by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Lord Alfred Paget by Southwell Brothers, albumen carte-de-visite 1860s, NPG x46527  © National Portrait Gallery, London

Lord Alfred Paget served Queen Victoria as Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal 1846 – 1858 and 1859-1874 and also as Clerk Marshal 1874 – 1888. Nearly everything about Lord Alfred in the series “Victoria” is incorrect.

Lord Alfred Henry Paget was born on June 29, 1816, in Cavendish Square, London. He was the fourth of the ten children and the second of the five sons of Field Marshal Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, the eldest son of Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge, and his second wife Lady Charlotte Cadogan, daughter of Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan, and Mary Churchill, a niece of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough.

In 1795, Alfred’s father Henry Paget first married Lady Caroline Villiers, daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, and his wife Frances, one of King George IV’s mistresses when he was Prince of Wales. The couple had eight children who were Lord Alfred’s half-siblings.

In 1810, before Lord Alfred’s father Henry Paget was created 1st Marquess of Anglesey, he and his first wife Lady Caroline were divorced as a result of Henry’s affair with Lady Charlotte Wellesley (born Lady Charlotte Cadogan), who was married to Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley, the brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, the military hero who led the forces against Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Charlotte’s brother Lieutenant-Colonel The Honorable Henry Cadogan challenged Paget to a duel, but neither was hurt. Caroline sued her husband for divorce and subsequently married George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll.

Lady Charlotte’s first husband divorced her on the grounds of her adultery with Henry Paget. In 1810, after the divorces, Charlotte and Henry Paget were married. In 1812, Henry became 2nd Earl of Uxbridge upon the death of his father. Henry was a prominent military commander who gained fame at the Battle of Waterloo, where he lost his leg. Henry was fitted with an artificial leg but his amputated leg was a tourist attraction in the village of Waterloo in Belgium before it was eventually buried there. On July 4, 1815, several weeks after the Battle of Waterloo, Henry was created Marquess of Anglesey.

Alfred had eight half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Lady Caroline Villiers:

• Lady Caroline Paget (1796 – 1874), married Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond,  had ten children including Lady Cecilia Gordon-Lennox who married Charles Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan; they are ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales
• Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey (1797 – 1869), married (1) Eleanora Campbell, granddaughter of John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, had three children  (2) Henrietta Bagot, had four children
• Lady Jane Paget (1798 – 1876), married Francis Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham, had six children
• Lady Georgina Paget (1800 – 1875), married Edward Crofton, 2nd Baron Crofton, had five children
• Lady Augusta Paget (1802 – 1872), married Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Templemore, had seven children
• Lord William Paget (1803 – 1873); married Frances de Rottenburg, had three children
• Lady Agnes Paget (1804 – 1845); married George Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford, had six children
• Lord Arthur Paget (1805 – 1825)

Alfred had nine siblings:

• Lady Emily Paget (1810 – 1893), married John Townshend, 1st Earl Sydney, no children
• Admiral Lord Sir Clarence Paget (1811 – 1895), married Martha Stuart Otway, daughter of Admiral Sir Robert Otway, had three children
• Lady Mary Paget (1812 – 1859), married John Montagu, 7th Earl of Sandwich, had six children
• General Lord George Paget (1818 – 1880), married (1) Agnes Paget, his first cousin, daughter of The Honorable Sir Arthur Paget, had two children (2) Louisa Heneage, no children
• Lady Adelaide Paget (1820 – 1890), married The Honorable Frederick Cadogan, son of George Cadogan, 3rd Earl Cadogan, had four children
• Lord Albert Paget (1821 – 1822)
• Lord Albert Paget (born and died 1823)
• Lady Eleanor Paget (born and died 1825)

Lord Alfred’s family had several connections to royalty:

1st Marquess of Anglesey carried St Edward’s Crown at George IV’s coronation; Credit – Wikipedia

• Lord Alfred’s father Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey served as Lord High Steward of England at the coronation of King George IV in 1821 and carried St. Edward’s Crown.

Victoria Regina: Queen Victoria receiving the news of her Accession by Henry Tamworth Wells, 1887. Lord Conyngham is on the left; Credit – The Royal Collection Trust

• Lord Alfred’s brother-in-law Francis Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham who married his half-sister Lady Jane Paget was a Page of Honor to the Prince Regent (later King George IV). He then served as a Groom of the Bedchamber and Master of the Robes during the reign of King George IV. In 1835, during the reign of King William IV, Lord Conyngham was appointed Lord Chamberlain, the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. As Lord Chamberlain, Lord Conyngham and William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury went to Kensington Palace at 5 AM on June 20, 1837, to inform Princess Victoria that her uncle King William IV had died and she was now Queen. Lord Conyngham was the first person to address her as “Your Majesty”.

Lord Alfred’s half-brother Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey; Credit – Wikipedia

• Lord Alfred’s half-brother Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey, then styled the Earl of Uxbridge, served as Lord Chamberlain after his brother-in-law Lord Conyngham, from 1839 – 1841.

Lord Alfred’s niece, Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill; Credit – Wikipedia

• Lord Conyngham and his wife Lady Jane Paget, Lord Alfred’s half-sister, were the parents of Lady Jane Conyngham, Lord Alfred’s niece, who married Francis Spencer, 2nd Baron Churchill. As Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill, she served as a Lady of the Bedchamber and a devoted friend and trusted advisor to Queen Victoria for forty-six years, from 1854 until she died in 1900, making her the longest-serving member of Queen Victoria’s household.

Queen Victoria Receiving the Sacrament at her Coronation by Charles Robert Leslie – Lady Adelaide Paget is among the young women wearing white dresses on the right. She is the in the second row, the far one with her head turned; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

• Lord Alfred’s sister Lady Adelaide Paget was one of the eight train-bearers at Queen Victoria’s coronation.

• Lord Alfred’s first cousin Matilda Paget (1811 – 1871) served as Maid of Honor to Queen Victoria from 1837 – 1842. Matilda never married.  Her father was The Honorable Berkeley Thomas Paget, brother of Lord Alfred’s father.

• Lord Alfred’s second but eldest surviving daughter Evelyn Cecilia Paget served as Maid of Honor to Queen Victoria from 1874 – 1894.  Evelyn never married.

Lord Alfred Henry Paget by Richard James Lane, after Alfred, Count D’Orsay, lithograph with some hand-colouring, (July 1841) NPG D46269 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Lord Alfred began his military career as a lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards and in 1854 reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Lord Alfred served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Lichfield from 1837 until 1865, when he was defeated by the Conservative Richard Dyott.

Lord Alfred first served Queen Victoria as Chief Equerry.  Except for some brief periods, he remained in her service until he died in 1888. Queen Victoria was particularly endeared to Lord Alfred because as a new equerry, he wore her portrait on a chain around his neck and so did his Golden Retriever Mrs. Bumps. From July 1846 to March 1852, from December 1852 to March 1858, and from June 1859 to 1888, Alfred served Queen Victoria as Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal. The offices of Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal had been combined but in 1874, they were separated. From 1874 – 1888, Alfred was only Chief Marshal. An Equerry serves as an aide-de-camp, more or less a personal assistant. As Clerk Marshal, Alfred was responsible for paying the Royal Household officers and servants. He was also responsible for submitting the accounts of the Royal Household to the Board of Green Cloth which then audited them.

