Royal History: The Coronation Procession of Edward VII

The Coronation Procession. Image: National Army Museum

London, Aug. 9, 1902

The New York Times reports the sequence of the Coronation Procession of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.

The first section of the coronation procession to Westminster Abbey will start at Buckingham Palace at 10:30 am consisting of dress carriages with pairs. It will be headed by trumpeters, the Royal Horse Guards' Band, First Life Guards, and Royal Horse Guards.

Then comes the carriages occupied by members of the Royal Family:

First - The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Frederick.

Second - Princes Andrew and George of Greece and Princesses Victoria and Louise of Battenberg.

Third - Princes Maurice, Leopold and Alexander and Princess Victoria Eugenia of Battenberg and Princess Henry of Battenberg.

Fourth - The Duchess of Albany, the Duchess of Argyll, the Crown Prince and Princess of Roumania.

Fifth - Prince and Princess Christian and their daughters, Princesses Marie Louise and Helena Victoria.

Sixth - The Duchess of Connaught and daughters Princesses Patricia and Margaret, and the Grand Duke of Hesse.

Seventh - The Duke and Duchess of Sparta and Prince and Princess Henry of Prussia.

Eighth (drawn by six black horses) - The King's daughters, the Duchess of Fife, Princess Victoria and Princess Maud, with her husband Prince Charles of Denmark.

Next comes the Prince of Wales' procession, which will commence at York House at 10:45 am. The advance guard will consist of a detachment of the Royal Horse Guards, followed by two carriages containing the members of the Prince's household, more Horse Guards, the carriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and another tropp of Horse Guards.

The King's procession will leave Buckingham Palace at 11 am. His will be escorted by the Horse Guards the King's Barge-master and twelve watermen. The carriages of the king's and queen's households and staffs will follow suit, to be followed carriages of officers and staffs of the armed forces, aides-de-camp, and various regiments, nearly all of which are peers of the realm.

Then will come the state coach where Their Majesties are riding inside, attended by the Duke of Connaught and Prince Arthur of Connaught, followed by the royal standard and an escort.

Following the state coach are the Duke of Buccleuch (Captain General of the Royal Company of Archers), The Earl Walgrave (Captain of the Yeoman of the Guard) and the Duke of Portland (Master of the Horse), followed by the equerry in waiting and the royal grooms.

Royal history: Queen Victoria’s wealth estimated at $100,000,000

Queen Victoria leaves a huge fortune

Earlier, we have read about Queen Victoria’s will, which specified how much was left to whom. The Jan. 22, 1901 issue of The Boston Globe estimates that Queen Victoria's wealth by the time of her death was around $100 million. In fact, the late Queen-Empress was the first British sovereign to bequeath a "private fortune" to her family. "All her predecessors upon the throne bequeathed to their successor nothing but debts," which was paid by Parliament upon their death.

In 1861 Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, died. He willed $2.3 million to Her Majesty. Nield, the notorious miser, left the bulk of his estate also to Her Majesty, amounting to $2.5 mn. The Queen received $1,925,000 in Parliamentary annuity. She saved $300,000 a year from this, and $250,000 more after the prince consort's death. The Duchy of Lancaster also supplemented her income by as much as $300,000 a year. Her wise investments in real estate, New York skycrapers and other properties all "helped her pennies grow" to centimillions.

A January 26 article in Spoake-Review, as dispatched from Cowes, prospected as how Her Majesty’s enormous fortune will be disposed. While Queen Victoria’s will was “opened and examined yesterday by the duly appointed authorities,” its content was not made public, however. The authorities were also mum about the extent of Her Majesty’s private fortune. The Queen has drafted a will early in her reign, which was altered several times, as children grandchildren “were born and as estates rapidly advanced in value.” Her will was last updated in 1896.

It was predicted that Princess Henry of Battenberg would be her mother’s “principal beneficiary.” It was even prospected that she might become the owner of “Osborne House and the whole estate surrounding it.” That the “the Duke of Connaught and his children, will also receive large portion of the fortune,” with Balmoral House to be passed on to this favorite son of Her Majesty’s, including adjacent estates.

It was also speculated that the Queen’s grandchildren, particularly the two children of the late Duke of Albany, will benefit from their grandmother’s estate.

The Queen's second daughter, Princess Christian of Holstein, who does not have a fortune of her own, was also expected to be “legally provided for.”

Meanwhile, Edward VII, as king “will be amply provided for by the country,” while the duke of York and would-be prince of Wales, who is about to enjoy a substantial income from the duchy of Cornwall and will be the prince of Wales, might not receive that much from the Queen.

