100 stories great love Kostina-Cassanelli Natalia Nikolaevna
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Princesses are supposed to marry princes - this rule was almost immutable in earlier times. And no one would even think of considering other marriage options for the future queen, who was also the only heir to the throne in conservative Britain of the 19th century!
In Rajasthan - the first seed of peace. Rajasthan also finds the first seed of calm. Offers combining the privilege of staying in a camping tent behind the 350-year-old fort at Ramathra Fort, guided by its owner Ravi Raj Pal on a safari along the Daang Valley, a landscape where tigers and bandits roamed. If Jaipur is pink, Jodhpur is blue, with a strong Mehrangarh on the hill and the royal palace of Umaid Bhawan. And the third pearl of Rajasthan is Udaipur, with its many lakes floating on palaces that lay claim to the nickname “Venice of the East”.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at a masked ball on May 12, 1842. Edwin Landseer
Princess Alexandrina Victoria was born in May 1819 where royalty is supposed to be born - in the palace. The baby lost her father when she was only eight months old, and grew up under the care of her mother, as well as numerous court nannies, bonnies and governesses. The conditions in which she was raised, whose reign was later called great, were the most stringent: the girl was forbidden to sleep separately from her mother, and also to talk in her absence with any person unfamiliar to her!
But it was also a symbol of a break. He was photographed on the same bench where he had photographed his husband twelve years earlier. “It would be better if we were both here,” he said. Ten months later the Welsh principles announced their separation. Since then, the bench has been known as the princess.
Considered to be the most romantic place in India where you can take a boat trip. Rejoicing in the beauty of India, we ask what remains of our ideas and our prejudices. The answer lies with the "ashram" training centers yoga and meditation. It is known as spiritual tourism, but it goes beyond retreats to explore these disciplines or look at the body and mind. To understand, after the chaos and abuse of the cities in which we wandered, this world must be born in us in order for it to be a good traveling companion. He must know that we must give up unnecessary things in order to cling to the happiness of consistency.
The tyranny of a demanding and overly strict mother ended in one day: one morning the nineteen-year-old princess and the only legitimate contender for the throne woke up as a queen. The first thing she ordered to do, who was declared the new queen on June 20, 1837, by the Bishop of Canterbury, was to remove her bed from her mother’s bedroom. This was a decisive step, and how many more such steps will Victoria have to take in her life!
Kundalini is one of the disciplines taught in these centers. You work on spirituality through your own emotions, creativity, purpose in life. There is an Indian proverb that says, “There is no tree that is not shaken by the wind.” This is what happens when we visit India, when the dream becomes reality: we are shocked, we are exhausted, we break our beliefs. “Travel,” Twain wrote, “is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and mental restraint.” India confirms this, removes our prejudices, but at least makes us aware that reality is much more interesting.
The new queen was almost twenty, a considerable age at that time, and the kingdom needed an heir to the throne. Actually, Victoria had no choice as such: the only candidate proposed to her as a husband by her mother and uncle, the Belgian King Leopold, was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The marriage was intended to be purely dynastic, leading to the strengthening of both parties involved, but...
The struggle for succession arises violently, between intrigues and judicial alliances, noble families who can boast a place in the line of the dynasty fight, various holders assert, not without blows, the scepter of power. And the court is already starting to think about the next step, since even William had no legal heirs, the decision was only temporary, simple plan. There was no point in postponing the matter. Perhaps Windsor is about to fall and the throne is about to change hands.
Frankly, dignitaries are looking at the royal family line of succession in a desperate attempt to find a possible candidate, anyone. To save the House of Windsor and keep your throne intact, it is necessary to have a direct descendant capable of ruling and bringing peace to the earliest heirs to ensure the continuity of the royal family.
Victoria had already met Albert before, and she thought he was not just cute, but damn attractive! The prince was handsome, amiable, nobly simple in communication, however... The spirit of contradiction and the long-tolerated dependence on the domineering mother - exactly what made her at one time order to move her own bed into a room that belonged only to her, did not allow Victoria to immediately say “ Yes". And, after all, she was a queen! She wanted to make not only government decisions herself, but above all those that concerned her personal life.
