The Germanies continued

Time for some more Secrets of the Gotha, as the backlog is getting pretty big:

The Duchy of Brunswick and the Kingdom of Hanover

Brought up in England by his uncle the prince regent, the future George IV, he had lived there until 1851, when he had gone to France in a baloon and stayed there.

(I wonder if "Go to France in a baloon and stay there" was the 19th century version of "Fuck off and die")

The King [Ernst-Augustus I] who had spent all his life in England, had remained very British and did not care much for Hanover: his capital was too small for his lioking, and the sight of his subjects irritated him. His son was spared this irritation since he lost his sight when young through whirling a chain which flew out of his hand and struck him in the eyes. His Hesse-Darmstadt cousins, who were economical by nature, took advantage of this infirmity in a rather sordid way. They did not turn the fountains full on when he came to stay with them.

***

George V's son, called Ernest-Augustus like his grandfather, was, during the first years of his life, the hope of the dynasty and the delight of the old king, who had him brought in every evening after dinner so that he could play with him. This reunion between grandfather and grandson gave rise to scenes so strange that one must quote the countess of Muenster, who observed them during on of her visits to the court:

'It was very touching to see the old man, who tended to be very severe and impatient, hold out his arms to this ugly, but nevertheless well brought-up child, while the child seized the little tuft of white hair which still adorned his grandfather's forehead, and, uttering piercing cries and kicking at his neck, fought to get hold of the king's monocle. This last exploit was somewhat dangerous, and as a rule, at this point in the game, the king tried to get rid of the struggling, angry child - by no means an easy operation. The last amusement which the boy asked for and obtained every day was as follows: the king would open his mouth, put his tongue out, and the child would rub his hands and cheeks against it (...) When the rite was completed, the king would rise and say: "Now let us go to the nursery for the bath." A ceremony which everyone considered very necessary after the licking procedure. Once we reached the nursery, chairs were arranged round a bath tub full of warm water to which a sweet perfume had been added. All we had to do then was to sit down and watch the spectacle of the child and his bath. When the sound of splashing grew louder, or a cry of delight was heard from the child, the poor crown prince [sic], who was blind, would turn towards us and ask with a laugh: "What part of his body are they washing now?"

'I need not add that this question was sometimes embarassing.'

***

Instead of the kingdom of Hanover, the duchy of Brunswick, which had been administered since 1866 by a regent, was solemnly returned to the grandson of the last sovereign, as a wedding present. William II [Emperor of the unified Germany, which incorporated Hanover] gave his daughter [who was marrying the abovementioned heir] the famous Brunswick jewels, which had been confiscated [along] with the country.

I think confiscating countries is definitely the way to go. Think big!

The Duchy of Coburg

Their daughters' only dowry was great virtue protected by even greater ugliness. They found it hard to obtain husbands: the eldest, Sophia, had married an Austrian gentleman, Count Mensdorff-Pouilly; the second, Julia, had fallen to the Grand Duke Constantine, grandson to the Tsarina Catherine, who, when he had been asked to choose between the three sisters, had cried: 'If I have to have one of them, I'd prefer the smallest. I'll marry the ugly little creature!'

***

The new duchess, ex-duchess of Edinburgh, was the only daughter of Tsar Alexander II, and thus born Grand Duchess Marie of Russia. Deeply conscious of her imperial origin, she had never been able to accustom herself to being in England only the wife of a younger brother of the royal house (...) She regretted in English fog the snows of her country, and when her husband was called to succeed to the throne of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha she went to reign in Coburg, delighted that she could at least satisfy her appetite for domination. Until her death she remained convinced that there was nothing in the world more pleasant than being a grand duchess of Russia. She never failed to remind anyone who in conversation forgot to address her as 'Imperial Highness' (...) She survived the 1914-1918 war only to see the disappearance of her former duchy and the collapse of the Russian empire (...) It is said that she died of shock on the day when she received an official letter from the new German government addressed simply to 'Frau Coburg'.

The saga of the court of Baden and Caspar Hauser deserves a separate post, so that's all for now.