Although Princess Alexandra had visited England as a child in order to make the acquaintance of her great-aunt, the Duchess of Cambridge, it was at Laeken that she was presented to her future mother-in-law, Queen Victoria, who was then paying a visit incognito to King Leopold. Later on, the young Princess, accompanied by her father, paid Queen Victoria an informal visit at Osborne. She did not on this occasion come to London or take part in any public function, but rumours of her beauty and of her charm of manner had become rife, and as the wedding day, which had been fixed for 10th March, approached, the public interest and excitement were strung to the highest pitch. It was felt that Denmark’s loss was Britain’s gain, and Alfred Tennyson, the Poet Laureate, voiced most happily the universal feeling in his fine lines:

With what feelings the event was regarded among King Edward’s near relatives may be estimated from the following characteristically warm-hearted references in the diary of the late Duchess of Teck, whose mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, was the bride’s great-aunt:—

“Brighton, November 9.—The Prince of Wales—God bless him!—attains his majority (21) to-day. After luncheon we watched anxiously for the expected and longed-for arrival of dear Christian, who was on his way back to Copenhagen, having established Alix at Osborne. At half-past three we had the happiness of welcoming him, and for upwards of three hours sat talking over the Verlobung [betrothal] of Alix and Bertie. We had much to hear and discuss, and while fully sharing his happiness at the marriage we could enter into his feelings at leaving Alix thus for the first time. We dined at eight o’clock, a party of five, and toasted our dear Prince in champagne.

“Cambridge Cottage, November 21.—… We reached Windsor Castle about twelve, and were shown into our old Lancaster Tower rooms, where we were presently joined by darling Alix,—too overjoyed at the meeting to speak!—dear Alice and Louis; after a while Alix took me to her room.… I then returned to the others, and we went with Alice to see her rooms in the Devil’s Tower, where Louis was being sketched; here the poor dear Queen joined us and remained with us for some time. We lunched without Her Majesty, and Beatrice came in afterwards.… Went into Alix’s room again and played to her en souvenir de Rumpenheim, afterwards accompanying her into all the state-rooms, Mama, Alice, Louis, and Helena being also of the party. On our return Mama and I were summoned to the Queen’s Closet, and had a nice little talk with her, ending with tea. We were hurried off shortly before five, Alix, Alice, and the others rushing after us to bid us good-bye.”

Even the humblest of His Majesty’s subjects usually finds a good deal to do in the weeks that precede his marriage, and it will be easily understood that the high station of the future King rather augmented than diminished these engrossing occupations. He had to receive and suitably acknowledge countless addresses of congratulation from individuals, corporations, and other public bodies; he had to superintend the extensive alterations which were still being carried out at Marlborough House; he had to pass in review the innumerable details of the various elaborate functions which were to mark the occasion of his marriage; and last but not least it was considered desirable that he should now go through the somewhat trying ceremony of taking his seat in the House of Lords.

Nearly three-quarters of a century had elapsed since the Heir-Apparent to the British Crown had taken the oath and his seat as a Peer of the Realm. It was on 5th February 1863, within a few weeks of his marriage, that King Edward went through this historic ceremony, and it is a curious fact that the business before the House of Lords on that occasion was an Address from the Crown to the British Parliament announcing the Prince’s approaching marriage. It is also noteworthy that soon after the ceremony the two chief dignitaries of the English Church, the new Archbishops of Canterbury and York, also took the oaths and their seats upon the Episcopal benches of the House.

The Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Mary and a brilliant array of Peeresses and ladies from the various foreign Embassies and Legations were present at the ceremony, which was invested with a great deal of pomp and solemnity. After prayers had been read by the Bishop of Worcester, a procession emerged from the Prince’s Chamber, and advanced slowly up the floor of the House. First came the Usher of the Black Rod, followed immediately by the Garter King of Arms, attired in his robes. Then came the Prince of Wales, preceded by an equerry, bearing his coronet on an embroidered crimson cushion. His Royal Highness was also accompanied by the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Argyll, the Hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain, and Lord Edward Howard, who represented the infant Duke of Norfolk, Hereditary Earl Marshal.

The Prince wore the scarlet and ermine robes of a Duke over the uniform of a General. He also wore the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Golden Fleece, and the Order of the Star of India. As he entered the House, the Peers rose in a body, the Lord Chancellor alone remaining seated and covered with his official hat. His Royal Highness then advanced to the Woolsack, and placed his patent of peerage and writ of summons in the hands of the Chancellor. The oaths were administered to him at the table by the Clerk of Parliament, the titles under which the Prince was sworn being those of Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester, Earl of Carrick, Duke of Rothesay, and Lord of the Isles.

