Queen Victoria & Prince Albert--Photos and Information

[TampaBay]

Added: I just came across a passage in Daisy Pless's second set of diaries where she asks Bertie(Edward VII) if it's true her grandmother Olivia was banished from court for chasing after Prince Albert.

Who truly knows?

NoiFemme,

Olivia. should not take it personally.  I have been banished from every descent court yet always manage to get invitied back!! LOL! LOL! (I need those smileys back) 

TampaBay

[Romanov_fan]

I doubt that is true. Most likely it was gossip that found it's way into this book.

[Grace]

Added: I just came across a passage in Daisy Pless's second set of diaries where she asks Bertie(Edward VII) if it's true her grandmother Olivia was banished from court for chasing after Prince Albert.

Who truly knows?

Daisy Pless queried in her diary whether her grandmother Olivia was banished from court for chasing after Prince Albert?

How is this information convincing in any way that Prince Albert might have had an affair?

[NoirFemme]

Added: I just came across a passage in Daisy Pless's second set of diaries where she asks Bertie(Edward VII) if it's true her grandmother Olivia was banished from court for chasing after Prince Albert.

Who truly knows?

Daisy Pless queried in her diary whether her grandmother Olivia was banished from court for chasing after Prince Albert?

How is this information convincing in any way that Prince Albert might have had an affair?

Well not to say my word is final, but I'm just connecting two anecdotes: one from Olivia's granddaughter and one from a biography of Daisy's mother. So it leads me to believe two things: a) the author of Patsy misinterpreted Daisy's ancedote or b) he had access to archives no one has tapped into. Granted no other biography of Victoria or Albert that I've read have even mentioned a whiff of an indiscretion on Albert's part, but I can't say something never happened if I wasn't there.

[historylover]

I always thought that Prince Albert was too stuffy to have an affair.  However, sometimes that sort of man can be quite hypocritical.

Best Regards,
Lisa
www.webwritereditor.com
www.bookaddiction.blogspot.com

[CountessKate]

Since Tim Coates has a miniscule bibliography and several passages of outright fiction in his 'biography' of Patsy Cornwallis West, I wouldn't take his fantasizing on Lady Olivia Fitzpatrick/Prince Albert very seriously.  He seems to have taken the annecdote in Daisy's diaries as a spring-board for far more than a rather flimsy story warranted.  Edward VII, according to the diaries, teased Lady Olivia Fitzpatrick (she was the daughter of the Marquis of Headfort) about a 'flirtation' which she gracefully evaded, and that was the end of it.  As you say, NoirFemme, there's no suggestion in any other diaries or memoires of the time that this did actually happen.  

None of us were actually present at any of these events (or non-events) but I don't think that prevents informed speculation.  "Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk" as Thoreau put it, and from the lack of any evidence except family tradition, I think we can be pretty confident that the milk is free from adulteration and Albert's reputation remains intact.  

[dmitri]

I doubt you will find any information on any affair of Prince Albert. I have never seen any information in any reputable biography stating such an event.   

[joan_d]

Please do not denigrate Prince Albert's memory by common tittle tattle of an affair. I am a huge admirer of Prince Albert. He is worthy of much more enlighted discussion.   As an English woman, I have always said that England had far more from Prince Albert than Prince Albert had from England.   It was a tragedy for the whole country (Not just his wife) that he died at such a younger age.  I would like to see a major biography of this incredible man - his life was cut far too short for everyone concerned.

[dmitri]

I agree with you. There are a number of very good biographies about Albert already. By the way have you had the chance to visit Osborne House on the Isle of Wight? It is truly a gem. You get a real feel of Albert and Victoria there.

[joan_d]

Yes I have Dmitri - have been on three separate occasions and, as you say, you can really feel Albert's influence in every inch of the place.  For anyone who can get there easily, I would recommend a visit.  I have admiration for Albert on many fronts - overcoming a very sad and lonely childhood, being able to cope with QV and the fact that for his time, he was a wonderful father.   Admittedly he made errors with PoW, but I feel he was doing it for all the right reasons - he just didn't have the material to work !  His two eldest daughters on whom he had the most influence were remarkable women by any standards - a testament to their father I feel.

Back to the original posting, given his sad childhood where his own parents had split up due to affair/s, he had a particular horror of marital infideltity and he would not have jeopardised his own or QV's position  by indulging in such deception.

