Princess Victoria ("Toria"), daughter of Edward VII & Queen Alexandra (1868-1935)


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That's right. Victoria, Alexandra and Dagmar did love their children very much, almost to the point of smothering them by not wanting any to leave the family home. Beatrice was lucky in that she stubbornly stuck to her love of Henry and defied Victoria about marriage even if the married couple had to live with the Queen after their marriage.
For some reason, out of love, fear, devotion Victoria couldn't defy Alexandra. For her to be bitter and a hypochondriac in her later years isn't unusual. I'm sure she had many regrets and mourned the life she could have had.
 
I just wanted to point out that although it wasn't a good idea for Alexandra to keep her daughter at home, it wasn't just her. Beatrice had to endure Queen Victoria not speaking to her when they were under the same roof for months (thought it was six? maybe), after her intention to marry Henry of Battenberg became clear. A lot of people wouldn't go through that. So it's not surprising Toria never defied Alexandra, I think out of family love and perhaps fear.
 
I just wanted to point out that although it wasn't a good idea for Alexandra to keep her daughter at home, it wasn't just her. Beatrice had to endure Queen Victoria not speaking to her when they were under the same roof for months (thought it was six? maybe), after her intention to marry Henry of Battenberg became clear. A lot of people wouldn't go through that. So it's not surprising Toria never defied Alexandra, I think out of family love and perhaps fear.
See, and I'm going to do the same to my boys once they are finished serving their country. I want them just a few miles from me. So I can completely understand Alexandra's and Minnie's position. And sympathize.
 
Beatrice had to endure Queen Victoria not speaking to her when they were under the same roof for months...
Posted in the Princess Beatrice thread here but relevant to this discussion:

the context: Princess Beatrice has announced to her mother her intention to marry Prince Henry of Battenberg;
the fallout: For seven months, from May to November 1884, mother and daughter continued to live side by side without the Queen addressing a single word to Beatrice.
Rather, she communicated by note – on those occasions, such as at the breakfast table, when she delivered the note herself, with eyes averted.
The easy, intimate intercourse that had characterised their relationship for more than 20 years ended overnight.

No doubt this tale had entered the family lore and while Alexandra may not have been as formidable as QV, there was an unpleasant precedent or example for Toria to confront.
 
What is better :
Princess Victoria who remain single because she has to be devoted to her mother but still lived in England near her family
or Princess Maud who married a Prince of Danemark who became King of Norway. She did not like the court of Norway which was so different than in GB and was her whole life long unhappy?

Neither choice is good. But I think personally I would have chosen Princess Maud's life.

To me Toria and Maud were extremly wonderful woman. :flowers:
 
Alexandra did to Toria what her sister Minnie did to Olga to keep her near. They were both selfish but they both loved their children very much.

Exept the fact that Olga got married and had children, and managed to escape the revolution in Russia
 
Yes, Olga eventually rebeled. Yet, Minnie did allow Olga to marry as a very young woman. However, it was an arranged marriage to a man she didn't love who was said to be gay and they never had any children. Minnie encouraged the marriage of Olga and Peter of Oldenberg because he was a Romanov cousin ( through the female line) who was happy to live in Russia, thus keeping Olga nearby to Minnie. It wasn't a very happy marriage. Perhaps Toria's fate was better, actually.
 
Luckily, Olga did manage to divorce and find happiness with Nikolai Kulikovsky despite what happened to her brothers and their families. Xenia was lucky that she fell in love and married a Romanov cousin so she was able to be close to Minnie. I wonder if she could have suffered Toria's fate as well if she wanted to marry someone else besides Sandro.
 
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It is a consideration that royal princesses had to be provided for from the civil list or the sovereign's own funds. Queen Victoria was not a rich woman in comparison with some of the British ducal families. Princes could always be found salaries within the military, princesses it was hoped would marry men with sufficient income to support a royal or a semi- royal household. Prince Henry of Battenberg, an impoverished German noble, saw the main chance in the Princess Beatrice. So Queen Victoria's views may not have been entirely selfish.

The Princess Beatrice's daughter, Victoria of Battenberg was made a Royal Highness of Great Britain shortly before her marriage to the King of Spain. Beatrice had a long, impoverished and perhpas lonely life: during World War II she was foisted upon an elderly maid of honour of Queen Alexander's. Apparently not one pheasant, rabbit or food hamper was ever sent down from Windsor.
 
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Yes, Olga eventually rebeled. Yet, Minnie did allow Olga to marry as a very young woman. However, it was an arranged marriage to a man she didn't love who was said to be gay and they never had any children. Minnie encouraged the marriage of Olga and Peter of Oldenberg because he was a Romanov cousin ( through the female line) who was happy to live in Russia, thus keeping Olga nearby to Minnie. It wasn't a very happy marriage. Perhaps Toria's fate was better, actually.
Minnie didn't "allow" Olga to marry, she practically forced it. Oldenberg's mother was happy to have the match as they were good friends (per Little Mother of Russia.)
I wonder how many suitors Alexandra turned away from Toria as they were social climbers?
 
Alexandra and Edward [to a lesser extent as he was known to acquiesce to his wife's wishes where their children were concerned] are said to have rejected two prospective suitors of Victoria for reason that they were commoners.
 
But did Victoria have any royal suitors? It seems to me that Alexandra decided that Toria would never marry with her permission but perhaps I am wrong; maybe the "right" man did not come along.
 
Princess Victoria

I've heard that she changed her religion around 1917.
Do you know anything about?
 
I've heard that she changed her religion around 1917.
Do you know anything about?


I have never heard anything about this.

As she never lost her place in the line of succession she never converted to Roman Catholicism.

