Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Credit – Wikipedia

Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times during the reign of Queen Victoria (February 1852 – December 1852, 1858 – 1859, and 1866 – 1868) but his total time as Prime Minister adds up to only three years and nine months. Born on March 29, 1799, at Knowsley Hall in Knowsley, Lancashire, England, Stanley was the eldest of the seven children of Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby and Charlotte Margaret Hornby, daughter of Reverend Geoffrey Hornby. Stanley was educated at Eton College and at Christ Church, Oxford.

He had six younger siblings:

Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby; Credit – Wikipedia

The Stanley family has long-served kings. Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (1435 – 1504) was a power player during the Wars of the Roses, the battle for the crown of England between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. During the early part of the 1st Earl’s career, Henry VI was king and head of the House of Lancaster. The 1st Earl then formed a powerful alliance with the House of York when he married Eleanor Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury (a descendant of Edward III) and sister of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and 6th Earl of Salisbury known as “The Kingmaker”. After Warwick was killed and the 1st Earl’s first wife died, the 1st Earl of Derby married Lady Margaret Beaufort, whose son Henry Tudor was the leading Lancastrian claimant. The 1st Earl’s brother Sir William Stanley famously switched sides at the Battle of Bosworth. Instead of supporting King Richard III and the Yorkists, Sir William attacked them, helping to secure a victory for Henry Tudor, who became King Henry VII, and the Lancastrians. After the battle, Henry Tudor’s men were yelling, “God save King Henry!” Inspired by this, Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Debry found Richard’s battle crown and placed it on the head of his stepson, Henry Tudor, saying, “Sir, I make you King of England.”

In 1822, Stanley was elected as a Whig member of the House of Commons. He served as a member of the Cabinet in several positions: Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1827 – 1828), Chief Secretary for Ireland (1830 – 1833), and Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1833 – 1834 and 1841 – 1845). In 1844, Stanley was created Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe, a subordinate title of his father by a special Royal Decree called a Writ of Acceleration and he became a member of the House of Lords during his father’s lifetime. When his father died on June 30, 1851, he inherited his title as the 14th Earl of Derby.

Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby by Thomas Henry Illidge, 1844; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1841, Stanley became a member of the Conservative Party and he served as Leader of the Conservative Party from 1846 – 1868. He formed a minority government and became Prime Minister in February 1852 following the collapse of Lord John Russell‘s Whig government. Ten months later, the minority government fell. Stanley was the Leader of the Opposition from the time his first government fell until 1858. In that year, Stanley formed another minority government upon the resignation of Lord Palmerston as Prime Minister. However, once again his government was short-lived, lasting only one year, having narrowly lost a vote of no-confidence. Stanley again served as Leader of the Opposition from 1859 – 1866.

The Derby Cabinet of 1867 by Henry Gales, 1868; Credit – Wikipedia

Stanley returned to power for the third and last time in 1866, following the collapse of Lord Russell’s second government. This term was most noted for the Reform Act 1867, an electoral reform by which the new industrial cities for the first time received a significant representation in the House of Commons. In 1868, Stanley resigned as Prime Minister on advice from his doctor but continued to serve in the House of Lords until his death.

Emma Bootle-Wilbraham, Stanley’s wife; Credit – Wikipedia

On May 31, 1825, Stanley married The Honorable Emma Bootle-Wilbraham, daughter of Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Baron Skelmersdale. The couple had two sons and one daughter:

Stanley’s younger son, Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby served as Governor-General of Canada from 1888 – 1893. While in Canada, Stanley’s sons played ice hockey and Lord and Lady Stanley became hockey fans. In 1892, Stanley gave Canada a treasured national icon, the Stanley Cup. Originally a trophy for Canada’s best amateur hockey team, it is now the championship trophy for the National Hockey League which has professional teams in Canada and the United States.

Twenty months after he resigned as Prime Minister, Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby died on October 23, 1869, aged 70, at Knowsley Hall in Knowsley, Lancashire, England. He was buried at St. Mary’s Church in Knowsley. In 1871–72 a memorial chapel to the 14th Earl of Derby was added to St. Mary’s Church.

St. Mary’s Church in Knowsley, Lancashire, England; Credit – By Sue Adair, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4754011

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.
  • https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Smith-Stanley,_14._Earl_of_Derby
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Edward Smithe-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby. [online] Available at:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Smith-Stanley,_14th_Earl_of_Derby[Accessed 27 Jul. 2018].
  • 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

December 14 – Queen Victoria’s Dire Day

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Oakley; The Last Moments of HRH the Prince Consort; Wellcome Library; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/the-last-moments-of-hrh-the-prince-consort-126148

December 14 was the worst day of the year for Queen Victoria.  On that day in 1861, her beloved husband Prince Albert had died at the age of 42.  Left a widow with nine children at the age of 42, the Queen’s grief was immense.  She withdrew from public life and wore black for the 40 years that she survived Albert.  The Blue Room in Windsor Castle where Albert had died was kept as it had been when he was alive, complete with hot water brought in the morning, and linen and towels changed daily.  Among themselves, Queen Victoria’s family called December 14 “Mausoleum Day.”  They were expected to attend the annual memorial service in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore where Albert was buried.  Besides the death of Prince Albert, December 14 marked several other events in Queen Victoria’s family.

Prince Albert, the Prince Consort; Credit – Wikipedia

December 14, 1861 – Death of Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, husband of Queen Victoria, at Windsor Castle; buried in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore in Windsor
In March of 1861, Queen Victoria’s mother died.  Because of Victoria’s grief, Albert took over many of her duties despite the fact that he was chronically suffering from stomach problems.  In the fall, Victoria and Albert learned that their 20-year-old eldest son Bertie (the future King Edward VII) was having an affair with an Irish actress.  Devastated by this news, Albert traveled to Cambridge to discuss the matter with his son.  On November 25, 1861, the two walked together in the pouring rain while Albert explained how horrified he and the Queen felt about the situation.

When Albert returned to Windsor Castle, he complained of shoulder, leg, back, and stomach pain and could not eat or sleep.  He was examined by doctors who assured Victoria that Albert would be better in two or three days.  However, Albert’s condition continued to worsen.  Victoria continued to hope for a recovery, but finally, on December 11, the doctors told her the dismal prognosis.  At 10:50 PM on December 14, 1861, Albert died in the presence of his wife and five of their nine children.

Sir William Jenner, one of Prince Albert’s doctors, diagnosed his final illness as typhoid fever, but 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.

Tomb of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; Photo Credit – findagrave.com

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Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, Credit – Wikipedia

December 14, 1871 – Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) begins to recover from typhoid fever
In November of 1871, the Prince of Wales, called Bertie in the family, was not feeling well and took to his bed at Sandringham.  Typhoid fever, a bacterial disease transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, was diagnosed and it was realized by the family that he might die.  Within a few weeks, it would be the 10th anniversary of the death of Bertie’s father, Prince Albert, who, it was believed, had died of typhoid fever. Bertie’s sister Princess Alice, who was visiting with her husband, was there to help nurse her brother as she had done ten years earlier with her father.  The Princess of Wales, called Alix, spent most of her time at her husband’s bedside and was quite alarmed by his delirium and violent and hysterical ravings.

On December 7, it seemed the worst might be over and Alix and Alice went for a sled ride.  When they returned, they found Bertie had suffered a relapse.  On December 8, Sir William Jenner sent a telegram to Queen Victoria: “The Prince passed a very unquiet night.  Not so well. Temperature risen to 104. Respiration more rapid. Dr. Gull and I are both very anxious.”  The Queen, who had visited her son in the early stages of his illness, returned to Sandringham, sure that Bertie would die on December 14, the 10th anniversary of her husband’s death.

On December 13, Bertie’s condition was grave.  Alix wrote in her diary that she and Princess Alice said to each other in tears, “There can be no hope.”  Bertie’s doctors consulted with Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria’s second son, about whether they should issue a bulletin saying that the Prince of Wales’ strength was failing.  Prince Alfred later told one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, there had been “36 hours of the wildest, loudest, incessant talking, in all languages, whistling, and singing.”  The worst attack came just hours before the start of December 14, and it seemed certain Bertie would die.

