King George V
Part One, Chapter Nineteen: The Parting
The New Year was ushered in at Windsor Castle with a small and intimate gathering of the closest members of the British Royal Family. The Duke of Clarence was now confined to a wheelchair and it was deemed inappropriate for him to be seen in public in such a state of poor health. Yet the Duke was in good spirits that evening as his family gathered in St George’s Hall. Those present were impressed as he seemed to rally somewhat and even the ever practical Duchess of Clarence allowed herself a moment of hope believing that her husband might yet defy the odds and recover his strength. But the Royal Medical Household was prepared to take no risks with their charge however bright he may have seemed in recent days and when news came that there was a serious influenza outbreak in the capital, the entire Royal Family changed their plans and remained at Windsor Castle well beyond the festive season. Whilst this was inconvenient for some, the Duke of Clarence privately relished the opportunity to spend as much time as he could uninterrupted with his beloved niece, Princess Victoria.
With her 18th birthday fast approaching, negotiations for Victoria’s marriage to the Prince of Orange had been concluded. It had taken almost a year to agree a marriage contract with two sticking points that required compromise. The first was where the marriage itself should take place. Given that travelling to Holland was out of the question for the Duke of Clarence, he was insistent that his niece should be married at the Chapel Royal of St James’ Palace so that he could attend. The Dutch quite reasonably felt that their future Queen consort should be married in The Hague. However, precedent was on the Duke’s side and like her parents in 1818, Victoria would have two marriage ceremonies; the first would be held on Victoria’s 18th birthday at the Chapel Royal. The second would take place at The Hague on the 10th June. A second quibble was raised over how Victoria would be styled as the wife of Prince William of the Netherlands. Historically the Prince of Orange was styled
His Highness and though the Prince was already styled
His Royal Highness, the British wanted confirmation that the same would extend to his wife when the time came with no demotion or inequality in her rank. This assurance was given and negotiations moved on to the sordid topic of coin.
The young Victoria.
The British were expected to provide a dowry which would include an annuity for Victoria’s lifetime. Some in the Cabinet felt the Dutch were trying to wriggle out of their own obligation to provide an annuity for the Princess and talks stalled as the two Ambassadors charged with the finer details of the marriage contract had to convince both parties to commit to the same sum. Eventually both the British and the Dutch agreed on a personal allowance of £8,000 a year (or 20,000 guilders) [1]. But far from being penny pinchers, the Dutch were actually hugely generous in providing a further lump sum of 60,000 guilders to the newlyweds for the purpose of renovating the Kneuterdijk Palace in The Hague. Kneuterdijk had been given to the Prince of Orange as an official residence but had not been refurbished for some time. It was expected and encouraged that Victoria would wish to make the residence her own and despite the huge cost, very few objected. With the marriage contract finally settled, preparations for Victoria’s wedding at St James’ began in earnest.
The Duchess of Clarence took the role of the mother of the bride, overseeing everything from the floral displays to the design of the wedding dress. Victoria did not wish to follow the fashion of the day and wear silver or even gold and instead settled on a cream-coloured satin gown that would be heavily embellished with deep flounces of lace. But amidst the talk of which dinner service should be used at the wedding banquet [2] and where to source the freshest orange blossoms for the bride’s hair, there was one issue which could only be decided by the Cabinet; what to do about Uncle Leopold. Whilst King Leopold of the Belgians had a perfect right to be invited to his niece’s wedding, and whilst the British people remained fond of him, the British had yet to officially recognise the Kingdom of Belgium. The Dutch had even more reason to oppose such recognition and the prospect of King Leopold marching into The Hague with all the honours afforded to a foreign sovereign was unthinkable given that the Dutch still maintained that Belgium was their territory and not an independent and sovereign nation. The Dutch Royal Couple would not attend the wedding in England but there was to be a significant Dutch deputation present and thus, King Leopold had to go without an invitation. Indeed, no Coburg relations were to be invited to either ceremony.
