consider herself, ‘Mamma’s prisoner’, she sent back a message to say that she was too busy to grant the interview.
Then she sat down to think about Sir John and what a menace he had been in her childhood. If Mamma had not allowed that odious man to dominate her household, how different everything might have been and how glad she was that she now had Lord Melbourne to deal with this most disagreeable affair.
The Duchess’s fury was turning to despair. To receive a note from her daughter saying she was too busy to see her own mother was the last straw, she declared to Sir John.
‘She is dominated by Melbourne,’ he told her. ‘You can depend upon it. He is the one who is responsible for this high-handed behaviour.’
‘Who does he think he is … the King?’
Conroy grinned. ‘Well, he might well be aspiring to that position.’
‘You are not suggesting that she would marry the man!’
‘Oh, no, even I wouldn’t go as far as that. There’s forty years difference in their ages and the Queen can’t marry a commoner.’
‘I should think not. The sooner she is married to one of her Coburg cousins the better.’
‘Your brother Leopold will see to that, and I gather he still has some influence though he may well be ousted by Melbourne.’
‘It shall be Ernest or Albert. She shall have the choice. And the sooner the better, I believe.’
‘She is surrounded by our enemies, that is the trouble.’
‘And she is so easy to lead.’
‘We did not find it easy to lead her,’ Sir John reminded her.
‘By some people,’ amended the Duchess. ‘Melbourne … Lehzen …’
‘Ah, Lehzen,’ sighed Sir John a little reproachfully. ‘What a pity you cannot get someone more sympathetic to us into her household.’
‘I will beg her to take in Flora.’
‘That’s a good notion.’
‘And I shall ask her to see you sometimes. Her not doing so, in such a pointed way, makes it a little embarrassing for me.’
Sir John nodded. He knew that people were already whispering that the Queen’s aversion to Sir John was due to her mother’s relationship with him.
‘I will write to her since she is too busy to see her own mother.’
‘Write calmly,’ said Sir John.
‘You may trust me.’
She sat down at her desk and feathers quivering with emotion she wrote to her daughter. She hoped that she was not letting Melbourne know how much she disliked her mother’s Comptroller of the Household. In fact was she confiding too much in Lord Melbourne? Did she not think it might be wiser to see a little less of her Prime Minister?
‘Take care,’ she wrote, ‘that Lord Melbourne is not King .’
When Victoria received the letter she blushed hotly.
How dared they! She included Sir John in her condemnation because she knew he would have had a hand in this. He made outrageous demands which were like blackmail, and then they dared speak so of Lord Melbourne!
Definitely she would never see Sir John Conroy again if she could help it; as for her mother, she would have to learn that her daughter was no longer her prisoner but the Queen of England!
Lord Melbourne said that it was not very suitable for the Queen to continue to live in Kensington Palace.
‘Kensington Palace is all very well for the heiress presumptive to the throne; but when that heiress becomes the Queen that is a very different matter.’
Victoria was wistful. ‘It is no easy matter to leave one’s home.’
‘But it is an easier matter to leave one of your homes when you have many. And you can always come back for a spell to Kensington. Why your grandfather George III and his wife Queen Charlotte …’ She made a little grimace. ‘… who incidentally bore no resemblance whatsoever to Your Majesty …’ Victoria joined Lord Melbourne in his laughter. ‘Your grandfather George III and Queen Charlotte loved Kew and they were very glad to leave Windsor to escape to it. They would walk about the place like a country squire and his lady and the
Then she sat down to think about Sir John and what a menace he had been in her childhood. If Mamma had not allowed that odious man to dominate her household, how different everything might have been and how glad she was that she now had Lord Melbourne to deal with this most disagreeable affair.
The Duchess’s fury was turning to despair. To receive a note from her daughter saying she was too busy to see her own mother was the last straw, she declared to Sir John.
‘She is dominated by Melbourne,’ he told her. ‘You can depend upon it. He is the one who is responsible for this high-handed behaviour.’
‘Who does he think he is … the King?’
Conroy grinned. ‘Well, he might well be aspiring to that position.’
‘You are not suggesting that she would marry the man!’
‘Oh, no, even I wouldn’t go as far as that. There’s forty years difference in their ages and the Queen can’t marry a commoner.’
‘I should think not. The sooner she is married to one of her Coburg cousins the better.’
‘Your brother Leopold will see to that, and I gather he still has some influence though he may well be ousted by Melbourne.’
‘It shall be Ernest or Albert. She shall have the choice. And the sooner the better, I believe.’
‘She is surrounded by our enemies, that is the trouble.’
‘And she is so easy to lead.’
‘We did not find it easy to lead her,’ Sir John reminded her.
‘By some people,’ amended the Duchess. ‘Melbourne … Lehzen …’
‘Ah, Lehzen,’ sighed Sir John a little reproachfully. ‘What a pity you cannot get someone more sympathetic to us into her household.’
‘I will beg her to take in Flora.’
‘That’s a good notion.’
‘And I shall ask her to see you sometimes. Her not doing so, in such a pointed way, makes it a little embarrassing for me.’
Sir John nodded. He knew that people were already whispering that the Queen’s aversion to Sir John was due to her mother’s relationship with him.
‘I will write to her since she is too busy to see her own mother.’
‘Write calmly,’ said Sir John.
‘You may trust me.’
She sat down at her desk and feathers quivering with emotion she wrote to her daughter. She hoped that she was not letting Melbourne know how much she disliked her mother’s Comptroller of the Household. In fact was she confiding too much in Lord Melbourne? Did she not think it might be wiser to see a little less of her Prime Minister?
‘Take care,’ she wrote, ‘that Lord Melbourne is not King .’
When Victoria received the letter she blushed hotly.
How dared they! She included Sir John in her condemnation because she knew he would have had a hand in this. He made outrageous demands which were like blackmail, and then they dared speak so of Lord Melbourne!
Definitely she would never see Sir John Conroy again if she could help it; as for her mother, she would have to learn that her daughter was no longer her prisoner but the Queen of England!
Lord Melbourne said that it was not very suitable for the Queen to continue to live in Kensington Palace.
‘Kensington Palace is all very well for the heiress presumptive to the throne; but when that heiress becomes the Queen that is a very different matter.’
Victoria was wistful. ‘It is no easy matter to leave one’s home.’
‘But it is an easier matter to leave one of your homes when you have many. And you can always come back for a spell to Kensington. Why your grandfather George III and his wife Queen Charlotte …’ She made a little grimace. ‘… who incidentally bore no resemblance whatsoever to Your Majesty …’ Victoria joined Lord Melbourne in his laughter. ‘Your grandfather George III and Queen Charlotte loved Kew and they were very glad to leave Windsor to escape to it. They would walk about the place like a country squire and his lady and the
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