Dawn broke on December 14 and miraculously, Bertie had slept through the night.  Queen Victoria came into his room early in the morning and found him awake and smiling.  That day the bulletin regarding the Prince of Wales’ condition said, “…there is some abatement of the gravity of the symptoms.”  Within 24 hours, the fear of a relapse had all but disappeared.  A thanksgiving service was held at St. Paul’s Cathedral for the recovery of the Prince of Wales from typhoid fever on February 27, 1872.

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Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine; Credit – Wikipedia

December 14, 1878 – Death of Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine at the New Palace in Darmstadt, Hesse (Germany); buried at the Grand Ducal Mausoleum at Rosenhöhe in Darmstadt
Diphtheria is a serious bacterial infection affecting the mucous membranes of the nose and throat. Diphtheria causes a sore throat, fever, swollen glands, and weakness, but the determining sign is a thick, gray membrane covering the back of the throat. The membrane can block the windpipe so that the patient has to struggle for breath. Today, diphtheria is extremely rare in developed countries due to the vaccination against the disease.  However, before the advent of modern medicine, diphtheria could be epidemic and it often killed its victims.

In November of 1878, diphtheria invaded the household of the Grand Ducal Family of Hesse and by Rhine, where the reigning Grand Duke was Ludwig IV, the husband of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria.  Victoria, Alice’s eldest child was the first to become ill, on November 5, and soon Alice’s husband and four of Alice’s other children, Irene, Ernest, Alix, and Marie, developed diphtheria.  Only Elizabeth remained healthy and she was sent to the palace of her paternal grandmother.

On November 15, 1878, Alice’s youngest child, four-year-old Marie, choked to death because of the membrane covering her throat. Alice kept Marie’s death secret from her other children, however, she finally told them in early December.  Alice’s son Ernest was inconsolable, and to comfort him, Alice hugged and kissed him despite the risk of infection. On December 7, Alice realized that she had diphtheria. By December 14, 1878, the 17th anniversary of her father’s death, Alice became gravely ill and died that day.  Her last words were “Dear Papa.”

Tomb of Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine (She is hugging her daughter Marie on her left side); Credit – findagrave.com

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Queen Victoria with her York great-grandchildren in 1900 (Princess Mary, the future Princess Royal, and Prince Edward, the future King Edward VIII, standing; Prince Albert, the future King George VI, in front; Prince Henry, the future Duke of Gloucester, being held by the Queen)

December 14, 1895 – Birth of King George VI at York Cottage at Sandringham in Norfolk, England
Prince Albert Frederick Arthur George was born on the anniversary of the death in 1861 of his great-grandfather Prince Albert and of his great-aunt Princess Alice in 1878.  Queen Victoria received the news with mixed feelings. Her son, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) wrote to his son, the new baby’s father (later King George V): “Grandmama was rather distressed that this happy event should have taken place on a darkly sad anniversary for us, but I think – as well as most of us in the family here – that it will break the spell of this unlucky date.”

The Prince of Wales later wrote to his son: “I really think it would gratify her [Queen Victoria] if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her”.  Queen Victoria was pleased to hear of the proposal to name the new baby Albert, and wrote to the baby’s mother: “I am all impatience to see the new one, born on such a sad day but rather more dear to me, especially as he will be called by that dear name which is a byword for all that is great and good.”

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King Paul I of Greece and his siblings, clockwise from left: Helen, George, Alexander, Paul, and Irene (Katherine was born after this photograph was taken.); Credit – Wikipedia

December 14, 1901 – Birth of King Paul I of Greece in Athens, Greece
A Greek great-grandson of Queen Victoria was also born on December 14, 11 months after Queen Victoria’s death and on the 40th anniversary of Prince Albert’s death.  The future King Paul I of Greece was the son of King Constantine I of Greece and Princess Sophie of Prussia, the daughter of Queen Victoria’s eldest child Victoria, Princess Royal.  Paul was the father of Queen Sofia of Spain and of former King Constantine II of Greece.

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Princess Maud on the left with her mother and sister; Credit – Wikipedia

December 14, 1945 – Death of Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk at a nursing home in London, England
Maud was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and died of bronchitis at the age of 52  on the 84th anniversary of Prince Albert’s death. She was born Lady Maud Duff, the youngest daughter of Princess Louise, Princess Royal, and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife. In 1905, her grandfather King Edward VII granted Maud and her older sister Alexandra the title of Princess with the style of “Highness” and they received precedence immediately after all members of the royal family bearing the style of “Royal Highness.”

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.

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Works Cited

  • “Albert, Prince Consort.” Wikipedia. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Albert>.
  • Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1997. Print.
  • Hough, Richard. Edward and Alexandra: Their Private and Public Lives. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1992. Print.
  • Pope-Hennessy, James. Queen Mary. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1959. Print.
  • Princess Alice of the United Kingdom.” Wikipedia. Web. 14 Dec. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Alice_of_the_United_Kingdom>

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

From an albumen carte-de-visite, 1861; Credit – Wikipedia

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, known as Lord John Russell before 1861, the courtesy title of a younger son of a duke, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice during the reign of Queen Victoria (1846 – 1862 and 1865 – 1866). Born August 18, 1792, in the Mayfair section of London, he was the younger of the three sons of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford and his first wife The Honorable Georgiana Byng, daughter of George Byng, 4th Viscount Torrington. After the death of his first wife in 1801, the 6th Duke of Bedford married Lady Georgiana Gordon, daughter of Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon.

Russell had two older brothers:

Russell had ten half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Lady Georgiana Gordon:

Russell had been born prematurely and was often ill during childhood. He started to attend Westminster School but his ill health caused him to withdraw. Thereafter, he was educated at home by tutors. From 1809 – 1812, Russell attended the University of Edinburgh.

In 1813, at the age of 21, Russell first entered the House of Commons as a Whig Member of Parliament for Tavistock. He had some help winning his first election. The 6th Duke of Bedford told the electors of Tavistock to vote for his son. Russell eventually acquired a prominent position in the Whig Party. When the Whigs came to power in 1835, Russell became Home Secretary (1835 – 1839). He also served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1839 – 1841), Lord President of the Council (1854 – 1855), Secretary of State for the Colonies (1855), and Foreign Secretary (1852 -1853 and 1859 – 1865). Russell was the Leader of the Opposition when the Conservative 14th Earl of Derby was Prime Minister (1852 and 1866 – 1868).

The Great Irish Potato Famine (1845 – 1852) had caused a disastrous fall in food supplies and so Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel decided to join with Whigs and Radicals to repeal the Corn Laws which imposed tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and grain. Peel’s Conservative Party failed to support the bill but it passed with Whig and Radical support and the Duke of Wellington persuaded the House of Lords to pass it. Following the repeal of the Corn Law, Peel resigned as Prime Minister on June 29, 1846, and Russell became Prime Minister.

Lord John Russell, 1853; Credit – Wikipedia

Russell’s solutions to the Potato Famine proved inadequate as the situation worsened. The Whigs believed that the market would provide the food needed and they refused to intervene against food exports to England. They stopped the previous government’s food and relief works, leaving many hundreds of thousands of people without any work, money, or food. Russell’s government introduced a new program of public works that by the end of December 1846 employed a half million Irish and was impossible to administer. During Russell’s first term as Prime Minister around one million Irish starved to death or died of diseases caused by malnutrition, and one million more were forced to immigrate, reducing the population of Ireland by 25%.

In the election of 1852, neither the Whigs nor the Conservatives had a majority. Queen Victoria asked the Conservative Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby to form a government that lasted only six months. From 1852 – 1853 and from 1859 – 1865, Russell served as Foreign Secretary in the governments of George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen and Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston. In 1861, Russell was created a peer, the 1st Earl Russell, and sat in the House of Lords for the remainder of his career in Parliament. When Palmerston died on October 18, 1865, Russell once again became Prime Minister. In 1866, Russell’s second government made a failed attempt at further electoral reform and he resigned on June 26, 1866. Russell never held another leadership position but he was active in the House of Lords until a few years before his death.