After the roll had been signed the procession moved on, and His Royal Highness, on reaching the right-hand side of the Throne, took his seat upon the Chair of State specially appropriated on State occasions to the Prince of Wales. While thus seated he placed on his head the cocked hat worn by general officers in full dress. The Prince and the other Peers finally left the House, retiring by the entrance at the right of the Throne in the same order as they had entered.

About an hour later His Royal Highness re-entered the House dressed in ordinary afternoon costume, and took his seat on one of the cross-benches, thereby formally dissociating himself from either political party. The Prince remained almost throughout the entire debate. When leaving he shook hands with the Earl of Derby and a number of other Peers whom he recognised.

As is well known, the only votes which King Edward has ever given in the House of Lords have been in favour of the Bill for legalising marriage with a deceased wife’s sister, but he is a constant visitor at the Houses of Parliament when anything of special interest is going on, and there is no doubt that he takes the keenest interest in the political questions of the day.

As regards the Deceased Wife’s Sister Bill, it is well known that the King and the Bench of Bishops hold opposite opinions, and there is a curious allusion to this in the Life of the late Archbishop Benson. The Archbishop went to a great garden party given by Queen Victoria in July 1896, and thus describes it in his diary:—

“The Queen’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace was of 4000 persons.… The Prince, after glancing my way several times, came up, holding out his hand as if diffidently, and saying, ‘Will you shake hands with me?’ I said, ‘Vicisti, sir.’ He said, ‘What?’ But on my saying again, ‘Vicisti,’ he laughed very heartily in his own way.” It should be explained that the Prince and the Duke of York had just voted in the House of Lords in favour of the Deceased Wife’s Sister Bill, the third reading of which was passed.

The Danish people were extremely pleased at the marriage their Princess was making, and so determined were they that she should not go dowerless, that 100,000 kroner, known as “the People’s Dowry,” were presented to her, and countless presents, many of them of the humblest description, poured in upon her from all over the sea-girt kingdom. By the Princess’s own wish, 3000 thalers were distributed among six Danish brides belonging to the poorer classes during the year of Her Royal Highness’s marriage. The fact became known, and naturally greatly added to Her Royal Highness’s popularity, and from the day she left Copenhagen to that on which she landed on British soil, the journey of Prince Christian and his family, for Princess Alexandra was accompanied by her father and mother, and brothers and sisters, was nothing short of a triumphal progress.

The Royal cortège left Denmark on 26th February, reaching Cologne on 2nd March. There the Prince of Wales’s fiancée received the first greetings of her future husband’s people, the British residents. The whole party were also royally entertained at Brussels by the Count of Flanders; and at Flushing they found a squadron of British men-of-war to escort the Royal yacht Victoria and Albert.

On the morning of 7th March the Danish Royal Family first saw the white cliffs of Old England, and at twenty minutes past eleven, the Royal yacht, which had steamed slowly up the river amid craft splendidly decorated with flags and flowers, anchored opposite the pier at Gravesend. A moment later the Prince of Wales, accompanied by a numerous suite, and attired in a blue frock-coat and gray trousers, stepped on board. As His Royal Highness reached the deck Princess Alexandra advanced to the door of the State cabin to meet him, and, to the great delight of the assembled crowds ashore and afloat, the Prince, walking quickly towards his bride, took her by the hand and kissed her most affectionately.

Then followed the procession through London; every street, from the humblest portions of the East End to the great West End thoroughfares, was lavishly decorated, and the Prince and Princess accepted addresses presented by the Corporation and many other London public bodies.

The Princess of Wales gave some special sittings for a medal which was struck to commemorate her public entry into the City of London, and it remains one of the finest examples of Wyon’s art. The reverse represents the Princess Alexandra, led by the Prince of Wales, and attended by Hymen, being welcomed by the City of London, who is accompanied by Peace and Plenty, the latter carrying the diamond necklace and earrings which the City offered to the Princess as a wedding present. In the background is the triumphal arch erected by the Corporation at London Bridge, where Her Royal Highness first entered the City precincts. The medals were struck only in bronze, and were presented to Queen Victoria, King Edward, and Queen Alexandra, all the members of the Royal family, the Royal and distinguished guests who were asked to the wedding, and the members of the Corporation of the City of London.

The poor young Princess must have been glad when that long day came to an end, for the Royal train from Paddington to Windsor did not start till a quarter past five, and thus from early morning till late in the afternoon the future Queen had been compelled to remain the cynosure of all eyes. It is an interesting fact that the engine which took the Princess to Windsor was driven by the Earl of Caithness, then the best known amateur locomotive engineer of the day.