This grieved Princess Victoria who had always been fond of her Uncle Leopold but she accepted the diplomatic situation meant there would have to be sacrifices. The Duke of Clarence felt it mean spirited of the Dutch not to overlook King Leopold’s attendance at St James’ though he too accepted the advice of the Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston. Whilst King Leopold would have been a front runner to lead Victoria down the aisle in the absence of her father, the Princess now had to decide whom to award the honour to. Naturally her first choice was the Duke of Clarence but he graciously deferred; “All eyes must be on the bride and not her lame old uncle”. Victoria therefore asked her cousin, King George, to lead her to the altar. Princess Charlotte Louise and the two Cambridge Princesses were to serve as bridesmaids. The Prince of Orange would be supported by his brothers Prince Alexander and Prince Henry whilst King William’s brother Prince Frederick was to attend in an official capacity as chaperone to the Princess Victoria and charged with the important task of “returning Her Royal Highness to the Kingdom of the Netherlands”.
Lady Sophia de L'Isle and Dudley.
Just as everything seemed settled, there came news in April which threatened to throw the entire event into chaos with a possible postponement. The Duke of Clarence’s eldest and favourite daughter, Lady Sophia de L’Isle and Dudley was expecting a baby and as the Duke waited for news of the arrival of a new grandchild, tragedy struck. Lady Sophia died during the birth at the age of 40. Clarence was thrown into uncontrollable grief and for at least two weeks, he barely ate or slept. He was too ill to attend his daughter’s funeral and was represented instead by his estranged son, the Earl of Munster. A note of sympathy from Munster had given the ailing Clarence hope of a reconciliation between father and son but it was not to be. To make matters even worse, Clarence had to face the loss of his daughter alone. Another possible postponement was considered when the Duchess of Clarence had to rush to Meiningen to be at her dying mother’s bedside, only to fall gravely ill herself. Fortunately, the Duchess recovered and was able to return to her husband in England in time for the wedding but weighed down with worries, Clarence’s fragile health seemed likely to give out at any moment.
For Princess Victoria, the preparations for her new life in the Netherlands had proven a happy distraction. Whilst the modern reader may well ask “Did she love her future husband?”, this was not a priority for those who arranged her marriage. A mutual respect or close friendship was the foundation of most royal marriages of the day and if love followed, all well and good. Victoria did not know her future husband particularly well and the focus had been not on promoting closer bonds between them but instead on ensuring that she was well prepared for her future role as Princess of Orange. Yet many years later, Victoria’s daughter, Princess Victoria Paulina wrote, “Mama never spoke of love until Papa died. As with so many marriages of the period, they married almost as strangers, but I believe they truly parted as friends. Certainly, she spoke very fondly of her wedding day”. Victoria’s new uncle-in-law spoke less fondly of the event. Frederick was appalled to find himself given a shabby suite of rooms to occupy at St James’ for the duration of his stay and wrote that he wished he had found his own lodgings in a hotel rather than be cramped into a leaky and cold St James’ with the increasingly eccentric Princess Sophia as a neighbour.
The wedding festivities might well have been pared down a little given the Duchess of Clarence’s illness. She still needed rest, but both the ailing Duke and his sickly wife were absolutely determined to do the best by their niece, who had become as close to them as a daughter over the many years she had lived in their charge. There were to be two banquets, one held to celebrate Victoria’s 18th birthday on the evening before her wedding and one held after the wedding ceremony itself. But whilst the former would be a grand affair with peers and politicians crammed into the Buckingham Palace ballroom, the latter was a far more intimate family affair. Far from a celebratory atmosphere, this banquet would be the final farewell to the Princess and even Princess Augusta temporarily suspended her rule never to find herself in the company of her sister-in-law Queen Louise so that she could say goodbye to her niece. Even so, she stayed for only an hour before returning to Windsor, leaving St James’ Palace well before the bride and groom.
Victoria’s 18th birthday banquet (held the evening before she actually turned 18) was reported to have been the finest held at the Palace since George IV’s renovation of the property, supposedly to impress upon the Dutch delegation the style to which the Princess was accustomed. In reality, the Duke and Duchess of Clarence wanted to give Victoria the very best of everything before they saw her depart for the Netherlands. The Duke was prone to public displays of emotion and he could not hide his heartbreak at the impending parting. When Princess Victoria entered the ballroom dressed in a silver satin gown (and wearing the impressive Mandi Parure for the first time), the Duke burst into a flood of tears and had to be supported by the Duchess of Clarence as he stood to give his farewell address. “You have been to us as a daughter”, he choked through the emotion, “And we hope that we have been to you as dear and as loving as your beloved father would have wished us to be. As we gather to mark this new chapter in what we all pray will be a long and happy life in your new home, know that your old home will be forever tinged with longing for you dearest Drina, leaving us as you do with so many treasured memories”.
