Queen Victoria & Prince Albert--Photos and Information

[Jmentanko]

Did Victoria ever find out about her illegitimate half-sister? What happend to her half-sister?

[Thierry]

I wish there would be a book that compiled all the correspondence between the Hesses and the Queen - many extracts of letters from dear Ella and Victoria are in "Grand Duchess Elizabeth" by Hugo Mager, and "Louis and Victoria" by Richard Hough - as well as those from dear Alix in a Lifelong Passion, and the letters from the Queen herself.

Dear Elisa,

There is another wonderful book : "Advice to a Grand-Daughter : Letters from Queen Victoria to Princess Victoria of Hesse", edited by Richard Hough. I warmly recommend it !

[Jmentanko]

Do you mean Princess Feodora of Leiningen, Countess of Hohenlohe Langenburg?
She and her brother Karl were the children from the first marriage of Queen Victoria's mother, Viktoria of Kent.

No, I don't mean Feodora.

Victoria's father had an illegitimate child in 1789 with an actress, Adelaide Dubus.

[grandduchessella]

All the Hesse children seem to have been close not only to Victoria but also to various aunts & uncles. Ernst wrote of his Aunt Louise that she was one of the most beautiful creatures he'd ever seen, even into old age. Victoria lived with some of her older aunts in the Aunt Heap at Kensington Palace after she was widowed, I believe. Ella wrote lovely letters to her dear Grandmama, though not as many as Victoria. Leopold visited a great deal and was a great favorite (see Charlotte Zeepvat's bio of him) and his death cast a bit of a pall over Victoria's wedding. All the children were devastated. Beatrice spent a lot of time with them (Victoria even toying with trying to change British law to perhaps allow Beatrice to marry her widowed brother-in-law) and of course achieved a closer relation with Victoria as sister-in-law. The Edinburgh's were very fond of Louis Battenberg as her served with Alfred, but I don't know how the Hessians saw them, especially when Ernest & Victoria Melita's marriage began to fail. While Vicky was very close to Alix and Irene would marry her son Henry, she could often be quite tart when referring to some of them, especially when Ella spurned William's advances. They did visit Berlin a good deal though before Alice's death. I can't really think of anything with Helena or Arthur.

[Joanna]

Can anyone tell me third and fourth words of Victoria's handwriting? I  understand other words after much huh   but two words defeat me !!!!

Joanna

[DOMOVOII]

"where it now stands; Princess Marie Victoria of Hesse it should be Princess Marie of Hesse        and where it is Prcss Alice Victoria of Hesse it should be Princess Alix of Hesse"

Hope this helps.... she wrote a lot like I do!!

[RomanovFan]

Did Victoria ever find out about her illegitimate half-sister? What happend to her half-sister?

I think Victoria knew her sister existed, but I don't know much more than that. Her name was Feodora....but I also have a question: Feodora was her father's illegitimate child right?

[Janet_W.]

Wrong!

She was her mother's child via an earlier marriage.

[grandduchessella]

The Dss of Kent (the Dowager Princess of Leiningen), brought her elder children from Germany when she accompanied her husband ( in her eighth
month of confinement), to England. Her daughter, Princess Feodora (Fidi) came with her. In fact Louise Lehzen, later baroness was governess to
Feodora and made the same trip with her charge. Feodora and the young Victoria were not raised apart and Victoria even sat in on her half sister's lessons. In most biographies of QV there are plenty of references to the infant/young Victoria and her half sister doing various things together. Feodora would tell Victoria in later years about servants that "went down to the ground" before her as an infant. Prince Charles of Leiningen, son of the dss and heir (the widowed Pss of
L, was also Regent of Leiningen. A title she later relinquished after her husband's death and her decision to remain in England), did not make the trip  with his mother and sister to England, but did visit. His
position was different as the young prince was heir to his late father's throne and would soon come into his own. It would have been impolitic for PC to go off to England so he remained with his own household
to continue his education/upbringing in Germany. The was a bio of Feodora published Queen Victoria's Sister and her grandson or great-grandson married QV's granddaughter Alexandra of Coburg. Feodora, possessed of a sweeter nature than her sister, also acted as a soothing voice for her sister, advising her to "lighten up" (so to speak) with regards to her children and their upbringing.

[grandduchessella]

Some added info about QV's other sibling, her elder half-brother:
Queen Victoria's half-brother, Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen, made a marriage that, while not a morganatic marriage to Countess Marie von Klebelsberg (even though Marie did not come from a princely family)
was a marriage that did not meet with the approval of family members.  Carl was the head of the house,
and thus was in the position to accept his own marriage.  The marriage took place at Amorbach, the seat of Carl's tiny principality) on February 13, 1829 but would end in divorce. Although Carl and Victoria maintained cordial and familial relations, they were not nearly as close as Victoria and Carl's younger sister, Feodora, who was married to another mediatized prince, The Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Carl - the brother of the Queen of the UK, as well as the nephew of the Belgian king - could have made a great match.  But he fell in love with the penniless Countess in Coburg.  She was hardly an eligible bride, but he loved her.   Carl's grandmother, Duchess Augusta of Coburg, blamed her former daughter-in-law, Louise (former wife of Duke Ernst II of Coburg, and mother of Prince Albert) for the introduction.  It was Louise who met the  Klebelsberg family when she and Duke Ernst had visited Franzensbad.  Louise had largely adopted the young woman - but did have her doubts about Marie who became her lady in waiting. When
Louise left Coburg following the failure of her own marriage, Marie transferred to the staff of the Dowager Duchess Augusta who futilely hoped that her grandson's infatuation had ceased. The Dowager did intervene - and Carl and Feodora went to  England for a time -- there were discussions for Feodora to marry the Duke of Sussex's son, Augustus 'Este.  But even in England, Carl could not forget Marie - and after his return to Germany,he "unwisely" married the unsuitable countess.The couple had two sons - but the marriage soon broke down -and ended in divorce in June 1848.  The "fair and feckless" marie had become involved with a man known only (through Prince Albert's letters) as "her cavalier, Mr. Spare."In a letter to his brother, Duke Ernst II, Albert wrote "Marie Leiningen is in Rome and she lives in a poor lodging. Mr.Spare, her cavalier, married her lady's maid.  A sad result of the theory of life which Charles (Carl) always preached, that
life was for enjoyment adn that the wisest thing was not to consider anyone else."

[grandduchessella]

Anna Feodora Auguste Charlotte Wilhelmine (Amorbach 7 Dec 1807-Baden-Baden 23 Apr 1872); m.Kensington Palace 18 Feb 1828 Ernst Fst zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg (Langenburg 7 May 1794-Baden-Baden 12 Apr 1860)

[RomanovFan]

She was her mother's child via an earlier marriage.

If Feodora was Victoria's half-sister, would her title have been Duchess of England (something like it) after Victoria became queen, or no because she was related through their mother only?

[grandduchessella]

No, she wouldn't have had any British title since she had no blood ties save QV. QV could've, if she chose, have bestowed a title on her, I suppose, but since Feodora 'Feo' married before QV became queen, it was a moot point.

[Marquis Green]

I think that it should be kept in mind that Edward, Duke of Kent did have a long-term mistress, Madame St. Vincent. Like a few other of the Hanover brothers, Edward is said to have had illegitimate children. The person who stated before about QV's half-sibling was correct. She has other siblings besides the Leiningen's.

[Martyn]

Edward Duke of Kent's mistress was called Mme de Saint Laurent, was she not?
I believe that he was sincerely attached to her; however this did not stop him from ditching her when the royal marriage race began.
Does anyone know if there were children from this relationship?