As we all know, the new royal baby will become the third in line to the throne whatever its sex. A secure succession is not always easy to achieve, and a succession secure to three generations is remarkably rare. The last time it was established in Britain was at the end of Queen Victoria’s reign, with the birth of Prince Edward on 23 June 1894. The prince's birth was an event no less eagerly anticipated than the appearance of the Cambridge baby today, and the young royal couple, Prince George and Princess Mary, the Duke and Duchess of York, felt the pressure of the weight of public expectation upon them.
In a parallel with recent events, on 4 June, the duke and duchess moved to White Lodge in Richmond Park, the home of Princess Mary’s parent, the Duke and Duchess of Teck, in a bid to escape the hurly burly of central London. The summer of 1894 was unusually hot and the royal doctors felt that the relative peace of Richmond Park would be beneficial. The press pack of the day – a model of deference and considerably smaller than that of 2013 – followed them, however. White Lodge itself was specially connected by telephone to the East Sheen post office so that the news, when it happened, could be conveyed to the waiting world via telegraph as swiftly as possible. |
| A commemorative coin issued for the 1897 Diamond Jubilee, showing Queen Victoria and her successors. |
‘The movements of the Royal couple have been watched with keen interest, and day after day large numbers of people have assembled in the vicinity of the Lodge in the hope of catching a glimpse of Princess May and her husband, reported the Richmond Correspondent of The Times.’ (I suspect that post is now defunct. . .)
When Princess Mary went in labour, it was not mentioned by the press. Queen Victoria records in her journal that she heard at teatime on Saturday 23 June that ‘dear May was taken ill. Felt naturally anxious.’ Fortunately the Queen’s anxiety did not last long, because shortly after she had retired, ‘I received the joyful news that dear May had been safely delivered of a son, a fine strong child! What joy, what a blessing. How relieved & thankful to God I feel for this great mercy!’
The Times reported that, ‘The news of the happy event was received at East Sheen post office. . . and a hearty cheer was raised by a number of people who had assembled to get the earliest information.’
Telegrams of announcement and congratulation were sent across the world from East Sheen; the next day prayers of thanksgiving were offered up across Britain and church bells pealed throughout the Empire. Three days later, the Queen met her latest great-grandchild, 'a fine strong looking child’. She wrote to her eldest daughter, 'it seems that it has never happened in this country that there should be 3 direct Heirs as well as the Sovereign alive!'
Perhaps the last word should remain with the baby’s great aunt, Augusta, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who was born an English princess. On hearing the news she wrote ‘I still am in a twitter can hardly take in the immense happiness of the moment! Of this great Historical Event!’
Twitter eh? And joy expressed in 90 characters – considerably less than the pages of newsprint and hours of coverage we can expect over the coming days.