[grandduchessella]

There is an auction at Christie's of the property of Angela Lascelles. Included is this portrait of Queen Victoria:

[RomanovFan]

A few minor corrections: Alice's daughter, Elisabeth's, name has an s. Helena also had two more children: Albert John Charles Frederick Arthur George (1869-1931) and Frederick Christian Augustus Leopold Edward Harald (b&d 1876). I'm positive that  the Battenberg boys had middle names, but I haven't been able to find them yet. Also, one of Beatrice Battenberg's middle name's is Feodore. No a -she was named after Queen Victoria's half sister, Feodore. Nice list though! 

edit: I think I found it. Leopold Arthur Louis and Maurice Victor Donald. I believe their sister was Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena. In addition, Bertie and Alexandra of Wales had another son, Alexander John Charles Albert (b&d 1871)

Hi Taren. Yeah, you're right about Helena and Beatrice's boys---Helena had two more (I completely forgot about them!) and I just found the middle names of Beatrice's boys too. They're hard to find for some reason. Thanks for the notice. Also, Beatrice of Edinburgh was actually called "Bee", like the insect instead of "Bea".  I've seen Princess Beatrice of England's final name spelled both ways, so I'm not sure which is correct.

[RomanovFan]

Queen Victoria:

Names: Alexandrina Victoria
Title(s), Style: HRH Princess Victoria of Kent
DOB: May 24, 1819
DOD: January 22, 1901
Mother: Victoire, Princess of Saxe-Coburg & Saafield
Father: Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent
Grandfather: King George III ("The Mad")
Husband: Albert, Prince of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha, 1819-1861
9 Children

Victoria, nicknamed Drina by her mother, was born fourth in line to the throne. She was the only daughter of Victoire, Princess of Saxe-Coburg & Saafield by her second husband, Edward, Duke of Kent. Victoria's father died when she was 8 months old, shortly after the death of her grandfather, King George III. After the death of George IV, who's only child Charlotte died, Victoria's uncle William became King; he and his wife Queen Adelaide were childless, although William had ten illegitimate children. William welcomed Victoria as his successor and died in June 1837. Just one month after her eighteenth birthday, Victoria ascended to the throne as Queen of England. Victoria proposed marriage to Albert in October 1839; being Queen of England at the time, and Albert a "mere" prince, he could not propose to her.


Prince Albert:


Names: Francis Augstus Charles Albert Emmanuel
Title(s), Styles: HRH Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha
DOB: August 26, 1819 (Delivered by the same midwife that delivered Queen Victoria)
DOD: December 14, 1861
Mother: Louise of Saxe-Gotha Altenberg
Father: Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha (brother of Victoire of Saxe-Coburg & Saafield & King Leopold I of Belgium)
Wife: Queen Victoria
9 Children

Albert's father was abusive towards his mother, whom he married when she was sixteen. Louise gave birth to Ernest when she was sixteen, and Albert one year later. She left her children with their abusive father when Albert was just five. Albert was very gifted in the arts and possessed a great intellect; something he passed on to his eldest daughter, Vicky. He was partially responsible for concaucting the marriage between his daughter, Vicky, and Prussia's Prince Friedrich ("Fritz") in order to unite his adopted country with his homeland; this was also to unite the two countries in a friendly alliance.

[Tdora1]

At this time of year my thoughts turn to poor QV's sudden widowhood: her frantic despair, her daughter Alice's stalwart and self-denying attempts to nurse and aid her, and the inevitable trauma from now on visited upon the Baby Beatrice, turning her slowly from a precocious and amusingly confident child into a woman almost paralysed by enforced shyness. Other reminders also include the national availability about now of a slew of humanity clutching their tummies and groaning. The doubts about Albert's medical attendants are well chronicled "wouldn't send him to a sick cat" as well as the delay in choosing to treat his illness as typhoid. Typhoid has an insidious onset but was tragically common enough to be eventually diagnosable enough. I heard a while ago there were theories proposing both gastric cancer and Crohns Disease (aka regional ilieitis - enteritis? - and suffered by a fairly recent POTUSA: lemme think: Roosevelt, Wilson, Hoover, FDR, Truman?  Eisenhower? I think it may have been Truman... Sieve Brain Woman Here needs and pleads for your help and I'm on a remote Scots dial-up until New year, so research is currently out of the question). of course if this has been examined to shreds past I apologise but I'd really like to hear what the thoughts are. Such a critical event, so farcically managed - and a curious shortage of the more fertile conspiracy theory attractions. Well - can we at least try anything to get away from the Dodi and the Yorks, ay?

[Tdora1]

Thanks for bringing this in where it belonged. Ok. I posit that Albert was already dying when he made his infamous trip to Cambridge to scold (putting it lightly) Bertie about Nellie Clifden and the necessary purity of the Heir. Catching a "chill" in the rain doesn't - even with modern diagnostical hindsight - mean anything beyond a post-event panacea for the media. Poor Albert was in terrible straits for at least a year before he died and the posthumous stories of overwork and rapid aging aren't quite the ticket.