Adelaide Lister, Russell’s first wife; Credit – Wikipedia

Russell married Adelaide Lister, widow of Thomas Lister, 2nd Baron Ribblesdale on April 11, 1835, but Adelaide died in childbirth delivering her daughter Victoria. The couple had two daughters:

  • Lady Georgiana Adelaide Russell (1836 – 1922), married Archibald Peel, had seven children
  • Lady Victoria Russell (1838 – 1880), married Henry Villiers, had ten children

Frances Anna Maria (‘Fanny’) (née Elliot), Countess Russell published by Mason & Co (Robert Hindry Mason), albumen carte-de-visite, early-mid 1860s, NPG Ax29968 © National Portrait Gallery, London

On July 20, 1841, Russell married Lady Frances Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, daughter of Gilbert Elliot, 2nd Earl of Minto. They had four children:

  • John Russell, Viscount Amberley (1842 – 1876), married The Honorable Katherine Stanley, daughter of Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley, had three children
  • The Honorable George Gilbert William Russell (1848 – 1933)
  • The Honorable Francis Albert Rollo Russell (1849 – 1914), married (1) Alice Godfrey, had one son (2) Gertrude Joachim, had one son and one daughter
  • Lady Mary Agatha Russell (1853 – 1933)

Russell and his second wife Frances took over the care of the surviving children of their eldest son John Russell, Viscount Amberley. In a similar situation to diphtheria going through the family of Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Alice (scroll down to Death of Princess Alice)  in 1878, Russell’s daughter-in-law Katherine nursed her elder son Frank and her daughter Rachel while they were ill with diphtheria. Katherine then became ill with diphtheria and died on June 28, 1874, and Rachel died five days later. Viscount Amberley died from bronchitis eighteen months later. The Viscount had unusual religious beliefs and did not want his children raised as Christians, so in his will, he had named two friends the guardians of his elder son Frank and his younger son Bertrand. However, Earl Russell and his wife successfully sued for custody of their grandchildren.

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell died May 28, 1878, aged 85, in Richmond Park, Surrey, England. He was buried in St. Michael’s Church in Chenies, Buckinghamshire, England in the Bedford Chapel, the private mausoleum of the Russell family and the Dukes of Bedford.

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell was succeeded by his grandson Frank Russell, 2nd Earl Russell (full name John Francis Stanley Russell). The 2nd Earl Russell had no children so he was succeeded by his younger brother Bertrand Russell as the 3rd Earl Russell. Bertrand Russell was a philosopher, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, and political activist. In 1950, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought.”

St. Michael’s Church in Chenies, Buckinghamshire, England, with the Bedford Chapel on the side; 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.

Works Cited

  • Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
  • https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Russell,_1._Earl_Russell
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). John Russell, 1st Earl Russell. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Russell,_1st_Earl_Russell [Accessed 21 Jul. 2018].
  • 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

Duke of Lancaster

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Arms of the Duchy of Lancaster; Credit – By Jr JL – This file was derived from: Duchy of Lancaster-coa.png: CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39911069

The Duchy of Lancaster is one of the two royal duchies in England and is held in trust for the Sovereign to provide income for the use of the British monarch. The other royal duchy is the Duchy of Cornwall which provides a similar purpose for the eldest son of the reigning British monarch. The monarch, regardless of gender, has the style of Duke of Lancaster. The duchy comprises 46,000 acres and includes urban developments, historic buildings, farmland in many parts of England and Wales, and large holdings in Lancashire. The Sovereign is not entitled to the capital of the Duchy’s portfolio or to capital profits. Revenue profits are distributed to the Sovereign and are subject to income tax.

John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, circa 1593, probably modeled after John of Gaunt’s tomb effigy; Credit – Wikipedia

The Duchy of Lancaster came into the British royal family via the marriage of one of King Edward III’s sons, John of Gaunt. John of Gaunt was the fourth son but the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. It is through John’s first marriage that the Duchy of Lancaster eventually became a possession of the British Crown. John is also quite important in royal genealogy. His daughter Catherine of Lancaster married King Enrique III of Castile, which made John the grandfather of King Juan II of Castile and the ancestor of all subsequent monarchs of Castile and a united Spain. His daughter Philippa of Lancaster married King João I of Portugal making all future Portuguese monarchs descendants of John. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and her predecessors since King Henry IV are descended from John of Gaunt. In fact, most European monarchies are descended from John. The Houses of Lancaster, York, and Tudor were all descended from three of John of Gaunt’s children:

  • King Henry IV (Lancaster: father of King Henry V, grandfather of King Henry VI)
  • Joan Beaufort (York: grandmother of King Edward IV and King Richard III)
  • John Beaufort (Tudor: great-grandfather of King Henry VII)

Following his father’s plan for his sons to marry wealthy heiresses, John of Gaunt married Blanche of Lancaster on May 19, 1359, in the Queen’s Chapel at Reading Abbey. The bride was fourteen-years-old and the groom was nineteen-year-old. Blanche’s father was Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, a great-grandson of King Henry III. Blanche had only one sibling, an elder sister Maud. Blanche and John were third cousins, both being great-great-grandchildren of King Henry III. This was an excellent match for both Blanche and John. Blanche was marrying into the royal family and John’s wealth was greatly increased by marrying one of the richest heiresses in England.

The marriage of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster in Reading Abbey on 19 May 1359 by Horace Wright (1914); Credit – Wikipedia

Description of above painting from the Reading Museum where the painting is on display: In this painting John of Gaunt and his bride walk from beneath a gilded canopy towards the officiating Bishop of Salisbury. Four lords support the wedding canopy. The one nearest to Blanche is her father, Henry Duke of Lancaster. Close by is the poet Chaucer, clothed in black and bearing a scroll. On the throne is John’s father, King Edward III, beneath a crimson canopy decorated with the lions of England. Beside the King are two of the royal princes, Edward the Black Prince and Prince Lionel.

Blanche’s father died in 1361 and her sister died in 1362, making Blanche the sole heiress. At this time, it was common for extinct titles of heiresses’ fathers to pass to their husbands. John of Gaunt was created Duke of Lancaster on November 13, 1362. By that time, his wealth was immense. He owned thirty castles and estates in England and France. His household was comparable in size and organization to that of a monarch and his annual income was between £8,000 and £10,000 a year which would be several million pounds in today’s terms. This was the beginning of today’s Duchy of Lancaster which descended to John of Gaunt’s eldest son King Henry IV and has remained in the British Crown ever since.

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.

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

by Henry William Pickersgill; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on February 5, 1788, in Bury, Lancashire, England, Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, once during the reign of King William IV (1834–35) and once during the reign of Queen Victoria (1841–46). He was the eldest son and the third of the eleven children of Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet, one of the early textile manufacturers of the Industrial Revolution and a Member of Parliament, and his first wife Ellen Yates.  Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet had high hopes for his children.  Peel accepted that he would not mingle with high society but intended to prepare his children to be able to do so.

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet had ten siblings:

  • Mary Peel (1784 – 1848), married George Robert Dawson, had five sons
  • Elizabeth Peel (1786 – 1828), married Sir William Cockburn of Langton, 11th Baronet, had three sons
  • William Yates Peel, Member of Parliament and politician (1789 – 1858), Lady Jane Elizabeth Moore, daughter of Stephen Moore, 2nd Earl Mount Cashell, had 16 children
  • Edmund Peel, Member of Parliament and politician (1791 – 1850), married Emily Swinfen, had three sons
  • Eleanor Peel (1794 – ?)
  • Anne Peel (1796 – ?), married Charles Wickstead Ethelston
  • Very Rev. John Peel  (1798 – 1875), married Augusta Swinfen
  • General Jonathan Peel, soldier, Member of Parliament and politician (1799 – 1879), married Lady Alice Kennedy, daughter of Archibald Kennedy, 1st Marquess of Ailsa, had eight children
  • Laurence Peel, Member of Parliament and politician (1801 – 1888), married Lady Jane Lennox, daughter of Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond
  • Harriet Eleonora Peel (1803 – 1869), married Robert Henry Henley, 2nd Baron Henley of Chardstock, had two sons

Peel was educated at Bury Grammar School, Hipperholme Grammar School, and Harrow School.  He attended Christ Church, Oxford where he studied classics and mathematics. After Oxford, Peek studied law at Lincoln’s Inn.

