shadow of britain

Chapter 766 Offending the knight and still wanting to marry the princess?

In fact, discussions about Victoria's future husband have been a hot topic in British society for the past few years.

As the woman with the world's richest dowry, Victoria was widely regarded as an ideal marriage partner.

Although not many people had actually seen her, that didn't stop many unmarried men from being infatuated with her. Fleet Street would frequently discuss Victoria's seemingly endless list of potential marriage partners in the newspapers. Londoners, who loved to gamble, even set up various betting odds, with gamblers waving their wallets and placing bets on the future queen's marriage.

Based on recent odds trends, the leading candidates among these applicants include: the Orange brothers, grandsons of King William I of the Netherlands; the Duke of Nemur, the Dauphin of the July Monarchy of France; William the Dauphin of Prussia; King Otto I of Greece; and George Cumberland, son of Victoria's fifth uncle and heir to the Duke of Cumberland, among others.

Of course, there are occasionally some strange options mixed in. Victoria's uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium, was also included in the casino betting pool before he got married.

These lists may seem long, but they are significant when considering the Act of Settlement and the Royal Marriage Act.

That means Victoria's pool of potential future partners will be limited to a rather narrow range.

According to the Law of Succession, anyone who is a Roman Catholic or who marries a Roman Catholic is ineligible to inherit the throne.

This single provision alone rejected the proposal from Catholic countries such as Spain and Austria.

Of course, if members of the royal families of these countries are willing to convert to Anglicanism in order to marry into the British royal family, then it is not impossible to discuss.

However, given the domestic situations in these countries, if they were to actually do this, the marriage alliance with Britain would be successful, but they would lose their inheritance rights in Spain and Austria.

After all, Austria and Spain are quite traditional Catholic countries, and their citizens are mostly unable to accept a Protestant ruler.

The official title of the King of Spain is: King of Spain in the name of God and the Constitution, Defender of the Catholic Faith.

The Austrian Habsburg family has long considered itself the "secular protector" of the Catholic world.

The Austrian emperor has always used the combined title of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, "His Majesty the Emperor of Austria and Apostolic King," in public. If he were to convert to Catholicism, he would certainly be unable to use the title of Apostolic King, which would mean that he would lose his legal right of succession to the Kingdom of Hungary.

Unless the monarchs of these two countries were completely out of their minds, they would never agree to a marriage alliance with England.

Of course, the Act of Settlement only imposes strict restrictions specifically on Catholicism; it doesn't explicitly address religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. It seems there's still potential for breakthroughs in other areas.

However, if you are really determined to marry a pagan, you should be prepared for Parliament to refuse to approve the marriage or the Church of England to refuse to bless the wedding.

If that happens, do you still think your right to the throne will not be shaken?

However, in reality, if this were to happen, it wouldn't be up to Parliament or the Church of England to intervene, because you wouldn't be able to get past the King first.

According to the Royal Marriage Act of 1772, marriages of royal family members under the age of 21 require the monarch's permission and cannot be arranged privately. Royal family members aged 21 and above must obtain the monarch's written consent before marriage. Without this permission, the marriage is legally invalid, and their offspring will not have inheritance rights.

The creation of this law was due to George III’s fury at his sons, the Duke of Cumberland and the Duke of Gloucester, for marrying women of lower social standing without prior notice.

Even with such unequal social standing, you cannot gain the king's approval. Do you really intend to marry a heretic?
Therefore, Victoria's future husbands could only come from Protestant countries, with the exception of France, which already had religious freedom, and Russia, which was Orthodox.

However, taking into account the opinions of parliament, France and Russia can basically be excluded from the candidate list.

Of course, the Fleet Street journalists wouldn't shut up because of these legal and practical obstacles. So, even though Catholic princes, Orthodox tsars, and even descendants of exiles in North America were unlikely to be admitted, they still tirelessly compiled longer and more far-fetched lists.

