One of the central functions of a queen consort throughout history has been to provide an heir to the throne, thereby guaranteeing the royal dynasty into the next generation. The political importance of childbearing for royal women does not mean, however, that children were only treated as political commodities. In addition to the political significance of royal heirs, royal mothers also often felt real affection for their children, loving them for who they were—rather than for only what they represented.

The personal and the political were inevitably intertwined, as the relationship between a royal consort and a royal child was also a relationship between a queen and her subject. If a queen consort survived her spouse to become a queen dowager, succeeded by her child (or, in Adelaide’s case, her niece), the balance of power turned, and maternal affection had to be combined with political subordination. If the queen dowager was unwilling to accept her reduced status, their personal relationship might suffer, as was famously the case with Isabella of France during the reign of her son Edward III.

The life of Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen consort of William IV, is a clear example of this intertwining of personal and political. This chapter focuses on Adelaide’s experience—and lack of experience—of motherhood. Adelaide longed to be a mother not only to provide an heir to the British throne—though William married her during a succession crisis for that reason—but also because she loved children. Adelaide’s longing for children of her own was tragically unfulfilled, despite repeatedly risking her own health with complicated pregnancies. Instead, Adelaide directed her maternal affection towards her nephews and nieces, adopting two of her sister’s children and playing an important role in the upbringing of William’s nephews, both high up in the line of succession. Adelaide also became stepmother to William’s nine surviving illegitimate children, the FitzClarences, though their relationship was sometimes difficult.

Adelaide’s relationship with the future Queen Victoria, William’s niece and heir presumptive, is the focus of this chapter. The story of Adelaide and Victoria’s relationship reveals the difficulty of being a queen consort who was not mother to the heir to the throne. Adelaide did not have any control over the upbringing of her husband’s successor, due to the strained relationship between Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent, and both George IV and William IV. Fortunately, Victoria re-established a close relationship with Adelaide after succeeding to the throne in 1837, when Adelaide, despite being childless, effectively became Queen Mother. Victoria’s increase in status, however, also changed the balance of power between them. Adelaide might have loved her niece, but she was also required to obey her sovereign.

While Adelaide happily accepted her reduced status and largely retired from public life, she and Victoria came into conflict over their opposing political views. At a time when British politics was being increasingly defined by party loyalty, and as the crown’s political power was both debated and declining, Adelaide’s support for the Tories and Victoria’s support for the Whigs created an unusual situation where a queen dowager and a queen regnant became the figureheads for competing parliamentary factions. These political differences threatened to upset the relationship between aunt and niece, as Adelaide might have become a rival for the loyalty of Victoria’s subjects and the focus of opposition to Victoria’s government and policies. Such a situation was avoided, however, because Adelaide was clever enough to not encourage the Tories, remaining a devoted subject to her niece.

Birth and Childhood

The birth of Princess Amalie Adelheid Luise Therese Caroline of Saxe-Meiningen (known as Adelheid, anglicised as Adelaide) at 11.30pm on Monday 13 August 1792 in Elisabethenburg Palace was a cause for great celebration among the people of the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen. Adelaide’s parents, Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (1761–1803), and Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1763–1837), had already been married for nearly ten years when Adelaide, their first child, was born.

Adelaide’s birth was followed by that of her sister Ida (1794–1852) and, finally, the longed-for son and heir, Bernhard (1800–1882).Footnote 1 The small family were very close, but tragedy struck when Georg died of a fever on 24 December 1803. Adelaide was only eleven years old at the time. Luise Eleonore served as regent for her son, Bernhard II, until 1821.Footnote 2

The duchy of Saxe-Meiningen was one of the small Saxon duchies of Thuringia, located in the centre of modern Germany. Adelaide spent the winter months at Elisabethenburg Palace, in the city of Meiningen, and the summer months at Altenstein Palace, surrounded by parklands and forests.Footnote 3 Adelaide remained permanently attached to her homeland, and after her marriage she continued to visit when she was able, including two visits during her period as queen consort. Adelaide also received frequent visits from her family while living in England.

Adelaide was taught reading, writing, arithmetic, French, botany, dancing, piano playing, sewing, drawing, and painting.Footnote 4 She also enjoyed horse-riding and attending plays.Footnote 5 Georg Karl Friedrich Emmrich, Meiningen’s Lutheran court chaplain, instilled a deep Christian faith in Adelaide that would support her throughout her life.Footnote 6 Adelaide’s upbringing, however, was comparatively frugal, given Meiningen’s limited wealth and the warfare engulfing Europe in the early nineteenth century.