One of the candidates is a woman and, due to the current legislation, is actually excluded from the list of applicants; as compensation, she will be married to Prince Leopold, who will become the future king of Belgium. The Duke of Clarence is a bachelor and is eligible, but he is cheerful and good-natured, he takes too much of his freedom and life as bright and has no intention of getting married, even in the near future, or even being named king. Therefore, he is also dismissed, in addition to the terrible monarch, he risks being another temporary and temporary solution, destined to remain without heirs, at least legally.
As he says folk wisdom, “You can’t beat your betrothed even with a horse.” You can’t go around him even with a royal carriage - especially when you feel such a strong attraction! The cunning Uncle Leopold arranged a meeting between the obstinate niece and Albert, and he, without making any special effort, completely charmed the girl. Just two days later, she herself wrote to the Belgian monarch: “Albert’s beauty is impressive, he is so kind, so simple: in short, he is seductive.”
Only Edward remains, but he is now over fifty, and among other things, with a great scandal among court dignitaries, more than ten years with a show woman who was considered a street woman at the time. And yet, despite all this, this is ultimately the last possible candidate, indeed the only hope that Windsor will retain the right to royal succession. Political forces and alliances are strengthening, making an extreme desperate attempt.
In the end, Edward appears more pliable than the Duke of Clarence, with extreme reluctance to bow to the greater interests of the Royal House and agrees to the appointment. The times are tense, however, the candidate for the throne is already old, and he has been chosen in haste and fury for a suitable wife, Vittoria Maria Louise, one of Leopold's now widowed sisters from Belgium.
Victoria’s determination could not be denied, and without delaying matters, she announced to the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne: “I have decided to marry Albert. We need to tell him about this!” The prim lord was confused: “Usually men ask for the hand of their betrothed, and not vice versa!” This sobered Victoria up a little - indeed, although her marriage with Albert seemed a done deal, it was somehow unladylike to force events on her own...
Still seems futile, the race against time seems in vain, long years the court and population await the desired announcement of the arrival of one heir, at least one who could preserve the throne at Windsor and the economic and political stability of England.
All hope is in vain, the king is weak and sick, far ahead in years by the standards of age, dead end, the only available cartridge was loaded into the ointment. The court and England, and especially Windsor, do not know what to do with the woman's heiress. The atmosphere is already unstable in court when Edoardo dies only eight months after the birth of Herp, without even choosing a name or baptizing the girl. In fact, it is insistent and partly more ox-like that this is an illegitimate fetus, the baby is not the daughter of the old and sick Edward, but conceived by Victoria Marie Louise with the complicity of some noble cadet of another monarchical family only to preserve the throne at Windsor.
However, she was the first to talk about marriage. After the royal hunt, to which Prince Albert received an invitation, Victoria called him into her office. And for the first time I was left alone with someone I was already in love with. The prince simply looked at her - but he was silent! And then she had to speak. “Do you understand why I called you here? – Victoria asked her cousin. “I will be happy if you become my husband!”
Therefore, the suspicion is that the disease comes from another dynastic tension mixed with the sacred blood of Windsor. However, after growing up at Uncle Leopold's court, playing and learning with his children, his cousins Alberto and Ernesto under the tutelage of his mother's wing, Victoria Maria Luisa, 18 years old Vittoria, raised in relative freedom, shows a strange, voluptuous, a decisive, proud, indomitable character, revealing an unexpected fabric and a tendency to command immediately, it would seem almost predestined for power.
Albert knelt on one knee and whispered: “Oh, I’m not worthy of you...” Victoria’s cheeks flushed, but this was not a refusal. “I will be happy to spend my whole life next to you...”
Prince Albert understood well that by agreeing to this marriage, he would forever remain in the shadow of his royal wife, he would constantly follow one step behind her, because the husband of the English queen is not a king. He will only bear the title of Prince Consort, which he will not receive immediately after his marriage, but only after several years. The Queen could only appoint her husband as a field marshal, and then only in name!
