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| The Times, November 7, 1817 |
It was twelve minutes past two in the morning on June 20, 1837, when King William IV died at Windsor Castle. The King was 72 years old. As soon as the King was pronounced dead, the focus turned to an eighteen-year-old young woman asleep in her bedroom that she shared with her mother at Kensington Palace. Three men, all of whom were at the king’s bedside when he breathed his last, made the immediate decision to travel to London – to Kensington Palace – to greet the new Queen. William Howley, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Conyngham, the Lord Chamberlain, and the late king’s doctor, called for a carriage to be driven to London.
The carriage arrived in front of the palace at 5:00 a.m. It took some time for a member of the palace staff to answer the bell. The carriage pulled into Clock Court, where Lord Conyngham was greeted by the Duchess of Kent, the mother of the young woman. She told the Lord Chamberlain that he would not be permitted into her daughter’s bedroom, as she was still asleep.
Not one to be deterred, Lord Conyngham looked straight at the Duchess and demanded to see the Queen. The Duchess understood and returned to the bedroom where she awoke her daughter with a kiss. The Duchess of Kent escorted her daughter, wearing a dressing gown that covered her nightgown. Her governess, Baroness Lehzen, followed them down the stairs, carrying a bottle of smelling salts. Did these women believe that the new queen was too frail and weak to understand and accept what she was about to be told? The three men were waiting in the sitting room when the young woman entered the room ‘Alone,’ as she would note in her diary hours later.
The Duchess of Kent, who had never permitted her daughter to walk down a staircase by herself, must have been dumbstruck by her daughter’s independent action. There would be no need for the smelling salts.
The three men bowed as the Lord Chamberlain made his announcement to the young woman who, only a few hours before, had been styled HRH Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, referring to her as the Queen.
Queen Victoria.
How did this young woman become the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland? Her birth on May 24, 1819, was the result of a royal race to marriage and children - a race that came about due to a death less than two years earlier.
Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of George, the Prince of Wales, Prince Regent for his mentally ill father, King George III, was expecting her first child in November 1817. The Times’s editorial hoped that “we may have it in our power to announce the safe delivery of Princess Charlotte of Wales; but at 3 o’clock last evening we had received no tidings of the event. At 8 o’clock in the morning the attendant medical gentlemen had, with great propriety, issued an official bulletin on the subject, of which the following is a copy: ‘The labour of her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte is going on very slowly, but, we trust, favourably.’”
The Times’ court newsman’s bulletin, which was considered of “less authority” than the medical bulletin, was released at 4 a.m, and noted that the Princess “is going in a much more favourable way.” But the bulletin was not favorable: “With great regret we have barely time to announce that Her Royal Highness has been delivered – we trust- safely, in relation to her Royal person – of a stillborn infant.”
One can only imagine how the editorial staff treated this report, unsure whether it was true, especially as Charlotte’s child would be third in line to the throne, thus assuring the succession.
The court reporter’s bulletin was confirmed six hours later with a bulletin from Claremont, where the Princess lived with her husband, Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
“At 9 o’clock this evening Her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte was delivered of a still-born male child; Her Royal Highness is doing extremely well.”
The combination of joy – knowing that Charlotte was doing well- with the sadness of the news that she gave birth to a stillborn son was brief.
The Princess who had “shown uncommon firmness and the utmost resignation” during her labor accepted the news that her son was stillborn. Her husband, Prince Leopold, was waiting in another room when he was told that his child was stillborn, but Charlotte was all right; he cried out: “Thank God, thank God! The Princess is safe.”
Charlotte was exhausted after her long labor. Shortly after midnight on November 6, Charlotte started to become “restless and uneasy,” ending the sense of calm that her medical staff had felt after she had given birth. She began to suffer convulsions, which “increased till nature and life were quite exhausted.”
Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales died at 2:30 in the morning. She was 21 years old. Within the space of five hours - from giving birth to a stillborn son to Charlotte’s death- the British throne had lost two heirs. “It is our painful and unexpected duty to give an account of as melancholy an event as occurs in the annals of hereditary monarchy - the deaths of the only two presumptive heirs to the Crown in direct succession, the mother and her child.”
