Author Topic: Possible brides for QV's sons  (Read 27596 times)

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kmerov

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Possible brides for QV's sons
« on: March 15, 2009, 07:17:32 PM »
I was trying to remember the seven Princesses that were mentioned as the only possible wifes for Albert Edward, because of their protestant faith and their age. I  once started a thread on this subject (which gave all the answers, but I'm afraid I have forgotten them again :-[), but it vanished.
I have always found it interesting to see which royals were mentioned, more or less seriously, in connection to each other.
Anyways,  in Berties case I think the following Princesses were talked about, Elisabeth of Wied, Anne of Hesse, Alexandra of Denmark, one of the Hannovers, and the rest I can't remember.

I broaden the topic as it would be interesting to see the possible brides (maybe it's just me) for all of Victorias sons.

Princess Thyra of Denmark was seriously mentioned for Arthur, but he was not a favorite of her mother Queen Louise who wanted Ernst August of Hannover.

 

Offline grandduchessella

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2009, 08:32:50 PM »
Alfred--GDss Olga of Russia (later Queen Olga), GDss Marie's daughter Eugenie, Elizabeth Wied, Tina Oldenburg (until her untimely death)
Arthur--Thyra of Denmark, Frederica (Lily) of Hannover, Marie (Mary) of Hannover
Leopold--Lily of Hannover
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eejm

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2009, 08:45:20 PM »
Elizabeth of Wied was also seriously considered for Bertie, as was Anna of Hesse (sister of his eventual brother-in-law, Louis).  Louise of Sweden was thought to be a good candidate, if not for that fact that she was ten years younger than Bertie.

Alfred pushed to marry Frederica (Lily) of Hanover, but Queen Victoria feared the blindness that was in Lily's family.  QV didn't seem to understand that the blindness was not genetic.  Alfred also wished that Bertie would refuse Alix of Denmark, so Alfred himself could marry her. 

Arthur pursued another of the Hanover daughters - Marie, I believe? 

Leopold considered many different brides; several refused him due to his health and other reasons.  He, too, fell for Lily of Hanover; she had instead fallen in love with her father's equerry.  Leopold helped the two to marry, and became a very close friend of Lily's for the rest of his life.  Daisy Maynard was also considered, but she too fell for another man - Leopold's friend and former tutor.  Again, he helped the two correspond, and they later married.  Victoria of Baden, Calma of Schleswig-Holstein, and Elizabeth of Hesse-Cassel were all possibilities (Calma was the strongest candidate), but all refused Leopold on the basis of his health.  By the time he met his eventual wife, Helen of Waldeck, poor Leopold was almost out of hope. 

In many cases, it was Vicky who sought out and often arranged meetings for her brothers and their prospective wives.

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2009, 09:14:02 PM »
Alfred--GDss Olga of Russia (later Queen Olga), GDss Marie's daughter Eugenie, Elizabeth Wied, Tina Oldenburg (until her untimely death)
Arthur--Thyra of Denmark, Frederica (Lily) of Hannover, Marie (Mary) of Hannover
Leopold--Lily of Hannover


It seems Alfred had the pick for the "Russians" Olga of Russia,Marie of Russia,Leuchtenberg,Oldenburg etc.

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2009, 12:01:10 PM »
QV had written that she was so despairing over him settling down she was willing to overlook the religion question. Orthodox wouldn't, and didn't in the case of GDss Marie, present the problem that Catholicism would.
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Offline Marlene

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2009, 12:16:22 PM »


Marie of Saxe-Altenburg was mentioned as a bride for Bertie.

I was trying to remember the seven Princesses that were mentioned as the only possible wifes for Albert Edward, because of their protestant faith and their age. I  once started a thread on this subject (which gave all the answers, but I'm afraid I have forgotten them again :-[), but it vanished.
I have always found it interesting to see which royals were mentioned, more or less seriously, in connection to each other.
Anyways,  in Berties case I think the following Princesses were talked about, Elisabeth of Wied, Anne of Hesse, Alexandra of Denmark, one of the Hannovers, and the rest I can't remember.

I broaden the topic as it would be interesting to see the possible brides (maybe it's just me) for all of Victorias sons.

Princess Thyra of Denmark was seriously mentioned for Arthur, but he was not a favorite of her mother Queen Louise who wanted Ernst August of Hannover.

