Chapter 14
Portrait of The Duke and Duchess of Kendal at Claremont, believed to be painted by Princess Feodore of Leiningen
In January of 1825, Claremont is host to a bevy of royal visitors: Princess Feodore of Leiningen, her brother the Prince of Leiningen, Duke Alexander of Wurttemberg [1], and Prince Maximilian Karl of Thurn und Taxis [2]. Also in London for the winter and invited to come visit Claremont [3] fairly often are the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale with their son. The latter is really a bit of a shock, given their reputations both at home and abroad [4], but Charlotte is deciding to let bygones be bygones and give her aunt and uncle a chance. Ernest and Charlotte never quite see eye to eye on politics, or truthfully much else, but he appreciates the effort made by his niece and does his best to be a good guest and a good uncle to her; famous for his cavalry skills, Ernest becomes one of Charlotte’s preferred riding companions. Frederica, the Duchess, is 18 years older than her niece - who is conveniently the same age as Frederica’s oldest daughter. While she’s got her own vices and sins, being unkind has never been one of them, and Frederica does her best to take Charlotte under her wing and becomes very maternal to her. Charlotte appreciates the kindness of her aunt and uncle, even though she takes it with a grain of salt and realizes that at least part of it comes from wanting to butter their bread for her eventual reign. Still, she likes Frederica and her visiting daughter, Princess Auguste of Solms-Braunfels [5], and George of Kendal enjoys playing with George of Cumberland. She can see giving them the Viceroyalty of Ireland or something similar; a nice high title with little power attached to it. Leopold’s feelings toward Ernest come somewhere above hatred while his feelings toward Frederica land somewhere around lukewarm: he doesn’t mind having some extra allies in the British royal family and beyond, given Frederica’s other children scattered about Germany.
Prince Frederick of Kendal delivers his first word on the last day of January, something that will come to be considered a defining moment of his personality: “No”. [6]
In later generations, Charlotte will be remembered amongst royal biographers as “The Matchmaker of Europe”, particularly for her somewhat out-of-the-box matches between family members. A prime example of this is her plot to marry her niece, Feodore of Leiningen, to her cousin, Prince Maximilian Karl of Thurn und Taxis. Now, Max is an interesting case amongst the royal families of Europe in that he is equally too royal to marry someone who isn’t royal and not royal enough to marry a really up-there royal. Through his mother, Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, he is a nephew of the Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale and, through marriage, the King of Prussia; he is also a second cousin once removed to Charlotte through Duke Karl Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. So maternally, he’s got the goods, bloodline-wise. It’s his paternal ancestry that’s a bit less purple - while being technically Princes, they don’t actually rule over anything except a lot of money and the post office of the Austrian Empire. His sister Maria Theresia’s husband, Prince Paul Anthony Esterházy of Galántha, is the current Austrian ambassador to the United Kingdom, so this trip is a nice family reunion for Max. Feodore -despite being a niece to the future Queen and King (consort) of the United Kingdom- is low enough on the royal food chain to nicely qualify for Max. Leopold is particularly on board with the scheme, as the Thurn und Taxis family is one of the richest in Europe and could help work some impressive influence in Austria in combination with Leopold’s sister-in-law, Maria Antonia (one of the other richest people in Europe), should the need arise. Feodore, happy at the idea of being out from her mother’s sphere of influence and tantrums, helps the cause nicely by falling in love with Max rather quickly. Max, charmed by Feodore and knowing that the niece of the future Queen of England is about as high as he can aim, proposes almost as quickly.
There’s another reason Max proposes almost as quickly as he learns Feodore’s name: he may have a competitor on the rise, and it’s not one that he can beat. As February begins, it is announced in London that the wife of the King (calling her ‘Queen’ is just a political mire at this point, since she’s married to the King but was not crowned and isn’t technically claimed by him) is ill in Italy, where she has been languishing in bad health for some time. On February 5th, George IV receives a letter from his ‘most interesting’ erstwhile sister-in-law, the Dowager Duchess of Kent. She has heard of his... well, of Caroline’s indisposition, and she’s writing to offer her concern and condolences. Rumors quickly arise that there’s more to Victoire’s letter: she’s already got a new Queen in mind for him, whenever he’s done with grieving. There will be a theory in later generations that Victoire first offered herself as the new Queen. One of Victoire’s biographers will defend the theory, writing that “she saw herself as fairly well-connected, was known to the King, not unpleasing in face or figure, and had already proved herself capable of having children with men of uncertain virility not once, but twice. English law at the time forbade the marriage of a man to his brother’s widow - but one might still wonder what might have come out of the marriage of Victoire and George IV” [7]. English law aside, Victoire was already thirty-nine at this time, and had not made herself popular amongst her husband’s family.
Regardless of what is or isn’t offered up in her letter, it’s fairly clear who Victoire is considering for the new Queen: her daughter Feodore, already conveniently in England to be inspected at the King’s disposal. While the original letter is not preserved (one of George IV’s few wise moves), a follow up letter from Victoire survives where she mentions Feodore wishing to pay a call on the King when she comes to London, writing that the King would find “her manner pleasing, her features lovely, and her manner entirely German, having inherited the health of my family. Sweet, affable, and charming, I do not doubt that she would serve as a balm to the abuses of ruling that prevail upon your Majesty’s nerves”. Nobody misses the subtle reference to Feodore’s ‘health’ and therefore fertility, which could provide the King with his longed-for son. And hey, if Victoire enacts her desired revenge on Charlotte and Co. by becoming mother to the new Queen of England and grandmother to the boy who usurps Charlotte’s position, well, all’s fair in love and war, right?
The letter results in a marriage for Feodore, but not the one that Victoire intended. Almost as soon as the news of the letter reaches Claremont, they are sending out their own news: Karl of Thurn and Taxis has proposed to Feodore and been accepted, the union blessed by her brother and liege lord the Prince of Leiningen. Ironically, the news of the letter seems to spurn on another turn of bad luck for Victoire: Caroline is reported to be improving in Italy, supposedly commenting that Victoire must find another crown, as she would relinquish hers only to her daughter. As soon as one engagement is announced, another one occurs: Karl, Prince of Leiningen, to Princess Auguste of Solms-Braunfels. Charlotte and Frederica of Cumberland had actually planned on Auguste and Alexander of Wurttemberg but that ship quickly sails when Karl makes his interest known and Alexander politely (and in truth, rather happily - Auguste is nice and all, but not his type) steps aside. This is another coup for the House of Leiningen, as Auguste is the niece of the King of Prussia through her aunt Luise [8]. The Cumberlands stay on until March, when the Kendal family moves back to London, and they return to Hanover, taking Auguste with them, while Karl with the still single Duke Alexander returns to Leiningen to prepare for his wedding. Feodore reluctantly goes to Austria to see her mother and spends the whole time hiding in her rooms.