Direct succession. This was the issue. Charlotte was the only legitimate grandchild of King George III. She was an only child, a young woman caught between the acrimonious relationship between her parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, a couple who had been estranged even before Charlotte’s birth. Although George and his wife, Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, lived separate lives, they were never divorced. Charlotte’s birth only nine months after her parents’ marriage did not bring about reconciliation between them, putting the burden of succession on her.
The future George IV, a self-indulgent dandy, was a major concern to his parents. When he was 18, his mistress, an actress called Perdita Robinson, threatened to publish their letters. George III paid £5000 to obtain the letters from Perdita. The younger George wanted £100,000 a year from Parliament, but was granted only £50,000 a year, and another £60,000 to pay off his debts.
By 1784, he had run up another £150,000 in debts. The British royals did not undertake the myriad engagements modern royals do. The appanages were largely meant to cover their expenses, including the cost of running their households. The Prince of Wales and his younger brothers spent far more than what they received from Parliament. These young men showed scant regard for what the British taxpayer might have to say about their lavish lifestyles.
The Prince of Wales was expected to marry a Protestant German Princess, but he fell in love with Maria Fitzherbert, a twice-widowed woman six years his senior, and a Roman Catholic. He was warned against marrying Mrs. Fitzherbert, as it was in violation of the Act of Settlement and the Royal Marriages Act.
"He cried by the hour, rolling on the floor, striking his head, tearing his hair, falling into hysterics, and swearing that he would abandon the country, forgo the Crown, sell his jewels and plate and scrape together a competence to fly with the object of his affections to America," was how Lord Holland described the Prince of Wales' behavior when he was told what the circumstances would be if he married Maria Fitzherbert.
Of course, the Prince of Wales paid no heed to the advice. On December 15, 1785, he married Maria in a secret ceremony conducted by a priest recently released from prison. The marriage was invalid because the Prince did not have the King's permission to marry. Furthermore, even if the marriage were legal, the Prince of Wales would have lost his succession rights because he married a Roman Catholic.
For obvious reasons, the wedding was never made public, although the couple lived together. The Prince of Wales continued to run up masses of debts. His Civil list allowance was increased to £60,000, but the debts continued to rise. By 1794, the Prince of Wales' debts surpassed £500,000. He had no legitimate wife or heir. So what did this self-absorbed heir to the throne do? George knew that if he had a proper wife, Parliament would grant him another increase in his allowance.
So he dumped Mrs. Fitzherbert, and he told his father he was now ready to enter "a more creditable line of life." This meant marriage to a suitable Protestant German princess. The Prince of Wales made up his mind to marry his first cousin, Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, a princess who was said to have a "very loose" reputation. This was not a marriage based on love. George really did care who he married; a proper marriage meant his bills would be paid.
The British diplomat, the 1st Earl of Malmesbury, escorted the bride-to-be from her home to England. He was not impressed. In his diary he wrote that Caroline had “no judgment; caught by the first impression, led by the first impulse, turned away by appearances or enjouement, loving to talk and prone to confidence and make missish friendships that last twenty-four hours; some natural, but no acquired morality, and no strong innate notions of its value and necessity.” The Princess was “fond of gossiping.” Lord Malmesbury did not “mince matters” when he discussed her personal habits, noting that he had two conversations with the Princess “one on the toilet, on cleanliness, and on the delicacy of speaking. One of these points I endeavored, as far as was possible for a man, to inculcate the necessity of great and nice attention to every part of dress – as well as to what was hid as to what was seen.” The earl was referring to the princess’ underclothes, which were “never well washed or changed often. He tried to instill in the princess that a “long toilet was necessary,” as Princess Caroline paid scant attention to her ablutions, something that would not endear her to her fastidious husband.
On seeing Caroline for the first time, George cried out: "I feel faint, pray get me a glass of brandy." The marriage took place on April 8, 1795. The wedding night was spent at Carlton House where, according to Caroline, who told a lady-in-waiting some years later, "judge what it was like to have a drunken husband on one's wedding day, and one who passed the greatest part of his bridal night under the grate, where he fell, and where I left him."
