Very nice update. I enjoyed reading about the political developments in addition to all the drama within the royal family. Hopefully the Queen Mother's subterfuge can be found out before it's too late to salvage the match between Albert and Charlotte Louise. The public response to the wedding was also interesting to read about, as well as the creation of new desserts—I couldn't find anything about Mecklenburg Pudding online so I'm assuming it's original for TTL?
Crown Imperial: An Alt British Monarchy
- Thread starter Opo
- Start date
The schadenfreude is beautiful, even if the Dowager Qu- sorry, the Queen Mother got off one last salvo by sabotaging Albert.
That having been said, with Albert out of the picture and the King having an interest in military affairs, I wonder what that will be mean for British Army uniforms? It's probably too late to save Tommy Atkins from the Bell-Top Shako, but it'd be interesting if he has any influence on getting the army a more modern uniform for the mid-Nineteenth Century - at very least, a more practical shako and better cold weather gear, one hopes!
That having been said, with Albert out of the picture and the King having an interest in military affairs, I wonder what that will be mean for British Army uniforms? It's probably too late to save Tommy Atkins from the Bell-Top Shako, but it'd be interesting if he has any influence on getting the army a more modern uniform for the mid-Nineteenth Century - at very least, a more practical shako and better cold weather gear, one hopes!
Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying the political side of things too.
I invented Mecklenburg Pudding for TTL but being me, I now actually want to try and make it to see if it really is something that would catch on.
George's relationship with the military will definitely be sustained throughout his life. He's still got his military training to come before his 18th birthday but it'll be very brief and I think this would give him a longing for a deeper connection to the military and prompt him to take an even greater interest in the affairs of the British Army. He's also keen on uniforms and medals so he'd definitely get involved there too.
Much in the same way as people say that the OTL Queen Elizabeth II would have preferred a life as a horse trainer if she wasn't Queen, George would absolutely have wanted a military career if he wasn't King.
I was seeing Mecklenburg Pudding as effectively a Jam Roly Poly meets Swiss Roll sort of pudding.
The sort of sweet stodge the OTL Victorians loved. There was a great line from Tenko about British puddings being designed to “stick our future Empire builders together”.
I thought you'd based it off Redcurrant Pudding from the Cologne area, which is a layer of redcurrants covered in vanilla custard. My German grandmother makes it every summer. It's one of my favourites.invented Mecklenburg Pudding for TTL but being me, I now actually want to try and make it to see if it really is something that would catch on.
That sounds absolutely delicious!I thought you'd based it off Redcurrant Pudding from the Cologne area, which is a layer of redcurrants covered in vanilla custard. My German grandmother makes it every summer. It's one of my favourites.
GV: Part One, Chapter 25: New Beginnings and Old Scores
King George V
Part One, Chapter Twenty-Five: New Beginnings and Old Scores
The marriage of the King not only signalled his impending coming of age, but it also meant a new era had begun at court. The Queen’s Household had been carefully appointed by the Prime Minister and unlike her predecessor, Queen Louise was determined that from the very beginning of her tenure her ladies of the bedchamber should feel welcome in her home. To that end, the Queen proposed to make the Green Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace her own private salon and granted the use of the adjoining Yellow Drawing Room to her ladies. On their first day of service in the Queen’s employ, each of the Queen’s companions were gifted a brooch mounted on a pale lilac ribbon with the initials ‘LR’ in diamonds. As she presented them, the Queen gave a small address to her ladies asking them to “guide her in all things” and she wrote to Lord Melbourne thanking him for “his generosity and kindness in thinking of me in the fine appointments you have made”.
The Green Drawing Room was quickly to become a hive of activity with prominent establishment figures determined to see their wives invited for tea so that they might forge bonds with the new Queen. Invitations to dine flooded in from the best households in London and whilst these had been rejected by her aunt and mother-in-law in the past, the King was insistent that as many as possible be accepted. He also wished the public to see their new Queen as much as possible and to that end, Major Smith was asked to take the lead in making plans for a royal tour. Keen to waste no time however, the King asked for a series of engagements to be scheduled in the capital which would allow the British people the best glimpse possible of his bride. These were to include a visit to Southwark Cathedral and the National Gallery which was to open to the public for the first time in April and which had just become the new home of the Royal Academy of Arts. But the King raised eyebrows when he also suggested a visit to St Katherine’s Docks and Petticoat Lane Market. These were very much working-class areas of the capital known for high rates of crime, disease and poverty.
Petticoat Lane Market in Spitalfields, c. 1890.
Lord John Russell, the Home Secretary, applauded the King for wishing to visit such areas but the Cabinet were divided on the proposal. Lord Cottenham, the Lord Chancellor, likened royal visits to such areas as “trying to stage a ballet in a bear garden” whilst the Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, raised concerns that Spitalfields was “a breeding ground for prostitutes rife with disease, radical working men and packed to the rafters with foreign assassins”. But Lord Melbourne was inclined to support the King; “If His Majesty cannot visit the poorer parts of the capital, the message sent out to the people is that he is King only in the better areas or worse still, that this government cannot keep His Majesty safe when he walks among his people. Whilst I share the reservations of my colleagues in Cabinet, I believe His Majesty should be applauded for this venture which I have little doubt shall prove an enormous success with the public”. But Melbourne had an ulterior motive.
He instructed his private secretary to ensure that he was present during the royal visits to St Katherine’s Docks and Spitalfields, believing that appearing with the King and Queen in poorer areas of London would provide a boost to his election campaign. The King was somewhat naïve in not seeing Melbourne’s approval of his proposed visits for what they truly were, and some Tories and Unionists responded in the House of Commons with criticism of the Prime Minister “using the Crown for personal political gain”. When these comments reached Buckingham Palace, the King was advised to postpone his visits to St Katherine’s Docks and Spitalfields until after the general election the following month which irritated the King and for the first time, he admonished Lord Melbourne at their private audience. Melbourne was taken aback, promising not to join the royal couple on their scheduled visits and apologising for his lack of tact. He recorded in his journal that he felt; “Both ashamed of the instance but proud that the young King exerted his authority, quite properly, with no sense of arrogance or hauteur but a desire only to correct me for something I should never have allowed myself to consider in the first place”.