In March, the sloop Anne is captured by a combined Spanish, Danish, and American naval force in the Caribbean, ending Roberto Cofresí’s reign of piracy in the Caribbean. Hailed as "the last of the West India pirates" in the report of his death, Roberto is quickly dethroned by none other than Sir John Ponsonby Conroy. Conroy, in his flagship Lady May, has been making a name for himself amongst the shores of Asia, Africa, and Australia in the last few years, and feels the time is right to move his enterprise to the Caribbean. The truly begins the reign of ‘Pirate King Conroy’, the man who will make himself the bane of navies across the seas, who supposedly sails with sails as black as his broken heart, who carries a locket containing the portrait of his Lady May, his one true love. (For those of you wondering, he still has a wife in Ireland and a rotation of concubines to make the Ottomans jealous, but these ruin the romance of the legend and tend to be ignored).
On March 21st, the Kendals and Auntie Fred attend the premiere of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, conducted by Sir George Smart [9]. Another of his pieces will performed to months later at the wedding of Princess Feodore of Leiningen and the Prince of Thurn und Taxis in Vienna - due to diplomatic issues, the Kendals are unable to attend, but send the handsome gift of a Broadwood piano and a painting of Claremont that remains in the art collection of the Thurn und Taxis family to this day.
In June, Charlotte scores political points for generations to come: the Cotton Mills Regulation Act, heartly supported by herself and Leopold, passes, setting a maximum twelve hour work day for children under sixteen. Charlotte had wanted to outlaw work for children under sixteen but accepts, for the moment, that this is not feasible and takes the win where she can get it. She also begins hiring more and more ‘common’ children and teenagers to serve in her households at Claremont and in London, to be properly trained as ladies maids and housekeepers and pages and butlers before seeing that they get well-paying places amongst her friends and family. She also encourages noble friends to put the system in place in their own residences. One young man, later Sir William Bonde, starts off his career as a kitchen boy in Claremont and rises under the Kendals’ patronage to serve as the chief physician to the Duke of York. There are a few scuffles in the new system - some children do not respond well to their new station and retaliate by running away or stealing (those are turned over to serve in Auntie Fred’s household, where most become so charmed by her that they remain in her household until her death), and a few unfortunates try to steal some private papers to sell off to make some quick money (these are caught by Stockmar before anything can be sold - they are usually stealing the wrong sort of private papers anyway), but generally the system works well for all involved. Baroness Stockmar, born poor Miss Mary Gillray and a beneficiary of Charlotte’s social work, in particular appreciates the system and oversees the running of it for the rest of her life. Generations later, the Crown will enact the Mary Gillray Stockmar award to be given for ‘outstanding social work amongst young people’.
In July, the Kendals attend the wedding of Karl and Auguste in Amorbach. Lolly and Missy (officially Princess Charlotte and Mary of Kendal) serve as bridesmaids to Auguste, while George and William serve as pages alongside their cousin George of Cumberland. Despite the ‘low’ ranking of the couple, the wedding is a veritable gathering of royalty: the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia [10], the King and Queen of Wurttemberg [11] with their children [12], the Saxe-Coburgs (both German and Austrian lines), the Cumberlands, and various other royalties attend. The Crown Prince of Prussia hits it off rather well with Leopold - they are both well educated Germans who enjoy debating the finer points of Romanticism [13] as well as the benefits of a reestablishing the Holy Roman Empire or the College of Electors, a common theme amongst Romanticists. The Crown Princess and Charlotte get off on a decidedly less friendly foot, thanks to Elisabeth Ludovika’s rabid anglophobia - the conversation is recorded by a bystander as being polite but chilled, leaving Charlotte a bit frustrated and hurt (she’s not used to people not liking her). Refusing to be defeated, Charlotte sets out to make Elisabeth Ludovika her new best friend, a process spanning the next two years. Someone Charlotte is not determined to make her best friend during this trip is Victoire, the Dowager Duchess of Kent, who has chosen to be pissed that her son is marrying someone Charlotte introduced him to instead of being thrilled that her son is marrying a first cousin to the future King of Prussia.
One new friendship does blossom during this visit: Prince George of Kendal is said to have spent several hours in the company of Princess Sophie of Wurttemberg, later reporting to his tutor that “she is quite nice” and asking his mother if they might not visit Sophie when they next come to see Karl and Auguste.
In August, a financial crisis hits Britain: a Scottish adventurer named MacGregor manages to cause the first modern stock-crash after issuing a £300,000 loan through the bank of Thomas Jenkins & Company for the, as it turns out, fictitious Central American republic of Poyais. This eventually leads to the closure of six banks in London and sixty smaller banks throughout the English countryside - only an infusion of gold reserves from the Bank of France save the Bank of London from complete collapse. Leopold and Charlotte - who very wisely keep their money in many amounts in many banks throughout Europe - escape with some loss but are relatively unscathed; others lose everything. One good thing comes out of the crisis: economic reforms that eventually strengthen the market, including removing the monopoly enjoyed by the Bank of London and allowing banks to compete for government contracts and business. After the crash, the rest of the summer and autumn pass fairly smoothly. A highlight comes for young Prince George of Kendal when he is allowed to attend the inaugural row of the newly established Lady Margaret Boat Club at St. John’s College - club history states that it is Prince George who offers their motto ‘Si je puis’ (If I Can) when asked what it should be [14]. On August 29th, King João VI of Portugal recognizes his son Pedro as the independent Emperor of Brazil following Pedro’s declaration of Brazilian independence three years before. Charlotte, despite her general liberal beliefs, is horrified at this ‘roundabout revolutionary monarchy’ and refuses to send a letter of congratulations to the new Imperial couple upon their victory - she supposedly remarks that if a child of hers ever rose up against her in such a manner, she would die of a broken heart and be done with it rather than live with the shame of being a mother unrespected by her children (despite her relationship with her father, Charlotte has never tried to oust him from power, and respects him as her father if not as a monarch) [15]. The only victory in the situation as far as Charlotte is concerned is Great Britain’s separate treaty with the newly established nation, renewing favorable commercial rights and forcing Brazil to agree to abolish the slave trade with Africa within four years.
