The King about the Time of his Marriage
From Photographs by Hughes and Mullins, Ryde
It was very characteristic of King Edward’s readiness to take any trouble to please those dear to him that wherever he went he collected a number of flowers or leaves from every famous spot. These, after having been carefully dried by him, were sent to his sister, the Princess Royal, afterwards the Empress Frederick, who had a particular taste for such memorials.
It was very soon after his return from the East that the King played for the first time an important part in a family gathering—the wedding of his favourite sister, Princess Alice, to Prince Louis of Hesse. The bride was given away by her uncle, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, but the young Prince of Wales acted as master of the house during the quiet week which preceded the ceremony.
CHAPTER VII
THE WEDDING OF KING EDWARD AND QUEEN ALEXANDRA
As is very generally known, the marriage of King Edward to Princess Alexandra of Denmark was brought about in quite a romantic fashion. It is said that long before His Majesty saw his future wife he was very much attracted by a glimpse of her photograph, shown him by one of his friends.
A more authoritative story of a photograph is told in the memoir of the late Duchess of Teck. The meeting at Heidelberg in September 1861, already referred to, took place when the Danish Princess and her father were on their way to join one of those famous family gatherings at Rumpenheim, and the Duchess of Teck’s biographer writes:—
“As soon as the Princess arrived at the Hessian Palace, her cousins were most anxious to hear all about the meeting, and much excitement followed when Princess Alexandra, producing a photograph from her pocket, laughingly exclaimed, ‘I have got him here!’”