 

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Offline Marc

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #6 on: March 17, 2009, 10:16:01 PM »
QV had written that she was so despairing over him settling down she was willing to overlook the religion question. Orthodox wouldn't, and didn't in the case of GDss Marie, present the problem that Catholicism would.

Why just over him?

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #7 on: March 18, 2009, 10:51:24 AM »
Because once Bertie was settled, he was the one to worry over. He led a wild life, unlike Arthur and Leopold. QV felt he needed to marry and settle down.
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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #8 on: March 18, 2009, 10:54:44 AM »
Because once Bertie was settled, he was the one to worry over. He led a wild life, unlike Arthur and Leopold. QV felt he needed to marry and settle down.

Did not QV want Alfred settled in marriage for the same reason?

It has been said that GD Marie and Alfred were not a love match but with six pregnancies over something like 12 years (???) there was definitely something going on.

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #9 on: March 18, 2009, 11:15:25 AM »
Defintely, that's why Queen Victoria wanted Alfred to marry. Many royal couples who weren't love matches had many kids. KR who was gay married and had quite a large family by his wife, for example. So sexual attraction wasn't always the reason for royals having many kids back then. Alfred and Marie's marriage started out happier than it ended too, it's not that they didn't get along from the begining. After all, Alfred wanted Marie as his bride.

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #10 on: March 18, 2009, 12:13:48 PM »
Because once Bertie was settled, he was the one to worry over. He led a wild life, unlike Arthur and Leopold. QV felt he needed to marry and settle down.

Did not QV want Alfred settled in marriage for the same reason?


That was what I said.  ??? QV wanted Alfred settled down because of his wild behavior, much like Bertie's.

Arthur & Leopold she was less keen on marrying off so the religious issue didn't come up--at least not in the published letters I've seen--as it did with Alfred.
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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #11 on: March 18, 2009, 03:06:48 PM »
Some years ago,  The Slavonic and East European review (a scholarly journal) published an article about Alfred and Marie and how that marriage came about.

Because once Bertie was settled, he was the one to worry over. He led a wild life, unlike Arthur and Leopold. QV felt he needed to marry and settle down.

Did not QV want Alfred settled in marriage for the same reason?


That was what I said.  ??? QV wanted Alfred settled down because of his wild behavior, much like Bertie's.

Arthur & Leopold she was less keen on marrying off so the religious issue didn't come up--at least not in the published letters I've seen--as it did with Alfred.
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eejm

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #12 on: March 18, 2009, 07:14:33 PM »
Because once Bertie was settled, he was the one to worry over. He led a wild life, unlike Arthur and Leopold. QV felt he needed to marry and settle down.

Did not QV want Alfred settled in marriage for the same reason?


That was what I said.  ??? QV wanted Alfred settled down because of his wild behavior, much like Bertie's.

Arthur & Leopold she was less keen on marrying off so the religious issue didn't come up--at least not in the published letters I've seen--as it did with Alfred.

QV actually did NOT want Leopold to marry.  She wanted to keep him unmarried and her advisor - much as she desired to keep Beatrice unmarried as her companion.  She thought marriage and particularly fatherhood were out of the question for Leopold due to his health as well.  Eventually, she came to realize how important it was to him, and began to look for possible brides.  He did remain her unofficial secretary and advisor after his marriage.  Like Beatrice and Helena, Leopold stuck close to home despite attempts to do otherwise.

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #13 on: March 19, 2009, 09:13:56 AM »

Some years ago,  The Slavonic and East European review (a scholarly journal) published an article about Alfred and Marie and how that marriage came about.


Marlene,

Can you give us any interesting details from the article?

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kmerov

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #14 on: March 21, 2009, 04:38:33 PM »
Regarding the seven Princesses for Bertie. In 1858,  The Times published a list of the Princesses, and wrote, "our future monarch's choice of wife will be limited to exactly seven women of royal blood, unless he chooses a consort far older then him. This will undoubtedly come as a surprise to some of our readers, but it is none the less the truth."
These were all protestant, six were German ( The Princesses that Vicky visited on her search for a wife -tour) and Alexandra of Denmark. The Times also predicted that Alexandra would be the favorite, but that was not the case with Prince Albert and QV at that time.
As written before I think the German Princesses were Elisabeth of Wied, Anne of Hesse, one of the Hannovers, Marie of Saxe-Altenburg (thanks Marlene), and the rest are still not accounted for.