How Charlie became German

Marlene A  Eilers Koenig Collection

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the second and younger son of Duke Ernst I. It was expected that Albert's older brother, Ernst, would marry and have sons to carry on the dynastic line. The marriage treaty between Queen Victoria and Prince Albert contains no reference to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and the possible succession of Albert's male heirs.

One clause stated: "The sons and daughters of the said marriage shall be brought up according to the laws of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in that respect, and no children of this marriage shall be allowed to marry without the consent of Her Majesty the Queen or of the King or Queen of the United Kingdom for the time being.

Two years after Albert's marriage to Victoria, his older brother married Princess Alexandrine of Baden. The marriage was childless. Thus, it was now apparent that the succession would eventually devolve to Albert's line. This would prove problematic. Mindful of the earlier ties to Hanover, whereby the British Sovereign and the Hanoverian king were one in the same, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert did not want to create another situation where the British sovereign would also become a German sovereign.

(In 1837, when William IV died, his niece, Victoria, got the grand prize by inheriting the British throne, and his brother, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, became the King of Hanover.)
Thus, Victoria was not going to allow her eldest son and heir to also succeed in Coburg.

In 1855, a Fundamental law was passed in Coburg that would have Albert's line renounce their right of succession. But this could not be done until the Prince of Wales reached his majority.

"We, Albert Edward, Prince Royal of Great Britain and Ireland &c, make known that having acknowledged the adhesion given by our father, dead to the Lord, to the law of March 1, 1855, as to the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and the fundamental law decreed by it, May 3, 1855, for the Duchies of Coburg and Gotha, we have seen that the desire of our father was that his posterity should completely renounce the right of succession to the throne of the Duchies of Coburg and Gotha. In consequence, we have the intention of realizing this paternal wish, which hitherto has not been in our power because of our minority; we wish to realize it in as complete a manner as possible, and by that add, according to our power, to the prosperity of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well as that of the Duchies of Coburg and Gotha, while giving our brothers as evidence of our fraternal love."

The text continued with Albert Edward's renouncement of the Coburg succession "for us and for our heirs," in favor of Albert Edward's younger brothers, Alfred, Arthur, and Leopold, and their male successors.

Thus, the Prince of Wales and his male heirs were removed from the Coburg succession. The act did include a clause: "In the case, nevertheless, of our brothers and their male line becoming extinct before us and our male branch, we reserve to ourselves, for us and for our male successors, this right of succession to the throne of the Duchies of Coburg and Gotha."

As Ernst II's marriage was childless, the next in line was his nephew, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, although he remained in Royal Navy, and was very much a British prince. Alfred and his wife, Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, were the parents of one son and four daughters. The son, Prince Alfred, was sent to Germany to be educated. He grew up to live a dissipated life, much to the dismay of his parents. A marriage was arranged between young Affie and Duchess Elsa of Württemberg (officially announced in the Court Circular) in 1895, but the relationship was finally ended by Elsa's parents, as they learned more about Affie's lifestyle, which was well-documented in the German media.

The Duke of Edinburgh succeeded as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1893. Young Affie's death six years later precipitated another look at the succession.

According to the fourth paragraph in the Coburg constitution, the reigning duke was "bound to reside" in the duchy. Coburg's Parliament prevailed upon the government "to use its influences in the highest quarters in order that Prince Arthur of Connaught, who in all human probability will someday be called upon to succeed to the throne should as soon as possible take up as his principal residence in the Duchies of Coburg and Gotha, receive a German education, and make himself personally acquainted with the circumstances of his new home."

 
This statement was made on May 31, 1899. It was also noted that the British Court decided that Prince Arthur would remain at Eton for a year and a half before moving permanently to Coburg.

One month later, the Coburg Diet was informed of the renunciation to the throne by the Duke of Connaught and his son, Prince Arthur of Connaught. The new heir presumptive was the young Duke of Albany, Prince Charles Edward, 14, who also was at Eton. The Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg was appointed as Charlie's guardian. (The prince was the Duke of Edinburgh's son-in-law.)

It was also noted that "the renunciation of the eldest son of the Duke of Connaught is conditional upon the Duke of Albany's living to assume the Throne or leaving direct heirs."

It is understood that the Duke of Connaught's eldest sister, Victoria (Empress Friedrich) played a subtle role in the duke's decision to renounce the Coburg succession for himself and for his son.

After young Affie's death, Vicky wrote to her mother, Queen Victoria, suggesting that the Duke and Duchess of Connaught should visit Coburg with their children, Margaret, Arthur, and Patricia. The Queen passed on the letter to her son.

Vicky suggested that no decision be made regarding young Arthur's education, but that they should visit her son, the Kaiser, and ask that he give young Arthur an honorary commission.

Thus, young Arthur could remain at Eton, go to Sandhurst, but make "the odd visit to Coburg, and perhaps take a course at Heidelberg University." Vicky felt this would appease the locals, and young Arthur could remain a British prince. She knew that the Coburg Parliament had no say in the succession.

The Duke of Connaught did not agree with this view. He held a more "modern view," and believed "that it was advisable to show some consideration for the voice of the people."

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Queen Victoria did not share this view, however. She had assumed, rightly as it turned out, that Arthur and his son would renounce their rights, and Charlie would become the heir. The widowed Duchess of Albany was not thrilled with this proposal because she did not want her son to move to Germany, and she did not want to be brought into a "collision" with Kaiser Wilhelm II.

The Kaiser had other ideas. He was determined that Affie's heir would move to Germany and be educated there. The heir to the duchy must be German, not British, the Kaiser argued.

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After visiting his brother at Coburg, Arthur made the decision to renounce himself and for his son. The Connaughts preferred to remain British princes.

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In her autobiography, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, writes: "It was a very great heart-break for my mother that my brother had to succeed to Coburg. 'I have always tried to bring Charlie up as a good Englishman, and now I have to turn him into a good German.'"

It was Queen Victoria's wish that Charlie become the heir, and the Duchess of Albany did not have the power to say no, and Charlie was too young to make the decision on his own. Victoria made it for him.


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