Victoria, Princess Royal
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- For other princesses named "Victoria", see Princess Victoria
The Princess Victoria, Princess Royal (Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise) 21 November 1840 – 5 August 1901) was the eldest child and daughter of Queen Victoria and her consort Albert. She was created Princess Royal of the United Kingdom in 1841. She became German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to German Emperor Frederick III. After her husband's death, she became widely known as Empress Frederick (or, in German: "Kaiserin Friedrich").
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[edit] Early life
Princess Victoria was born on 21 november 1840 at Buckingham Palace, London. Her mother was the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria, the only daughter of King George III's fourth eldest son, Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Victoria, Duchess of Kent. Her father was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was baptised in the Throne Room of Buckingham Palace on 10 February 1841 by William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury and her godparents were the Dowager Queen Adelaide, the King of the Belgians, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the Duke of Sussex, the Duchess of Gloucester and her maternal grandmother, Duchess of Kent.
As a daughter of the sovereign, Victoria was automatically a British princess with the style Her Royal Highness, styled HRH The Princess Victoria (and in addition being heiress presumptive to the throne of the United Kingdom before the birth of her younger brother Prince Albert, later Edward VII on 9 November 1841). In 1841, the Queen created Victoria Princess Royal, giving her an honorary title sometimes conferred on the eldest daughter of the sovereign. Victoria was then styled HRH The Princess Royal. To her family she was known simply as Vicky.
The education of Victoria was closely supervised by her parents. She was precocious and intelligent, unlike her brother Albert Edward. She was taught to read and write before the age of five by her governess Lady Lyttelton and to speak French by her French nursery maid. The Princess Royal learned French and German from various governesses, and science, literature, Latin, and history from Sara Ann Hildyard. Prince Albert tutored her in politics and philosophy.
[edit] Marriage
In 1851, Victoria met her future husband, Prince Frederick William of Prussia (18 October 1831-15 June 1888), when he and his parents were invited to London by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to attend the opening of the Great Exhibition. At the time, Frederick, the son of Prince William of Prussia and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar, was second in line to the Prussian throne. The couple became engaged in 1855 while Frederick was on a visit to Balmoral; Vicky was just fourteen, while her future husband was a young man of twenty-four.
The Prussian Court and Buckingham Palace publicly announced the engagement on 19 May 1857. Seventeen-year-old Vicky and young Fritz were married, at Queen Victoria's insistence, at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, on 25 January 1858. The marriage was both a love match and a dynastic alliance. The Queen and Prince Albert hoped that Victoria's marriage to the future king of Prussia would cement close ties between London and Berlin, and possibly lead to the emergence of a unified and liberal Germany.
[edit] Crown Princess of Prussia
In January 1861, on the death of his childless uncle Frederick William IV of Prussia and the accession of his father as King William I, Prince Frederick became Crown Prince of Prussia, Victoria therefore became Crown Princess. The new Crown Prince and Crown Princess, however, were politically isolated; their liberal and Anglophile views clashed with the authoritarian rule of the Prussian minister-president, Otto von Bismarck. Unfortunately, despite their efforts to educate their son, Wilhelm, in British attitudes of democracy, he favoured his German tutors in aspiring to autocratic rule and thus became alienated from his parents, suspecting them of putting Britain's interests first.
During the three Wars of German Unification – the 1864 Prussian-Danish War, the 1866 Austro-Prussian War, and the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War – Victoria and Frederick strongly identified with the cause of Prussia and the North German Confederation. Their sympathies created a rift among Queen Victoria's extended family, since Victoria's younger brother, the Prince of Wales, was married to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, the elder daughter of Christian IX of Denmark, who was also reigning duke of the disputed territories of Schleswig and Holstein. At Versailles on 18 January 1871, the victorious princes of the North German Confederation proclaimed a German Empire with King William I of Prussia as the hereditary German Emperor (Deutscher Kaiser) with the style Imperial and Royal Majesty (Kaiserliche und Königliche Majestät); Frederick and Victoria became German Crown Prince and German Crown Princess with the style Imperial and Royal Highness (Kaiserliche und Königliche Hoheit).
[edit] German Empress & Empress Frederick
On the death of his father on 9 March 1888, the Crown Prince ascended the throne as the Emperor Frederick III (and as King Frederick III of Prussia) and Victoria adopted the title and style of Her Imperial and Royal Majesty The German Empress. Frederick, however, was terminally ill with throat cancer and died after reigning 99 days. From then on she was known simply as The Empress Frederick.
She was often known as Die Engländerin (the Englishwoman) even though she was only one-quarter English.
