Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Maud misses "royal progress"

October 30, 1902

Princess Charles of Denmark, according to the Marquise de Fontenoy, "is the most popular, clever and good looking of the daughters of Edward VII." She did not take part in a recent "royal progress through the streets of London," and her absence has caused much speculation.
The princess is currently under the care of her father's doctor, Sir Frederick Laking, "for an attack of nervous prostration." She is "undergoing a complete rest cure" at Buckingham Palace and at her home, Appleton House, on the Sandringham estate. Princess Maud, who is married to her first cousin, is seeing no one but her immediate family, and "living in the quietest fashion possible."
King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra became concerned about their youngest daughter's health as Maud has become quite thin and "had lost those high spirits and sunny disposition."
Princess Maud and her two sisters are more delicate in health than their parents. The Duchess of Fife is "a martyr to rheumatism," and Princess Victoria suffers greatly from migraines.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maud always did look delicate in photos, but I wondered if some of it was a combination of her slim facial features and a corsetted body. How did she adjust to life in Norway? Her son certainly was robust and active his whole life and passed that on to his progeny. I suppose Olav took after his grandparents in this respect.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

None of Edward and Alexandra's children had good health. All were preemies. There are probably a lot of factors, including the corsets, poor heating habits, confined to bed, rather than getting exercise, and so on. She did do some outdoor sports in Norway, but was not as active as her son or husband.