Working Progress
Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (24/5/1819–22/1/1862) [2] m. 1840, Albert, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (26/8/1819–14/12/1861)
1) Victoria, Princess Royal (21/11/1840-5/8/1901) m. 1858, Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia, later, Frederick III, German Emperor and King of Prussia (1831–1888)
1) Crown Prince Wilhelm, later, Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia (27/1/1859-4/6/1941)
2) Charlotte of Prussia (24/7/1860-1 October 1919)
3) Prince Henry of Prussia (14/8/1862-20/4/1929) m. 1888, Irene Louise of Hesse and by Rhine (11/7/1866-11/11/1953)
4) Prince Sigismund of Prussia (15/9/1864-13/2/1936)
5) Princess Viktoria of Prussia (12/4/1866-13/11/1929) m.
6) Prince Waldemar of Prussia (10/2/1868-27/3/1879)
7) Princess Sophia of Prussia (14/6/1870-13/1/1932)
8) Princess Margaret of Prussia (22/4/1872-22/1/1954)
2) Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (9/11/1841-8/1/1861) [1]
3) Princess Alice (25/4/1843-14/12/1878) m. 1862, Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine (12/9/1837–13/3/1892) [3]
1) Victoria Alberta of Hesse and by Rhine (5/4/1863-24/9/1950) m. 1884
2) Elisabeth Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (1 November 1864 18 July 1918) m. 1884,
3) Irene Louise of Hesse and by Rhine (11/7/1866-11/11/1953) m. 1888, Prince Henry of Prussia (14/8/1862–20/4/1929)
4) Ernest Louis, later 25 November 1868 9 October 1937 Succeeded as Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine,
5) Friedrich William of Hesse and by Rhine (7 October 1870 29 May 1873 6) 6) Alix Viktoria of Hesse and by Rhine, later, Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia (6/6/1872-19/2/1963) m. 1894, Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia (18/5/1868– 17/7/1918)
7) Marie Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (24/5/1874-16/11/1878)
4) Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, later, Alfred I, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, later, Emperor of the British Empire [4] (6/8/1844-31/7/1900) m. [*] 1863, Princess Dagmar of Denmark (26/11/1847–13/10/1928) [5]
1) Stillborn son (16/4/1864)
2) Princess Victoria Louise (25/3/1865-
3) Alfred Albert Christian, Prince of Wales later, Alfred II, Emperor of the British Empire and King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (11/5/1866-31/3/1927) m. Princess Viktoria of Prussia (12/4/1866-13/11/1929)
4) Prince Albert Christian Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (17/12/1867-16/5/19) m. Victoria of Teck (26/5/1867–24/3/1953)
5) Prince Edward Ernest, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (22/10/1868-
6) Prince Christian Augustus, Duke of (4/7/1869-
7) Prince George Edward, Duke of Clarence and Connaught (9/5/1871-9/8/1934)
8) Princess Charlotte Mary (6/4/1875-20/4/1960)
9) Prince William Arthur Duke of (4/12/1878-19)
10) Princess Sophia Dagmar (22/9/1880-12/12/1955)
11) Princess Alexandria Victoria (13/6/1882-24/11/1960)
5) Princess Helena (25/5/1846-9/6/1923) m. 1865, William, Prince of Orange (4/9/1840–11 June 1879) [6]
1) Princess Sophia (21/5/1866-4/7/1934)
2) William IV, King of the Netherlands (14/4/1867-2/9/1921)
3) Prince Albert (28/2/1869-27/4/1931)
4) Princess Victoria (3/5/1870-13/3/1948)
5) Princess Mary (12/8/1872-8/12/1956) 6) Prince Frederick (12/5/1876-20/5/1876)
7) Stillborn son (7/5/1877)
6) Princess Louise (18/3/1848-3/12/1939) m. 1870, Prince William of Württemberg, later, William II King of Württemberg (25/2/1848–2/10/1921) [7]
1) Prince Ulrich of Württemberg (20/6/1872-3/8/1875)
2) Prince Albrecht, later, Albrecht I, King of Württemberg (23/4/1873-30/8/1941)
3) Princess Pauline of Württemberg (19/12/1874–7/5/1962)
7) Prince Arthur, Duke of Sussex later, Wilhelm I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, later, Wilhelm I, King of Saxony [8] (1/5/1850-16/12/1942) m. a) 1866, Princess Marie of Hanover (2/12/1849-4/6/1904) m. b) 1910,
8) Prince Leopold, Duke of Kirk and Kerry, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (7/4/1853-28/3/1884) m. 1878, Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia (25/7/1860–14/3/1917)
9) Princess Beatrice (14/4/1857-26/10/1944) m. Crown Prince Frederick of Baden, later Frederick II, Grand Duke of Baden (9/7/1857–9/8/1928)
[1] During his early adulthood, Albert gained a reputation as a playboy, it is believed that he also contracted syphilis during this time.