On the 13th of January 1838, news came that the former Prime Minister Lord Eldon had died at his home in Hamilton Place at the age of 86. Lord Eldon had been a great friend and ally to the King’s father, it had been Eldon after all who had secured the annulment of George IV’s first marriage to Princess Frederica of Prussia enabling his second marriage to Luise of Hesse-Kassel. Unusually, King George V indicated that he would personally attend Lord Eldon’s funeral which was to be held in Kingston, Dorset. The Queen would not accompany her husband to the ceremony as she had not met Lord Eldon but it was decided that she should go to Dorset with the King and that this county would have the honour of seeing the Queen make her first solo public engagement. Weymouth was selected as the ideal venue for such a visit given that the resort owed much of it’s attraction to it’s royal connections. The King’s uncle, the late Duke of Gloucester, had built a grand residence on the seafront known as Gloucester Lodge and King George III had holidayed at Weymouth even venturing into the sea in a bathing machine. Gloucester Lodge was still owned by the late Duke of Gloucester’s widow, Princess Mary.
John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon.
The Duchess of Gloucester was delighted to play hostess to her new niece-in-law. She was even more delighted when news came that the Queen Mother would not be accompanying Queen Louise because she had caught a chill and had been instructed to rest by her physician. The Duchess of Gloucester seized the opportunity and invited her sisters Princess Augusta and Princess Sophia to join her at Gloucester Lodge, thus making for a happy “ladies only” gathering. It was the first time the King’s aunts were able to get to know the new Queen without the shadow of the Queen Mother hovering in the background. Queen Louise’s visit to Weymouth was reported in the national and local press where it was announced that Her Majesty would “officially open the newly built Guildhall, a fine example of modern architecture so recently completed by Talbot Bury” and where she would “join Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester and her sisters, the Royal Princesses, in unveiling a memorial clock tower on the esplanade erected in the memory of the late Duke of Gloucester who so loved Weymouth and its people”.
From Weymouth, the Queen would be reunited with the King at Encombe House, the country seat of the Earls of Eldon and now inherited by Lord Eldon’s son, the 3rd Earl of Eldon, before the couple moved on to Highcliffe Castle, the home of Baron Stuart de Rothesay, the former British Ambassador to France. Lord Stuart had built Highcliffe between 1831 and 1835 and it had gained a reputation as one of the most beautiful country houses in England with gardens laid out by Capability Brown which offered a stunning vista of the Isle of Wight and The Needles. The honour of hosting the royal couple enthused the county except for Lord Digby who felt aggrieved that the King and Queen had accepted the invitation of the Stuarts and had declined his offer to host them at Sherborne; “His Majesty’s late grandfather paid us the compliment in 1789”, he wrote in his diary, “And it is sad to think that dear Sherborne is to be neglected so”.
On the 21st of January 1838, the King and Queen set out for Dorset, spending one night at an inn in Southampton where they checked in as “Mr and Mrs King”. The innkeepers had no idea that their guests were actually King George V and Queen Louise and in later years, the King would happily relate how the furious innkeepers wife woke them up by hammering on the bedroom door to tell them that they had yet to pay for breakfast and she wouldn’t serve it to them until they did. She was suitably stunned when the King handed her a pound note, then the equivalent of a week’s wages for the working class Georgian. From Southampton it was on to Dorset where the King and Queen parted ways, the King heading to Encombe and the Queen to Gloucester Lodge where she was cheerfully welcomed by the Duchess of Gloucester.
As the King attended the funeral of Lord Eldon at St James’ Church in Kingston, Queen Louise descended the steps of Gloucester Lodge accompanied by the three princesses and the Duchess of Sutherland. The crowds were said to have numbered well into the thousands with every possible spot seized by eager locals and tourists alike to get a glimpse of the new Queen. Bunting had been placed on every store front, Union flags were waving the sea breeze and a local brass band was on hand to play the national anthem as the royal party climbed into their carriages to make their way to the Guildhall where they would be met by the Mayor and other important local dignitaries. 8 year old Pamela Willis had been selected to present the Queen with a posy of flowers but was overcome by nerves and burst into tears the moment the Queen approached. Without hesitation, the Queen crouched before Pamela and wiped away her tears, taking a flower from the posy and gifting to her. The tears ceased and the crowd applauded and cheered their approval.
Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh.
After a lunch at the new Guildhall, the Queen cut a ribbon and unveiled a plaque to commemorate her visit. As the royal party left and prepared to return in their carriages to the esplanade for the statue unveiling, it became apparent that one of the horses had no intention of making the journey and refused to be moved. “Oh dear”, Queen Louise said brightly, “It does not matter, I am sure the Mayor will accompany us on foot”. Grinning from ear to ear, the Mayor of Weymouth George Oakley, dashed forward in his ceremonial attire and offered his arm to the Queen and together, the royal party made the short journey back along the Esplanade, waving to the crowds as they passed. They stopped briefly to lay flowers at the statue of King George III before moving to Westham Road where the statue of the late Duke of Gloucester stood covered with a red velvet curtain.
Just as the royal party arrived, there was confusion when an elderly lady rushed forward from the crowd with her arms outstretched towards the Queen. “I am the Duchess of Dorset”, the elderly lady cried out, “I have come to see the Queen!”. Whilst those around her panicked, Queen Louise simply walked over to the elderly lady and took her hand. “It is very nice to see you Your Grace”, she said, “Might I ask you to go with this man who will find you something to eat?”. The lady was led away smiling. It was later reported that she had recently escaped from the Dorset County Lunatic Asylum at Forston House.
