shadow of britain

Chapter 723: Kensington Palace's New Favorite
Compared to Buckingham Palace or St. James's Palace, Kensington Palace, far away from the city of London, appears relatively old and remote, but it is still an elegant and quiet royal palace.

There is no smelly slaughterhouse here, no noisy vendors hawking their wares on the street, and it is surrounded by exquisite gardens and tranquil lakes. If a laboratory could be opened here for Wheatstone to use, he would surely be extremely happy.

But Wheatstone's dream could not be realized after all, because it was a private property of the royal family. Those who could live here were either of Hanoverian blood or their servants. Even Sir Isaac Newton, who was as powerful as he was, never had the honor of living in Kensington Palace. The president of the Royal Society only bought a brick house near Kensington for retirement at his own expense in his later years.

The gardens outside Kensington Palace are carefully tended. Occasionally, you can see a few graceful swans swimming leisurely on the long lawn. The lake water ripples slightly, reflecting the gray London sky.

On the lawn trail in the afternoon, strolling was a lady with an elegant temperament. Her face was slightly thin with clear contours, her deep eye sockets were dotted with black and shiny pupils, and her tall hooked nose gave her a strong and serious temperament. Fortunately, her fair skin and classic Bourbon high bun hairstyle concealed this flaw, making her look a lot softer.

Following closely behind her was Sir John Conroy, the "chief steward" of Kensington Palace.

Who could make this lord, who is second only to the king in Kensington, so flattering?

The identity of this lady is not difficult to guess.

She was none other than Marie Louise Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess of Kent and Strathearn, sister of King Leopold I of the Belgians and mother of Princess Victoria.

The Duchess stopped by the lake, looking at the pairs of swans in the middle of the lake, with a trace of fatigue between her brows: "Is the afternoon test scheduled for 4 o'clock?"

Conroy nodded slightly and said, "Yes, it's the same as before. The theology test is still 4 points. His Excellency the Bishop of Chester said that Her Royal Highness has made great progress recently. In the test, the princess showed that she has a correct understanding of all the key points of the Bible and the Christian truths and teachings of the state religion. In terms of historical knowledge, she is also quite familiar with the chronology and many major events in British history. This is really rare among young people. And recently, the princess's answers to questions about geography, the use of globes, arithmetic, and Latin grammar are also very satisfactory."

The Duchess smiled briefly upon hearing this, but then she asked with some worry, "Everything is moving in a positive direction now, but... do you think there is anything that needs to be improved in my education plan? I just consulted the Archbishop of Canterbury the day before yesterday. Although His Majesty believes that the education policy is perfect, I always feel that there is still room for improvement."

Conroy comforted the anxious Kensington Palace hostess in a gentle voice: "Based on my shallow knowledge and understanding of education, if the current education plan is measured by the education standards of royal family members, what is being done now is not only qualified, but also outstanding. Among the royal family members, except for you, I am afraid there is no other mother who can personally supervise every class, personally help the child prepare for homework, deal with teachers of various subjects, and take her to church on time."

At this point, Conroy paused deliberately: "Now, whenever Princess Victoria is mentioned in newspapers across the UK, there is nothing but praise for her. The praise for the princess is almost as much as the contempt for the Duke of Cumberland."

When the Duchess of Kent heard this, she felt much better and even her frown relaxed.

From a woman's perspective, the Duchess of Kent's first half of her life was definitely not smooth sailing.

At the age of 17, she married the widowed Prince Emich Karl of Leiningen, but just 11 years later, the German monarch died of illness.

After four years of widowhood, the Duke of Kent, who was ambitious to compete for the British throne, married the Dowager Princess of Leiningen at the mediation of her brother Leopold. It is worth celebrating that just one year later, she gave birth to Princess Victoria in Kensington Palace.

Unfortunately, however, in January of the following year after Victoria was born, the strong Duke of Kent contracted pneumonia on the seafront of Sidmouth and died unexpectedly due to untimely medical treatment.

Although the Duke of Kent left a fortune to his mother and daughter, he also had more than 100,000 pounds in debt.

So much so that after the Duke's unexpected death, the Duke of Kent and his family stranded in Sidmouth could not even afford the fare back to London.

Fortunately, the lady's younger brother Leopold rushed from London upon hearing the news and personally escorted his sister and her family back to Kensington.

However, for the Duchess of Kent, her husband's death was just the beginning of the bad news.

Shortly after returning to London, news came from William IV, then Crown Prince, that Crown Princess Adelaide was pregnant.

If Adelaide gives birth successfully, it means that the throne will completely say goodbye to the Duke of Kent.

In this situation, it seems that the best option is to say goodbye to London, where the cost of living is extremely high and there are many troubles, and return to Germany with the children to continue living as a widow.

However, this princess from a small German state was extremely stubborn and chose to stay in Britain.

And whenever guests came to visit, she would point to the portrait of George III on the palace wall, hold Princess Victoria and say to the guests: "Look at my Alexandrina, she is chubby and looks exactly like her grandfather. She is King George in a short skirt."

In order to pay off her husband's debts, she also actively maintained the Duke of Kent's connections in the Whig Party, inherited her husband's radical liberal views, and devoted herself to politics wholeheartedly, hoping to gain the support of her husband's old friends.

In this regard, I have to say that this lady did a very good job.

Many people who were considered difficult to deal with in British politics maintained good relationships with her, including one of Arthur's mentors, Earl Daramore, the ambassador to Russia, and even O'Connell, the leader of the Irish nationalist movement, and Wilberforce, the leader of the abolition movement. But at the time, these relationships did not help improve the situation of the mother and son, because before the parliamentary reform in 1832, power had been firmly held by the Tories. The parliament controlled by these Tory nobles was obviously not inclined to support another member of the impoverished royal family. Their greatest grace to the orphan and widow was to allow them to have a suite in Kensington Palace and inherit the Duke of Kent's annual pension of 6000 pounds as childcare expenses.

