Um, there are 37 distinct subdivisions on that map, and 37 stars on that flag.
The Scandalous Lives of American Royalty
- Thread starter Prince di Corsica
- Start date
Yet another TL in which Michigan is denied the full extent of it's natural territory. 
I am pleasantly shocked someone knew that Arkansas Territory extended a bit west of its current border till an OTL receding. Otherwise, that's one big Megakota, though in TTL it makes sense since there's so much less of the Great American Desert and the bit of OTL Montana west of the Rockies in Waldemar.
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I've been wondering about this.
I'd think they'd keep those territories but they'd have a large anglophone population who would include descendants of slave-holding republicans. I'd imagine they'd be like Quebec: always threatening to break away, and getting close on a couple of occasions, but never actually doing it.
Empress Charlotte is truly one of the greats, and her life story is just amazing. In fact, now that I think about it, the women of the American Royal Family have been more often than not quite extraordinary, and I plan to keep it that way.
Interesting question, especially since there would be more of a support for the "republican" aspect of the South from European intellectual circles. However, consider that in OTL Marx was a very adamant writer rejecting the "States' Rights" justification and putting slavery front and center for the goals of the Civil War, I could see him doing much of the same here. I could also imagine an argument of "the Northern workers, armed for the war and now returning with the emancipatory spirit, will certainly turn on their bosses and princes", but then again I'm not sure how much that kind of rhetoric would be used back them, in comparison with the twentieth century, when it would just be commonplace among Marxist circles.
Ok so this is an important catch, and certainly it is a question I struggled to answer, the future of Oklahoma (which wouldn't be called Oklahoma either). So when I was researching a proper name, I read through the wiki page on Sequoyah the man himself and found it interesting that his particular group of Cherokee had started to move west in the 1810s, which led me to read about how, despite the Trail of Tears as a dramatic conclusion happening under Jackson, the truth was that it was just the climax of a decades-long affair that, in many ways, was greater than any one man and impossible to prevent as long as a United States were to exist (that is, impossible to prevent in this TL either). So, given that, I thought I could at the same time have Native Americans continue having a presence more to the East and, to the West, having a better deal as well. Especially because I really do like the idea of a Native American State. Is it a case of wanting to have my cake and eating it? Perhaps. But I found it a good workaround.
Sequoyah is the last State to be admitted to the Union, and its politics are quite different from the rest of the country, being more focused on the land question, between defenders of dividing the tribal lands in individual plots versus maintaining communal lands. I may dedicate an essay to that, not sure yet. But in general Native Americans get more political intervention in the TL, which is always nice.
I promise we will get to talk more about Mexico soon, and that I have plans for the country, at least one essay for after the biographies. What I can guarantee is that it will maintain its territorial integrity, because I do enjoy a big Mexico. But that doesn't mean that poor Mexico still isn't too far from God and too close to the United States.
As pointed out, there are already 37 states on the map, and those will be the way they will be for the rest of the timeline. This is as much as the US will be expanding, I'm afraid.
Ahah I even stole most of the Upper Peninsula from Michigan, so this is a certifiable Michigan-screw TL.Yet another TL in which Michigan is denied the full extent of it's natural territory.
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Yes, I found that border change in Arkansas and decided to keep it just because I liked the look. Glad it was noticed and gladder still it as a pleasant surprise.
Guess the question is how Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guam, and the Philippines would develop ITTL.
Max came a bit later, as in 1821 the candidates were mostly Bourbons of Italy and Spain. Also it greatly depends on how the war of Independence went
Well if they have more competent military leadership (keyword; no Santa Anna) and a more stable government (almost a given here considering Mexico would be a monarchy) Mexico would automatically be rather powerful.
Hawai will innevitably become a British protectorate unless the Americans take it for themselves, and sooner or later Russian America will also fall into the hands of Britain - the Russians sold it to America to prevent this happening IOTL.
I suspect the rest probably stay Spanish with a less imperialistic USA (and isn't that ironic, that an American Empire is less interested in Empire building).