Lord Alfred Paget with his daughter Violet sitting on his knee, Gerald on the left, George on the right,  1859; Photo Credit – Royal Collection Trust

On April 8, 1847, at St. James’s Church in Piccadilly, London, Alfred married Cecilia Wyndham, co-heiress with her elder sister of George Thomas Wyndham. Alfred and Cecilia had fourteen children. Their first child was named Victoria Alexandrina after Queen Victoria.

• Victoria Alexandrina Paget (1848 – 1859), died in childhood
• Evelyn Cecilia Paget (1849 – 1904), Maid of Honor to Queen Victoria 1874 – 1894, unmarried
• General Sir Arthur Henry Fitzroy Paget (1851 – 1928), married American heiress Mary “Minnie” Stevens, had four children
• Admiral Sir Alfred Wyndham Paget (1852 – 1918), married Alpini Viti Macgregor, had one daughter
• Major George Thomas Cavendish Paget (1853 – 1939), married Dorothy St. Vincent Parker-Jervis, no children, divorced
• Captain Gerald Cecil Stewart Paget (1854 – 1913), married Lucy Annie Emily Gardner, had two daughters
• Violet Mary Paget (1856 – 1908), married Reverend Sholto Campbell, 2nd Baron Blythswood, no children
• Sydney Augustus Paget (1857 – 1916), married Mary Elizabeth Dolan, no children
• Amy Olivia Paget (1858 – 1948), unmarried
• Alberta Victoria Paget (1859 – 1945), unmarried
• Almeric Hugh Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough (1861 – 1949), married (1) American heiress Pauline Payne Whitney, had two daughters (2) American heiress Edith Starr Miller, had three daughters
• Alice Maud Paget (1862 – 1925), married Captain Claud Edward Stracey-Clitherow, no children
• Alexandra Harriet Paget (1863 – 1944), married Edward Colebrooke, 1st Baron Colebrooke, had three children
• Guinevere Eva Paget (1869 – 1894), married Reginald Charles Hart Dyke, had one son

Caricature of Lord Alfred Paget published in Vanity Fair in 1875; Credit – Wikipedia

Lord Alfred Paget died unexpectedly on his yacht off the coast of Inverness, Scotland on August 24, 1888, at the age of 72. He was buried at St, Mary’s Church, Hampton in Hampton, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England.

St. Mary’s Church, Hampton; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• “Alfred Henry Paget”. It.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Henry_Paget. Accessed 28 May 2018.
• “Henry Paget, 1St Marquess Of Anglesey”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Paget,_1st_Marquess_of_Anglesey. Accessed 28 May 2018.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.
• “Lord Alfred Paget”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Alfred_Paget. Accessed 28 May 2018.
• “Lord Alfred Paget”. Thepeerage.Com, 2018, http://www.thepeerage.com/p612.htm#i6117. Accessed 28 May 2018.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Charles Elmé Francatelli, drawn by Auguste Hervieu and engraved by Samuel Freeman, 1846; Credit – Wikipedia

Read about others who served Queen Victoria at Unofficial Royalty: Queen Victoria’s Inner Circle Index.

A thank you to Colin Smythe who emailed me in 2020 and shared his article on Charles Elmé Francatelli which helped me fill in some missing details.

Charles Elmé Francatelli served as maitre d’hôtel and chief cook in ordinary to Queen Victoria from 1840 – 1842. His story in the TV series Victoria is mostly fictional. He did marry (but not to Queen Victoria’s dresser) and had children.

Charles Elmé Francatelli was born in 1805 in London, England, the second son of Nicholas Francatelli, the first Francatelli to arrive in England. He was educated in France at the Parisian College of Cooking where he studied culinary arts with Antonin Carême, known as “The King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings.” When Francatelli returned to England, he became chef de cuisine (executive chef) to several members of the nobility. He became chef de cuisine at the St. James’s Club, popularly known as Crockford’s.

For two years only, from March 9, 1840 to March 31, 1842, Francatelli served as maitre d’hôtel and chief cook in ordinary to Queen Victoria. For some reason, he was dismissed, perhaps because Queen Victoria did not like his French cuisine, and he returned to Crockford’s. Francatelli did have one more royal client. From 1863 – 1865, he served as chef de cuisine to The Prince and Princess of Wales (the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) at their London home, Marlborough House.

During his career, Francatelli was chef de cuisine at the Coventry House Club and the Reform Club. Afterward, he managed the St. James’s Hotel in Piccadilly, London, and finally the Freemasons’ Tavern, a position he held until shortly before his death.

Francatelli was a very successful cookbook author. In 1845, he published The Modern Cook which ran through twelve editions. His next book was The Cook’s Guide and Butler’s Assistant published in 1861. The same year, he published Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes which contained practical information valuable to the less affluent people. In 1862, The Royal English and Foreign Confectionery Book was published.

Very little is known about Francatelli’s personal life. He did marry (but not to Queen Victoria’s dresser Marianne Skerrett as depicted in the television series Victoria) and have children. His first wife was named Elizabeth (circa 1807-1869, birth surname unknown). They had two children: Ernest (circa1835-1888) and Emily who was born about a year before Ernest.

After his first wife died, the 65-year-old Francatelli married again in 1870 to 25-year-old Elizabeth Cooke. They had a son named after his father, Charles Elmé Francatelli who was born in 1875, and two daughters who died in childhood: Violet (1872-1873), and Bessie (1874-1880).

Charles Elmé Francatelli died in Eastbourne, England on August 10, 1876, at the age of 71, leaving his widow with two young children. His widow Elizabeth Cooke died in 1882, leaving the only surviving child, his father’s namesake, as the guardian of her brother.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• “Charles Elmé Francatelli”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Elm%C3%A9_Francatelli. Accessed 27 May 2018.
• “Charles Elmé Francatelli”. It.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Elm%C3%A9_Francatelli. Accessed 27 May 2018.
• “Francatelli, Charles Elmé (DNB00) – Wikisource, The Free Online Library”. En.Wikisource.Org, 2018, https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Francatelli,_Charles_Elm%C3%A9_(DNB00). Accessed 27 May 2018.
• Oulton, Randal. “Charles Elmé Francatelli”. Cooksinfo.Com, 2018, http://www.cooksinfo.com/charles-elme-francatelli. Accessed 27 May 2018.
• Smythe, Colin, 2014. Charles Elmé Francatelli, Crockford’s, And The Royal Connection – Colin Smythe. [online] Colin Smythe. Available at: <https://colinsmythe.co.uk/charles-elme-francatelli-crockfords-and-the-royal-connection/> [Accessed 4 July 2020].

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Marianne Skerrett attributed to Dr. Ernest Becker, circa 1859; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Marianne Skerrett was the Head Dresser and Wardrobe-Woman to Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1862. The depiction of Queen Victoria’s dresser in the television series Victoria is completely false and an insult to the real person.

Born in London, England on June 20, 1793, Marianne Skerrett was the daughter of a British Army officer who owned a plantation in Bermuda. Her uncle had been sub-treasurer to Queen Charlotte, Victoria’s paternal grandmother. Her great-grandfather William Popple had been a Governor of Bermuda. Marianne was born in 1793, so she was 44 years old when 18-year-old Victoria became queen. She was intelligent, extremely well-read, and fluent in Danish, French, and German. Recommended to Queen Victoria by Louisa Petty-FitzMaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne, a Lady of the Bedchamber, Marianne became one of Queen Victoria’s two dressers in 1837 and eventually became head dresser.

