Firstly, it has to be said that Victoria was never assigned a personal Coat of Arms. This may seem strange but may be explained by a number of reasons.
- Victoria reached her agreed age of majority (18 years) just before her uncle, HM King William IV, passed away and she came to the Throne.
- King William had been very ill and it may not have crossed his mind or, if it did, may have thought there wasn't enough time to bother before she inherited the Sovereign's Arms.
- Her cousin, HRH Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, was not granted her personal Coat of Arms until she was 20, around about the time she married Prince Leopold. (Charlotte Augusta was the daughter and only legitimate child of HM King George IV, then Prince Regent, and was also, at that time, the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Charlotte Augusta's death in childbirth in 1817 sparked off a constitutional crisis which involved George's other sons dumping their mistresses, marrying within the law and racing to provide an heir. Victoria won as she was the surviving legitimate heir of the elder brother, Edward Duke of Kent, even though he was the fourth son.)
Also we need to remember that heraldry is very patriarchal. To show their Father's inheritance, all descendants of Prince Albert carried an Inescutcheon of Saxony on top of their matriarchal, British Royal Arms until anti-German feelings got too high during the First World War. This small shield was consequently dropped by the British Royal Family in 1917. We will not, however, be starting off with HRH The Prince Albert Edward, firstly because he simply wasn't Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's first born child. Secondly, as Prince of Wales his Coat of Arms is highly predictable. Once modern heraldry got going, the eldest son/Prince of Wales always gets assigned a plain white Label. |
Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa and Charlotte Augusta Matilda
The Shield and Portrait on the right hand side above are of the previous Princess Royal to Vicky, her Great Aunt Charlotte who died in 1826. Her Label is exactly the same. Charlotte married The Hereditary Prince Frederick of Württemberg and eventually became Queen there.
This Label would go on, not necessarily to be inherited by, but to be assigned to the present Queen when she was still HRH The Princess Elizabeth. She was certainly in a position to be Princess Royal but never received the title as her Aunt was still alive well into her own reign, dying in 1965.
Vicky married the then Prince Frederick of Prussia whom she had met at the Great Exhibition in 1851. She eventually became Empress of Germany but Frederick's reign as Emperor in 1888 was short-lived as he died from cancer which had started in his throat. Especially since her Mother had become Empress of India in 1876, Vicky was always known as Empress Frederick (Kaiserin Friedrich). Her conjugal Coat of Arms is shown above. The graphic is based on the coin which shows Frederick's Coat of Arms to the left (the heraldic dexter) and Vicky's personal Coat of Arms including her Label to the right (the heraldic sinister), all ensigned by an Imperial Crown and surrounded by the Chain of the Prussian Order of the Black Eagle.
Alice Maud Mary and Augusta Sophia
In 1858 Alice was assigned a label of three points (as the child of a sovereign) of a red Rose at the centre (like her elder Sister) but with a black Ermine Spot on each of the outer points. This, again, was the same Label as was assigned to her equivalent in the generation of George III's children, namely his second daughter HRH The Princess Augusta Sophia in 1789. Alice, however, would be the last Member of the Royal family to be assigned the Ermine Spot.
Augusta Sophia never married but, like many of her sisters, she conducted a private romance with a gentleman at Court, in her case Sir Brent Spencer. It was rumoured that they married privately.
Alfred Ernest Albert and William Henry
Alfred was assigned a three-Pointed Label with a central St George's Cross and, quite prophetically or appropriately, a blue Anchor on each of the outside Points. For the purposes of our comparison, though, we have to discount the second son of King George III, HRH The Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. There is a very simple reason for this.
Frederick was assigned a three-Pointed label with a solitary St George's Cross on the central Point. As has been seen before, this Label had previously been assigned to the eldest son of The Prince of Wales. The Hanoverians had made a change. When HM King George II came to the Throne and his eldest son Frederick became Prince of Wales, taking on the plain Label, The King didn't reserve the St George's Cross label for his senior Grandson, he assigned it to his own third Son, Wlliam Duke of Cumberland. Queen Victoria had further confused matters by assigning the St George's Cross Label to her husband and so it was not available for Alfred anyway.
We therefore move on to the next son of George III, HRH The Prince William, Duke of Clarence who became HM King William IV, quite appropriately another 'Sailor Prince'. William was assigned exactly the same Label as Alfred in 1781.
Alfred married the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia, on 23rd January 1874. By all accounts the marriage was not a happy one, especially because Maria was felt to be too haughty due to her astonishment at how many princesses she had precedence behind whom she felt were below her. Having said that, their marriage in St Petersburg was a grand affair and her dowry was large. The Marie biscuit was named after her.
As Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Alfred effectively and simply reversed the precedence of his Coat of Arms making the stripes and green 'Crown in rue' of Saxony the main devise and his personal Arms, as a Prince of the United Kingdom still, an Inescutcheon. He also added all the Crests and Motto 'Treu und Fest' we have previously seen on Prince Albert's Achievement.
Helena Augusta Victoria and Elizabeth
Her German nickname 'Lenchen' stuck and after a fleeting romance with her Father's German librarian, she was married off to the impoverished minor royal, His Serene Highness Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein who was elevated to a Royal Highness on marriage in 1866. Their marriage may not have been the most romantic with the Groom 15 years older than the Bride, but it was not without its success nor stability. They had 6 children in total, four of whom lived into adulthood, including the redoubtable Princesses Helena Victoria and Marie Louise. But more about them when we explore the heraldry of Queen Victoria's Grandchildren.
To give Helena her due, she did gain a reputation for being a hardworking royal with many engagements and much charity work, especially in nursing. Realising the power of royal patronage, she presided personally and actively over charity work, raising money and awareness, acting as chief saleswoman at charity bazaars and feeding the poor and needy.
In 1858 Helena was assigned her Label - a central St George's Cross with a red Rose on each other two outer Points of the three-pointed Label. Not surprisingly, this is exactly the same Label as King George III's third daughter, HRH The Princess Elizabeth, assigned again in 1789. And thus the comparison continues.
Louise Caroline Alberta and Mary
Probably the closest to her eldest sister Vicky in liberal thinking, Louise was a bit of a free spirit. She was an accomplished sculptor. Her most famous work is of her Mother which stands in front of Kensington Palace. (A statue, that is, not Queen Victoria herself!) Louise was also somewhat of a feminist and was not on the best of terms with her other sisters, on the whole.
Again in 1858 Louise was assigned her Label. This was composed of a red Rose on the central Point flanked by the somewhat unusual red Canton on each of the outer Points. The red Canton was used back in medieval times and saw a revival during the Hanoverian period. It is only somewhat unusual because Louise was the last Member of the Royal Family to be assigned the Charge. It is equally not unusual that Louise was only following her equivalent in the generation of George II's children, HRH The Princess Mary, who had been assigned the self same Label back in 1789.
Mary, like Queen Victoria, married her first cousin. In Mary's case this was William Frederick, son of her Uncle HRH Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh. Both were 40 years of age. In those days, the grandchild of a sovereign through the male line was a Highness. William Frederick was raised to a Royal Highness on his wedding day in 1816 by the Prince Regent so as not to be outranked by his wife. Mary would be the last surviving child of George III, dying in 1857, and staying close to her niece, Victoria.
Arthur William Patrick Albert and Edward Augustus
(One liberty was taken. The casket being presented to the infant Prince was a pure invention and with the full agreement of Prince Albert and the artist. The Duke actually gave his Godson a gold cup and some toys. Unfortunately, Prince Arthur was expecting to open a gold casket from the Duke on his 21st Birthday and had to be disappointed by his Mother...)
Prince Arthur married Princess Luise Margarete (Louise Margaret) of Prussia in 1879. She was the Great Niece of Arthur's other Godfather, Emperor William I of Germany. Arthur was appointed Governor General of Canada in 1911, the first direct Member of the Royal Family to be so, although his Brother-in-Law The Duke of Argyll, Louise's husband, had served there the previous Century. The Connaughts would be come quite a little dynasty in themselves, with their own ups and downs, and would serve the Royal Family well. Arthur would become a great advisor and support to his Nephew, King George V, and would in turn become Godfather to the present Queen.
Arthur died in 1942. He was the last of Victoria and Albert's sons to survive, albeit well into old age at 92. His younger sister Beatrice would outlive him by two years.
With such an auspicious start in life, it is rumoured that Arthur was Victoria's favourite son. It is hardly surprising, though maybe only by happy coincidence, therefore, that when it came to Arthur's Label the next son of King George III to emulate was none other than Queen Victoria's own Father, HRH The Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. Arthur was therefore assigned a Label of three Points, the centre charged with a St George's Cross and the two outer Points each carrying a blue Fleur-de-Lys in 1874. Perhaps because Arthur lived so long, but the Fleur-de-Lys has fallen out of favour.
Edward was another career soldier, serving as Governor of Gibraltar and as commander-in-chief of British forces in the Maritime Provinces of North America (basically Canada); another tie-in with Arthur. He was the first Member of the Royal Family to live in North America and the first British Prince to visit the fledgling USA after Independence. If not entirely liked, his intentions were honourable. However, he will mostly be remembered as the brother who won the race to provide King George III with an heir - the girl who became Queen Victoria.