Adelaide’s childhood and adolescence coincided with a period of great upheaval in Europe, beginning with the French Revolution. Napoleon invaded Germany in 1805 and his victory led to the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine; as a member state, Meiningen had to supply the French army with troops.Footnote 7 In 1813, Napoleon suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Leipzig and the Confederation was dissolved.Footnote 8 Thousands of wounded soldiers camped in the city of Meiningen, dying in the streets.Footnote 9 In January 1814, Adelaide and Ida called on Meiningen’s young women to provide clothes and wound dressings for the duchy’s troops, a call they renewed in April 1815 when Napoleon returned to power.Footnote 10 In June 1815, Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo and Meiningen joined the German Confederation, finally able to enjoy a sustained peace.Footnote 11 It is possible that the traumatic events of this period marked Adelaide for life, as she became both fearful of change and politically conservative.

Marriage

Adelaide was quiet, shy, pious, devoted to her family, and suffered from poor health. She was never considered beautiful and wrote that she was “not very fond of imitating the fashions of the day.”Footnote 12 As one contemporary pointed out, however, “She is really and truly good, and so perfectly natural that she is free from all the usual caprice of people in her station.”Footnote 13 Her marital prospects seemed slim, until unforeseen circumstances brought her to the attention of the British royal family.

On 6 November 1817, Princess Charlotte of Wales died after delivering a stillborn son, her only child. Charlotte had been George III’s only legitimate grandchild, so her death put enormous pressure on George’s unmarried sons to marry and produce potential heirs to the throne. William, Duke of Clarence (1765–1837), was George’s oldest unmarried son. At 52, he was not an enticing prospect. He already had nine surviving illegitimate children, known as the FitzClarences, by the late actress Dorothea Jordan. William was also considered both ridiculous and unstable. It was possible, however, that he would one day become king, and even more likely that any legitimate children of his would succeed to the throne.

In early March 1818, Luise Eleonore was shocked to receive a marriage proposal for Adelaide from William. Adelaide had been suggested as a suitable bride by William’s younger brother, the Duke of Cambridge, who, at the time, was scouting for potential sisters-in-law in Germany.Footnote 14 Adelaide was visiting her mother’s family in Langenburg at the time of the proposal, so Luise Eleonore sent a courier to inform her and encourage her to accept. In her own words, Adelaide had to decide whether she could “give my hand to a man I do not know, about whom I know nothing but that it is a great alliance, in a distant foreign country, abandoned by all my loved ones … or stay happy with my loved ones … or find simple domestic happiness in another match.” Adelaide was torn between duty and inclination. On 26 March, Adelaide accepted the proposal as a “sacrifice” for her brother’s sake.Footnote 15 Adelaide wrote William a “most satisfactory and final answer of acceptance,” and William was impressed to discover that “she has even written part of her letter in English.”Footnote 16

Adelaide’s dowry was 20,000 guilders, with an additional 6000 guilders for her trousseau. William agreed to pay for Adelaide’s household himself, as well as giving her £2000 a year “for her pin money, and her daily expenses.”Footnote 17

Adelaide left Meiningen on 20 June 1818, accompanied by her mother.Footnote 18 They reached London on 4 July and went to Grillon’s Hotel, which had been reserved in its entirety for them. Late that same evening, Adelaide met both the Prince Regent (the future George IV) and William for the first time.Footnote 19 Over the following days Adelaide met other members of the royal family and spent more time with her soon-to-be husband.Footnote 20

William and Adelaide were married on 11 July, in a double wedding with Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent and Strathearn, William’s younger brother, and Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The weddings took place at Kew Palace, in the drawing room of William’s mother, Queen Charlotte. The wedding party entered at 4pm and the service was performed by Charles Manners-Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury, and William Howley, Bishop of London. Adelaide wore a dress of “very rich and elegant silver tissue,” with a wreath of diamonds on her head.Footnote 21

Adelaide did not, however, have much time to settle in her new home. On 4 August, just over a month after her arrival in England, she and William departed from Dover for the continent.Footnote 22 They arrived in Hanover, where the Duke of Cambridge was serving as regent, on 17 August. It was a destination chosen by William because it was cheaper to live there than it was to live in England.Footnote 23

Children

William was pleased with his new wife, writing from Hanover that Adelaide was “quite well and I trust and believe happy: I am sure she ought: she gains the hearts of His Majesty’s Hanoverian subjects as she did those of our countrymen and women.”Footnote 24 William’s sister, Charlotte, wrote that “by all accounts she is the very woman calculated to suit my dear William’s taste, and he loves her very much. His letters to me are always full of her; and it does me good to see he is attached to her, and feels himself happy.”Footnote 25

