The Queen's Husband (33 page)

The Princess Royal was refusing to eat; she lay whimpering in her cot and the Queen was quite anxious.

‘She is such a cross child,’ she said to Lehzen. ‘She never seems to smile nowadays.’

‘It’s her teeth,’ comforted Lehzen. ‘She’s bound to be fretful.’

Albert was continually in the nursery questioning the nurses as to what the baby had to eat. Lehzen would stand, lips pursed, listening, and the looks she gave him were venomous.

I must get rid of her, he thought.

He approached Lord Melbourne again.

‘That woman must go,’ he said. ‘She is constantly interfering between me and Victoria. Could you not advise the Queen that we should be better without her?’

Lord Melbourne appeared to consider this. He knew full well how devoted the Queen was to the Baroness, and while he believed the royal household would be better without the latter, he did not intend to jeopardise his friendship with the Queen by showing open animosity to the Baroness. No, that was for Albert. All the time the Queen and Lord Melbourne had been friends Lehzen had not been a menace to their relationship. She was, therefore, the Prince’s affair; he must be the one to get rid of her.

Albert went on: ‘If you could bring about her removal before you leave office that would be a good thing. It would be easier coming from you. She will never accept it from Peel.’

‘Your Highness, Her Majesty would tell me that the Baroness’s position in the household is not a state matter and therefore no concern of the Prime Minister. And rightly so. This is a domestic matter. The Queen would therefore resent my interference. It is for Your Highness to remove this woman and now is perhaps the time.’

‘I couldn’t do it – not with the new baby so soon to arrive.’

Lord Melbourne advised his usual policy: Put it off.

‘After the child is born is the time,’ he said. ‘Particularly if it is a boy. There will be great rejoicing and the Queen will be very happy. Yes, put it off until then.’

Albert sighed; he longed to tell the Queen exactly what he felt, but he dared not. He feared storms, which could be so bad for her in her condition.

But Lehzen did not accompany them on their tour.

The excuse was that Pussy was not as well as they would have hoped and therefore Lehzen must remain behind to superintend the nursery.

It was a delightful tour. They visited Panshanger, the home of Earl Cowper, Woburn Abbey, the Duke of Bedford’s place, and finally – and most happily as far as the Queen was concerned – they were entertained by Lord Melbourne at his country house, Brocket Hall.

‘There!’ said Albert. ‘Did you not enjoy your round of visits?’

‘Completely,’ replied the Queen. ‘And I’ll tell you what pleases me most. It is to see how people are beginning to appreciate
you
, Albert.’

‘You make me so happy,’ said the Prince.

‘Dearest Albert. Everything would have been perfect if we had had dear Pussy and Lehzen here.’

The Prince felt a little deflated; but the fact was she had enjoyed the visit, separated from Lehzen as she had been and with the prospect of Lord Melbourne’s imminent departure from the premiership. He was becoming the most important one in her life.

Very soon after their return the results of the election were known. It was, as had been expected, a decisive victory for the Tories; Sir Robert Peel’s representatives in the house would number 368, Lord Melbourne’s 292.

The Queen shut herself into the blue closet to brood alone for a short while, thinking what this meant.

There could be no way out of this. Sir Robert Peel would be her new Prime Minister – and she must say goodbye to her beloved Lord Melbourne, but only she assured herself as Prime Minister. He would remain her dear friend.

On that hot August day she waited in the blue closet, the scene of so many happy meetings. She had thought of it as their particular sanctum and had always refused if possible to see anyone else there. And now he was coming for the last time as her Prime Minister and she felt very sad.

He came and stood before her; she looked for the tears in his eyes and was certain that she would find them.

She held out her hands; he took them both and kissed them.

‘So it has come,’ she said.

‘It was inevitable. Only Your Majesty has kept it at bay for these last two years.’

‘At least I did that.’

He smiled tenderly. ‘And now, there is the Prince to stand beside you. It will be easier now than then. That is something I remind myself of continually.’

‘I shall never forget,’ she said.

‘Nor I. But this is not the end, you know.’

‘I am determined that it shall not be.’

‘May I give Your Majesty one piece of advice?’

