It's Good to be the King...

Imterested and subscribed.

I think the order of Edward Victor Alexander (or Alexander Victor) would be more likely given British naming of royals in succession here.
Everyone will expect him to be Edward VII so it would be more of a surprise if he chooses one of the others.

Victor as a regnal name might be interesting, given that the Jacobites already had King Victor I in the person of Victor Emanuel I of Sardinia. Some British prime minister actually said there should be public mourning when said king died as many Britons had considered him their rightful king.

Victor is unusual. Not really a name i would suspect on the English/British throne.

Shiva said:

This is an idea that just wouldn't go away, this is a relatively short prologue which I think should get the general idea of what is going to happen across.​

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Prologue​

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-- On May 24, 1819, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld went into labor and quickly delivered a healthy baby boy[1]. The news was quickly spread across the United Kingdom to the general relief of all. The British succession, which had fallen into doubt due to the King and his brother's lacking living legitimate heirs of their own, was now secure.​

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-- On June 24, 1819 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton very quickly having to field suggestions for the royal name from a number of notables and representatives. In the end it was decided that the boy would be christened Victor Alexander Edward, to honor his mother Princess Victoria, one of his godfathers, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and lastly his father Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn.​

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[1] POD was nine months ago, the parents of OTL's Queen Victoria had a baby boy.​

Click to expand...

The news was probably treated as a positive sign but unlikely lead to the general relief of all as few would have expected this baby to become the King. The Duke and Duchess of Kent were not expected to deliver the heir.

The Duchess of Clarence had given birth to a daughter in March 1819, who sadly had died but she was just 28 years old and healthy and it had to be assumed that she would be the mother of the next monarch, after all she was married to a man with more than 10 illegitimate children, the fertility of the Clarences was not in question.

Little Prince Victor would be a great spare.

@Welshroyalhistory: Thank you for reminding me, I tweaked the prologue a bit.

@The Professor in OTL Victoria's christening had several representatives present, all of them arguing about what to name the baby. Her name 'Alexandrina Victoria' was a compromise between competing interests. The same rule applies here, and we'll find out what the Duke of Kent feels about all this soon.

--While the new little Prince of Kent does what newborn babies do (sleep, eat, poop, repeat), his father Prince Edward is noted to have been ‘quite peeved’ at the Christening. After all the Prince Regent himself [1] barged in and managed to make a muddle of the naming of his own firstborn son. While a minor faux pas, it was the first in a series of mistakes that the Prince Regent would make with his brothers.

--With the birth of a male heir to the throne (even if Prince Victor was just fifth in the line), Prince Edward felt confident enough to request that Parliament grant an increase in his personal income and to clear all his latest debts. A request that was initially denied, but eventually negotiated to a slight increase in his income and Parliament covering his debts.

--With his debts settled (for now), the Duke and Duchess of Kent resettled into Castle Hill Lodge, but were forced to live frugally. A number of staff members were let go, though an equerry named John Conroy[2] was able to secure a military commission elsewhere.

--Edward’s aide-de-camp, Sir Frederick Augustus Wetherall[3] found himself promoted to Comptroller of the Kent’s finances.

--In September the Kent’s learned that their sister-in-law, Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, the wife of the Duke of Clarence and St Andrews[4] had suffered another premature stillbirth.

--In December the Duchess of Kent reveals good news, she’s pregnant with her husband’s second child.[5]

--The good news from the Kent’s quickly washed away by the news that a long-expected death had finally occurred. In the early morning of January 29th, George III had passed away, the Duke of York at his bedside. He was 81 at the time of death.

--While the Kent’s quickly traveled to London to attend the funeral, a few royal watchers were becoming acutely aware of the Royal Succession. The new King George IV of the United Kingdom and Hanover[6] and his heir, Prince Frederick, the Duke of York were both estranged from their wives (and the two women were passed childbearing years), and the wife of the Duke of Clarence had (so far) only delivered stillbirths and one infant that died within a month. These watchers very quietly began to make plans…

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[1]The future George IV of the United Kingdom

[2]In OTL John Conroy stayed on in various roles and conspired to rule the UK through Victoria in a Regency. This plan failed miserably when William IV refused to die in Victoria’s minority.

[3]In OTL, Sir Wetherall wound up buying Castle Hill Lodge from the widowed Duchess of Kent to help her settle her debts.

[4]The future William IV of the United Kingdom

[5]The Duchess of Kent in OTL had born two children to a previous marriage, properly widowed prior to her second marriage. This will be her fourth child.

[6]The British Kings are also the Kings of Hanover, the Union is a Personal One.