As the head dresser, Marianne, who was called Skerrett by Queen Victoria, was responsible for Victoria’s wardrobe. She oversaw the ordering of Queen Victoria’s clothing, shoes, hats, gloves, and undergarments. In addition, Marianne kept the wardrobe accounts and was diligent in checking all the bills to ensure no one tried to cheat Victoria. She was also responsible for supervising the hairdressers, dressmakers, and seamstresses who kept the royal wardrobe in good repair.

Marianne and Victoria had a lot in common. They were both intelligent, loved animals, spoke several languages, read and discussed books, and shared an interest in paintings and painters. Victoria would come to rely on Marianne to help with the purchase of paintings and in corresponding with artists. After the departure in 1842 of Baroness Louise Lehzen, Victoria’s former governess and then advisor and companion, Marianne took on some of her duties, becoming somewhat of a secretary and doing whatever Victoria needed her to do.

After 25 years of serving Queen Victoria, Marianne retired in 1862 at the age of 69. She was anxious to return to the world beyond the palace walls. She wrote about her retirement, “This year I shall hope and trust to be able to say and do to a certain extent what I have so long been wanting to do…” Marianne received a pension of £70 and went to live with her sister in the Marylebone section of London.

Marianne Skerrett by Rosa Koberwein, 1880; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Marianne Skerrett remained in contact with Queen Victoria, visiting her and writing to her, until her death at 41 Beaumont Street in Marylebone, London, England on July 29, 1887, at the age of 94. She bequeathed to Queen Victoria a painting by the British painter William Hogarth, The Popple and Ashley Families,  a colonial family in Bermuda, one of which had been Marianne’s grandmother (the child in the painting). The painting is currently in the Royal Collection.  Upon hearing that Marianne Skerrett had died Queen Victoria wrote in her journal: “She came to me at my accession, & was most useful at the head of my Wardrobe, ordering everything, looking over my bills, &c, & arranging with the different artists. She was quite a superior person, very clever, read enormously, had an intense passion for animals, & was a great friend of Landseer’s, & of many of the artists.”

The Popple and Ashley Families by William Hogarth; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Read about others who served Queen Victoria at Unofficial Royalty: Queen Victoria’s Inner Circle Index.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria.Simon and Schuster, 1997.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Sir James Clark, 1st Baronet; Credit – Wikipedia

Sir James Clark served as Queen Victoria’s Physician-in-Ordinary from 1837 – 1860.

Sir James Clark was born on December 14, 1788, at Cullen House in Cullen, Banffshire, Scotland where his father David Clark, married to Isabella Scott, was the butler of James Ogilvy, 7th Earl of Findlater.  Clark started his education at the kirk (church) school in Cullen. When his parents moved to Kilnhillock, Clark attended the nearby Fordyce School, a prestigious grammar school in the village of Fordyce, Banffshire, Scotland. Clark intended to be a lawyer and enrolled at the University of Aberdeen. He worked for a short time as a lawyer before abandoning his law career and enrolling at the University of Edinburgh to study medicine and in 1809, Clark qualified as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

After further medical training at the Royal Hospital Haslar in Hampshire, England, Clark began a career in the medical service of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. While on board naval ships, he developed a life-long passion for meteorology and how the weather interacts with the human body. At the end of the wars, Clark enrolled in the University of Edinburgh and graduated with an M.D. degree in 1817.

In 1818, Clark offered to accompany a patient suffering from advanced tuberculosis to Italy. He settled in Rome in 1819, established a medical practice there, and treated many wealthy British expatriates. One of his patients was the poet John Keats who was quite ill. Clark concluded that his illness was a stomach ailment caused by stress and put Keats on a starvation diet and regularly bled him. Keats died after four months of treatment by Clark who has since been criticized for his failure to diagnose tuberculosis.

While serving in the Royal Navy, Clark had visited the home of the Reverend John Stephen in Nassau in the Bahamas. He fell in love with Rev. Stephen’s daughter Barbara. The couple married in 1820 and had one son John Forbes Clark. In 1826, Clark and his family moved to London where he set up a practice on George Street, Hanover Square.

During the summers, Clark acted as physician to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (King Leopold I of the Belgians from 1831) as he traveled through the spa towns of Germany. Through this connection, in 1835, Clark was appointed physician to Leopold’s sister the Duchess of Kent (born Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld), the widow of King George III’s son Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. The Duchess’ only child Princess Victoria of Kent was the heir to the British throne. Several months after she acceded to the throne in June 1837, Queen Victoria appointed Clark her Physician-in-Ordinary and created him Baronet of St. George’s Hanover Square, London.

Even though Clark treated renowned patients, his abilities as a medical doctor were doubtful. George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon said he would not trust Clark to “attend a sick cat.” It seems his medical career owed more to his diplomatic treatment of his patients rather than his medical competence. There were several instances of his medical incompetence while he served as the royal Physician-in-Ordinary.

Lady Flora Hastings; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1839, Clark’s misdiagnosis and a desire to please Queen Victoria led the court into the Lady Flora Hastings scandal. Lady Flora, a lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Kent, went to see Clark because of nausea, pain, and swelling in her lower abdomen and back. Clark was confused that Flora was still able to do her job if she was really ill.  He tried to examine her under her stays but Lady Flora refused. He then asked her if she was secretly married, intimating that she was pregnant, which Flora strongly denied. Clark insisted that Flora confess to save her reputation.  It appeared that Clark was ignorant of any condition other than pregnancy that could cause a distended stomach.  He prescribed rhubarb pills and a lotion to rub on her stomach. At that same time, some of the Queen’s ladies and Baroness Lehzen (Queen Victoria’s former governess) noticed that Lady Flora’s abdomen appeared swollen and rumors of pregnancy began swirling around the court.

Eventually, Lady Flora agreed to a doctor’s examination and Sir James Clark enlisted Sir Charles Clarke, a specialist in women’s health, to do the examination. A February 17, 1839 examination showed that Flora could not be pregnant because she was still a virgin. Queen Victoria apologized to Lady Flora and hoped that the situation was over but it was not. Despite the fact that the news about Flora’s innocence became public, rumors did not stop, and she still attracted attention with her growing belly. Lady Flora felt that she had to defend herself and published her version of events in the form of a letter that appeared in The Examiner, and blamed “a certain foreign lady” (Lehzen) for spreading the rumors.

In June, it became apparent that Lady Flora, still performing her duties at court, was mortally ill. On June 27, 1839, Queen Victoria visited Flora and was horrified by the changes in her appearance. Lady Flora died on July 5, 1839, at the age of 33. An autopsy carried out according to Lady Flora’s last wishes showed that she died from a cancerous liver tumor.

In the September 1839 issue of the medical journal The Lancet, Dr. John Fisher Murray wrote an article An Autopsy of a Court Doctor, describing several other diseases, the symptoms of which were shown in Lady Flora, which Sir James Clark did not take into account upon treating her. Even though Clark was considered incompetent, he remained in royal service.

