The Queen and Lord M Page 10

  Dash came up to sniff Lord Melbourne’s boots and when the Prime Minister patted him he licked his hands.

  ‘All dogs like me,’ said Lord Melbourne.

  ‘They are noted for their sagacity,’ replied the Queen.

  And there they were laughing again. Oh, the meetings in the blue closet were such fun!

  When Leopold and Louise arrived, she noticed that her uncle looked much older. So did poor Aunt Louise, and she seemed much less gay than she had been during that other visit. Of course Uncle Leopold was a little solemn. She hadn’t been aware of this before but now that she had grown accustomed to Lord Melbourne’s most amusing and original conversation she noticed these things.

  They had many private conversations during which Uncle Leopold harked back somewhat to the days when she had called him her second father and how much they had always meant to each other. They wept a little but even Leopold’s tears weren’t quite the same as Lord M’s. Lord Melbourne’s appeared in his eyes and made him look so kind; whereas one felt Uncle Leopold’s meant he was sorry for himself.

  Uncle Leopold was tortured by his various ailments but he did not look as ill as he implied. Lord Melbourne told her a story about Uncle Leopold and Aunt Louise which was that when Aunt Louise had said something amusing Uncle Leopold was reputed to have retorted sharply: ‘No jokes please, Madam.’ He didn’t like jokes but what harm was there in laughing? She and Lord Melbourne continually laughed but she did not think the country suffered because of that. But these faint criticisms were never allowed to be examined very closely. Victoria was essentially loyal and she would never forget her devotion to Uncle Leopold.

  During her talks with him he expressed his admiration for Lord Melbourne which immediately removed that little tarnish which had touched his image. He was delighted, he said, that she had such an excellent adviser.

  ‘I have no doubt that he will do everything in his power to be useful to you,’ he said. ‘He was in a very awkward position with the late King who didn’t like him at all.’

  ‘Uncle William was so unwise in many ways, I fear.’

  ‘But it is very happy for Lord Melbourne now that he has your confidence and support.’

  ‘He shall always have it,’ she answered fervently.

  At which Leopold retorted: ‘My dearest child, only while he deserves it, I hope.’

  ‘Of course,’ she replied, and felt faintly disloyal until she reminded herself that Lord Melbourne would always deserve it.

  Uncle Leopold was disappointed that she had not taken Stockmar more into her confidence.

  ‘Now there is a man you can trust.’

  ‘I am certain of that, Uncle.’

  ‘I think it is possible that the letters between us may be intercepted. I must try to arrange something through Stockmar.’

  He went on to say that he hoped the friendship between England and Belgium would always be strong.

  ‘I cannot imagine it otherwise,’ said the Queen.

  ‘Trouble is blowing up in Europe and the support of England may be necessary to us.’

  ‘I am sure Lord Melbourne will be most anxious to give it.’

  ‘I am sure he will if it is the wish of the Queen.’

  Oh dear, she thought, it is true that dear as Uncle Leopold is to me he is the King of a foreign power; and being a princess unconcerned with politics is very different from being the Queen. She would have to talk with Lord Melbourne and ask him to explain the European situation before she could make any promises.

  Still, Uncle Leopold seemed certain of her support so she left it at that. She really wanted to think of the entertainments she would offer them while they were visitors at her Court.

  Lord Palmerston joined them at Windsor. She liked Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary, and of course Uncle Leopold had a great deal to say to him. Lord Palmerston was a wizard, Lord Melbourne told her; he had raised the prestige of England greatly since he had joined the Foreign Office seven years before. He was a fluent linguist and that, as Lord Melbourne said, enabled him to understand what the foreigners were getting at. Lord Melbourne told her that he was nicknamed ‘Cupid’ and that spoke for itself. He was a very gay bachelor. She replied that she really did enjoy the company of gay people.

