HIS MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY KING EDWARD VII.
[Illustration: THE KING
_From the Painting by Archibald Stuart Wortley, published by Henry
Graves and Co._]
HIS MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY
KING EDWARD VII.
BY
MRS. BELLOC-LOWNDES
AUTHOR OF
‘THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE MARQUISE’
ILLUSTRATED
London
GRANT RICHARDS
9 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C.
1901
PREFACE
_This book, originally published as a Life of the Prince of Wales, has
now been much enlarged and brought up to the latest date, including His
Majesty’s Accession and the events which followed. Fresh illustrations
have also been added. It is believed that no previous attempt has
been made to present a connected account of the Kings life, although
isolated portions of His Majesty’s manifold activities have been
treated of by various writers. Thus the author of the present work
acknowledges considerable indebtedness to the Honble. Mrs. Grey’s
“Journal of a Visit to Egypt, Constantinople, the Crimea, Greece,
etc., in the Suite of the Prince and Princess of Wales”; to Sir W. H.
Russell’s delightful volumes on their Majesties’ tour in the East and
the King’s tour in India (from which two illustrations are reproduced);
and to Sir H. C. Burdett’s “Prince, Princess, and People,” which deals
mainly with the philanthropic work of the King and Queen. A large
number of memoirs have also been consulted, including those of the
Prince Consort, the Duchess of Teck, Baron Stockmar, Archbishop Magee,
Archbishop Benson, Dean Stanley, and Canon Kingsley._
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I
AN APPRECIATION 1
CHAPTER II
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS 5
CHAPTER III
THE KING’S BOYHOOD 22
CHAPTER IV
OXFORD, CAMBRIDGE, AND THE CURRAGH 34
CHAPTER V
THE KING’S VISIT TO CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES 43
CHAPTER VI
DEATH OF THE PRINCE CONSORT--TOUR IN THE EAST 55
CHAPTER VII
THE WEDDING OF KING EDWARD AND QUEEN ALEXANDRA 63
CHAPTER VIII
EARLY MARRIED LIFE 83
CHAPTER IX
THEIR MAJESTIES’ TOUR IN EGYPT AND THE MEDITERRANEAN 103
CHAPTER X
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR--THE KING’S ILLNESS 125
CHAPTER XI
1873-1875 136
CHAPTER XII
THE KING’S TOUR IN INDIA 143
CHAPTER XIII
QUIET YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK, 1876-1887--VISIT TO IRELAND--QUEEN
VICTORIA’S GOLDEN JUBILEE 159
CHAPTER XIV
SILVER WEDDING OF KING EDWARD AND QUEEN ALEXANDRA--ENGAGEMENT
AND MARRIAGE OF PRINCESS LOUISE 171
CHAPTER XV
THE BACCARAT CASE--BIRTH OF LADY ALEXANDRA DUFF--THE KING’S
FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY--ILLNESS OF PRINCE GEORGE 179
CHAPTER XVI
THE DUKE OF CLARENCE AND AVONDALE 184
CHAPTER XVII
THE HOUSING OF THE WORKING CLASSES--MARRIAGE OF PRINCE
GEORGE--THE DIAMOND JUBILEE--DEATH OF THE DUCHESS OF TECK 200
CHAPTER XVIII
LATER YEARS--A SERIOUS ACCIDENT TO THE KING--GRADUAL
RECOVERY--THE ATTEMPT ON THE KING’S LIFE 220
CHAPTER XIX
THE KING AS A COUNTRY SQUIRE 235
CHAPTER XX
THE KING IN LONDON 251
CHAPTER XXI
THE KING AND STATE POLICY 262
CHAPTER XXII
THE KING AND THE SERVICES 268
CHAPTER XXIII
THE KING AND FREEMASONRY 279
CHAPTER XXIV
THE KING AS A PHILANTHROPIST 287
CHAPTER XXV
THE KING AS A SPORTSMAN 296
CHAPTER XXVI
THE DEATH OF QUEEN VICTORIA--THE KING’S ACCESSION 310
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The King. From the Painting by Mr. A. Stuart Wortley _Frontispiece_
The King at Homburg xvi
The Christening of King Edward VII. 9
Queen Victoria, the Empress Frederick, and King Edward VII. 11
King Edward VII. 13
King Edward VII. at the Age of Three 15
The King in 1847 17
The Landing of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their
Children at Aberdeen 19
The King and the Empress Frederick as Children 21
The Rev. Henry Mildred Birch, the King’s First Tutor 25
Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their Children 27
The King at the Age of Eight, and the Duke of Saxe-Coburg
and Gotha at the Age of Five 29
Sketching at Loch Laggan--Queen Victoria with King Edward
and the Empress Frederick 31
Queen Victoria and King Edward VII. 32
The King in 1859 35
Christ Church, Oxford 38
Trinity College, Cambridge 39