Victoria, Princess Royal with her father Prince Albert, 1841; Credit – Wikipedia

In January 1842, Victoria, Princess Royal (Vicky), the 14-month-old eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert became ill and Clark was called in to examine her. Prince Albert had objected to Clark due to his terrible mishandling of the Lady Flora Hastings affair in 1839. Clark diagnosed Vicky’s illness as a minor ailment and, incorrectly as it turned out, prescribed calomel, a laxative, and then, a common medicine. Unknown at that time, calomel, which contained mercury chloride, was toxic. Vicky did not become better but rather became seriously ill. Albert confronted Victoria on the incompetence of the nursery staff. In a furious note to his wife, Albert wrote, “Dr. Clark has mismanaged the child and poisoned her with calomel and you have starved her. I shall have nothing more to do with it, take the child away and do as you like and if she dies you will have it on your conscience.” Vicky survived and Clark remained in royal service.

The last moments of HRH the Prince Consort, Photo Credit: Wellcome Library, London

Clark’s incompetence even occurred as Prince Albert was on his deathbed. In late November 1861, Albert complained of shoulder, leg, back, and stomach pain and could not eat or sleep. Clark had been in semi-retirement since 1860 and William Jenner had been appointed Physician-in-Ordinary in 1861. Both Clark and Jenner examined Albert and then assured Victoria that Albert would be better in two or three days. Lord Palmerston, the Prime Minister, had no faith in Clark and wanted other doctors called in. Queen Victoria refused to doubt Clark’s competence.

However, Albert’s condition continued to worsen. Knowing Clark’s nature to please his patients, it is possible that he decided to conceal the serious nature of Albert’s condition but he was also clearly incompetent. On December 9, 1861, Dr. Jenner, an expert on typhoid fever, finally said Albert had typhoid fever. Victoria continued to hope for a recovery and on December 11, she was finally told of Albert’s dismal prognosis. At 10:50 PM on December 14, 1861, Albert died in the presence of his wife and five of their nine children. Although Jenner diagnosed Albert’s final illness as typhoid fever, Albert’s modern biographers have argued that the diagnosis is incorrect. Albert had been complaining of stomach pains for two years and this may indicate that he died of some chronic disease, perhaps Crohn’s disease, kidney failure, or cancer. It is possible that Clark’s incompetence in the years preceding Albert’s death played a role in the failure of Albert’s health.

Sir James Clark, 1867; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Clark retired to Bagshot Park, a house in Surrey, England granted to him by Queen Victoria. He died there on June 29, 1870, at the age of 81, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in London.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• http://history.furman.edu/benson/hst323/Sir_James_ClarkDNB.pdf. Accessed 16 May 2018.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.
• “James Clark”. It.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark. Accessed 16 May 2018.
• “Sir James Clark, 1st Baronet”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_James_Clark,_1st_Baronet. Accessed 16 May 2018.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Christian Friedrich, Baron von Stockmar; Credit – Wikipedia

Christian Friedrich, Baron von Stockmar was an advisor to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert from 1837-1847.

Christian Friedrich Stockmar was the second of the four children of Johann Ernst Gotthelf Stockmar and his wife Johanna Christiane Sommer. In 1768, Ernst Friedrich Stockmar, grandfather of Christian Friedrich Stockmar, acquired a manor in Obersiemau close to Coburg, then in the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and now in Bavaria, Germany. That is where Christian Friedrich Stockmar was born on August 22, 1787, and where he grew up. The manor has remained in the possession of the Stockmar family to this day.

Stockmar attended the gymnasium (German high school) Casimirianum in Coburg, founded and named for Johann Casimir, Duke of Saxe-Coburg (1564-1633). The Casimirianum is still an operating school today.

Gymnasium Casimirianum in Coburg; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

From 1805 to 1810, Stockmar studied medicine at the Friedrich-Alexander-University in Erlangen (now in Nuremberg) and the Julius Maximilians University in Würzburg.  After passing his exams, Stockmar settled in Coburg and worked with his mother’s brother who was also a physician. In 1812, he became a government medical officer in Coburg and established a military hospital. In January 1814, Stockmar became a senior physician with the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld military forces in the Napoleonic Wars against France.

Engraving of the wedding of Charlotte and Leopold in 1816; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1816, Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the youngest sibling of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, married Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV) and the only legitimate grandchild of King George III. Stockmar accompanied Prince Leopold to England as his personal physician and became his most influential advisor.

Princess Charlotte was second in the line of succession to the British throne and she would have succeeded her father, the future King George IV, as the queen but on November 6, 1817, a great tragedy struck the British Royal Family. After a labor of over 50 hours, Charlotte delivered a stillborn son. Several hours later, twenty-one-year-old Princess Charlotte died of postpartum hemorrhage. After Charlotte’s death, Leopold continued to live in England and Stockmar stayed in Leopold’s service as his private secretary, comptroller of the household, and political advisor.

On August 12, 1821, Stockmar married his cousin Fanny Sommer, a pharmacist’s daughter from Coburg. The couple had three children:

• Ernst Alfred Christian von Stockmar (1823-1886)
• Marie von Stockmar (1827-1856), married Hermann Hettner, a literary historian, and museum director, had three children
• Carl August von Stockmar (1838-1909) married Anna von Haynau, had seven children

Stockmar represented Prince Leopold at the London Conference on the Independence of Greece. At the conference, the Great Powers established a monarchy in Greece and Prince Leopold was their first choice to be king. Following Stockmar’s advice, Leopold refused because he considered the country too unstable, and Otto of Bavaria became King of Greece. On January 20, 1830, King Ludwig I of Bavaria created Stockmar a Baron.

King Leopold I of the Belgians; Credit – Wikipedia

In August 1830, the southern provinces (modern-day Belgium) of the Netherlands rebelled against Dutch rule. International powers meeting in London agreed to support the independence of Belgium, although the Dutch refused to recognize the new country. On April 22, 1831, Prince Leopold was asked by the Belgian National Congress if he wanted to be King of the Belgians. Leopold swore allegiance to the new Belgian constitution on July 21, 1831, and became the first King of the Belgians.

In 1831, Stockmar retired to his home at Coburg in order not to upset the Belgians by being a foreigner residing at the Belgian court in the capacity of confidential advisor to the king. However, Stockmar continued to be Leopold’s right-hand man. He had been in contact with the leading statesmen of Europe and his deep understanding of European social and political issues impressed all who were associated with him.

In 1837, 18-year-old Queen Victoria came to the British throne. Her mother was born Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the sister of King Leopold I of the Belgians. After the death in 1820 of his sister’s husband, King George III’s son Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Leopold provided much-needed financial and emotional support to his sister and niece. In 1837, King Leopold sent Stockmar to England as an advisor to his niece Queen Victoria. One of Stockmar’s assignments was to assess the distressing situation between Queen Victoria, her mother, her mother’s comptroller Sir John Conroy and Victoria’s former governess and now her unofficial “lady attendant” Baroness Louise Lehzen.

Stockmar also played the role of the Coburg matchmaker. In 1835, the first husband of Queen Maria II of Portugal died after only two months of marriage. King Leopold and Stockmar immediately saw an opportunity for a Coburg match. Through negotiations, Stockmar arranged for Leopold’s nephew Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to marry the widowed queen. The marriage was a happy one and the couple had eleven children.

However, the biggest match was yet to come. King Leopold had another nephew the same age as his niece Queen Victoria. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the second of two sons of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Leopold’s eldest brother. In 1836, the first cousins met for the first time when Albert and his elder brother Ernst (the future Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) were taken by their father on a visit to England. Seventeen-year-old Victoria seemed instantly infatuated with Albert. In 1838, Stockmar accompanied Prince Albert on his tour of Italy partly as a tutor but also intending to satisfy King Leopold and Victoria as to Albert’s fitness for the position already marked out for him in England. In October 1839, Albert and Ernst again visited England, staying at Windsor Castle with Victoria, who was now Queen. On October 15, 1839, the 20-year-old monarch summoned her cousin Albert and proposed to him.

