January 14, 1892: Death of Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale

Tags

1.The Prince of Wales (eldest son of The Queen), Alexandra of Denmark, Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, Edward VII of the United Kingdom, India, Influenza Pandemic, Prince Albert Victor, Princess Hélène of Orléans, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (January 8, 1864 – January 14, 1892) was the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) and grandson of the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria. From the time of his birth, he was second in the line of succession to the British throne, but never became king because he died before his father and grandmother.

Albert Victor was born two months prematurely on January 8, 1864 at Frogmore House, Windsor, Berkshire. He was the first child of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and his wife Alexandra of Denmark, daughter of was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (King Christian IX of Denmark) and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel.

Following his grandmother Queen Victoria’s wishes, he was named Albert Victor, after herself and her late husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. As a grandchild of the reigning British monarch in the male line and a son of the Prince of Wales, he was formally styled His Royal Highness Prince Albert Victor of Wales from birth.

From October 1889 till May 1890 Prince Albert Victor toutred India. On his return from India, Albert Victor was created Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Earl of Athlone on May 24, 1890, Queen Victoria’s 71st birthday.

Prospective brides

Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine

Several women were lined up as possible brides for Albert Victor. The first, in 1889, was his cousin Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, but she did not return his affections and refused his offer of engagement. She would later marry Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, another of Albert Victor’s cousins, in 1894.

Princess Hélène of Orléans

The second, in 1890, was a love match with Princess Hélène of Orléans, the third of eight children born to Prince Philippe VII , Count of Paris, and Infanta Maria Isabel of Spain, daughter of Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier and Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain. Antoine was the youngest son of Louis-Philippe I, the last King of France, and Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. Infanta Luisa was the daughter of Ferdinand VII of Spain and her grandfather’s fourth wife Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies. All four of her grandparents and seven of her eight great-grandparents were members of the French Royal House of Bourbon.

Engagement photo of the Duke of Clarence and Princess Mary of Teck

At first, Queen Victoria opposed any engagement because Hélène was Roman Catholic. Victoria wrote to her grandson suggesting another of her grandchildren, Princess Margaret of Prussia, as a suitable alternative, but nothing came of her suggestion, and once Albert Victor and Hélène confided their love to her, the Queen relented and supported the proposed marriage. Hélène offered to convert to the Church of England, and Albert Victor offered to renounce his succession rights to marry her.

To the couple’s disappointment, her father refused to countenance the marriage and was adamant she could not convert. Hélène travelled personally to intercede with Pope Leo XIII, but he confirmed her father’s verdict, and the courtship ended. On June 25, 1895, at the Church of St. Raphael in Kingston upon Thames, Hélène married Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, 2nd Duke of Aosta (1869–1931).

In late 1891, the Prince was implicated as having been involved with a former Gaiety Theatre chorus girl, Lydia Miller (stage name Lydia Manton), who committed suicide by drinking carbolic acid. In 1891, Albert Victor wrote to Lady Sybil St Clair Erskine that he was in love once again, though he does not say with whom, but by this time another potential bride, Princess Mary of Teck, was under consideration. Mary was the daughter of Queen Victoria’s first cousin Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck. Queen Victoria was very supportive, considering Mary ideal—charming, sensible and pretty. On 3 December 1891 Albert Victor, to Mary’s “great surprise”, proposed to her at Luton Hoo, the country residence of the Danish ambassador to Britain. The wedding was set for February 27, 1892.

as plans for both his marriage to Mary and his appointment as Viceroy of Ireland were under discussion, Albert Victor fell ill with influenza in the pandemic of 1889–92. He developed pneumonia and died at Sandringham House in Norfolk on January 14, 1892, less than a week after his 28th birthday. His parents the Prince and Princess of Wales, his sisters Princesses Maud and Victoria, his brother Prince George, his fiancée Princess Mary, her parents the Duke and Duchess of Teck, three physicians (Alan Reeve Manby, Francis Laking and William Broadbent) and three nurses were present. The Prince of Wales’s chaplain, Canon Frederick Hervey, stood over Albert Victor reading prayers for the dying.