William, Prince of Orange.
Princess Victoria’s cousin, King George V, then gave his own speech. He praised Victoria’s beauty, charm and generosity and in a speech written for him by the Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, George spoke of “a new era of close friendship between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom forged in the happy union between the Prince of Orange and our dearest cousin Victoria”. The sadness then gave way to festivity. There were galops and polkas after a sumptuous dinner and champagne was served to the guests who finally departed the palace at 2am to a flurry of fireworks set off from St James’ Park. Princess Victoria returned to Clarence House with her aunt and uncle ahead of her wedding ceremony but before she went to bed, she had a few moments alone with the Duke. In her diary, Victoria wrote; “Dear Uncle William held my hand and promised me that all would be well. And then he presented me with a beautiful gift of a diamond bracelet which had belonged to Grandmama (Queen Charlotte). We sat for a while together and then I kissed his cheek and went to my bedroom. I could hear the poor dear old man crying long into the early hours”.
At around 1pm on the 24th of May 1837, Mary Bettans arrived at Clarence House with the Princess’ wedding gown. Bettans had long provided gowns to the ladies of the British court but especially for the Princess. She had made the mourning clothes for Victoria upon the death of her father in 1820 and was Victoria’s first choice to provide her trousseau from Bettan’s establishment at 84 Jermyn Street in London. Victoria’s wedding dress was made from cream-coloured satin woven in Spitalfields and was trimmed with deep flounces of Honiton lace. Handmade lace motifs were appliqued onto cotton machine made net and in her hair, Victoria wore orange flower blossoms affixing a veil designed by William Dyce, head of the Government School of Design (which later became the Royal College of Art). She also wore a tiara loaned to her by her future mother-in-law, Princess Anna, comprised of large pear-shaped pearls set on a diamond band. Victoria teamed this with her engagements presents; a diamond riviere and matching earrings from her parents-in-law and a diamond and pearl stomacher from King George.
The British Royal Family was amply represented except for the Dowager Queen Louise who feigned a headache to be excused. The Cambridges stepped in to ensure Duchess Luise did not miss out on the celebrations and though initially reluctant, Queen Louise allowed her niece to make the short trip from Marlborough House to St James’ where the young lady was given charge over the Cambridge’s youngest daughter, Princess Mary Adelaide. She managed to keep the little princess quiet throughout the entire ceremony and earned praise from her aunt Augusta for managing the feat. At the reception given at Clarence House afterwards, the King too was forthcoming with compliments for his cousin and though his heart still pined for another cousin Louise, the Duchess of Clarence noted that; “Georgie spent far more time with Luise than he usually does, indeed, he was very gay in her company”. Ironically, it seemed far easier to the couple to communicate without the dour Dowager Queen breathing down their necks and Major Smith commented; “if only the Queen would leave the King to his own business he could not fail to be impressed by the Duchess”.
William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury.
The wedding ceremony itself was “simple and elegant” with the couple being married according to the Anglican rite by the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Howley. Howley raised eyebrows by referring to the Princess during the exchange of vows as Princess Victoria and not as Princess Alexandrina Victoria, her actual name. There was amusement too when Prince George of Cambridge sneezed at the very moment the Archbishop asked for objections to the marriage. Following the ceremony, the guests were treated to a second banquet but this was a far more intimate affair with those invited restricted to close family and friends of the couple. Then the moment the Duke of Clarence had been dreading arrived.
A carriage drew into the courtyard ready to take Victoria and William to Harwich where they would board the HMS Royal George and sail to the Hook of Holland. The Duke was determined to wave his niece off on his feet and to the applause of his family, he struggled to lift himself out of his wheelchair, aided by Major ‘Honest Billy’ Smith. The Duke made his way towards his niece, his cheeks wet with tears and his voice trembling with emotion. Victoria kissed her aunt and uncle goodbye and with that, the Clarences watched their adoptive daughter leave England forever. The roar of the crowd rang in the Duke’s ears as he slumped back into his wheelchair. King George patted his uncle on the back affectionately as the Duke mopped his eyes with a handkerchief.
