Edward VII, Albert Edward, King of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British dominions, Emperor of India

b. 1841; d. 1910

Edward was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and was born at Buckingham Palace. In the December following he was created earl of Chester and prince of Wales. He was educated under private tutors, and later studied at Christ Church, Oxford, and Trinity College, Cambridge. Subsequently he made several journeys abroad, including visits to the USA and Egypt. He had already impressed the people whom he had met with his charm, but his early life was passed under many restrictions, which did not end with the death of his father. In 1863 Edward was admitted a member of the Privy Council and took his seat in the Lords as Duke of Cornwall. On 10 March, in the same year, he married Princess Alexandra of Denmark. His eldest son, Prince Albert Victor (Duke of Clarence), was born in 1864, Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert (George V), Princess Louise Victoria, 1867, Princess Victoria, 1868, and Princess Maud (later Queen of Norway), 1869.

After his marriage the Prince of Wales played an important part in the social life of the nation. The death of the Prince Consort had been an overwhelming blow to the Queen, and for many years following it she lived in virtual retirement. Though she allowed her son to represent her at a number of lesser functions, it was not until near the end of her life that she allowed him to take a major part in state affairs; and this no doubt at least partially accounted for his excessive preoccupation with social events, such as horse racing and the theatre. The Prince, however, was always ready to help forward charitable movements, and he played an important part in the linking together of the empire by his various foreign tours and visits. In 1892 his eldest son, Prince Albert Victor, on the eve of his marriage to the Princess May Victoria of Teck, died after a very brief illness. In the following year his second son, Prince George, married the same Princess May, to whom a son, Prince Edward (later Edward VIII), was born in 1894. In 1897 the Prince of Wales took a leading part in the arrangements and the actual events of the Queen's diamond jubilee. Early in 1901 his mother, Queen Victoria, died, and the Prince succeeded to the throne with the title of Edward VII.

Edward proved a more able ruler than many had expected, though his activities were increasingly curtailed by ill-health. He was thoroughly constitutional, but did much by a revival of court pageantry to restore the personal glamour of the crown, which had tended to lapse during Victoria's long widowhood, and his personal influence probably helped to improve Anglo-French relations at a critical juncture. His attempts to restrain the ambitions of the German Emperor, his nephew, were less successful: each was antipathetic to the other. In spite of his lack of political training, and some marked personal faults which he himself did not try to conceal, Edward held the affections of his people, and earned for himself the title 'Edward the Peacemaker'.

© JM Dent/Historybookshop.com

Recommended reading

The Importance of Being Edward
Weintraub, Stanley — Hardback £25.00 —