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**The [[Edward VII|Prince of Wales]], ''the bride's brother''
**The [[Edward VII|Prince of Wales]], ''the bride's brother''
**[[Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|The Prince Alfred]], ''the bride's brother''
**[[Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|The Prince Alfred]], ''the bride's brother''
**[[Princess Helena of the Unitde Kingdom|The Princess Helena]], ''the bride's sister''
**[[Princess Helena of the United Kingdom|The Princess Helena]], ''the bride's sister''
**[[Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll|The Princess Louise]], ''the bride's sister''
**[[Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll|The Princess Louise]], ''the bride's sister''
**[[Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn|The Prince Arthur]], ''the bride's brother''
**[[Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn|The Prince Arthur]], ''the bride's brother''

Revision as of 21:31, 30 August 2013

Wedding of Princess Alice and Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine
Date1 July, 1862
LocationOsborne House, London, England
ParticipantsThe Princess Alice and Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine

The wedding of Princess Alice and Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine (later Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhin) took place on 1 July, 1862 at Osborne House, in London.

The Marriage

Suitors

A portrait of Louis of Hesse, 1860

Alice's matrimonial plans were begun in 1860 by her mother. Queen Victoria had expressed her wish that her children should marry for love, but this did not mean that her choice of suitors was extended to anybody outside the royal houses of Europe. Raising a British subject to royalty, however high their rank, was politically objectionable, and also wasted any opportunity for a useful foreign alliance.[1] The Queen instructed her daughter Victoria, Princess Royal, recently married to the future German Emperor Frederick III, to produce a list of eligible princes in Europe. Her search produced only two suitable candidates: William, Prince of Orange; and Prince Albert of Prussia, cousin to Victoria's husband Frederick. The Prince of Orange was soon discounted, as it was revealed that he was smitten with a Catholic archduchess[2] and showed no interest in Alice despite strong pressure from his pro-British mother, Queen Sophie of the Netherlands. Nevertheless, he journeyed to Windsor Castle so that Queen Victoria could look him over in person, but he proved unpalatable to Alice.[3] Prince Albrecht, too, was spurned; Alice's brother-in-law, Princess Victoria's husband Prince Frederick of Prussia, remarked that his cousin would not do for "one who deserves the very best".[1] Queen Victoria was strongly anti-Catholic, and discounted her cousin Peter V of Portugal purely because of his religion.[2]

Both of the leading candidates now discounted, Princess Victoria suggested Prince Louis of Hesse, a minor German royal, the nephew of Grand Duke Louis III of Hesse. Princess Victoria had gone to the court of Hesse to inspect Louis's sister, Princess Anna, as a potential bride for her brother, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. Although not favourably impressed with Princess Anna, she was impressed with Louis and his brother Prince Henry. Both were invited to Windsor Castle in 1860, ostensibly so they could watch the Ascot Races in the company of the royal family; but in reality, the visit was a chance for the Queen to inspect her potential son-in-law.[4] The Queen admired both Louis and Henry, but noted how well Louis and Alice got along together.[5] When the Hessian family departed, Louis requested Alice's photograph, and Alice made it clear that she was attracted to him.[5]

Engagement and wedding

Alice was engaged to Prince Louis of Hesse on 30 April 1861, following the Queen's consent.[6] The Queen persuaded the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, to vote Alice a dowry of £30,000.[7] Although the amount was considered generous at the time, Prince Albert remarked that "she will not be able to do great things with it" in the little realm of Hesse, compared to the riches that her sister Victoria would inherit as future Queen of Prussia and German Empress.[8] Furthermore, the couple's future home in Darmstadt, the Grand Ducal seat, was uncertain. Although Queen Victoria expected that a new palace would be built, the people of Darmstadt did not want to meet that expense, and the resulting controversy caused resentment there. This meant that Alice was unpopular in Darmstadt before she even arrived.[9]

Alice in her wedding dress, 1862

Between the engagement and the wedding, Alice's father Prince Albert died on 14 December 1861. Despite the Queen's grief, she ordered that the wedding should continue as planned. On 1 July 1862, Alice and Louis were married privately in the dining room of Osborne House, which was converted into a temporary chapel. The Queen was ushered in by her four sons, acting as a living screen blocking her from view, and took her place in an armchair near the altar. Alice was given away by her uncle, Albert's brother Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and was flanked by four bridesmaids: her younger sisters, Princesses Helena, Louise and Beatrice, as well as Louis's sister Princess Anna. For the ceremony, Alice wore a white dress with a veil of Honiton lace, but was required to wear black mourning clothes before and after the ceremony. The Queen, sitting in an armchair, struggled to hold back her tears, and was shielded from view by the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred, her second son, who cried throughout the service. The weather at Osborne was dreary, with winds blowing up from the Channel.[10] The Queen wrote to her eldest daughter, Victoria, that the ceremony was "more of a funeral than a wedding", and remarked to Alfred, Lord Tennyson that it was "the saddest day I can remember".[11] The ceremony—described by Gerard Noel as "the saddest royal wedding in modern times"[12]—was over by 4 pm, and the couple set off for their honeymoon at St Claire in Ryde, a house lent to them by the Vernon Harcourt family. Alice's entourage consisted of Lady Churchill, General Seymour and Herr Westerweller (a Hessian courtier).[12]

Alice was careful not to displease the Queen after her marriage. When the Queen visited the couple at St Claire, Alice tried not to appear "too happy". Despite this, Alice's displays of romantic bliss made the Queen jealous of her daughter's happiness.[13]

Wedding Dress

Princess Alice was the second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. On 1 July 1862, in the dining room of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, she married Prince Louis of Hesse. Seven months had passed since the death of the Prince Consort and the Royal Family was still in deep mourning. The venue was chosen so that the Queen was able to avoid inviting the usual guests of state.

From "The Royal Wedding Dresses" by Nigel Arch and Joanna Marschner (p.58): "She wore a 'half-high dress with a deep flounce of Honiton lace, a veil of the same and a wreath of orange blossom and myrtle'. It was a simple style and not embellished with a court train. Queen Victoria later confided to her daughter, the Princess Royal (Vicky), that the wedding of 'poor Alice' had been 'more like a funeral'."

Guests List

The Bride's Family

The Groom's Family

References

  • Nigel Arch and Joanna Marschner. The Royal Wedding Dresses. pg 58.
  1. ^ a b Packard, p. 77
  2. ^ a b Packard, p. 78
  3. ^ Packard, p.79
  4. ^ Pakula, p. 138
  5. ^ a b Pakula, p. 139
  6. ^ "No. 22507". The London Gazette. 3 May 1861.
  7. ^ According to the Measuringworth currency converter, 30,000 pounds sterling in 1861 would be worth about two to three million pounds in 2008, about 140,000 United States dollars in 1861 and over twenty times that many dollars in 2008.
  8. ^ Packard, pp. 88–89
  9. ^ Packard, p. 89
  10. ^ Packard, p. 104
  11. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 52
  12. ^ a b Noel, p. 95
  13. ^ Noel, p. 96.
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