  The evenings could on occasions be a little disappointing; that was because there were usually so many people present. She would have liked more dances for she loved to dance and could do so all through the night until four in the morning without tiring of it. Unfortunately there were so few people who were considered worthy to dance with her, which was a pity. The Duchess was a continual reproach too, sitting there yawning and almost falling asleep until she felt forced to call out: ‘Dear Mamma, do go to your whist if you wish. I am sure you are longing to play.’

  That would take care of the Duchess and then the Queen could indulge in some other game. Sometimes they played draughts and even chess. She challenged Aunt Louise to a game of the latter which really was amusing since they were both queens and she knew that the company were making allusions to this as the game progressed. It was particularly significant when Lord Melbourne and Palmerston hovered over her and advised her how to checkmate Aunt Louise, and Uncle Leopold advised his wife. She was so amused and laughed so much that she lost the game, which made dear Lord Melbourne look quite disconsolate.

  In due course Leopold left and when he had gone she realised how much she loved him. She really did miss him.‘My dearest most beloved Uncle,’ she wrote,One line to express to you imperfectly my thanks for all your very great kindness to me and my great great grief at your departure. How I shall miss you, my dearest dear uncle, every every where. I feel very very sad and cannot speak of you both without crying …’

  She was pleased that she did feel so strongly and she hoped the accentuating of important words would convince her uncle.

  But it only made her all the more thankful that she had dear Lord M to turn to. And reflecting on all that had happened since her accession she wrote in her Journal … ‘This is the pleasantest summer I ever passed in my life and I shall never forget the first summer of my reign.’

  Chapter V

  LEOPOLD IS PUT IN HIS PLACE

  One could not stay forever at Windsor and in October it was necessary to return to London. On Lord Mayor’s Day she must attend the dinner at the Guildhall, which was to be a glorious occasion given in her honour.

  It was pleasant riding through the streets and seeing how she pleased the people.

  ‘The little duck,’ she heard one woman say, which wasn’t really very respectful, as she remarked afterwards to Lord Melbourne.

  ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ was his answer, ‘I have always had a great respect for ducks.’

  Which made her rock with laughter, and reflect that Uncle Leopold would never have said such a thing.

  After the dinner when she returned to the Palace there was a letter awaiting her from her mother. She recognised the handwriting of Sir John, who was still in her mother’s household waiting for his impossible demands to be met.

  The Duchess was shocked and deeply wounded. She had, she wrote, been insulted at the Guildhall and it was humiliating for the mother of the Queen to be placed after minor relations. Was she to expect similar treatment at the Coronation? She knew that for a subject to expect audience of the Queen might seem an impertinence but she had yet to learn that the request of a mother to a daughter could be described in those terms, and she wished to see Victoria without delay.

  When Baroness Lehzen read the letter, which Victoria passed to her, she was pleased. The Court had divided into two domestic factions – that of the Queen and her ladies, at the head of whom was Baroness Lehzen, and the Duchess with Sir John and hers. Lehzen particularly disliked Lady Flora Hastings who was constantly making sly allusions to her enemy’s origins. It was gratifying, therefore, that the Duchess had to beg for an interview with the Queen when she, the companion or whatever name was attached to her, for she had no official title
, was allowed to come to the Queen at all times in the most unceremonious fashion.

  ‘I suppose I shall have to see her,’ sighed Victoria.

  ‘You are the Queen,’ said Lehzen significantly.

  ‘I know, but she’s right. She is my mother and nothing can alter that.’

  Which was a pity, thought Lehzen, but knew that Victoria would not wish to hear her say so. The Queen was very much aware of her duties in life and honouring her mother was one of them.

  So the Duchess came to her apartments and Victoria was held in a suffocating embrace.

  ‘My dearest angel!’

  ‘Dear Mamma.’

  ‘You are a stranger almost. Let me look at you. I only see you in public nowadays.’

  ‘Mamma, you have no idea how busy I am kept.’

  ‘I know I am the perfect ignoramus.’

