A headstrong young queen and her conscientious cousin were brought together by family but married for love.
Their romance remains one of the most famous in royal history but the marriage of Victoria and Albert almost didn’t happen. The couple grew up knowing that many in their families wanted them to wed but, as the prospect of saying ‘I do’ drew closer, both expressed doubts and looked to futures without each other. However, one short meeting turned a family wish into passionate love and led to the deep devotion of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Their royal wedding, on 10 February 1840 at the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace, was a marriage their relatives had pushed for from the couple’s earliest years, as soon as it became clear that Victoria was likely to become queen. Born on 24 May 1819, she was the only child of George III’s fourth son, Edward, Duke of Kent, and his ambitious wife, Victoria. Baby Victoria lost both her father and her paternal grandfather before her first birthday and, as the reign of her uncle, George IV, progressed, it became increasingly clear that the young princess would one day inherit his throne. He had lost his only legitimate child in 1817 when Princess Charlotte of Wales had died in childbirth. By the time the young Victoria turned five, she was the hope of her dynasty.
Not that they showed it publicly. She lived in the rather rundown Kensington Palace with her mother while George IV refused to grant them an allowance. Instead, they relied on the generosity of her mother’s brother, Leopold, who had personal reasons for nurturing his young niece. Leopold was the widower of Charlotte, the lost heir. He had made plans for his prospective role as Prince Consort during his brief marriage and now that his niece rather than his wife stood to take the throne, he developed a very firm idea of who could shoulder the dreams he had been forced to abandon. His older brother, Ernest, later Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, had welcomed a second son, Albert, on 26 August 1819. Leopold, with the backing of his mother, Augusta, began to talk of Victoria and Albert as the perfect match.
However, Leopold wasn’t the only person with plans to marry off the extremely eligible princess. A long list of royal suitors was suggested for Victoria, with one paper confidently reporting as early as 1828 that she would wed another cousin, Prince George of Cumberland. During her early years, the young Victoria was linked to royals including the duke of Orléans, as well as one of the princes of Orange. In 1830, George IV was succeeded by his younger brother, William IV, and the new king wanted his niece and heir to marry into the Dutch royal family, much to the fury of Leopold, who was now a monarch himself, having accepted the Belgian throne in 1831. When William brought his marriage candidate over to visit Victoria, Leopold wrote to his niece, describing the action as “very extraordinary.” But he was no stranger to matchmaking visits himself…
In 1836, Leopold arranged a trip to England for Prince Albert and his older brother, Ernest. The young Victoria, who had been raised by her mother in strict seclusion at Kensington Palace, was more than eager for company of her own age. She loved any opportunity to dance and so the balls and parties held for the young princes were a welcome distraction for her. Albert, however, had been less enthusiastic. He hadn’t enjoyed the long journey to England and he found the constant round of entertainments exhausting.
But both Victoria and Albert were aware that this was more than just a summer holiday. Leopold hoped this trip would mark the start of the cousins’ trip to the altar. Victoria embraced the idea, writing to her uncle that her cousin “is very handsome”, and adding “I thank you… for the prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me in the person of dear Albert… he possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy.” The young prince, however, was less effusive with his only comment being “She is very amiable.”
Albert was just as circumspect the following year when Victoria became queen on the death of William IV. He sent his cousin a brief note of congratulations but contact between the two began to falter and Albert started to express concerns that the young queen was “incredibly stubborn” and prone to “extreme obstinacy.” Victoria, meanwhile, was relishing her new role and the freedom it brought, most notably from her controlling mother. King Leopold now consulted her as an equal, writing to her about the best way to educate Albert as a potential consort. However, doubts were beginning to creep into Victoria’s mind about the marriage, while visits from other German cousins and Grand Duke Alexander of Russia had left her giddy with excitement. Her beloved prime minister, Lord Melbourne, was also less than keen on the match with Albert and, by early 1839, Victoria was speaking with determination about putting any marriage plans on hold, for several years at least.
Leopold wasn’t deterred. He had arranged another visit to England for Albert but, ahead of the trip, Victoria wrote to him that while she liked the prince as a “friend, and as a cousin, and a brother” she wasn’t sure she felt enough for him to be happy in a marriage. Just to make her position clear, she told her uncle that she had never promised to wed Albert. Her cousin, who had spent his teenage years being prepared for life as a consort, laid down his own ultimatum. If Victoria didn’t make her mind up during his visit, he would withdraw from the race to be her husband. He needn’t have worried. Within weeks, he was engaged to the Queen of England.