‘You must go on giving me advice for years to come.’

‘Since Your Majesty is so kind I will not hesitate to do so now. I beg of you send for Peel without delay. If you did not it might be construed as a slight. It is my earnest desire to see you on good terms with your new government.’

‘I shall never like Peel. He fidgets. He is nervous and that makes me uneasy.’

‘You will put him at his ease. There is already an understanding between him and the Prince.’

‘Oh, yes, Albert is quite fond of the fellow.’

‘As you will be … in time.’

She shook her head. ‘I shall never forgive him for taking you from me.’

‘I am here still. Perhaps Your Majesty will continue to write to me. I think the loss of those letters would be something I could not bear.’

‘I shall write to you as before and you shall advise me, and I shall always think of you as my dear … dear friend.’

‘And you will lean on the Prince. You will find him strong and shrewd.’

‘I have the best husband in the world, I know.’

‘He will be a great comfort to you and may I say it is a comfort to me to leave you in such good hands.’

She was too emotional to speak and he went on to say that he should not stay. She had not yet sent for Peel. People would know how long he had been with her. They must not be unwise.

She clung to his hands for a moment; then he bowed and left her.

She went to her room and blinded by tears she collected some of her drawings together – her favourite ones. Some of them he had seen before and admired. They should be his – her last gift to him as Prime Minister. He would understand that by giving him her own work she meant him to have the best that she could offer.

As soon as he received the drawings he wrote to thank her for them.

Lord Melbourne will ever treasure them as remembrances of Your Majesty’s kindness and regard, which he prizes beyond measure.

They will, as Your Majesty says, certainly recall to recollection a melancholy day, but still Lord Melbourne hopes and trusts that with the divine blessing it will hereafter be looked back upon with less grief and bitterness of feeling, than it must be regarded at the present.

She wept over the letter. She remembered so much from the past: the first day when she had become Queen and he came to cheer and comfort her with his dear presence; she remembered their conversations, his witty, often inconsequential remarks which had amused her so much; she remembered her jealousy when he had spent too much time at Holland House. Then she had been a young girl – a queen it was true – but carefree, as far as a queen could be. She remembered the first summer of her reign. She had never really spent such a joyous summer. Then she had not realised that cares and anxieties went with the pomp, ceremonies, gaiety and the freedom of being Queen.

But that was past; now she was a wife, the mother of one child and soon to have another; and she knew that she had to be wise and strong; and now that she had lost her dear Prime Minister she must try to come to terms with the one she was sure she was going to dislike.

Almost immediately it was necessary to see Sir Robert Peel. The interview was brief, lasting only twenty minutes but Sir Robert was less ill at ease than he had been on that disastrous occasion two years ago; and very anxious for the Queen to know that he wanted their relationship to be smooth and easy. He was as respectful as she could wish. He said he would give her a list of the members of his cabinet for her approval. There was no hurry over this matter, said the Queen, and she would prefer to study the list at her leisure. Sir Robert left and the Queen sighed with relief.

Victoria immediately sat down to write to Lord Melbourne and tell him exactly what had happened. She ended by writing:

What the Queen felt when she parted from her dear kind friend Lord Melbourne is better imagined than described; she was dreadfully affected for some time after, but is calm now. It is very, very sad and she cannot quite believe it yet. The Prince felt it very much too, and really the Queen cannot say how kind and affectionate he is to her, and how anxious to do everything to lighten this heavy trial; he was quite affected at this sad parting. We do, and shall, miss you so dreadfully; Lord Melbourne will easily understand what a change it is, after these four years when she has had the happiness of having Lord Melbourne always about her. But it will not be so long till we meet again. Happier and brighter times will come again. We anxiously hope Lord Melbourne is well and safe. The Queen trusts he will take care of his valuable health, now more than ever.

She was weeping over the letter when Albert came in.

‘Read it,’ she said. ‘Oh, Albert, I shall have to learn to be without him now.’

Albert took her hands and looked steadily into her face.

‘You will have to put your trust in me now, Victoria.’

‘I do, Albert.’

‘
All
your trust,’ he answered.

She nodded; but he was thinking of the Baroness who still remained as the shadow between them.