THE PRINCESS VICTORIA BECOMES QUEEN REGNANT.

The marriage of Prince Albert with the Princess Victoria was desired, if not planned, by certain of their common relatives, especially the Duchess Dowager of Coburg and her son Prince Leopold, almost from the period when the cousins were in their cradles. After his betrothal, the Prince himself told the Queen that his mother, who died in 1831, wished earnestly that he should marry her. He first saw his future wife in the month of May, 1836, when he and his brother came to England on a visit to their aunt. He greatly enjoyed this visit to England, and the youthful guests were treated by the authorities and the inhabitants of the metropolis with the utmost courtesy and attention. They were sumptuously entertained at Windsor by the King and Queen Adelaide, and were conducted to all the great sights of the town by their aunt and cousin.

On the 24th of May, 1837, the Princess Victoria having attained her eighteenth year, was declared legally of age, according to the provisions of a recent Act of Parliament. Amongst the first to congratulate her on the happy event was Prince Albert. This happy day was kept as a general holiday, and the night made brilliant by an illumination. It was celebrated with demonstrations of excessive joy at Kensington. At six o’clock in the morning the union-jack was hoisted on the steeple of the old church, as also on the green sward opposite the Palace. That edifice was surmounted by a splendid flag of pure white silk, on which was inscribed, in letters of ethereal blue, the single word “Victoria.” From the houses of the principal inhabitants in the High Street waved a profusion of other flags. The gates of the Gardens were thrown open at six o’clock for the admission of the public; and it having got wind the previous evening that a serenade would be performed at seven o’clock, at which hour Victoria first drew breath eighteen years before, the portion of the Gardens next the Palace was thronged by an assemblage of well-dressed persons, including several ladies. Congratulatory addresses and innumerable presents—amongst the latter, a splendid piano from the King—poured in from all quarters. At night a magnificent ball in honour of the occasion was given at St. James’s Palace.

During these festivities, although it was known that the King’s health was seriously enfeebled, no one imagined that within a month from the attainment of her majority the young Princess would become Queen of England. The anniversary of Waterloo was always a great day with King William. The Duke of Wellington, in consideration of the declining state of the King’s health, proposed not to have the usual banquet at Apsley House; but, the day before, William, sent a message desiring that the banquet should take place, and wishing the host and guests a pleasant day. By two o’clock on the morning of the 20th he was no more.

Shortly after the demise of the Sovereign, three carriages, conveying the Primate, the Earl of Albemarle and Sir Henry Halford, the Royal physician, started from Windsor, and arrived at Kensington Palace shortly before five o’clock. The doors were thrown open before them, and in the early morning sunshine stood the Queen of England and her mother, prepared for the news, and ready to receive them. At nine o’clock, Lord Melbourne, the Premier, arrived at the Palace, and had an interview of half an hour with his new mistress. Before noon came the Lord Mayor and other members of the Corporation. Next to appear was the Duke of Cumberland. Miss Martineau thus describes the quick succession of incidents which now crowded one upon the other with rapid haste:—

The following is the text of her Majesty’s speech delivered on this occasion to the Privy Council:—

The next day, the 21st of June, the Queen was publicly proclaimed, under the title of Alexandrina Victoria I.; but since that day she has disused the Russian name bestowed upon her by her Muscovite godfather, preferring to retain simply “Victoria.” The Queen arrived at the Palace at ten o’clock, where she was received by most of the members of the Royal Family, the Officers of the Household, and Ministers of State. Long before ten all the avenues to the Palace were crowded, every balcony, window, and housetop being crammed with the better class of spectators. The space in the quadrangle in front of the window where Her Majesty was to appear, was crowded with ladies and gentlemen, and even the parapets above were filled with people.

At ten o’clock the guns in the Park fired a salute, and immediately after the Queen made her appearance at the window of the tapestried ante-room adjoining the audience chamber, and was received with deafening cheers—cheers all the more hearty that her appearance was a surprise, for few had known that she was to be there present. She was dressed in deep mourning, with a white tippet, white cuffs, and a border of white lace under a small black bonnet, which was placed far back on her head, exhibiting her light brown hair simply parted in front. She viewed the proceedings with intense interest, standing during the whole rehearsal of the Proclamation; and although she looked pale and fatigued, she returned the repeated rounds of cheers with great grace and dignity. All were touched to very tenderness of soul by the pale face, wet with tears, calm and simply grave, the gravity being enhanced by the plain black dress and bands of brown hair, giving an aspect of Quaker-like neatness. On either side stood Lords Melbourne and Lansdowne, in their state dresses and blue ribbons, and close to her was her mother, who was dressed similarly to the Queen.

In the court-yard were Garter King-at-Arms, with Heralds and Pursuivants in their robes of office, and eight Officers-of-Arms on horseback, bearing massive silver maces; Sergeants-at-Arms, with their maces and collars; the Sergeant-Trumpeter, with his mace and collar; the trumpets, drum-major and drums, and Knights Marshal and men. On Her Majesty showing herself at the Presence Chamber window, Garter Principal King-at-Arms, having taken his station in the court-yard under the window, accompanied by the Duke of Norfolk as Earl Marshal of England, read the Proclamation, containing the formal and official announcement of the demise of King William IV., and of the consequent accession of Queen Alexandrina Victoria to the rule of these realms. The Proclamation was brief, and to the point:—

At the termination of this Proclamation, the band struck up the National Anthem, and a signal was given for the Park and Tower guns to fire, in order to announce the fact of the Proclamation being made. Amid the booming of the guns, the air was rent with cheers by those within the area, which were taken up by the tens of thousands outside. The enthusiasm of the comparative few who could see Victoria rose to rapture when, the moment she was proclaimed Queen, she turned round, threw her arms round her mother’s neck, and wept without restraint. And when her loved uncle, the Duke of Sussex, presented himself, the day before, to take the oath of allegiance, and was about to kneel in her presence to kiss her hand, she gracefully prevented him, kissed his cheek affectionately, and said, “Do not kneel, my uncle, for I am still Victoria, your niece.”

The feelings of gratification with which the people welcomed the accession of Victoria cannot be depicted in terms too strong. To most, the course of years seemed very short during which they had been eagerly watching the growth and training of the Princess. It seemed—at least, to all but the young—but a matter of yesterday that the newspapers had informed them of the birth of the Royal babe; of the Duke of Kent’s illness: how he had come home from a walk with wet boots, and, “beguiled by the smiles of his infant Princess,” had played with her, instead of changing his clothes, and thus caught the cold of which he died. And here she was now, a woman, and the sovereign ruler of a hundred million of souls. All they had heard of her was favourable. Sinister rumours and alarms there had been, but they had been dissipated and dispersed like the morning’s mist before the rising god of day. Her morals were pure, her conduct spotless, and in all arts and accomplishments she had been carefully trained. From her earliest days she had been abroad in all weathers; having been often seen, when it was stormy, on a windy common, with a warm cloak and thick boots. She kept early hours, and was so exactly and proverbially punctual, that it was mentioned as a marvel that she once had to apologise for being half a minute late in an appointment. She had never been known to exceed her pocket-money in her personal expenditure, or to be sixpence in debt—an extraordinary novelty in a descendant of George III.

In the first year of her reign the people were delighted to find that she had paid her father’s debts, including considerable sums advanced by his warm friends, Lords Fitzwilliam and Dundas. Next she paid her mother’s debts—debts unavoidably contracted, as she knew and acknowledged, on her account. She provided with royal munificence for the whole family of the late sovereign, and honoured them with courtesies and kindnesses, which almost obliterated the pain arising from their dubious position. Yet she lived within her income, and paid as she purchased.