On December 1st, Emperor Aleksandr Pavlovich of Russia dies from typhus in Taganrog. His brothers, Konstantin and Nikolai, dispute in typical Romanov fashion which of them will become the new tsar, but with an interesting twist: each brother wants the other one to accede. Konstantin eventually wins by losing the crown and confirms his resignation of his rights from Warsaw; on December 25th, Nikolai becomes Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich I, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russians. One day later, Russian army officers lead a force of 3,000 men in revolt against Nikolai, led by Prince Sergei Trubetskoy amongst others. After a fruitless day of attempted parleys, Nikolai handles the revolt by ordering three artillery pieces to fire upon the rebels, killing many of the rebels and quickly ending the revolt. Traumatized by the revolt on his first day as Emperor, Nikolai quickly becomes determined to restrain Russia under his rule and begins censoring education, publishing, and many other forms of public life. In England, Charlotte and Leopold are sad at the loss of their dear friend, godfather to their eldest son, and send a loving letter of condolences to his widow, the dowager Empress Yelizaveta Alekseyevna. (They are also aghast at the political situation quickly shaping up in Russia but can’t do much about that right now). Prince George of Kendal sends his own letter to Yelizaveta Alekeseyevna, enclosing a small wooden Russian soldier sent to him by Emperor Aleksander on his last birthday with a note that he hopes his soldier will make her feel safe.
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(Sketch of HRH The Duchess of Kendal by Mrs. Maria Callcott)
“Her humanity and kindness to all who were in distress or affliction surpass belief, and I never knew a person less selfish.”
- Miss Cornelia Knight, lady companion to Charlotte, Duchess of Kendal
(Sketch of HRH The Duchess of Kendal by Mrs. Maria Callcott)
“Her humanity and kindness to all who were in distress or affliction surpass belief, and I never knew a person less selfish.”
- Miss Cornelia Knight, lady companion to Charlotte, Duchess of Kendal
1826 begins with an announcement from Claremont: Charlotte is pregnant with her sixth child, due in the summer. This starts a round of cheerful joking amongst the newspapers of London, with one publishing a ‘Cure for Childlessness’ under which is written ‘Drink the waters of Claremont’. The nation is pleased at the thought of yet another heir to the throne, and surprisingly no one is more pleased than the old King himself. He’s been slowing down in the last few years and has been making an effort with his grandchildren - despite all his faults, no one can deny George IV cares for the Kendal children deeply. He is remembered amongst the older Kendal children as a ‘very fat, kind old man - very sickly but always ready to play to the best of his ability, always generous with gifts, always ready to speak with us as though we were most important to him’ [16]. The wild child of the British Royal Family is growing old at last, and even if George IV himself won’t admit it, everyone else is aware of it. Despite Caroline’s continuing poor health and decline, no one has mentioned remarriage for the King. On February 24th, a great celebration ball is held in London to celebrate the Treaty of Yandabo, which marks the end of the first Anglo-Burmese war. At the ball, George IV ceedes the first dance -always led by himself and a partner of his choosing- to Charlotte and Leopold, causing a flurry of whispers that the king is ill, is dying, has already died by the time the news has spread.
In March, the King proves he’s still alive and kicking and ready to surprise. The famous elephant and London performer, Chunee, is to be put to death after turning violent and aggressive due to an annual “paroxysm” [17]. This news is devastating to children throughout England, particularly the Kendal children, raised to love all animals in “the menagerie called Claremont” as one visitor calls it. The story goes that Princess Charlotte of Kendal, upon a visit with her indulgent grandfather, went to him in tears and begged him to save the poor ‘Lelephant’ for her, even offering him her few coins of pocket money to help pay for the elephant’s care. Her elder brothers and younger sister quickly follow her lead and offer up their own meager savings if ‘Grandpapa King’ will help save Chunee. Always ready to be praised and be a hero, George IV nobly agrees to save the elephant. Chunee is bought and paid for the day before his scheduled second execution (the first having been a failed poisoning attempt), and relocated to the Tower of London. Still experiencing the musth that condemned him in the first place, Chunee is aggressive and violent and generally makes the King regret his choice. The future looks bleak for Chunee and after a week of not being fed or watered as no one dares approach him, one particularly brave soul, Sir Thomas Raffles, enters Chunee’s enclosure to find the elephant docile and friendly once again [18]. When Sir Thomas later helps start the Zoological Society of London a few weeks after the event, the Society takes Chunee’s outline as their emblem. One of the Society’s first acts will be to move Chunee to a new, stronger enclosure in Regent’s Park, where he will live happily for another twenty years.
While Chunee is saved, others are not so lucky in the coming months: King João VI of Portugal dies on the tenth of March of suspected poisoning, having fallen ill six days earlier. No one knows for sure who would poison the king, but there is a great deal of suspicion flying about. Some suspect the Hieronymites, whose monastery the king originally became ill at; others begin to look suspiciously at Pedro's younger brother, Miguel, who some believe is now the rightful new King of Portugal - Miguel included [19]. On May 14th, Empress Yelizaveta Alekseyevna of Russia dies in Belyov on her return to St. Petersburg from reclaiming her husband’s remains in Taganrog. Her last letter, written to her mother, states "Do not worry too much about me, but if I dared, I would like to follow the one who has been my very life" [20]. Her will is published on the first of June and while most of her belongings are left to the Russian Imperial family, she leaves a few bequests to George and Charlotte of Kendal. For George, her husband’s godson, she leaves a pair of Aleksandr’s diamond cufflinks [21], his copies of Rousseau, and the small wooden soldier he had sent her the year before; for Charlotte, her goddaughter, she leaves a pearl drop necklace [22] and an emerald and diamond brooch [23]. On May 28th, after only 79 days of ruling, the new King Pedro IV of Portugal, Emperor of Brazil, renounces his crown in Portugal as he is aware that a reunion of the two countries would not be tolerated. He abdicates in favour of his eldest daughter after forcing in a new constitution, who becomes Maria II and is betrothed to her uncle the Infante Miguel. This is all in name, however, as Pedro finds himself unable to step back and actually allow his daughter and brother to rule as he said he wanted them too. It’s not looking too great for the monarchy of Portugal and Leopold himself writes to his brother Ferdinand that “should the whole situation last even a year, I shall be most surprised” [24].