On January 1, 1840, at the State Opening of Parliament, Queen Victoria announced her upcoming wedding. Several days later, Stockmar, as Prince Albert’s representative in London, negotiated the marriage contract with Foreign Minister Lord Palmerston, discussing details about Albert’s Protestant religion, his naturalization as a British subject, his rank, his powers, and his financial provisions. Albert and Victoria were married on February 10, 1840, and Stockmar left England for Coburg in early August. However, he returned in November for the birth of Albert and Victoria’s first child Victoria, Princess Royal. Stockmar had the complete confidence of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, and he became their trusted, unofficial advisor, dividing his time between England and continental Europe. One of the first issues Stockmar worked on was making the royal household more efficient. This did not happen overnight but along with Prince Albert, Stockmar worked on developing a system for running the royal household. He was an early advisor to Queen Victoria on the subject of foreign relations.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Windsor Castle with their eldest child Victoria, Princess Royal; Credit – Wikipedia

In January 1842, Victoria, Princess Royal (Vicky), the 14-month-old eldest child of Victoria and Albert became ill. Vicky’s illness was misdiagnosed as a minor ailment and she was prescribed calomel, a laxative and at that time, a common medicine. Unknown at that time, calomel, which contained mercury chloride, was toxic. Vicky did not become better but rather became seriously ill. Albert confronted Victoria on the incompetence of the nursery staff. There was a very heated quarrel, after which Albert declared that he would leave the affair in Victoria’s hands, and it would be on her head if Vicky died. Stockmar often acted as an intermediary between Albert and Victoria when they were quarreling and he did so in this matter. Vicky did survive and her parents turned to Stockmar for advice on the nursery staff.

In March 1842, Stockmar presented to Albert and Victoria a 32-page memorandum in which he stated that the head of the nursery staff must be someone who was “good and intelligent, experienced in the treatment of children, of kind and refined manners, conciliatory and at the same time firm of purpose.” He even had a person in mind, Sarah Lyttelton, Baroness Lyttelton, who was appointed the superintendent of the nursery. She was so beloved by the royal children that they continued to call her “Laddle” even when they were grown up. Stockmar went on to devise education plans for the two eldest royal children, Vicky and her brother Edward Albert, called Bertie, the Prince of Wales.

Since the winter of 1842, Stockmar lived alternately in England and Coburg. He returned to Coburg in 1847 and lived there on a more permanent basis. He remained Albert’s advisor via letters and Albert continually begged him to come to England. In 1848, Stockmar was appointed the ambassador of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the Parliament of the German Confederation.  He supported the unification of German states under Prussia and close relations between the German states and the United Kingdom.

Stockmar’s last residence – Webergasse 21 in Coburg; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

In 1856, Stockmar visited England for the last time and after 1857, he resided only in Coburg. However, he continued corresponding with the Belgian and British royal courts. In pursuit of his idea of a British-German alliance, he supported the marriage of Victoria, Princess Royal and Prince Friedrich of Prussia, the future Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia. Stockmar could not attend their wedding in early 1858 for health reasons. In 1860, Albert and Victoria visited him in Coburg. After Albert died in 1861, Victoria came alone in 1862 to visit Stockmar. Vicky and her husband, now Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Prussia, visited him frequently.

Christian Friedrich, Baron von Stockmar died in Coburg following a stroke on July 9, 1863, at the age of 75. He was buried in the simple Stockmar family tomb at Glockenberg Cemetery in Coburg, where the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Ducal Mausoleum is also located. Later, Vicky and her husband erected a tomb for Stockmar in the Neo-Renaissance style. Queen Victoria, who died in 1901, had left a list of items to be buried with her, and among the many items on the list was a locket containing the hair of her trusted advisor, Christian Friedrich, Baron von Stockmar.

Tomb of Christian Friedrich, Baron von Stockmar; Photo Credit – Von Störfix – Selbst fotografiert, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4010172

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.
• “Christian Friedrich Von Stockmar”. De.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Friedrich_von_Stockmar. Accessed 14 May 2018.
• “Christian Friedrich, Baron Stockmar”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Friedrich,_Baron_Stockmar. Accessed 14 May 2018.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Credit – Wikipedia

Lady Flora Hastings was a Lady-in-Waiting to The Duchess of Kent, Queen Victoria’s mother, from 1834 – 1839.

Lady Flora Elizabeth Rawdon-Hastings was born on February 11, 1806, in Edinburgh, Scotland, the eldest of the six children of Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings and Flora Mure-Campbell, 6th Countess of Loudoun.  Lady Flora’s father served in the Irish House of Commons from 1781 – 1783 and was Governor-General of India from 1813 – 1823. He also served with British forces during the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary Wars.

Lady Flora had five younger siblings:

• The Honorable Francis Rawdon-Hastings (born and died 1807)
• George Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings (1808 – 1844), married Barbara Yelverton, 20th Baroness Grey de Ruthyn, had six children
• Lady Sophia Rawdon-Hastings (1809 – 1859), married John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute and had one child
• Lady Selina Rawdon-Hastings (1810 – 1867), married Charles Henry, no children
• Lady Adelaide Rawdon-Hastings (1812 – 1860), married Sir William Murray, 7th Baronet of Octertyre, no children

Flora spent most of her childhood at Loudoun Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland, the family estate of her mother, the 6th Countess of Loudoun in her own right. Then the family stayed for some time in London, where in 1834, Lady Flora was appointed to the position of the lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Kent, the mother of the future Queen Victoria.

Flora was a talented, educated woman who wrote poetry and had a sharp, biting wit. Her talent for stinging remarks caused many people at court to dislike her including Baroness Louise Lehzen, the governess of the future Queen Victoria. As an ally of The Duchess of Kent and her Comptroller Sir John Conroy, Lady Flora participated in their Kensington System, a strict and elaborate set of rules to control and influence Princess Victoria.

After her accession to the throne in June 1837 and her subsequent move to Buckingham Palace, the 18-year-old Queen Victoria, being an unmarried woman, was forced to take her mother and her entire household with her. The Duchess of Kent tried to force Queen Victoria to appoint Lady Flora as one of the maids of honor. Victoria refused to do so, believing that any member of her mother’s household would act as a spy.

Portrait of Lady Flora from Pamphlet – Memoir of Lady Flora Hastings; Credit – Wikipedia

Lady Flora spent Christmas 1838 with her mother in Scotland and traveled back to London in a carriage with Sir John Conroy, unchaperoned, which caused some gossip at court. A short time after returning to London, Flora complained of nausea, pain, and swelling in her lower abdomen and back.

She told her complaints to Sir James Clark, Physician-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria.  Clark was confused that Flora was still able to do her job if she was really ill.  He tried to examine her under her stays but Lady Flora refused. He then asked her if she was secretly married, intimating that she was pregnant, which Flora strongly denied. Clark insisted that Flora confess to save her reputation.

It appeared that Clark was ignorant of any condition other than pregnancy that could cause a distended stomach.  He prescribed rhubarb pills and a lotion to rub on her stomach. At that same time, some of the Queen’s ladies and Baroness Lehzen noticed that Lady Flora’s abdomen appeared swollen and rumors of pregnancy began swirling around the court.