The couple's only child, Charlotte, was born in January 1796. The marriage was already in trouble - Caroline refused to employ his mistress, Lady Jersey, in her Household. Having provided the country with an heir, George saw no reason why he should not return to his old ways - spending money, having mistresses, drinking, and being irresponsible. George wrote to his wife in April 1796, desiring a separation. "We have unfortunately been oblig'd to acknowledge to each other that we cannot find happiness in our union. ... Let me therefore beg you to make the best of a situation unfortunate for us both.”
The marriage was all but over by August 1797 when the Princess of Wales walked out and moved into a home of her own.
This was a couple who took great pleasure in tormenting each other. When George IV was crowned, he made sure his wife -- they had been separated for years, and neither was living an unblemished life -- was locked out of Westminster Abbey.
Charlotte's death brought about another succession crisis. George III was in the twilight of his life, and the Prince Regent was unlikely to divorce Caroline and marry another eligible princess, just to try for another child. Thus, the heir presumptive was Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, whose marriage to Princess Frederica of Prussia was childless. The couple had long been estranged and lived apart. Third in line was Prince William, the Duke of Clarence, who lived openly for years with the actress Dorothy Jordan and their ten children.
The fourth son, the Duke of Kent, was content to live with his mistress, Julie St. Laurent.
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| Frederica, Duchess of Cumberland (and on 6-20-1837, Queen Consort of Hanover) |
Prince Ernest Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland, married Princess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1815. Frederica was the niece of Queen Charlotte, as the Duchess’ father was the queen’s sister. Queen Charlotte was not in favor of this marriage largely due to Frederica’s scandalous past, which included two marriages, the second marriage in haste due to pregnancy, and lovers. Consent, however, was given by the Prince Regent, which allowed the newly-widowed Frederica (who had been in the process of divorcing her second husband when he died unexpectedly) to marry the Duke of Cumberland in Neustrelitz in May 1815. A second marriage was performed at Carlton House in London three months later on August 29.
Queen Charlotte never received her niece, who was also her daughter–in-law, to court.
The new Duchess had given birth to ten children in her first two marriages, but at her late 30s, another pregnancy was not expected. In the summer of 1816, the Duchess realized that she was going to have a baby, certainly good news for the royal family. This child would be George III's second legitimate grandchild. She went into labor on the morning of January 27 at St. James’s Palace. “Summons were presently forwarded” to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, the Lord Chancellor and the Cabinet Ministers. The Duke of Cumberland “sent his own chariot for the Lord Chancellor. The Archbishop of Canterbury, who “kept a carriage in readiness for the occasion,” arrived at the Cumberlands’ apartments within 20 minutes of receiving his summons. Shortly after the birth, a bulletin was released for “the satisfaction of the Public.”
“Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cumberland was delivered at one o’clock this day of a stillborn female child, and is well as can be expected.” The child was named for her mother.
For several days, the Duchess was in a “dangerous state.” The infant had been dead for at least a month, “occasioned, as it is conjectured, by excessive grief, on receiving the unexpected tidings of her beloved Father, the Duke of Mecklenburg’s death.”
Frederica celebrated her 40th birthday in March 1818. She was again pregnant, but in April – the exact date is not known – she gave birth to another stillborn daughter. The birth must have taken place before April 27, the day the Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Homburg, who had recently married the Duke of Cumberland’s sister, Princess Elizabeth, visited the Duchess at her home.
The Cumberlands were not expected to have further issue due to the Duchess’ age. The Duke’s brother, Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex, was also a non-starter in the marriage-cum-heirs race. In 1793, he married Lady Augusta Murray, in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act. This meant that his marriage was not valid in England. His wife and two children, Augustus and Augusta, had no titles and were not eligible for the succession to the throne, nor could Augustus inherit his father’s dukedom.