It has long been said by more sentimental historians that the Duke of Clarence willed himself to live long enough to see his niece married but by the time Victoria left for the Netherlands, the Duke was an extremely sick man. Two days after the wedding of Princess Victoria and the Prince of Orange, the Duke collapsed and was confined to his bed for the last time. Lord Melbourne was informed that the Duke had just weeks to live. A steady stream of relatives made their way to Clarence House each day to visit him and whilst the Duchess hoped her husband might rally, by the 1st of June 1837, it was clear to everybody that the end was near. Princess Augusta and Sophia visited their brother each day and the Cambridges did likewise until on the 19th of June, the entire family were summoned to Clarence House for the Duke’s final hours. The Duchess had not slept properly in ten days but as exhausted as she was, Adelaide sat by her husband’s beside holding his hand as he slipped in and out of consciousness. He died in the early hours of the morning of the 20th June 1837. He was 71 years old. [3]
The final portrait ever painted of the Duke of Clarence by Sir David Wilkie.
The Duke of Clarence’s death was expected but nonetheless caused a huge outpouring of grief across the United Kingdom. Although they were never particularly good friends, Lord Melbourne paid a glowing tribute to Clarence calling him; “the finest example of a devoted and loyal servant to his King and country”. Even more radical politicians had to accept that Clarence had carried out his duties as King’s Regent with an unwavering enthusiasm and dedication and as plans for the Duke’s funeral were put into action, the Royal Family moved from London to Windsor where the funeral service was to be held. In the Netherlands, the Princess of Orange received the news of her uncle’s death two days later. She burst into tears and cried out; “Poor dear Uncle William!”. The strength of her grief shocked her Dutch in-laws and even though the Dutch King arranged for a memorial service at the Hague for the Duke of Clarence, Victoria was adamant she must return to England immediately. This was out of the question so soon after her marriage and Victoria, ever prone to temper tantrums, gave significant cause for concern during her first few months at the Kneuterdijk Palace.
For King George, the Duke of Clarence had been a constant support and was without question his favourite uncle. Having never known his father in any real way, George had clung to Clarence closely during his youth and there was a genuine love between the two. It was therefore to be expected that despite the Duke of Clarence’s request for a small funeral, the King insisted that he be given every honour possible with a state funeral scheduled for the 8th of July 1837. The King led the procession that day followed by the male members of the Royal Family, peers, privy counsellors and members of the judiciary. The Dead March from Saul was played as the Duke’s coffin was borne through the streets of Windsor draped with his royal standard and as a nod to his naval career, his Admiral’s tricorn, his sword and his Garter collar were placed on a velvet cushion on top of the casket. As was traditional, the funeral took place at sunset with the Brigade of Guards lining the route with burning torches. Minute guns were fired from 4am for the next seventeen hours until the Duke’s coffin was taken down to the Royal Vault of St George’s Chapel, Windsor where it would be laid to rest.
The Duke of Clarence’s funeral was notable for being the first whereby the ladies of the Royal Family did not have to sit hidden from view. Though they wore long black crepe veils to hide their faces, the King asked that the ladies of his family be allowed to sit in the Quire stalls so that he could personally sit beside the Duchess of Clarence to comfort her. As the Duke’s coffin was lowered into the vault, the King led his aunt to the aisle where the Duchess curtsied and the King bowed his head. George then escorted his weeping aunt to the State Apartments where for three hours the poor widow had to receive deputations formed of Ambassadors and Members of Parliament so that they could express their condolences in person. Seated on a dais, she was supported by the sisters of the late Duke and the Cambridges. Notable by her absence was the Dowager Queen Louise. Though she attended the funeral, she returned to Royal Lodge immediately afterwards. There was no wreath from the Dowager Queen, neither did she write to her sister-in-law Adelaide expressing sympathy. For Louise, the Duke’s death evoked no emotion, rather she saw it as an opportunity. Clarence was dead. Cambridge was now the King’s Regent and with a year of regency left, Louise regarded her brother-in-law’s death as just one more obstacle she had overcome in her grand plan.
Adelaide, Dowager Duchess of Clarence, 1837.
