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 Victoria ,Princess Royal Photo by Frans Xaver Winterhalter

Top 10 Astonishing Facts about Victoria, Princess Royal

Victoria, Princess Royal was born November 21, 1840, and died on August 5, 1901, she was the German Empress and Queen of Prussia as the wife of German Emperor Frederick III.

She was the daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, She was the eldest child and was created Princess Royal in 1841. She was married at the age of 17 to Prince Frederick of Prussia and they were blessed with 8 children.

She was an intelligent and curious child who was ready to learn and her parents ensured that she received a good education. Before age of five, she learned to read and write and was taught different languages like French and Germany among others.

The following are astonishing facts about Victoria, Princess Royal:

1. Victoria Began Learning at Age of 18 Months

Victoria ,Princess Royal Photo by Frans Xaver Winterhalter

Victoria was intelligent and precocious. She began learning French at the age of 18 months. At age of Four, she began to study German, and Latin and also learned Greek.

From the age of six, her curriculum included lessons in geography, arithmetic, and history. Her father tutored her in politics and philosophy.

She also learned science and literature. She was an excellent student who was always hungry for knowledge and ready to learn.

2. Married at Age of 17 Years

Queen Victoria, the Prince Consort and Victoria, Princess Royal in the dress they wore at the marriage of Princess Royal Photo by Thomas Richard Williams

Princess loyal Engagement took place when she was 15 years old when Prince Frederick visited for the second time and her parents gave a condition that the marriage should not take place before Victoria’s seventeen birthday.

On May 17, 1856, the engagement of Victoria and Frederick was publicly announced after acceptance of conditions. She was married at age of the 17 to a prince of Prussia with whom she had eight children.

3. Both she and her Husband Died of Cancer

Queen Victoria was Empress for only a few months, during which she had an opportunity to influence the German Empire. In 1888, her husband Fredrick III died from laryngeal cancer and she became widely known as Empress Frederick.

On August 5, 1901, Queen Victoria died of breast cancer in Kronberg in Taunus, Germany, after the weddings of her younger daughters, not long after her mother’s death which occurred on January 22, 1901.

4. Almost Perished During Childbirth

The maid responsible for alerting doctors to the onset of contractions delayed giving a report and the princess had an extremely complicated delivery. The baby was in breech birth, and the delayed delivery could have caused the death of both mother and her son, however, the gynecologists’ hesitate to examine the princess.

Eventually, the doctors succeeded and saved both princess and her son(Wilhelm II).  Sadly the baby suffered damage to the brachial plexus(a network of nerves formed by the anterior rami of the lower four cervical nerves and first thoracic nerve), and the nerves in his arm were injured. The arm failed to develop normally and by the time Wilhelm was an adult, his left arm was fifteen centimetres shorter than his right.

5. Suffered Financially Despite being a Prince’s Wife

To pay the dowry of Princess Royal, the British Parliament allocated the sum of 40,000 pounds and in addition, she was given an allowance of 8000 pounds per year. On the other hand, the King of Berlin Frederick IV gave an annual allowance of 9000 thalers(large silver coins minted in the state and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern periods)to his Nephew.

The income was not enough to cover the budget consistent with his position and that of his future wife. During their marriage, Victoria relied on her resources. When King Frederick  IV died and King William ascended the throne, the situation at hand did not change since he refused to increase the allowance to the Crown prince of Prussia, Frederick.

Princess Victoria continued to provide for the family with her dowry and allowance. When peace was restored in Germany, the Crown Prince repeatedly travelled abroad to represent the Berlin court. Vicky, rarely accompanied him on these trips because they tried to keep their expenses to a minimum.

6. Her Mother- in – Law was Cruel 

Vicky lost her fourth child Sigismund during the Austro-Prussian War. He died of meningitis at 21 months on June 18, 1866, a few days before the Battle of Koniggratz. The crown Princess was devastated by the tragedy.

She received no comfort from her mother nor her in-laws although her mother was still mourning the loss of Prince Albert. Her mother in -law, Queen Augusta ordered her to quickly resume her official duties and she was still grieving the death of her child.

Situations continued to worsen and her relationship with Queen Augusta continued to be tense. Any gesture of the crown Princess was a pretext for the worst criticism from her mother-in-law, for instance, Augusta disapproved when Vicky chose to use a landau instead of a traditional barouche with two horses. The conflict between the two grew that Queen Victoria and to intercede for her daughter with William I.

7. She Worked to the Bone at the Age of 17

Victoria Princess Loyal Photo by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

Despite being young at 17 years and in a completely new country, the Berlin court expected Princess Victoria to withstand a gruelling schedule of traditional pomp and circumstance. She was required to appear at formal dinners and public performances every night and usually stayed past midnight. She was again expected to wake up early in the morning, get dressed in full regalia, and greet people at 7.00 Am.

8. Put Her Son Through A Disgusting Ritual

Vicky used weird treatments to treat her firstborn son’s arm. Strange methods, such as the so-called “animal baths” in which the arm was immersed in the entrails of recently dead rabbits, it was performed with some regularity.

On top of that Wilhelm also underwent electroshock sessions in a trial to revive the nerves passing through the left arm to the neck and to prevent his head from tilting to one side.

9. Kept a Huge Secret about Her son’s condition.

Vicky could not stand the thought of announcing to the horrible Prussian Court the condition of her first son Wilhelm. Instead, she and Frederick lied about little Wilhelm’s true condition keeping it a secret. She only told her parents after four months when it was clear that Wilhelm’s condition is permanent though she was still in denial.

10. Vicky’s Daughter Had a Mysterious Illness

Apart from Wilhelm who gave her tension headaches due to disobedience, Charlotte Vicky’s daughter was a whole other ball game. She was temperamental, a compulsive gossip, and a nasty prankster. Many historians believe Charlotte had porphyria,  hereditary abnormalities illness that ran through the British monarchy.