George III’s seventh son, Prince Adolphus, the Duke of Cambridge, was single as well. He was the youngest surviving son, which meant that his sisters and their descendants would follow in the succession. Suffice to say, the sisters had no issue, apart from Princess Charlotte, the Princess Royal, who was 30 when she married in 1897 to the future King Friedrich I of Württemberg. The following year she gave birth to a stillborn daughter. Princess Augusta was not permitted to marry her cousin, the Danish crown prince, or her lover, soldier Brent Spencer. Princess Elizabeth, known as Fatima in the family because “she was born fat, and through every illness, of which she had many, she never lost flesh,” was 48 years old when she married in 1818, in spite of her mother’s determination to keep her single, the Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg.
Princess Mary married her first cousin, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, in 1816, when both were already 40. The youngest daughter, Sophia, never married, although she was the mother of an illegitimate son, Thomas Garth, born in 1800, the result of her liaison with Captain Thomas Garth.
If none of George III's children had legitimate issue, the crown would eventually pass to the descendants of George III's sister, Augusta, who had married the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
It was an inauspicious time for the British royal family. Charlotte’s death brought the succession crisis into focus. Members of Parliament were tired and disappointed by the Princes' behavior and their rising debts. The rising revenues were of great concern. “To these expectations their application for a provision to the Princes upon certain mediated royal marriages is a very unpleasant answer, and will disappoint, in a great degree, the hopes which the nation had conceived of them. In making such demands upon the national purse, the ministers certainly appear to feel more for the court than the people. It has too much of the air of flattering the Prince Regent and Royal Family, at the public expense.”
In other words, Parliament was tightening the purse strings. The Members had to see more action and less gambling if they were to consider providing more funds to the princes. At this time, however, Parliament did not have an issue with providing an allowance to the Duchess of Cumberland as this “originated in a just and honorable feeling of the House, and the country will concur in it.” This vote must have been taken soon after the second stillbirth.
In 1811, the Duke of Clarence, who was deep in debt, dumped Mrs. Dorothy Jordan -- the mother of his ten children in order to find a more suitable wife. He proposed six times to heiress Catherine Tylney-Long, and six times she said no. Catherine was the daughter of Sir James Tylney-Long, 7th Baronet, and was known as the “Wiltshire heiress.” It was her inheritance (worth the modern equivalent of £two million) that interested the deeply in debt Duke.
Princess Anne of Denmark and Grand Duchess Catherine of Oldenburg also rebuffed him. The Duke of Clarence was a desperate man in need of a royal dating service. So near the throne, yet no woman wanted to marry him.
In his book, Royal Dukes, Roger Fulford wrote that in 1805 all of the younger Royal Dukes, including the Dukes of Kent, Cumberland, Cambridge and Sussex, were given a lump of £20,000 from the “droits of the Admiralty.” A year later, Parliament raised their grants to £18,000 a year. The Duke of Kent was able to supplement this grant with income from “his post as Governor-General of Gibraltar, his military pay and the rangership of Hampton Court.” His annual income was £24,000, but by 1807, the Duke of Kent was in debt for more than £200,000.
Although he would never admit it, the Duke of Kent’s lifestyle was extravagant. He “pestered” Parliament to give him the same preferential treatment that Parliament gave to the Dukes of York and Clarence when they wanted their debts to be paid. Naturally, Parliament would not budge. The Duke of Kent was forced to use half his income to pay interest on his loans. He also had to cut his mistress, Julie St. Laurent's, income from £1000 to £400 per year.
Perhaps the most eligible of all the royal dukes was the Duke of Cambridge, as he did not have a mistress or illegitimate children. He fell in love with Augusta of Hesse-Cassel, whom he had picked out as the perfect choice for Clarence. The second cousins were married first at Kassel in Hesse on May 7, 1818, and then again, on June 1, at Buckingham Palace.
Prince Adolphus, however, was not seen as a primary player in the marriage/succession race as he was George III’s seventh son.
A Cambridge line would certainly add to the succession dynamics.
Not long after Charlotte’s death, the Duke of Kent and Julie St. Laurent – known as Madame – were having breakfast when Madame became agitated, pointing to an article in the newspaper she was reading. Focusing on the succession crisis, the editorial called for the Duke of Kent to marry.