He hasn't been invested yet and he's already in command. Among many potential candidates, Victory is the only one who has the blood of Windsor in her veins, and yet she turns out to be the first dynasty in the world, the daughter of anyone who, without being invested, has already been designated as heir to the throne of England.
This, combined with the unconstitutional economic and political support of the Belgian monarchs, who had already had at their bosom the missed Queen of England, William's sister, and then married to Leopold, brought the right to the throne. Wearing a beard of her gender, she is set to be officially crowned Queen of England within a year before other European courts are forced to reverse the situation by submitting their own nominations.
Victoria understood how much this state of affairs, clearly stated in the country's constitution, humiliated Albert, and even wrote about it in her diary. Moreover, she fell in love with her future husband more and more. And this pushed her to take ever more decisive steps. She even wanted to demand that Parliament give her husband the title of king, but the same wise Lord Melbourne dissuaded her from this rash step. “Those who make kings can also overthrow them! – he remarked. “And I ask you, Your Majesty, do not raise this issue now.” It's not time yet."
In practice it is almost a handshake between Windsor's work and the Belgian court, but in reality, in a re-reading of history, it is a bold but bold move. However, events will good choice. He is truly an enlightened monarch, this young sovereign ascending to the throne of England seems to have an infallible instinct for a state of mind, a rare understanding of reform and far-sighted maturity, immediately introducing a series of net social improvements before.
When her popularity was at its peak, Queen Victoria was dedicated to what was the first mission of a liturgical monarch, to create heirs and ensure succession to the throne. At the time of her marriage, still very young, Vittoria does not hesitate or hesitate, does not cling to the flattery of new alliances, does not yield to the pressure of the semi-European courts, but decides to completely repay her old debt with the Kingdom of Belgium, which contributed, not least, to establishing him on the throne by marrying a man who knew well, and shared with her the explorations and games of childhood.
The wedding, which was celebrated with pomp in 1840, finally united Victoria with the one she had longed for. Her passion, growing every day, even puzzled the somewhat cold and reasonable prince: could he match such a strong feeling?
But, no matter how much his bride loved him, she did everything her own way, despite his numerous requests and wishes: she herself chose the house in which they would live, all the furnishings, and even offered her future husband... new friends! Take them in new life Victoria did not want his own retinue...
By choosing her cousin Alberto, the queen ensures a good union, powerful protection, always helpful when needed, and at the same time a trusted spouse, a valuable companion, a shoulder to lean on and a valuable advisor. But this happy union turns out to be, first of all, something unusual for a sovereign, deep loving understanding.
United by sincere love and passionate love, eleven years later Alberto and Vittoria bring nine children into the world. But to the queen she soon touched the bitter fate of the burial of at least many of her descendants suffering from hemophilia, of whom she was only a healthy carrier, and passed on, according to the fatal laws of genetics, not yet known at that time. all her creation.
Albert was never an ardent lover, and his wife’s passion sometimes tired him, but... she was still a queen! Moreover, the queen whom he made happy. A second desk was installed in her office - for Albert, although he could not make any government decisions. And in her diary Victoria wrote: “I sign the papers, and Albert gets them wet”...
For two years after Alberto's death, Queen Vittoria would observe mourning, placing severe restrictions on court jokes, even neglecting state affairs. Completely immersed in her sadness, it is perhaps only for the first time that the Queen fully realizes how important she is to her, the reassuring presence of the Prince Consort, always kept in the shadows, yet always by her side.
A great lover of riding and equestrian sports, renewed by mourning, Vittoria almost unconsciously transferred her respect and confidence to a rather modest character, soon elevated to the rank of unofficial adviser. Of course, there must have been many at court not to see this excessive understanding between one of the most powerful Sovereigns of the earth and the notorious stallion, and perhaps he began to fear that Stainless Vittoria, with age and after much sorrowful suffering, might soon find herself unable to command and unable to reign.
