King Edward VII

[lady]

A rare pic of King Edward VII

[TampaBay]

I know and admitt he was a horrible father and husband but Edward VII is one of my favorites!

TampaBay

[ilyala]

I know and admitt he was a horrible father and husband but Edward VII is one of my favorites!

TampaBay

i don't think he was horrible. a horrible father is an abusive father in my opinion. he was indifferent. which is not good but not horrible...  

[grandduchessella]

I agree with that. He wasn't horrible--his cildren wouldn't have loved him so much if he was--GV at least was devoted to him (there are less writings on his daughters).

He did have an awful temper though and could be awfully cutting and mocking towards his children--witness the 'Collars and Cuffs' nickname he gave Eddy and encouraged others to tease him with.

I never quite believed the anecdote that GV said that he was afraid of his father and his children would be afraid of him. In his own words (in his diary following his father's death) he wrote that he never had a cross word with him and that he was the best of fathers and friends. Now I'm sure there's an element of romanticizing the dead in this but I think it is probably closer to how he felt.

EVII could certainly be intimdating towards his children and he was absent from their lives for significant periods. He seemed to better when they were adults--he and George spent a good deal of time together despite their different temperaments--and he was, like his son, much more jovial with his grandchildren who adored him.

[Caleb]

The temper of George V probably stemmed from Edward VII. I don't think Edward VII was abusive. I do think that his indifference from his young children, most likely was a reaction to his own upbringing. I get the feeling that Victoria & Albert probably might have been a bit more indifferent to Bertie, if he wasn't heir to the throne. I don't think that Victoria & Albert's (probably openly) playing favorites helped Bertie's relationship with his children. I do also think that the romanticizing the dead part was pretty accurate. I most certainly wouldn't doubt that Queen Victoria did it about Albert.

[Grace]

I know and admitt he was a horrible father and husband but Edward VII is one of my favorites!

TampaBay

i don't think he was horrible. a horrible father is an abusive father in my opinion. he was indifferent. which is not good but not horrible...  

I disagree here.  

In my opinion, an indifferent parent is a horrible parent.  For a child to be constantly ignored by a parent while that parent attends to their own interests is inexcusable in my book.  I have no doubt that the children loved him though - children always do, no matter what.

I think his explosive temper tantrums (which were, in fairness, over quite quickly by all accounts) may have been made worse by the frustrations and unreasonable pressures he was under as a young boy.

 

[ilyala]

I know and admitt he was a horrible father and husband but Edward VII is one of my favorites!

TampaBay

i don't think he was horrible. a horrible father is an abusive father in my opinion. he was indifferent. which is not good but not horrible...  

I disagree here.  

In my opinion, an indifferent parent is a horrible parent.  For a child to be constantly ignored by a parent while that parent attends to their own interests is inexcusable in my book.  I have no doubt that the children loved him though - children always do, no matter what.

I think his explosive temper tantrums (which were, in fairness, over quite quickly by all accounts) may have been made worse by the frustrations and unreasonable pressures he was under as a young boy.

 

look, i'm not saying it's ok to be an indifferent parent. it hurts very much for a child to be ignored by his parents, i know. however, as bad as i think it is, it cannot compare to the hurt of having an abusive parents. you must also realize that bertie himself was ignored by his parents (if not worse) and that in that day and age aristocratic kids grew up with their nannies. bertie just fit the trend. which is not good, but you can't judge him...

[Grace]

I see what you are saying, Ilyala, but I don't think one can compare in any way Bertie's upbringing with that of his own children.  I don't think Bertie was ignored by his parents at all - quite the reverse in fact - but his early years were marred by a lack of affection from his parents, which he craved.  The demanding programme they carefully devised for him backfired badly as it suited neither his intellect nor personality and I'm sure it shaped his future life in his seeming determination to enjoy himself at the cost of others (wife and children) and his general over-indulgent tendencies.

He did participate in choosing how Eddy and George were educated and received regular reports on their schoolwork and conduct but, apart from that, he was hardly a guiding light for them or the girls, as far as I can see and actually turned his back on them when problems arose.  

I don't think his position and the time can totally excuse him either - there were devoted fathers then too - what about Fritz, for example?

[grandduchessella]

I guess it depends on what a person's standards of 'horrible' are. Ilyala feels that it would be an abusive parent while Grace seems to feel that being indifferent (and most likely emotionally abusive) constitutes it. It's a rather subjective thing.

I feel he wasn't horrible--and probably no worse than many upper-class (let alone royal)--men of his day. I think he was more of a selfish father--and husband. I don't doubt that he loved his children but I think he loved himself more. His needs and wants seem to have taken precedence. QV even remarked on this in many letters--leaving Alexandra at various times during pregnancy and illness, not taking an active a role as he (in her opinion) should have. He dragged Alexandra out during early pregnancies to various parties and soirees and some felt this contributed, at least in some part, to her premature deliveries. She would grow very thin and tired from the social whirl. Even when she didn't accompany him, she would wait up for him no matter how late.

This wasn't because he wanted her to be ill, but seems rather the thoughtlessness of a selfish individual.

[basilforever]

I have quite a few High Quality pictures of His Majesty King Edward VII. I thought I might share five of them with you all.





In his Freemason Attire.

[grandduchessella]

I have that last one and always found it a bit creepy--he looks like such a villain in it. 

I have a photo of Edward, Arthur and Eddy in Freemason gear when Eddy became a Mason. Arthur later took over his brother's position.

[basilforever]

Could you please post this photo GDE? 

I agree Bertie looks a bit malevolent in the last photo I posted of him, but I like him. 

[ArchDss Louise-Henriette]

Edward VII  c1842  ... how precious ! 

[LenelorMiksi]

I thought I'd boot this thread up because I wanted to discuss Edward's VII's alternatives to Princess Alexandra in brides.  Yes, I know, there was a "7 Brides for Bertie" thread but it has disappeared temporarily.  In Christopher Hibbert's "The Royal Victorians" he mentions that Bertie was shown photographs of Princess Elizabeth of Wied.  He did not prefer what he saw.  The youngest picture of her I could find was this one:

Elisabeth of Romania as a young Queen :

Princess Anna of Hesse (Princess Alice's sister-in-law) was also a prospect:
http://www.royaltyguide.nl/images-families/hessen/hessendarmstadt2/1843%20Anne.JPG

I think she actually had a bad complexion or something.  I don't recall seeing a photograph of her.  Princess Marie of Hohenzellern-Sigmaringen was considered but dismissed as a Roman Catholic.  She later married Prince Philippe of Belgium.


Also mentioned are Princess Alexandrine of Prussia "not clever or pretty", Princess Lovisa of Sweden who was too young, Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg "shockingly dressed and always with her most disagreeable mother", and 2 princesses of Saxe-Weimar who were "delicate and not pretty".

[TampaBay]

Elisabeth of Romania as a young Queen :




Carmen Silva is quite attractive in my opinion in the above picture.

TampaBay