Edward was aware of the situation. He knew that neither the Prince Regent nor the Duke of York and Albany were estranged from their wives, and if the Duke of Clarence did not marry, he was next in the line of succession. “God only knows what sacrifice it will be to make, whenever I shall think it is my duty to become a married man.” His relationship with Julie St. Laurent had lasted for nearly 28 years, but now duty came before pleasure. Madame agreed to end the relationship and enter a convent.
The Duke already had a wife in mind. As early as October 1816, Edward had considered Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg and Saafeld, the sister of Prince Leopold, as his wife. But she could not make up her mind. In January 1818, the Duke of Kent wrote to Victoire and her brother, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Saafeld, making clear “his intention of asking for her hand.” Victoire’s mother wrote in her diary that Victoire had not been able to make up her mind, “ but now she is much inclined to accept and looks forward calmly to a new life.”
Victoire was 31 years old, the widow of Carl, Prince of Leiningen, and the mother of two young children, Carl, the Prince of Leiningen, and Princess Feodora, when she accepted the Duke of Kent’s proposal. Family connections proved important. No longer the consort of the heiress presumptive, Leopold had the opportunity to perhaps be the uncle of a future sovereign.
Edward and Victoria were married in a Lutheran ceremony on May 29, 1818, at Schloss Ehrenburg in Coburg. This marriage was followed by an Anglican service on July 11 at Kew Palace in the presence of Queen Charlotte.
The hunt for a suitable bride who would be of childbearing age – and accept that the Duke of Clarence was the father of nine surviving illegitimate children, several of whom were still minors. William was quite surprised when Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen accepted his proposal of marriage. She was already 25 years old, and suitors were few and far between. A marriage with a British prince, 27 years her senior, whose reputation was known throughout the Continent, was better than no marriage at all.
Shortly after the double weddings, the Duke and Duchess of Clarence and the Duke and Duchess of Kent returned to Hanover and Leiningen, respectively, to live. The new Duchess of Kent was the regent for her young son, Carl. The Duke borrowed £10,000 to turn Schloss Amorbach into a home fit for a British prince. Most of the work was done by a “small army of English artisans.”
If 1818 was the year for royal marriages, 1819 was a year for royal births. The succession stakes began in March with two births, a son for the Cambridges and a daughter for the Clarences. The news of both births was published in the Times on April 8, when the paper published extracts of dispatches from the British Ambassador at the Court of Berlin. The ambassador announced the Duchess of Cambridge had given birth to a Prince at Cambridge House in Hanover at 2:10 in the morning on March 26. The Duchess and her son, the paper reported, “were doing as well as possible when the accounts came away. The Duke of Clarence, Earl Mayo and Mr. Rose (the Ambassador) attended “Her Royal Highness’s accouchement, and signed a formal declaration of the above auspicious circumstance.”
Duke of Clarence expressed his congratulations to his brother and sister-in-law on the birth of their son, who was named George. He returned to his home, Schloss Fürstenhof, where the Duchess of Clarence was in the final weeks of her pregnancy. Everything seemed to be going well until she caught pleurisy, which led to a premature birth. Only a day after the birth of Prince George of Cambridge, the Duchess of Clarence “was brought to bed of a daughter, at a few minutes past seven o’clock in the morning.” The infant princess was quickly baptized as Charlotte Augusta Louisa, according to the rites of the Church of England. Sadly - and tragically for the succession- Princess Charlotte “expired at one in the afternoon.”
With the death of the Clarences’ daughter, the succession race now focused on the Duchess of Kent, who was expected to give birth in May. Unlike his brothers, the Duke of Kent did not want his child to be born in Germany but in London. His eldest brother, the Prince Regent, was certainly not keen for Edward and his wife to return to England. But the duke arranged a loan that would allow the couple, along with Victoria’s daughter, Feodora, “a pair of Russian-lap dogs and her song-birds, a nurse and a lady’s maid.” This would not be a comfortable or grand ride to England. The Duke himself “sat on the box of the coach and took the reins.” They arrived at Kensington Palace in mid-April, as the Duke “had his own way in spite of dangers from miscarriages and the Regent’s anger.”
A gypsy in Malta once predicted that the Duke of Kent would be the father of a great queen, so it is not surprising that he wanted his child to be born in England. On May 24, 1819, at Kensington Palace, the Duchess of Kent gave birth to a daughter, Alexandrina Victoria.