Court mourning for the Duke of Clarence was set to last for 12 weeks and as a result the King’s engagements were cancelled as a sign of respect. This meant he did not attend the grand opening of Euston Station, London’s first mainline railway terminus, as planned. This was a relief for George who impressed everybody with his kindness and consideration towards his grieving aunt. According to the Duke’s will, Clarence House was to remain the home of the Dowager Duchess of Clarence for her lifetime but after that, it was to return to the Crown Estate. But Adelaide had no desire to return to Clarence House alone. Instead, she withdrew to Bushy House at Hampton Court. Her earlier illness had left her weakened and her husband’s death had left her in a precarious state. On her doctor’s advice, Adelaide rested at Bushy Park until plans could be made for her to travel abroad for a time where the improved climate was deemed beneficial to her health. Every step of the way, the young King reassured his aunt that she would want for nothing and that everything she needed would be placed at her disposal without delay.
For the Duke of Cambridge, his brother’s death meant that he was now King’s Regent and as such, was confirmed in the position at St James’ by the Lords Commissioners. As he always intended and as had been previously agreed with the Prime Minister, the Duke of Sussex was named his deputy. But before Cambridge could begin his work, he first had to act as the executor of his brother’s estate. The vast bulk of Clarence’s private fortune was bequeathed to his niece, the Princess of Orange, but there was generous provision for his widow too. For his many illegitimate children, there were lump sums ranging from £1,000 to £5,000. The Earl of Munster was furious at what he considered a paltry inheritance and even threatened to challenge the will in the House of Lords. He had to be placated by a generous offer from the Duke of Cambridge with a private agreement providing Munster with £5,000 a year for his lifetime to be paid by the Crown.
As he endeavoured to settle his late brother’s affairs, Cambridge had the perfect excuse to avoid meeting with his sister-in-law. The Dowager Queen was not surprised that Sussex had been named deputy regent but fortunately for Cambridge, she blamed Melbourne and the late Duke of Clarence for “tying the knots tight to deny me what is rightfully mine and which my brother-in-law would have welcomed”. This was untrue of course; the Duke of Cambridge shared the view that the Dowager Queen should be left out of any official regency matters and had gone to great lengths to keep her as far away from court as possible by sending her on a fact-finding mission to provide a new royal residence for the British Royal Family. But he could not avoid her forever and finally, he relented and met Louise at Buckingham Palace. Surprisingly, Louise did not mention the regency or the appointment of the Duke of Sussex as deputy. Rather, she was keen to see another matter settled.
In a letter written to the Duke of Cambridge before their meeting, Louise wrote, “Our niece cannot remain in England indefinitely and whilst I accept that there is to be no concession to my position as would be expected in regard to His Majesty’s regency, I cannot forget that my late husband the King insisted of his brothers that they respect my right as the King’s mother to arrange the marriages of our children. I have not pressed this matter in recent weeks but I feel now we cannot allow the situation to continue without a clear indication of your support for my preferences in this and to settle the case once and for all”.
For the Duke of Cambridge, there was no objection to Duchess Luise as a wife for the King. “She is a young lady of many qualities and I have no doubt that she would make a fine Queen”, he wrote to his brother the Duke of Sussex, “But I agree with the sentiments of our dearly missed brother William that the King cannot be forced into marriage, neither do I intend to insist as regent that he accepts a bride he does not find agreeable. Furthermore, I see no cause for urgency in this matter and whilst I agree that that the young lady should not stay in England indefinitely and clarity on her position would be a kindness to her, there is nothing before me which would prompt me to demand the matter be settled as the Queen wishes”.
The Dowager Queen Louise.
The time for negotiation was over as far as the Dowager Queen was concerned. If the King would not offer marriage to the Duchess voluntarily, she would insist and arrange the marriage herself without his approval. Cambridge would simply have to agree and if he did not, she would make it known that he was defying the will of his late brother King George IV who had, in her view, given her full permission to arrange the marriages of her children regardless of what anyone else might think. The emboldened Louise set a deadline. She had made arrangements to visit Kent for two weeks as guests of the Meade-Waldo family at Stonewall. She was considering two properties (still convinced the Cambridge offer that she find a new royal residence for the family was genuine) in the county and accompanied by Duchess Luise and Baroness Pallenberg, she was to seek them out and assess their suitability.
