I: Antecedents explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Family and Dynasty

  The chapter focuses on the desperate need for a legitimate heir to the British throne, driving the marriages of the royal dukes and the rise of the Coburg family.

• Grief and Loss

  Princess Charlotte's death in childbirth is a central tragedy, leaving Prince Leopold desolate and the nation in mourning, while also reshaping the royal succession.

• Love and Marriage

  Marriages are depicted as strategic and political, from Charlotte's arranged engagement to the Prince of Orange to the Duke of Kent's late marriage for dynastic purposes.

• Monarchy and Constitutional Role

  The succession crisis highlights the constitutional importance of the monarchy, as Parliament debates financial allowances for the royal dukes to secure the line of succession.

Characters to notice

• Princess Charlotte

  Only child of the Prince Regent and heir to the throne; dies in childbirth in November 1817 after a tumultuous life and marriage to Prince Leopold.

• King Leopold

  Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg at this time; marries Princess Charlotte in 1816, becomes a widower after her death, and later plays a key role in the Coburg family's rise.

• Baron Stockmar

  Young German physician brought to England by Prince Leopold; attends Princess Charlotte during her fatal labour and becomes a lifelong confidant to the Coburg family.

• Duke of Kent

  Fourth son of George III; after Princess Charlotte's death, he marries Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to secure the succession, becoming father of the future queen.

• Duchess of Kent

  Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, sister of Prince Leopold; widow of the Prince of Leiningen, she marries the Duke of Kent and gives birth to Princess Victoria.

• Queen Victoria

  Born in May 1819 as Princess Victoria of Kent; becomes heiress presumptive after the deaths of her father and other royal uncles, destined to inherit the throne.

• King William IV

  Duke of Clarence at this time; third son of George III, he marries in 1818 and later succeeds as king, but his legitimate children die young, leaving Victoria as heir.

• Madame St. Laurent

  Longtime companion of the Duke of Kent; their relationship ends when the Duke marries to produce an heir, and her subsequent fate is not recorded.

Key passages

• “On November 6, 1817, died the Princess Charlotte, only child of the Prince Regent, and heir to the crown of England.”

  Princess Charlotte, the sole legitimate child of the Prince Regent and heir to the throne, passed away on November 6, 1817.

  Establishes the opening crisis of the chapter.

• “The tragedy at Claremont was of a most upsetting kind. The royal kaleidoscope had suddenly shifted, and nobody could tell how the new pattern would arrange itself.”

  The death at Claremont was deeply unsettling, as the royal succession was thrown into uncertainty and no one knew what would happen next.

  Describes the aftermath of Princess Charlotte's death and the resulting succession crisis.

• “The Duke of Kent, declaring that he was still too poor to live in England, moved about with uneasy precision through Belgium and Germany, attending parades and inspecting barracks in a neat military cap, while the English notabilities looked askance, and the Duke of Wellington dubbed him the Corporal.”

  Claiming he could not afford to reside in England, the Duke of Kent traveled stiffly through Belgium and Germany, reviewing troops in a tidy military cap, while English elites disapproved and the Duke of Wellington mockingly called him 'the Corporal.'

  Illustrates the Duke of Kent's strained circumstances and low reputation among his peers.