On the nineteenth of June, the Tories take an increased majority over the Whigs in the general election, to Charlotte’s private displeasure. She has learned to tolerate both sides of politics and, thanks to her friendship with Liverpool, has even come to appreciate certain Tories and certain Tory policies, but in her heart, Charlotte will always be a Whig. Leopold does his best to keep their son and heir, George, from listening too closely to either Liverpool or Charlotte during their political debates as he believes the crown should remain above such things. This tends to backfire on Leopold as George takes this as a sign to ignore political parties and loyalties in general and instead focus on the person themselves, an excellent philosophy in idea if not in practice.
In June, a scandal rocks Europe that changes the face of royal marriages for generations. Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, second son of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, has been in love with his second cousin once removed Princess Elisa Radziwill for years. While the King supports the marriage, there is opposition from the Mecklenburg relatives of his late wife Luise and the court has recently been flooded with allegations that Elisa’s Radzwill ancestors bought their princely title from Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire. Despite his best efforts to see Elisa adopted by Emperor Aleksandr of Russia or her maternal uncle Prince August of Prussia to improve her rank, the court refuses to accept the marriage and the King finds himself demanding that Wilhelm renounce any possibility of marriage with Elisa and instead become engaged to Princess Auguste of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, a niece of the Russian Emperor. Before Wilhelm can make his announcement, however, there is another demand on his honor: Elisa is revealed to be pregnant. In “the one bold brave move of [his] life”, as he will later describe it, Wilhelm and Elisa go before his father and beg to be allowed to be married [25]. His father is instantly under pressure to disown his son completely and strip him of his wealth and titles, leaving him and Elisa to survive on the charity of her family. Friedrich Wilhelm III dithers and delays on making a move because, hey, it’s his son and he in his heart supports the marriage. The young couple are not married but no one is talking about Wilhelm marrying Auguste anymore, so the entire court of Berlin is in a waiting game at this point.
Before a decision can be forced by the court, an outlier comes into play: Charlotte of Kendal. Having been apprised of the situation by Auntie Fred and Frederica of Cumberland (Prince Wilhelm’s paternal and maternal aunts respectively), Charlotte feels she has a pretty good understanding of the situation when she makes her first move. Charlotte sends a letter to Wilhelm and Elisa congratulating them on their future marriage and sending her regrets that she can not attend their wedding - with absolutely no sarcasm or irony. She sends them a gift of a tea service painted with daffodils, her unofficial emblem, as a wedding gift. She offers to stand as godmother to their first child whenever it is born (Charlotte is too much of a lady to say what everyone is already guessing), and hopes that on her next visit to Germany they can meet. In short, with one letter, Charlotte makes it very clear that she is on their team. And with Charlotte leading the charge, more support comes pouring in: Auntie Fred sends a letter to her younger brother the King of Prussia, chiding him to support his son; Frederica sends a public letter when she recalls “several conversations” where her sister Luise, Friedrich Wilhelm’s wife and Wilhelm’s mother, spoke of her fondness of Elisa and the nobility of the Radziwills; the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia (herself having Radziwill ancestry in a maternal line) publicly go to the King and ask him to support the marriage. The Crown Princess’ sisters in Austria, Bavaria, and Saxony spur their husbands to give support [26]. The Dukes of St. Andrews, Cumberland, Cambridge, and Sussex write in their support for the couple. From France, the Dowager Duchesse de Berry extends her support as well, offering to send for the young couple and bring them to Paris and out of ‘beastly Berlin’. The ‘Elisa Faction’, as Charlotte and cohorts become known, quickly comes to encompass most of Europe. When the Mecklenburgs attempt to bully Charlotte into standing down, she quickly cuts them to their knees, reminding them of several of their own marriages that are not quite up to royal snuff [27]. Charlotte even offers up a way to soothe feathers in Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, where the official story is that Wilhelm jilted Auguste for a commoner: let Marie, Auguste's sister, marry Prince Karl of Prussia, Wilhelm's younger brother. They have been in love for the past two years and merely waiting on an engagement from Auguste and Wilhelm to be allowed to be married [28]; now that that's dead in the water, they should be allowed to marry and quickly to repair the rift between the families. Both vehemently anti-British, they will never give forgive Charlotte for supporting the Radziwill marriage, even if she helped bring their own about - they are married seven months later on January 26, 1827. Even the Emperor of Russia, publicly besieged by the popular support for Elisa amongst the nobility and royalty of Europe, and privately charmed by his wife [29], eventually gives up his opposition, though he will not support the match.
Years later, a biographer will accuse Charlotte of attempting to create a ‘coterie of royal women’ to ‘rule Europe around the traditional masculine authorities’, and cite this situation as proof. While this can never be proven or disproven, it is noted that Charlotte created deep personal relationships with most of the royal women in Europe throughout her reign, either as friends or relatives. One of the more surprising of these friends is Elisabeth Ludovika, Crown Princess and later Queen of Prussia. A rabid Anglophobe, Elisabeth Ludovika resisted Charlotte’s friendship since their meeting the year before, remarking to her husband that she “could not bring herself to forgive her Englishness”. Charlotte’s selfless defense of Elisa, however, is Elisabeth Ludovika’s tipping point. Raised in the loving court of Bavaria to value family, Elisabeth Ludovika cannot resist Charlotte’s kindness and warmth to her sister-in-law, particularly when she herself was afraid to take the first step to defend Elisa and Wilhelm [30]. A unique friendship springs up between the two: Elisabeth Ludovika finds herself devoted to Charlotte while retaining her Anglophobia, remarking to her sister Sophie that Charlotte “is very much one of our people, not English at all in her temperament or outlook”. Charlotte herself takes Elisabeth Ludovika’s views with a grin and finds her to be “a truly lovely friend, well educated, warm, and as dear to my heart as any sister could be”. Years later, when asked by a grandchild why she had gone out of her way to help Elisa and Wilhelm, with no obvious benefit to herself, Charlotte shrugged and replied “I too had once risked losing my love, and I had wished for someone to stand in my corner. After being so blessed, how could I not do what I had wished someone had done for me? Besides,” she added with her famous grin “we really did have to do something about that Mecklenburg meddling”.
