Charlotte & Victoria

The story of Queen Victoria's accession is familiar to most history students: the race by the Royal Dukes to produce an heir, the birth of Victoria, Victoria's stifled life with her mother, and eventually her accession to the throne at the young age of 18. In Becoming Queen, Kate Williams discusses this well-known story and looks at in contrast with the life of Princess Charlotte, the Princess whose death paved the way for Victoria's accession.

First, for those of you unfamiliar with the Royal Family of England, a quick history lesson. King George III of England (1760-1820) had quite a large family with his wife, Queen Charlotte. (King George was part of the house of Hanover - the German branch of the family that inherited the crown after the extinction [and conversion to Catholicism!] of the male Stuart line.) King George had 9 sons, 7 of whom survived to adulthood. One would think the succession would be assured, correct? No! George's sons were a profligate, wastrel, and promiscuous bunch as has ever been seen. They cared nothing for the country of England and instead focused on filling their voracious appetites for food, fashion, and women. King George had no legitimate grandchildren until the birth of the second-in-line to the throne, Princess Charlotte, in 1796.

This is where Kate Williams begins her story. Princess Charlotte's father was the heir to the throne, also named George. (He did later become George IV, but is probably most remembered for serving as Regent to his father from 1810-1820, therefore I will refer to him as the Prince Regent to avoid confusion, even though this may not be historically accurate throughout.) The Prince Regent was married to a lovely Catholic widow, Maria Fitzherbert. However, this marriage was illegal. First of all, Maria was a Catholic and English royals (to this very day) cannot marry a Catholic without forfeiting their place in the succession. Further, the Prince had not asked the permission of the reigning monarch for his marriage, which he was required to do pursuant to the Royal Marriages Act of 1772. (Passed by George III to curb the lustful appetites of an earlier generation of Hanoverians.) The Prince Regent was heavily in debt and wanted to try to get more money from a parsimonious Parliament which found the free-spending Royal Dukes to be a millstone around the neck of the country. In order to get more money out of Parliament, the Prince Regent decided he would have to sacrifice his happy life with Maria and marry, officially this time.

The bride chosen for the Prince was his cousin, Caroline of Brunswick. Unfortunately, the marriage was disastrous. Caroline was just as much a Hanoverian as her cousin. She was large, dirty, and accused of being licentious. The Prince Regent had to get thoroughly drunk in order to face the wedding, held on April 8, 1795. Despite his drunkenness, however, Caroline conceived almost immediately after the wedding and Princess Charlotte Augusta was born January 7, 1796.
The poor little Princess did not have an easy life of it. Her parents separated almost immediately after her birth and never reunited. Charlotte was a pawn to be used by either parent; petted and adored at that parent's whim, only to be thrown off when inconvenient. Charlotte grew up headstrong and willful, but with a kind heart. The English public, tired of the riotous living of the Royal Dukes, hailed Charlotte as the Queen of the future and looked to her for better times ahead.

The Prince Regent was jealous of his daughter's popularity and tried to marry her off to a foreign prince (of the Netherlands) as a means to getting her out of the country for a certain period each year. Charlotte first agreed to the engagement, and then changed her mind. Her father was furious. Charlotte fled to her mother's house, but was persuaded to return to her father's house the next day. One of her Royal Uncles even held a warrant which would have allowed him to remove Charlotte by force, if necessary. Charlotte was then confined to various royal residences until she could persuade her father that she would never marry the Dutch prince.

Despite other royal suitors (including nearly every illegitimate cousin of Charlotte's that was close in age!), Charlotte finally fixed upon Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saafield. Her father reluctantly agreed, and the couple was married on May 2, 1816. Much to the dismay of the English public, the Prince Regent had insisted on a quiet evening wedding for the Princess. He knew of the Princess' great popularity with the English people and knew it greatly overshadowed his own. Charlotte was quietly married to her Prince and honeymooned in Surrey, before taking up residence in Charlotte's country palace, Claremont - a gift from her father before the wedding.

Leopold was a good, steadying influence on the impulsive Princess, and Charlotte matured and grew under the gentle regard of Leopold. The young couple fell in love. There was an early miscarriage in the summer of 1816, but Charlotte was pregnant again by the time the first anniversary came around in 1817.

In the weeks leading up to the birth of the child (thought to be due in October), Charlotte was feeling unwell and her doctors thought the child was too large. Her doctors prescribed rest, a reduced diet, and lots of bloodletting. October came and went, and no baby. In the evening of November 3rd, Charlotte went into labour with Leopold at her side. Her doctor refused to let her eat, and Charlotte grew progressively weaker as her labour continued over the next few days and there was no sign of the child. Finally, on the evening of November 5th, Charlotte gave birth to a large, stillborn boy. Charlotte seemed to take the news calmly, and was finally given something to eat by her doctor. He proclaimed that she was doing well, despite her extensive labour and extreme weakness. Early on the morning of November 6th, Charlotte got sick and began to complain of pains in her stomach. She also began bleeding. Her doctor frantically tried to treat her, but it was to no avail. Charlotte died early in the morning of November 6th. She was only 21.

Upon hearing of the death of Charlotte and her son, England mourned. Charlotte had been regarded as the next great hope for England, a sign of prosperity and vitality after the parasitical Royal Dukes. Further, she was George III's only legitimate grandchild. Her death left England without a young heir to the throne.

