The Life of King Edward VII
later, on March 25th, Lady Waterford wrote to a friend that she had just
seen at a reception "the graceful, charming young Princess of Wales"
and that she had been in no way disappointed as to the beauty of which
all England was talking. "There was something charming in that very
young pair walking up the room together. Her graceful bows and carriage
you will delight in and she has--with lovely youth and well-formed
features--a look of great intelligence beyond that of a mere girl. She
wore the coronet of diamonds and a very long train of cloth of silver
trimmed with lace, pearl and diamond necklace, bracelet and a stomacher
and two love-locks of rich brown hair floated on her shoulders."
EARLY HOME LIFE OF THE ROYAL COUPLE
The Royal pair did not stay very long on the Isle of Wight and, after a
visit to Buckingham Palace and Windsor, entered their new home at
Sandringham on March 28th. Here the beautiful personality and character
of the Princess soon impressed themselves upon the life of the house and
its more public environment. She proved to be a model housewife, later
on a model mother, and always and everywhere a model of tactful action
and conversation. Pliability and adaptability were useful and important
qualities which she found more than serviceable in these early years of
her transition from a comparatively humble home to one of continuous
splendour and almost constant state. Difficulties there naturally were
of many minor sorts and formidable they no doubt were in the sum total.
New customs to comprehend and adopt; new intricacies of a not entirely
familiar language to become acquainted with; new and varied
responsibilities in both domestic and public life to understand and put
in practice; qualities of natural diffidence and reserve to overcome.
But these and other obstacles were conquered with an apparent ease which
concealed any real trouble in the struggle, and the Princess threw
herself into the life and work of her husband and the spirit of the
English people in a way which has ever since ensured to her the lasting
love of those in her immediate circle and the deep-seated affection of
the many-sided British public.
During the three or four immediately following years the public
appearances of the Prince and Princess of Wales were not numerous.
Philanthropic interests were taken up and maintained, but domestic and
home interests seemed to hold the first place. In August, 1864, a visit
was paid to the Highlands and some weeks spent at Abergeldie. Here, Dr.
Norman Macleod was amongst their guests and here they saw much of the
Earl and Countess of Fife, parents of their future son-in-law, the
present Duke of Fife. An autumn visit to Denmark followed and the Prince
for the first time saw his wife's early home. A good deal of shooting
was indulged in at and around Bernsdorff and from Elsinore, after a few
weeks, the Royal couple went in their yacht to Stockholm on a visit to
the King and Queen of Sweden. The infant, Prince Albert Victor, had been
with them up to this time but he was now sent home in charge of the
Countess de Grey and the Prince and Princess returned by way of Germany
and Belgium. A short stay was made with the Prince and Princess Louis of
Hesse at Darmstadt and another at Brussels. Sandringham was reached in
time to celebrate the twentieth birthday of the Princess.
An incident of this year was the personal subscription of L10,000 by the
Prince of Wales toward the erection of the Frogmore Mausoleum in honour
of his father and, it may be added, a very marked and significant
feature of all his speeches during these years was deep respect and
admiration for the Prince Consort's life and memory. In 1865 the Prince
made his first State visit to Ireland and on May 9th opened the
International Exhibition at Dublin. The weather was beautiful, the loyal
demonstrations in the streets were most enthusiastic, the great hall
where the ceremony took place was decorated with the flags of the
nations and filled with the most distinguished gathering which Ireland
could produce. The Duke of Leinster, the Earl of Rosse, and all the
leading noblemen of the country were there, as well as the Lord Mayor
and Corporation of Dublin in their civic robes, the Mayors of Cork and
Waterford and Londonderry, the Lord Mayors of London and York and the
Lord Provost of Edinburgh. When His Royal Highness took his place in the
Chair of State an orchestra of one thousand voices performed the
National Anthem and ten thousand other voices joined in song. After the
ceremony, during which the Prince made two brief speeches, he attended
in the evening a ball at the Mansion House given by the Lord Mayor.
Meanwhile the city was brilliantly illuminated. In the morning he
reviewed a number of troops in Phoenix Park and was received with much
enthusiasm by the enormous crowds gathered around the scene.
A little later, on May 19th, the Prince attended the opening of an
International Reformatory Exhibition at Islington and received and
answered an address from its President, Lord Shaftesbury. Three days
afterwards he opened the Sailors' Home in the East End of London and was
greeted by great crowds of cheering people. On June 5th, he marked his
liking for the Drama by inaugurating the Royal Dramatic College at
Woking and six days later received a banquet at the hands of the
Fishmongers' Company in London. On July 3rd he was distributing prizes
at Wellington College attended by the Bishop of Oxford, the Earl of
Derby, Earl Stanhope, Lord Eversley and others.