June in the rest of Europe passes about as peacefully as it does in Prussia. On June 15th, Sultan Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire forces the disbandment of the Janissary corps after their revolt against him. They are replaced by a more modern military unit, which Mahmud orders to be drilled in the European style. Because Mahmud cannot catch a break, a week later on June 21st, the combined Egyptian and Ottoman forces attempt to enter Mani, part of rebelling Greece, and fail, despite having twice the number of men of the Greeks. Leopold, always watching for a new opportunity, remarks to Charlotte that the Greeks might just surprise them all and reclaim their independence. They will need a king if they do, of course, and will most likely choose him from amongst an already reigning family to ensure protection from a Major Power, like Great Britain. It’s just a comment on a political situation - of course.
Meanwhile in Prussia, after almost two months of debate, King Friedrich Wilhelm III makes his decision: Wilhelm and Elisa are to be married, fully and equally, with his support. Elisa will take the style and title of Her Royal Highness Princess Wilhelm of Prussia, with the royal style and title extending to any children born of her marriage with Wilhelm. (He also at this time makes a comment to a minister that it is truly a pity that Charlotte is not Prussian or they would surely rule all of Europe by now). On the 30th of July, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia marries Princess Elisa Radziwill in the chapel of Schloss Pfaueninsel, the King’s summer residence, with the entire -mostly grumbling- court of Berlin in attendance.
On the last day of July, Charlotte delivers her third daughter, named Augusta - Charlotte had wanted to name her Caroline, for her mother and her dear friend the Dowager Duchesse de Berry, but George IV refused and instead offered up ‘Georgiana’ for himself. Leopold helped them reach a compromise by offering up Augusta, the name of George’s grandmother and Leopold’s mother as well as Charlotte’s middle name. Like everything in this family, even naming a child is fraught with drama, and Charlotte and her father are still tense weeks later. Baptised a week later in the drawing room of Kew Palace by the Reverend Llewellyn Lewellin, she is named ‘Augusta Elizabeth Sophia’ for her paternal grandmother and godmothers. Her godparents include the Crown Princess Elisabeth Ludovika of Prussia (represented by represented by Miss Augusta d’Este), Princess Sophia of Gloucester and Edinburgh [31], The Duchess of Cambridge [32], The Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz [33] (represented by Leopold), Duke Alexander of Wurttemberg (represented by The Hon. Henry Fox), and Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (represented by Lord Romney). The newest little Kendal princess will be known later in life as ‘Leopoldina’, a tribute to her uncanny resemblance to her father in both looks and temperament; she will take this name in pride and sign her private letters with it from her childhood on. Her brother William will later joke that Leopold’s true heir is Augusta and the “five that came before her mere practice”. It is at Augusta’s christening that a good bit of news is announced: The Hon. Henry Fox, future Lord Holland, has proposed to Charlotte’s cousin Auguste d’Este and been accepted [34].
They marry two months later at St George's Hanover Square Church, attended by the royal family and a great number of Whig politicians - the presence of the Whig politicians is an unfavorable reminder of the political leanings of the King and his heir, and causes much negative commentary amongst the Tories. The new Hon. Mrs. Henry Fox receives Mount Albion House in Ramsgate, Kent, as a wedding present from her father - it will serve as the country home of the Fox family for generations to come. Augusta’s niece, The Hon. Emma d’Este, will recall later in life that “Uncle Fox was, even then to my young eyes, quite devoted to Aunt and to us - we children spent many weeks at Mount Albion with them when Father’s health demanded Mother’s attention”. A political opponent generations later will remark “It is damnably hard removing Foxes from Kent - their mother den is at Mount Albion, and it is there that they draw their strength”.
The rest of the year passes by quietly, with the Foxes celebrating Christmas at Holland House with the Kendals in attendance (having chosen to spend the winter at Kew Palace). The Romneys return to Lamb House for the winter, where Augustus’ health continues to decline. On December 11th, Empress Maria Leopoldina of Brazil dies following a miscarriage a few days before. Charlotte - who still finds the whole Brazilian monarchy to be sketchy- is sorry to hear of Maria Leopoldina’s death and the grief it causes to her children, and sends a consoling letter to the new Queen of Portugal offering her condolences. One of Maria Leopoldina’s friends, Mrs. Maria Graham [35], is recently returned from Brazil where she stood as the tutor to the now-Queen of Portugal. It is the Queen of Portugal, in reply to Charlotte’s letter, who recommends Mrs. Graham as tutor to the Kendal princesses. Mrs. Graham - soon to be Mrs. Callcott in her second marriage - accepts the position happily. Her new husband, the landscape artist Augustus Callcott, is retained as a painting tutor for the Kendal children, a situation suiting everyone.
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HRH Princess Wilhelm of Prussia (nee Princess Elisa Radziwill)
HRH Princess Wilhelm of Prussia (nee Princess Elisa Radziwill)
As the new year of 1827 begins, England is struck with a tragedy. Frederick, The Duke of York and Albany and the erstwhile husband of Auntie Fred, dies of dropsy on January 5th in London. He leaves his entire estate of Oatlands (and a massive pile of debts to be paid) to his wife, Friederike, with a note flippantly stating “Perhaps I shall bring you more joy in death than I did in life” [36]. He is buried two weeks later at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor in a private funeral attended by the royal family, his unpopularity and gambling debts making a private funeral “much wiser”. In his memory, his great-nephew, Prince William of Kendal, will later name one of his racehorses “Freddie York” - like his namesake, the horse will “win all the races that don’t matter and lose all the ones that do”.