As may easily be imagined, the Royal borough was determined not to be outdone by London in the matter of a bridal welcome. The Eton boys presented an address signed by the whole 800; and then came the arrival at the Castle, where Queen Victoria, surrounded by all her children and a large number of Royal visitors, received her future daughter-in-law. Then followed two days of almost complete rest for the Princess.

King Edward, in addition to the multifarious duties which beset even humble individuals when they are about to enter the holy estate, was also compelled to hold his first levée within a few days of his wedding. Over a thousand gentlemen had the honour of being presented to him, the presentations, by Queen Victoria’s pleasure, being considered as equal to presentations to Her Majesty. The levée, which was held in St. James’s Palace, was also attended by about seventeen hundred of the nobility and gentry, all anxious to do honour to the Heir-Apparent, who was, it need hardly be added, attended by a brilliant Court.

The Prince and the British Royal Family had not been idle during the period of the engagement. His Royal Highness himself ordered and examined the designs for all the gifts about to be presented by him to his bride, and to her family whom he specially wished to honour. His first present to her, the engagement ring, has since served as keeper for the Princess’s wedding ring. It is a very beautiful example of the jeweller’s art, being set with six precious stones—a beryl, an emerald, a ruby, a turquoise, a jacinth, and a second emerald, the initials of the six gems spelling the Prince’s family name, “Bertie.” His Royal Highness’s gifts also included a complete set of diamonds and pearls, comprising diadem, necklace, stomacher, and bracelet; also a very beautiful waist-clasp, formed of two large turquoises inlaid with Arabic characters, and mounted in gold.

Queen Victoria presented her daughter-in-law with a set of opals and diamonds exactly similar in form to that designed for Princess Alice by the Prince Consort. Her Majesty also gave the Prince a centre-piece, which was presented to him in the name of the Prince Consort and of herself. This fine piece of work had been designed by the Prince Consort as a gift to his son. It has a group at the base showing Edward I. presenting his heir to the Welsh chieftains, and round the base are portraits of six Princes of Wales. Queen Victoria, whose thoughtful care was shown in this as in many other matters, gave the Prince and his bride a great deal of valuable plate as well.

The London jewellers had certainly cause for rejoicing over the Royal marriage, for the Prince, not content with presenting his bride-elect with a number of other very costly gifts, also showered gems on all his own and her relations. Neither were his friends forgotten. He ordered twenty breast-pins, heart-shaped, encircled by brilliants, with the initials of himself and the Princess traced in rubies, diamonds, and emeralds occupying the centre of each heart. These were distributed to his brothers and to a number of his intimates. To his future mother-in-law, Princess Christian of Denmark, the Prince gave a beautiful bracelet, containing a miniature of himself; also a diamond, ruby, and emerald brooch, inscribed with the date of the marriage, and containing miniature portraits of himself and the Princess. An exactly similar jewel was presented by Princess Alexandra to the Queen.

In order efficiently to conduct the Royal wedding in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor, it became necessary to build proper apartments for the accommodation of the bride and bridegroom on their arrival, and for the Lord Chamberlain to marshal the processions without any danger of a hitch. With this object the Board of Works built an immense Gothic hall, opening out of the west door of the Chapel, and surrounded by apartments appropriated to the use of the Royal Family. Facing the Chapel, the two rooms upon the right were assigned to the bridegroom, and those on the left to the bride.

The marriage of King Edward and Queen Alexandra was the first Royal marriage which had been celebrated in St. George’s Chapel since that of Henry I. in 1122. The day was kept as a public holiday throughout the country, and the attention of the whole kingdom was concentrated on Windsor. The ceremony took place on 10th March 1863, at 12 o’clock. The total number of persons admitted to the Chapel did not exceed 900 ladies and gentlemen, exclusive of the Guards and of the attendants on duty.

The scene will never be forgotten by those who had the privilege of being present. It was an extraordinarily magnificent pageant, heralds and trumpeters in coats of cloth of gold adding greatly to the brilliancy and pomp.

Queen Victoria surveyed the scene from the Royal closet, which, placed on the north side of the Communion Table, is really a small room in the body of the Castle with a window opening into the Chapel. Her Majesty was clad in deep black, even to her gloves, and she wore a close-fitting widow’s cap, but in deference to the occasion she had consented to put on the broad blue riband of the Order of the Garter with the glittering star, and this was specially noticed by the few persons who, from the body of the Chapel, caught a glimpse of their beloved Sovereign.