Adelaide soon became pregnant and all went smoothly until she caught a cold that developed into pleurisy. She was treated with several rounds of bloodletting, which caused her to go into labour two months prematurely. At 6.30am on 27 March 1819, Adelaide gave birth to a daughter, named Charlotte, who died at 1pm. Charlotte was buried in the vault of the Leine Palace chapel.Footnote 26

Adelaide’s recovery was slow. Her mother and brother came to visit her in Hanover, staying for a month.Footnote 27 William and Adelaide then travelled to Meiningen, where Adelaide was “overjoyed to find herself with her mother and at her native place.”Footnote 28 They went to the spa town of Bad Liebenstein, where William hoped to “reestablish the health of my excellent and amiable Dutchess [sic] altogether and to land her early in September in dear old England a stronger and more robust woman than ever.”Footnote 29 While there, Adelaide found herself pregnant again. In August 1819 the couple set off to return to England, but the difficult journey caused Adelaide to miscarry at ten weeks when they reached Dunkirk in September. William was disappointed by this second loss, writing that Adelaide “has again shown the same resignation and firmness,” which he hoped would be “eventually rewarded by becoming a mother.”Footnote 30

After spending some time at Dover Castle to recover, the couple returned to London on 13 November 1819. They were visited by the Duchess of Kent on the following day.Footnote 31 This was the first time Adelaide met the Duchess’s daughter, the five-month-old Princess Victoria. Adelaide returned the visit to the Duchess and Victoria at their home in Kensington Palace five days later.Footnote 32 These visits would become regular, especially after the death of Victoria’s father, the Duke of Kent, on 23 January 1820.Footnote 33 The Duchess of Kent returned to London from Sidmouth on 29 January and, for a time, Adelaide visited her every day, “as she is a comfort to the poor Widow; and Her sweet, gentle mind, is of great use to the Dutchess.”Footnote 34 After the Duke of Kent’s death, Princess Victoria was left in the charge of her mother, so it was essential for Adelaide to have a good relationship with the Duchess of Kent if she was going to be involved in Victoria’s upbringing.

Adelaide also tried to establish a good relationship with the FitzClarences, William’s illegitimate children. Prior to his marriage, William had made clear that he would only take a wife who accepted the FitzClarences: “unless I was really persuaded I was also serving my children I would not marry.”Footnote 35 Adelaide accepted this condition and met the FitzClarences soon after her wedding. William did make one concession: he arranged for his unmarried daughters to live on South Audley Square, London, rather than living with him as they had previously.Footnote 36 After William and Adelaide’s return to England, the FitzClarence girls frequently dined with them. William wrote of “the excellent conduct of the Dutchess who has received my daughters with the greatest kindness possible.”Footnote 37 A FitzClarence granddaughter claimed that Adelaide treated the FitzClarences “as only a loving and gentle woman could,” loving them “with a mother’s tenderness.”Footnote 38 Some FitzClarence grandchildren were even named after Adelaide. It was, at times, a tense relationship: Queen Victoria would later claim that they had “shown themselves far from grateful” towards their stepmother, but Adelaide persevered, despite being in a situation “to which few women would have submitted.”Footnote 39

While living in England, Adelaide became pregnant for the third time, and soon after 5pm on 10 December 1820 she gave birth—two months prematurely—to a daughter.Footnote 40 George IV suggested the name Elizabeth (rather than Georgina as the parents had wished), and William diplomatically told George that “the dear Dutchess is delighted with the name.”Footnote 41 An eyewitness to the birth recorded that Princess Elizabeth was “a very small one at present; but the doctors seem to think it will thrive.”Footnote 42 Elizabeth was immediately ahead of Princess Victoria in the line of succession—in the words of Sir John Conroy, comptroller to the Duchess of Kent, “our little woman’s nose has been put out of joint.”Footnote 43

For the next three months, everything was idyllic. Renovations continued at Bushy House, William’s residence near Hampton Court Palace, and Adelaide was “very anxious to be there and it will be much more healthy for the child.”Footnote 44 At the end of February 1821, however, Elizabeth became unwell and she died soon after 1am on 4 March of intussusception. Adelaide fainted in William’s arms.Footnote 45 Adelaide’s grief was immense, as she wrote in her diary:

Great God! Already you have taken my joy back from me—imposing a hugely difficult test on us. It was Your will that I should only enjoy this happiness for such a short time; You took my delicate plant back to you—you only entrusted it to me for such a short time! She is much, much happier with you than she could have been with me, but for me it is infinitely painful and sad… All my joy is gone.Footnote 46