  ‘Oh, not that, Mamma, no. But before my accession I had no idea what hundreds of duties there would be. What I should do without the help of Lord Melbourne, I can’t imagine.’

  ‘He has become very important in the last few months.’

  ‘Dear Mamma, a Prime Minister is always important.’

  ‘There could rarely have been such an important Prime Minister as this one.’

  ‘He takes his duties very seriously.’

  ‘Much more seriously since we have had a new Sovereign.’

  ‘Because the good man realises that with an inexperienced girl on the throne his duties are naturally greater.’

  ‘Yes, my dearest love, you are inexperienced. That is why I must speak to you. Your attitude to me is not liked by the people, you know. I am very popular. People noticed at the Guildhall how I was slighted and they didn’t like it. They didn’t like it at all. You will not impress them by neglecting your mother who did everything for you … yes, everything …’

  They were back on a familiar theme and Victoria said regally, ‘I have no time to quarrel, Mamma.’

  ‘Quarrel! Who is quarrelling, I should like to know?’

  ‘You are, Mamma. And I have simply no time to indulge in scenes like this. I will speak to Lord Melbourne.’

  ‘Of course you will. You do little else.’

  ‘I will ask my Prime Minister to make sure that you are given your rightful place at the Coronation.’

  ‘And there is one thing else. Do you think it wise to ignore Sir John as you do?’

  ‘I have no wish to do anything else but ignore him.’

  ‘People talk because of your attitude. They gossip and ask each other why you will not receive Sir John and are so unkind to me.’

  ‘If your conscience is clear, Mamma, you have no need to be concerned about gossip.’

  ‘We all have need to be concerned about gossip if it touches us.’

  ‘Well, Mamma, I will not receive Sir John. That I have always made clear.’

  ‘Are you going to help him? Do you forget what he has done for me and for you, too.’

  ‘I am unsure what he has done for either of us that has been to his credit or our benefit.’

  ‘You have become hard. Is that Lord Melbourne’s teaching?’

  ‘I wish you would not continually bring Lord Melbourne’s name into the conversation. And I advise you to be very careful because Parliament will soon be discussing the Civil List which could bring some benefit to you, Mamma.’

  ‘It is nothing more than I deserve,’ said the Duchess somewhat mollified as she always was at the prospect of money, and Victoria was able to bring the interview to a close on a more peaceful note.

  When the Duchess left, the Baroness, who had been waiting in the next room, came out.

  ‘Oh dear,’ said Victoria. ‘What a scene! It reminded me of the old days at Kensington.’

  * * *

  Leopold had noticed nothing different in Victoria’s attitude towards him during his visit to England and her letter written after his departure confirmed her continued adoration for and devotion to him.

  He was determined that England should be Belgium’s ally and at this moment Belgium needed allies. On his return he passed through France and saw the French Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, Count Molé, and in his usual somewhat arrogant way warned him as to the action France would be wise to take towards Spain, Portugal and Greece.

  He hoped, he wrote to Victoria, that the English Government would fall into line with the French and he wished her to tell her ministers so. She would understand that the Monarchy was a little uneasy in France. That it had been restored was a matter for rejoicing in all royal houses throughout Europe, and it must be the concern of all royalists to keep it steady. With regard to the Peninsula she would agree that there could be action there which England might take more easily than France and she might agree that it was wise to ask her ministers to decide that it was a necessary action.

  When Victoria read this letter she was bewildered. Uncle Leopold, it seemed, was trying to lead English foreign policy. Of course he was only advising her for her own good, but Uncle Leopold did seem to forget that she was not merely a niece to be taught a lesson or two about the world; she was a Queen with her own Government.

  The obvious action was to show the letter to Lord Melbourne and this she did at the earliest possible moment.

  Lord Melbourne was a little grave and told her that he would discuss Leopold’s letter with Lord Palmerston.