The bridegroom, as in duty bound, arrived some time before the bride. He was supported by his uncle, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and his brother-in-law, the Crown Prince of Prussia, and wore the uniform of a British General, the Collar of the Garter, the Order of the Star of India, and the rich flowing purple velvet mantle of a Knight of the Garter. His supporters also wore the robes of the Garter, and the three were naturally the centre of interest till the arrival of the bride, who came in upon the stroke of half-past twelve.

Princess Alexandra, who was given away by her father, wore, according to the notions of that day, a very beautiful and splendid wedding dress. It consisted of a white satin skirt, trimmed with garlands of orange blossom and puffings of tulle and Honiton lace, the bodice being draped with the same lace, while the train of silver moire antique was covered with nosegays of orange blossom and puffings of tulle. In addition to the necklace, earrings, and brooch presented to Her Royal Highness by the bridegroom, she wore the rivière of diamonds given by the Corporation of London, and three bracelets, presented to her respectively by Queen Victoria, the ladies of Leeds, and the ladies of Manchester. On her beautiful hair, which was very simply dressed, lay a wreath of orange blossoms covered by a veil of Honiton lace.

The bridal bouquet was composed of orange blossoms, white rosebuds, orchids, and sprigs of myrtle, the latter being taken from the same bush as that from which the myrtle used in the Princess Royal’s bridal bouquet was cut.

As the Princess moved slowly up the Chapel her train was carried by eight bridesmaids, Lady Victoria Scott, Lady Victoria Howard, Lady Agneta Yorke, Lady Feodora Wellesley, Lady Diana Beauclerk, Lady Georgina Hamilton, Lady Alma Bruce, and Lady Helena Hare. They each wore dresses of white tulle over white glacé silk, trimmed with blush roses, shamrocks, and white heather, with wreaths to correspond, and each also wore a locket presented to her by the Prince of Wales, composed of coral and diamonds, signifying the red and white which are the colours of Denmark, while in the centre of each was a crystal cipher forming the letters “A. E. A.” twined together in a monogram designed by Princess Alice.

It is an interesting fact that all these ladies are still living, or were until quite lately, and many of them became Queen Alexandra’s personal friends. Even now Her Majesty occasionally wears the splendid diamond and enamelled bracelet, made in eight compartments, each containing a miniature of one of the Royal bridesmaids, which was their gift to her on the occasion of the marriage.

The ceremony itself did not last very long. The Prince is recorded to have answered his “I will” right manfully, but the Princess’s answers were almost inaudible. As soon as the Prince of Wales and the Princess Alexandra were man and wife, they turned to the congregation hand in hand, bowing low to the Queen, who, in returning the salutation, made a gesture of blessing rather than of ceremonious acknowledgment.

The late Bishop Wilberforce thus describes the scene in the Chapel:—

“The wedding was certainly the most moving sight I ever saw. The Queen, above all, looking down, added such a wonderful chord of feeling to all the lighter notes of joyfulness and show. Every one behaved quite at their best. The Princess of Wales, calm, feeling, self-possessed; the Prince with more depth of manner than ever before.”

Dr. Norman Macleod wrote:—

“I returned home and went back to the marriage on the 10th of March.… I got behind Kingsley, Stanley, Birch, and in a famous place, being in front of the Royal pair. We saw better than any except the clergy. It was a gorgeous sight, yet somehow did not excite me. I suppose I am past this.

“Two things struck me much. One was the whole of the Royal Princesses weeping, though concealing their tears with their bouquets, as they saw their brother, who was to them but their ‘Bertie,’ and their dead father’s son, standing alone waiting for his bride. The other was the Queen’s expression as she raised her eyes to Heaven, while her husband’s Chorale was sung. She seemed to be with him alone before the throne of God.”

Mr. W. P. Frith, who had been commissioned to execute a painting of the Royal marriage for Queen Victoria, was accommodated with a special corner for himself and his sketch-book, and later, all those who had taken part in the historic pageant sat to him for portraits with the most excellent result.

On their return to the Castle a few moments later the bride and bridegroom were met by Queen Victoria and conducted to the Green Drawing-Room, where the formal attestation of the marriage took place.

It may be added that among those present at the marriage and afterwards at the wedding breakfast were the Rev. H. M. Birch and the Rev. C. F. Tarver, the Prince’s tutors, and when lunch was over these gentlemen were informed that their old pupil sent them a souvenir of himself, of which he desired their acceptance. This souvenir proved to be in each case a copy of the Holy Scriptures, handsomely bound, and containing an inscription in His Royal Highness’s own handwriting.

The wedding breakfast, which was served in St. George’s Hall, was very sumptuous, but out of respect to the Queen’s recent bereavement there were not many speeches—a circumstance which probably did not greatly disappoint either the bride or the bridegroom. While the marriage was actually in progress the King of Denmark was entertaining both the rich and poor in his kingdom right royally, and it must have been a pleasant thought for the Princess to know that her marriage was filling with gladness innumerable multitudes both of her own people and of her husband’s future subjects.