However, it is foolish to assume that the queen’s husband was completely removed from the affairs of government: we can say that Albert wisely and unobtrusively guided his wife, gave her practical advice and even... was a nanny and nurse for the pregnant Victoria! Albert's word always remained decisive both in the upbringing and treatment of children, of whom the couple gave birth to as many as nine.
The fact is that the 64-year-old queen is practically alone in the world, her late husband, her dead children before that time, uncle Leopold and mother Victoria Maria Louise, who are gone, all the names that come to her mind now correspond to tombs, cold gravestones slabs and memorial engravings.
The few surviving children of hemophilia are scattered for European courts, which are culled from necessary states of mind, like chess pieces, in a complex but necessary game of political alliances and weddings. Not one of the survivors, by character, intuition and wisdom, is an inert puppet in the hands of a mother who, while loving them, despotic them and imitates them even from afar.
The marriage of Victoria and Albert was extremely successful, which is the exception rather than the rule for crowned heads. This is how Albert himself writes about him in a letter to his brother: “The heavier and stronger the chains of marriage, the better. Spouses should be chained to each other, inseparable and live only for each other. I would like you to come and admire us - an ideal married couple, united by love and harmony.”
Of course, when you constantly have to carry and give birth to children, which, of course, is also an act of national importance, orders and laws recede into the background. Albert became increasingly involved in the affairs of the kingdom - he got up before sunrise, went to his office and got to work: read and signed papers, delved into the affairs of the ministries... Some politicians were even indignant that the new monarch had too much power in his hands, but Victoria I was just happy with the current state of affairs!
The Queen called her husband “my dear, my incomparable angel,” and he answered her with the same tender love. It seemed that nothing could overshadow their family idyll, but... Suddenly, in December 1861, Albert fell ill. At first, the queen did not attach any importance to the illness, thinking that her husband’s illness was nothing more than a slight malaise, but everything developed so rapidly that four days later the king was gone... His last words were: “My dear wife...”
The king is dead. However, Victoria's love for Albert did not die with him. And although she will experience this loss for many years almost as acutely as in the first sad days, she will devote the rest of her life to perpetuating the memory of her loved one. In addition to the monuments to her untimely departed husband, the Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial, Victoria will honor the memory of her beloved every day and hourly: there will always be fresh flowers in his room, pajamas will be laid on his bed every evening, and hot water will be brought in the morning for shaving...
She will never forget or betray her beloved, and will preserve his memory in the way that is most befitting of a queen: she will complete all those undertakings that Albert considered important. No one dared to dictate his will to Victoria, except for the one who, invisibly and until the end of her days, would stand behind her shoulder and whisper in her ear: “You are doing the right thing, my dear wife...”
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When I hear: “Queen Victoria,” I imagine a heavy, swollen old woman, with sad downturned corners of her mouth, in a dark widow’s dress, a kind of bag in a cap. A woman who spent her entire life mourning her beloved husband, who passed away so early.
Young Victoria was almost unknown to me. But she loved bright colors, was passionate and amorous, and before Prince Albert she also had a personal life.
Victoria was the daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III.
Duke of Kent
Victoria did not know her father; he died when she was not yet two years old. Victoria grew up under the control of her German mother Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.
Duchess of Kent
When Victoria ascended the throne, she was 18 years old. The throne went to Victoria because all three of her father's older brothers died, leaving no legitimate children. Until the age of 18, Victoria was practically imprisoned in Kensington Palace.
She had to sleep in her mother's bedroom, studied only with private teachers, could see only those people, even relatives, who were loyal to her mother and John Conroy, her mother's household manager and lover.
John Conroy
Victoria could play with dolls and her spaniel only at certain times, and she could not even go down the stairs without an escort. Her mother and her power-hungry adviser John Conroy kept her, as they say, in a black body, with the help of the so-called “Kensington system” invented by Conroy.