The accounts of the Queen’s visit to Weymouth spread from town to town via newspapers, magazines and journals. Those fortunate enough to see the Queen were asked to recount every detail of their encounter and the reports of Her Majesty’s conduct made her an instant favourite with the general public. Senior courtiers were delighted with the success of the visit but one or two remarked that the Queen Mother had initially shown great promise and popularity in the early days of her marriage. A footnote in one newspaper gave slight cause for concern too. As the Queen left Weymouth for Encombe House, a small group in Radipole Park Gardens had been noticed holding anti-monarchy banners. They were said to be “disaffected radicals” who were handing out printed pamphlets which were “deeply unpatriotic and offensive to Their Majesties” but the newspaper reassured its readers that “this sour bunch did nothing to infringe upon the happiness of the people of Weymouth and they certainly caused no offense to Her Majesty the Queen”. The group belonged to the South West Working Men’s Association, a branch of a national protest movement which had been dubbed the Chartists.
The Chartists had their roots among the working classes who felt betrayed by the Whig government. They believed that the Reform Act and the Poor Law Amendment had served to alienate the poorest in society from the relief they needed and that far from being more enfranchised, the working classes had been pushed further away from shaping the future of the country by a growing middle class. In 1836, William Lovett and Henry Hetherington founded the London Working Men’s Association which had quickly seen branches pop up across Middlesex and then into other counties where at public meetings, members gave speeches on worker’s rights and the need for electoral reform. All associations under the umbrella of the WMA signed up to a list of demands they wished to see implemented, a list known as the People’s Charter – hence the nickname ‘Chartists’. This charter called for a vote for every man over the age of 21 regardless of whether they owned property or not, a secret ballot to protect electors in the exercise of their vote, no property qualification for MPs, equal sized constituencies for fairer representation and annual parliamentary elections to prevent bribery, intimidation and corruption. Their sixth and final demand was that these rights should be incorporated into a codified constitution which could only be changed through a public referendum. [1]
A bill from the 1840s calling on Chartists to attend a demonstration at Kennington Common, London.
The majority of Chartists were members of other “radical associations” who migrated to the movement because it was far better organised. Large scale meetings were held in Birmingham, Glasgow and Lancashire but resolutions that had been passed, or speeches given by prominent supporters such as Joseph Rayner Stephens were recorded in a Chartist newspaper, the Charter and Star. John Bates, a Chartist activist, said of the movement; “There were radical associations all over the county but there was a lack of cohesion. One wanted the ballot, another manhood suffrage and so on. When the People’s Charter was drawn up it clearly defined the urgent demands of the working class. We felt we had a real bond of union”. [2] There was still divergence in the aims of some groups however most were anti-monarchist and in these early days of the movement, royal visits where lots of people they felt might be receptive to the goals of the People’s Charter gathered proved to be popular meeting points for protestors. Chartism was in its infancy but over the next decade, it would become a permanent fixture in Britain and would make its presence felt throughout every corner of the country.
The King and Queen settled for a few days at Encombe House before moving on to the second leg of their trip to Dorset. At Highcliffe, the couple walked in the gardens together and the Queen told her husband how much she had enjoyed her trip to the South West. “I should like to come here often”, she said, “Might we holiday here Georgie?”. The King was delighted to see his wife so happy and content. They began to discuss the possibility of taking a house in the area to use as a permanent holiday home away from London and Windsor but curiously, both had the same vision that it would not be a luxurious palace or great country estate. Rather, they wished a modest residence free from the grandeur of their position where they could be “Mr and Mrs King” together. The King inquired of his host, Lord Stuart de Rothesay, if he knew of any such properties in the vicinity. Fortunately, Lord Stuart knew of the perfect location. Ironically named Broadwindsor, a 15,000-acre estate was currently on the market but had proved a hard sell because the existing property had been demolished the previous year and the asking price was deemed far too high simply for the land alone. The King asked Major Smith to dispatch an agent to the estate to report on its suitability.
Meanwhile, the Queen Mother was recovered from her chill and was receiving visitors at Marlborough House. She was less pleased by the news reports from Dorset and wrote a strongly worded letter to her niece that she “must never be seen to mix too freely with the working people for they take advantage and demand more and more of one’s time. I was grieved too that you saw fit to accept invitations from those who contribute so little and only invited you to their homes to elevate their position in society; society being that thing which we deplore for its immorality and lack of deference. You must not regard such people as friends, rather they are as barnacles attaching themselves to stately ships hoping to travel great distances but who ultimately sink those who carried them so far”.
She was even less impressed to hear that the King had sent an agent to Broadwindsor. After all, she had been tasked with finding a suitable royal residence by the Duke of Cambridge and her brief was very different to that of the King and Queen. The Queen Mother was quickly discovering just how marriage had given her son a taste of independence and with access to his personal fortune just months away, she feared that his plans for a “modest” residence at Broadwindsor would not only be regarded as a personal indulgence but furthermore, did not seem to feature plans for the Queen Mother to join the couple there.
As she ruminated on how to protect her interests, the Queen Mother’s day was interrupted by the arrival of Count Medem. Shortly to return to Russia, he had finally received word from St Petersburg that the Tsar was willing to put the idea of a marriage between the Tsarevich and Princess Charlotte Louise on an official “to be negotiated” footing. He was not the only ruler entering talks on matching dynasty to dynasty. In Brussels, King Leopold finally had word from Baron Stockmar in Rio de Janeiro. The Marquis of Olinda had reacted favourably to the possibility of Princess Januária of Brazil marrying Prince Albert but there were issues which needed to be resolved before formal talks were opened. Olinda had heard good reports about Prince Albert and believed he would be a true asset to the Imperial Family. If Princess Januária was to be declared regent when Olinda retired, he could see the benefit of having someone like Prince Albert by her side. Brazil had also seen many Belgians relocate to colonies in Southern Brazil following independence in 1822 and the links between the Coburgs and the Braganzas had thus far proved enormously popular in Portugal.