Victoria had welcomed her cousin with a distinct lack of good grace, writing sulkily to Leopold when Albert was delayed. However, she was ready to meet him when he rode up to Windsor Castle on the evening of 10 October 1839 and the attraction was instant. Albert was pale from seasickness and had no clean clothes to change into as his luggage had been delayed but Victoria didn’t care. From the moment she saw him again, she fell in love, writing over the following days that he was “beautiful” and “excessively handsome” while his conversation was “fascinating” and his character “amiable and unaffected.”
Victoria and Albert spent hours together every day, riding, walking and talking together and learning about each other’s interests. The prince danced endlessly with his cousin and played the piano for her while she sat and listened to his thoughts on art. Just days later, Victoria told Lord Melbourne that she had all but made her mind up to marry Albert but wasn’t sure how long to wait. Her prime minister advised a speedy engagement, which brought a new anxiety for Victoria, for, as a queen, it was she who would have to propose.
On 15 October 1839, Queen Victoria requested the presence of her cousin in her Blue Closet. Albert arrived, in a state of nerves, to find Victoria trembling with anxiety. They chatted for a few moments before, as Victoria wrote in her diary, she told him “it would make me too happy if he would consent to what I wished.” Albert agreed instantly with Victoria noting “it was the happiest, brightest moment in my life.” Now betrothed to one another, the couple spent even more time in each other’s company as Albert’s visit continued, with Victoria recording in her diary that “we kissed each other again and again”.
However, their private pleasure was also a public matter and soon the formalities of a royal wedding began. By the time Albert returned home in November 1839, his engagement was the talk of the town, while, within days of his departure, his future wife had made her Declaration of Marriage to the Privy Council. The meeting, at Buckingham Palace on 23 November 1839, had so filled Victoria with dread that her hands were shaking and she almost dropped the paper she was holding, but she made her announcement in a confident and clear voice.
It wasn’t all plain sailing, however. The queen’schoice wasn’t universally popular, with some critics claiming Albert was marrying for money while others said the queen needed an older and wiser husband. Public opinion mattered to the queen, who had already faced attacks over some of her early decisions, and it was Victoria herself who argued against Albert being given a peerage in case it caused dissent.
There was also a fierce debate over whether Albert should take precedence over Victoria’s remaining uncles and on the make-up of his new household, while Parliament ended up awarding the prince an allowance of £30,000 a year, much lower than the expected £50,000. Albert, always inclined to introspection, accepted the decision calmly but also expressed concerns about his new role, writing that his future would “not always be unclouded.”
However, he was all smiles when he arrived at Buckingham Palace on 8 February 1840 ahead of his wedding. The young couple threw themselves into the final preparations for their big day, spending the evening before going through the marriage ceremony and even practising trying on the wedding ring. Victoria was determined to see her groom on the morning of their wedding, sending him a sweet note signed “thy ever faithful Victoria R” before one final audience with him ahead of their marriage. Albert was the first to arrive at St. James’s Palace for the ceremony, which was set for 1pm. He was dressed in the uniform of a British Field Marshal and wore the star and riband of the Order of the Garter. The bride left Buckingham Palace soon afterwards, accompanied by her mother, the Duchess of Kent, and her Mistress of the Robes, the Duchess of Sutherland, and seemed overcome by the crowds that cheered her. Queen Victoria made the final preparations for her marriage in the Throne Room of St James’s Palace, where her 12 bridesmaids, all daughters of peers, arranged her gown and train. The attendants, including Lady Mary Howard and Lady Frances Cowper, were dressed in white just like the bride. The groom entered the chapel first, to Handel’s See, The Conquering Hero Comes, before the queen’s procession arrived with Victoria surrounded by attendants, including Lord Melbourne who was holding the Sword of State. Her uncle, the Duke of Sussex, was at her side to give her away.
More than 300 guests watched Victoria and Albert exchange vows, with the young queen promising to obey her husband. Among the congregation was King Leopold of the Belgians as well as many members of the royal family, including Queen Adelaide, the widow of King William IV. Victoria described the ceremony as “very imposing, and fine and simple” and was almost overcome as she received her wedding ring. Once husband and wife, the couple led the procession back through St. James’s Palace before riding through more crowds to Buckingham Palace, where their wedding breakfast was held.
It was a short celebration as, by 4pm, the couple were ready to leave for their honeymoon at Windsor Castle. Victoria was once more overcome by the crowds that turned out to see the newlyweds, who were cheered all the way from London to Berkshire. Writing in her diary the day after her marriage, Victoria confided that “we did not sleep much” before once more heaping praises on the man she called “my precious Angel.”
But while deeply in love with Albert, even in the first heady moments of their marriage, Victoria never forgot she was a queen as well as a wife. While the prince had wanted a six-week holiday away from England, Victoria had insisted that three days at Windsor would be enough before she headed back to London to continue her duties as sovereign.