CHAPTER V.
Early Home Life and Varied Duties
During the years immediately succeeding his marriage the career of the
Prince of Wales was one of initiation into the responsibilities of home
life and the duties of public life. It was a period of moulding
influences and a round of functions--some perfunctory, some pleasant. It
was a time of trial for a very young man placed in a very high position,
and with temptations which might easily have led him into temporary and
even permanent forgetfulness of the responsibilities of the future.
Several causes, apart from his own natural strength of character,
combined to avert such a result. The sympathetic and gracious character
of his wife and the perfection of management and detail which she
introduced into the home life of Sandringham and the more public and
social life of Marlborough House, were factors of importance. The
recollection of his father's teachings and high ideals and the knowledge
of his Royal mother's character and devotion to principle were important
influences. The growth of family ties had its effect, and, finally, the
shock of a sickness in 1871, which brought him to the verge of death and
showed him the loving affection of the nation, completed the process of
education in that difficult and dangerous road which the youthful Heir
to a great Throne must always travel.
Of the Princess of Wales in these years it is hard to speak too highly.
Fond of domestic life, retiring by disposition and character, caring
more for husband and family than for all the glitter and glory of the
world's greatest functions or positions, she yet lived in the blaze of
a continuous publicity without possible or actual criticism and with a
ceaseless and ready charm of manner, a never-failing courtesy to high
and low, an ever-increasing popularity. Amid all the innumerable duties
and difficulties of her position there has never been a visible mistake
committed. The right people have been cultivated and encouraged; the
wrong people treated in a way which could not be resented nor
misunderstood. The right thing has been said so often that it has come
to appear the natural thing. An atmosphere of ideal refinement has
always surrounded her, and its subtle influence has pervaded many a
brilliant home and circle where other influences might easily have
prevailed. In a time when calumny would attack an Archangel, and when
its bitter barbs have been known to reach even the humanly perfect life
of Queen Victoria, no shadow has ever crossed the curtain of her
character. Of her tact--a quality which she possesses in common with the
Prince of Wales--stories are innumerable, and of her quiet,
unostentatious, continuous charity and natural kindliness of heart there
are as many more.
A BUSY MARRIED LIFE
The married life of the Prince and Princess was a busy one. Sandringham
had to be remodelled and various public duties attended to by the
Heir-Apparent. One of the first visitors at their country home was the
Rev. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, who had been so intimately associated with
the education and early life of the Prince, and who was destined to
always possess the privileges of a personal friend. Of this Easter
Sunday, following the wedding, Dean Stanley wrote in his _Diary_ that
"the Princess came to me in a corner of the drawing-room with Prayer
Book in hand and I went through the common service with her, explaining
the peculiarities and the likenesses and differences 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 she is as
charming and beautiful a creature as ever passed through a fairy tale."
THE PRINCE IN PUBLIC LIFE
One of the first public appearances of the Prince of Wales after his
marriage was attendance at the Royal Academy Banquet on May 2nd, 1863.
Sir Charles Eastlake, the President, proposed the usual loyal toast, and
in responding the young Prince is said to have spoken in a particularly
clear and pleasing manner. Of the important personal event to which
reference had been made he declared that neither the Princess nor
himself could "ever forget the manner in which our union has been
celebrated throughout the nation." Amongst the other speakers were Lord
Palmerston, Mr. W. M. Thackeray and Sir Roderick Murchison. The first
really important public event in the Prince's life at this period was
the presentation of the freedom of the City of London on June 8th.
Invitations had been issued to a couple of thousand of the most eminent
persons in the public, social and diplomatic life of the country and
exceedingly costly preparations were made for the reception, and for the
ball and banquet which followed. The Prince and Princess of Wales were
accompanied by Prince Alfred, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and
Princess Mary of Cambridge and other Royal personages. The Princess was
clad in white, with a coronet and brooch of diamonds and a necklace of
brilliants--the one her husband's wedding present and the other that of
the City of London. The reply to the address and presentation was very
brief but appropriate and the events which followed were remarkable for
their splendour and air of general joyousness.
A week later the Royal couple attended the Commemoration at Oxford and
the Prince of Wales was presented with the degree of D.C.L. in the
presence of a brilliant assemblage of Professors and visitors, and an
enthusiastic throng of students. The latter gave the Princess a
reception which made her flush with mingled nervousness and pleasure
though it could not affect her natural dignity of bearing. She had not
yet become accustomed to the overwhelming character which British
enthusiasm sometimes assumes and, indeed, is said to have never
absolutely overcome a personal shrinking from the publicity which was
inseparable from her position and popularity. However that may be, the
feeling was never shown to the people and, if a fact, can only be
considered as enhancing the graciousness of manner which has been so