In 1859, Albert began showing the tertiary effects of syphilis while his body began to waste away and over the next year and few months, his health declined more until his death in January 1861, which was recorded as pneumonia. His death hit his parents deeply.
[2] As in OTL, Victoria's mother, the Dowager Duchess of Kent, died in March 1861, Prince Albert, becomes ill in November and dies in December 1861 (I don’t believe that his death was caused by him visiting Edward in Cambridge as he was already suffering from the symptoms of typhoid fever.) Victoria would believe that Albert had died of a broken heart, losing his eldest son and his aunt (Victoria’s mother).
Queen Victoria was inconsolable, wearing mourning clothes for the rest of her remaining days, having Albert’s clothes and food laid out daily in his absence. There were rumours that the Queen was suffering the same mental health problem as her grandfather, George III.
Victoria’s own physical health began to deteriorate following these two emotional and traumatic deaths, leading to a surge of stress hormones, which contributed put to her heart failure a few weeks after.
They were firstly both buried in St George's Chapel; however following the completion of the more private Mausoleum in Frogmoew as had been discussed by Queen Victoria and her husband. both having long intended to construct a special resting place for them both, instead of the two of them being buried in one of the traditional resting places of British Royalty.
[3] Alice and Louis had an arranged marriage orchestrated by the bride's father Albert, Prince Consort, the couple did have a brief period of courtship before betrothal and wed willingly, on 1 July 1862, even after the death of her brother, Albert, Prince of Wales, her father Albert, Prince Consort and her mother, Queen Victoria would cast a pall over the nuptials.
On the day of the wedding, the King Alfred issued a royal warrant granting his new brother-in-law the style of Royal Highness in the United Kingdom. The King also subsequently made Prince Louis a knight of the Order of the Garter as well as creating him Earl of Holderness, a title that had been held at one time by Prince Rupert of the Rhine. There were rumours that Alfred wished to create his brother in law, a duke, but parliament didn’t like the idea of another foreign having a seat in the House of Lords (King of Hanover still held title, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale)
[4] Alfred unprepared would become the first of his name following the death of his elder brother and mother. He was eight months shy of his 18th birthday, Liberal Prime Minister, Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston and his majority government, supporting the king serving without regent.
[*] Potential brides:
- Alexandrine of Prussia, daughter of Albert of Prussia and Marianne of Orange-Nassau.
- Princess Alexandra of Denmark, daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and his wife, Louise of Hesse-Kassel
- Princess Frederica of Hanover, oldest daughter of George V of Hanover and his wife, Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, through her father she was great-granddaughter of King George III. Frederica fell in love with Alfons, Baron von Pawel-Rammingen, the son of a government official of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Alfons had served as an equerry to Frederica's father.
- Princess Marie of Hanover, the youngest daughter of George V of Hanover and his wife, Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, through her father she was great-granddaughter of King George III. She was seen as too young as the British government wanted their king married and with heirs as soon as possible to stabilise the succession, Prime Minister, Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston had lived through the constitutional crises such as Charlotte, Princess of Wales’s death.