However, Fleet Street can talk nonsense, but Arthur cannot.

Victoria's marriage will determine the direction of British politics for decades to come, and even the balance of power between the Conservative and Whig parties.

If he makes a choice and inadvertently leads to something neither party wants, then it would be too lenient for both parties to criticize him harshly.

Faced with William IV's question, Arthur couldn't help but feel uneasy.

If he had known beforehand that he was in Kensington today for this very reason, he would never have come.

Because there wasn't a single candidate in his circle of friends who could match Victoria—oh wait, there was one Bonaparte kid, I think.

But if he dared to say that, it wouldn't be up to the Conservatives and Whigs to criticize him; William IV would be the first to hang him from the mast at the bow of the ship.

In short, this is a situation that brings no benefit whatsoever, but rather is riddled with pitfalls.

Fortunately, Arthur was quick-witted.

He wouldn't dare to give a random recommendation if asked to suggest something good, but he was quite confident in his opinion on what was bad.

The safest course of action at this moment is not to point out a path for the king, but to block all the dead ends.

First, given that Tsar Nicholas I of Russia was narrow-minded and vengeful, Victoria would certainly not have liked someone like his son Alexander.

Secondly, since Sir Arthur Hastings' old friends Louis Bonaparte, Alexandre Dumas, and Garibaldi had fallen out with King Louis Philippe of France, Victoria certainly wouldn't like someone like the Dauphin, Duke of Nemours.

Then, the Duke of Cumberland had been disrespectful to Sir Arthur Hastings backstage at the Royal Society in his early years, and children raised by such an impolite person would certainly be ill-mannered, which Victoria would not like either.

Furthermore, uh...

He couldn't think of that many things right now, but he could add more later when someone else offended Arthur.

“To be honest, Your Majesty,” Arthur bowed slightly, his attitude seemingly gentle, but a hint of sarcasm was hidden in his words: “Her Highness has never particularly admired any character in Shakespeare’s plays, but when she read King Lear, she said that what she hated most was not the senile King Lear, but the hypocritical, self-important, and utterly mediocre people around him, such as the Duke of Cornwall.”

“The Duke of Cornwall? That spineless coward?” William IV paced back and forth in the room. “She doesn’t like lads who lack masculinity? Then do you think she might like lads in military uniforms? A crisp uniform, with a few gleaming medals, looking like a general or a marshal.” Arthur immediately sensed something was amiss upon hearing this.

The implication in William IV's words was clear: he already had someone suitable in mind.

The reason he approached Arthur wasn't to consult on candidates, but rather to inquire about how his ideal niece's husband candidate should appear before Victoria.

To verify his conjecture, Arthur feigned hesitation and posed a question: "If I may be so bold as to ask, Your Majesty, has this young man dressed as a marshal that you envision ever distinguished himself on the battlefield?"

“That’s not necessarily true,” William IV laughed heartily. “But they do look quite imposing in their uniforms. Compared to those cowards who blush at the sight of a girl, at least they know how to hold their heads high.”

they?

Not the same person?

Moreover, according to William IV's description, those young men most likely did not win the king's favor through military achievements, but were the kind of people who did a good job of "image building," or perhaps the king had other considerations.

Having caught the key words, Arthur quickly put his long-dormant, unorthodox thinking to use. While reasoning, he also hoped to extract as many clues as possible.

“That’s true.” Arthur agreed with the king, but deliberately probed, “Actually, Her Highness the princess doesn’t really like traditional British gentlemen either. I don’t know if it’s because of the Duchess of Kent’s influence, but she always thinks English sounds too weak, or that German speakers are more masculine.”

Upon hearing this, William IV's eyes lit up: "Really? I also think German sounds more masculine, but we can only say these things in private. You can't teach Delina to say them in public. After all, we are not only the royal family of Hanover, but also the royal family of Britain. Both German and English are beautiful and noble languages."

