The first thing on the agenda for the young King was to find an appropriate bride. In order to ease the path for Albionaisse and Floridian expansion into the west further, his mother, the Dowager Queen of Albion and Sovereign Princess of Florida, and Aunt Ana Victoria, Queen of New France proposed a match between King Charles and his cousin, Victoria, Madame Royale of New France. Victoria, with her Spanish and French heritage and inheritance was an attractive prospect for Augustine and the pair were quickly married in 1825, with their first child following the next year - Prince Louis Charles, Crown Prince of Albion, Duke of Pensacola, Comte de St Pierre et Miquelon. Whilst Victoria could not inherit the crown of New France, there was a possibility, however small, of her becoming the Sovereign Princess of Florida and thus Crown Prince Louis stood in the line for two crowns. However, whilst Charles had abdicated his own claim to Florida, Ana Victoria had not, and therefore Louis still had legal claim to Florida - even if that was eighth and last in line and as unlikely as snowfall in hell.
It was agreed that the question would be placed to the side, and reconsidered in the event that Louis' succession became a likely possibility. To try and prevent this, a match was sought for Gabriel, Hereditary Prince of Florida, but with no other French princesses avaliable, Princess Maria Carlotta looked towards other New European nations including the small Grand Duchy of Rhode Island. Rhode Island had, until recently, avoided all dynastic marriages, the House of Wettin preferring to marry into local gentry who could provide reasonable dowry and political support.
The elderly Grand Duke Gabriel had only recently succeeded his even elderly father, Grand Duke Albert. Gabriel in turn had a granddaughter via his son, Hereditary Grand Duke Albert. As the Electoral Grand Duchy of Rhode Island and Providence practiced agnatic primogeniture, like New France, and was supposedly an electoral nobility anyway, the marriage between Gabriella of Rhode Island and Heteditary Prince Gabriel of Florida was deemed to be a safe option.
Subsequently, given their places in the line of succession, attention turned to his cousin, Sofia, who although not even ten when he became King, was briefly second and eventually third in line to the throne.
An Old European match was considered with Sofia, with one of the many Princes of Bavaria popular for the King, his uncle and his aunt. Otto of Bavaria was settled as the ideal candidate, and a promise of betrothed was set for when both turned 18. Otto was only a handful of months older than Sofia, which was a benefit.
The marriage was therefore planned for 1834. In the meantime, Prince Nicholas and Princess Catherine, the First Son and First Daughter of Hudsonia, were at the right age to marry, being roughly the same age as King Charles himself. This match proved more difficult to find with the other New European nations involved in the governance of Hudsonia insisting on some sort of veto - their spouses must not come from New Europe, nor must they be in a position to inherit or be influenced by the holders of the thrones any of the major powers of Europe. Vladimir reluctantly cast his invitations out to Earls and minor Dukes, even a handful of Barons, with some of the Italian candidates proving popular.
In the end, Antoine of Lombardy-Venetia, was married to Catherine whilst Nicholas' match ended up as Josephine of the Two Sicilies, one of the thirteen children of the King of Two Sicilies. By the end of 1830, Nicholas and Catherine had provided three heirs between them, and the westward expansion of New Europe continued.
By Christmas 1835, Sofia and Otto were themselves married and Sofia was pregnant. The British Commonwealth rolled onwards under Edward VII with Prince Henry as heir apparent, Louis Joseph of France having been succeeded by his son, Louis Henri, and then his grandson Louis Antoine as King of France in syzerainty to the House of Norfolk. William of Hanover-Brunswick had been succeeded by son, grandson and then great grandson so that the youthful Johann of Hanover-Brunswick now ruled from the Herrenhausen Palace and sought a marital match with Princess Mary of Wales.
It was a match that was agreed. Johann clearly had aspirations to claim Britain back for the House of Hanover, but they were futile and it was known that such actions were hopeless. At least, the Great houses of Old Europe considered, the Commonwealth had expanded no further in the time since "King Bernard" had been crowned.
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Line of Succession in Albion
c. 1830
01 - Crown Prince Louis, Duke of Pensacola, Comte de St Pierre et Miquelon
02 - Prince James Washington-Stuart
03 - Princess Sofia Washington-Stuart
04 - Margaret Ivanovna, Princess Royal of Albion, First Lady of Hudsonia
05 - Prince Nicholas Vladimirovich
06 - Vladimir Nickolaevich
07 - Josephine Nikolaevich
08 - Princess Catherine Vladimirovna
09 - Antoine II of Lombardy-Venetia
10 - Ludwig of Baden-Durlach, Stateholder of New England
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Though there had been slow developments with the construction of railways in New Europe for a few years, 1829 marked a significant jump forward when Scottish born inventor, Robert Stephenson, designed and built a test engine he was to call The Thunderbolt. This design revolutionised rail travel - and King Charles, still a young man was fascinated by the development. As his predecessors had several decades earlier, Charles funnels money into the Stephenson Engineering group with the idea that a simple passenger track could be laid between Niagara and New Modena. The track was laid under a decade later and following the death of his cousin, Princess Sophie in childbirth with her second child (who did not survive), it was named the Princess Sophie Railway.