At four o’clock the Prince and Princess took their departure for Osborne, where a very short honeymoon was spent. On their return home, which in this case meant Windsor, it was noticed that the lovely bride looked the very picture of happiness. The streets of Windsor were decorated with flags, and the Royal borough looked as gay as it did on the wedding day.

After the marriage the Liturgy of the Church of England was officially altered by the introduction of the name of the Princess of Wales into the Prayer for the Royal Family. The Scottish Church was also officially instructed to pray for “Her Most Sacred Majesty Queen Victoria, Albert Edward Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, and all the Royal Family.”

CHAPTER VIII
EARLY MARRIED LIFE

At the outset of their married life King Edward and Queen Alexandra were called upon to perform the public duties of the Sovereign, which, since the Prince Consort’s death, had in some measure necessarily developed upon the Duke of Cambridge and his family. The late Duchess of Teck’s biographer records that Society did its utmost to give the beautiful young bride a right royal welcome. A memorable event of the London season was the Guards’ ball in honour of the Prince and Princess of Wales, held in the picture galleries of the International Exhibition. The decorations were unusually magnificent, and Queen Victoria graciously lent some splendid plate from Buckingham Palace. Many members of the aristocracy, too, placed at the disposal of the Duke of Cambridge, as head of the Committee, their collections of gold and silver plate, the contributions being valued at £2,000,000. The guests, limited in number to 1400, began to arrive at nine o’clock, and soon after ten the ball was opened by a royal quadrille, in which eight couples took part, the Duke of Cambridge dancing with the Princess of Wales, and the Prince of Wales with Princess Mary (afterwards Duchess of Teck). The Prince and Princess of Wales showed their appreciation of the entertainment which their soldier hosts had provided by remaining almost till dawn.

One of the first public appearances made by King Edward after his marriage was at the Royal Academy dinner, where he made an excellent short speech, greatly impressing those who were present by his modesty and good sense. Sir Charles Eastlake was then President of the Royal Academy, and Lady Eastlake gives this amusing account of the affair in her reminiscences:—

“All went perfectly well at the Royal Academy dinner. My husband was quite enchanted with the Prince of Wales, and with his natural manners and simplicity. The Prince hesitated in the middle of his speech, so that everybody thought it was all up with him; but he persisted in thinking till he recovered the thread, and then went on well. The very manner in which he did this was natural and graceful. He was so moved when mentioning his father that it was feared he would break down. After the speech the Prince turned to my husband and told him he was quite provoked with himself. ‘I knew it quite by heart in the morning’; but he evidently had no vanity, for he laughed at his own ‘stupidity,’ and immediately recovered his spirits. ‘Hesse’ was next the Prince, who chaffed him from time to time, and told him he would have to sing a song.”

William Makepeace Thackeray was among the other speakers at the Academy dinner, which was very shortly before the famous novelist’s lamented death. At the anniversary of the Royal Literary Fund some months later King Edward made some graceful and appropriate allusions to the great writer whom the Empire had lost. He spoke with evident feeling of the fact that Thackeray had been the life of the Fund, always ready to open his purse for the relief of literary men struggling with pecuniary difficulties.

This spring was a very busy time for both King Edward and Queen Alexandra. On 8th June they were sumptuously entertained by the Lord Mayor at the Guildhall, when the Prince took up the freedom of the City, to which he was entitled by patrimony. The entertainments included a great ball, which the Princess opened, dancing a quadrille with the Lord Mayor, while the Prince had the Lady Mayoress for his partner.

A week later the Royal couple attended “Commem.” at Oxford. They received a splendid welcome both from the University authorities and the undergraduates. The honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law was conferred on King Edward in the Sheldonian Theatre, where the wildest uproar prevailed, till amid a sudden lull of perfect silence Queen Alexandra entered with Dr. Liddell, the then Dean of Christ Church. Scarcely had she traversed half the distance to her seat when a cheer loud and deep arose, and seemed to shake the theatre to its foundation, to the evident gratification of her Royal husband.

After the ceremony was over their Royal Highnesses escaped from all their friends and entertainers and took the opportunity of going over what had been the Prince’s rooms as an undergraduate. That same evening a ball was given in the Prince’s honour in the Corn Exchange by the Apollo Lodge of Freemasons.