The Duke of Wellington, Prime Minister 1828–1830, with Peel; Credit – Wikipedia

Peel was first elected to Parliament in 1809 at the age of 21. His mentor in Parliament was Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future 1st Duke of Wellington and victor at the Battle of Waterloo where Napoleon was defeated. Peel named one of his sons after the Duke of Wellington as did Queen Victoria. Quickly rising in power, Peel served as Chief Secretary for Ireland (1812 – 1818), Home Secretary (1822 – 1827 and 1828 – 1830), Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834 – 1835), Leader of the Opposition when Lord Melbourne was Prime Minister (1835 – 1841) and Prime Minister (1834 – 1835 and 1841 – 1846).

Julia, Lady Peel by Thomas Lawrence, 1807; Credit – Wikipedia

Peel married Julia Floyd, daughter of General Sir John Floyd, 1st Baronet on June 8, 1820. The couple had seven children:

In 1829, when he was Home Secretary, Peel established the Metropolitan Police Force in London based at Scotland Yard. The constables were nicknamed “bobbies” or “peelers” after Robert Peel. Peel is known as the father of modern policing and devised the Peelian Principles which defined the ethical requirements police officers must follow. The Peelian Principles have been used not only in the United Kingdom but in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and other countries.

In 1839, Lord Melbourne (Whig Party) announced his intention to resign as Prime Minister after a government bill passed by a very narrow margin of only five votes in the House of Commons. This led to the Bedchamber Crisis. The Conservative Peel, as Leader of the Opposition, was the prospective Prime Minister. He requested that Queen Victoria dismiss some of the wives and daughters of Whig Members of Parliament who made up her personal household, arguing that the monarch should avoid any hint of political favoritism to a party out of power. Queen Victoria refused to do so, saying her ladies were her friends. Peel refused to form a new government and Lord Melbourne was persuaded to stay on as Prime Minister. Eventually, Lord Melbourne’s support in Parliament declined and by 1840 it grew difficult to hold the Cabinet together. He resigned in August 1841 after a series of parliamentary defeats and Peel became Prime Minister for the second time.

Edward Drummond  (1792 – 1843) a British civil servant, was personal secretary to several British Prime Ministers including Sir Robert Peel. On January 20, 1843, Drummond was walking along Whitehall on his way back to Downing Street after visiting his brother at the Drummonds Bank in Charing Cross when Daniel McNaughton, a Scottish woodturner, approached him from behind and shot him at point-blank range in the back. McNaughton was under the impression that he had shot Prime Minister Robert Peel. Drummond, age 51, died five days later.

The House of Commons by Sir George Hayter oil on canvas, 1833-1843 NPG 54 © National Portrait Gallery, London

The most outstanding achievement of Peel’s second term as Prime Minister would eventually cause his downfall. The Great Irish Potato Famine had caused a disastrous fall in food supplies and so Peel decided to join with Whigs and Radicals to repeal the Corn Laws which imposed tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and grain. Peel’s Conservative Party failed to support the bill but it passed with Whig and Radical support and the Duke of Wellington persuaded the House of Lords to pass it. Following the repeal of the Corn Law, Peel resigned as Prime Minister on June 29, 1846.

Like Lord Melbourne, Peel also had been a mentor to Queen Victoria but as his term progressed, Victoria with the help of her husband Prince Albert became more self-sufficient.  Queen Victoria was still recovering from the difficult birth of her fifth child Princess Helena when she learned that Peel had resigned.  Her response was much calmer than her response when Lord Melbourne had resigned five years earlier.   Victoria wrote in her journal: “Really when one is so happy & blessed in one’s home life, as I am, Politics (provided that my country is safe) must take only a second place.”

After his resignation as Prime Minister, Peel remained an influential Member of Parliament and was the leader of the Peelites, a breakaway faction of the Conservative Party that eventually joined with the Whigs and Radicals to form the Liberal Party.

On June 29, 1850, Peel went out for his usual evening ride on a new horse that was not yet fully accustomed to its rider. He stopped at Buckingham Palace to write his name in the visitors’ book and then continued on Constitution Hill. During his ride, Peel met two girls he knew with a groom on a restless horse. Peel’s horse acted up, threw him off, and then fell on him. A woman offered to bring Peel home in her carriage. The doctors found that Peel had broken his left collarbone and probably several ribs. They also suspected severe internal bleeding. Peel’s condition worsened and he died at his London home Whitehall Gardens on July 2, 1850, at the age of 62. Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was buried at St. Peter Church in Drayton Bassett, Staffordshire, England near his now-demolished country home Drayton Manor.

The plaque inside St. Peter’s Church where Sir Robert Peel is buried; Credit – www.findagrave.com/memorial/10192/robert-peel#view-photo=157861196

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.
  • De.wikipedia.org. (2018). Robert Peel. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Peel [Accessed 20 Jul. 2018].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Robert Peel. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Peel [Accessed 20 Jul. 2018].
  • Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria.Simon and Schuster, 1997.
  • Historytoday.com. (2018). Death of Sir Robert Peel | History Today. [online] Available at: https://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/death-sir-robert-peel [Accessed 20 Jul. 2018].
  • Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012

Four of a Kind: Queen Consort, Queen Dowager, Queen Mother, Queen Regnant

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

queen – noun – a female sovereign or monarch; the wife or consort of a king.

Origin of the word queen – first used before 900 in Middle English quene, quen; from Old English cwēn (woman, wife, consort, queen, empress, princess); *cognate with Old Saxon quān (wife), Old Norse kvān, Gothic qēns (wife), Scots wheen (pronounced queen), Middle Low German quene (elderly woman), Dutch kween (woman past child-bearing age), Swedish kvinna (woman), Icelandic kvon (wife), Norwegian kvån (wife)

*cognate – descended from the same language

from https://www.dictionary.com and https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/queen

Queen Consort

Queen Consort Crown used at the 1937 coronation of King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth; Credit – https://www.rct.uk/collection/31703/queen-elizabeth-the-queen-mothers-crown

A Queen Consort is the wife of a reigning king. She shares her husband’s rank and status and holds the feminine equivalent of the king’s titles but does not share the king’s political powers. In the United Kingdom, a Queen Consort is styled Her Majesty Queen <first name>.

In England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, there has only been one husband of a Queen Regnant, a reigning queen, who had anything near the title of King Consort. Under the terms of the Act for the Marriage of Queen Mary I to Philip of Spain, Philip of Spain, the future King Philip II of Spain, was to enjoy Queen Mary I of England’s titles and honors for as long as their marriage lasted and was styled King of England, King of France, King of Ireland and Defender of the Faith. The marriage was unsuccessful and childless and lasted until Mary I’s death four years later.

Queen Victoria wanted her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to be King Consort but the British government refused to introduce a bill allowing it. In 1857, Queen Victoria created her husband Prince Consort, the only spouse of a Queen Regnant to hold that title.

In the past, some European monarchies had laws and rules that only equal marriages are full marriages for dynastic purposes. The marriage of a prince or king to a woman of a lesser rank was considered either morganatic or not valid at all. The woman and any children from the marriage did not enjoy the titles, privileges, and inheritance rights due to a member of the dynasty. That meant that princes and kings either had to marry members of their own extended family or marry someone from another monarchy.

However, equal marriage laws did not exist in England. Members of the various royal houses could marry into ordinary noble families or even marry into families below the nobility. Predominantly, English and British kings married into foreign ruling houses for political reasons. Of the forty-three consorts (male and female) since the Norman Conquest in 1066, thirty-three have been foreign-born, ten were native-born and nine were not of royal birth.

Several sovereigns had no consorts: King William II, King Edward V, King Edward VI, and Queen Elizabeth I were unmarried, King George I divorced his wife before he became king, and King Edward VIII did not marry until after he abdicated. King Henry IV and King James II had first wives who died before they became king so their second wives were their Queen Consort. King William III and his wife and first cousin Queen Mary II reigned jointly. They were both grandchildren of King Charles I.

English and British Queen Consorts

Queen Dowager

Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, Queen of the United Kingdom; Credit – Wikipedia

A Queen Dowager is the widow of a king. After her husband’s death, she continues to enjoy the title, style, and precedence of a queen. However, many former Queen Consorts do not formally use the word “dowager” as part of their titles.