Adelaide grieved for her beloved daughter; Princess Elizabeth was more than just a potential heir to the throne. She was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 9 March. William and Adelaide commissioned a life-size sculpture of Elizabeth, a permanent memorial of Adelaide’s much loved and longest surviving child.Footnote 47

It seemed possible that Adelaide, who was not yet thirty years old, would have more children. She continued to suffer from poor health, however, and miscarried twins on 8 April 1822. William despaired of “these repeated misfortunes to this beloved and superior woman,” admitting that he was “quite broken hearted.”Footnote 48 In 1831, when she was 39 years old, Adelaide was unwell and “flattered myself with hopes which have unfortunately not been realised” of being pregnant; “the proof of the contrary hurt me very much.”Footnote 49 In 1835, when Adelaide was 42 years old, there were rumours that she was pregnant, which one commentator described as “a death-blow to the Duchess of Kent.”Footnote 50 It was, however, nothing more than a rumour.

After the death of Princess Elizabeth, Adelaide turned to Princess Victoria for comfort. According to Victoria’s governess, Baroness Lehzen, Adelaide wrote to the Duchess of Kent: “My children are dead, but yours lives and she is mine too!”Footnote 51 Adelaide told Victoria in later life that she had “loved you from your infancy almost as much as if you had been my own child.”Footnote 52 When Victoria was told that she was her uncle’s heir, with the caveat that Adelaide might still have children who would supersede her in the line of succession, Victoria responded: “And if it was so, I should never feel disappointed, for I know, by the love Aunt Adelaide bears me, how fond she is of Children!”Footnote 53 While based on genuine love and affection, Victoria’s political importance made their relationship more complicated than that between Adelaide and her other nephews and nieces.

Adelaide was also very close to the Duke of Cambridge’s three children and Prince George of Cumberland, all of whom were high in the line of succession. Prince George of Cambridge lived with Adelaide in the 1830s while his father served as William’s regent in Hanover. William’s sister, Elizabeth, wrote that George “is so well off under our most perfect Queen’s protection and care that he is a most fortunate boy.”Footnote 54 He later said that Adelaide “had been a second mother to him.”Footnote 55

Adelaide also adopted two of her sister Ida’s children. On 11 October 1823, Ida gave birth to her fourth child, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, at Bushy House.Footnote 56 Adelaide raised Edward herself, and as an adult he pursued a career in the British army while acting as his aunt’s companion. Adelaide also cared for Ida’s sickly daughter Louise, who died on 11 July 1832 at Windsor Castle and was buried in St George’s Chapel. Adelaide wrote that the graves of her daughter and niece at Windsor were “so sacred to me,” and that being near them “does me good … to one who has lost so much even the remains which we only preserve in our memory are a precious possession.”Footnote 57

From Duchess to Queen

On 5 January 1827, William’s older brother, the Duke of York, died. William would succeed to the throne if he outlived George IV. George secured an increase in William’s parliamentary income, including an additional £6000 per year for Adelaide.Footnote 58

In April 1827, William was appointed Lord High Admiral, the titular head of the navy.Footnote 59 William’s new status required Adelaide to play a much larger role in public life than ever before. Adelaide attended and hosted receptions, balls, and dinners, with one commentator writing that she “wins all hearts by her goodness and amiability.”Footnote 60

William’s position as Lord High Admiral was not to last. In July 1828 he was reprimanded by the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, for “attempts at rendering himself independent of all authority.” William wanted to remove Sir George Cockburn from office, and when Wellington refused, William announced his resignation on 14 August.Footnote 61 Adelaide briefly returned to a quiet life out of the public eye.

George IV died on 26 June 1830 and was succeeded by his brother, now William IV, with Adelaide as queen consort. When Adelaide was told, she burst into tears. It was not welcome news, as she explained to her brother: “What a terrible burden belies the new name, which unfortunately has come upon me, and I want to be able to remove it again, like a piece of clothing. I am terrified when I am reminded of it.”Footnote 62 Two days later, Adelaide wrote: “I cannot yet accustom myself to the long-expected event, and it will be some time before I am familiar with its reality.”Footnote 63 As queen, Adelaide had an annual income of £50,000.Footnote 64

An observer wrote of Adelaide’s early performance as queen consort: “She… did all this (which she hated) very well. She said the part as if she was acting, and wished the green curtain to drop.”Footnote 65 As a naturally shy and retiring person who suffered from poor health, Adelaide did not enjoy her new official role, but she played her part well.