When Lady Tavistock (later Duchess of Bedford), senior Lady of the Bedchamber, came back to court to serve, she found the other ladies all in a to-do over the situation. She decided to inform Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister about the situation. Lord Melbourne advised a wait-and-see policy but he did consult with Sir James Clark who said there were reasons for suspicions that Lady Flora was pregnant.

By February 2, 1839, Queen Victoria was involved. On that day, she wrote in her diary that she and Lehzen believed Lady Flora “is – to use plain words – with child!” Suspicions were that Sir John Conroy was the father.

Eventually, Lady Flora agreed to a doctor’s examination and Sir James Clark enlisted Sir Charles Clarke, a specialist in women’s health, to do the examination. A February 17 examination showed that Flora could not be pregnant because she was still a virgin. Queen Victoria apologized to Lady Flora and hoped that the situation was over but it was not. Despite the fact that the news about Flora’s innocence became public, rumors did not stop, and she still attracted attention with her growing belly. Lady Flora felt that she had to defend herself and published her version of events in the form of a letter that appeared in The Examiner, and blamed “a certain foreign lady” (Lehzen) for spreading the rumors.

In June, it became apparent that Lady Flora, still performing her duties at court, was mortally ill. On June 27, 1839, Queen Victoria visited Flora and was horrified by the changes in her appearance. Lady Flora died on July 5, 1839, at the age of 33. An autopsy carried out according to Lady Flora’s last wishes showed that she died from a cancerous liver tumor. Lady Flora’s body was transported to Loudoun Castle where her funeral was attended by about 500 people. She was buried in the cemetery at Loudoun Kirk near Loudoun Castle in Scotland.

Grave of Lady Flora; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Sir John Conroy and George Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings, Flora’s brother, stirred up a press campaign against both Queen Victoria and Sir James Clark which attacked them for insulting and disgracing Lady Flora with false rumors. Some historians blame Queen Victoria for the heartless attitude and harassment of Flora. What happened to Lady Flora remained with Queen Victoria and she had nightmares about the situation for years. This horrible situation taught the young queen a valuable lesson – never listen to gossip and never humiliate others, especially in public.

In the September 1839 issue of the medical journal The Lancet, Dr. John Fisher Murray wrote an article An Autopsy of a Court Doctor, in which he described a number of other diseases, the symptoms of which were shown in Lady Flora, which Sir James Clark did not take into account upon treating her. Despite the fact that Clark was considered incompetent, he remained in royal service until his retirement in 1860.

A pamphlet cover published concerning the circumstances of the death of Lady Flora Hastings; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.
• “Lady Flora Hastings”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Flora_Hastings. Accessed 13 May 2018.
• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B3%D1%81,_%D0%A4%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Princess Victoria with Dash by George Hayter, 1833: Credit – Wikipedia

Dash was a King Charles Spaniel with a white coat and patches of black and tan owned by Queen Victoria.  Born in 1830, Dash came into the household on January 14, 1833, as a gift from Sir John Conroy to Victoria’s mother The Duchess of Kent. Victoria was 13 years old when Dash came into her mother’s household and because she was largely isolated from other children, the princess soon became attached to Dash. At Christmas 1833, Victoria gave Dash a set of rubber balls and two pieces of gingerbread. Victoria often wrote about Dash in her diary calling him “dear sweet little Dash” and “dear Dashy”.

Dash remained with Victoria after her accession to the throne and along with the Queen, he moved to Buckingham Palace. Victoria was very worried about how Dash would feel in his new environment but the spaniel adjusted well and enjoyed romping in the palace gardens. Upon her return to Buckingham Palace after her coronation on June 28, 1838, Victoria ran to her rooms to give Dash his bath.

A pencil drawing by Princess Victoria showing her beloved King Charles Spaniel Dash. He is shown seated, facing forward. Inscribed below: Dash /our dog./ P.V.del from nature. Jan 11th 1836; Credit – https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/980016-em

Victoria’s love for Dash very quickly became public knowledge and she began to receive different dogs as presents. She accepted all the dogs and Lord Melbourne, her first Prime Minister, joked that Victoria would soon sink into a sea of dogs. Dash, however, remained Victoria’s favorite pet.

Dash died on December 24, 1840, which greatly upset Victoria. He was buried at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor Home Park. Over Dash’s grave, a marble effigy was erected with the inscription:

Here lies
DASH
The favourite spaniel of Her Majesty Queen Victoria
In his 10th year
His attachment was without selfishness
His playfulness without malice
His fidelity without deceit
READER
If you would be beloved and die regretted
Profit by the example of
DASH

Dash (left) with Lory (parrot), Nero (greyhound) and Hector (Scottish deerhound) by Edwin Henry Landseer, 1838; Credit – Wikipedia

Queen Victoria and her family had many pets, including:

• Alma – a Shetland pony given by King Victor Emmanuel
• Dandie – a Skye terrier
• Dash – a King Charles spaniel
• Eos – a greyhound that Prince Albert brought from Germany
• Flora – a Shetland pony given by King Victor Emmanuel
• Goats –  Upon her accession to the throne, Queen Victoria was presented with a pair of Tibetan goats by the Shah of Iran. From these two goats, a royal goat herd was established at Windsor and then goats from this herd were then used as regimental mascots by the British Army.
• Nero – a greyhound
• Islay – a Skye terrier who died after losing a fight with a cat
• Jacquot – a donkey
• Unknown name – a lory, a medium-sized parrot
• Marco –  the first of Queen Victoria’s many Pomeranians.
• Hector – a deerhound
• Noble – Queen Victoria’s favorite collie.  Her daughter Princess Louise, who was a talented sculptor, created a statue of Noble which is in Osborne House.
• Picco – a Sardinian pony
• Sharp – a collie
• Turi – a Pomeranian who lay on Queen Victoria’s deathbed at her request
• Coco – an African grey parrot

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Baroness Louise Lehzen; Credit – Wikipedia

From 1824 – 1842, Baroness Louise Lehzen was the governess and then adviser and companion to Queen Victoria who called her Lehzen.

Johanna Clara Louise Lehzen was born on October 3, 1784, in Hanover (Germany), the youngest of the two sons and seven daughters of Joachim Friedrich Lehzen, a Lutheran pastor, and his wife Marie Catharina Melusine Palm, a pastor’s daughter. Joachim Lehzen had spent some time as a pastor at a German church in London and was fluent in English. While in London, he served as the tutor for the sons of several English families. When he returned to Hanover, Joachim ran a boys’ boarding school focusing on learning the English language. When he had his own children, Joachim taught them English.

Due to family circumstances, Lehzen had to work at an early age and she had excellent references from her employer, the aristocratic von Marenholtz family. Along with those references and the influence of Augustus Frederic Christopher Kollmanns, a composer, musical theorist, and organist from Hanover who lived in London and was the Organist, Clerk, and Chapel Keeper of His Majesty’s German Lutheran Chapel at St. James’s Palace, Lehzen obtained a position in the household of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, son of King George III.

In 1818, the Duke of Kent married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the widow of Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen. The new Duchess of Kent had two children, 14-year-old Karl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen and 11-year-old Princess Feodora of Leinigen. The Duke of Kent thought that Feodora needed a governess and so Lehzen was hired. On May 24, 1819, the Duke and Duchess of Kent had their only child, Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, the future Queen Victoria. The Duke and Duchess of Kent’s marriage was short as the Duke died on January 23, 1820.