She had an Anglican funeral at St Georges Chapel at Windsor so I would assume that she remained Anglican throughout her life.
 
I have just finished reading John Van Der Kiste's "Edward VII's Children" and he tells some amazing stories about Princess Victoria.

Some familiar (the one about her call to her brother the king and instead getting the operator) and others more new to me. For example, she apparently took to liking whisky after her mother's death and so did her chauffeur. To hide the smell he used extra strong mints; one day she protested to him, not about his drinking but the smell of the mints!

Another touching one was two soldiers were injured near a house she was staying at and they were taken there where, not only did she attend to the first aide, but she arranged for them to see their regiment march past their window when the two were in hospital.
 
In a Royal Profile, it mentioned Princess Victoria "devoted herself to her main recreations of music, gardening and photography - an interest she inherited from her parents".
 
I have read that Pv grew quite bitter and unpleasant later on, due to hating her life as outlined by her mother. Everyone knew that her mother would create roadblocks indefinitely to keep at least one girl from marrying and at the time, Maude was developing various crushes, which were unsuitable, so it was determined she would get married, and Victoria knew then she was stuck forever with her childish, possessive mother. Edward VII never dared interfere, due to his own "lifestyle". So she became a victim of her mother's selfishness and father's philandering, really. After QV had married a daughter to a subject, that excuse was gone, so she could have married. In fact, oldest sister Louise married an Earl (18 years older), many say just to be sure she escaped Alexandria.
 
Princess Victoria collected autographs.
She had an autograph of her first cousin, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany.
She had an autograph of Emperor Hirohito of Japan.
She had an autograph of Woodrow Wilson of the United States. :writing:

In The Royal Victorians, Christopher Hibbert wrote:

On Princess Victoria's birthday a children's party was given each year by the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace where balloons were shot up into the sky and, on bursting, discharged presents all over the lawn while excited children raced about to pick them up.
:sun::sun::sun:

Princess Victoria with her dog Mac on board the royal yacht Victoria and Albert in 1908
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-p...-board-the-royal-yacht-victoria-17642174.html
 
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Princess Victoria collected autographs.
She had an autograph of her first cousin, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany.
She had an autograph of Emperor Hirohito of Japan.
She had an autograph of Woodrow Wilson of the United States. :writing:

In The Royal Victorians, Christopher Hibbert wrote:

On Princess Victoria's birthday a children's party was given each year by the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace where balloons were shot up into the sky and, on bursting, discharged presents all over the lawn while excited children raced about to pick them up.
☀️☀️☀️

Just noticed this when looking on here.....

I was given an old book as a child called "The Story of 25 Eventful Years" about George V's jubilee. It had a picture of what you have described happening on the garden front side of the palace. I can distinctly remember an elephant being one of the toys in the air. I never knew up until now exactly what was going on in the image.

I wonder what happened to the book:sad:.
 
:previous: Durham, Would a library in your area have The Story of 25 Eventful Years? Who was the author?
 
:previous: Durham, Would a library in your area have The Story of 25 Eventful Years? Who was the author?

There's no copies, even a reference book, at any library in my county according to a search on their catalogue.

Just looking there seem to be lots of copies available to buy from various internet sites. I'm not sure of the author but it was published by Oldhams Press Ltd, Long Acre W2 London 1935.

I can include some links if you would like.
 
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There's no copies, even a reference book, at any library in my county according to a search on their catalogue.

Just looking there seem to be lots of copies available to buy from various internet sites. I'm not sure of the author but it was published by Oldhams Press Ltd, Long Acre W2 London 1935.

I can include some links if you would like.

Durham, Please include some links.
 
I have read that Pv grew quite bitter and unpleasant later on, due to hating her life as outlined by her mother. Everyone knew that her mother would create roadblocks indefinitely to keep at least one girl from marrying and at the time, Maude was developing various crushes, which were unsuitable, so it was determined she would get married, and Victoria knew then she was stuck forever with her childish, possessive mother. Edward VII never dared interfere, due to his own "lifestyle". So she became a victim of her mother's selfishness and father's philandering, really. After QV had married a daughter to a subject, that excuse was gone, so she could have married. In fact, oldest sister Louise married an Earl (18 years older), many say just to be sure she escaped Alexandria.
I don’t think it was an issue of marrying a subject, but simply the fact that after Louise, Duchess of Argyll’s experience in her marriage with a husband who was actually gay, I don’t think the family were willing to let Toria marry a Scottish peer who might not have consummated the marriage. The difference with the Duchess of Fife was that he might have been a subject, but he was very rich. The 5th Earl Roseberry was interested in her.

But did Victoria have any royal suitors? It seems to me that Alexandra decided that Toria would never marry with her permission but perhaps I am wrong; maybe the "right" man did not come along.
Some of the Romanovs were interested in her. Crown Prince Christian X of Denmark was interested, but she rejected him. King Carlos I of Portugal was interested in her and was demanding she convert for him, and of course her parents and herself didn’t or couldn’t accept that.
 
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Who were some of the Romanov Grand Dukes who were interested in Princess Victoria?
 
Who were some of the Romanov Grand Dukes who were interested in Princess Victoria?
Before he was married the future Emperor, Nicholas II, his close friend Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich was also interested and Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich were interested in her at different points in time.
 
I don't think Christian was interested in her considering their siblings later married. There would have been ample time, opportunity and encouragement, so even having her own life and being Queen of Denmark wasn't enough to do it for Toria — but I think the lack of interest was mutual.

She was clearly unhappy and probably unhealthily so, but she was pretty close to her nephew (left him Coppins) and very much to her brother ("hello, you old bugger").
 
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