William expressed his gratitude that he had ascended to the throne with a wife who “possesses every estimable quality calculated to give worth and lustre to her exalted station.”Footnote 66 Adelaide was believed to have a beneficial influence on her volatile husband: “The Queen, with her attentive softness and her great good sense, watches over him in these moments of crisis, shortens their duration, moderates, calms, and ensures a return to a decent state.”Footnote 67

When preparations for William and Adelaide’s coronation finally began in July 1831, William asked that it be short and economical.Footnote 68 It cost £43,159—a very cheap event compared to the £238,000 spent on George IV’s coronation—and William broke with tradition by not having a coronation banquet.Footnote 69 The coronation was held in Westminster Abbey on 8 September 1831. Adelaide regretted that “all the pomp and ceremony of the coronation should be in a church, and that she had to receive the Sacrament when it was impossible to be abstracted from all worldly feelings.”Footnote 70 The Duchess of Kent had demanded that Princess Victoria have her own procession as heiress presumptive, which William refused, saying that Adelaide might still have children, so Victoria could only attend as Princess Victoria of Kent, walking behind his brothers rather than immediately behind him. As a result, the Duchess of Kent and Victoria did not attend, souring relations further.Footnote 71

The Reform Question

Despite William and Adelaide’s initial popularity, political agitation was in the air. The Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, made matters worse by refusing to consider any reform of the electoral system.Footnote 72

Adelaide’s preference for the conservative Tory party, and her hostility towards the more liberal Whig party, was widely known. It was popularly believed that Adelaide influenced her husband in political matters, but this seems unlikely. Earl Grey, the Whig Prime Minister who replaced Wellington, “satisfied himself that she has no influence over the King, and that, in fact, he never even mentions politicks to her, much less consults her.”Footnote 73 Adelaide herself told a friend: “I must have my own opinion, but I do not talk to the King about it. It would only make him unhappy, and could do no good.”Footnote 74 William himself denied “that the Queen was taking a decided and active part against the government and against the measures his Majesty had sanctioned.”Footnote 75

On occasion, however, Adelaide did discuss politics with William. In a letter to Earl Howe, Adelaide’s Lord Chamberlain and a Tory, Adelaide wrote that William “sees everything in the right light, but I am afraid has the fixed idea that no other administration could be formed at present amongst your friends, and thinks that they are aware of it themselves. How far he is right or not I cannot pretend to say, for I do not understand these important things.”Footnote 76 Adelaide did not disguise her “particular good spirits” when Grey resigned after William refused to create new peers to pass the Reform Bill in the House of Lords, and “the King’s firmness respecting the making no peers had delighted her.”Footnote 77 Despite this evident political bias, Adelaide did not claim the ability to influence the King’s decisions.

After Earl Howe voted against the Reform Bill in the House of Lords on 8 October 1831 (when a majority vote resulted in the bill being rejected), Grey met with William and secured Howe’s dismissal.Footnote 78 Adelaide felt betrayed by her husband: “I would not believe it, for I had trusted in, and built firmly on the king’s love for me.”Footnote 79 She refused to speak to Grey.Footnote 80 After much wrangling, the Reform Bill was finally passed by the House of Lords on 4 June 1832.

Political controversy continued to follow Adelaide. On 14 November 1834, William dismissed the Whig Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne—the last time a British monarch has dismissed a government. Although admitting that they had “no authority” to support it, The Times agreed with an anonymous source that “The Queen has done it all.”Footnote 81 Adelaide, however, said that the first she knew of Melbourne’s dismissal “was the King coming to her room and telling her the Duke of Wellington was to dine with them, for there was going to be a change of ministers.”Footnote 82 Earl Grey also did not believe that Adelaide had been involved.Footnote 83

Ultimately, William and Adelaide both favoured the Tories, so the King did not need to be influenced by his wife to support them over the Whigs. William did eventually agree to create new peers to ensure the Reform Bill was passed in the House of Lords (though it proved unnecessary), a measure Adelaide opposed, suggesting her influence was limited. Adelaide continued to favour the Tories for the rest of her life, which would later bring her into conflict with her husband’s successor, Queen Victoria, who favoured the Whigs.

Princess Victoria

With William’s accession, Princess Victoria became heiress presumptive. Over the years, Adelaide had become concerned about Victoria’s isolation from the rest of the royal family. “In the family,” Adelaide wrote to the Duchess of Kent in January 1830, “it is noticed that you are cutting yourself off more and more from them with your child,” and they believed that Conroy “tries to remove everything that might obstruct his influence, so that he may exercise his power alone, and alone, too, reap one day the fruits of his influence.”Footnote 84 Adelaide’s intervention alienated the Duchess of Kent further, and Adelaide saw her and Victoria much less frequently.

