Author Topic: Possible brides for QV's sons  (Read 27382 times)

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Clelia

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #15 on: March 21, 2009, 05:15:57 PM »
According to the book "Queen victoria" by Helen Rappaport some of the possible brides were:

Elisabeth of Wied, but she was not pretty;
A princess of Meiningen, but Bertie didn't like her;
Marie of the Netherlands, who was too plain and sickly in the queen's view;
Alexandrine of Prussia, who was, "poor girl", neither clever nor pretty.

The book doesn't mention the others appart from Alexandra of Denmark

Offline grandduchessella

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #16 on: March 22, 2009, 04:04:30 PM »
QV to EF 31 mar 1858: '"And pray don't forget inquiring about the young princess of Hesse (Anna). We must look out for princesses for Bertie--as his wife ought not to be above a year or 2 younger than him, therefore 14 or 15 now, pretty, quiet, clever and sensible. Oh! if yo wold find us one!"

QV to EF 21 April 1858: " I wish I could see and hear more about the young princess of Hesse. Her age would be just the thing."

QV to EF 18 Dec 1860: "We are anxious to know as much about Princess Elizabeth of Wied and Anna of Hesse as possible, I think future choice of Bertie must lie much between them. o gave a very favourable report of Anna afer you saw her at Darmstadt last year (which I have lately read over). Did you find her improved this year or not? Has she a good complexion and figure--is she quick and inelligent as dear Louis is? You know, dearest, we must feel very anxious about this choice and the beauty of Denmark is much against our wishes. I do wish somebody would go and marry her off--at once. If Bertie could see and like one of the others first then I am sure we should be safe."

EF to QV 26 Sep 1861: "I see that Alix has made an impression on Bertie, though in his own funny, undemonstrative way. He said to me that he had never seen a young lady who pleased him so much...She was not shy. I never saw a girl of sixteen so forward for her age: her manners are more like 24...She is so simple and unaffected and quite unaware of her charms....Princess Christian said...that Augusta [Cambridge] is very much against the thought of Bertie marrying Alix as she is jealous of everybody..."

QV to EF 15 Oct 1861: "What you say about bertie and that lovely young Princess is so true--so sad adn the prospect a melancholy one! Still we must not despair. In his way he is occupied with her...which I think a good sign."

QV to EF 19 April 1862: "Respecting Dagmar, I do not wish her to be kept for Affie; let the Emperor have her....Considering the outcry there  sin Germany about this marriage [Bertie & Alix]...that to go and make Affie, the future Duke of Coburg, take the other sister would be really courting abuse and enmity. Another reason against the thought of it is that dear Papa, even in A. of H.'s [Anna Hesse] case (before he had seen her, and before he knew she would not suit) thought her being Louis' sister an objection as too much of one family. And yet a brother and sisteris a very different thing to two sisters. I think therefore, dearest, Dagmar should be entirely dropped and the mother encouraged to give her to the future Czar if that will secure Alix....The young princess of Altenburg [Marie] wold be a very good match for dear Affie--as well as the Hanoverian [Frederica] and possibly the eldest Weimar [Marie] may turn out less ugly. There is also the young Princess of Wurttemberg for him; never mind equality of age. How many marry people of the same age?"
They also serve who only stand and wait--John Milton
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Offline Marc

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #17 on: March 22, 2009, 06:06:47 PM »
Love the way they speak to each other about all those Princesses,about their qualities and their lack of beauty,charm...etc.If you find some more correspondence about any other bride for QV's sons please post...love reading about royal matching :)