Although the annual pension of 6,000 pounds is not a small amount, it is still a drop in the bucket compared to the debt of 100,000 pounds.

The Duchess of Kent felt even more unbalanced when she compared the treatment her brother Leopold received in Britain.

Leopold was the husband of the former British Crown Princess Charlotte, and the Parliament gave him an annual pension of 1831 pounds. After Princess Charlotte died of complications during childbirth, the amount of money did not decrease. It was not until Leopold was elected King of Belgium in that the British Parliament officially stopped the funding.

Fortunately, Leopold, the younger brother, understood the hardships of his sister's family. Therefore, since the Duke of Kent's death, he has regularly given out 3,000 pounds every year to support his sister. In addition, he also covered all the expenses of his sister's family's annual vacation.

But even so, faced with the necessary consumption items and huge debts of the royal family, the family still lived a tight life until William IV ascended the throne and Princess Victoria was officially confirmed as the presumptive heir to the British throne.

More than ten years of widowhood and the contempt she suffered within the royal family because of poverty inevitably affected her mentality.

His daughter became the British crown prince, and the Whig Party won a great victory after the parliamentary reform in 1832...

This made the Duchess of Kent, who had been a daughter-in-law for many years and finally became a mother-in-law, feel like she wanted to vent her anger.

She and William IV disliked each other and was disgusted by other members of the royal family getting close to Princess Victoria. Her series of deviant behaviors in recent years were actually the product of this mentality.

As a princess born and raised in a small German state, the Duchess of Kent did not necessarily care much about the political views of the Whig and Tory parties. She was close to the Whig Party because she wanted to inherit her late husband's political legacy.

But over the years, based on the Tories' attitude of not taking her and her daughter seriously, from an emotional perspective, even if the Duchess of Kent felt that she was bullied and therefore hated the Tories, it would be difficult for others to refute this.

And Conroy?
This private secretary had been the Duke of Kent's attendant for many years and had stayed with the Duchess after the Duke of Kent's death. Even during the most difficult times of that year, Conroy did not seek another job.

It has been 1818 years since Conroy married the Duchess to England in 16.

Therefore, it is no wonder that this woman, who seemed arrogant and rude to William IV and the Tories, would obey his orders.

The Duchess of Kent would always consult Conroy on all matters, big or small, inside and outside Kensington, from daily shopping, entertainment and socializing, travel arrangements, and even Victoria's education plan. If Conroy disagreed, then the matter would most likely not be implemented.

Even her brother Leopold I couldn't do anything about her. After a big quarrel with his sister, the Belgian king could only curse Conroy in private: "He is a real-life Mephistopheles! This Irish rogue must have used some kind of power that would have been considered witchcraft in ancient times to control my sister."

However, even though so many people spoke ill of Conroy to the Duchess of Kent, the more bad things they said, the more she believed in Conroy.

She subconsciously began to ask Conroy for his opinion about her worries: "Alexandrina's academic performance is indeed satisfactory. If measured by the level of an ordinary princess, it is enough. But she is different from her sister Feodora. Compared with Feodora, she must know the obligations of the position she is about to get and how a monarch should live for others. Although the current situation is much better than a few years ago and the situation is much clearer, newspapers and the public have begun to pay attention to their future queen and have begun to notice that this child is different from her alcoholic, promiscuous, and rude uncles... John, sometimes I don't know how to thank you. Without you, I really couldn't have come this far."

Conroy was no longer surprised by the Duchess's sudden loss of confidence.

Who would have thought that this woman, who was recognized by the royal family and the Tory Party as being very difficult to deal with, was actually a confused person with a lack of self-confidence in private?

If it were ten years ago, Conroy might have offered a few more words of comfort, but after so many years, he was indeed a little tired of such conversations.

Conroy emphasized, "Perhaps you are indeed old, and your mind is not as clear as when you were young, but please continue to persevere. You have come through so many years, and there is absolutely no reason for you to give up now. Besides, don't I still have you to assist you?"

The Duchess was a little sad when she heard this: "You always, often, and again and again say this, which really hurts me. But unfortunately, this is also the truth. I am not qualified for my position. Yes, I am not qualified. I am just an old and stupid goose now."

Seeing this, Conroy had to suppress his impatience and tried to awaken her fighting spirit with various events: "It's okay for you to say some discouraging words in front of me, and I am willing to act as your confession bucket. But you must not show this mentality in front of the guests. Do you remember how the outspoken boy mocked Her Royal Highness the Princess when the Duke of Cumberland's son came to visit a few days ago? God! How ridiculous it is for a woman to sit on the throne and rule such a great country! If they see you like this, it will only give them more excuses."

The Duchess of Kent took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "Well, you're right. I should say less discouraging words. Even if no one else sees it, it won't be good in Alexandrina's eyes. By the way, do you have any important guests scheduled to visit tomorrow?"

Conroy pulled out a note from his jacket pocket. "Tomorrow, Colonel Baker will visit Kensington Palace and explain the planned Arctic expedition to Her Royal Highness. The day after tomorrow, I have arranged for portrait painters Mr. David Wilkie and Mr. George Hayter to come to Kensington Palace to paint a portrait of Her Royal Highness... By the way, I plan to arrange a small private banquet this weekend, mainly inviting all the Whigs who have supported us for a long time and several of your friends in the aristocratic circle, such as Mrs. Leven and Mrs. Cowper, etc."

(End of this chapter)