But there were stumbling blocks. Princess Januária was deeply devout and whilst Olinda was certain that the Vatican would agree to a papal dispensation along the lines of that which had secured the King of Belgium’s second marriage, it was unlikely that the Imperial Family would welcome a member of the Lutheran Evangelical Church into their ranks even if any children born of the marriage were raised Roman Catholic. Secondly, there was ongoing debate in Brazil as to what should happen with the regency for Pedro II. Fuelled by disputes between rival factions, some wished the age of majority to be lowered so that the Emperor could assume full powers to unite the country and put an end to republican sentiments and local rebellions between political groups. Whilst this would mean that Princess Januária would not become regent as Olinda favoured, until the marriage of the Emperor and the birth of his first child, she was heir to the throne. If the worst happened, Januária could be propelled to the role of Empress at any time and in such a case, the Brazilian people might object to her consort being a foreign stranger who might be seen more as a puppet of his uncle rather than being truly committed to the nation of Brazil. [3] King Leopold would now have to make a decision once and for all; allow Albert to wait and pursue Princess Charlotte Louise or open formal negotiations for a marriage contract between Albert and Princess Januária. Either way, the Prince himself would learn his fate by letter whilst studying at Bonn.
The Tsarevich of Russia.
In London, the Queen Mother knew nothing of these talks beyond the fact that King Leopold had asked Stockmar to investigate the possibility of a match between Prince Albert and Princess Januária. She had committed to her lie however that the match had been agreed and that an engagement would soon be announced, something she now passed on to Count Medem. It was little more than gossip exchanged as Medem brought the subject round to marriage but she unwittingly gave Medem the confidence to press the Russian interest as he could now report to the Tsar that rumours that Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was poised to propose to the King’s sister were unfounded. It was with this knowledge that he finally put the Tsar’s interest to the Queen Mother. The Tsarevich was to tour Europe later in the year and was hoping to be present for the coronation of King George. Whilst in London, the Tsarevich hoped to meet Princess Charlotte Louise and if he liked her, the Tsar would then approach the British government to open talks on what such a marriage would mean for the future of Anglo-Russian relations.
The Queen Mother was stunned. It was the first she had heard of the Russian interest in her daughter and very little escaped her where such matters were concerned. But she did not dismiss the matter as out of hand. Politics aside, there were advantages to having a daughter in such a position. The Romanovs were extremely wealthy for one thing and for another, most of the Tsar’s siblings had married German princesses whom the Queen Mother was either related to or had known in childhood. It would mean that her daughter would come to outrank her as in the fullness of time Charlotte Louise might find herself Empress of Russia but on the other hand, Russia was as far away from Britain as it was possible to get. Breaking the bonds between brother and sister might give the Queen Mother a much better chance of exerting influence over her son and whilst the King had expressed a wish that his sister marry Prince Albert and settle close to him in England, he could hardly deny that marriage to the Russian Tsarevich had far more opportunity and comfort than with a junior prince from a small and not particularly important German duchy.
But the Queen Mother had not yet ruled out a match between her daughter and her nephew, Prince George of Cambridge as a last resort if the matter could not be settled before the King turned 18 and insisted that his sister not leave the country. The Queen Mother thanked Medem for visiting her and promised to think on the matter, she might even consult the Prime Minister or the Foreign Secretary. But she did not promise to consult her daughter or her son for that matter. For Charlotte Louise and Prince Albert, time was running out. Both had just a few months to wait before the King could approve their marriage and in those few months, one or both of them might find themselves engaged to someone else. Whether it be Russia or Brazil, the distance put between them would destroy any hopes of a continued friendship let alone the end of their romance. The Duke of Cambridge had already been approached by Medem on the Russian interest. In his view, shared by his wife, the Queen Mother was being deliberately stubborn and unfairly obstinate. Charlotte Louise should be allowed to marry Albert; “After all, love is so rare in these things and to have it as a foundation of their marriage would, I am sure, bring not only happiness to the young couple but would inspire the people who always warm to such fairy tales”.
Returning from Dorset to Windsor, the King and Queen had a week’s respite before carrying out their visits in the capital. It was decided that the royal couple should stay in London until the result of the general election was known ahead of the State Opening of Parliament that would follow. Nobody expected there to be much in the way of change. Lord Melbourne was likely to remain Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues did not fear a reshuffle. The revival of the Dirty Campaign by the Unionists had not caught the public imagination in the same way as it had before, yet there was now a new bogeyman in British politics, the Chartists. Lord Winchelsea deliberately referred to them as “radicals”, usually twinning a mention of the group with Lord John Russell whom he still considered to be “the Prime Minister in waiting” and “the most dangerous man in the country”. Yet people seemed to be growing tired of such alarmist rhetoric and some within the Unionist Party had begun to regard Winchelsea as “yesterday’s man”. Not only would the General Election of 1838 determine the future of Sir Robert Peel, but Lord Winchelsea too might also find himself forcibly retired.
On the 2nd of February 1838, the King and Queen gave a small supper party at Buckingham Palace for the Prime Minister ahead of the general election. This was customary at the time, a non-political gesture given to those who had served as Prime Minister regardless of whether they might be returned to office or not. During the election campaign, the audiences held between Lord Melbourne and the Duke of Cambridge would not take place so as to allow the Prime Minister to travel further afield to campaign and so the Cambridges were in attendance to give the impression of a fond farewell to a Prime Minister everybody knew would shortly be returned to office. Cambridge was only too pleased to see another recess. As predicted, giving the royal assent to the Church Temporalities Bill and it’s counterparts had earned a strong rebuke from the Lords Spiritual and the Times newspaper had printed a letter from eight Bishops calling on the House of Lords to demand that the Duke of Cambridge be brought to parliament and asked to defend his decision to “uphold the Whig attack on the established state church”.
Cambridge saw this as nothing more than sour grapes but Lord Winchelsea jumped on the chance to exploit the matter to boost his personal popularity. In his pre-election meetings and appearances, he openly criticised the Duke for not defending the Church of England, something he said was Cambridge’s duty given that as King’s Regent, he had an obligation to uphold the state church. He had stopped short of calling for Cambridge to be removed as Regent, something he possibly wished to keep in his back pocket as an option should his approach prove difficult to defend in public. But Winchelsea knew his audience well and at a meeting on the 30th of January 1838 in London, he called upon “all good Christian men to do what Cambridge would not and defend the Church of England”. Some men took Winchelsea’s words to be a command.
