‘I should like to think that we were always Uncle Leopold’s friends,’ she had said gravely.

Lord Melbourne had smiled at her tenderly. ‘Your Majesty will realise that he will be our friend as long as that friendship does not affect the interests of his country. This is the difference between love of country and love of family. And it is one of the penalties of sovereigns and sovereigns’ ministers that the country comes first.’

How right he was! As always, she thought. She went on:‘My Ministers, I can assure you, share all my feelings on this subject and are most anxious to see everything settled in a satisfactory manner between Belgium and Holland …You may be assured, beloved Uncle, that both Lord Melbourne and Lord Palmerston are most anxious at all times for the prosperity and welfare of Belgium … Allow me once more therefore, dearest Uncle, to beseech you to use your powerful influence over your subjects and to strive to moderate their excited feelings on these matters. Your situation is a very difficult one and nobody feels more for you than I do. I trust, dearest Uncle, that you will at all times believe me your devoted and most affectionate niece.Victoria R.’

There! She had written it.

‘Sprinkle it lavishly with “dearest Uncles”,’ Lord Melbourne had said. ‘It will remind him that while you still feel affectionate towards him as an Uncle, there must be no meddling in the politics of this country.’

She was surprised that she could nod in agreement. A short while ago she would have been horrified that she could have allowed anyone to call Uncle Leopold’s interest ‘meddling’.

But Lord Melbourne had taught her so much and Lord Melbourne was, of course, right.


* * *

The letter to Uncle Leopold appeared to have the desired effect. He wrote back to his dearest and most beloved Victoria to say that he was moved by her expressions of affection. He had not actually thought she had forgotten him, but it did occur to him that he had been put aside as one does a piece of furniture that is no longer wanted. He pointed out, though, how chagrined he had been by Lord Palmerston’s declaration and naturally so, for the Prussians had become very imperious afterwards.‘… I am happy to say, I was never as yet in the position to ask for any act of kindness from you, so that whatever little service I may have rendered you, remained on a basis of perfect disinterestedness. That the first diplomatic step in our affairs should seem by your Government to be directed against me, created therefore all over the Continent a considerable sensation. I shall never ask any favours of you or anything that could in the least be considered as incompatible with the interests of England; but you will comprehend that there is a great difference in claiming favours and being treated as an enemy …’

Uncle Leopold understood. She could not intervene in State matters for his sake.

He finished his letter declaring that she was never in greater favour with him and that he loved her dearly.

Dear Uncle Leopold! It was sad to think that she could ever regard him as a piece of furniture which was no longer of use! She remembered that when she was a child she had sometimes hoped that some dramatic opportunity would arise so that she could show him how much she loved him. Perhaps she might risk her life for him, perhaps even die for him. And now she could not allow him to interfere with her country’s politics!

It was a new phase. But this was not the first time she had suspected that the closer she came to Lord Melbourne the farther she must draw away from Uncle Leopold.


* * *

Leopold declined the invitation to Victoria’s Coronation. He thought that a king at the Coronation would be rather out of place.

There was no time to feel sad about his absence or to ask herself whether he was very offended.

‘At a Coronation,’ said Lord Melbourne, ‘there is so much to do.’

Chapter VI

CORONATION

London was preparing for the Coronation.

This was going to be a coronation to make all others seem insignificant in comparison; the last two such occasions had been concerned with ageing and not very attractive old men and there was no Monarch so appealing at such a time as a fresh young girl.

From every part of the country people were arriving in London for the event and scaffolding was being erected along the route which the procession would take; houses fortunate enough to be situated there were being let at high rents and shopkeepers and traders looked forward to booming business. A fair had been set up in Hyde Park for the amusement of the visitors and to add to the general rejoicing. Patriotism, the gaiety of the occasion, and the summer weather made that a June to remember.

When Victoria rode out in her carriage she was often held up while the people expressed their enthusiasm. The roads were jammed with the carriages of visitors and, near the Park, all the coming and goings of the fairground people; there was noise, bustle and excitement everywhere and the general subject of conversation among rich and poor alike, was the Coronation.

