Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse

I think she was the most gentle & spirirtual of all QV's children. However she also had good sense and ability to laugh at herself. Quite an impressive woman by all standards. 

She was also very spirited and intellectual.  Far ahead of the times for Darmstadt.  She took a great deal on her shoulders from the time of her father's death until her own (on the anniversary of his).  She truly was the least self absorbed of QV children. The others never gave the same impression that one gets from poor Alice.

I think in Hesse Darmstadt she was very much realized at the end of her life and the duchy morned the loss of it's Landsmutter a long w/the Ducal family.  Unfortunately, time and the lives of her descendants have far eclipsed the good deeds of our poor  Princess.

Yes...she was indeed unigue. Forward looking but also gentle and intelligent. 

I read that Queen Victoria wanted her daughter Alice to be married she forcecd her into marriage Victoria choose a German prince for her Louis they were oposites of each other but they loved each other very much even when they married. When Alice was a child someone attempt to shoot Queen Victoria can someone tell me more imformation about that!??

When Alice was a child someone attempt to shoot Queen Victoria can someone tell me more imformation about that!?? 

Well, there were a few assisination attempts through out Queen Victoria's life but most of them were not organized attempts, just one mad person trying to shoot at her. 

-Duke of NJ

Oh okay thanks for the information Duke of NJ.

Oh okay thanks for the information Duke of NJ

Elizabeth~Princess, I think other people who know much, much more about Queen Victoria can fill you in about exactly how many attempts there were and when they happened.  Maybe you should ask on one of the Queen Victoria threads in the Windsors sections.

-Duke of NJ

Oh okay thanks for the information Duke of NJ

Elizabeth~Princess, I think other people who know much, much more about Queen Victoria can fill you in about exactly how many attempts there were and when they happened.  Maybe you should ask on one of the Queen Victoria threads in the Windsors sections.

-Duke of NJ

Okay thanks for the information I will check the windsor section.

I don't think she forced her into marriage. If she'd wanted to do that, she would've married her off to the Prince of Orange (heir to the Dutch throne) who was interested in her and she could've possibly become a Queen. Alice & Louis were definitely both willing to be married to each other. QV actually would've preferred not to marry Alice when she died but the engagement had been set before Albert died and, despite her putting the wedding off a few times, eventually had to let the couple wed.

There were several attempts on Victoria's life throughout her reign. One, in 1840 during Victoria's first pregnancy, she was subjected to an assassination attempt when 18 year old Edward Oxford tried to shoot her while she was riding in a carriage with Albert. The would-be assassin's bullets missed. Both bullets he fired missed. He was judged mentally ill and acquitted of high treason. 

There were 2 separate attempts in 1842 alone. On 29 May at St. James's Park, John Francis fired a pistol at the Queen (again riding in a carriage),but was immediately seized by a constable. Though convicted of high treason his death sentence was commuted to transportation. On 3 July, days after Francis' sentence was commuted, another boy, John William Bean, attempted to shoot the Queen. Although his gun was loaded only with paper and tobacco, his crime was still punishable by death. Prince Albert encouraged Parliament to pass the Treason Act of 1842, under which "aiming a firearm at the Queen, striking her, throwing any object at her, and producing any firearm or other dangerous weapon in her presence with the intent of alarming her, were made punishable by seven years imprisonment and flogging rather than death." Bean was sentenced to eighteen months but neither he, nor any other convicted under the act, was ever flogged.

In 1849, an Irishman named William Hamilton fired a powder-filled pistol as Victoria's carriage passed along Constitution Hill, London. Hamilton was charged under the 1842 act; he pleaded guilty and received the maximum sentence of seven years of penal transportation. In 1850, the Queen was injured when she was assaulted by a former Army officer, Robert Pate. As Victoria was riding in a carriage, Pate struck her with his gun, crushing her bonnet and bruising her. Pate was later tried but he failed to prove his insanity, and received the same sentence as Hamilton. These are the 2 attacks which took place while Alice was a child.

There were also attempts in 1872 and 1882. In 1872, as she was dismounting a carriage, a 17 year old Irishman, Arthur O'Connor, rushed towards her with an unloaded pistol in one hand and a petition to free Irish prisoners in the other. John Brown, at the Queen's side, knocked the boy to the ground before Victoria could even view the pistol. O'Connor was sentenced to penal transportation and corporal punishment but Victoria remitted the latter part. In 1882, Queen Victoria was leaving Windsor railway station when a young Scot, Roderick Maclean, stepped forward from the cheering crowd, lifted a revolver and fired into her carriage. Before a second shot could be fired, the man was overpowered by the crowd and arrested by Superintendent Hayes of the Windsor Police. Remaining calm, the Queen and her companions rode on to Windsor Castle. He was tried for high treason but found "not guilty but insane" and sent to an asylum. Victoria's annoyance at this verdict caused the passing of an act the following year which changed the form of such verdicts to "guilty but insane".

WOW!!! That is very interesting granduchessella thanks for the information you gave me a good source of information it realy helped alot and made me understand more on some people's attempt to shoot, assult Queen Victoria and I did not know she got injured  .

Thanks and appreciated the info...However we are off topic on this thread though. 

I don't think a few off-topic posts in a thread that hasn't been posted in for a good while (6 months) prior to Elizabeth asking her question needs any nudging back on track. It wasn't a well-trafficked thread. I included the information in a post that was on Alice and her marriage--I didn't see the need to make different posts in different areas. There was no further discussion after Elizabeth said she appreciated it--she posted the last message 3 days ago. The moderators can handle topics going too far off-topic.

I think it would be nice to hear more about Alice. One of the my favourite subject. 

Why don't you post something about her--an anecdote, a photo, etc? I'm sure you know something that some on here don't know or even if they do, it could re-start a discussion. Alice has a good number of fans on the site.

Hmmm...Let see. I heard Alice was referred to having the "second best pearls" in the family. Wonder who has the best ?