Cambridge House as seen on a 1799 map showing Shepherds Market and Snoads Court.
As the Cambridges dined with the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace, a 48 year old Unionist supporter called Sidney Brownlow had made his way through Shepherds Market and was hiding in the stable yards at Sneads Court. In the marketplace, he had drained oil from a lamppost and was soaking rags with it safely hidden from view as the last shopkeepers and stallholders left their posts and headed to the Cambridge Arms on the corner of Half Moon Street. At around 10.45pm, Brownlow left Snoads Court and climbed over the wall on White Horse Street that closed off the gardens of Cambridge House from the road. Carefully removing a panel of glass in the door of the Music Room which led to the terrace, Brownlow tipped his bundle of rags onto the floor, dousing a sofa with leftover oil for good measure. He then wound a string from the centre of the room through the empty windowpane and onto the terrace which he lit with a match. Within moments, the Music Room was ablaze, and smoke billowed from Cambridge House into the night air.
In the rooms above, the young Cambridge Princesses slept peacefully, their governess dozing in a chair in the nursery, blissfully unaware of the danger tearing through the house just below her feet.
[1] This was not a demand of the OTL People’s Charter but around this time it was a common theme among radicals and as one of the demands (payment for MPs) has already been fulfilled in TTL, I’ve added this to keep the original “Six Demands” of the Chartists.
[2] Actual quote from 1838 from John Bates, Chartist.
[3] Talks to reduce the age of majority for Pedro II were in place as early as 1835.
Bloody Hell. What a cliffhanger. You can't leave it there, you tease!!
Also, so good to see George and Louise asserting themselves against the Queen Mother. It's about time someone took her in hand!
Opo...I find this timeline an absolute delight and look forward to every new installment.
Thank you so much! I always love to hear that people are enjoying reading TTL and appreciate all your kind comments, predictions and other feedback.
I’m glad that George seems to finally have found someone he cares about. And I am glad that the Dowager Queen is beginning to fall from her grace.
GV: Part One, Chapter 26: A Perfect Pair
King George V
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Perfect Pair
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Perfect Pair
On the evening of the 2nd of February 1838, Sidney Brownlow was not the only arsonist at work. His brother-in-law, Richard Pettifer, was on manoeuvres in Belgravia. His target was 37 Chesham Place, the home of Lord Russell, but on the way to carry out his share of Brownlow’s plan he stopped in for a drink at The Grenadier public house on Wilton Row. Well into his cups, he became indiscrete and shared his intentions with a hall porter named John Arrow. Mr Arrow duly informed a police officer and Pettifer was arrested before he could do any damage in Chesham Place. Also involved were Brownlow’s son-in-law, Arthur Banks, and Banks’ brother Henry. The Banks brothers had form having been arrested the previous year at a Unionist rally that turned violent. Neither were charged then due to a lack of evidence but when the story was reported, many Whig and Tory politicians were of the opinion that the Brownlow Plot had been inspired by Unionist rhetoric and added this to their campaign speeches. Ironically, Brownlow later said he and his family were acting “for the protection of the Church of England” and that they were inspired not by the words of Lord Winchelsea but by “the word of God”.
In the aftermath of the Cambridge House Fire, there was public outrage that an attempt had been made on the lives of the Cambridge family. Fortunately, the alarm had been raised quickly by a footman waiting for the return of the Cambridges from Buckingham Palace and noticed the smell of burning. The Cambridge princesses were whisked away from their bedrooms and out into the cold night air as their parents’ servants battled the blaze with buckets of water and sand. The entire ground floor of Cambridge House was burned out and though there was no structural damage, several priceless works of art and antiques couldn’t be recovered and were destroyed. Princess Augusta later recalled that she was terrified as she stood watching flames bursting through the windows of Cambridge House and in later life, she refused to allow her servants to lay fires in her residences. Some mocked Augusta as she sat in her drawing room in the winter wearing furs and even snow boots, but the Cambridge House fire had left its mark.
Princess Augusta of Cambridge.
When Brownlow and his accomplices were put on trial at the Old Bailey, those in the gallery gasped as Brownlow admitted that he wished to murder the Duke of Cambridge. He apologised for the distress caused to the two young princesses whom he said he held no grievance with, neither did he wish to cause injury to the Duchess. But in his view, the Duke had “been complicit in a devilish attack on the Church” and had “opened the door to revolution in a Godless Kingdom”. For his part in the events of the 2nd of February, Sidney Brownlow was taken to Newgate Prison. His wife was forbidden to visit him by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, a compassionate gesture offered to most prisoners who had been sentenced to death. On the morning of the 8th of February 1838, Brownlow was hanged at the gallows on Newgate Street. His execution drew crowds who cheered as he was pronounced dead. [1] His accomplices were all sentenced to transportation, arguably a fate worse than death. Of the four men who formed the Brownlow Plot, the Banks brothers died en- route to Van Diemen’s Land whilst Richard Pettifer was eventually given his freedom and died at Coles Bay, Tasmania in 1860.
The political fallout from the Cambridge House Fire was intense. Lord Winchelsea publicly condemned the arson attack on Cambridge House but he also cast doubt on the cause of the fire despite Brownlow’s confession. In his view, Brownlow was “clearly a lunatic” but a lunatic who “may well have been paid to act in such a way to blacken the reputation of good Unionist men”. He cited similar fires which had broken out at the Royal Exchange and Lloyd’s Coffee House just weeks ago [2] and asked why no great effort had been made to track down the perpetrators of these crimes. In reality, the fire at the Royal Exchange had been accidental and there was no suggestion of arson. Nonetheless, Winchelsea used the incidents to suggest there was “a seedy and underhanded tactic of deliberate destruction used to denigrate political rivals and their honest and hardworking supporters to ensure a victory for the supporters of radicalism and revolutionary violence”. He predicted further such violence in the future which he blamed entirely on Lord John Russell whom he publicly doubted was ever really a target of the Brownlow Plot because “How could working men such as these know where the Home Secretary resides?”.