--The Duke and Duchess of Kent were forced to stay in the dilapidated Kensington Palace due to spacing issues, causing no end of worry for the health of their infant son. However Prince Victor remained well, watched over closely by his governess, Johanna Clara Louise Lehzen[1]

--Being forced to wait on the preparations for the funeral in Kensington took a heavy toll on the Ducal couple, while Princess Victoria complained endlessly about the conditions, Prince Edward developed a cough.

--The State Funeral of King George III occurred on 16 February and he was buried in St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, in attendance among many notables were the Duke and Duchess of Kent who looked ‘a mite peaked’ according to one commentator.

--After the funeral the couple left London quickly, desperate to return home. However during the ride the Duke of Kent fell deathly ill. They rushed back to Castle Hill and a local doctor gave the Duke a diagnosis. Pneumonia.

--In London the news of Prince Edward’s illness had to compete with the fallout of the Cato Street Conspiracy, a plot to murder all British cabinet members, including Prime Minister Lord Liverpool[2].

--While the exact scope of the conspiracy would prove to never be known, or if it was a real conspiracy at all. The result was five executions and five others were exiled to Australia.

--3 March, the new King George IV was able to get away from London to visit his brother, Prince Edward at Castle Hill Lodge and discovered the extent of his brother’s illness. The formerly robust Duke had deteriorated very rapidly, having lost a tremendous amount of weight and was now bedridden, despite being treated by the best doctors he could afford[3] it was becoming obvious to all that Prince Edward was going to die. Tearfully the obese monarch promised his brother that he would support his family after he was gone.

--During this his wife was becoming obviously pregnant with their second child, and the Duke on his deathbed noted that “I might be dying, but no one can say that I didn’t do my duty to England.”

--In the remainder of March the Duke of Kent received several visitors and well-wishers, along with his other brothers and living relations who could make the trip.

--Early in the morning on 2 April 1820 the Duke of Kent was found by a servant to have died in the night of respiratory failure related to his pneumonia. He was 52 years old and left behind his wife, his son, his unborn child, and two step-children.

--A now six month’s pregnant Princess Victoria, Duchess of Kent had to lay to rest her second husband and father to two of her four children by those marriages. While the children from her first marriage[4] Prince Carl[5] and Princess Feodora[6] had been allowed to stay at Castle Hill Lodge during the funeral of George III due to a brief bout of flu, for this the children came with their mother and infant brother to Windsor Castle for it’s second Royal Funeral in less than a year.

--The Funeral of the Duke of Kent was a private affair, while mourned by his wife and step-children and extended family, as the Duke was interned in St. George’s with his father’s remains, a few wondered if this was a sign of things to come.

--After the Duke’s death, the King began to make good on his promise of taking care of his brother’s family. Especially since it was Princess Victoria’s son and unborn child who were currently the only children of George III’s many sons. While Princess Victoria began to consider moving back to her lands in Germany to live more cheaply, George IV asked her stay in the United Kingdom for the time being, in exchange he would cover the most pressing debts left by her husband, increase her allowance, and would give her lodgings in one of the several palaces he was planning on building.

--The Duchess of Kent accepted the offer, but turned down rooms in Kennsington Palace, as “That manse has lived passed any glory that it might have had, and now only represents the sorrow of my husband’s death.” She returned to Castle Hill Lodge with her children for the time being.

--Meanwhile the new King was still trying to find his way out of his marriage to Caroline of Brunswick[7], a woman whom he had grown to loath and hate. However by British law she was now Queen of the United Kingdom, in order to keep her away and avoid the scandals that might turn up in a divorce trial[8] Parliament increased her allowance to keep her abroad.

--Caroline had by this time left Italy and was in Calais, France and chose to reject the offer, deciding to return to England, leaving her lover Bartolomeo Pergami[9] behind.

--Much to George IV’s disgust his wife was very much popular amongst his people, mainly because he was so unpopular and anything he hated had to be good[10]. On 6 June 1820, a day after her arrival in London to cheering crowds, the King began to press ahead with his divorce plans.

--On 15 June he presented sealed evidence to Parliament of his wife’s affair with Pergami, and had to suppress a mutiny in the King’s Mews soon after. The government became very fearful of the unrest that was stirring.

--On 24 June, Caroline complained of strange chest pains to one of her servants during an early lunch, within a few hours she was violently convulsing and dead by sunset. Rumors spread like wildfire through London that Queen Caroline had been poisoned.

--25 June, the city of London was a tinderbox, the popular (or at least popularly received) Queen had died, the situation stunk of poison and murder and there was only one suspect on everyone’s minds. The unpopular, and outright hated King George IV. In the face of this the overweight King of the United Kingdom stayed in Windsor Castle and issued orders that Caroline be given a full autopsy to determine the cause of death. Parliament had the sealed bags containing the evidence against Caroline burned without opening any of it. The deceased Queen was being eulogized in the churches as a martyr and a “Queen of the People”.