I doubt Britain will care enough to establish a protectorate over Hawaii, when they didn't IOTL. Of course, the Americans played a big part in this, but Mexico/Spain will have a much greater presence in the Pacific to counteract that.
It's possible that Hawaii might become formally neutralised, but have its economy dominated by European interests.
This is actually an interesting thing that I might as well discuss here and see what people think.
Alaska - will stay part of Russia. It's an idea I don't see often explored and I might dedicate an essay to it afterwards, but it seems interesting in itself. I know people say "the UK would just take it in the next war" but it's not like Russia and the UK went to war over that time period, and even with the Revolution the UK ended up being somewhat conciliatory with the nascent USSR in terms of territory returns, so I could see it remaining.
Hawaii - although I don't have everything clear in my head right now, my idea is the US being a strong power in Hawaii, and it being in the American sphere, maybe even in an American version of the Commonwealth, but retaining its own monarchy, since I find it a curious thing. I might develop this idea a bit more, but this is the gist of that right now.
Cuba - will be rather prominent in the reign of Charlotte's successor, but I'll live it at that
Guam - good question... Can anyone tell me how plausible German Guam or something is? I'm unsure of what to do here
Philippines - another case of pondering what to do, but with a weaker American imperialism in the Pacific (lacking California) I could see it become independent much earlier, but not sure in what form. Suggestions are quite welcome
... and since nobody has commented and I think I forgot to mention...
Liberia - an independent nation in personal union with the United States, with Charlotte being the first American Empress to acknowledge her title as Queen of Liberia
But yeah all of these (except maybe Cuba where I have things pretty figured out) is still open to changes, so everyone can give ideas, I'll take everything into account
I mean, if Spain has recently been utterly destroyed in a war, or is otherwise suffering from severe economic issues, it might be open to selling off a few islands.
Well, as a Filipino, I could see an ATL version of the 1896 Revolution ending in a Tagalog Republic (the Katipuneros preferred to call their state as such) being forged by Filipino revolutionaries.
Octavia FitzAugustus
Octavia FitzAugustus
(1814-1878)
(1814-1878)
The youngest daughter of Prince Augustus and his long-time mistress, Maria Matilda Bingham, Octavia had the privilege of, unlike her brothers, being too young to remember her parents before they departed to Europe, one after the other, abandoning their children to the care of their great-grandfather in Philadelphia.
It was in the city of brotherly love that young Octavia would be raised, not remembering anything of the house she had been born in New York City, at least not until she was seven years old, when their guardian died and her parents returned from Europe, his father now a widower rather than a lifelong bachelor and their mother a divorcée herself, and called on their children to help fulfill the illegitimate family that had grown from their love.
Although those two people were as much strangers to her as they were to her brothers, or perhaps even more so, as she didn’t even hold the faintest memory of the two before their return, it was easier to Octavia to adapt to this family dynamic, possibly because she did not remember their abandonment. Her relationship with her parents quickly warmed up, even with her mother, with whom her brothers were never quite close.
Unlike her brothers, Octavia did not have West Point as a means to escape her condition and start a career for herself. In fact, nothing of that sort was expected of her, and instead her father would promise her quite often that he would arrange for her a proper marriage. Just how enthused young Octavia might have been with that, especially as she saw her brothers go to West Point and start having ambitions of their own, is hard to say. Nevertheless, the fact that no career was expected of her did not mean that her education was not attended to carefully. Her great-grandfather had certainly given her a rigorous education and her father saw to it that it continued under his tenure. Octavia was known to be a good pupil and generally a bright girl.
Octavia distinguished herself from the rest of her family by being quite the social butterfly, much preferring life in the city than the pleasures they took in their country retreat in the Catskills. As a young woman, she felt the call of society especially badly and the ostracism that her family was put through due to their condition was a heavy weight on her heart as soon as she became conscious of it. Even when she was invited to balls thrown around the city (which would usually only happen during the winter, when the Radziwiłł clan was not dwelling in their summer palace and the FitzAugustus were the closest thing status-starved New Yorker society had at their hands), she found herself somewhat marginalized by those who did not wish to offend Princess Louise, whose distaste for her family was quite well-known.
