England

Queen Victoria was mad about family gatherings, always making them pose for her. She loved her husband, but was a very demanding wife, to the point that it exhausted poor Albert. She was also an authoritarian mother, leaving nothing to be decided by her children. Pictured is the adoring wife and protective royal mother.

 

223 (1)

The Duchess of Kent and her grandson, the future King Edward VII. The widowed mother of Queen Victoria had trouble raising her daughter. The daughter was deeply troubled by the chamberlain secretary, John Conroy, her mother’s lover. Upon reaching the throne, the first thing she did was to get rid of the two. The Duchess had no choice but to fall back upon her grandchildren, as seen in this photograph.

 

216 (1)

Princess Victoria of Great Britain was the eldest daughter, and probably the favorite, of Queen Victoria. She married the Crown Prince of Prussia, Frederik. This marriage was rare among royals, as the two were united by a deep and sincere love. But tragedy struck in the form of throat cancer for Frederik, which tortured his wife. He reigned, she reigned but only for a few months, as the cancer soon took Emperor Frederik III. For the rest of her life, she remained Empress Frederik.

 

Envellope10031 (1)

Princess Alice was one Queen Victoria’s gifted children. She married the Grand Duke of Hesse. While nursing her daughter Irene who was sick with diphtheria, Alice contracted the disease, dying at age 35. Her children, for the most part, would suffer tragic fates.

 

Screen Shot 2016-09-07 at 6.20.57 PM

Princess Marie Adelaide of Cambridge was the daughter of a grouch, the Chief General of the British Armies, the uncle of Queen Victoria. She was, it must be said, rather large, to the point that her cousin Edward VII shunned her, saying “No, above all not fat Adelaide at the house.” She married the Prince of Tech from a morganatic branch of the royal House of Wurttemberg, and produced, among others, a daughter who would become Queen Mary of Great Britain, the wife of George V.

 

224 (1)

Prince Albert died in the prime of his life, leaving Queen Victoria in a state of despair and disarray that pushed her to the brink of madness. She remained a widow for forty years, turning her situation into a type of profession. Her whole life revolved around the memoire of the deceased, in particular she loved to gather her children around the memorial bust of her late husband.


by  Prince Michael of Greece