Social Victorians/People/Princess Victoria of Wales

H.R.H. Princess Victoria of Wales, c. 1890

Also Known As

• Family name: Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
• Nickname: Toria
• Her Royal Highness The Princess Victoria of Wales (22 January 1901 – 3 December 1935)
• VIAF: 127756309

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies

Closest Family Members

• Sister, Princess Maud
• Brother, George, Duke of York and then King George V

Men Interested in Marriage

• Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov, later Nicholas II of Russia
• Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich
• Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich
• Crown Prince Christian of Denmark
• Carlos I of Portugal
• Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery

Timeline

1885 July 23, Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg married, with Princess Victoria as one of the bridesmaids.

1893 July 6, Prince George and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck married, with Princess Victoria as one of the bridesmaids.

1897 July 2, Friday, Princess Victoria of Wales attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House. (Princess Victoria is #370 in the list of attendees.)

1917 July 17, King George V issued the following proclamation, giving Princess Victoria the patronym Windsor:

Now, therefore, We, out of Our Royal Will and Authority, do hereby declare and announce that as from the date of this Our Royal Proclamation Our House and Family shall be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor, and that all the descendants in the male line of Our said Grandmother Queen Victoria who are subjects of these Realms, other than female descendants who may marry or may have married, shall bear the said Name of Windsor ....

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

Prince Charles of Denmark as a gentleman of the Court of Denmark in the time of Elizabeth, with Princess Charles of Denmark and Princess Victoria of Wales in costume as Ladies of the Court of Marguerite de Valois. © National Portrait Gallery, London.

At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Princess Victoria of Wales, sat at Table 2 in the first seating for supper. She was 29 years old, almost 30, attending her mother, Alexandra, Princess of Wales, who went as Queen Margaret of Valois, along with the Princess of Wales's other daughters.

At Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 fancy-dress ball, Lafayette's portrait of "Prince Charles of Denmark with Maud, Princess Charles of Denmark and Princess Victoria of Wales as Ladies of the Court of Marguerite de Valois" in costume is photograph #2 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "H.R.H. Princess Victoria of Wales & Princess Charles of Denmark as Ladies of the Court of Marguerite de Valois. H.R.H. Prince Charles of Denmark," with a Long S in Princess both times.

All the royals were in Elizabethan costumes for the ball. In the Lafayette portrait (lower right), Princess Victoria on the right is perched on a higher chair than Princess Maud, who is seated in the center, but Princess Victoria is not standing, as Prince Charles of Denmark is. The c. 1890 portrait (above right) is by W. & D. Downey, London, and is numbered and is identified as a "Rotary Photo, E.C."

Princess Victoria's Costume

Newspaper Reports

• "Princess Victoria of Wales wore a heavy yellow satin dress, also richly embroidered."
• She accompanied her mother the Princess of Wales, along with the Duchess of York, the Duchess of Fife, Princess Charles of Denmark, and Princess Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.
• According to the Pall Mall Gazette, "Princess Charles of Denmark, in pink satin and silver, and Princess Victoria of Wales, in pale yellow crêpe de chine, represented other ladies of the court" of Margaret of Valois.
• According to the Westminster Gazette, "Princess Victoria of Wales, quite happy to be with her favourite sister again [Princess Maud], was in primrose satin."
• "Princess Victoria, in palest citron."
• According to the Man of Ross, "The Princess of Wales [was attended by] Princess Victoria of Wales, in yellow and gold ….. All the Princesses wore a profusion of diamonds.

Demographics

• Nationality: British

Residences

• Sandringham (until 20 November 1925)
• Coppins, Iver, Buckinghamshire (20 November 1925 – 3 December 1935)

Family

• "Alix" Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia (1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925), Princess of Wales and later Queen Consort of the UK
• Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, later Kind Edward VII of England, "Bertie" until he became king, and then "Teddy"

1. Prince Albert Victor: Albert Victor Christian Edward, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (8 January 1864 – 14 January 1892)
2. Prince George: George Frederick Ernest Albert (3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936), later George V; married Princess Mary of Teck in 1893
3. Louise, Princess Royal: Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar (20 February 1867 – 4 January 1931); married Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, in 1889
4. Princess Victoria of Wales: Victoria Alexandra Olga Mary (6 July 1868 – 3 December 1935)
5. Princess Maud of Wales: Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria of Wales (26 November 1869 – 20 November 1938); married Prince Carl, later King Haakon VII, of Denmark on 22 July 1896
6. Prince Alexander John (6 April 1871 – 6 April 1871)

Relations

• Victoria Alexandra Olga Mary (6 July 1868 – 3 December 1935)

Questions and Notes

1. Princess Victoria never married, preferring to stay with her mother Alexandra, Princess of Wales (and then Queen Alexandra) than accept any of the proposals made.