The nation was shocked. Shops put up their shutters. The Prince of Wales wrote to Queen Victoria, “Gladly would I have given my life for his”.

May 6, 1910: Death of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Tags

1.The Prince of Wales (eldest son of The Queen), Alexandra of Denmark, Biarritz, Bronchitis, German Emperor Wilhelm II, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, King George V

Edward VII (Albert Edward; November 9, 1841 – May 6, 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India from January 22, 1901 until his death in 1910.

The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and nicknamed “Bertie”, Edward was related to royalty throughout Europe. He was Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the British throne for almost 60 years.

During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political influence and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties, and represented Britain on visits abroad.

His tours of North America in 1860 and of the Indian subcontinent in 1875 proved popular successes, but despite public approval, his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother.

As king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. He re-instituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised.

He fostered good relations between Britain and other European countries, especially France, for which he was popularly called “Peacemaker”, but his relationship with his nephew, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, was poor.

The Edwardian era, which covered Edward’s reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including steam.

Death

Edward habitually smoked twenty cigarettes and twelve cigars a day. In 1907, a rodent ulcer, a type of cancer affecting the skin next to his nose, was cured with radium. Towards the end of his life he increasingly suffered from bronchitis.

He suffered a momentary loss of consciousness during a state visit to Berlin in February 1909. In March 1910, he was staying at Biarritz when he collapsed. He remained there to convalesce, while in London Asquith tried to get the Finance Bill passed.

The king’s continued ill health was unreported, and he attracted criticism for staying in France while political tensions were so high. On April 27, he returned to Buckingham Palace, still suffering from severe bronchitis. Alexandra returned from visiting her brother, King George I of Greece, in Corfu a week later on May 5.

On May 6, Edward suffered several heart attacks, but refused to go to bed, saying, “No, I shall not give in; I shall go on; I shall work to the end.” Between moments of faintness, his son the Prince of Wales (shortly to be King George V) told him that his horse, Witch of the Air, had won at Kempton Park that afternoon.

The king replied, “Yes, I have heard of it. I am very glad”: his final words. At 11:30 p.m. he lost consciousness for the last time and was put to bed. He died 15 minutes later. The Prince of Wales succeeded to the throne as King George V.

Alexandra refused to allow Edward’s body to be moved for eight days afterwards, though she allowed small groups of visitors to enter his room. On May 11, the late king was dressed in his uniform and placed in a massive oak coffin, which was moved on May 14 to the throne room, where it was sealed and lay in state, with a guardsman standing at each corner of the bier.

Despite the time that had elapsed since his death, Alexandra noted the King’s body remained “wonderfully preserved”. On the morning of May 17, the coffin was placed on a gun carriage and drawn by black horses to Westminster Hall, with the new king, his family and Edward’s favourite dog, Caesar, walking behind.

Following a brief service, the royal family left, and the hall was opened to the public; over 400,000 people filed past the coffin over the next two days. As Barbara Tuchman noted in The Guns of August, his funeral, held on 20 May 1910, marked “the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank ever gathered in one place and, of its kind, the last.” A royal train conveyed the king’s coffin from London to Windsor Castle, where Edward was buried at St George’s Chapel.

Crown Bill expected to pass both Houses of Parliament

Tags

1.The Prince of Wales (eldest son of The Queen), 2012. Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Crown Bill, Duke of Cambridge, Elizabeth II, England, Houses of Parliament, Kings and Queens of England, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince William, Princess of Wales

Crown Bill expected to pass both Houses of Parliament. Right now the Bill is in the House of Commons and should be passed onto Her Majesty for Royal Assent which will make the United Kingdom a monarchy with absolute primogeniture. I still have not heard any mention of what will happen to the titles of Prince of Wales. Will a female heir apparent be titled Princess of Wales? I think one of the reasons it has not been mentioned is that Her Majesty, as the Font of All Honors, is in control of how this title is bestowed. The title Prince of Wales is not a hereditary title and it is created for the heir to the throne at the sovereigns discretion. Therefore it is entirely possible that should the Duke of Cambridge have a daughter first, she may, as heir to the throne someday be granted the title Princess of Wales in her own right.

