly, and without her knowledge, to one day reign.

Though Victoria was brought up to know she was a princess, she spent her childhood wholly unaware of just how great the chance was that she would one day claim the throne. Unlike the heirs apparent both before and after her, she had no cause to consider herself superior, no reason to be vain or to believe in her own self-importance. Instead, she had a unique sense of responsibility and a deep desire to do good.

When, after her uncle William's death in 1837, Victoria at last gained the throne, she was precisely what the people wanted, and perhaps what society needed. They were tired of the old ways, the old excesses.

Victoria brought the promise of a new era, and the world has never been the same.

For more about the life of Queen Victoria, see We Two, by Gillian Gill.

V.R. Christensen is the author of Of Moths & Butterflies, and Blind - a novella. Cry of the Peacock, a companion piece to Of Moths & Butterflies, is due to be released in October of 2012.