Shortly after their visit to Oxford the Prince and Princess celebrated their house-warming at Marlborough House by an evening party and a ball. During the summer months they spent some time at Sandringham in the original house, which at that time stood in an isolated park, and which was afterwards pulled down and superseded by the present very much larger and more comfortable mansion. There can be no doubt that Queen Alexandra’s strong affection for her country home is based on the tender recollections of her early married life. It is a significant fact that when the new Sandringham House was built, she begged that her boudoir in the new mansion might be arranged so as to be an exact reproduction of her boudoir in the old house.

Among the very first visitors entertained at Sandringham by the Royal bride and bridegroom was Dr. Stanley, who spent Easter Sunday with them there.

“On the evening of Easter Eve,” he writes, “the Princess came to me in a corner of the drawing-room with her Prayer Book, and I went through the Communion Service with her, explaining the peculiarities and the likenesses and differences to and from the Danish Service. She was most simple and fascinating.… My visit to Sandringham gave me intense pleasure. I was there for three days. I read the whole Service, preached, then gave the first English Sacrament to this ‘angel in the Palace.’ I saw a great deal of her, and can truly say that she is as charming and beautiful a creature as ever passed through a fairy tale.”

Much satisfaction was felt by the nation when the interesting fact became known that Queen Victoria hoped to welcome the first of her British grandchildren in the month of March. One Friday evening, early in January, shortly after Queen Alexandra, who was staying, had been skating on Virginia Water, near Windsor, her eldest child appeared so unexpectedly that for a while the Royal baby had to be wrapped in cotton wool, for all the beautiful layette which was in course of preparation was at Marlborough House.

The rejoicings over the event, both in this country and in Denmark, were naturally very great, more especially when it became known that the Royal infant was none the worse for his early arrival. Among the two Royal families most immediately concerned the interest and excitement were intense. Princess Alice wrote to Queen Victoria on 9th January 1864, “I was aghast on receiving Bertie’s telegram this morning announcing the birth of their little son.” But this feeling of trepidation quickly gave place to one of relief when the bulletins announced the steady progress of both mother and babe, and soon the British public saw many charming photographs and portraits of Queen Alexandra in her new rôle of mother. At the time of the birth of the Duke of Clarence Queen Alexandra was not yet twenty, but, like Queen Victoria, she seems to have been wholly absorbed in her maternal duties, and at any moment she would joyfully give up attending a State function or ball in order to spend an hour in her nursery.

It need hardly be said that the first portion of the Prince and Princess’s married life was overshadowed by the war between Denmark and Prussia. The young Princess was naturally strongly patriotic in her sympathies. At breakfast one morning a foolish equerry read out a telegram which announced a success of the Austro-Prussian forces, whereupon Her Royal Highness burst into tears, and the Prince, it is said, thoroughly lost his temper for once, and rated his equerry as soundly as his ancestor, King Henry VIII., might have done. An amusing story went the round of the clubs about this time. It was said that a Royal visitor at Windsor asked Princess Beatrice what she would like for a present. The child stood in doubt, and begged the Princess of Wales to advise her. The result of a whispered conversation between the two was that the little Princess declared aloud that she would like to have Bismarck’s head on a charger!

In July 1864 the Prince laid the foundation-stone of the new West Wing of the London Hospital. He was accompanied by the Princess. This was one of the first occasions on which King Edward showed his great interest in hospital management. The fact that there was a separate ward for the Jews aroused his keen interest. In the same month King Edward and his Consort went to the Fourth of June at Eton, and also stayed at Goodwood for the races. In the middle of August they went to the Highlands, visiting Stirling Castle on the way. They spent some weeks at Abergeldie, entertaining a great deal. Dr. Norman Macleod stayed with them there. It was during this stay in Scotland that the Prince and Princess first became intimate with the family of their future son-in-law, and the Countess of Fife, his mother, gave a great picnic in their honour.

That autumn they went from Dundee to Denmark, being accompanied by their baby, now nearly a year old. This was King Edward’s first visit to his wife’s home. They received a most enthusiastic welcome, and were splendidly entertained. At Bernsdorf, where the Royal party spent several days, a number of shooting parties were organised in honour of the Prince, who, certainly for the first time in his life, was invited to shoot foxes. He bagged two, and some of the teeth of the animals were set as breast-pins for him.

From Elsinore the Prince and Princess went in their yacht to Stockholm in order to pay a visit to the King and Queen of Sweden. In Sweden also the Prince was invited to take part in several hunting expeditions. One odd bag resulted in ten foxes, six hares, and seventeen stags.

After sending Prince Albert Victor home with Countess de Grey, the Royal couple travelled back via Germany and Belgium, visiting on the way Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse at Darmstadt, and making a short stay at Brussels. Then they came home for the rest of the autumn to Sandringham, where Queen Alexandra spent her twentieth birthday.