The Duchess of Kent and her daughter Princess Victoria holding a miniature of her deceased father; Credit – Wikipedia

As Feodora grew older, she no longer needed a governess and in 1824, Lehzen became governess to the 5-year-old Victoria. Because of Victoria’s unique position – she was third in the line of succession after her childless uncles Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Prince William, Duke of Clarence (the future King William IV), Victoria needed to be well-educated. Lehzen gave Victoria a very solid early education. When Victoria turned eight, she began to receive lessons from tutors in French, German, writing, mathematics, drawing, dancing, music, and singing.

The Duchess of Kent developed a very close relationship with Sir John Conroy, her Comptroller and Private Secretary, who wanted to use his position with the mother of the future queen to obtain power and influence. Conroy and the Duchess tried to control and influence Victoria with their Kensington System, a strict and elaborate set of rules. Lehzen was strongly protective of Victoria and encouraged Victoria to become strong, informed, and independent from her mother’s and Conroy’s influence, causing friction between the two and Lehzen. The Duchess of Kent’s relationship with her daughter Victoria suffered greatly and did not normalize until Victoria herself had children.

Because of this conflict with her mother and Conroy, the young Victoria trusted only one person – Lehzen. Lehzen dedicated her life to ensuring that if Victoria became Queen, she would be intelligent and strong-minded. Lehzen was often criticized for her influence over Victoria but she was the only person who truly had only Victoria’s interests at heart. Victoria wrote in her diary about Lehzen, “the most affectionate, devoted, attached and disinterested friend I have.”

The Duke of York died in 1827 and now the Duke of Clarence was the heir presumptive and Victoria was second-in-line to the throne. Conroy complained that Victoria should not be surrounded by commoners and King George IV, also King of Hanover, created Lehzen a baroness of the Kingdom of Hanover. Shortly before, Victoria’s uncle the Duke of Clarence became king, Lehzen inserted a genealogical table in Victoria’s history book. Victoria carefully looked at it and said, “I see I am nearer to the throne than I thought,” and burst into tears. After she composed herself, Victoria said her famous remark, “I will be good.” When her uncle King George IV died in 1830 and the Duke of Clarence succeeded to the throne as King William IV, Victoria became the heir presumptive.

Victoria in 1833 with her dog Dash; Credit – Wikipedia

On May 24, 1837, Victoria turned 18 years old and it would not be necessary for the Duchess of Kent to serve as regent, much to the relief of Victoria’s uncle King William IV who intensely disliked the Duchess. Less than a month later, on June 20, 1837, King William IV died and Victoria acceded to the British throne. On the day Victoria became queen, she demonstrated her determination to free herself from her mother’s influence by ordering her bed to be removed from the room she and her mother had always shared. Victoria also immediately dismissed Conroy from her household but she could not dismiss him from her mother’s household. However, she sent both her mother and Conroy off to a distant wing of Buckingham Palace and cut off personal contact with them.

Lehzen continued to serve Victoria after she became Queen. She did not have an official position but was called, at her request, “lady attendant.” She had the Queen’s ear and her absolute confidence. Lehzen helped look after Victoria’s clothes and jewels, acted as an unofficial secretary, and was responsible for Victoria’s personal expenses. No bill for personal expenses was paid unless Lehzen had signed it. A door was installed between Queen Victoria’s bedroom and Lehzen’s bedroom.

Queen Victoria’s marriage to her first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840 caused significant changes in the household. Naturally, Albert began to influence Victoria, overshadowing Lehzen whose instincts were to protect Victoria. Albert and Lehzen soon developed a dislike for each other. In an effort to protect Victoria, Lehzen attempted to thwart Albert’s will. Albert found Lehzen repugnant and unworthy of befriending the Queen. To Albert, Lehzen was a servant who had risen above her place in life and he wanted Victoria to rely only on him, as her husband.

This conflict came to a head in January 1842 when Victoria, Princess Royal (Vicky), the 14-month-old eldest child of Victoria and Albert became ill. When Vicky was born on November 21, 1840, Queen Victoria trusted Lehzen to make the arrangements for the nursery staff. Lehzen put the nursery in the charge of two nursemaids, Mrs. Southey and Mrs. Roberts, and Sir James Clark who was Physician-in-Ordinary to the Queen. Albert had objected to Clark due to his terrible mishandling of the Lady Flora Hastings affair in 1839. Clark diagnosed Vicky’s illness as a minor ailment and, incorrectly as it turned out, prescribed calomel, a laxative and then, a common medicine. Unknown at that time, calomel, which contained mercury chloride, was toxic. Vicky did not become better but rather became seriously ill. Albert confronted Victoria on the incompetence of the staff selected by Lehzen. There was a very heated quarrel, after which Albert declared that he would leave the affair in her queenly hands, and it would be on her head if Vicky died.

Vicky recovered but Albert had enough of Lehzen and on July 25, 1842, without consulting Victoria, he dismissed Lehzen. Albert told Victoria that Lehzen wanted to go back to Hanover due to her ill health. Always protecting Victoria, Lehzen went along with Albert’s plan. In preparation for her departure from the household, Lehzen taught Victoria’s dresser Marianne Skerrett some of her duties. On the morning of September 30, 1842, Lehzen slipped away, leaving a letter for Queen Victoria rather than saying goodbye in person.

Lehzen was granted a generous annual pension of £800 and the gift of a carriage. She went to live with her sister in Bückeburg, then in the Principality of Schaumberg-Lippe, now in Lower Saxony, Germany but her sister died a few months later. Queen Victoria and Lehzen kept in touch via letters and Victoria even visited her several times. When Lehzen became infirm, Victoria gave her a gift of a “wheeled chair.” On September 9, 1870, Baroness Louise Lehzen died in Bückeburg at the age of 85. She was buried in the Jetenburger Cemetery in Bückeburg where Queen Victoria had a memorial to her erected.

Grave of Baroness Louise Lehzen; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com by Dieter Birkenmaier

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.
• “Louise Lehzen”. De.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Lehzen. Accessed 13 May 2018.
• “Louise Lehzen”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Lehzen. Accessed 13 May 2018.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Sir John Conroy, 1st Baronet of Llanbrynmair; Credit – Wikipedia

Sir John Conroy, 1st Baronet of Llanbrynmair was Equerry to Queen Victoria’s father The Duke of Kent from 1817 – 1820, and Comptroller and Private Secretary to Queen Victoria’s mother The Duchess of Kent from 1820 – 1839.

John Ponsonby Conroy was born on October 21, 1786, in Maes-y-Castell, Caerhun, Caernarvonshire, Wales, one of six children of John Ponsonby Conroy, a barrister, and Margaret Wilson. Both of Conroy’s parents came from Ireland. Conroy was privately educated by tutors.

When he was 17 years old, Conroy was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery and was soon promoted to First Lieutenant. In 1805, he enrolled in the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich which was a military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery. Conroy served in the British army during the Napoleonic Wars although he had a knack for avoiding battle which caused him to lose the respect of the other officers.