“Kensington Palace, May 24, 1819. BULLETIN Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent was safely delivered of a Princess this morning at quarter past four o’clock.” A further bulletin was issued at 3:00 p.m. “Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent and the Infant Princess continue in a favourable state.”
In the first weeks following the birth of the Duke of Kent’s daughter, further bulletins confirmed that the “Royal infant continues to do well.”
Three days after the Duchess of Kent gave birth, her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Cumberland, gave birth in Berlin to a son, who was named George. The Duchess, who was born Princess Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was 41 years old and had not been expected to join the succession race, especially after two stillbirths in 1817 and 1818.
The Duke of Kent was not disappointed with the birth of a daughter. He wrote to a friend: “As to the circumstance of the child not proving to be a son instead of a daughter, I feel it due to myself to declare that such sentiments are not in unison with my own: for I am decidedly of the opinion that the decrees of Providence are at all times wisest and best.”
The infant Princess’ maternal grandmother, Augusta, the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Saafeld, learned of the birth from an English courier, who arrived in Coburg on May 31. She wrote in her diary about Victoire’s “safe delivery of a daughter....God Bless her and the precious child!” On August 15, Augusta arrived at the Rosenau, the home of her son, Duke Ernst I, and his wife, Luise, who was expecting their second child, where Fräulein Siehold, the midwife who had just returned from England after helping to deliver Victoire’s daughter, was able to give more details about the new princess. Augusta had been “longing for news, and Fräulein Siebold gave me an excellent report of Victoire and the little May flower.”
The Duke and Duchess of Kent had wanted to name their daughter Georgiana Charlotte Augusta Alexandrina Victoria. The Prince Regent was asked to be one of the princess’ godfathers. He was also asked to approve the names. The night before the baptism, he sent a “curt message” to his brother and sister-in-law, who had been waiting anxiously for George’s response. It was not what they had expected or hoped for. The Prince Regent wrote, “that the name of Georgiana could not be used, - He did not chuse to place His name before the Emperor of Russia’s - and He could not allow it to follow.” He also told the Duke of Kent that he would discuss the names at the baptismal ceremony.
The christening took place at Kensington Palace. The Archbishop of Canterbury held the infant in his arms, waiting for the Prince Regent to provide the child’s names. The Duke and Duchess of Kent were placed in an uncomfortable situation as the Prince Regent remained silent, perhaps mulling over in his mind what he planned to do. Finally, he spoke. Alexandrina. No other name. The Archbishop waited again, as the Duke of Kent suggested Charlotte, to which the Prince Regent shook his head no. The Duke of Kent then proposed Augusta. Again the Prince Regent said no. Finally, he said: “Let her be called after her mother.”
His behavior left the Duchess of Kent to sob throughout her daughter’s first important ceremony. The unfeeling Prince Regent had left no doubt that he did not see the Duke of Kent’s daughter as a future sovereign, firmly assured that the Duchess of Clarence would give birth to a healthy child.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Bishop of London, named the child Alexandrina Victoria. The first name honored one of the godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, who was represented by the Duke of York. The other godparents were the Dowager Queen of Württemberg (Princess Charlotte), represented by her younger sister, Princess Augusta, and the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Saafeld, represented by the Duchess of Gloucester (Princess Mary). Other members of the royal family, including the Duke and Duchess of York, Prince Leopold and Princess Feodora, the Duchess of Kent’s daughter.
In the evening, the Duke and Duchess of Kent had a “numerous and splendid party to dinner to celebrate the joyful event.”
The Duke of Kent wanted to keep his daughter in the public eye, telling friends: “Look at her well for she will be Queen of England.” Two months after Drina’s baptism, the Duke took her to a military review, showing her off in front of his brother. The Prince Regent, who considered his niece an intruder, shouted to his brother: “What business has that infant here?”