He died of pneumonia in 1820, six days before his ageing, ill father and 17 years before he could have become king himself. The baby Victoria was not even a year old.
Leopold George Duncan Albert and Augustus Frederick
Leopold is famous for being haemophiliac. There has been much speculation on how the blood disorder got into the British Royal Family but seeing that Queen Victoria became known as 'The Grandmother of Europe' with all the marriage arrangements for her descendants, it is easy to see how the inherited disease got into the bloodstream of half the Royal Houses on the Continent.
Leopold was the only sufferer in his generation and was a sickly child. He was therefore quite withdrawn and bookish, coming to the attention of people like Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the Poet Laureate. Whilst a more traditional military career was out of the question, this didn't stop his adventures. He went to university, travelled around North America with his Sister Louise, at the time her husband was Governor General of Canada. He did however act as Colonel-in-Chief of a Scottish Highland Regiment.
He saw marriage as an escape from his Mother and after many rejections and objections he married Princess Helena Friederike, the daughter of Georg Viktor, reigning Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont, whose Sister, Emma, was Queen of The Netherlands and who would become Regent for her Daughter, Queen Wilhelmina.
Leopold and Helena firstly had a daughter, Alice, who became the last surviving Grandchild of Queen Victoria and gave many spirited TV interviews in her later years. Unfortunately, Leopold slipped and fell whilst convalescing in the South of France in 1884. Helena had stayed at home as she was pregnant. Leopold died the following day and never saw the birth of his son, christened (Leopold) Charles Edward (George Albert), who was destined to be the next Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha with his own troubles.
The next son of King George III was technically HRH The Prince Ernest Augustus, the hated Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover who had inherited the Kingdom in Germany over Victoria as it had what is called Salic Law which effectively bars women form ascending. Possibly because Ernest was disliked, but also because the label was still in use by that branch of the family, Leopold was not assigned a central blue Fleur-de-Lys between two St George's Cross.
The next Georgian brother was the much preferred Duke of Sussex, born HRH The Prince Augustus Frederick. (Augustus would marry twice, both times in contravention of Royal Marriage Acts. His second wife, although not Duchess of Sussex, was created Duchess of Inverness in her own right by Queen Victoria. Augustus therefore didn't leave any legitimate issue and his title returned to The Crown on his death. The present Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, was the next to hold the title.)
Augustus's Label had been two red hearts on the central Point (one above the other) between a single St George's Cross on each of the two outer Points. This was slightly changed for Leopold and he was assigned a St George's Cross on the central Point between a single red Heart on each of the outer two Points at the tender age of three in 1856. This may also have been an amalgamation with the Label of the Augustus's next brother, Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge whose Label was the other way round with the two sets of Hearts flanking a central St George's Cross.
This Label, though, was very much in use by Adolphus's eldest child, George, and later by the Teck Family. Prince George it was who won the race between George III's sons to be born as a replacement for Charlotte Augusta. He beat Queen Victoria by two months. However, as he was born to a later, lower-ranking brother, he did not come to the Throne. He actually also outlived Victoria, dying in 1904, and was another career soldier.
George III's other two sons, Alfred and Octavius, both died in childhood and were therefore not assigned Labels.
Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore and Sophia Matilda
As such, Beatrice resigned herself to acting as companion and secretary to her grieving Mother. The prospects of marriage seemed remote, even though she came close to marrying the Prince Imperial of France, son of Emperor Napoleon III, only he died in the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. Her eventual husband, HSH (raised to HRH on marriage) Prince Henry of Battenberg, also died in war, the Ashanti War, in 1895, but of malaria.
A condition of their marriage was that they should stay close by Victoria and so their wedding took place on the Isle of Wight, near to Osborne House, where Henry later became Governor. Beatrice took on the monumental task of editing Victoria's journals. This took 30 years and they were published in 1931.
Beatrice and Henry's only daughter, Victoria Eugenie, famously married HM King Alfonso XIII of Spain. She is covered in these two Blogs (here and here).
When it came to a Label, Beatrice was assigned the same one as the next in line of King George III's daughters, namely HRH The Princess Sophia, with a three-pointed Label showing a red Heart on the central Point flanked by a red Rose on each of the two outer Points (again in 1789 and 1858 respectively). Beatrice's Label will be highlighted further as her heraldry was used by her children, but we effectively come to the end of our little survey of Queen Victoria's children and the comparison with the heraldry of King George III's children. There was one more Georgian Princess, Amelia, who had a Label with one Rose between two single Hearts, but there was no further Victorian daughter to inherit it.
I will leave you with the tantalising gossip that Sophia is perhaps best known for the rumours surrounding a supposed illegitimate child to which she gave birth as a young woman...