The Duchess of Kent’s hostility prevented William and Adelaide from preparing Victoria for her future role. Adelaide was kept informed of Victoria’s well-being by her governess, the Duchess of Northumberland.Footnote 85 The Duchess of Kent and Conroy grew hostile to the Duchess of Northumberland, however, and planned to dismiss her when Victoria turned seventeen. Only William’s intervention prevented this further withdrawal of Princess Victoria from his and Adelaide’s supervision.Footnote 86 Adelaide’s lack of involvement in Victoria’s upbringing also paved the way for their future political differences, as the Duchess of Kent favoured the Whigs and welcomed Whig politicians to Victoria’s childhood home, Kensington Palace, which likely influenced Victoria’s political leanings.Footnote 87

The Duchess of Kent continued to agitate William and snub Adelaide until, on 20 August 1836, William made an infamous speech expressing his hope that he would live long enough to make a regency unnecessary, putting royal authority directly into Victoria’s hands “and not in the hands of a person now near me”—the Duchess of Kent—“who is surrounded by evil advisers and who is herself incompetent to act with propriety in the station in which she would be placed.” Adelaide “looked in deep distress” and Victoria “burst into tears,” but the Duchess of Kent remained silent.Footnote 88

Queen Dowager

William died soon after 2am on 20 June 1837 with Adelaide “kneeling at the bedside, and still affectionately holding his hand.”Footnote 89 Victoria was informed of her accession to the throne later that morning. Adelaide sent a letter to Victoria, asking if she could remain at Windsor Castle until after William’s funeral. Victoria replied “in the kindest terms, begging her to consult nothing but her own health and convenience, and to remain at Windsor just as long as she pleases.”Footnote 90 Adelaide wrote again to thank Victoria for her “kind letter full of sympathy with my irreparable loss,” and signed herself “your Majesty’s most affectionate Friend, Aunt, and Subject, Adelaide.”Footnote 91 Victoria’s accession freed her from her mother’s control, allowing her to re-establish a close relationship with Adelaide. It also changed the balance of power between them, as Adelaide went from being Victoria’s queen to Victoria’s subject.

A few days later, Victoria wrote to ask if she could visit Adelaide to pay her condolences. Adelaide replied, “the sooner the better, for I am equally anxious to see you again.”Footnote 92 Victoria and the Duchess of Kent visited on 26 June. Adelaide told them of William’s final illness and death, and Victoria wrote in her diary that Adelaide “is really a most estimable and excellent person and she bears the prospect of the great change she must soon go through in leaving Windsor and changing her position in a most admirable, strong and high-minded manner.”Footnote 93 Victoria was pleased that Adelaide accepted her new, lower status.

William’s funeral and burial took place in St George’s Chapel on 8 July, with Adelaide watching from the Queen’s closet.Footnote 94 Over a month later, Adelaide wrote: “I cannot yet quite comprehend the whole extent of my loss & I can hardly imagine that it is possible that the dear King dwells no longer amongst us.”Footnote 95

As queen dowager, Adelaide’s annual income doubled to £100,000, and she was granted Bushy House and Marlborough House for life.Footnote 96 Adelaide largely retired from court functions, choosing not to hold drawing rooms of her own or receive official addresses in person.Footnote 97 This was due to ill health, as her persistent cough was “very troublesome & fatiguing.”Footnote 98 For the sake of her health, Adelaide spent the winters in different places in England, as well as going to Malta in 1838–1839 and Madeira in 1847–1848. She continued to socialise with the royal family and became close with the Duchess of Kent again. Adelaide visited Victoria at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, though she wrote that “it is always a trial to my feelings” to be at Windsor, her former home.Footnote 99

Queen Mother

Adelaide remains the most recent queen dowager not to have been the mother of the succeeding monarch. This circumstance could have led to her being cast aside and ignored, as had sometimes been the case with previous childless queens dowager: Katherine Parr, Henry VIII’s final wife, was excluded from the regency council of her stepson, Edward VI; and Catherine of Braganza, Charles II’s widow, eventually returned to her native Portugal.Footnote 100 Instead, Adelaide effectively became a second mother to Victoria at a time when Victoria was not getting along with her actual mother. Victoria talked with Lord Melbourne about Adelaide “being on such good terms with me, and having such respect for me as Queen.”Footnote 101