The year 1865 proved an eventful one to both King Edward and his wife. King Edward paid his first State visit to Ireland, opening the International Exhibition of Dublin on 9th May, and a little less than a month later Prince George of Wales was born at Marlborough House.

Although there have at various times been more or less serious fires in Royal residences, Sandringham, for instance, having been almost destroyed by a conflagration within the last few years, the King has only once been really in a fire, and this was just a month after his second son’s birth. The fire began in the floor then styled the nursery floor, and after Queen Alexandra had been moved to another part of the house with her two children, King Edward set to work with the utmost energy to check the flames. It need hardly be said that very soon the whole of London seemed to be congregated in Pall Mall and St. James’s Park. At first it could not be made out where the fire was coming from, and the King helped to rip up the whole of the nursery floor before the mischief could be traced, and while doing so he nearly had a bad accident, for he fell some distance through the rafters.

At last, however, the fire was got under, and it was found that comparatively little harm had been done. Then for the first time it occurred to some one to ask if Marlborough House was insured. Strangely enough this very important precaution had not been taken. Now, however, both Marlborough House and Sandringham are insured to their full value.

King Edward from childhood has always shown the keenest interest in firemen and fires. During many years of his life he used to be informed whenever a really big blaze was signalled, and he has attended incognito most of the great London fires during the last thirty years.

About this time the King visited the gigantic steamship Great Eastern, off Sheerness, in order to see the Atlantic telegraph cable, which had just been completed. He was received by a number of prominent engineers, and while he was present the last section of the cable was being wound into the tanks on board the Great Eastern from the vessel alongside which had brought it from the works at Greenwich. A message was sent through one of the coils, the length of which was equivalent to the distance from Sheerness to Valentia. The signals transmitted, “God Save the Queen,” were received at the other end of the coil in the course of a few seconds, a fact which, commonplace as it may now seem, struck the onlookers in the year 1865 with amazement. The King visited every portion of the huge ship, and accepted specimen pieces of portions of the cable in various stages of manufacture.

In that same year, that is two years after her marriage, Queen Alexandra performed her first public act by opening the Cambridge School of Art. It was in 1865 also that the King attended his first public dinner as President of the Royal Literary Fund, and on this occasion he toasted the ladies in the following graceful words:—“In the presence of a society accustomed to cultivating with such success the flowers of literature, it would be unpardonable to forget the flowers of society.”

During that summer the Prince and Princess visited Cornwall, and went down the Botallack tin mine, near St. Just, the depth of which is about 200 fathoms. The bottom level of the mine extends horizontally about half a mile beneath the sea. A part of this mine then belonged to the Prince as Duke of Cornwall. During the same tour he visited Land’s End. The day was exceptionally clear and fine, and the Prince lingered for some time among the grim rocks which form the western-most point of England.

All this time Queen Victoria was living in the strictest retirement, and the great shadow of the Prince Consort’s death had thrown scarcely less gloom over the life of his eldest son. King Edward mourned deeply for his father, and it is significant that he never lost an opportunity of testifying in his public speeches to the high purpose and noble aims which had distinguished Prince Albert’s life. To the cost of the mausoleum at Frogmore the King contributed from his private purse no less a sum than £10,000. At the end of 1865 he sustained another severe blow in the death of Lord Palmerston, whom he had honoured with his special friendship, and whom he had been accustomed to consult in his private affairs.

Not till February 1866 did Queen Victoria consent to open Parliament again in person. She was accompanied by the Prince of Wales and two of her daughters, the Princess of Wales being accommodated with a seat on the Woolsack facing the Throne.

It was in this year, when the Austro-German war was going on, that King Edward established special telegraphic communication between Marlborough House and the seat of war. Like his lamented mother, he is a shrewd observer of foreign politics, and now that he is called upon to reign, he will be, as she was, the greatest help to the Foreign Minister of the day. He has since kept up in every important war the practice of securing the earliest possible telegraphic information, notably in the Franco-Prussian, the Russo-Turkish, and the Greco-Turkish wars, but most of all in the Boer war.

In the summer of 1866 the King laid the foundation-stone of the new building of the British and Foreign Bible Society, when he was received by the venerable Earl of Shaftesbury, President of the Society, the Lord Mayor, the Archbishop of York, and the Bishop of Winchester.