English and British Queen Dowagers: *are also Queen Mothers (see below)

  • Adeliza of Louvain, widow of King Henry I
  • Eleanor of Aquitaine*, widow of King Henry II
  • Berengaria of Navarre, widow of King Richard I
  • Isabella of Angoulême*, widow of King John
  • Eleanor of Provence*, widow of King Edward II
  • Marguerite of France, widow of King Edward III
  • Isabella of France*, widow of King Edward II
  • Isabella of Valois, widow of King Richard II
  • Joan of Navarre, widow of King Henry IV
  • Catherine of Valois*, widow of King Henry V
  • Margaret of Anjou, widow of King Henry VI
  • Elizabeth Woodville*, widow of King Edward IV
  • Catherine Parr, widow of King Henry VIII
  • Henrietta Maria of France*, widow of King Charles I
  • Catherine of Braganza, widow of King Charles II
  • Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, widow of King William IV
  • Alexandra of Denmark*, widow of King Edward VII
  • Mary of Teck*, widow of King George V
  • Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon*, widow of King George VI

Queen Mother

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother; Credit – Wikipedia

A Queen Mother is the widow of a king, a Queen Dowager, who is also the mother of his successor. She continues to enjoy the title, style, and precedence of a queen after her husband’s death. Many think the title was created for the mother of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom who was styled Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. However, there is evidence that the term has been used in the English language since at least 1560. The State Prayers in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer refer to Henrietta Maria, the widow of King Charles I and the mother of King Charles II as “Mary the Queen Mother.” It is unclear how many Queens Mother formally used the title. Neither Queen Alexandra, widow of King Edward VII and mother of King George V, nor Queen Mary, widow of King George V and mother of King Edward VIII and King George VI, used the title.

English and British Queens Mothers:

  • Eleanor of Aquitaine, widow of King Henry II, mother of King Richard I and King John
  • Isabella of Angoulême, widow of King John, mother of King Henry III
  • Eleanor of Provence, widow of King Henry III, mother of King Edward I
  • Isabella of France, widow of King Edward II, mother of King Edward III
  • Catherine of Valois, widow of King Henry V, mother of King Henry VI
  • Elizabeth Woodville, widow of King Edward IV, mother of King Edward V
  • Henrietta Maria of France, widow of King Charles I, mother of King Charles II
  • Alexandra of Denmark, widow of King Edward VII, mother of King George V
  • Mary of Teck, widow of King George V, mother of King Edward VIII and King George VI
  • Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (styled Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother), widow of King George VI, mother of Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Regnant

Coronation of Elizabeth II, Photo Credit – http://i.telegraph.co.uk

A Queen Regnant is a female sovereign, equivalent in rank to a king, who reigns in her own right. Originally in England, there were no fixed rules governing succession to the throne. The sovereign could be determined by inheritance, statute, election, nomination by a reigning sovereign in his or her will, conquest or de facto possession. Over time, the default rule became male primogeniture and eventually, Parliament gained control of succession.

There were no laws in England saying a female could not succeed to the throne but kings wanted male heirs. In 1120, William Ætheling, King Henry I’s only legitimate son was returning to England from Normandy when his ship hit a submerged rock, capsized and sank. William Ætheling and many others drowned. See Unofficial Royalty: The Sinking of the White Ship and How It Affected the English Succession.  Although King Henry I had many illegitimate children, the tragedy of the White Ship left him with only one legitimate child, his daughter Matilda. Henry I’s nephews were his closest male heirs. His first wife had died in 1118 and, Henry I, hoping for a male heir, married again but the marriage was childless. On Christmas Day 1126, King Henry I of England gathered his nobles at Westminster where they swore to recognize Matilda and any future legitimate heir she might have as his successors.

Matilda, Lady of the English; Credit – Wikipedia

On December 1, 1135, King Henry I of England died. His nephew Stephen of Blois quickly crossed from France to England, seized power, and was crowned King of England. His cousin Matilda did not give up her claim to the throne, leading to the long civil war known as The Anarchy between 1135 and 1153. Matilda reigned for several months during 1141 but then her cousin Stephen regained power. Eventually, Stephen and Matilda’s son Henry agreed upon a negotiated peace, the Treaty of Winchester, in which Stephen recognized Henry as his heir. When Stephen died in 1154 and Henry ascended the throne as King Henry II, the first Angevin King of England.

Queen Elizabeth I; Credit – Wikipedia

King Henry VIII’s quest for a son to succeed him and his six marriages are well-known. Eventually, Henry did get a son to succeed him but he was sickly and reigned for only six years. Henry VIII’s younger daughter Queen Elizabeth I proved to be one of the greatest British monarchs.

Queen Victoria; Credit – Wikipedia

Queen Victoria came to the throne after another succession crisis, the death in childbirth of King George III’s only legitimate grandchild Princess Charlotte of Wales. Her death left no legitimate heir in the second generation and prompted the aging sons of King George III to begin a frantic search for brides to provide for the succession. See Death of Princess Charlotte of Wales in childbirth and its impact on the British succession. For 114 years, Queen Victoria held the record as the longest-reigning British monarch until another Queen, her great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II surpassed her on September 9, 2015.

The Succession to The Crown Act 2013 put in place absolute primogeniture, which means the eldest child born becomes the heir to his or her parent, regardless of gender. This is retroactive to those born after October 28, 2011. With the birth of her younger brother Prince Louis of Cambridge on April 23, 2018, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge became the first British princess not to be overtaken in the line of succession by her younger brother.

English and British Queen Regnants

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.

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (Lord Melbourne), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne; Credit – Wikipedia

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom July 16, 1834 – November 14, 1834 and 1835 – 1841. He was Queen Victoria’s first Prime Minister 1837 – 1841.

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, known as Lord Melbourne, was born March 15, 1779, in London, England. Legally he was the second son and the second child of Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne and his wife Elizabeth Milbanke, daughter of Sir Ralph Milbanke, 5th Baronet. Lady Melbourne had many affairs and it is believed that George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont was the father of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, his sister Emily and possibly his brother Frederick. The Prince of Wales, later King George IV, is thought to be the father of the other brother George. The 1st Viscount Melbourne had affairs of his own and was not greatly troubled by his wife’s affairs.

William had five siblings but only his eldest brother can decidedly be named as the child of Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne:

  • The Honorable Peniston Lamb (1770 – 1805), unmarried, died from tuberculosis
  • Frederick Lamb, 3rd Viscount Melbourne (1782 – 1853), married Alexandrina, Gräfin von Maltzan, no children, the family titles became extinct upon his death
  • The Honorable George Lamb (1784 – 1834), married Caroline Rosalie Adelaide St. Jules, the illegitimate daughter of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire and his mistress and eventual second wife Lady Elizabeth Foster, no children
  • The Honorable Emily Lamb (1787–1869), married (1) Peter Clavering-Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper, had five children although one may have been fathered by her lover and second husband (2) Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister 1859 – 1865, no legitimate children, Lady Emily Cowper may be Palmerston’s child
  • The Honorable Harriet Lamb (1789-1803), died young from tuberculosis

Lord Melbourne’s “Eton Leaving Portrait” by John Hoppner, Lord Melbourne gave the portrait to Queen Victoria in 1841; Credit – www.royalcollection.org.uk

Melbourne was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, Melbourne became acquainted with a group of romantic radicals including the poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron. After his studies at Cambridge, Melbourne went to Lincoln’s Inn in London to study law. From 1803 – 1804, Melbourne served as captain and then commander in the Hertfordshire Volunteer Infantry. Melbourne’s elder brother died of tuberculosis in 1805 so Melbourne became his father’s heir.

Lady Caroline Lamb by Eliza H. Trotter, oil on canvas, exhibited 1811, NPG 3312 © National Portrait Gallery, London

In June 1805, Melbourne married 19-year-old Lady Caroline Ponsonby, the only daughter of Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough and Lady Henrietta Frances Spencer, daughter of  John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer. Caroline is known to history as Lady Caroline Lamb because her husband did not become Viscount Melbourne until after her death. Lady Caroline’s nephew Henry Ponsonby served as Queen Victoria’s Private Secretary 1870 – 1895.