--The hastily conducted autopsy reported that Caroline of Brunswick had died of a sudden stroke, however rumors and accusations of poison continued to haunt the situation like an unhappy ghost.

--Caroline’s mortal remains, embalmed after her autopsy were very quietly placed on a ship, destined for Hanover and to be shipped to Brunswick for a quick, secret funeral and internment in Brunswick Cathedral.

--On the third day after his wife’s death, George IV dared to quietly enter London and spoke to members of Parliament. Word of the King’s entrance into the city spread quickly and set off a series of violent riots thought the city[11], forcing the King to retreat back to Windsor Castle. Many in the crowds called King George “King Poison”, a sobriquet that would stick like a barnacle.

--In the aftermath of the riots, with the King’s quiet ascent, Parliament began to debate reform of the unpopular Corn Laws[12] in order to appease the Radicals and quiet the city.[13]

--Meanwhile at Castle Hill Lodge, isolated from the turmoil in London, the heavily pregnant Duchess of Kent kept her thoughts to herself. But in her diary noted her disbelief in the possibility that the King murdered his wife, and speculated that a Radical had done so in order to put the blame on the King and push through their agenda.

Establishment Shot: The City of London, 1820

In a small apothecary shop a middle aged man named JOHN is setting a crate down and lifts the lid, in it is several unwashed dark glass medicine bottles.

JOHN: Bess! Can you come in here for a moment?

A much older woman steps into the room, she seems to squint for a moment before speaking.

BESS: What is it sir?

John indicates to the bottles.

JOHN: I found these in the cellar, I need you to wash them before I can use them.

Bess squints at the crate, her face forms a frown.

BESS: What’s in them?

John shrugs.

JOHN: Probably some things one of my old apprentices mixed and forgot about it a while ago. But don’t worry, it’ll wash out just fine.


CUT TO: BESS ALONE

Bess is still in the room, but she has a bucket full of soapy water and is washing each bottle quickly. She sighs and then begins to talk to herself.

BESS: Just a few more weeks old girl, then there should be enough coin to get back to Ealing[2].

Bess smiles to herself, not looking as she inadvertently skips a bottle and grabs one she’s already washed.

BESS: Maybe the Kent’s would be willing to take me back on in the kitchens.

Bess then chuckles and keeps washing bottles, the camera pans to reveal that the unwashed bottle has a mysterious powder at the bottom…


CUT TO: JOHN AT THE COUNTER SOME DAYS LATER

A well-dressed courier enters the shops, John looks up and nods.

JOHN: You’re late.

The courier shrugs.

COURIER: I’m here to pick up Lady Wolfenbüttel’s[3] order.

John nods and collects a large package, from below the counter and sets it down.

JOHN: I have to admit that I appreciate your new mysterious Lady’s patronage, but maybe if I could meet her I could give her a more specific cure for what ails her.

The courier shrugs again.

COURIER: I wouldn’t be able to set up something like that good sir, I just do deliveries for coin. That’s all.

John grumbles at being thwarted at making even more coin but hands over the package, the courtier gives him a bag of money and departs.


CUT TO: CAROLINE OF BRUNSWICK’S APARTMENTS:

The sun is shining brightly through the bedroom windows as CAROLINE OF BRUNSWICK sits in front of a vanity mirror, a number of cosmetics and other bottles in front of while a servant finishes styling her hair.

Caroline suddenly winces and reaches for a dark glass bottle with a label on it, it reads JOHN’S LAUDANUM: A CURE FOR WHAT AILES YOU!

Caroline puts several drops into a glass of wine and downs it, she then motions for another glass and repeats the process.

Caroline then sits for a moment before smiling in relief.

SERVANT: Is everything alright Your Majesty?

CAROLINE: Yes, my stomach feels much better. But I must admit that I am getting a mite hungry.

The servant nods.

SERVANT: I’ll send word to the kitchens Ma’am.


Notes:

[1]Jane Robins is a real historian, though the OTL book has a different title and doesn’t involve Caroline being murdered and the conspiracy theories that followed.

[2]Ealing is the rural location of Castle Hill Lodge, in OTL modern London the area is now a suburb of the City of London.

[3]A lazy pseudonym for Caroline from her old full title. Princess Caroline, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Shiva said:

@Welshroyalhistory: Thank you for reminding me, I tweaked the prologue a bit.

@The Professor in OTL Victoria's christening had several representatives present, all of them arguing about what to name the baby. Her name 'Alexandrina Victoria' was a compromise between competing interests. The same rule applies here, and we'll find out what the Duke of Kent feels about all this soon.