The Prince Regent was not keen on having his brother and family remain in England, as this “ostentatious breeding,” according to Roger Fulford, reminded the eldest son of George III that he had failed in his duty to provide the kingdom with an heir. Prince Leopold, who continued to receive £50,000 a year from Parliament, wanted to remain in his father-in-law’s good graces, and offered to pay for the Kents to return to Amorbach.
The Duke of Kent would have none of this. He was determined that his child should remain in England as she was in the direct line of succession. The Duke’s financial problems did not end when he married, so the family had to find a less expensive home. It was the duke’s former tutor, now the Bishop of Salisbury, who recommended Sidmouth, in Devon, where the family would be out of reach of the duke’s creditors, and the air was healthy.
At the beginning of December 1819, they left Kensington Palace, stopping at Windsor Castle, where Edward’s sisters fawned over “the beautiful fat baby.” The Kents moved into Woolbrook House, a “small two-storied white house,” about a quarter of a mile from the sea.
As the Duke and Duchess of Kent settled into their new home, the Clarences were en route to England. The Duchess of Clarence was again pregnant, but she miscarried in Calais, as they waited to board a ship to cross the Channel.
The mild Devonshire climate proved restful for the family, as they continued to economize their expenses and avoid the Duke’s creditors. The familial joys soon turned to sadness as the duke, who had gone for a walk up Peak’s Hill, returned home without realizing “he had got soaked in the reeking air.” The Duke was advised to change out of his wet stockings and shoes, but waited to do this until after dinner, as he “was attracted by the smiles of his infant Princess, with whom he sat for a considerable time in fond parental dalliance.” He developed a cold, which he neglected. The infection spread to his lungs, which The Times described as a “pleuritic inflammation.”
The Duke of Kent and Strathearn died at Sidmouth on January 23, 1820. He was 52 years old.
Six days after the death of the Duke of Kent, his father, King George III, who suffered from dementia and was blind and deaf, finally succumbed to old age. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the Prince Regent, who reigned as King George IV. The Duke of York was now the heir presumptive to the throne, a position he held until his death on January 5, 1827.
Little Drina was third in the line of succession when her uncle George IV succeeded to the throne, a position that she held until December 10, 1820, when at the King’s Palace, St. James’s, “Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Clarence was safely delivered at five minutes past five o’clock this afternoon a female child. Her Royal Highness is as well as can be expected. The infant is born before its time, about six weeks.”
The king was duly informed, and he responded with a “letter of congratulations” to his brother and sister-in-law. He suggested, with the Duke of Clarence’s approbation, that an early baptism was “deemed advisable” and the infant Princess should be named Elizabeth. The Duke and Duchess wanted to name their daughter Georgina, but King George IV decided that his new niece needed a more regal name – Elizabeth - the name of a queen. One can only imagine how the Duchess of Kent felt when she learned about the birth of Princess Elizabeth of Clarence, who pushed her first cousin, Alexandrina Victoria, out of third place in the line of succession.
A second bulletin was issued at 10:30 p.m. “Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Clarence is doing “remarkably well. The infant Princess takes the breast. Her Royal Highness is a much stouter child born than those in general born so early.”
Another bulletin was issued the next morning. “Her Royal Highness has passed another good night, and continues at present free from fever. We still entertain great hopes that the infant Princess will live.” The conditions of mother and daughter were said to be so favorable that it was decided to not issue further bulletins.
Lady Jerningham wrote in her diary: “The Duchess of Clarence is delivered of a Princess. It is to be a future Queen Elizabeth – but, I trust, not so sanguinary.” The newborn princess was described as “disturbingly small,” and the Duchess’ doctor, Sir Henry Halford, described her as a “poor wishy-washy thing.” He believed the baby would live, but only if she survived the “first dangerous month.”
Although she was born prematurely, Princess Elizabeth Georgiana Adelaide of Clarence appeared to be thriving and was “rapidly gaining health and strength till the sudden changes of the weather began to affect her.” On the night of March 1, she was discovered to be a "little feverish.” The following day, the doctors in attendance decided to remain at St. James’s Palace throughout the day and stay through Saturday. The three doctors remained on watch although they did not think the princess was dying. As midnight approached, two of the doctors, Sir Henry Halford and Sir William Knighton, decided to get some sleep, leaving Sir Andrew Halliday on call. Shortly before one a.m. on March 4, a change was noticed in Princess Elizabeth’s condition. Sir Andrew hurried to the nursery where the princess was suffering from convulsions. The Duke and Duchess of Clarence, who had retired to bed, were awakened by the news of Elizabeth’s decline. They rushed to their daughter’s side, arriving shortly before Elizabeth died at 1:10 in the morning.