The first under consideration was a country house near Westerham in Kent. Chartwell was a 14th century estate with significant acreage and a substantial brick-built manor. First put up for auction in September 1836 at Cheapside as “a suitable abode for a genteel family”, Queen Louise had heard that the house would need substantial renovations but had its charms. The second property she had in mind was Hever Castle, best known as the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Hever had been purchased by the Meade-Waldo family in the late 18th century, but they had preferred their secondary estate at Stonewall leasing Hever to private tenants. They were not averse to selling the castle for the right price and possibly seeing an opportunity to improve their dwindling finances, they offered to host the Queen as she made her inspections of both Chartwell and Hever. By the time she returned to London, the Queen expected a decision to have been made regarding the King’s marriage one way or another. “Even if a betrothal with a period of delay before marriage is the only outcome”, she wrote, “I must demand this now or I should be failing in my duty as a mother”.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had mixed feelings about the situation. On the one hand, Duchess Luise was closely related to the Royal Family and was well-liked for her bright disposition. She had shown remarkable tact and generosity during her time in England and had settled into life with the British Royal Family with great ease. The King clearly liked Luise and enjoyed being in her company and he could do far worse. But on the other hand, the King was only 17 years old and whilst there was something to be said for securing a marriage as early as possible for him [4], both the Duke and Duchess knew that the only reason the Queen wished the King to marry immediately was to protect her own standing at court in the future when the King reached the age of majority and could effectively freeze her out of the royal inner circle.
Cambridge sought to avoid an ultimatum. He believed that if the King was forced, he would either submit and resent his new bride as his late brother the Prince Regent had done or he would rebel and seek an unsuitable match like the Duke of Sussex. George was therefore invited to dinner at Cambridge House on the 18th of August 1837, ostensibly to discuss his forthcoming higher examinations ahead of his posting to the Royal Military College in Berkshire. Try as he might, the Duke of Cambridge could not steer the conversation in the right direction. Ultimately, it was the Duchess who raised the issue of her niece’s future in England. The King was not naïve. He knew that his mother had spent the best part of a year trying to force the King’s interest in Luise and he knew that she was keen for him to marry as soon as possible. For his part, the King liked Louise. He found her to be beautiful and charming, he admired her resilience and he admitted that he had enjoyed getting to know her better as time had progressed. But he did not see the reason for rushing into marriage, especially given that he would have little time when he reached the age of majority to focus on family matters.
The Duke of Cambridge.
“I’m afraid your mother insists that you indicate a preference”, Augusta lamented, “If nothing else because it is unfair to keep poor Luise here when she might return home to her parents”. The young King could see that to be true though he remained unmoved. He simply wasn’t ready to decide. The Cambridges tried to reason with him that, sooner or later, he must marry, and he might not find another prospective bride who pleased him as much as Luise. But their encouragement would only go so far.
“I will not force you”, Cambridge ruled, “You must take time and you must make the decision you deem to be right for you both. Your mother demands an answer by next week, but I shall insist you be given more time if you promise me that you shall think on the matter most carefully?”
The King was grateful to his uncle and agreed. . This was taken as a promising sign by the Duchess of Cambridge. Writing to her sister at Hever Castle, Augusta wrote; “He has not dismissed Luise entirely and if he really did not wish to marry her, or indeed, anybody at this time, he would simply have expressed that. That he did not is encouraging but I do urge you dearest sister not to press him too tightly on this. We both feel that this is too important a decision to be made in haste and I believe his time at the college will give dear Georgie the time he needs to come to terms with his future and what he must do for the best. Please believe me when I say to you that we acted in no way to provide obstacles or barriers and that we only encouraged His Majesty to think on the matter for a little while longer which I am sure you will appreciate is the best approach”.
The following morning, the Dowager Queen stepped into a carriage bound for London, leaving Hever three days early. She would return to London without delay, telling a nervous Baroness Pallenberg as their journey began; “The time for indulging the boy is long past. I shall settle this in my favour before the week is out”.
[1] I’ve used historical money calculators for this exchange rate but I know they can be unreliable so apologies in advance. The actual sums mentioned were based on those paid to Princess Victoria, the Princess Royal in the OTL when she married the Crown Prince of Prussia.
[2] Royal weddings still took place in the late afternoon at this time rather than in the morning or just after noon.
[3] In the OTL, William IV died at Windsor Castle. Here he dies at Clarence House.
[4] Again, these things were often considered much earlier in the OTL. Brides for the future Edward VII were being considered and their families openly approached with a view to negotiating a marriage contract from the time he turned 13.