Everyone in Europe, it seems, is awaiting the birth of Elisa and Wilhelm’s child in Prussia - if it is a girl, nothing will really change. If it is a boy, he could be the next king of Prussia (as the Crown Prince and Princess still have no son), and the Elisa faction might be called upon again to persuade the courts of Europe to accept the young prince as a possible heir. On February 7th, Prussia receives it's newest princess at 4:32 in the morning, the time dutifully recorded by her father in his journal. Princess Luise Elisabeth Charlotte of Prussia is named for her paternal and maternal grandmothers, her paternal aunt, and her godmother in England. She is baptised two days after her birth in the palace chapel of the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, with all of the Prussian royal family in attendance. “What a very healthy child she is, for one supposedly born a month before her time” Luise’s aunt, Princess Karl of Prussia (formerly Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach,), remarks bitterly in a letter to her mother. All is not joy, however - the birth of her daughter has weakened Elisa’s health dangerously and it is several months before she can even walk in the gardens unaided. Elisa’s health will never fully recover after the birth of her daughter and she will spend many winters at spas both in Germany and abroad trying to repair it. The King in Prussia is delighted with his newest granddaughter, the only one in Prussia [37], and spends many hours holding the little princess. Charlotte sends her new goddaughter a blanket embroidered by her own hand with daffodils and violets [38], a cameo brooch, and a book of German fairytales, with her own notes and commentary lovingly written in the margins.
On March 1st, Charlotte and her son George are back in Wales, for the official opening of the college. Young George gives a speech in halting Welsh to the 26 students, asking them to “do well and remember God”, and Charlotte gifts the college with a stained glass window for St. David’s chapel, emblazoned with her personal coat of arms and the College’s motto “Gair Duw Goreu Dysg” [39]. The Principal of the College, The Reverend Thomas Price [40], gives a blessing in Welsh before the beginning of the first class, which Prince George of Kendal proudly reports to his mother and tutor that he understood “nearly all of”. This is a signal to Charlotte that it is time to continue furthering her son’s education, with the Gaelic and Irish tongues of Scotland and Ireland. On March 7th, a scandal erupts in England following the Shrigley abduction. 15 year old heiress Ellen Turner is abducted by and forcibly wed to Edward Gibbon Wakefield in Gretna Green before being taken to Calais, where the authorities finally catch up with them [41]. The marriage is annulled by Parliament and Wakefield and his brother are sentenced to three years in prison; Charlotte, in a rare fit of temper, erupts at the sentence, furiously telling a friend that were she Queen they would be condemned to a life of rowing or shipping to the deadly new colony of Australia, to send forth a message about how England protected it’s girls to any who thought to repeat the offense. Ironically Edward Wakefield becomes active in prison reform upon his release, and is even appointed to committees created by Charlotte to look into the matter [42].
On April 9th, an era in British politics comes to end when Robert Jenkins, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool, resigns as the Prime Minister following a severe cerebral hemorrhage [39]. Though he and Charlotte were often on opposing sides in politics, he was always kind to her and she considers him a true friend and is devastated at his poor health and retirement. She sends him a bouquet of flowers from Claremont and a long letter extolling his virtues and begging him to recover, “for we must have one sensible Tory in England, sir, and I know you to be the best of them”. Liverpool is touched and remarks to his wife “See what a Princess of Wales we possess!”. On April 10th, George Canning, often considered the most brilliant politician of his era, becomes the Prime Minister [43]. Charlotte and Leopold are excited about Canning’s appointment, with Leopold remarking “Here is a man with which we can achieve much!”. It’s not only politics in England experiencing an upheaval. On May 10th, in Brunswick, Charlotte’s cousin Karl II of Brunswick declares that the constitution enacted during his minority, limiting his powers, is invalid. Karl’s minority had been spent in London, under the supervision of his guardian, the Prince Regent, better known as George IV. (During his time in London, Karl did not endear himself to his cousin Charlotte, though she was and remains fond of his younger brother Wilhelm). His age of majority was decided to be nineteen; when Karl was eighteen, the Prince Regent rushed through the aforementioned constitution which limited Karl’s powers, redefined his duchy and hereditary lands, and his income as head of the house of Este-Guelph [44]. Austria supports Karl in his claim that the constitution is invalid, going so far as to call England an “usurper” and starting a whole new diplomatic mess. The German Confederation attempts to play peacemaker and recommends that Karl accept the constitution - Karl recommends that the Confederation mind their own business and continues to rule as an absolute monarch, continuing one thousand years of Guelph tradition. Shockingly, popular opinion quickly turns against Karl. His brother Wilhelm, living quietly in Prussia at the time and serving as a major in their army, manages to become the most popular member of the House of Brunswick by simply breathing and not being Karl.
On the 6th of July, the United Kingdom, Russia and France sign the Treaty of London, calling upon the Greeks and Ottomans to cease their hostilities. To Leopold’s joy, the Great Powers have decided to come in on the side of the Greeks and support their independence, though he is disappointed by the stipulation that the Sultan would remain the overlord of the independent Greek state (a confusing situation that no one looks too closely at) [45]. The Ottomans decline to accept the treaty, however, believing that they could win based on their superior naval power compared to the three biggest powers in Europe at the time [46]. Prime Minister George Canning does not have long to celebrate his new piece of diplomatic brilliance, however: in poor health since the funeral of the Duke of York some months before, Canning dies on August 8th at Chiswick House after a period in office of only 119 days. This record will be broken in later generations by the poor soul who only lasts 2 days, but he’s not even a twinkle in an eye at this point, so the title of Shortest Serving Prime Minister is safely Canning’s for the time being [47]. The Kendals attend his funeral at Westminster Abbey, and Charlotte sees to it that her father pays an allowance to Canning’s widow and young son in recognition of his years of service, and George IV even makes Canning’s widow “Viscountess Canning of Kilbrahan” for her husband’s services to the Crown [48]. On the 31st of August, twenty three days after the death of the man who could have been the greatest Prime Minister in history, Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich is appointed Prime Minister, and is generally considered one of the most disappointing Prime Ministers in history. “Poor Goderich,” Auntie Fred was said to sighed, “it is so terribly hard to be a flawed man following a brilliant one” [49].
The waters of Claremont continue to provide powerful, as one court wit reports: on the first day of September, Charlotte’s seventh pregnancy is announced. A popular poll is taken up regarding the baby’s gender and name - for a girl, Amelia is the front-runner for Charlotte’s deceased aunt; for a boy, Arthur or Alfred. Septimus or Septima are often suggested as well [50], with Leopold remarking to his son George “You must be renamed Primo, then, as you as the first”. Some political soul begins publishing pamphlets predicting the reign of Septimus the First, Prince of the United Kingdom, King of Greece. While Leopold publicly denounces this, in private he remins quiet on the matter, remarking only “It would be odd to place a fourth son so high above his elder brothers” [51].