The Home Secretary himself regarded Winchelsea as “the most dangerous man in British politics”, a moniker that ironically been applied to Russell by his opponents. After a meeting with the King and the Duke of Cambridge, it was agreed that security should be increased for the Cambridges and that they should be allocated additional protection for the time being. This unnerved the Duke and the following day, he met with Lord Melbourne to offer his resignation as King’s Regent. He asked to be sent back to Hanover as Viceroy replacing his brother the Duke of Sussex as soon as the King came of age. But Melbourne advised him against such a move. The King too was horrified to think that his uncle might resign. He needed his uncle’s support and help, preparing as he was to leave London for Berkshire for 12 weeks at the Royal Military College before his 18th birthday. His coronation was to be held on the 1st of August 1838 and with additional engagements in the major cities being scheduled before and after the ceremony, the Duke of Cambridge would be needed as a reliable figure to ease the burden on the King and Queen. The Duke of Cambridge reluctantly accepted but insisted that his wife and children be sent to Windsor where they might be better protected. Unable to live at Cambridge House, the Duke moved into Clarence House which had been left vacant by the Dowager Duchess of Clarence who was now living at Witley Court.
The King and Queen agreed to postpone their engagements in London. Officially this was because of the general election campaign but their visits were actually rescheduled to allow for a period of calm following the Cambridge House fire. Those in the Cabinet who had concerns about the royal couple visiting poorer areas which may be unsafe insisted that Melbourne convince the King to abandon his proposals to go to St Katherine’s Docks and Spitalfields but His Majesty would only agree to a postponement. In the meantime, he turned his attention to another plan. Whilst appointments to his Household were mostly to be made by the Prime Minister of the day, he wished for his court to be a little more open than that of his late father and to bring in some fresh faces. Until the late 1830s and 40s, aristocrats who did not hold court positions gathered together in an endless round of dinners and country house weekends, balls and fetes which comprised “the season”. Wealthy Georgians built the season around the sitting of parliament, allowing them to entertain the most important establishment figures in the hope of advancement arranged by those who did have a position at court and were impressed by their efforts.
Queen Charlotte.
The Royal Family had always been lukewarm to the concept of “society” and “the season”. Debutantes were formally introduced into society by presentation to the monarch at court during Court Drawing Rooms and Queen Charlotte’s Ball. Founded by George III in 1780 to celebrate the birthday of his wife and to raise funds for the Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital. Members of the Royal Family attended other “society” events such as Royal Ascot and Cowes Week (patronised by the late Prince Regent) but they were careful to keep the great and the good who gathered at these events at arm’s length. Exceptions might be made for courtiers who invited the King and Queen to their London homes for dinner or for aristocrats who offered their country houses as places to stay when engagements were scheduled beyond the reach of a royal residence. But on the whole, “society” was seen as slightly immoral, excessive and idle. Most believed it to be packed with social climbers who would try to recruit the Royal Family to their cause and whilst the late Prince Regent greatly enjoyed mixing in these circles, George IV had his court had kept well away from the season and all it entailed. His courtiers had followed his example.
King George V felt differently. As he approached his coming of age and his coronation, he had begun to give serious thought as to what kind of a King he would be. Unlike some of his predecessors, he enjoyed meeting the people and had a genuine interest in the lives of his subjects. Indeed, shortly after his marriage he wrote to his friend Prince Alexander of Prussia that he believed that “Kingship cannot be confined to constitutional duty or Christian obligations alone but must also act as a force for good in bringing together rich and poor. I truly believe that the more we are seen, the more the people will know that we care and the country will be happier as a whole. That should be the task we endeavour to above all others”. Prince Alexander gently teased the King, replying with a note which read; “I have written to your Mama and told her that you have become a radical so expect a visit to your silly old castle and a spanked bottom!”.
But the King was genuine in his sentiments. It was not something he learned from Stockmar or gleaned from one particular experience, though perhaps the Cambridge House fire had made him aware that not all of his subjects wished the Royal Family well. Others have speculated that he wished to “show off” his new wife or that he was simply bored and wanted to spend more time among the public or high society for his own amusement. This however seems somewhat unfair. The signs that George was keen to explore (if not fully embrace) reform in the future had been present throughout his education and now it was only natural that he should look ahead to how best his ideas might be implemented when the regency came to an end in just a few months’ time. Queen Louise was entirely supportive of her husband’s ponderings. She agreed with him that as a young couple relatively unknown to the British people, they should make more of an effort to mix among the people. It was a very different approach from previous reigns, though Major Smith doubted that “the old boys would give His Majesty too much freedom to make changes”.
The King had anticipated this. The Cabinet and his senior courtiers had not objected when he asked to visit places such as the National Gallery or Westminster Abbey and he suspected that by dipping his toe in the water of “society”, he might prove that there was nothing to fear from a monarchy which was seen more and not confined to a life of privilege behind palace walls with little to do. If the Prime Minister mixed in society, why should the King and Queen not do likewise? He summoned the Duchess of Sutherland, now Mistress of the Robes, and asked her if she might have any ideas of suitable charitable groups operating under the patronage of prominent London hostesses which the Queen might involve herself with.
Harriet Sutherland later wrote; “His Majesty was most keen that whilst he was away in Berkshire, Her Majesty must not be left alone. I fear he worried that she may be tormented by the Queen Mother and so he asked if I might think of one or two suitable ladies the Queen could be introduced to with the ambition of contributing something to a charitable committee or similar cause”. The Duchess also observed that whilst the King seemed ignorant of the life his wife had been forced to live with the Queen Mother at Marlborough House, he perhaps assumed (correctly) that it had been miserable for her. He wanted his wife to build friendships and to be admired just as he had come to admire her. The Duchess remarked; “They really are quite the perfect pair which I am sure is a relief to all given that Their Majesties marriage was arranged in the usual way and the King had previously shown some reluctance”.