Melbourne and Lady Caroline had two children:

  • George Augustus Frederick Lamb (1807 – 1836)
  • Premature daughter (born and died 1809)

Their son was called Augustus and was the godchild of The Prince of Wales, the future King George IV whose names were George Augustus Frederick. Unfortunately, Augustus was epileptic and probably autistic and needed constant care. Most aristocratic families sent their mentally disabled relatives to institutions but Augustus was cared for at home for his entire life. Caroline had suffered two miscarriages before giving birth to Augustus and had long periods of recovery after her two miscarriages and two births. That Caroline could not have any more children caused Melbourne great grief and contributed to a marriage that was becoming unstable.

In 1806, Melbourne was elected to the House of Commons. However, he did not first become a household name on his own accord. In 1812, Lady Caroline started a well-publicized affair with the poet George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, known as Lord Byron, that shocked the British public and became one of the legendary affairs of the nineteenth century. For four months, Caroline and Byron flaunted their affair publicly and shamelessly until Byron suddenly broke it off.

Brocket Hall, the family country estate, 1829; Credit – Wikipedia

Caroline fell apart mentally. At a ball, she slashed her arms with a broken glass and was then banished to the family’s country estate Brocket Hall near Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England. There she smashed furniture and other household objects and was often drunk or high on opium. In 1816, Lady Caroline wrote a novel Glenarvon which portrayed both her marriage and her affair with Byron in a graphic manner. This caused Melbourne great embarrassment and yet the couple remained married.

Finally, Melbourne’s mother, who had introduced the couple, had enough. She asked her husband to arrange a formal separation between their son and Lady Caroline in 1825. By that time, both Melbourne and Lady Caroline had numerous affairs. Lady Caroline remained at Brocket Hall but her mental instability became worse and was complicated by her use of alcohol and laudanum. By 1827, she was under the care of a full-time physician. Her body began to shut down and she retained fluids, a condition then known as dropsy but now known as edema. When Lady Caroline died on January 25, 1828, at the age of 42, Melbourne was at her bedside.

Melbourne’s political career had floundered due to his wife’s notoriety. In 1827, he accepted the position of Chief Secretary of Ireland in a Conservative (Tory) government even though he was a member of the Whig Party. When his father died 1828, Melbourne became the 2nd Viscount Melbourne and he moved from the House of Commons to the House of Lords. He had spent twenty-two years in the House of Commons and was not well known politically.

In 1830, the Whig Party came to power and Melbourne became Home Secretary under Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey. In July 1834, Lord Grey resigned as Prime Minister and King William IV was forced to appoint another Whig to replace him because the Conservatives were not strong enough to support a government. Melbourne was the one most likely to be acceptable to King William IV and to hold the Whig party together. He was hesitant at first but did not want to let his party down and accepted the offer to become Prime Minister.

King William IV was opposed to the reforming policies of the Whig Party and dismissed Melbourne in November 1834. He then gave the Conservatives under Sir Robert Peel an opportunity to form a government. However, the Conservatives failed to win a majority in the January 1835 general elections and the Whigs Party returned to power in April 1835 with Melbourne as Prime Minister.

Embed from Getty Images 
Lord Melbourne instructing a young Queen Victoria

In 1836, Melbourne’s 29-year-old mentally disabled son Augustus died. Melbourne was greatly affected by his son’s death. It reminded him of the deceased wife he once loved, the family he really never had, and that he was alone. In June 1837, King William IV died and was succeeded by his 18-year-old niece Queen Victoria. Victoria never knew her father Prince Edward, Duke of Kent as he died when she was eight months old. Melbourne was her first Prime Minister. In Queen Victoria, Melbourne had the child, the companion, and the affection he craved. In Melbourne, Queen Victoria had the father figure she never had. Their close relationship was founded in Melbourne’s responsibility for tutoring the young queen in the world of politics and instructing her in her role but the relationship was much deeper. Queen Victoria came to regard Lord Melbourne as a mentor and personal friend and he was given a private apartment at Windsor Castle.

In 1839, Lord Melbourne announced his intention to resign as Prime Minister after a government bill passed by a very narrow margin of only five votes in the House of Commons. This led to the Bedchamber Crisis.   Sir Robert Peel, as Leader of the Opposition, was the prospective Prime Minister.  He requested that Queen Victoria dismiss some of the wives and daughters of Whig Members of Parliament who made up her personal household, arguing that the monarch should avoid any hint of political favoritism to a party out of power. Queen Victoria refused to comply. Peel refused to form a new government, and Lord Melbourne was persuaded to stay on as Prime Minister.

Eventually, Melbourne’s support in Parliament declined and by 1840 it grew difficult to hold the Cabinet together. He resigned in August 1841 after a series of parliamentary defeats. Melbourne and Queen Victoria said a private goodbye on the terrace at Windsor Castle. Victoria cried and Melbourne told her, “For four years I have seen you daily and liked it better each day.” Queen Victoria continued to write to Melbourne but eventually had to stop as it was considered inappropriate. With Melbourne gone from her life, Victoria increasingly relied on her husband Prince Albert.

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne by John Partridge, 1844, NPG 941 © National Portrait Gallery, London

In October 1842, Melbourne suffered a stroke which considerably weakened him. He lived out his life at Brocket Hall, his country home near Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England. It was there that William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne died at the age of 69 on November 24, 1848. He was buried near his wife Lady Caroline Lamb at St. Etheldreda Church in Old Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. His brother Frederick Lamb succeeded him as the 3rd Viscount Melbourne but Frederick had no children and upon his death, the title became extinct.

A plaque marking the burial of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne at St Etheldreda, Old Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England; 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

  • Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
  • Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria.Simon and Schuster, 1997.
  • “History Of William Lamb, 2Nd Viscount Melbourne – GOV.UK”. Gov.Uk, 2018, https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/william-lamb-2nd-viscount-melbourne. Accessed 12 June 2018.
  • Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012
  • “William Lamb, 2Nd Viscount Melbourne”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lamb,_2nd_Viscount_Melbourne. Accessed 12 June 2018.
  • “William Lamb”. Es.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lamb. Accessed 12 June 2018.

Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria and a noted artist. 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.

Born The Honorable Julia Janet Georgiana Haldane-Duncan on January 24, 1840, in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, now in Italy, she was the eldest child of Adam Haldane-Duncan, Viscount Duncan (later 2nd Earl of Camperdown) and Juliana Cavendish Philips. Julia had two younger brothers:

At Camperdown House in Dundee, Scotland, Julia married George Abercromby, 4th Baron Abercromby on October 6, 1858. He was the son of George Abercromby, 3rd Baron Abercromby and Louisa Forbes. The couple had no children.

Queen Victoria, painted by Lady Julia Abercromby, after Heinrich von Angeli. Watercolour, 1883, based on a work of 1875. source: National Portrait Gallery NPG 708

In April 1874, Julia was appointed a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria and served until March 1885. She was an accomplished painter and had taken lessons from Mrs. Clarendon Smith of the Institute of Watercolours. During her service, Julia was asked to paint the first official portrait of Queen Victoria for the National Portrait Gallery, fulfilling a request made by the gallery in 1867. She painted a watercolor portrait, based on an original painting by von Angeli. It was reported to be one of Queen Victoria’s favorite portraits of herself. In later years, Julia exhibited some of her work at the Royal Academy in 1898. Today, her paintings are included in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, Balliol College, Oxford, and the Britannia Royal Naval College.

Camperdown House, photo: by Ydam – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=845325

Lady Abercromby died at Camperdown House on December 8, 1915.

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

Titles of English and British Sovereigns

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Besides being the Sovereign King or Queen, the English and British sovereigns had other titles over the years. One of the titles, Duke of Lancaster, will be explored in a separate article.

Duke of Normandy

Map of France in 1154; Credit – By Reigen – Own work.Sources :Image:France 1154 Eng.jpg by Lotroo under copyleftfrance_1154_1184.jpg from the Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd, 1911., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37306574

  • Duke of Normandy: William I, William II, Henry I, Stephen, Henry II, Richard I, John, Henry III

The Duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in northwest France. The duchy originated when King Charles III of West Francia granted land to the Viking leader Rollo in 911. In 1035, a young boy succeeded his father as William II, Duke of Normandy. William was the first cousin once removed of Edward the Confessor, King of the English. Edward the Confessor’s mother Emma of Normandy was the sister of William’s grandfather Richard II, Duke of Normandy. William’s marriage to Matilda of Flanders may have been motivated by his growing desire to become King of England. Matilda was a direct descendant of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex. In 1051, William visited his first cousin once removed, Edward the Confessor, King of England, and apparently Edward named William as his successor.