Following established custom (a custom that came to an end when Mary of Teck attended the coronation of her son, George VI, in 1937), Adelaide did not attend Victoria’s coronation on 28 June 1838. As Victoria arrived at Westminster Abbey, Adelaide sat down to write her a letter “to assure you that my thoughts and my whole heart are with you, and my prayers are offered up to Heaven for your happiness, and the prosperity and glory of your reign.”Footnote 102

When Prince Ernest and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha visited England in 1836, Ernest recalled that Adelaide “showed us the utmost friendliness, which was of great use to us in later years,” when Albert began to court Victoria.Footnote 103 Albert, like Adelaide, came from the Saxon duchies of Thuringia, and they were also close relatives: Adelaide’s paternal aunt was Albert’s great-grandmother. Victoria informed Adelaide of her engagement to Albert on 14 November 1839, writing that Adelaide’s “constant kindness” assured her that Adelaide would “take much interest in an event which so nearly concerns the future happiness of my life.”Footnote 104

On 10 February 1840, Victoria and Albert were married in the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace. Adelaide arrived early, rather than entering with the other members of the royal family in Victoria’s procession, due to her poor health. When Albert arrived, he chatted with Adelaide until Victoria entered. After the ceremony, Victoria “stepped hastily across to the other side of the altar, where the Queen Dowager was standing, and kissed her.”Footnote 105 By contrast, Victoria only shook hands with her mother—Victoria explained that Adelaide “had been so very kind to Albert that I could not help doing so.”Footnote 106 In a letter to Victoria, Adelaide later described Albert as “an excellent husband, so well calculated to make you happy and to assist you in your arduous duties by his advice”—possibly reflecting on the advice she had given as a royal consort, though Albert envisioned a larger and more overt role for himself than Adelaide had ever played.Footnote 107 Over the following years, Adelaide enjoyed visiting Victoria’s growing family. Adelaide’s visits pleased Victoria, “knowing how fond she is of Children.”Footnote 108

Whigs and Tories

Adelaide and Victoria’s opposing political views did not seriously affect their close relationship, although they were the most common cause of friction between them. Victoria described Adelaide’s political views as “violent” and observed that, when she attended a dinner party Adelaide gave for her, there was “not one Whig… except those I brought with me.”Footnote 109

Victoria’s blatant support for the Whigs and dislike of the Tories had political consequences, as the monarch still played an essential role in the formation and functioning of governments. For example, in May 1839 Victoria refused to replace any of her Whig Ladies of the Bedchamber with Tories at the request of the Tory leader, Sir Robert Peel—this became known as the “Bedchamber Crisis.” Lacking a majority in the House of Commons and feeling he could not form a government without the monarch’s support, Peel refused to become Prime Minister and the Whigs retained power.Footnote 110

Newspapers, noticing Adelaide and Victoria’s conflicting political views, aligned themselves with one of the queens, depending on their own political loyalties. In November 1839, the pro-Whig Morning Chronicle claimed that Adelaide had slandered Victoria and that Adelaide “makes a parade of her Tory predilections.”Footnote 111 The pro-Tory Times came to Adelaide’s defence, denying the claims of slander and asserting that it was the Whig government “through their hired agents of the Downing-street press” who were attacking Adelaide because they hated the fact Adelaide received “spontaneous proofs of affection from the people,” while Victoria’s popularity suffered from her dependence on the Whigs.Footnote 112 Adelaide, “greatly distressed,” wrote to Victoria to deny that she had slandered her, but Victoria replied to say she had never believed it to be true.Footnote 113

In 1841, Victoria was finally forced to accept a Tory government after they won a Commons majority. Adelaide wrote an ill-thought-out letter to Victoria to “congratulate you with all my heart on having so well completed your difficult task.” Adelaide praised “the able men” of Victoria’s new government and claimed that William IV’s “anxious wishes to see Wellington and Peel again at the head of the Administration is now fulfilled,” invoking the late king to justify her Toryism. This letter made Victoria “rather angry,” even if it was “kindly meant.”Footnote 114

Victoria’s evident bias against the Tories led them to look elsewhere for a royal figurehead—one they found in Adelaide. As a result, some Tory-leaning associations pointedly drank Adelaide’s health more enthusiastically than Victoria’s.Footnote 115 This was an unfortunate consequence of each queen identifying themselves so wholeheartedly with one group of politicians, especially at a time when British politics was being increasingly defined and divided along party lines.Footnote 116 It had been common in the eighteenth century for politicians who were out of the monarch’s favour to form a rival court around the heir to the throne, anticipating future ascendency when that heir succeeded.Footnote 117 Adelaide, by contrast, was merely a dowager queen with no means of bringing the Tories into power. Their decision to rally around her, therefore, can be explained by the lack of an appropriate alternative in the early years of Victoria’s reign.