The King in 1861 41
The Tour in Canada and the United States, 1860 43
The Fifth Duke of Newcastle, K.G. 44
The King’s Landing at Montreal 46
The King laying the Last Stone of the Victoria Bridge over
the St. Lawrence 47
The Grand Ball given at the Academy of Music, New York 52
Dean Stanley 58
The King’s Reception by Said Pacha, Viceroy of Egypt, at Cairo 59
The King about the Time of his Marriage 62
Queen Alexandra 65
The King on Coming of Age 67
Queen Alexandra in 1863 69
Queen Alexandra 71
The Marriage of the King and Queen 75
A Contemporary Design for the Royal Wedding 78
On the Wedding Day 81
Queen Alexandra at the Time of her Marriage 82
Queen Alexandra in 1863 86
Queen Alexandra in 1864 89
Queen Alexandra with the Baby Prince Albert Victor 91
King Edward, Queen Alexandra, and Prince Albert Victor 93
Queen Victoria with Prince Albert Victor 95
King Edward at the Age of Twenty-Three 99
Queen Victoria, Queen Alexandra, and Princess Christian 101
Queen Alexandra about the Year 1865 102
Thanksgiving Day, 1872: The Scene at Temple Bar 132
Thanksgiving Day, 1872: The Procession up Ludgate Hill 134
Queen Alexandra and her Sister, the Empress Alexander of Russia,
in 1873 137
Queen Victoria, with the Princes Albert Victor and George,
and their sister, Princess Victoria 139
The King’s Indian Tour, 1875 143
Embarkation on Board the _Serapis_ at Brindisi 147
The King’s Visit to the Cawnpore Memorial 153
The King in 1876 157
The King in 1879 161
The King in 1882 164
Queen Alexandra in her Robes as Doctor of Music 169
The Duchess of Fife, Princess Victoria, and Princess Charles
of Denmark 175
The Duke of Fife 177
The Duke of Clarence and Avondale 185
Queen Alexandra 193
King Edward and Queen Alexandra, with the Duchess of Fife and
Lady Alexandra Duff 201
Queen Victoria and the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York 205
The King in the Undress Uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet 210
The King as Grand Master of the Knights-Hospitallers of Malta,
at the Duchess of Devonshire’s Ball 213
The Duke of Cornwall and York in his Robes as a Knight of
St. Patrick 215
The Duchess of Cornwall and York 217
The Duke of Connaught, the late Duke of Saxe-Coburg, the German
Emperor, King Edward VII., Queen Victoria, and the Empress
Frederick 223
The King with the Ladies Duff 229
Sandringham from the Grounds 235
The Norwich Gate at Sandringham 238
The East Front, Sandringham 239
Queen Alexandra’s Dairy at Sandringham 241
Queen Alexandra at Sandringham 245
The Kennels, Sandringham 248
Queen Alexandra with her Favourite Dogs 250
Marlborough House from the South-West 252
Marlborough House: the Drawing-Room 254
Garden Party at Marlborough House, July 1881 257
Marlborough House: the Salon 259
The King as Admiral of the Fleet 269
The King as Colonel of the 10th Hussars 273
The King and the Duke of Connaught 277
Sir Francis Knollys 292
Mr. John Porter and Mr. Richard Marsh, the King’s Past and
Present Trainers, and John Watts, his Jockey 296
The Egerton House Training Stables, Newmarket 297
The King’s Derby, 1896 299
The King as a Sportsman in 1876 305
The _Britannia_ 307
The King as a Yachtsman 308
[Illustration: THE KING
_From a Photograph by T. H. Voigt, Hamburg v.d.H._]
CHAPTER I
AN APPRECIATION
On the Sunday following that eventful 9th of November on which His
Most Gracious Majesty King Edward VII. first saw the light, the Rev.
Sydney Smith preached at St. Paul’s, and made the following interesting
addition to the Bidding Prayer:--
“We pray also for that infant of the Royal race whom in Thy good
providence Thou hast given us for our future King. We beseech Thee so
to mould his heart and fashion his spirit that he may be a blessing and
not an evil to the land of his birth. May he grow in favour with man
by leaving to its own force and direction the energy of a free people.
May he grow in favour with God by holding the faith in Christ fervently
and feelingly, without feebleness, without fanaticism, without folly.
As he will be the first man in these realms, so may he be the best,
disdaining to hide bad actions by high station, and endeavouring always
by the example of a strict and moral life to repay those gifts which a
loyal people are so willing to spare from their own necessities to a
good King.”