In 1065, Edward the Confessor, King of the English died and Harold Godwinson was selected to succeed Edward as King Harold II. When William heard that Harold Godwinson had been crowned King of the English, he began preparations for an invasion of England. At the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066, the army of William II, Duke of Normandy won the battle and King Harold II was killed. On Christmas Day 1066, William, Duke of Normandy was crowned William I, King of the English at Westminster Abbey.

In 1202, during the reign of King John, King Philippe II of France confiscated the Duchy of Normandy and by 1204, the French army had conquered it. King Henry III continued to use the title until 1259 when he renounced it in the Treaty of Paris (1259).

Count of Anjou (see map above)

  • Count of Anjou: Henry II, Richard I

The Count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou in northwest France. The future King Henry II became Count of Anjou upon the death of his father Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou in 1151. Three years later, he became King of the English upon the death of his mother’s cousin King Stephen of England. When King Richard I of England died childless in 1199, the title was inherited by his nephew Arthur, Duke of Brittany, the son of his deceased brother Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany. However, in 1204, Anjou was lost to King Philippe II of France.

Duke of Aquitaine (see map above)

  • Duke of Aquitaine: Henry II, Richard I, John, Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III

The Duke of Aquitaine was the ruler of the Duchy of Aquitaine in western, central, and southern areas of France. It was a duchy that women could inherit and manage independently from their husbands or male relations and that is how it came into the English royal family. Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of King Henry II, was the Duchess of Aquitaine, Countess of Poitiers and Duchess of Gascony in her own right. When Henry II became King of the English in 1153, Eleanor’s possessions merged with the English crown.

In 1337, King Philippe VI of France claimed Aquitaine from King Edward III of England. Edward III then claimed the title of King of France, by right of his descent from his maternal grandfather King Philippe IV of France. This started the Hundred Years’ War, in which the House of Plantagenet and the House of Valois fought over the control of the territories in France.

Lord of Ireland

Arms of the Lordship of Ireland; Credit – Wikipedia

  • Lord of Ireland: John, Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III, Henry VII, Henry VIII

An invasion of Ireland starting in 1169 by King Henry II eventually brought about the end of the rule of the High Kings of Ireland and the direct involvement of the English/British in Irish politics until 1922. In 1177, King Henry II gave the part of Ireland he controlled at that time to his ten-year-old son John as the Lordship of Ireland and John became Lord of Ireland. When John succeeded to the English throne in 1199, he remained Lord of Ireland, bringing the Kingdom of England and the Lordship of Ireland into personal union. The title of Lord of Ireland was abolished by King Henry VIII of England who was made King of Ireland by the Parliament of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542.

King/Queen of France

Edward III quartered the Royal Arms of England with the ancient arms of France, the fleurs-de-lis on a blue field, to signal his claim to the French throne; Credit – Wikipedia

  • King/Queen of France: Edward III, Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VI, Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey (disputed), Mary I, Elizabeth, James I, Charles I, Charles II, James II, William III and Mary II, Anne, George I, George II, George III

The Kings and Queens of England and Great Britain listed above were never really sovereigns of France. From 1337 to 1801, the Kings and Queens of England and Great Britain claimed the throne of France.

In 1337, King Edward III of England claimed the title of King of France, by right of his descent from his maternal grandfather King Philippe IV of France. This started the Hundred Years’ War fought from 1337 to 1453 by the English House of Plantagenet against the French House of Valois over the right to rule the Kingdom of France. By the time the war was over, France had achieved a victory and England permanently lost all of its French possessions except the Pale of Calais. The Pale of Calais remained under English control until it was lost to France in 1558 during the reign of Queen Mary I of England, who reportedly said: “When I am dead and opened, you shall find ‘Calais’ written on my heart.

Despite having no territory in France, the English and British monarchs continued to call themselves Kings/Queens of France and the French fleurs-de-lis was included in the royal arms. The French Revolution had abolished the monarchy in 1792 and replaced it with the French First Republic. The French government demanded that the King of Great Britain relinquish the title of King of France. In 1801, King George III decided to drop his claim to the French throne and the fleurs-de-lis was removed from the British royal arms.

King/Queen of Ireland

Ancient Royal Arms of the Kingdom of Ireland, as first used by the monarchs of the Kingdom of England; Credit – Wikipedia

  • King/Queen of Ireland: All sovereigns from King Henry VIII to King George V (1542 – 1927)

The Crown of Ireland Act 1542 was an act of the Irish Parliament replacing the Lordship of Ireland, which had existed since 1177, with the Kingdom of Ireland. The title changed from Lord of Ireland to King of Ireland. This was a personal union between t.he English and Irish crowns and whoever was King of England was to be King of Ireland as well. The first King of Ireland was King Henry VIII of England. In 1922, the Irish Free State, now the Republic of Ireland, became independent. Today’s Northern Ireland still remains part of the United Kingdom.

Defender of the Faith

  • Defender of the Faith: All sovereigns from King Henry VIII to the present sovereign

In 1521, a theological treatise called The Defense of the Seven Sacraments was published. It was written by King Henry VIII of England, supposedly with the assistance of Sir Thomas More, and it defended the Roman Catholic Church’s seven sacraments and the supremacy of the Pope. This treatise was an important opposition to the Protestant Reformation, especially Martin Luther, one of the Reformation’s chief proponents. In recognition of the treatise, Pope Leo X granted King Henry VIII the title Defender of the Faith (Fidei Defensor in Latin).

In 1530, King Henry VIII decided to break away from the Roman Catholic Church and establish himself as head of the Church of England. Since Henry VIII’s decision was considered an attack on “the Faith”, Pope Paul III revoked the title Defender of the Faith and excommunicated Henry VIII.

In 1544, the Parliament of England conferred the title “Defender of the Faith” on King Henry VIII and his successors. Now they were defenders of the Protestant Anglican faith (Church of England) except for Henry VIII’s daughter, Queen Mary I, who was Catholic.

Supreme Head/Supreme Governor of the Church of England

  • Supreme Head of the Church of England: Henry VIII, Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey, Mary I
  • Supreme Governor of the Church of England: Elizabeth I to the present sovereign

The Supreme Head of the Church of England was a title created in 1531 for King Henry VIII of England. The Act of Supremacy of 1534 confirmed Henry VIII’s status as Supreme Head of the Church of England and granted the same status to subsequent sovereigns. Henry VIII’s Roman Catholic daughter Queen Mary I of England attempted to restore the Roman Catholic Church and repealed the Act of Supremacy in 1555.

After Mary I’s death in 1558, Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy 1558 which restored the original act. The act also changed the sovereign’s title to Supreme Governor of the Church of England. This change avoided the charge that the sovereign was claiming to be divine and negating that the New Testament says that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church. All sovereigns from Queen Elizabeth I to the present sovereign have been the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

King/Queen of Scots

Royal Standard of the King of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

  • King/Queen of Scots: James I as James VI, Charles I, Charles II, James II as James VII, William III as William II, Mary II, Anne

In 1603, when Queen Elizabeth I of England, the last Tudor monarch died, James VI, King of Scots became King of England as King James I of England. This was a personal union, the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain separate. James VI, King of Scots was the only child of Mary, Queen of Scots and her second husband (and first cousin) Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, both grandchildren of James IV, King of Scots and Margaret Tudor who was the daughter of King Henry VII of England and the sister of King Henry VIII of England. In terms of primogeniture, James VI was the next in line to the English throne and on her deathbed, Queen Elizabeth I of England gave her assent that James should succeed her.

The English Stuart monarchs that followed James I were all sovereigns of the Kingdom of England and separately sovereigns of the Kingdom of Scotland. Some of them had two different regnal numbers reflecting the English sequence of sovereigns and the Scottish sequence of sovereigns – William III of England was the third William to reign in England but was the second William to reign in Scotland so he was William II, King of Scots. During the reign of Queen Anne, England and Scotland were formally united into Great Britain by the Acts of Union 1707. The sovereign then was King/Queen of Great Britain.