They returned to build a new court, which would slowly see Albert assume more influence and the young cousins turn into a 19th-century power couple. At the heart of Victoria and Albert’s success lay their unchanging devotion to one another. They were happily married for more than 20 years and had nine children, among them a son called Leopold in honour of the uncle who had brought them together. The plans for a regal marriage put together so carefully in the 1820s had gone on to produce one of the most celebrated royal love stories of all time.
THE QUEEN OF WEDDING CAKES
The huge wedding confection baked to celebrate the royal marriage was as much a talking point as the bride’s dress
While the bride and groom took starring roles at the royal wedding of 1840, they had competition. Their wedding cake, a spectacular bake that needed four men to carry it, became a national obsession.
The huge circular confection was three metres (ten feet) in circumference, more than 30 centimetres (one foot) deep and weighed more than 136 kilograms (300 pounds). It also showed the modern touches Victoria and Albert were bringing to the monarchy – while the couple opted for a traditional fruit cake, they chose striking decorations filled with symbolism.
The cake was topped with models of Victoria and Albert in Roman dress, with a figure of Britannia standing between them. A dog, representing fidelity, sat at the groom’s feet, while doves, symbolising a happy marriage, nestled near the bride. The cake was festooned with cupids holding emblems of the United Kingdom and decked with orange blossom and myrtle, the floral symbols of love and marriage. The cake was almost as popular as the couple themselves. Lithographs of the bake were made while newspapers reported every detail of the confection, which was created by the cooks at Buckingham Palace. Despite the cake’s enormous size, it couldn’t feed all the guests, so Victoria and Albert had multiple cakes made so they could offer slices to as many people as possible.
THE DRESS THAT STARTED AN ENDURING TREND
Victoria put a lot of thought into her choices, from her lace to her flowers
Honiton lace and Spitalfields silk
Queen Victoria wanted her dress to boost some of the cottage industries that were suffering an economic downturn. She chose silk satin woven in Spitalfields and lace from Devon. The Honiton lace was made to a special design that was destroyed afterwards so no one could copy it. Victoria’s gown had a long flounce of lace across the bodice as well as smaller trimmings at the end of the half-length sleeves. The lace provided work for dozens of local women.
The bride wore white
Victoria caused a storm by choosing to marry in a creamy white gown, as coloured dresses with gold or silver embroidery were more popular at the time. The young queen, a keen follower of fashion, chose this partly to show off the lace, which was so important to her bridal look. The trend for white wedding gowns soon took off among the upper and middle classes, who wanted to show their own prestige by copying the queen, and the trend of white and cream dresses has endured to this day.
A daring design
Victoria’s wedding dress was simpler and more daring than previous royal bridal gowns. Despite the chilly weather, the queen chose a low décolletage with bared shoulders. Victoria also emphasised her figure with a pointed waist on the bodice of her gown. William Dyce, head of the Government School of Design, helped create the pattern for the lace while the dress was created by Mary Bettans.
Shoes, by royal appointment
Victoria chose flat shoes for her wedding, produced by Gundry and Sons who supplied footwear for several members of the royal family from their famous shop in Soho. Made of white satin, the shoes featured a square toe and bands of ribbon crossing the foot in horizontal stripes. They were secured with more long ribbons that tied around Victoria’s ankles.
The bride’s beloved veil
Victoria used Devon lace for her wedding veil, attached to her hair with flowers. It featured the same, special design used for the lace on her dress. It took local women in Honiton and Beer six weeks to make, providing much-needed work. The veil became one of Victoria’s most prized possessions and she asked for it to be placed over her face for her burial.
Jewels fit for a queen
Albert presented his bride with a sapphire, diamond and gold brooch on the eve of their marriage and Victoria added it to her wedding outfit. The young queen described the gem, which featured a huge sapphire surrounded by 12 diamonds, as “really quite beautiful.” It would become one of her favourite pieces. Victoria’s wedding jewellery also included a necklace and earrings made from diamonds that had been given to her by the Sultan of Turkey soon after she became queen.
Bridal blooms
Victoria shunned a crown for her wedding day, instead holding her veil in place with a wreath of orange blossom. The flower, which also trimmed her dress and train, signifies innocence and eternal love as well as being an ancient symbol of marriage and fertility. Myrtle, another traditional sign of love and marriage, also featured in the bridal blooms. For her wedding posy, Victoria chose a simple arrangement of her groom’s favourite flowers, snowdrops.
A troublesome bridal train
Victoria’s bridal train was five and a half metres (18 feet) long and was carried by her 12 bridesmaids. However, it was too short for them all to be able to hold it and walk comfortably. Instead, the girls ended up standing almost on top of one another and had to tiptoe down the aisle.