Once the Crown Bill passes both houses and is signed by the queen those that had lost their place in succession due to being married to a Catholic or converting to Catholicism will be restored to their place in the succession. Here is a list of the 50 people in line for the Crown once the Bill passes.

• The Prince of Wales (eldest son of The Queen)
• Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (eldest son of The Prince of Wales)
• Prince Henry of Wales (second son of The Prince of Wales)
• The Duke of York (second son of The Queen)
• Princess Beatrice of York (eldest daughter of The Duke of York)
• Princess Eugenie of York (second daughter of The Duke of York)
• The Earl of Wessex (third son of The Queen)
• Viscount Severn (son of The Earl of Wessex)
• Lady Louise Windsor (daughter of The Earl of Wessex)
• The Princess Royal (only daughter of The Queen)
• Peter Phillips (only son of The Princess Royal)
• Savannah Phillips (elder daughter of Peter Phillips)
• Isla Phillips (second daughter of Peter Phillips)
• Zara Phillips (only daughter of The Princess Royal)
• Viscount Linley (nephew of The Queen; only son of the late Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon)
• The Hon Charles Armstrong-Jones (only son of Viscount Linley)
• The Hon Margarita Armstrong-Jones (only daughter of Viscount Linley)
• Lady Sarah Chatto (niece of The Queen; only daughter of the late Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon)
• Samuel Chatto (elder son of Lady Sarah Chatto)
• Arthur Chatto (second son of Lady Sarah Chatto)
• The Duke of Gloucester (first cousin of The Queen)
• Earl of Ulster (only son of The Duke of Gloucester)
• Baron Culloden (only son of Earl of Ulster)
• Lady Cosima Windsor (only daughter of Earl of Ulster)
• Lady Davina Lewis (elder daughter of The Duke of Gloucester)
• Senna Lewis (only child of Lady Davina Lewis)
• Tāne Lewis (child of Lady Davina Lewis)
• Lady Rose Gilman (second daughter of The Duke of Gloucester)
• Lyla Gilman (daughter of Lady Rose Gilman)
• Rufus Gilman (son of Lady Rose Gilman)
• The Duke of Kent (first cousin of The Queen)
• George, Earl of St Andrews (son of the Duke of Kent)
• Lord Downpatrick (son of George, Earl of St Andrews)
• Lady Marina Charlotte Windsor (daughter of George, Earl of St Andrews)
• Lady Amelia Windsor (younger granddaughter of The Duke of Kent)
• Lord Nicholas Windsor (son of the Duke of Kent)
• Albert Windsor (son of Lord Nicholas Windsor)
• Leopold Windsor (son of Lord Nicholas Windsor)
• Lady Helen Taylor (daughter of the Duke of Kent)
• Columbus Taylor (son of Lady Helen Taylor)
• Cassius Taylor (son of Lady Helen Taylor)
• Eloise Taylor (daughter of Lady Helen Taylor)
• Estella Taylor (daughter of Lady Helen Taylor)
• HRH Prince Michael of Kent (cousin of HM The Queen)
• Lord Frederick Windsor (son of Prince Michael of Kent)
• Lady Gabriella Windsor (daughter of Prince Michael of Kent)
• HRH Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (cousin of HM The Queen)
• James Ogilvy (son of Princess Alexandra)
• Alexander Ogilvy (son of James Ogilvy)
• Flora Ogilvy (daughter of Alexander Ogilvy)