Prince of Orange, Count of Nassau, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, and Overijssel

Coat of Arms of the Prince of Orange; Credit – Wikipedia

King William III of England, who came to the English throne as a joint ruler with his wife and first cousin Queen Mary II of England, was also Willem III, Sovereign Prince of Orange, Count of Nassau, and Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic. William inherited the principality of Orange from his father, Willem II, Prince of Orange, who died a week before William’s birth. His mother Mary, Princess Royal was the daughter of King Charles I of England. William and Mary had no children and so William’s first cousin once removed, Johan Willem Friso, became Prince of Orange.

Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg

Coat of arms of Brunswick-Lüneburg; Credit – Wikipedia

  • Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg: George I, George II, George III

The Duchy of Brunswick-Luneburg and the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, located in northwestern Germany, was an Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire. It was commonly known as the Electorate of Hanover after its capital city of Hanover.

The Prince-Electors of the Holy Roman Empire (Electors for short) elected the Holy Roman Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire was a limited monarchy composed kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in Central Europe from 800 – 1806.

When the Stuart dynasty appeared to be dying out, Parliament passed the Act of Settlement 1701, giving the succession to the British throne to Sophia of the Palatinate, Electress of Hanover and her non-Catholic heirs. This act ensured the Protestant succession and bypassed many Catholics who had a better hereditary claim to the throne. Sophia’s mother was Elizabeth Stuart who was the second child and eldest daughter of James VI, King of Scots / James I, King of England and Ireland. Sophia narrowly missed becoming queen, having died two months before the last Stuart monarch Queen Anne. Sophia’s son George, Elector of Hanover, became King George I of Great Britain. George remained Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg and his son George II and great-grandson George III inherited those titles.

King of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg

Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Hanover; Credit – By Glasshouse – Own work, using elements by Sodacan, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78034759

  • King of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg: George III, George IV, William IV

The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806, when the last Holy Roman Emperor Franz II (from 1804, Emperor Franz I of Austria) abdicated, following a military defeat by the French under Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz. After the final defeat of Napoleon in 1814, much of Europe was reorganized. The Hanover territories became the Kingdom of Hanover and became a personal union with the United Kingdom.

The personal union with the United Kingdom ended in 1837 upon the accession of Queen Victoria. The succession to the throne of Hanover followed Salic Law which did not allow female succession and so Victoria could not inherit the Hanover throne. Instead, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the eldest surviving son of King George III, became King of Hanover. His son George succeeded him as King George V of Hanover but he reigned for only fifteen years. He was exiled from Hanover in 1866 as a result of his support for Austria in the Austro-Prussian War and Hanover was annexed by Prussia.

Empress/Emperor of India

New Crowns for Old, the cartoon’s caption references a scene in Aladdin where lamps are exchanged. The Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, is offering Queen Victoria an imperial crown in exchange for an earl’s coronet. She made him the Earl of Beaconsfield at this time; Credit – Wikipedia

  • Empress/Emperor of India: Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI

One thing Queen Victoria wanted was an imperial title. She was disturbed because Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia held a higher rank than her and was appalled that her eldest daughter Victoria, Princess Royal who was married to the Crown Prince of Prussia and the future German Emperor, would outrank her when her husband came to the throne.

Queen Victoria pressured Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to introduce a bill that would make her Empress of India. At the time, India was a colony of the United Kingdom. Disraeli did so but his handling of the bill was awkward. He did not notify either the Prince of Wales or the Liberal opposition. When they found out, the Prince of Wales was irritated and the Liberals went into motion with a full-scale attack. Disraeli was reluctant to bring the bill to a vote because he thought it would be defeated. However, it passed with a majority of 75.

On January 1, 1877, Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. For the rest of her life, Victoria signed her name “Victoria R & I” – Regina et Imperatrix in Latin, Queen and Empress in English. Four of Victoria’s successors, her son Edward VII, her grandson George V and her great-grandsons Edward VIII and George VI also were Emperors of India. George VI ceased to use the title when India became an independent country in 1947.

Head of the Commonwealth

Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations; Credit – By Rob984 – Derived from File:BlankMap-World-Microstates.svg, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50344792

  • Head of the Commonwealth: George VI, Elizabeth II

The Commonwealth of Nations, established in 1949, is an intergovernmental organization of fifty-three member nations that are mostly former territories of the United Kingdom. The British sovereign is head of state of sixteen member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, while thirty-two other members are republics and five others have different monarchs.

The Head of the Commonwealth is the “symbol of their free association” and serves as a leader, alongside the Commonwealth Secretary-General and Commonwealth Chair-in-Office. The position of Head of the Commonwealth is technically not hereditary and does not necessarily have to be the sovereign or a member of the royal family. However, following the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Commonwealth leaders officially declared that Charles, Prince of Wales would be the next Head of the Commonwealth, and upon the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, King Charles III became the Head of the Commonwealth.

Sovereign of Other Realms

Currently, the British sovereign is also the sovereign of fourteen other countries, besides the United Kingdom: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

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.

Susanna Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Susannah, Duchess of Roxburghe, painted by Henry Wyndham Phillips. source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 403853. The painting was presented by The Duchess to Queen Victoria on her birthday, May 24, 1868. It hangs in the Queen’s Lift Corridor at Osborne House.

Susanna Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria from 1865 until her death thirty years later. 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.

Born Susanna Stephania Dalbiac in Heningford, Yorkshire on August 28, 1814, she was the only child of Sir James Dalbiac and Susanna Dalton.

The year after Susanna’s birth, her father purchased Moulton Hall, a manor house in Moulton, near Richmond, North Yorkshire. The previous owner was Sir Ralph Milbanke, 6th Baronet, who sold it to pay the dowry for the marriage of his daughter, Anne, to Lord Byron. The Dalbiac family lived at Moulton Hall for the next 21 years.

James Henry Robert Innes-Ker, 6th Duke of Roxburghe. by Thomas Richard Williams, albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s. source: National Portrait Gallery, NPG Ax77158

On December 29, 1836, at the age of 21, Susanna married James Innes-Ker, 6th Duke of Roxburghe. He was the son of James Innes-Ker, 5th Duke of Roxburghe and Harriet Charlewood. Just like his predecessor, Susanna’s father sold Moulton Hall to pay the dowry for his daughter’s marriage. Susanna and James had four children:

  • Lady Susan Innes-Ker (1837) – married Sir George Grant-Suttie of Balgone, 5th Baronet, had issue
  • James Innes-Ker, 7th Duke of Roxburghe (1839) – married Anne Spencer-Churchill, had issue
  • Lady Charlotte Innes-Ker (1841) – married George Russell, had issue
  • Lord Charles Innes-Ker (1842) – married Blanche Williams, had issue

Susanna Stephania Innes-Ker (née Dalbiac), Duchess of Roxburghe. by Camille Silvy, albumen print, 26 June 1861. source: National Portrait Gallery, NPG Ax54617

Susanna became a friend of Queen Victoria – who described her in her journals as “a dear and valued friend” – and in 1861 many believed that she would be appointed Mistress of the Robes. While this did not happen, four years later on January 13, 1865, she was appointed Lady of the Bedchamber to The Queen, replacing the Dowager Countess of Mount-Edgecumbe who had resigned. Susanna would serve until her own death in 1895. When William Gladstone became Prime Minister for the third time, no one would accept the position of Mistress of the Robes due to Gladstone’s policy of Home Rule in Ireland. So during his brief tenure – from February to July 1886, Susanna served as Acting Mistress of the Robes, taking on the duties without accepting the formal title.

Princess Louis of Hesse (Princess Alice) and the Duchess of Roxburge, Floors Castle, 1865. source: Royal Collection Trust RCIN 2901313

In August 1867, The Duchess and her husband hosted Queen Victoria and several of her children at Floors Castle in Roxburghshire, the seat of the Dukes of Roxburghe.  The Queen spent three days at Floors, on her way to Balmoral for her summer holiday.

Bowden Kirk

Having survived her husband by sixteen years, The Dowager Duchess of Roxburghe died on May 7, 1895 at her home in Hereford Gardens, London. She is buried in the Innes-Ker family crypt at the Bowden Kirk, in Bowden, Roxburghshire.

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