Perhaps it was this craving for attention from society, of any kind really, that first led Octavia to fall victim to charming young men. Now, just how truthful the tales are is impossible to ever be known with any certainty, of course, but it is said it all started on February 6, 1829, when Mrs. Schermerhorn, one of the most prominent, wealthy and well-connected of New York’s families, gave a fancy dress ball at their home in Greenwich Street, which all of high society attended, including Octavia, of course. It was during that night that the non-princess first became acquainted and, according to most, first slept with, Augustus Van Courtlandt Schermerhorn, the eldest son of the hosts of the ball and a prominent young man, two years her senior.
Whatever did happen at that party (and the most wicked of tongues will claim Augustus was not the only one to share her bed that evening, but rather a host of other young men), that the two would become lovers is more than well-established, as is, in fact, that during their relationship, both kept other dalliances, quite open among each other, a public secret among New York society and, hopefully, outside of the reach of their own parents.
Despite its scandalous nature, Octavia seemed to appreciate this newfound popularity and, as in the following years the grasp that Princess Louise had over New York social life diminished, she became an ever more prominent figure in the events of the city’s high class, even if many accused her of being little more than the city’s most renowned courtesan.
Regardless of how prolific their other affairs might have been, the relationship between Octavia and her dear Augustus Von Courtland seems to have been that much stronger, and at least this was proved when, in 1836, the young man came to her father and asked for her hand in marriage. He was certainly a good young man from a good family, and his daughter, upon questioning, seemed to be quite taken with him. But the answer was still no. The death of Hadrian had made the Prince quite aware of the low regard his children were held by their kin, and he wanted to make sure that, if not full royalty, his family retain a degree of prestige of their aristocratic roots. And this meant, specifically, a need for his only daughter to marry a noble rather than a commoner.
This refusal caused scandal among the New Yorker elite, and if anything served to further turn their family into pariahs, as they were seen as thinking themselves to be too good to mingle with the rest of society. And it was especially scandalous because everyone was quite aware of the shame the girl had placed on herself with her dalliances and, in the minds of many, it was she who was too good for the Schermerhorn boy (his own dalliances being, of course, cast aside in such conversations of worth and purity).
Perhaps it was because the two of them, having carried out an elopement themselves when they were around her age, knew how to prevent one from being carried out by their own daughter, and perhaps it was because, in the heat of tensions between society and the FitzAugustus clan, they became aware of the depraved lifestyle their daughter had carried, but whatever the case, it is know Octavia would be locked inside her rooms for much of the following months by her parents, who hoped to have her forget the idea of marrying the boy and avoid further scandals on her part. Again, just how strict this home arrest was is up to debate, but it is understood and understandable that Octavia was quite upset with it.
Her father decided that it was time a husband be found for her, a proper husband, and as luck turned out, Prince Alexander was preparing to embark on his own Great Tour of Europe, and so Prince Augustus took advantage of the warming of relations between the two branches of the family to see his daughter placed as part of his entourage, accompanied by a maid who had strict orders to escort Octavia to the estates of several British aristocrats, friends of the Prince, whom he knew had sons of proper age and looking towards marriage.
Octavia was not particularly thrilled at abandoning all she knew, and abandoning her dear Augustus, to go across the ocean, even if the idea of being paraded around to be courted by various men to serve as their wife did not completely displease her, nor did the idea of going to London, a city that put even New York to shame and where her name and her reputation hadn’t still caught up with her. And so she agreed, releasing herself from her homebound captivity.
And indeed she came to enjoy London and the attention she was given at its social events, that far outshined New York. Her father was fondly remembered there, her mother less so, but the girl was treated with great dignity by the friends of her father, especially those in the running to become attached through her to the family. There are a lot of vile rumors about Octavia having been as indiscreet during this time in London as she had been back in New York, but this is highly unlikely, as her maid seems to have been quite strict in imposing surveillance over her activities, her father not wanting to face the same debacle from across the ocean.