The Prince Regent was still tied to his unsatisfactory wife, Princess Caroline and their was no prospect of divorce or reconciliation. None of the remaining Royal Dukes had any legitimate children. Either the Duke was legitimately married with children, or was the father of several illegitimate children by a long-time mistress. But, what was a mistress when the Duke could become the father of the next ruler of England? Further, a legitimate marriage may persuade Parliament to pay off some debts. A number of the Dukes turned aside their long-term loves and married Protestant German princesses in a race to secure the succession.

One of the ardent suitors was Edward, Duke of Kent, 4th son of George III. He too sought a bride from Germany. Charlotte's widower, Prince Leopold, despite his grief at the death of his wife, was also distraught at losing his chance to the English throne. However, while he could not marry an English Duke, his widowed sister, Victoire, could. Victoire was understandably reluctant to leave her small German principality which she ruled for her minor son to marriage in England to yet another old man. However, she eventually agreed and the couple was married on May 29, 1818. Edward was 52, Victoire was 33.

Fortunately for Edward, Victoire became pregnant almost immediately and their daughter was born May 24, 1819 - Princess Alexandrine Victoria. (She was named after her godfather Emperor Alexander of Russia and her mother, the Prince Regent having forbid the use of the names Georgiana and Charlotte.) Sadly for Edward, however, he would not live to see his daughter grow up and perhaps be supplanted in the succession by a son: he died of pneumonia on January 23, 1820.

Victoire was widowed and now alone and lost in a strange land. However, she was determined not to return to Germany and lose her daughter's place in the succession. Although Edward was the 4th son, the 2nd son's wife was childless (and the couple was separated) and the 3rd son's children died as infants. Little Victoria was clearly in line to be the next ruler of England, after her "wicked Uncles". And, as seen above with Charlotte, little Victoria began to be seen as the hope for the next generation.

The Prince Regent succeed his father in 1820. He kept Victoire and Victoria away from his court, not brooking any rivals to his popularity. He was succeeded by his brother William IV in 1830 (this being the 3rd son, the 2nd son having died in 1827). William tried to extend an invitation to Victoire and Victoria and to include Victoria in with the royal family. However, Victoire was distrustful of the Royal Uncles and she kept Victoria resolutely away from William, despite Victoria's love for her sweet and gentle Aunt Adelaide.

Sadly for Victoria, she became just as much a pawn for her mother as Charlotte had been for her parents. Victoire and her long-time advisor, Sir John Conroy wanted to be the power behind the throne when Victoria became Queen, and so they schemed and plotted. King William IV was 65 when he came to the throne, and Victoire and Sir John were planning for the Regency to come to them. Victoria's life was tightly restricted in order to bind her more firmly to Victoire and Sir John. Where a kind word and some indulgence would have won Victoria's favour forever, her mother's strict policies instead lead to Victoria's lasting hatred for her mother and Sir John. Victoria had to sleep in her mother's room, was never left alone at any time during the day, and her diary was read by her mother. When Victoria was 16, she became gravely ill. Instead of caring for her daughter at that time, Victoire (and Sir John) tried to force Victoria to sign a document naming Sir John as her private secretary. As weak and ill as she was, Victoria summoned the strength to refuse.

King William hated Victoire and Sir John and was determined to prevent a Regency. He managed to hang on until after Victoria's 18th birthday, dying on June 20, 1837. Victoria, a lovely young woman of 18, succeeded to the throne. Her first act as Queen - an hour alone. Her second act; her bed was removed to a room of her own.

It is interesting to remember that Victoria was only 18 when she became Queen. So often we have this image of an old, widowed, grumpy monarch dressed all in black, but that was not representative of the Victoria who became Queen in 1837. She was a young, fresh, and charming Princess. Williams shows that Victoria's character, while somewhat imperious, was cheerful and lively. It wasn't until she was tempered by her later marriage with Albert and then his loss that she became reclusive and melancholy.

Poor Princess Charlotte never got a chance to be Queen. However, Victoria did, and Williams discusses the first triumph and tragedies of her reign, as well as her romance and marriage with her cousin Albert Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Yes, the redoubtable Leopold was at it again - he set up Victoria with her cousin Albert (the son of Leopold and Victoire's brother). As we all know, this was a happy marriage, producing 9 children (much to Victoria's dismay). Williams ends the book with Victoria's first two successful pregnancies; the births of Princess Victoria and Prince Albert Edward.

As a side note, I think I would really enjoy a book on the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha/Saafield clan. Leopold and his siblings managed to marry themselves into many of the grand royal families of Europe, including England, Belgium, Russia, and Portugal. Not bad for the members of a small and unimportant German principality!

I really enjoyed this book. I have not read a lot of the life of Princess Charlotte and was fascinated by Williams' account. I am not very interested in the Hanoverians; usually skipping over them to get right to Victoria and her descendants, so I was very interested in Williams' description of Princess Charlotte. It is indeed an intriguing question to ponder: what if she hadn't died? What if, instead of Queen Victoria, we had Queen Charlotte? Charlotte really emerged as a person for me in this book and I enjoyed learning about her and her life.

Williams does an excellent job of discussing Charlotte and Victoria. She does not thump the reader over the head with the parallels between the lives of these two little princesses, but leaves the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. Both Charlotte and Victoria grew up destined to be the ruler of England. Both Princesses were used and manipulated by their parents for that parent's own end. Both found happiness in marriage (thanks to the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha clan). Tragically, this is where the story ends - Victoria survived her first attempt at childbirth: Charlotte did not. But both young Princesses were seen as the hope of their country.