On December 26, 1808, Conroy married Elizabeth Fisher, the daughter of Major-General Benjamin Fisher. The couple had six children:

• Sir Edward Conroy, 2nd Baronet (1809 – 1869), married Lady Alice Parsons; their only child was the analytical chemist Sir John Conroy, 3rd Baronet
• Elizabeth Conroy (1811 – 1855)
• Arthur Conroy (1813 – 1817)
• Stephen Conroy (1815 – 1841)
• Henry Conroy (1817 – 1890)
• Victoria Conroy, known as Victoire (1819 – 1866), married Sir Wyndham Edward Hanmer, 4th Baronet

Conroy served under his father-in-law, performing various administrative duties, and was promoted to Captain in 1817. Through the influence of his wife’s uncle Dr. John Fisher, Bishop of Salisbury who had served as a tutor for King George III’s son Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Conroy was appointed the Duke of Kent’s Equerry in 1817. In 1818, the Duke of Kent, along with several of his brothers, married in an attempt to provide an heir to the throne after the death in childbirth of Princess Charlotte of Wales, King George III’s only legitimate grandchild. The Duke of Kent’s bride was Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the widow of Emich Karl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen.

After their marriage, the Duke and Duchess of Kent moved to Germany, where the cost of living was cheaper. Victoria became pregnant and the Duke and Duchess were determined to have their child born in England. The very efficient John Conroy arranged for the Duke and Duchess’ speedy return to England in time for the birth of their first and only child, Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, the future Queen Victoria, on May 24, 1819, at Kensington Palace in London.

In early January 1820, the Duke of Kent caught a cold but insisted on taking a walk out in the chilly weather. Within days, the cold worsened, and he became feverish and delirious and developed pneumonia. His condition was aggravated by the bleeding and cupping of his physician. The Duke became increasingly weaker and died on January 23, 1820, just six days before his father, King George III died. With the death of her father and her grandfather, little Drina, as she was called, was third in the line of succession after her uncles, Frederick, Duke of York (who would die in 1827) and William, Duke of Clarence (who would succeed his brother King George IV as King William IV. His niece Victoria would eventually succeed him.)

The Duke of Kent died deep in debt. Conroy had been named the executor of the Duke of Kent’s will. With the Duke of Kent’s death, Conroy would lose his position as Equerry. He needed to find another source of income so he offered his services as comptroller to the widowed Duchess of Kent and her daughter. The Duchess of Kent developed a very close relationship with Conroy who wanted to use his position with the mother of the future queen to obtain power and influence. Conroy and the Duchess tried to control and influence Victoria with their Kensington System, a strict and elaborate set of rules. The Duchess’ relationship with her daughter Victoria suffered greatly and did not normalize until Victoria herself had children.

Conroy’s children were among the few companions Princess Victoria was allowed. His youngest daughter Victoire, a few months younger than Victoria, often spent time with Princess Victoria. Princess Victoria was aware of Victoire’s inferior social rank and disliked her. She suspected that Victoire reported her activities to her father. Victoria was also aware that Conroy intended her to reward Victoire and her sister Jane with positions once she became queen.

In 1827, Frederick, Duke of York died making Princess Victoria the second in the line of succession after her uncle William, Duke of Clarence. Three years, later King George IV died and was succeeded by his brother King William IV. Victoria was now the heir presumptive. King William IV intensely disliked the Duchess of Kent and Conroy and vowed to live until Victoria was 18 years old to avoid a regency.

In 1835, Victoria became seriously ill with typhoid fever. While she was ill, the Duchess of Kent and Conroy unsuccessfully tried to force her into signing a document that would have appointed Conroy her personal secretary upon her accession to the throne. This incident motivated Victoria to become even more self-reliant. On May 24, 1837, Victoria turned 18 years old and it would not be necessary for the Duchess of Kent to serve as regent, much to the relief of Victoria’s uncle King William IV. Less than a month later, on June 20, 1837, King William IV died and Victoria acceded to the British throne.

When Victoria became Queen, she immediately dismissed Conroy from her household but she could not dismiss him from her mother’s household. However, she sent both her mother and Conroy off to a distant wing of the palace and cut off personal contact with them. On July 7, 1837, Queen Victoria created Conroy the 1st Baronet of Llanbrynmair with the understanding that he would not show himself at court in return. The title became extinct on the death of Sir John Conroy, 3rd Baronet in 1900. Conroy was finally persuaded by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington to leave the Duchess of Kent’s household in 1839.

Arborfield Hall; Credit – Wikipedia

After a stay in continental Europe, Conroy bought Arborfield Hall, near Reading, Berkshire, England in 1842. He became a gentleman farmer and won prizes for pig breeding. On March 2, 1854, Sir John Conroy, 1st Baronet of Llanbrynmair died, aged 67, at his home Arborfield Hall, in substantial debt. After his death, the Duchess of Kent finally agreed to have her financial accounts audited and acknowledged that significant funds were missing. She admitted that Conroy had swindled her and at the same time hurt her relationship with her daughter for his own benefit.

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Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Queen Victoria and her Indian servant Abdul Karim, known as The Munshi, in 1893; Credit – Wikipedia

Starting September 27, 2018, and continuing through January 8, 2019, Unofficial Royalty will be publishing a new series of articles, Queen Victoria’s Inner Circle, about some of the people who served Queen Victoria during her long reign. Articles for some of her relatives who lived during her reign are already linked in the Queen Victoria’s Inner Circle Index. Many of the articles are about people who were seen in the television series Victoria but their true life story may be very different than the story depicted in the series. As the series Victoria progresses, we may add additional articles.

Victoria Season 3 will premiere in the United States on Public Broadcasting Stations (PBS) on January 13, 2019. In the United Kingdom, Victoria Season 3 will be shown on ITV but as of yet, there is no premiere date.

The articles may be accessed at Queen Victoria’s Inner Circle Index

Included in the Queen Victoria’s Inner Circle are articles about:

Royal Household: There were three departments in Queen Victoria’s Royalty Household:

• The Department of the Lord Steward included the below stairs staff such as servants working in the kitchen, wine and beer cellars, porters, lamplighters, etc.
• The Department of The Lord Chamberlain included all the ceremonial officers, those in personal attendance on the Queen, such as Ladies of the Bedchamber and Grooms in Waiting, housekeepers, and housemaids.
• The Department of the Master of the Horse was responsible for the Royal Mews and transportation arrangements for royal trips and visits.

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Mistresses of the Robes: The Mistress of the Robes was always a Duchess and attended Queen Victoria on every State occasion. She had precedence over every lady of the Court and when in residence, presided at the Household table. She looked over and passed on the Queen’s personal bills sent to her from the Robes Office. During Queen Victoria’s reign, the Mistress of the Robes was a political appointment and changed when the political party of the government changed.

Notable Ladies of the Bedchamber: Ladies of the Bedchamber were always wives of peers. Only one Lady of the Bedchamber was in waiting at a time. She was always ready to attend to the Queen. The Lady-in-Waiting attended all State occasions and presided over the Household table when the Mistress of the Robes was not in residence. A Lady of the Bedchamber had two to three waits a year from twelve to thirty days at a time.

Prime Ministers: The Prime Minister was, and still is, the head of the government of the United Kingdom. By long-established practice, the monarch must appoint as Prime Minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons. This person is usually the leader of the political party or coalition of political parties that holds the largest number of seats in the House of Commons.

Private Secretaries: Lord Melbourne, Queen Victoria’s first Prime Minister, informally served as Private Secretary while he was Prime Minister 1837 – 1840. Prince Albert then informally served as Private Secretary 1840 – 1861, until his death. The official position of Private Secretary came about because it was realized that the monarch was in need of support because the growth of the government had caused the government ministers to have insufficient time to provide daily advice and support.