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #18 on: March 22, 2009, 07:03:55 PM »
From An Uncommon Woman (p.143-4): 'Alhough Anna was said to be attractive and charming, Vicky's reaction to her was decidedly tepid. "I do not think her pretty--she has not a fine figure...and her teeth are nearly all spoilt"...Vicky was particularly distressed by Anna's unfortunate habit of twitching, which, she assured Victoria, "her father and second brother Heinrich do continually"....The young Princess of Weimar's teeth were "almost black" and the Princess of Sweden was still undeveloped. Vicky had gone as far as Dusseldorf, where her family's friend and father-in-law's Prime miniser, Prince Hohenzollern, had arranged a dinner party attended by the eligible princesses in that part of Germany, but none of them were interesting enough to become a future Queen of England. The search for Bertie's wife had come to a standstill when Victoria and Albert arrived in Coburg in the fall of 1860....Queen Victoria...was growing impatient. She would have settled quite happily for Anna of Hesse and tried to ignore Vicky's hints that this girl simply would not do. "I am much pleased with the account of Princess Anna, (minus the twitching)," Victoria declared....[Regarding the 25-year-old Elisabeth of Wied Vicky wrote] "I do not think her at all distinguee looking--certainly the opposite of Bertie's usual taste." "
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kmerov

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #19 on: May 03, 2009, 09:39:20 AM »
Thank you all for your posts. :)
Dulce M. Ashdown writes in "Queen Victoria's family "about the possible brides of Bertie,
" By 1861 the Princess Eliabeth of Wied had been discarded from the shortlist as being too "loud" in her behaviour; the Princess Anna of Hesse was too plain, though docile and religious; Alexandrine of Prussia was neither clever nor pretty; the Princess of Saxe-Meiningen was delicate in health, as was Marie of the Netherlands; the Princess of Anhalt-Dessau was too old and the Princess of Sweden too young".

Offline Marc

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #20 on: May 03, 2009, 10:02:22 AM »
Who was that Princess von Anhalt?

kmerov

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #21 on: May 03, 2009, 10:04:11 AM »
Prince Arthur and Princess Thyra were also a possible mach. They had corresponded with each other, and around 1873 there was much talk of a marriage. However Queen Louise was against it.
Queen Louise wrote to Maria Feodorovna who was in England " What you say about Arthur is gratifying, and yet for me awful, for of course I see the consequences before me (Thyra leaving home)".
 In 1873 Arthur made a visit to the Danish court, but Queen Victoria gave him instructions not to bring up the subject. Arthur didn't make a good impression at the Danish court, which found him to be lacking in talents and looks. Later that year Thyra made a visit to England and Alexandra wrote,
"...and now about poor Thyra...it is a painful position she is in right now because of Arthur. We two know her best and know her childhood illusion is not spoiled, on the contrary after they saw each other. On the other hand I do understand Mama who doesn't want this marriage (because of many reasons)...."

kmerov

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #22 on: May 03, 2009, 10:05:44 AM »
Who was that Princess von Anhalt?

I was wondering the same thing, but the book dosn't mention her name.

Kevin_Australia

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #23 on: May 03, 2009, 05:25:50 PM »
I think it would have been Hilda of Anhalt, though she was 2 years older than the Prince, and a 1st cousin of Alexandra of Denmark

Rupert_B

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #24 on: May 04, 2009, 12:56:15 AM »
KR who was gay married and had quite a large family by his wife, for example.

Excuse my ignorance but who was KR mentioned above ?

Thanks

Paul

Bobo

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #25 on: May 04, 2009, 03:17:34 AM »
Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia (1858 - 1915) There is heaps about him on the Imperial Family thread if you are interested.

kmerov

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #26 on: March 17, 2010, 10:19:25 PM »
In 1879 Leopold proposed to Mary Baring, daughter of the late Baron Ashburton, but she declined. I wonder if this painting is of the said Mary Baring?
http://www.artilim.com/artist/watts-george-frederick/the-honourable-mary-baring.aspx

Clelia

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #27 on: March 18, 2010, 12:36:53 PM »

kmerov

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #28 on: March 18, 2010, 06:04:14 PM »
Thank you very much for clearing that up. :-)

I have always found it strange that Princess Helena was so much against Leopold marrying Caroline Mathilde "Calma" of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. I don't understand why.

DssofBelem

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Re: Possible brides for QV's sons
« Reply #29 on: September 29, 2012, 02:40:22 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


Can someone post photos of them? I did not saw a lot of photos of Gdss Olga when young (I mean shortly before she married George I of Greece), and of Elisabeth of Wied & Catherine Petrovna of Oldenburg (and some photos of Thyra of Denmark, Lily & Marie of Hannover would work too!).

Thanks for any help.