Self-portrait of Victoria at 16 years old
All this was presented as a concern for the “moral purity” of the princess, but in reality this system was needed in order to weaken Victoria’s will and make her completely dependent on her mentors in anticipation of future influence and power. Conroy hoped that Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent, would become regent and they would rule the kingdom together. Physically eliminating the princess, poisoning or strangling, was fraught, times were not the same, and Conroy wanted to make Victoria a weak-willed creature whom he could manipulate. But I miscalculated. Neither he nor the Duchess of Kent were popular within the royal family, and all attempts by the Duchess of Kent to become regent were rejected. At the age of 18, Victoria ascended the throne and became queen. The first thing Victoria did was drive Conroy away. Conroy lived on her mother's estate for some time, but had no influence on Victoria. A few years later he received a pension of £3,000 and a baronetcy and returned to his estate. Despite a good pension, real estate and scams with the money of Princess Sophia (one of the daughters of George III), after his death Conroy left huge debts.
Lord Chamberlain Cunningham and the Archbishop of Canterbury inform Victoria that she is now queen
Victoria's Prime Minister was 57-year-old Lord Melbourne. Lord Melbourne was a bit old even for Victoria's father, but he was still handsome and famous for his romantic stories. And Victoria fell in love with him. In addition, Lord Melbourne was her mentor in royal affairs, and they often stayed together. Lord Melbourne was Queen Victoria's first love, it was he who made her feel that she was a woman. And she herself was last love Lord Melbourne. "I'm sure none of your friends love you as much as I do, dear Lord M." - Victoria wrote to him in a note.
Researchers, reading Victoria's diaries (which were carefully reviewed by royal censorship), constantly encounter references to Lord Melbourne. From what he said about her earrings to his views on cannibalism or his views on spanking.
Victoria and Melbourne spent most of the day together. Every morning they walked together to Victoria's office, Melbourne acting as her personal secretary. Then they rode horseback together, and in the evening the lord came for dinner.
Three months after she became queen, Victoria wrote in her diary: "I have seen him every day for these five weeks. He is always in good mood, kind, good, very nice... I ride with him every day, sit with him during and after lunch, and we talk about different things."
Marlbourne introduced Victoria to the work of government, taught her how to talk to strangers, and thanks to Melbourne, Victoria transformed from a shy girl into a poised young queen.
Queen Victoria
Lord Melbourne was a witty, charming man, women liked him, but his personal life was unhappy. Lord Melbourne was married to Lady Caroline Lamb.
Lady Caroline Lamb (she did not manage to become Lady Melbourne; she died before her husband received the title)
Lady Caroline, or Caro as she was called, was a writer. But her most famous novel is not a book one, but a novel with Lord Byron. Caro was madly in love with Byron, and did not want to hide it. Byron, when he was fed up with this novel, ended all relations with Caro. Caro had a nervous breakdown, she stalked Byron, even sent him a letter with her pubic hair, but Byron was relentless. When Lady Caroline tried to sort things out with him at the ball, Byron insulted her. Lady Caroline broke her glass and cut her wrist. Her mother quickly took her away. Most likely, Caroline cut herself accidentally, but gossip spread rumors that she wanted to commit suicide in front of her former lover.
Lord Melbourne's mother begged her son to divorce his wife, who was disgracing his name, but to Melbourne's credit he refused, although he no longer lived with his wife until her death. Most likely he knew about her mental problems and felt sorry for her. For the rest of her life, Caro struggled with mental instability, but the problem was exacerbated by her addiction to alcohol and opium. Melbourne and his wife had a son named Augustus, who suffered from epilepsy. Unlike most parents of disabled children of that time, Melbourne did not hide him and looked after him very touchingly.
After the death of his wife, a year before Victoria became queen, Lord Melbourne began an affair with beautiful woman named Caroline Norton. Caroline left her husband because of his drinking, but was not officially divorced. The husband, a Conservative MP, came to the conclusion that his wife was having an affair with Lord Melbourne and tried to blackmail him, demanding £10,000. Melbourne refused to pay. Then the deputy sued Melbourne for the so-called criminal conversation
(conversation for the purpose of seduction). Melbourne had to appear in court. The jury acquitted him, but still there was a scandal that almost led to the fall of the government. Melbourne had to break off all relations with Mrs. Norton. By the time Victoria ascended the throne, Lord Melbourne was free.