In his speech the King recalled the fact that only sixty-three years previously Mr. Wilberforce had met with a few friends in a small room in a dingy counting-house and had established the Bible Society, while in the interval the Society had already spent six millions of money in the furtherance of its objects, and that it had contributed to the translation of the Bible into two hundred and eighty different languages and dialects. The King further said:—

“I have an hereditary claim to be here on this occasion. My grandfather, the Duke of Kent, warmly advocated the claims of the Society, and it is gratifying to me to reflect that the two modern versions of the Scriptures more widely circulated than any others—the German and English—were both in their origin connected with my family. The translation of Martin Luther was executed under the protection of the Elector of Saxony, the collateral ancestor of my lamented father; whilst that of William Tyndale—the foundation of the present Authorised English Version—was introduced with the sanction of the Royal predecessor of my mother, the Queen who first desired that ‘the Bible shall have free course through all Christendom, but especially in my own realm.’ It is my hope and trust that, under the Divine guidance, the wider diffusion and a deeper study of the Scriptures will, in this as in every age, be at once the surest guarantee of the progress and liberty of mind, and the means of multiplying in the present form the consolations of our holy religion.”

In the autumn following, King Edward and Queen Alexandra, accompanied by their two sons, visited the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland at Dunrobin. At that time the most northern point of railway communication was at Ardgay, and thence the King and Queen had to drive a distance of twenty-five miles before they could reach Dunrobin Castle. All along the route they received a most enthusiastic welcome. They arrived at night at the Castle, and were received in Royal Highland style. Among those asked to meet them were the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Saxe-Weimar, and many members of the leading Scotch nobility. The King reviewed the Sutherland Volunteers in the grounds of the Castle, and later, on the same day, the Duke of Sutherland announced that it was the wish of the King that the whole of the corps should adopt the kilt as their uniform, His Majesty having a preference for the national costume.

Shortly after their return from Scotland the King and Queen had the pleasure of entertaining the Queen of Denmark and her two younger children, and they spent some time at Sandringham with Queen Alexandra, while the King went to Russia in order to be present at the marriage of his sister-in-law, Princess Dagmar, to the then Cesarewitch. It was quite late in the year, and it was considered that the cold in St. Petersburg would be too severe for Queen Alexandra to accompany her husband. The King, who attended the Imperial marriage in his official capacity, was accompanied by a considerable suite, including Lord Frederick Paulet, Viscount Hamilton, the Marquis of Blandford, and Major Teesdale. On his arrival at St. Petersburg he was met at the railway terminus by the Emperor of Russia, the Cesarewitch, and the Grand Dukes; and he was given splendid quarters at the Hermitage Palace.

King Edward has always been known to have a great liking for Russia and the Russian people, and he is himself very popular in St. Petersburg. After the Imperial marriage he visited Moscow, being accompanied by the Crown Prince of Denmark. The Princes went over the Kremlin, and the King paid a call on the Metropolitan Archbishop, the highest dignitary of the Russian Church. The aged ecclesiastic received him in a perfectly plain cell. They conversed for a quarter of an hour, and as the King took his leave, the Metropolitan gave him his blessing, and with the assistance of his monks accompanied his Royal visitor to the door.

The year 1867 was, if not very eventful, an anxious one, for both before and after the birth of Princess Louise, now the Duchess of Fife, on 20th February, Queen Alexandra suffered from acute rheumatism and inflammation of a knee-joint. Her illness caused so much anxiety at the Danish Court that her father and mother came over and spent some time in London. King Edward was most devoted in his attentions to the invalid, and actually had his bureau moved into her sick-room in order that he might not be separated from her in her convalescence even by the imperious demands of his enormous correspondence. Happily Queen Alexandra grew quite strong again, but the serious nature of her illness may be judged from the fact that she was not able to drive out until 9th July. Naturally for the rest of that year the King and Queen lived very quietly and went about as little as possible.

Five years after their marriage the King and Queen paid a visit to Ireland, and their reception was marked by a very genuine demonstration of cordiality and even of enthusiasm. On arriving in Kingstown Harbour Queen Alexandra was presented, as Queen Victoria had been in 1849, with a white dove, emblematic of the affection and goodwill which she was supposed to be bringing to the distressful country. King Edward, with his usual tact, declared it to be his wish that no troops should be present in the streets of Dublin. Entire reliance was accordingly placed on the loyalty and hospitable spirit of the people, and, in spite of many doleful prognostications to the contrary, the Royal visit was successful from every point of view.

It has often been asserted that King Edward is fonder of the Emerald Isle than is any other member of his family; he certainly numbers several Irishmen among his closest friends. Although he thoroughly enjoyed his visit, this one week in 1868 was one of the most tiring ever spent by the King. Like his younger son, twenty-nine years later, the King was installed with great pomp as a Knight of the Order of St. Patrick, on which occasion he used the sword worn by King George IV. The King also unveiled with much ceremony a statue of Edmund Burke. The Times described the exertions entailed by the Royal visit in the following vivid passage:—