“Of course,” Arthur replied with a smile. “Her Highness is intelligent and quick-witted, so she naturally understands this. Besides, I don’t think she meant any harm by saying that; she simply thinks German sounds more masculine.”

"Besides that, what other preferences does she have?"

After thinking hard for a while, Arthur suddenly said, "Generally speaking, Princess Victoria still prefers handsome young men."

Upon hearing this, Sir Herbert Taylor couldn't help but retort, "Sir Arthur, this is nothing unusual. Don't you like pretty girls? What His Majesty the King wants to know is whether she prefers brown or black hair, and whether she likes tall or short women."

Seeing that he couldn't delay any longer, Arthur had no choice but to tell the truth about part of it: "If it's about that, I remember she mentioned her second cousin, the Duke of Brunswick, saying that she really liked his dark mustache and the frayed coat he wore while riding. Of course, what Her Highness admired most about him was his hairstyle, because his hair always flowed down in front of him."

After hearing this, William IV first nodded, and then immediately sketched out the image of the Brunswick boy in his mind.

After a moment, the old king shook his head again, muttering, "The mustache, the frayed coat, the flowing hair... those are all fine, but the problem is..."

He changed the subject: "You say she likes handsome young men, then I have to ask you this: Has she ever met any of those not-so-handsome aristocratic young men? Are there any she likes among them?"

Arthur's eyelids twitched, and he pretended not to understand: "What does Your Majesty mean?"

William IV raised a hand and waved it in the air: "I was just saying... some people, well, their faces are quite handsome, but they lack a certain dashing air. Some are tall and thin, and they fit well in military uniforms, but, you know, they're not quite as good as Charles of Brunswick... but in terms of character, knowledge, demeanor, and..."

Seeing the old king's appearance, Sir Herbert Taylor couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, those two from the House of Orange-Nassau aren't as bad as you describe, are they?"

William IV paused for a moment, then sighed, "But he's still not as handsome as Charles of Brunswick..."

The House of Orange-Nassau? Aren't they the Dutch royal family?
Upon hearing this, Arthur pondered it for a moment and found the choice to be reasonable.

The Netherlands is not only a Protestant country, but the Dutch royal family is also related to the British royal family by blood.

Princess Anne, daughter of King George II, married the then-Sovereign of the Netherlands, the Prince of Orange, and Princess Anne's direct descendants are the lineage of the current King of the Netherlands.

In terms of bloodline, the two royal families are distant cousins.

Princess Anne was the great-aunt of King William IV of the United Kingdom, and at the same time, the grandmother of King Willem I of the Netherlands.

Furthermore, considering the poor relationship between the Netherlands and Belgium, and that King Leopold I of Belgium was the brother of the Duchess of Kent and the uncle of Victoria...

Arthur's eyelids twitched almost imperceptibly.

Now he finally understood the king's intentions.

Rather than finding a suitable husband for Victoria, it was more like he was just doing himself a favor.

Since Belgium's independence, the Dutch royal family was naturally the political enemy of the Belgian king, and William IV, the "Sailor King," never concealed his hostility toward the Leopold siblings.

If he could actually arrange an Anglo-Dutch marriage, he could not only silence Leopold, but also diplomatically counterbalance the growing Belgian maternal power secretly growing in Kensington Palace.

Perhaps this is what the king truly wanted.

Unfortunately, no matter how brilliant this move was, it was not something Arthur Hastings could make.

He was well aware that although Leopold I was living abroad, he had an extraordinary influence over his niece, Victoria.

Victoria respected him, trusted him, and loved him. It could even be said that Victoria, who lost her father at a young age, regarded her uncle as a father figure.

If Leopold is to be swayed, not only will he have to get past the Duchess of Kent, but he will also have to get past Victoria.

Just as Arthur was at his wit's end, he heard Queen Adelaide's greeting from outside.

"Your Majesty, how did the conversation go? If you're not busy, how about we go for afternoon tea together?"

(End of this chapter)