Ultimately, two suitors in particular seem to have captured the attention of Octavia, and both of them were, in a detail the press could not avoid noticing, ironically fit in rank for her. The two men being Frederick and Adolphus FitzClarence, the natural sons of King William IV and his long-time mistress, Dorothea Jordan. During their father’s reign, the two of them had been granted good positions in the Army and Navy, respectively, and granted honors fit of their dubious rank, such as the right to be called “Lord”. Both were also quite older than her, fifteen and twelve years her senior, in fact.
Both were reasonable choices in the eyes of her father, and so Octavia was, for the first time, liberty to choose a suitor of her own, as long as it was between one of those two. She chose Frederick, for reasons unclear, but it seems she agreed more with him in feeling more pride at being royal, while Adolphus himself seemed to feel more shame at being a bastard. The two are said to have been happily married, although it is, as one could not but expect, claimed that they both indulged in extramarital affairs, with Octavia being accused, again predictably, of having one with her own rejected brother-in-law. All of this is highly dubious, however, and the two seem to have been loyal to one another throughout their marriage.
During her early married years, now Lady Octavia had a quite decent position in the bosom of London society and was said to have been close to the new Queen, Victoria, upon her ascension to the throne. This golden period, however, would slip away when rumors started spreading in London high society, possibly released by a vindictive foe of the very active Lady, of the ill reputation she held in her native New York, and of the excesses of her youth.
It was, of course, mortifying, to both her and her husband, to have her reputation besmirched by what were little more than malicious rumors from across the sea and from years back. Once again, she was becoming ostracized by high society, and in the early Victorian climate of London, all the more so than she had suffered in New York City, especially as, being the wife of a royal bastard, she was simultaneously seen as more suspect and closer to the Royal Family than most. It is well-known that Victoria was appalled at the discovery, writing extensively about that in her diary and never truly forgiving Lady Octavia for the offence she saw against her honor.
As luck would have it, her husband would be appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth, and the couple would relocate there, away from the worst of the London gossip. A growing city in the face of the Industrial Revolution, and a great naval port for the Royal Navy, Portsmouth was booming with some energy and vitality that London, in many ways, could not match, and they were more than thrilled at having a princely presence of their own, even if a bastard one. In many ways, an industrial city, born out of shipbuilding and inhabited not by elder burgher and guild families, but by rough industrial workers, just recently expropriated from the peasantry, was the bastard child of England, and so they could relate to their fellow bastards.
And if Portsmouth was not far enough to relieve her of her shame, only five years later her husband was awarded yet another posting that would, certainly, cover any distance necessary, as Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army, all the way in India.
It wasn’t expected for Lady Octavia to follow her husband to the distant shores of the Empire, but for her, no other course of action was possible. Her husband was one of the few allies she possessed in that life, and she had become disenchanted with the British court. Now India, and the stories that emanated from there, seemed far more exciting.
And exciting it was. Bombay was already at that time, a city where two worlds, so alien among each other, had collided and created something new and queer. On those tropical lands covered with palm coconuts, fisherfolk and farmers still lived as they had always had, and yet where the signs of British architecture and British domination already started to sprout defiant, their very much European lines and designs breaking away from everything that was native and natural in the place and impressing Britishness upon it.
If the good people of Portsmouth had been exciting at having them in their city, then the people of Bombay were ecstatic at the thought of having a Prince and Princess (not quite, but close enough) attending their court, how meek it and yet how ambitious it was. And even among the natives there was quite a lot of interest into seeing what a son of a King of England looked like, with imaginations roaming wild in the face of such a distant and thereby god-like sovereign.
Lady Octavia lived happily as a princess in her Bombay court, cultivating a thriving court made up of the Eurasian daughters of prominent officers, the occasional Indian daughter of an allied prince and the rare British wife come to look after her husband. It was a strange assortment, and the European culture was rather poor, while the Indian culture was at times too different for them to fully appreciate, but even so, Lady Octavia seemed to enjoy being a sovereign in all but name in a land where nobody knew or judged her for what she had done in her youth, for whom New York City meant very little indeed.
