Ilana D Miller

In the Fall of 1947, an eighty-four-year-old woman receives an extraordinary invitation. Though much that happened was a lifetime ago and in a different world, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, now the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, holds the heavy vellum envelop for a moment in her hands. Within is the end of a long journey seeking vindication for a husband who gave his life to the service of the Royal Navy and received, in return, ingratitude. Within is the reminder of a life lived with her family that is mostly gone. However, for one exquisite moment, it returns as she opens the envelope: _The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by Their Majesties to invite The Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven to the Ceremony of the Marriage of Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, with Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, Royal Navy in Westminster Abbey, on Thursday, 20th November 1947, at 11.30 o’clock, a.m._ Thus begins the story of Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. Victoria, the eldest daughter of Princess Alice and Prince Ludwig of Hesse, was born in April 1863\. One of the envied grandchildren of Queen Victoria, she was related to most of the Royal Families of Europe – a member of the fabled “Royal Mob”. The obstacles that characterized Victoria’s life began with her mother’s untimely death. Queen Victoria helped her granddaughter shoulder the responsibilities of caring for the motherless family, writing letters of advice and guidance, a correspondence lasting some thirty years. In April 1884, Victoria married the dashing Prince Louis of Battenberg, an officer in the Royal Navy, who eventually became Britain’s First Sea Lord. Their daughter, Alice, was the future mother of Prince Philip and their youngest child, another Louis, was Viceroy of India. On the eve of World War I, Prince Louis of Battenberg, was forced to resign because of his German surname, which he later changed to Mountbatten. Victoria’s sister, Alix, who had taken the name Alexandra when she married Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and her entire family was murdered in 1918. Progressive and intelligent, Victoria was the lynchpin of her family. Through cataclysms, both familial and historical, travelling from pre-revolutionary Russia to the British Mandate of Palestine, Victoria’s life was as exciting as it was triumphant.

Few British monarchs have fit the time, the tone or the energy of an era quite the way Queen Victoria mastered her reign. From her ascension to the throne in 1837 to her death in 1901, her monarchy was one of spectacular advances in the British Empire. Political, scientific, and industrial wonders were changing the world. Britain's influence reached all corners of the earth. But there was one area that particularly intrigued the Queen. Men. Keenly aware of the opposite sex, her most trusted advisors were men. Lord Melbourne, her first prime minister, was an avuncular presence. Then her beloved husband Prince Albert took the reins until his death in 1861. In a widowhood of forty years, her ministers were a varied lot. She adored Disraeli, disliked Gladstone, and found genuine friendship with Lord Salisbury. Then there was Mr. Brown, the Scottish ghillie who she found wonderfully attractive. Later there was Abdul Karim, the Munshi, or teacher with whom she had a motherly relationship. She adored her son-in-law, Prince Henry of Battenberg, the 'sunshine of their lives' and was devastated when he died. She also loved her grandson-in-law, Prince Louis Battenberg, who was one of the executors of her will. Those years without Albert were not barren loveless years, they were not without happiness and pleasure, even if the queen herself might protest.