It must be remembered that this prayer was uttered in 1841, and some of
the phrases which the great wit used reflect rather the Holland House
view of the monarchy entertained at that time. Nevertheless, the prayer
is noteworthy because in spirit, if not in the letter, it has been so
completely answered. The manner of King Edward’s accession exhibits to
a contemplative mind the eternal contrast between East and West. In an
Oriental State a new Sovereign is as a rule unknown even in his outward
appearance to his subjects, and is generally tossed up on to the throne
by the angry waves of some palace intrigue of which he himself knows
nothing. But it is the peculiar happiness of the British people that,
in the midst of their bitter grief at the loss of Queen Victoria,
there came to them the swift thought that one whom they had known and
approved from his youth up was her successor, and would assuredly walk
in her footsteps.
The accession of a Prince so universally beloved to the throne of his
ancestors amid the deeply-felt joy of a great and free people is an
inspiring spectacle. Perhaps, however, it is not fully realised how
much King Edward, in the years of his public life as Prince of Wales,
shared in the duties of the British Crown. The following pages will,
it is hoped, show how completely His Majesty and his lamented mother
agreed in their conception of the position of ruler of the British
Empire. It is known that the death of the Prince Consort drew even
closer the ties of affection which subsisted between the late Sovereign
and her eldest son, and it would seem as if King Edward from that day
forward had set both his parents before himself as exemplars, and had
endeavoured to approve himself to his future subjects as a worthy
son, not only of Victoria the Wise but also of Albert the Good. It is
certainly significant how many of the qualities of both his parents His
Majesty possesses.
In those admirable messages to his people, and to India and the
Colonies, as well as to his Navy and Army, the King wrote absolutely as
his mother would have wished him to write. There is in these documents
the same keen personal sympathy, the same human touch, so notable
in all Her late Majesty’s letters to her people, the same unerring
perception, the same insight which demonstrated how completely the
heart of the monarch was beating in unison with that of his people.
Although the British people realised and appreciated the Prince
Consort’s great qualities some time before his death, it is,
nevertheless, true to say that they never came to regard him with
quite the same feeling of affection as that in which other members of
the Royal Family were held. This was in no sense the fault of Prince
Albert, but is rather attributable to that national prejudice against
everything and everybody not originally and completely British which
was especially strong in the middle years of the nineteenth century.
Certainly we have become more cosmopolitan since those days; we have
come to see that the manners and customs of foreign nations are not
perhaps always so absurd as our forefathers, at any rate, supposed, and
may even in some few respects be worthy of adoption and imitation.
In this salutary process of national illumination King Edward VII.
undoubtedly played a considerable part. From the beginning of his
public career he endeared himself to his future subjects by his natural
_bonhomie_, his tact, and a certain indefinable touch of human sympathy
which characterised all his actions and speeches. He was therefore able
to carry on and to develop with extraordinary success his father’s
work in promoting, not only the higher pursuits of science and art,
but also the more immediately practical application of scientific
principles to industries and manufactures. Few people realise how much
England’s industrial prosperity was advanced both by the father and the
son, and how much greater that prosperity would have been if Prince
Albert’s foresight had been better understood and appreciated by his
contemporaries.
Prince Albert will also ever be remembered with gratitude by the
British people for the unremitting care which he devoted to the
education of all his children, and especially to that of his eldest
son. Of course the seed must be sown in good ground, and we know that
the ground was good; the effect of that early education is seen in
the admirable tact with which King Edward filled a most difficult
and delicate position for many years. This position was rendered
additionally onerous by the sometimes ridiculous, sometimes malevolent,
stories which used to be circulated about his private affairs. It is
one of the great penalties of Royalty that practically no reply can
be made to the voice of calumny and detraction. The increase of the
means of communication, and the growth of the newspaper press, have
tended to heighten the glare of publicity in which Royalty is compelled
to live. But this bright light of publicity does not at all resemble
that dry light of reason which Bacon regarded as so essential to the
investigations of science; its rays are refracted and distorted by
ignorance and clumsiness, if not by actual malevolence. Mr. Balfour’s
quiet announcement in the House of Commons soon after the King’s
Accession, that on the resettlement of the Civil List no question of
debts will arise for consideration--as was the case, for instance,
on the Accession of George IV.--is an impressive reply to rumours
regrettably current of late years.
It must have required no common discipline and self-control to bear
such penalties as those, inflicted by the tongue of scandal, and at the
same time to exercise that invariable discretion in reference to the
great interests of State which we all admired so much in His Majesty
when he was Prince of Wales. We should all regard as extraordinary,
were it not that we have become so used to it, the way in which His
Majesty contrived over so many years to be in politics and yet not
of them; to educate himself in State affairs, while preserving that
rigorous impartiality which our constitutional monarchy demands from
the Heir to the throne. The sentiments with which he takes up his
great task as King, not only of the United Kingdom but also of our
vast Colonial Empire beyond the seas, added to the great dependency of
India, is significantly shown in a sentence which His Majesty uttered
in a speech long ago--that his great wish was that every man born in
the Colonies should feel himself as English as if he had been born in
Kent or Sussex.