But good times were never meant to last and so, in 1854, not even two years into his posting, her husband died, leaving her a widow and without a position, either in India or in Britain.
After remaining in Bombay for a while to consider her options, with some claiming those included accepting the proposal by an Indian prince to marry and join his harem, but that seems far-fetched, Lady Octavia decided to depart India, passing first by England to properly bury her husband, where it is claimed she had to again refuse a marriage offer, this time from her brother-in-law, Lord Adolphus FitzClarence, one of the suitors from her youth, and heading back home next, to New York City, and visit the only man she had left as family.
As it was, Trajan and Octavia just missed each other, their ships presumably crossing paths along the Atlantic, as when the now venerable Lady arrived at New York City, the general had just been sent as an observer to the Crimean War raging across Europe. She was well-received, however, by the few but notable friends her brother possessed in the city, such as General Winfield Scott, who hosted her during her stay. The return of a long-forgotten daughter was celebrated with much cheer in the city, who was delighted at hearing of her times in London, Portsmouth and Bombay and had seemingly forgotten, or at least did not seem inclined to remember or dig up, the infamous moments of her youth.
In any case, as Lady Octavia found out upon returning to the city, her once-upon-a-time young lover, had died in 1846 as a 34-year-old widower, a painful reminder of how each of them had lived a life apart, and leaving forever unanswered the question if he had thought of her throughout that long period.
Realizing she had no real family and no real friends in the city she had been born in, Lady Octavia would ultimately decide to return to England. She would divide her time between the court at London, where the years had faded her once infamous reputation and where Queen Victoria now relied on her once again as an older woman connected to the family, and a country house in Yorkshire, where she came to finally appreciate the quietude of nature her parents had enjoyed so much in the Catskills.
Her brother’s death in 1863 made her the last living member of her family, and she shared her grief with that of the Queen, who by then was grieving the loss of both her mother and her husband, Prince Albert. Lady Octavia served, during this time, as a friend and a trusted advisor for the Queen during her periods of greatest grief, helping to manage her personal pain with her queenly duties to the best of her ability. During the premiership of her half (possible full) brother, she was also an important link between the Crown and the Government, giving her all the more power.
Lady Octavia served in this role until 1878, when she herself passed away, the last child of Prince Augustus of America, and yet another person Queen Victoria would have to mourn during her long life. She was remembered fondly in the Queen’s journals through the rest of the monarch’s life, even if, in her home country, her memory barely did register, after so many decades away.
She lived a full life, full of love and adventure, but also sorrow and scandal. And perhaps that’s how she would enjoy being remembered.
mickeymouse
Donor
I’m not gonna lie, I got a little misty-eyed at the end there... What a spectacular chapter.
classyjackie
Banned
Interesting to know that IRL Louise and Antoni Radziwiłł have direct descendants who are American citizens today.
Since Prince di Corsica is ignoring the butterflies for fun and centering this in the US, I'd venture we could have this possible scenario:
- Agustin de Iturbide still gets crowned as Agustin I and is succeeded by Agustin Prince Imperial (who had an amazing career in OTL after his father was deposed and was educated in Britain) as Agustin II.
- As in OTL Agustin II dies childless and he is succeeded by his brother Angel. And again, as in OTL, Angel could serve as Secretary to the United States and end up marrying the American Alice Green.
- Angel has a short reign - he died 6 years after his brother in OTL - and would be succeeded by his son with Alice Green, Prince Agustin de Iturbide y Green, who in OTL was adopted by Maximilian I to serve as his heir.
- And the line could be kept roughly the same from there, with Agustin III being succeeded by his niece Maria Josefa.
I like this path that Mexico could take! Though I imagine that Angel would choose a more common regnal name upon becoming Emperor of Mexico, perhaps Jose?