The person responsible for arranging the marriage was predictably sneering at George’s idea of what kind of a King he should like to be and the idea that the Queen might mix with ladies outside of the court. “Your role is not to be seen but to work”, the Queen Mother argued in a letter to her son, “The more the people, the ordinary people that is, see you the more they will become familiar until you fail to impress them any longer. The magic of monarchy is that we are unseen and exist in their imaginations. To present ourselves as show ponies does nothing but weaken the mystery of the Crown and for what? So that you may enjoy a boat race or a good supper with lazy and idle parvenus? As for Luise, she will be used and taken advantage of by silly society ladies who fuss and gossip and before the summer is out, she shall find herself connected with some scandal or other because scandal always follows the tiresome hens who roost in the drawing rooms of Belgravia”.
Charles Beaumont Phipps.
But George was not to be deterred. Ahead of his coming of age, it was time for the King to establish his own office. He naturally wished to retain the services of Honest Billy as his Crown Equerry but he saw this as an opportunity to find somebody who was equally as affable and supportive as Major Smith for the role of his Private Secretary. Major Smith was asked to make inquiries and finally recommended that the King appoint Captain Charles Beaumont Phipps [3]. Phipps was the second son of the Earl of Mulgrave and most recently he had served his elder brother Constantine as Private Secretary to the Governor of Jamaica. In 1837, Phipps purchased a commission as captain and lieutenant-colonel and had made inquiries about possibly serving the Royal Household in some way. Phipps was a risky candidate in that he had not been in royal service before but Honest Billy vouched for his friend and the King gladly appointed Phipps as an Equerry in Ordinary with a view to promoting him to Private Secretary to the Sovereign in April. George Edward Anson, the son of the Dean of Chester, was Smith's second choice and the King agreed that he should be appointed Equerry in Ordinary to the Queen, becoming her Private Secretary when Phipps was promoted later in the year.
By the middle of February, The Queen was also busy establishing her new life in England. Since her visit to Weymouth, she had frequently entertained the King’s aunts and now, the Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Augusta and Princess Sophia were once again regulars at court after a long absence. Louise genuinely adored these ladies who had shown her such warmth and kindness and the Court Circular of 1838 shows that they attended the Queen almost daily. Louise became particularly close to Princess Augusta whom she came to rely upon for advice on which ladies of the court to show favour to and which ladies should be kept at arms length until their husband’s were promoted.
Princess Augusta helped the Queen to find a new dressmaker and taught her the intricacies of how the Royal Household worked, encouraging her to put her own stamp on things to suit her own preferences. An example of this was the custom of the Queen’s ladies eating in a separate dining room to their mistress. Queen Louise disliked this and thought it rude and unfriendly and so she reversed it, encouraging her ladies to take their meals with the King and Queen where possible. The King included his own personal staff in these gatherings, making for a happier atmosphere at court but undoing one of the rules imposed by the Queen Mother during her tenure as Queen consort.
There were other signs of the royal couple asserting their independence. The estate at Broadwindsor was purchased by the King in February for £25,000 and he instructed the Commissioner of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works and Buildings, John William Ponsonby, Viscount Duncannon and the future 4th Earl of Bessborough, to make discrete inquiries as to which architect might be suitable to construct the house “Mr and Mrs King” both dreamed of during their visit to Highcliffe. The King also relaxed the ban on shooting on Sundays which his father had introduced and at Windsor, some of the paintings which the Queen Mother had put on display were replaced by portraits of the Queen’s relations to make her feel more at home. One substitution was a large painting of the Queen Mother which was replaced by two half portraits of Grand Duke George and Grand Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The Queen Mother was surprised when her portrait was delivered to her at Marlborough House without a word of explanation.
With every passing day, George and Louise were giving subtle indications of how things were to be in the future and as they did so, the Queen Mother began to worry more and more. Her carefully laid plans seemed to be slowly backfiring. Rather than a docile daughter-in-law who might act to subdue her son, Queen Louise was showing signs of supporting the King in things his mother deemed totally inappropriate. The Queen Mother began to feel something she hadn’t felt for many months; apprehension about her role in the future. She was particularly aggrieved when the Queen arranged for a visit to the British Museum where a new exhibition of Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities was being staged. An invitation was not extended to the Queen Mother, rather Queen Louise was accompanied by the Duchess of Gloucester. They then went on for a dinner at St James’ given by Princess Sophia before heading out to the opera at Covent Garden joined by Princess Augusta to see a performance of comic opera The Castle of Andalusia by Samuel Arnold and John O’Keeffe. The Queen Mother sat, brooding and excluded, in her home at Marlborough House.
It should be understood however that the Queen took no joy in outfoxing her mother-in-law and she couldn’t know that by doing so, she was only serving to reinforce the Queen Mother’s growing disappointment and the return of her anxieties for the future. Queen Louise did not wish to return to the dark days of her life at Marlborough House and if nothing else, she swore she would never again be a prisoner of her aunt. But neither was she bitter or resentful. She fully intended for the Queen Mother to be a part of court life, she had no desire to replace anybody or to promote herself because of her new rank. This attitude was highly praised by the King’s family and courtiers and eager for gossip from the royal table, newspapers were only too delighted to print glowing accounts of the Queen’s kind and generous nature which the public appetite grew hungrier for by the day. Suddenly the popularity of the monarchy was surging and many at court could see this was the result of a happy, young, recently married couple who by all accounts were charming, gracious and modest in comparison to their predecessors who at times had been boorish, extravagant and self-indulgent.
The New College, Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
But there were differences between the King and Queen. Whilst the King took a more ecumenical approach to his faith, the Queen did not and dutifully attended church every Sunday and Evensong twice a week in the Chapel Royal at St James’ Palace. George found her piety a little frustrating and he once remarked that he was thinking of taking Holy Orders just to spend more time with his wife. This was said in jest of course, the Queen was hardly a religious fanatic, but it indicates that George was becoming slightly co-dependent on Louise, no doubt because he found his love for her growing more intense and because she always supported him and took his side. They did not quarrel but sometimes the King could be heard to mutter “Oh Sunny!” as the Queen spent too long in conversation with her ladies and didn’t always take the hint that he wished them to be dismissed so that George and Louise might be alone together.