But not all these speculations are true. King Edward received the bulk of her mother’s fortune. Beatrice did not inherit the Osborne estate. Rather, two small houses were willed to her (the King decided to dedicate Osborne to the nation, much to Princess Beatrice’s disapproval). Princess Christian, Princess Louise, Prince Arthur, and Beatrice each received $700,000. Prince Arthur did not inherit Balmoral. It, too, passed to King Edward. The dowager Duchess of Albany and her two children were amply provided for. 

Royal History: Queen Victoria's will

Feb. 6, 1901  - The New York Times reveals that Queen Victoria leaves L140,000 each to Prince Arthur, Princess Christian, Princess Louise and Princess Beatrice. The dowager Duchess of Albany and a number of her grand children is also provided with "liberal legacies."


Meanwhile, her eldest son and successor King Edward VII inherits the lion's share of her fortune. That includes Balmoral, her country home in Scotland, and Osborne, the stately residence in the Isle of Wight. Princess Beatrice inherits two small houses on the Osborne ground.

Queen Victoria's private quarters in Osborne and even in Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle remains unaltered. In fact, even her living rooms have not been occupied and are expected to remain so for quite a some time.

How Queen Victoria drove King Edward VII to debauchery

Edward VII

It’s been a known fact that King Edward VII was known for his womanizing and carefree lifestyle while he was Prince of Wales. But he was not completely to blame.


In a two-part article published in Daily Mail, Jane Ridley , who made a comprehensive research at the Royal Archives, found out what went wrong with the Prince’s life.  From the time he was born, Prince “Bertie,” as what he was known in the family, was never loved at all.  When she was born, her mother Queen Victoria complained that she was large, at 4 ft 11 in. The Queen herself suffered from depression right after bearing her. Sooner than later, his care was relegated to a wet nurse and his mother thought of him as ugly and “too frightful,” not worthy of being called Albert. In fact, he was simply referred to as “The Boy.”  Out-witted, out-charmed and out-loved by his elder sister, Vicky, he saw less and less of his parents’ attentions and affection upon the coming of her pretty sister Alice and clever brother Alfred.

Queen Victoria

The result? The Prince became an attention seeker, common among children who were less loved by their parents. What was worse was that Dr. Andrew Combe, a quack doctor who believed that a person’s intellect could be measured by the size of the skull, to whom the Queen and Prince Albert consulted Bertie’s attention-seeking behavior, suggested that the Prince should be subjected to rigorous  education to put his mind to exercise. So, while the rest of the Royal Family was on holiday at the countryside, the Prince was left at Eton with his tutors studying. When he did something good, Prince Albert, it seemed was never satisfied of it and wanted more from him. But when something went all, Bertie was severely punished. In his parents eyes, the more he grew older, the more everything became wrong in him. And so, they decided to marry him off but there was not that much a good candidate until Princess Alexandra of Denmark came along. But Bertie knew nothing of this wedding plans as he was very satisfied with his sexual escapades with the prostitute Nellie Clifden. Things changed when Prince Albert died. Wanting to console her mother, the Prince had finally decided to acquiesce to the wedding plan that Prince Albert had earlier instigated but that never tamed him.

Ridley succinctly tells about Bertie’s escapades and corridor-creepings. “In Paris, he cavorted with prostitutes in a copper bath filled with champagne, had his own regular room in a brothel and even commissioned a ‘seat of love’, featuring a complicated design of stirrups and supports,” while at home, “he insisted on being introduced to the latest society beauties and commanded friends to invite his mistresses to house parties.”

King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in their coronation regalia

When asked about his long-suffering wife, Princess Alexandra — known as Alix — he’d say: ‘She is my brood mare. The others are my hacks.” But no matter how many mistresses the King kept, still she looked upon Alexandra with love, respect and affection.

And then came Queen Victoria’s meddling. The Prince had wanted to take an active role in the government and his own capacity do something to support the cause of the Crown but Queen Victoria never wanted to hear anything of it. And so, he came back to his old self. The one suffering the most was Princess Alexandra, who became increasingly deaf, something that did her well also as she made this ailment the reason not to listen to things that she didn’t want to.

In 1877 came Lillie Langtry, perhaps the longest serving and the most visible of all the King’s mistresses. In fact, she was seen with Bertie and she was even together with the King and Queen Alexandra. She was everywhere even on holidays, which irritated the Queen to the core. But the Queen has something to thank to because little put a period on all of the prince’s fling.

Please read Ridley’s two part abstract about King Edward VII, his relationships with his mother, Queen Victoria, and his wife, Queen Alexandra, and her numerous escapades with his mistresses:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2186847/Queen-Victoria-Letters-released-Palace-reveal-Edward-VII-driven-life-debauchery.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2187400/Night-Lord-crept-mistresss-bedroom--Edward-VII-beaten-it.html