Click to expand...

You're probably going to have to RE-tweak said prologue. I just checked, and the Duchess of Clarence's first child died the same day she was born. She DID have another child who survived initial childbirth and was ahead of the future Queen Victoria, but said child was not born until 1820 (and died 4 months later). So Victoria WAS the only surviving grandchild at the time of her birth...

To elaborate, on William (future King William IV) and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen's children:

* Princess Charlotte of Clarence. Born AND Died on March 27, 1819.
* Princess Elizabeth of Clarence. Born December 10, 1820. Died March 4, 1821.
* Twin sons, stillborn, in 1822.

Sorry about the trouble, but if you want to depict this timeline ACCURATELY (with the POD being Victoria born a male instead), you'll need to take this into account.

If Victoria was born male, she's not going to be named Victor, remember it's customary to name the daughter after the mother or other female senior member of the family, grandparents, and occasionally after male ones. But in this case, the baby is male, it's not English custom to name boys after women, so I would guess it's either Edward, George, William, Francis ( after Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld), or Ernest ( after Ernest I ).

I kind of assume such a boy would be called George

I'd expect Edward, to be perfectly honest, if we're going after parents. OTL Victoria's eldest son, grandson and great-grandson all had the combo Albert Edward in their names.

Caellach Tiger Eye said:

You're probably going to have to RE-tweak said prologue. I just checked, and the Duchess of Clarence's first child died the same day she was born. She DID have another child who survived initial childbirth and was ahead of the future Queen Victoria, but said child was not born until 1820 (and died 4 months later). So Victoria WAS the only surviving grandchild at the time of her birth...

To elaborate, on William (future King William IV) and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen's children:

* Princess Charlotte of Clarence. Born AND Died on March 27, 1819.
* Princess Elizabeth of Clarence. Born December 10, 1820. Died March 4, 1821.
* Twin sons, stillborn, in 1822.

Sorry about the trouble, but if you want to depict this timeline ACCURATELY (with the POD being Victoria born a male instead), you'll need to take this into account.

Click to expand...

I would do some editing, but the edit button's vanished.

Caellach Tiger Eye said:

You're probably going to have to RE-tweak said prologue. I just checked, and the Duchess of Clarence's first child died the same day she was born. She DID have another child who survived initial childbirth and was ahead of the future Queen Victoria, but said child was not born until 1820 (and died 4 months later). So Victoria WAS the only surviving grandchild at the time of her birth...

To elaborate, on William (future King William IV) and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen's children:

* Princess Charlotte of Clarence. Born AND Died on March 27, 1819.
* Princess Elizabeth of Clarence. Born December 10, 1820. Died March 4, 1821.
* Twin sons, stillborn, in 1822.

Sorry about the trouble, but if you want to depict this timeline ACCURATELY (with the POD being Victoria born a male instead), you'll need to take this into account.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately this is not correct.

HRH The Duchess of Cambridge had given birth to a son, Prince George on 26 March 1819, two months before HRH The Duchess of Kent had given birth to the future Queen Victoria.

Three days after the infant Princess Victoria's birth, HRH The Duchess of Cumberland gave birth to a son, another George, the future George V of Hanover.

In the space of three months there had been four births to the wives of the sons of George III, three of which resulted in healthy living children.

Of course, these births were viewed as safety babies.

It was expected that HRH The Duchess of Clarence would be the mother of the future monarch and within a year of Queen Victoria's birth in 1819, the Duchess of Clarence had conceived again and was expecting a baby who would supplant the little princess of Kent in the succession.

Great premise! I hope you are not abandoning this!

Now, I apologize for bringing up this again, and possibly annoy + anger you....But I must insist:

The name "Victor" just does not cut it! You cited your reasons as "conflicting interests", sure, that would certainly be plausible if the name were Francis, or Ernest, or Leopold (his maternal male relatives), or even Otto, as some sort of distant Welf acknowledgement.
However, honouring the mother with the first name just defies common practice! Never mind Napoleon Eugene, he's still "Napoleon". If it was Edward Victor Alexander, sure, perfectly plausible, but honestly, unless for some reason a certain "Victor" was overwhelmingly important to both sides of the family, or, his birthday happens to fall upon some obscure "St. Victor's feast day", I see no reason why the name Victor would be used (other than your personal preference)

Okay, if any of the above comments have offended you in any sort of way, I'm sorry, I don't want to be patronizing or insulting or anything, I just want to provide a possibly good and passionate argument to the name issue, because as far as I'm concerned, names are extremely important among nobility, so it's a stickler for me, I'm sure you don't want to see a King Newton or King Mitch of Great Britain would you?