"In the midst of the general interest and affectionate zeal excited by the sublime ceremony of to-morrow, of a constitutional monarch pledging himself to a free people to guard their rights and privileges, it has been remarked, with very general surprise, that the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria are the only members of the Royal family, old or young, who are not to be present at the Coronation. It is with deep regret that we have learned that her Royal Highness has refused to attend! Yes, has refused to attend! and that her absence on this occasion, is in pursuance of a systematic opposition on the part of her Royal Highness to all the wishes and all the feelings of the present King. Now, the presence, or absence of the Duchess herself, is a matter of comparative indifference—it is merely disrespectful; but that of the Princess Victoria, which must, as to its immediate cause, be imputed to her mother, cannot fail of being considered by the public as indecent and offensive. We should be glad to know who are the advisers of this misguided lady? Who can have dared to counsel her, the widow of a mediatized German Prince, whose highest ambition never could have contemplated the possibility of an alliance with the Blood Royal of England, to oppose the Sovereign to whom she is bound by so many ties of gratitude? Her Royal Highness must have been acting under a well-grounded confidence in the indulgence and forbearance of his Majesty, or an entire ignorance of the authority of the Crown. The Constitution has limited the political power of the King, but has left it uncontrolled and despotic over the members of his own family; and it cannot be disputed that she who is ignorant of the respect which is due to the Crown, is unfit to form the mind and superintend the education of the infant who is destined to wear it.
"We could mention some curious facts, which, for the present, we shall abstain from doing. We would rather admonish than expose, and shall rejoice if these monitory hints be not thrown away. No monarch has more endeared himself to his subjects than William IV.; and the Duchess of Kent is grossly mistaken if she thinks to ingratiate herself with the people of this country by opposition to the will and disrespect to the power of the King."
But the Times sang another tune in its issue of September 10th—
"In an affair of great delicacy, to which we have already alluded, our wish would be, if we might be permitted, to put the public in possession of the whole truth, and then let the matter drop, for we know that protracted discussions are apt to excite resentments which did not, at first, exist. It was impossible that the absence of the Duchess of Kent, and of the Princess Victoria, her daughter, from the Coronation, should have escaped notice; we, therefore, stated what the fact would be, and assigned some causes for it. We now hope to close the account in a manner which may suppress rising animosities. We have received two versions of the affair, and both, if we look to the quarters from which they come, entitled to the highest consideration.
"The first says, 'Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent wrote to the Duke of Norfolk, as Hereditary Earl Marshal, to know how she was to go to the Abbey herself, and what arrangement had been made for the Princess Victoria. The answer was: that his Majesty had signified his pleasure that her Royal Highness should attend in her place as a dowager Princess and Peeress, and that the Princess Victoria should go under the care of the Landgravine and the Princess Augusta, and be attended by the Duchess of Northumberland, in the Royal pew. This answer having been received, so far was her Royal Highness from declining attendance, that she ordered her robes, and it was understood by all the Royal family that she would be there. The King, never doubting but that the Duchess would be at the Coronation, ordered a letter to be written to her to know whom she would name to carry her Coronet: to this, no answer was received. After waiting some time, his Majesty ordered another letter to be written in his own name, and to this, an answer did come, from Sir John Conroy, speaking of her attendance as uncertain, but saying that, if she did attend, she would have her coronet borne by Lord Morpeth.'
"Our other account agrees, in the chief facts, with the preceding; but adds, 'Her Royal Highness wrote to express her ready compliance with the arrangement made as to the places selected for herself and her daughter, and her desire to be present at the ceremony, and to mark her dutiful regard to his Majesty; but it was, afterwards, considered inexpedient to interrupt the benefit which the Princess Victoria's health was receiving by her residence near the sea; and, upon this ground, and, also, upon the expense which would attend the Duchess of Kent's leaving the Isle of Wight, and removing all her establishment to town, so as to appear in state at the Coronation, his Majesty was pleased, in the most gracious, and the kindest manner, to dispense with the attendance of the Duchess of Kent, and the Princess, her daughter.'
"Upon these two accounts we may observe, that the latter takes no notice of the delay in answering the letters written by his Majesty's direction; and the former omits all mention of the King's graciously dispensing with the attendance of the illustrious personages at the Coronation. It may seem singular that the Duchess should first apply to know the place assigned to herself and the Princess, and, after these were known, decline attendance, if there were no dissatisfaction. But, perhaps, some cause for alarm might have sprung up, on the score of her daughter's health. The expense was no greater after the question about places was answered than before. However, his Majesty's acquiescence in the reasons alleged for absence, may serve to satisfy the objections of every other person.
"The claims of an heiress presumptive are not recognised, so far as we know, in any part of the Constitution; and to consolidate any pretensions of this hypothetical nature into an opposition to his Majesty, as it would be madness, we feel very well convinced, cannot be contemplated by her Royal Highness."
And with this episode we will close the coronation.
About this time Greville tells a little story of a Council Meeting.