On October 20th, the Battle of Navarino occurs in Navarino Bay on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula. Despite the confidence of the Ottomans regarding their navy, it turns out that thinking you’re the baddest in the sea does not make it so. The Ottoman navy is crushed by the united navies of the United Kingdom, Russia, and France - 3,000 men are killed and more than 60 ships are sunk or destroyed in the battle [52]. The fledgling Greek Republic is saved, for the moment. Sir Edward Codrington, the Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, is applauded as a hero, though the battle was actually more the result of him attempting to coerce the Ottomans into compliance with the Treaty of London.
On November 24th, voting is completed in elections for France’s members of the Chamber of Deputies. The results are not good for the royal family: the Ultraroyalistes, supporters of the King, have lost their majority of 223 seats and instead now hold 180 seats, the same as their opponents the Doctrinaires [53]. Charles X is furious and the rest of the French royal family are uneasy to say the least; no one has forgotten the Revolution. Maria Carolina, Duchesse de Berry, writes to Charlotte that “I fear to step outside even into the garden, remember the stories told to my family by the ones who survived the terror of before. My poor Henri - what shall he inherit? France must be returned to her glory but I fear that we cannot return with the government so turned against us. I must save my son and his inheritance, and I fear doing what I know I must, as I know the King will hate it so”. It is on this note that the year of 1827 comes to a close: with everyone wondering what they must do next in this world that seems to no longer run smoothly.
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[1] Alexander was the second son of Leopold’s sister Antoinette and a first cousin to Emperors Aleksandr and Nikolai Pavlovich of Russia through his father. OTL he married Princess Marie d'Orléans and founded the Catholic branch of the House of Wurttemberg.
[2] Maximilian Kar, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, later head of the private Thurn-und-Taxis-Post and one of the richest men in Austria. He’s a cousin to Charlotte and the British royal family through his mother, Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
[3] The Duke and Duchess of Cumberland were living mainly in Berlin at this time; they would return to England OTL in 1826 after Parliament increased the Duke’s allowance for the education of his son, Prince George. As the Cumberlands are low in the line of succession here and dropping lower, they will continue to mainly live in Germany until someone decides to bankroll them back to London.
[4] As previously discussed, the Cumberlands were not as pure as the newfallen snow, or even the driven snow. Ernest Augustus was just a generally sketchy person and suspected of murdering his valet, among other things, and Friederike was accused of murdering her second husband to be with Ernest Augustus. They had a very happy marriage by all accounts, though.
[5] Princess Auguste Luise Therese Mathilde of Solms-Braunfels, born July 25, 1804. OTL she married Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.
[6] Should give you a pretty clear indication of what kind of person he is going to be. (There’s no records of royal children’s first words that I can find, but I figured they had to say them at some point, and Frederick should have one moment of being funny in his lifetime).
[7] This is entirely my own invention, there is no proof that the Dowager Duchess of Kent ever made or even considered an offer of this kind, or an offer regarding her daughter Feodore and George IV. That being said, for those of you wondering what the marriage of Victoire and George IV would have been like, my answer is: bad.
[8] Duchess Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, sister of Friederike, Duchess of Cumberland, and wife of Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia. OTL Mother to Friedrich Wilhehlm IV, Empress Aleksandra Feodorovna of Russia, and Wilhelm I of Germany.
[9] Sir George Smart was one of the chief musical leaders and organizers in England, and was instrumental in making Beethoven’s music known to England.
[10] The future Friedrich Willhelm IV of Prussia and his wife, Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria.
[11] Wilhelm I of Wurttemberg, Charlotte’s cousin by marriage, and his third wife, Pauline Therese of Wurttemberg.
[12] Princess Marie of Wurttemberg, Princess Sophie of Wurttemberg, Princess Katharina of Wurttemberg, and Karl, the Crown Prince of Wurttemberg. In 1826, Pauline Therese will deliver their second son, Prince August, OTL born Princess Auguste.
[13] Romanticism was a movement that encompassed most of the 19th century, and was characterized by its focus on emotion and individualism, as well as reverence of all the past and nature, preferring medieval influences rather than classical ones.
[14] Completely my own invention of how the motto was arrived at, although OTL it was and remains the motto of the club.
[15] From what I can tell, almost everyone looked a little sideways at Pedro in this situation.
[16] OTL Queen Victoria reported that the King was very kind to her as a child whenever she met him (the general issue seems to have been her mother). And let’s be fair, even George IV wasn’t a completely heartless bastard - he loves his grandchildren.
[17] Chunee was a famous performing elephant in London who was eventually put down in 1826 due to the annual paroxysm or violent behavior. Better known as musth, it is a periodic condition in which male elephants become increasingly aggressive and violent due to a random increase in reproduction hormones.
[18] In India, domesticated elephants experiencing musth are chained for a week and neither fed nor watered. After one week, they return to their normal natures and are safe to release back to their herd. Here, they just happened upon a way to fix the musth by sheer dumb luck.
[19] In the 1990s, Joao’s bowels were exhumed, rehydrated, and tested for poison. The results showed enough arsenic to kill two people, confirming that he was murdered with poison. Rumors that the Infante Miguel, Joao’s second son, had murdered his father were common at the time, and he was sketchy enough that it wasn’t a huge leap to believe them.
[20] This was her OTL last letter to her mother and I just couldn’t leave it out
[21] Again, entirely my own creation. I just wanted George to have something nice from his godfather. The cufflinks shown are from Imperial Russia, however, and show the double eagle of the Romanov family.
[22] The pearl drop necklace is from the portrait shown of Yelizaveta Alekseyevna; I have no idea what happened to it after this portrait was painted.
[23] This brooch did belong to the Imperial family of Russia and was sold by the Bolsheviks with their other jewels after the fall of the empire.
[24] It actually lasted almost two years but backfired spectacularly shortly thereafter.
[25] OTL Wilhelm gave up Elisa and married Auguste of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, with whom he had a very unhappy and bitter marriage. Here, he’s going to get some happiness because I can.
