The autumn of 1855 brought with it two interesting domestic events for the Royal Family. The new house at Balmoral was occupied for the first time; and, what was much more important, a visit from Prince Frederick William of Prussia resulted in his engagement to the Princess Royal. She was then under fifteen years of age, and it was thought best that there should be no formal betrothal, and no public announcement until after the Princess’s confirmation in the following spring. The first break into the child-life of a family, by the marriage of one of its members, is always an event that awakens many emotions. The Queen and Prince were thoroughly satisfied, and had cause to be, with their future son-in-law; but the prospect of parting with their eldest child was a bitter pill. The Prussian Prince was heartily in love, and went on year after year, till his tragic death in 1888, becoming more and more a lover and friend to his wife, whom he constantly spoke of as “the ablest woman in Europe.” Lady Bloomfield, whose husband was, in 1855, English Ambassador in Berlin, gives an account of the announcement there by the King at a State dinner of the engagement between his nephew and the English Princess. Lady Bloomfield says that the Prince was in such high spirits, and looked so excessively happy, it was a pleasure to see him. On their arrival in Germany, shortly after their marriage, he telegraphed to the Queen at Windsor, “The whole Royal Family is enchanted with my wife.—F. W.” On the occasion of the Prince of Wales’s wedding, in 1863, the Prince of Prussia was overflowing with praise of his wife. Bishop Wilberforce noted in his diary on this occasion, “I was charmed with the Prince of Prussia, and the warmth of his expressions as to his wife. ‘Bishop,’ he said, ‘with me it has been one long honeymoon.’”
The story of the betrothal, and how it was associated with the giving and receiving of a piece of white heather, a proverbial emblem of good luck, is very prettily told by Her Majesty in “Leaves from the Journal in the Highlands.” The chief anxiety the parents had in the matter was on account of the Princess’s extreme youth; but her intellect and character were unusually developed, and she had, what so often accompanies fine intellect, a child-like innocence and purity of heart which specially endeared her to all in her home circle. Prince Albert wrote at once to Stockmar to tell him the news: “Victoria,” he wrote, “is greatly excited; still, all goes smoothly and prudently. The Prince is really in love, and the little lady does her best to please him.”
The engagement was not well received by an important section of the English Press. So little could the writer of the articles read the future, that Prussia was sneered at “as a paltry German dynasty,” Prince Frederick William was described as being in “ignominious attendance” on his “Imperial Master” the Czar, and it was predicted that the Princess would become anti-English in feeling, and also, with not much consistency, that she would be sent back to England at no distant date, “an exile and a fugitive.” The ignorance of this attack robbed it of its poignancy. Prince Frederick William and his father were strongly in accord with the policy of England during the Crimean War, and consequently very much out of favor at their own Court and in St. Petersburg.
Prince Albert had always taken the keenest interest in directing the education of his eldest daughter, and the fact that she was probably destined to occupy in Prussia a position somewhat similar to his own in England, strengthened the already strong bonds of union between them. From the time of her engagement he worked with her daily at historical subjects, and spared no pains to equip her well for her future duties. She translated important political pamphlets from German into English under his direction, and he took undisguised fatherly pride in her capacity and in her widening interests in life. An accident, which might have had very serious consequences, happened to the Princess in 1856, which illustrated her self-control and reliance on her father. As she was sealing a letter she set fire to the muslin sleeve of her dress, and her right arm was very badly burned; the wound was terrible to look at, as the muslin was burnt into the flesh; it must have caused very severe pain, but the Princess never lost her presence of mind or habitual thoughtfulness for others. She did not utter a cry, and said: “Don’t frighten mamma, send for papa first.” Her marriage took place on January 25th, 1858. She was a very youthful bride, having only lately completed her seventeenth year. Her first child, the present Emperor William II., was born on January 27th, 1859. His birth nearly cost the life of his young mother. The Queen’s daughter has not had a bed of roses in her adopted country, any more than the Queen’s husband had a bed of roses here. But in both cases cruel misrepresentation on the part of a section of the public was more than compensated by the loving appreciation and generous confidence which marriage brought them. The Princess Royal and the Prince Consort each had many a drop of bitterness in their cup; but while he lived, Prince Frederick William was her faithful worshipper, just as the Queen was and is of the Prince Consort.
On the day of the Princess Royal’s marriage the entry in the Queen’s Diary runs:—
“The second most eventful day of my life as regards feelings. I felt as if I were being married over again myself, only much more nervous, for I had not that blessed feeling which I had then, which raises and supports one, of giving myself up for life to him whom I loved and worshipped—then and ever!”
Speaking of the ceremony in the Chapel Royal, St. James’s, Her Majesty adds:—
“The drums and trumpets played marches, and the organ played others as the procession approached and entered; ... the effect was thrilling and striking as you heard the music gradually coming nearer and nearer. Fritz looked pale and much agitated, but behaved with the greatest self-possession, bowing to us, and then kneeling down in a most devotional manner. Then came the bride’s procession, and our darling Flower looked very touching and lovely, with such an innocent, confident, and serious expression. It was beautiful to see her kneeling with Fritz, their hands joined.... My last fear of being overcome vanished on seeing Vicky’s quiet, calm, and composed manner.... Dearest Albert took her by the hand to give her away, my beloved Albert (who, I saw, felt so strongly), which reminded me vividly of having in the same way, proudly, tenderly, confidently, most lovingly, knelt by him, on this very same spot, and having our hands joined there.”
The Queen and the Prince Consort both recalled the series of important Royal marriages between German Princes and English Princesses, beginning with the marriage of Princess Charlotte, heiress to the throne, to Prince Leopold in 1816, then their own in 1840, and, lastly, of their child to the heir to the throne of Prussia, in 1858. The Prince Consort wrote on the wedding-day to the faithful Stockmar:—
“My heart impels me to send you a line to-day, as I cannot shake you by the hand. In a few hours our child will be a wedded wife! a work in which you have had a large share, and, I know, will take a cordial interest. It is just eighteen years since you subscribed my marriage contract, and were present in the same Chapel Royal at my union with Victoria. Uncle Leopold, whom you, now forty-two years ago, accompanied to London on the occasion of his marriage, will, with myself, be one of the bride’s supporters. These reminiscences must excite a special feeling within you to-day, with which I hope is coupled the conviction that we all gratefully revere in you a dear friend and wise counsellor.”