The Duchess of Clarence was overcome with emotion and fainted into the arms of her husband. The official bulletin was released shortly afterward: “The Princess Elizabeth was indisposed on Friday. Her Royal Highness became feverish yesterday; and about one o’clock this morning she was seized with a convulsion, in which she expired.”
Later in the day, the Duke and Duchess of Clarence “received visits of condolence” from the Duke of York, the Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Sophia. The two women remained for several hours “comforting and supporting the Duchess under her bereavement and affliction.” Express messengers were sent to the King at Brighton and to Prince Leopold and the Duchess of Kent at Claremont.
An autopsy was performed on the body of the princess. It was discovered that the cause of her death was due to an entangled bowel, “a disease to which all young children and even adults are subject.”
In modern parlance, Elizabeth died of an obstructed bowel. The King’s Sergeant-Surgeon, who performed the autopsy and embalming, ended his official report with “In every other respect, I found this infant as healthy a subject as it has ever fallen to my lot to examine after death.”
The official announcement of Princess Elizabeth’s death was also published in the London Gazette. “Yesterday morning, soon after one o’clock, died, at age 12 weeks, Her Highness Elizabeth, only daughter of His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, to the great grief of His Majesty and all of the Royal Family.”
Only hours after watching his infant daughter die, William took a few minutes to sit down and write a letter to Mrs. Clayton, the woman who had been hired to look after Princess Elizabeth, to say that she was not at fault for Elizabeth’s death.
The Duke of Clarence was devoted to his wife and wanted nothing more than to see her bear a healthy child. In August 1819, he wrote to the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, informing him that he believed that the Duchess was again pregnant –five months after the birth of Princess Charlotte –and he looked forward to returning to England. He was anxious about Adelaide’s condition and was looking forward to the “happy moment arrives which I trust in God will make her a mother.”
The Clarences left London in early 1822 to live quietly at Bushey. The Duchess was again pregnant, but in April 1822, she miscarried a set of twins. There would be no further pregnancies for the Duchess of Clarence. The succession race was over. The three other 1819 babies: Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, George of Cumberland, and George of Cambridge were thriving. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had two more children: Princess Augusta in 1822 and Princess Mary Adelaide in 1833.
In 1825, Parliament made provisions for the “duo support” of the Duchess of Kent and the Duke of Cumberland and their children, Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent and Prince George Frederick Alexander Charles Ernest Augustus of Cumberland. King William IV wanted to provide annuities to the Duchess of Kent and the Duke of Cumberland as their children had “attained such age as that it became proper provision should be made for their maintenance and education.”
George IV died on June 26, 1830, and was succeeded by his brother, William, who reigned until June 20, 1837, less than a month after his niece, Victoria, reached her eighteenth birthday, the age at which she attained her majority.
The death of Princess Charlotte was a “most melancholy and distressing event” that refocused the dynamics of dynastic succession. Three royal Dukes - Clarence, Kent, and Cambridge accepted the Parliamentary challenge. To be honest, the Dukes of Clarence and Kent needed increased Parliamentary grants to pay off their debts. Duty won out. Marriages were made, thus beginning the process of royal breeding. The three new Royal Duchesses, along with the Duchess of Cumberland, also played their roles in this quest to produce an heir.
It was at 2:12 in the morning of June 20, 1837 that the succession race was won by “the little May flower,” who, at age ten, when she learned that she was closer to the throne than she thought, raised her right finger and told her governess, “I will be good.”
The Mayflower – Princess Alexandrina of Kent – reigned as Queen Victoria from June 20, 1837 until January 22, 1901. She was 81 years old when she died.
If you liked this article, I would love a coffee -- a lot of research went into this post, which was based on an article I wrote seven years ago.
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