The closeness between Victoria and Lord Melbourne could not be hidden from prying eyes. Victoria was even called Mrs. Melbourne behind her back. When Melbourne lost the House vote and decided to resign, Victoria burst into tears. "Do you really want to leave me?" - she told him.
“I sobbed and sobbed,” Victoria wrote in her diary, “I ran my hand over his and held on to it, as if I wanted to feel that he would not leave me.”
There were rumors in the palace that Victoria and Lord Melbourne might get married. Victoria wanted this, but the lord was older and more experienced and understood that this was impossible. Not only was he much older, but this could not be done for political reasons. And for Victoria's sake, Lord Melbourne began to keep her at arm's length.
And then the wedding of Victoria and Albert took place. Lord Melbourne himself insisted on this. Albert - real husband for the queen. Handsome, smart, radiant. Besides, as the lord told her, marriage would put an end to her mother's influence over her.
At first, Victoria didn’t want to hear about it, she thought it was “shocking,” but later she agreed and didn’t regret it for a minute. Victoria directed all her passion towards Albert. He became her friend, husband, lover. She gave birth to 9 children from him. Now Albert was her adviser and best friend. In addition, he was even able to bring Victoria closer to her mother, although before that they were almost enemies.
A year after Victoria and Albert's wedding, Lord Melbourne suffered a stroke and his health deteriorated sharply. After his death, Victoria burned all his letters. But she preserved the memory of him for posterity. The Australian city of Melbourne, Victoria, is named after the Queen's first love.
Melbourne is considered the most beautiful city Australia
Victoria was happily married to Albert, and his death was a tragedy for her, from which she, in general, was never able to recover. After Albert's death, her servant, the Scotsman John Brown, became her friend and adviser. There is a lot of gossip and speculation about the relationship between Victoria and Brown. In the palace they even talked about the supposed secret wedding of Victoria and her servant, and called the queen Mrs. Brown behind her back. But there is no evidence of Victoria’s love affair with her servant, although the queen valued Brown very much and called their relationship a “warm and loving friendship.” In public, Victoria never showed any particularly warm feelings for Brown, although she drew him, took photographs with him and mentioned him in correspondence, emphasizing his personal qualities. Be that as it may, John Brown was truly devoted to Victoria. He served Victoria for 18 years and died at Windsor.
Queen Victoria's last close friend was Abdul Karim. Abdul was 24 years old when he came to England. It was brought to the Queen as a "gift from India". Within a year he had emerged as a strong figure in the palace, becoming the queen's teacher in Indian affairs. Unlike Brown, Abdul went far beyond the ordinary employee. The Queen wrote letters to him and signed them: “your loving mother” or “your closest friend.” Sometimes she signed letters with a flurry of kisses.
Abdul Karim
Researchers write that the queen and Abdul were unlikely to be lovers, but the fact that she loved him is undeniable. Before his death, he replaced her “father and mother and husband.” Abdul taught Victoria to write in Urdu and Hindi, and introduced her to curry, which she soon began to consume daily. Abdul and his wife were allocated apartments in almost all the queen's residences. He was allowed to wear the sword and all his medals, with which the queen generously awarded him. He was even allowed to transport all his relatives from India. Abdul's father even smoked hookah at Windsor Castle, although Victoria was disgusted by smoking.
If the royal family hated Brown, then Abdul simply shook them, and they were shocked that a Muslim had such power over the queen.
When Victoria died, the family could not prohibit Abdul Karim from attending her funeral, it was Victoria’s will, but a few hours after the funeral, the new king, Victoria’s son Edward VII, dismissed Abdul, ordering him to destroy all diaries and records. It is true that it is unknown what Abdul burned there; he kept some of the diaries, and after his death his relatives took them to India. They were later discovered by one of the researchers of the life of Queen Victoria. There is not even a hint in the diaries juicy details in the relationship between Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim. Abdul Karim was a gentleman. He simply kept the memory of his queen alive.
Queen Victoria with her children and grandchildren