  Her Majesty will understand readily enough I know, he pointed out, that it is not policy to discuss a possible foreign policy with the head of another country however close in kinship that head might be with the Sovereign. There were close family ties between many European countries and if they discussed foreign affairs with one another they might as well be conducted in the open and there would be no such thing as diplomacy. He trusted Her Majesty understood and approved.

  She did, even though this concerned her dearest Uncle.

  ‘Perhaps Your Majesty would care to write to the King of the Belgians and tell him that you are placing these political enquiries in the hands of your Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary?’

  That is exactly the right thing to do,’ she said with relief.

  And this she did, but Leopold did not mean to relinquish his influence with his niece. He continued to write to her pointing out the need for English support in Belgian projects; and at Lord Melbourne’s suggestion she wrote back and told him that it was impossible for her to give her word that England would act in such and such a way, for she could not be sure what her Government might find it necessary to do in an emergency before that emergency arose.

  Leopold was uneasy. He wrote to her:‘My dearest child.You were somewhat irritable when you wrote to me …’

  He was very disappointed in her, she knew, because he did not discuss political issues further. Instead he wrote about her cousin Albert. She remembered Albert, of course, the young cousin whom she had so much admired when he visited England the previous year; Uncle Leopold had made it quite clear then that he hoped one day they would marry, although if she preferred Albert’s brother there would be no objection.

  Last year when life had been very dull, she had been quite happy with the idea; but it was rather different now. She had not given marriage a thought since she had mounted the throne, though now she supposed she would have to consider taking a husband for to provide an heir was a Queen’s vital duty to the State. She would love to have babies. She thought of the little Russells, who were so often at the Palace, and the little Conynghams who called her the ‘Tween’, the darlings! But a husband? No, she did not think she wanted a husband. He might interfere. She was quite happy to have Lord M to advise her.

  All the same it was much better that Uncle Leopold, rather than write of politics, should tell her what Albert was doing in Bonn where he was undertaking special studies to ‘prepare himself’ as Uncle Leopold called it. To prepare him for what? Marriage? Well, if she did not want marriage she would not have it … yet.

  She did hope Uncle Leopold would und
erstand that he must not meddle too much in English affairs. That was Lord Palmerston’s province – and of course dear Lord Melbourne’s.

  * * *

  Lord Melbourne came to tell her that the new Civil List had been passed through Parliament.

  ‘We have got them to agree to £375,000 a year, £60,000 of which will be for Your Majesty’s privy purse.’

  ‘What a lot of money!’

  ‘In addition to that of course you have the revenues from the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster.’

  ‘So much money!’ cried the Queen, her blue eyes wide.

  ‘You are the first Sovereign who has thought it so much.’

  ‘Surely anyone would think it a great deal?’

  ‘Oh, you are very careful with money. You will never be in debt as your uncles continually were, and even your grandfather George III, parsimonious as he was, couldn’t make ends meet!’

  ‘I always budgeted,’ said the Queen. ‘That dreadful man Conroy laughed at me for it.’

  ‘He couldn’t understand wise spending. He has been a poor choice for Household Comptroller as your mother’s affairs have shown.’

  ‘He was supposed to have settled my father’s debts but he never did. Now that I have so much money that is what I shall do. All my father’s creditors shall be paid in full.’

  Lord Melbourne’s eyes filled with tears.

  ‘A noble suggestion,’ he said, ‘and one that does not surprise me one little bit.’

  ‘It is very unfair to one’s creditors not to pay one’s debts. I am surprised that my father did it.’

  ‘It is a tradition of princes to live beyond their means.’

  ‘A sad tradition for the poor tradesmen.’

  ‘Oh, they expect it.’

  ‘They must also expect to be paid sometimes.’

  ‘But not by Royalty.’

  ‘Then I shall surprise them. Was my father very extravagant?’

  ‘No more so than his brothers. He resembled King George IV more than King William. He was charming and affable and very popular.’