- Princess Anna of Hesse and by Rhine, only daughter of Prince Karl of Hesse and by Rhine, and his wife, Princess Elisabeth of Prussia. However his elder sister was opposed to the match, as she believed Anna had a "disturbing twitch" and was not suitable to be his wife
- Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, daughter of daughter of Karl Anton von Hohenzollern, final Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen before the territory was annexed by Prussia in 1849 and Prime Minister of Prussia from 1858 to 1862 and his wife, Josephine of Baden, though she was considered "quite lovely" by his siblings, especially his older sister Victoria, Marie’s Roman Catholic religion barred her from being a suitable consort for the head of the Anglican church.
[5] Like her sister, Princess Dagmar of Denmark, daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and his wife, Louise of Hesse-Kassel, was a potential bride and caught the attention of Alfred when she visited Britain for the Queen’s funeral.
[8] The two duchies’s constitution ruled, in all cases, personal unions with foreign crowns are prohibited, and any duke who accedes to a foreign throne is presumed to have renounced the Gotha crown that ineligible under Saxe-Coburg-Gotha house law to succeed to the duchy due to his status as the heir apparent to an existing throne.
Alfred had been the heir apparent to his uncle following the death of his father, however as he was heir to the British throne, he would denounce his claim for his younger brother, Arthur, which was lucky for as his mother died and his succession to the throne would have caused a constitutional crisis.
At 11 years old, Arthur would become heir to his uncle’s duchy and as such was given the royal title, Duke of Sussex, as Alfred found it funny the two titles next to each other Sussex and Saxe. At a young aged he had developed an interest in the army, so decided he wanted to train in Europe.
During the wedding ceremony, of his brother, King Alfred and Princess Dagmar on 25th August 1863, Arthur was charged with keeping an eye on his four year old nephew, Wilhelm of Prussia who was also dressed in a
Highland costume, but instead of a real on, he was given a small toy
dirk. It’s also key to point out that at this point, with the death of his grandmother and uncle, along with Arthur, denouncing his claim for British Throne, Wilhelm was third in line behind his other uncle, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and his own mother.
During the ceremony, Wilhelm became restless, when Arthur told him to be quiet, Wilhelm drew his dirk and went to threatened Arthur, but had it slapped out of his hand, stating that a soldier never pulls his weapon on an ally and a Prince should know how to act, especially one who will one day become king.
Wilhelm is said to have been so impressed, he would go on to ask his mother if “uncle Arty could come back with them.”
Wilhelm’s mother and Arthur’s older sister, Victoria offered to have him stay with her and her family in Prussia.
When he arrived, he began using his middle name, Wilhelm to Germanize himself.
On his 16th birthday, 1 May 1866, Arthur would leave Berlin and travel to Hannover. Firstly to marry his 16 year old, third cousin, Princess Marie of Hanover on 11th May (whom had been engaged to since his visit in 1863, and secondly to discuss with her father, George V, the need to avoid allying with Austria, as war was coming and he didn’t want his Hanovian side of the family to be on the wrong side, having heard of the plans from Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
In attendance were Wilhelm I of Prussia, Crown Prince Frederick and Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia, with their children, Prince Wilhelm, Princess Charlotte, Prince Henry, Prince Sigismund and new born, Princess Viktoria.
There had been no invitation to Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, President of the German Confederation.
When Austro-Prussian war broke out on 14th June, Austria was hoping for Hanovian support but would not find it.
The war was over within seven weeks (giving it the parody name of Seven Years War).
The German confederation was dissolved and Franz Joseph lost the title of President.
Prussia declared themselves, Emperor of German and as compensation, the kings who fought for Prussia were able to keep their titles and land.
One of the major changes in the war were the deaths in battle of Crown Prince Albert of Saxony and his brother George, who served under him. Following the news of his two sons dying, 55 year old, King John of Saxony would die himself of a heartache.
His successor, should have been John’s one year old, grandson, Frederick Augustus. However for his families defeat, Wilhelm I of German, declared that the royal house of Wettin would be demoted to Duke of Saxe-Dresden, while his daughter-in-laws brother, who helped to gain support for the war, was rewarded with the Kingdom of Saxony, with the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha agreed that although it was a foreign throne, the kingdom was linked historically and culturally with them so allowed the union with the compromise being that the Duchy would still have a voice in ruling the two lands.