Adelaide did not encourage the Tories in this behaviour—if she had embraced her status as a rival figurehead to the monarch, it would have ruined her relationship with Victoria. Although Victoria remained politically partisan, she eventually placed herself above overt party factionalism, which prevented a situation like this occurring again.Footnote 118

Death

Adelaide remained close to Victoria and the rest of the royal family in her final years, with Victoria frequently enjoying the company of her “kind & amiable” aunt, “whom I love so much.”Footnote 119 Adelaide’s health declined severely in 1849, while she was staying at Bentley Priory. Victoria was told to prepare for the worst, as Adelaide’s “weakness has become so very great, & the nights very sleepless.” She and Albert were greatly upset by this, “for we love the Queen dearly & shall deeply deplore her loss.”Footnote 120 Adelaide, although only a relative by marriage, was clearly an integral member of Victoria’s family.

Victoria and Albert visited Adelaide on 12 October. The previous day Adelaide had been suffering from “shivering fits and fainting,” but she improved and “was in high spirits from pleasure at the thought of seeing the Queen.”Footnote 121 Victoria found Adelaide “hardly altered, for she was cheerful & lively, as ever.” She could not believe that Adelaide was dying, even as the doctors assured her she was.Footnote 122

Adelaide lingered on, with Victoria visiting her for a final time on 22 November. On seeing Adelaide “so altered,” Victoria “felt much overcome. She has such a look of death in her face, [and] is so weak.”Footnote 123 Adelaide died just before 2am on 2 December 1849, with her sister Ida and Ida’s children beside her.Footnote 124 Victoria wrote a eulogy for Adelaide in her diary:

It affected & grieved me deeply… we have lost a dear kind & devoted aunt & friend, who has been quite maternal in her affection towards us. Though I had stood in the place of her 2 children, she ever, from my earliest childhood, treated me with the greatest kindness & affection… from the moment the King died, how beautifully she behaved, understanding her place & position, never allowing herself to be made a tool of party purposes. The dear Queen was always so loving & affectionate to us both, rejoicing in our happiness, & delighting in our Children, as if they were her own!Footnote 125

Adelaide had requested that she be buried in St George’s Chapel “without any pomp or state,” but with “as private and quiet a funeral as possible.”Footnote 126 Adelaide’s funeral took place on 13 December 1849, attended by Ida and her children, Prince Albert, the Duchess of Kent, and other members of the royal family—Victoria, who was pregnant, did not attend, though she would have liked to.Footnote 127 Adelaide’s body was placed beside that of William IV in the chapel vault, close to their daughter Elizabeth.Footnote 128 Adelaide had not been the mother of her husband’s successor, but she had been a bridge between the two generations.

The Two Queens

Adelaide was unable to provide an heir to her husband’s throne, but her love of children went beyond political necessity. Her sister Ida’s children, Prince Edward and Princess Louise of Saxe-Weimar, had no political significance in the United Kingdom, so Adelaide’s decision to raise them was purely an expression of maternal and familial love. Prince George of Cambridge was high in the line of succession, but his relationship with Adelaide was obviously a loving one.

Adelaide’s relationship with Queen Victoria involved the greatest mixture of the personal and the political. Adelaide cared for Victoria from birth, even when she hoped to have children of her own who would supplant Victoria in the line of succession. The nature of their relationship, however, was inevitably political. In Victoria’s view, a harmonious relationship hinged on Adelaide’s acceptance of Victoria’s superior status once she had succeeded to the throne.

Adelaide immediately met Victoria’s requirements, becoming a devoted and obedient subject. Adelaide’s decision to withdraw from the public sphere, the result of poor health and a personal dislike for such events, also meant that she was not competing with Victoria for attention or status.

Adelaide and Victoria’s opposing political views, however, were a cause of friction that could have damaged their relationship. The Tories, alienated by Victoria’s hostility towards them, made Adelaide the focus of their loyalty and affection instead. The Tories did not want Victoria to be politically impartial; rather, they wanted to benefit from her favour as the Whigs did.Footnote 129 This explains why they chose Adelaide as their figurehead; she was a member of the royal family who was a known Tory sympathiser, as they wished Victoria to be.

Had Adelaide chosen to maintain a public profile in her widowhood, courting the disaffected Tories and competing with Victoria for the loyalty and affection of her subjects, she likely would have come into more frequent, and serious, conflict with Victoria. Fortunately, Adelaide was clever enough to avoid confrontation, preserving her position as the beloved Queen Mother of Victoria’s family.