Finally, in the second week of February 1838, George got his long-held wish and began his military training at the Royal Military College in Berkshire. Arranged by Honest Billy, the King was spared none of the rigour and rules of the British Army though his presence caused some confusion among privates and officers alike. The London Gazette had announced on the day of his arrival the appointment of “His Majesty the King to be a Colonel in the Army” but the King was already Head of the British Armed Forces and it was to him that his troops swore their oath of allegiance, many of them of a higher rank that that of a Colonel. Major Smith had insisted that the usual protocol for a member of the Royal Family joining the British Army must be followed to give the King the idea that his colonelcy had been earned by hard work and not by rank alone.
Though some fastidious military historians have pointed out that this may not have been the proper form, it proved hugely beneficial to the King and gave him the confidence he needed during his training. Wearing a colonel's uniform for the first time, the King confessed to feeling “prouder than I ever thought possible” and on his brief return trips to Windsor, he was not short of stories to tell. Though she may have been bored by such accounts, his wife never showed it. She listened intently and then, even though she may have already heard the story twice, she would turn to someone else in the room and say, “Georgie dear, you must tell that to Lady Anson, please, it is so very interesting”.
Those in the Royal Household were allowing themselves to breathe a sigh of relief. Whilst none had any animosity towards the late Duke of Clarence or the Duke of Cambridge, many felt that there was a new and bright future ahead for the Royal Family. They saw a young couple thrown together in an unusual way but who had quickly warmed to each other and forged a firm friendship. Whilst at the Royal Military College, the King wrote to the Queen every day and whether she was in London or Windsor, she refused to do anything until she had replied, even if it meant being late for meals or receiving guests. On one occasion, Lord Palmerston was at Buckingham Palace to visit the Duke of Cambridge to discuss the situation regarding the rebellions in Canada [4] and what the government approach would be if they were returned to office as expected.
Whilst making his way to the Private Apartments where his audiences with the Duke were usually held, Palmerston came across Queen Louise and some of her ladies making their way to the Green Drawing Room at the other end of the Palace.
“My dear Lord Palmerston!”, the Queen said happily, “I did not know you were coming to see us today”
“Alas Ma’am, I only wish I had but I have business with His Royal Highness. But I promise that I shall call upon Your Majesty at your earliest convenience and might I say how well you look? Quite charming indeed.”
Queen Louise smiled.
"Well don't let Uncle Cambridge keep you too long", she chided playfully, "I shall have tea waiting for you when are finished"
Palmerston had a dinner engagement but could hardly protest. When he finished his meeting with the Duke of Cambridge, he made his way to the Green Drawing Room as instructed. He later recorded in his journal; “Her Majesty kept me so long, telling me all the news from the military college, that it was almost 7 o clock when I left the Palace and I must confess, I now believe I could sit an examination on His Majesty’s activities in Berkshire and pass with flying colours for she spoke of nothing else for almost two and a quarter hours”. When he was asked about his visit to the Palace by Lord Melbourne, Palmerston relayed what had happened, slightly exasperated at missing his appointment for dinner.
“Things are changing at court Harry”, Melbourne smiled, “And what a relief that is”.
[1] Public executions were still taking place at Newgate at this time. They were not moved inside the prison walls away from public view until 1868.
[2] These incidences happened in the OTL.
[3] Phipps (and Anson) both joined royal service later in the OTL becoming Private Secretary to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert respectively. Here they join the staff a little earlier.
[4] The Rebellions of 1837-1838 had begun in Canada in November 1837 in the OTL. They happen here too and there’ll be a little more detail about that in a future instalment.
I am glad the Cambridge House fire was not more serious.
Very much liking how this King George is lining up to be quite different to the pervious monarchs.
"“The more the people, the ordinary people that is, see you the more they will become familiar until you fail to impress them any longer. The magic of monarchy is that we are unseen and exist in their imaginations. To present ourselves as show ponies does nothing but weaken the mystery of the Crown and for what?" - based on how much we see the Monarchy in the Tabloids these days perhaps Louise had a point?
"One substitution was a large painting of the Queen Mother which was replaced by two half portraits of Grand Duke George and Grand Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The Queen Mother was surprised when her portrait was delivered to her at Marlborough House without a word of explanation." - heh heh heh. That is a great 'take that!'
"...the Queen took no joy in outfoxing her mother-in-law" - does not seem to be inviting her to anything either....
"began his military training at the Royal Military College" - I wonder if anyone dare prank the King? Unlike his days at Eton, I'd imagine the army be more relaxed about such things. Also did the King meet some 'ordinary working class squaddie types' - not officers, but soldiers, as I wonder if he formed any friendships that might be notable later?
I am hoping George and Louise become the first British royals to visit all the Dominions and Territories. Particularly I hope the King will take interest in developing the Caribbean and African holdings, at a faster rate than OTL as that can only help their people become self-sufficient faster.
Nice chapter.
Very much liking how this King George is lining up to be quite different to the pervious monarchs.
"“The more the people, the ordinary people that is, see you the more they will become familiar until you fail to impress them any longer. The magic of monarchy is that we are unseen and exist in their imaginations. To present ourselves as show ponies does nothing but weaken the mystery of the Crown and for what?" - based on how much we see the Monarchy in the Tabloids these days perhaps Louise had a point?
"One substitution was a large painting of the Queen Mother which was replaced by two half portraits of Grand Duke George and Grand Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The Queen Mother was surprised when her portrait was delivered to her at Marlborough House without a word of explanation." - heh heh heh. That is a great 'take that!'
"...the Queen took no joy in outfoxing her mother-in-law" - does not seem to be inviting her to anything either....
"began his military training at the Royal Military College" - I wonder if anyone dare prank the King? Unlike his days at Eton, I'd imagine the army be more relaxed about such things. Also did the King meet some 'ordinary working class squaddie types' - not officers, but soldiers, as I wonder if he formed any friendships that might be notable later?
I am hoping George and Louise become the first British royals to visit all the Dominions and Territories. Particularly I hope the King will take interest in developing the Caribbean and African holdings, at a faster rate than OTL as that can only help their people become self-sufficient faster.
Nice chapter.