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Troubador Publishing Ltd - Michael Farah

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97 pages

English

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Some lost their thrones. Others supported the Nazis. Several suffered from haemophilia. One had to geta job, and another was executed!Written entirely in the first person and fully based on accurate historical accounts, Michael Farah imagineshow this royal family would have described the events of their extraordinary existence, scandals, loves,triumphs and tragedies.In Children of The Empire, forty-seven children and grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albertindividually tell the stories of their lives, from their early childhood to the very end. Complete with individualportraits and family trees, this is an accessible and unique look at the extended royal family that hasstretched across Europe, some of them becoming Kings and Queens.

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Publié par	Troubador Publishing Ltd
Date de parution	10 novembre 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781800468078
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	4 Mo

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Copyright © 2020 Michael Farah

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

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ISBN 9781800468078

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

All photos used are in the public domain. The photo of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, is attributed to Bundesarchiv. Bild 146-2007-0184/CC-BY-SA 3.0/CC BY-SA- 3.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)

For my parents, Sam and Esther Farah
Contents
Preface
Princess Victoria German Empress
Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany
Princess Charlotte of Prussia, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen
Prince Henry of Prussia
Prince Sigismund of Prussia
Princess Viktoria of Prussia
Prince Waldemar of Prussia
Queen Sophia of Greece
Princess Margaret of Prussia
King Edward VII
Prince Albert Victor Duke of Clarence and Avondale
King George V
Princess Louise Princess Royal, Duchess of Fife
Princess Victoria
Queen Maud of Norway
Princess Alice Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine
Victoria Marchioness of Milford Haven
Mother Elisabeth Abbess of St Martha and Mary Convent, Moscow
Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine
Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse and by Rhine
Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia
Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine
Prince Alfred Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Prince Alfred
Queen Marie of Romania
Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia
Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Princess Beatrice Infanta of Spain, Duchess of Galliera
Princess Helena
Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein
Prince Albert Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
Princess Helena Victoria
Princess Marie Louise
Princess Louise Duchess of Argyll
Prince Arthur Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden
Prince Arthur of Connaught
Lady Patricia Ramsay
Prince Leopold
Princess Alice Countess of Athlone
Charles Edward Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Princess Beatrice
Alexander Mountbatten Marquess of Carisbrooke
Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain
Lord Leopold Mountbatten
Prince Maurice of Battenberg
Addendum – the royal line continues
Photo Attributions

Preface
In “Children of the Empire”, I wanted to imagine how the nine children and 38 grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert would describe their own lives. How would they have recounted their unique existence and experiences? And how would they have done so to a 21st century audience that remains fascinated by this incredible Royal Family? This book contains the stories of each of them, individually told from a first-person perspective as though they are writing at the end of their lives. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are generally regarded as having had 42 grandchildren, but four of them were either stillborn or died very shortly after birth, so they have not been included in this book.
Victoria and Albert were keen to marry as many of their children as possible into the other royal houses of Europe in an attempt to ensure peace and prosperity across the continent. The first marriage was arranged for their eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, who was married to Frederick III of Prussia, the future German Emperor. Queen Victoria also influenced many of her other children and grandchildren’s marriages, and eventually they were married into 17 royal houses across Europe, nine of whom became kings or queens. She became known as the Grandmother of Europe.
As I began writing “Children of the Empire”, I quickly decided that I wanted to tell their stories through their eyes as if they were recounting them personally. Each account covers the factual events of their personal lives, but I have also expressed their thoughts and feelings where they have been apparent through historical evidence, such as their personal letters. Very little emotion has been added without evidence, except in a few instances where emotions have been attributed to an event that is expected of any normal person.
These personal stories are often tinged with tragedy and sadness, with the loss of loved ones through wars, illness and accidents, and accounts of adultery and loveless marriages, which still resonate with the Royal Family today. There are also uplifting stories of bravery, philanthropy and charitable work. The stories give a fascinating historical insight into the function (and dysfunction) of the Royal Family during and after Queen Victoria’s incredible 63-year reign.

Michael Farah

Princess Victoria German Empress
Born 21 November 1840 – died 5 August 1901
I am the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. I have four brothers and four sisters. Our main residence was Buckingham Palace but I have a lot of fond memories of Windsor Castle and Balmoral Castle in Scotland, which is where we truly felt like a family. We also went to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight but I prefer Windsor and Balmoral. Like most royal children, I didn’t spend that much time with my mother, apart from about an hour a day. I don’t remember accompanying her on royal trips but we did go to France on a state visit when I was about 14. I spent a lot of time with my father and had a close relationship with him. Apart from tutoring me, especially in politics, we talked and played games together, like chess, and went for walks. However, most of my education was done by governesses at home.
My brothers all received a better education than the girls. We spoke mainly English at home but we could speak German. My father came from Coburg, a small Duchy in southern Germany, which I have since visited as an adult. My father didn’t have many relatives, just Uncle Ernest, who didn’t have any children. My mother has two half siblings but we didn’t see them much. There is only a year’s age gap between me and my brother Bertie, who later became Edward VII, although there is obviously a large age gap of 17 years between me and my youngest sister, Beatrice.

I married Prince Frederick of Prussia (the largest state of modern Germany) when I was just 17. It was arranged by my parents as they hoped that by marrying me to the future King of Prussia, our two countries would become closer via family ties. I called him Fritz. We first met when he visited England in 1851 for the Great Exhibition, an international exhibition of industrial technology and design in London. I showed him around – his English was not very good so we conversed in German. We met a few times after that and we had a courtship, so I knew him more or less by the time we were married. I was happy to marry him because I wanted to do my duty for my country and I had already grown fond of him.
We married in the Chapel Royal at St James’ Palace. We had a short honeymoon in Windsor and then we went to Prussia. It was difficult there – I found it difficult to adapt to a different culture, different court culture and different attitudes. I didn’t get on with my in-laws or with most of the Prussian aristocracy due to our differences in values, they being very conservative, whereas I am liberal.
We had eight children, born fairly close together. I had my first child, Wilhelm, when I was 18 and it was a very difficult birth. The doctors gave me too much chloroform during the labour, which meant that I was unable to play an active role. I thought the baby and I were going to die, but after 51 hours the doctors managed to deliver him. Wilhelm suffered a withered left arm. This left me feeling very guilty and I think it has affected him, especially his confidence. I know it wasn’t my fault but I still feel bad. I was very young and inexperienced when I had him. I let myself be influenced by others, which I now regret, such as not playing more of an active role in his formative years. I have always had very different political opinions from Wilhelm. I don’t get on with him very well and have always had an easier relationship with my younger children, which Wilhelm resents.
The other births were all much easier but two of my children died in childhood. Sigismund died of meningitis and Waldemar died of diphtheria. The deaths of my two sons hit me very hard. With the exception of my husband, who shared my pain; I did not find anyone else to be particularly sympathetic. When Sigismund died, I wrote to my mother of my heartbreak, but she didn’t seem to understand my pain; at that point she had not lost any of her children and she was still deeply grieving the death of my father, thus she responded that losing a husband is far worse than losing a child.
Sadly, my beloved father died in 1861. I rushed straight to England for the funeral. I was devastated, as I was so close to him and he was only 42.
I opened a college, the Victoria Lyceum in