enlightened couple were denied the chance to play the role for which they had been so well prepared, of helping to create the political climate for a more liberal united Germany, which would take its place as one of the leading nations of Europe in an era of unprecedented peace and stability.
On 25 January 1858, it had all seemed so well within their grasp. But, by the time Fritz ascended the throne a little over thirty years later as Emperor, he was already mortally ill. Ironically, the man who had struggled all his life to find a voice in the affairs of his nation died voiceless, robbed of speech by cancer of the larynx. His reign lasted a mere three months, whereupon such political importance as his wife ever possessed ceased abruptly; and, for her remaining thirteen years, she was reluctantly tolerated and often abused by a son under whose rule she found no political satisfaction and only a degree of personal contentment.
Was Vicky a courageous, grossly maligned woman determined to do the best for her adopted Prussia – and later Germany – without regard to the personal consequences for herself; or was she the tactless, domineering Englishwoman, a pampered Princess who remained a slavish disciple of her long-dead father, refusing to accept that there was any other way than the English one? Was Fritz an enlightened Prince who realized that the political mood in Germany was changing, and that the royal house had to change with it; or was he a dreamy, weak-willed depressive who allowed his wife to dominate him? As The Times of London had noted presciently when discussing their betrothal back in 1855, these two complex, ultimately tragic characters surely deserved ‘a better fate’.
Bibliography
All titles are published in London unless stated otherwise
I MANUSCRIPTS
Royal Archives. Letters from Princess Feodore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, and Crown Princess Frederick William, later Empress Frederick, to Queen Victoria
Napier Letters. Letters from Crown Princess Frederick William, later Empress Frederick, and Count Götz von Seckendorff to Lord Napier of Magdala. India Office Library and Records, European Manuscripts, British Museum
Salisbury Papers. Steward’s Diary; letters from Crown Prince and Princess Frederick William to the Marquess of Salisbury. Hatfield House
II BOOKS
Albert, Prince Consort. Letters of the Prince Consort , ed. Kurt Jagow, John Murray, 1938
Anon. The Empress Frederick: a Memoir , James Nisbet, 1913
—— Recollections of Three Kaisers , Herbert Jenkins, 1929
Aronson, Theo. The Kaisers , Cassell, 1971
Balfour, Michael. The Kaiser and his Times: with an afterword , Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1975
Barkeley, Richard. The Empress Frederick: daughter of Queen Victoria , Macmillan, 1956
Battiscombe, Georgina. Queen Alexandra , Constable, 1969
Bennett, Daphne. King without a Crown: Albert, Prince Consort of England, 1819-1861 , Heinemann, 1977
—— Vicky, Princess Royal of England and German Empress , Collins Harvill, 1971
Bigelow, Poultney. Prussian Memories 1864–1914 , Putnam, 1915
Bloomfield, Georgina, Baroness. Reminiscences of Court and Diplomatic Life , 2 vols, Kegan, Paul, Trench, 1883
Brook-Shepherd, Gordon. Uncle of Europe: The Social and Diplomatic Life of Edward VII , Collins, 1975
Buchanan, Meriel. Queen Victoria’s Relations , Cassell, 1954
Bülow, Bernhard von. Memoirs , 4 vols, Putnam, 1931
Bunsen, Marie von. The World I Used to Know, 1860–1912 , Harper, 1930
Busch, Moritz. Bismarck: some Secret Pages of his History , 3 vols, Macmillan, 1898
Cecil, Lamar. Wilhelm II, Vol. I, Prince and Emperor, 1859–1900 , University of North Carolina, 1989
Corti, Egon Caesar Conte. Alexander von Battenberg , Cassell, 1954
—— The English Empress: a study in the relations between Queen Victoria and her eldest daughter, Empress Frederick of Germany , Cassell, 1957
Epton, Nina. Victoria and her daughters , Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1971
Eyck, Erich. Bismark and the German
On 25 January 1858, it had all seemed so well within their grasp. But, by the time Fritz ascended the throne a little over thirty years later as Emperor, he was already mortally ill. Ironically, the man who had struggled all his life to find a voice in the affairs of his nation died voiceless, robbed of speech by cancer of the larynx. His reign lasted a mere three months, whereupon such political importance as his wife ever possessed ceased abruptly; and, for her remaining thirteen years, she was reluctantly tolerated and often abused by a son under whose rule she found no political satisfaction and only a degree of personal contentment.
Was Vicky a courageous, grossly maligned woman determined to do the best for her adopted Prussia – and later Germany – without regard to the personal consequences for herself; or was she the tactless, domineering Englishwoman, a pampered Princess who remained a slavish disciple of her long-dead father, refusing to accept that there was any other way than the English one? Was Fritz an enlightened Prince who realized that the political mood in Germany was changing, and that the royal house had to change with it; or was he a dreamy, weak-willed depressive who allowed his wife to dominate him? As The Times of London had noted presciently when discussing their betrothal back in 1855, these two complex, ultimately tragic characters surely deserved ‘a better fate’.
Bibliography
All titles are published in London unless stated otherwise
I MANUSCRIPTS
Royal Archives. Letters from Princess Feodore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, and Crown Princess Frederick William, later Empress Frederick, to Queen Victoria
Napier Letters. Letters from Crown Princess Frederick William, later Empress Frederick, and Count Götz von Seckendorff to Lord Napier of Magdala. India Office Library and Records, European Manuscripts, British Museum
Salisbury Papers. Steward’s Diary; letters from Crown Prince and Princess Frederick William to the Marquess of Salisbury. Hatfield House
II BOOKS
Albert, Prince Consort. Letters of the Prince Consort , ed. Kurt Jagow, John Murray, 1938
Anon. The Empress Frederick: a Memoir , James Nisbet, 1913
—— Recollections of Three Kaisers , Herbert Jenkins, 1929
Aronson, Theo. The Kaisers , Cassell, 1971
Balfour, Michael. The Kaiser and his Times: with an afterword , Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1975
Barkeley, Richard. The Empress Frederick: daughter of Queen Victoria , Macmillan, 1956
Battiscombe, Georgina. Queen Alexandra , Constable, 1969
Bennett, Daphne. King without a Crown: Albert, Prince Consort of England, 1819-1861 , Heinemann, 1977
—— Vicky, Princess Royal of England and German Empress , Collins Harvill, 1971
Bigelow, Poultney. Prussian Memories 1864–1914 , Putnam, 1915
Bloomfield, Georgina, Baroness. Reminiscences of Court and Diplomatic Life , 2 vols, Kegan, Paul, Trench, 1883
Brook-Shepherd, Gordon. Uncle of Europe: The Social and Diplomatic Life of Edward VII , Collins, 1975
Buchanan, Meriel. Queen Victoria’s Relations , Cassell, 1954
Bülow, Bernhard von. Memoirs , 4 vols, Putnam, 1931
Bunsen, Marie von. The World I Used to Know, 1860–1912 , Harper, 1930
Busch, Moritz. Bismarck: some Secret Pages of his History , 3 vols, Macmillan, 1898
Cecil, Lamar. Wilhelm II, Vol. I, Prince and Emperor, 1859–1900 , University of North Carolina, 1989
Corti, Egon Caesar Conte. Alexander von Battenberg , Cassell, 1954
—— The English Empress: a study in the relations between Queen Victoria and her eldest daughter, Empress Frederick of Germany , Cassell, 1957
Epton, Nina. Victoria and her daughters , Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1971
Eyck, Erich. Bismark and the German
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