[26] The Bavarian girls married incredibly well - Karolina Auguste married Franz II of Austria, Amalie Auguste married Johann I of Saxony, Sophie married Archduke Franz Karl of Austria (heir to his brother Ferdinand; their son was Franz Josef I of Austria), Maria Anna married Friedrich August II of Saxony (older brother of the Johann), and Ludovika married Duke Maximilian Josef in Bavaria.
[27] These include Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Karl Alexander, Prince of Thurn and Taxis (parents of the aforementioned Maximilian Karl); Duchess Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (later Duchess of Cumberland) and Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels; and Adolf Friedrich II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and his third wife Princess Christiane Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The last one is pretty far back in the day but Charlotte is pulling out all the stops. (And yes, for those of you wondering, Frederica of Cumberland is totally fine with using her second marriage as an example of a not-up-to-snuff marriage; she uses it as an example of a not-up-to-snuff marriage for her own children).
[28] Marie and Karl had met in Frankfurt in 1824 and been smitten. King Friedrich Willhem III, Karl’s father, was immediately in favor of the match; Marie’s maternal grandmother, Empress Mariya Feodorovna of Russia, was still considered the family authority at the time and was less impressed at the idea of her granddaughter marrying a third son. The Russians first proposed that Marie could marry Wilhelm and her sister Auguste could marry Karl, as they were closer in age and Wilhelm was said to prefer Marie to Auguste. Friedrich Wilhelm III refused, as this ignored the feelings and preferences of both his sons. Marie and Auguste’s mother was partially behind the OTL plan to defame Elisa Radzwill, although she was hoping for a different outcome: she wanted Wilhelm to marry Elisa morganatically, thus leaving the heirs of Karl and Marie to inherit. Finally, Marie was allowed to marry Karl without any restrictions or conditions imposed on Wilhelm, and they were married on March 26, 1827.
[29] Aleksandra Feodorovna, born Princess Charlotte of Prussia, and by all accounts very close to her brother Wilhelm. OTL I can’t find any proof that she either supported or was against Wilhelm and Elisa, so here she’s going to take advantage of the growing support and gently nudge her husband towards helping her brother.
[30] Again, I could not find anything showing that Elisabeth Ludovika was either for or against Wilhelm’s marriage to Elisa. In TTL, she’s for it because she’s a nice person and wants her brother in law to be happy, but she’s been keeping quiet because she’s worried that she won’t have a son and Wilhelm and Elisa will inherit the throne. Her husband’s status is likewise unknown but it is noted that during a visit to see Elisa’s family “As the King and the princes prepared to leave, the King warmly embraced and kissed Elisa to which she burst into tears. The two princes [Prince Friedrich Wilhelm and Prince Karl] were also clearly affected with sympathy for her”. Elisabeth Ludovika’s anglophobia was broken by kindness OTL as well. While she was at first against her nephew’s marriage to Victoria, the Princess Royal of Great Britain, Victoria’s care for Elisabet Ludovika in the first days of her widowhood touched her and Elisabeth Ludovika even left all of her jewels to her when she died.
[31] Princess Sophia Matilda of Gloucester, a niece of George III through his brother William Henry, the Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh. She never married and held the office of Ranger of Greenwich Park.
[32] Auguste of Hesse-Kassel, the Duchess of Cambridge, married to Charlotte’s uncle Adolphus, the Duke of Cambridge. She is six months younger than her niece by marriage, Charlotte, and TTL they are very close, despite the Cambridges living in Hanover year-round.
[33] Georg, The Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He was the first cousin once removed of Charlotte - his father was the brother of her grandmother and namesake, Queen Charlotte. He was also the brother of Friederike, the scandalous Duchess of Cumberland and Teviotdale.
[34] OTL it was his older brother, Charles Fox (born before their parents’ marriage so he couldn’t inherit their father’s title), who married into the royal family via Miss Mary Fitzclarence (TTL Lady Romney). OTL Augusta d’Este married Thomas Wilde, Lord Truro, in 1845; Henry Fox married Lady Mary Augusta Coventry in 1833.
[35] Maria Dundas Graham Callcott, a British travel writer, children’s author, and illustrator.
[36] OTL The Duke of York and Albany outlived his wife by seven years.
[37] Friedrich Wilhelm III had four granddaughters at this point: Grand Duchess Mariya Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Aleksandra Nikolaevna of Russia, and Duchess Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
[38] Daffodils being Charlotte’s unofficial emblem and violets being the official flower of February, when Luise was born.
[39] The Word of God is the Best Learning
[40] The Reverend Thomas Price, historian and a major Welsh literary figure. Price was also "an essayist, orator, naturalist, educationalist, linguist, antiquarian, artist and musician". OTL the first principal of St. David’s was Llewelyn Lewellin but he’s a little tied up at the moment educating the future King.
[41] This is all OTL - Ellen Turner later married a wealthy neighbor and had a daughter.
[42] This is also all OTL - Wakefield was a leader in prison reform upon his release.
[43] George Canning was a British Tory statesman who occupied numerous senior positions in the government before becoming the Prime Minister. His policies as Foreign Secretary formed the basis of British foreign policies for generations.
[44] This is entirely OTL - George IV was indiscriminate in screwing over family members, it seems.
[45] This was the OTL phrasing of the treaty, which is a little confusing to me and I assume to the Greeks.
[46] 100% OTL
[47] The title is still Canning’s OTL - he is the shortest serving Prime Minister to die in office. If you can guess which Prime Minister I ‘killed’ off to steal his title, I’ll give you brownie points and naming rights for a child of the couple of your choosing (not Charlotte and Leopold, but any other couple mentioned in this TL).
[48] Canning left behind three children: William, who drowned in 1828; Harriet; and Charles, who was only fifteen at his father’s death. His wife Joan was made Viscountess Canning in 1828, with a special remainder to the heirs male of her late husband.
[49] Goderich was unable to hold Canning’s government together after his death and OTL resigned after 144 days in office.
[50] Septimus and Septima mean ‘seven’ and are a play on the name of Charlotte’s uncle Octavius, who was named thus as he was the eighth son of his parents.
[51] This is ironic as Leopold himself was a third son who, as King of the Belgians, ranked higher OTL than his older brothers.
[52] This is what happened OTL, down to the number of deaths.
[53] The Ultraroyalistes were usually members of the nobility who supported Catholicism as the only religion, the Bourbons, and traditional class hierarchies. The Doctrinaires basically supported the opposite of all of that.
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. Working in details like the elephant is awesome.