‘I feel quite shy to contemplate that all this is for me,’ Victoria told Lord Melbourne.

‘Shyness,’ replied Lord Melbourne, ‘shows a sensitive temperament – a great asset in a queen.’

‘All the same,’ she temporised, ‘I should like to feel more assured than I do.’

‘When you are in the Abbey you will enjoy it,’ he said lightly.

‘I feel very vague about it. I am not at all sure what I am supposed to do.’

Lord Melbourne waved an elegant hand. ‘The Archbishop will explain everything, but it is all very simple.’

Lord Melbourne always made everything so easy.

‘In the meantime,’ she told him, ‘there is such a fuss about the trainbearers. The Duchess of Richmond is arranging what they shall wear. Did you approve of the ladies I chose?’

‘Your choice is mine – and I must say that you showed admirable perspicacity in the choosing.’

‘I thought I must have Lady Mary Talbot as the daughter of the oldest Earl in the Kingdom and a Roman Catholic. I should not want people to think I am biased on religious grounds.’

‘How wise!’

‘And Lady Anne Fitzwilliam I chose because Lord Fitzwilliam has been so kind to me.’

Lord Melbourne nodded. ‘Yes, yes,’ he said. ‘They and the other six are admirable.’

‘I believe you regard the Coronation as a kind of puppet show,’ she accused him.

‘Not your Coronation,’ he replied which she told him was a typical Lord Melbourne answer.

She went on laughingly to tell him about the fuss the Duchess of Richmond was in over the costumes.

‘Really, I think she is not very competent. And a little arrogant. She has a very high opinion of her own judgement which is not confirmed by others.’

‘Like almost everyone I know,’ replied Lord Melbourne, and added, regarding her fondly: ‘With one or two notable exceptions, of course.’

She smiled at him affectionately. ‘They are wearing their hair in plaits over the ears.’

‘A charming fashion,’ said Lord Melbourne, because that was how Victoria wore hers.

‘And can you guess what she wanted to do?’ she demanded indignantly. ‘She wanted them to be pale. She said they looked too robust which was not in keeping with the solemnity of the occasion. So she thought the leeches might be applied to draw off some of their healthy colour.’

Lord Melbourne laughed and Victoria’s indignation vanished as she joined in. But she added firmly: ‘Of course I would not allow that!’

‘She must have thought your attendants should look like ghosts?’

‘What a gruesome idea! She thought it would make them look interesting.’

‘Wraiths risen from their tombs would certainly create great interest.’

‘Lord M, you are joking about a very serious subject.’

‘Serious subjects are the very ones to make jokes about because funny ones are a joke in themselves.’

‘You are very profound, but this is my Coronation and the Duchess of Richmond has stated that she refuses to have the young ladies’ Mammas interfering. They are to have no say in the matter whatsoever. Now she has decreed that they shall wear little flower caps as well as their silver wreaths and these do look rather odd. I should like your opinion on them.’

‘As your Majesty’s Prime Minister it is my duty to give it,’ said Lord Melbourne with one of his most appealing grimaces that made her burst into laughter again.

However, she declared she was serious and sent a servant to request the Duchess to send in one of the young ladies to her wearing the head-dress, as she was anxious for the Prime Minister’s opinion.

Lord Melbourne studied the head-dress very gravely and said it was pretty. But when they were alone he pulled one of his most comical faces and added that he thought it somewhat curious.

Oh, it was such fun to be with Lord Melbourne and she was so gratified because although they laughed and joked about such trivial matters, in the midst of the gaiety he would bring out some important official document such as a letter she must write to the King of Portugal about the suppression of the slave trade or an account of how she must receive members of the Clergy and what she must say to them.

‘I am learning to be a queen,’ she told him, ‘in the most amusing and lighthearted way … thanks to you.’ And in the midst of a discussion on the slave trade they would talk of people’s noses (she was sensitive about hers which was too large for such a small person). ‘People with small noses never made much mark in the world,’ comforted Lord M.