The widowed Victoria lived in retirement at Castle Friedrichshof, a castle she had built in memory of her late husband in the hills near Kronberg not far from Frankfurt am Main. Politically, she remained a liberal in contrast with her son Emperor William II. Their relationship had earlier been difficult but improved once she was no longer in the limelight. In Berlin, Victoria established schools for the higher education of girls and for nurses' training. As a talented and gifted artist in her own right, she patronized the arts and learning, becoming one of the organizers of the 1872 Industrial Art Exhibition.
Throughout her married life and widowhood, Victoria kept in close touch with other members of the British Royal Family, particularly her younger brother, the future Edward VII.
She maintained a regular correspondence with her mother. According to the Royal Encyclopaedia, some 3,777 letters from Queen Victoria to her eldest daughter have been catalogued, as well as more than 4,000 from daughter to mother. Many of her letters detailed her concern over Germany's future under her son. These letters were rescued in a cloak and dagger operation by Edward VII private secretary.
[edit] Death
Victoria died of cancer of the spine at Castle Friedrichshof on the 5 August 1901, less than seven months after the death of her mother, Queen Victoria. She was buried in the royal mausoleum of the Friedenskirche at Potsdam on the 13 August 1901. Her tomb has a recumbent marble effigy of herself on top. Next to her lies her beloved husband. Her two children, Sigismund (died age 2) and Waldemar (died age 11) are also buried in the same mausoleum.
[edit] Titles, styles, honours and arms
[edit] Titles and styles
- 21 November 1840 – 19 January 1841[1]: Her Royal Highness The Princess Victoria
- 19 January 1841 – 25 January 1858: Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal
- 25 January 1858 – 2 January 1861: Her Royal Highness Princess Friedrich of Prussia
- 2 January 1861 – 18 January 1871: Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Prussia
- 18 January 1871 – 9 March 1888: Her Imperial and Royal Highness The German Crown Princess, Crown Princess of Prussia
- 9 March 1888 – 15 June 1888: Her Imperial and Royal Majesty The German Empress, Queen of Prussia
- 15 June 1888 – 5 August 1901: Her Imperial and Royal Majesty The Empress Frederick, Queen Dowager of Prussia
[edit] Arms
With her style of Princess Royal, Victoria was granted use of the royal arms, with an inescutcheon of the shield of Saxony, the whole differenced by a label argent of three points, the outer points bearing crosses gules, the central a rose gules. In 1917, the inescutcheon was dropped by royal warrant from George V.[2]
[edit] Ancestors
[edit] Issue
Victoria and Frederick had eight children:
[edit] See also
Kronberg, the former home of Empress Frederick: [1]
[edit] Notes and sources
| Victoria, Princess Royal Cadet branch of the House of Wettin Born: 21 November 1840 Died: 5 August 1901
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| German royalty | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Augusta of Saxe-Weimar | German Empress Queen of Prussia 9 March 1888 – 15 June 1888 | Succeeded by Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein |
| British royalty | ||
| Preceded by Ernest Augustus I of Hanover | Heir to the Throne as heiress presumptive 1840 – 1841 | Succeeded by Albert, Prince of Wales |
| Vacant Title last held by Princess Charlotte
| Princess Royal 1841 – 1901 | Vacant Title next held by Princess Louise
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Princesses Royal |
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HRH The Princess Anne, Princess Royal (1987 –) Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood (1932-1965) · Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife (1905-1931) · Victoria, German Empress (1841-1901) · Charlotte, Queen of Württemberg (1766-1828) · Anne, Princess of Orange (1727-1759) · Mary, Princess of Orange (1642-1660) |
de:Victoria von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha es:Victoria de Sajonia-Coburgo-Gotha, Emperatriz de Alemania fr:Victoria du Royaume-Uni (1840-1901) gl:Vitoria, princesa do Reino Unido it:Vittoria di Sassonia-Coburgo-Gotha he:ויקטוריה, הנסיכה המלכותית nl:Victoria van Saksen-Coburg en Gotha ja:ヴィクトリア (ドイツ皇后) no:Victoria av Tyskland pl:Wiktoria Koburg pt:Vitória, Princesa Real do Reino Unido ru:Виктория (императрица, жена Фридриха III) fi:Prinsessa Viktoria, Saksan keisarinna sv:Viktoria av England (tysk kejsarinna) zh:腓特烈皇后
Categories: English and British princesses | Princesses Royal | German queens consort | Heirs to the English and British thrones | House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | House of Hohenzollern | Companions of the Order of the Crown of India | Ladies of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert | People from Westminster | 1840 births | 1901 deaths | Cancer deaths