Stephensons Thunderbolt at a museum in New Modena, c. 2018
Prince Otto, now a single father, barely into his twenties, was present at the opening. Otto knew that his daughter may inherit the crown, and with the likelihood of any brothers moving her downward in the line of succession, he determined to give her the best education that he could in preparation for a possibility that might never come.
Except in 1838, that possibility became an inevitability with the death of the twelve year old Prince Louis of pneumonia. This was the second time a Crown Prince named Louis had died, the name was said to be cursed and it would not be used again within the monarchy of the Federal Kingdom of Albion.
Only her grandfather currently stood between the two year old Princess and the King in the line of succession which caused a power struggle between Otto and the King with both believing they had the right to raise the Princess. This development had not gone unnoticed by Gabriel of Florida-Molina, now Sovereign Prince following the death of the Dowager Queen of Albion and Sovereign Princess of Florida, who by now had his own ten year old child, Gabriel, Hereditary Prince of Florida.
The deaths of Prince Louis and Princess Sofia would have ramifications for New Europe that the country could not know quite yet.
The battle between Otto and Charles for control of Sofia's upbringing would continue over the next several years, with Charles even taking the situation before the government with regards to the Regency Act. In the event that both he and Prince James died ahead of Sofia reaching majority, it was determined that Otto would become Regent for his daughter but that Charles and James would hold guardianship until she reached majority.
At least the King agreed to continue the education that Otto had been putting into place for Sofia, in preparation for her succession.
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Line of Succession in Albion
c. 1840
01 - Prince James Washington-Stuart
02 - Sofia of Bavaria
03 - Margaret Ivanovna, Princess Royal of Albion, First Lady of Hudsonia
04 - Prince Nicholas Vladimirovich
05 - Vladimir Nickolaevich
06 - Josephine Nikolaevich
07 - Princess Catherine Vladimirovna
08 - Antoine II of Lombardy-Venetia
09 - Clementina of Lombardy-Venetia
10 - Ludwig of Baden-Durlach, Stateholder of New England
**
1843 saw the death of the 61 year old Prince James. Sofia was now heir apparent and Charles bestowed upon Otto the title of Comte de St Pierre et Miquelon, usually reserved for the Crown Prince, given that the title Princess Royal was still held by the First Lady of Hudsonia, this allowed Sofia to be known as Sofia of St Pierre et Miquelon at court (as per convention, as the Great granddaughter of a monarch, she was not entitled to use the style of Princess) rather than Sofia of Bavaria. This made her position in the succession much clearer.
An engraving of the FKS Munificent
At roughly the same point, the Federal Kingdom of Albion welcomed it's first iron hulled warship, the FKS (Federal Kingdom Ship) Munificent, captained by Richard Collinson. A limited amount of tension erupted in New Europe at this development, especially after the opening of the Princess Sofia Railway less than ten years earlier. But this merely spurred the other countries to pursue the same development - the world's first true arms race.
In 1845, Grand Duke Vladimir Ivanovich died, aged 80 and the nations of New Europe were forced to put aside their differences and select a new Governor to oversee Hudsonia. This time, however, Hudsonia had been relatively independent for almost thirty years and were not fully supportive of the imposition of a leader on them. Riots occurred at the territorial capital and the nations were forced to agree on a compromise candidate of Prince Nicholas Vladimirovich, who had been proposed by the self rule activists during the riots.
This would be the last time that the other nations of New Europe would try to impose their will in selecting a leader of Hudsonia. Each had seen what could happen were a people forced into a corner, and therefore, Nicholas allowed the establishment of the Hudsonian Senate to oversee internal matters under his guidance.
Shortly after, news reached New Europe of the death of Edward VII, King of the British, replaced by Henry IX. Relations however, remained diplomatic with Henry continuing his policy of focusing his attention on Old Europe. Edward's death was the last major death of a monarch of King Charles' reign.
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Line of Succession in Albion
c. 1850
01 - Sofia of St Pierre et Miquelon (14)
02 - Margaret Ivanovna, Princess Royal of Albion, First Mother of Hudsonia (71)
03 - Prince Nicholas Vladimirovich, Governor of Hudsonia (47)
04 - Vladimir Nickolaevich (23)
05 - Francis Vladimirovich (2)
06 - Josephine Nikolaevich (21)
07 - Princess Catherine Vladimirovna (42)
08 - Antoine II of Lombardy-Venetia (21)
09 - Antoine III of Lombardy-Venetia (1)
10 - Clementina of Lombardy-Venetia (18)
* - Ages at birthdays in 1850 in brackets
**
When Charles died in 1850, historians would comment that for much of his life, he had been a bit player in another man's tale. Except that man had been a young girl, Sofia of St Pierre et Miquelon, now Sofia I of Albion, the first Queen Regnant the Federal Kingdom had seen.
Sofia I, Queen Regnant of the Federal Kingdom of Albion, c. 1850
