The Marriages of Queen Victoria's Children Quiz

Answer: 17

This marriage was controversial from the beginning. In England, the Hohenzollerns, Fritz's family, were considered nothing more than parvenues. In Prussia, Vicky's parents, Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, were considered much too liberal for their daughter to marry into the reactionary Prussian royal family. Also, Fritz's parents, Prince William and Princess Augusta of Prussia, who expected to inherit the throne when William's insane brother died, thought the marriage should take place in Berlin. Queen Victoria, of course, wasn't about to back down. 'It is not every day that one marries the eldest daughter of the Queen of England!' she fumed.

In this, as in most things, the Queen had her own way. The couple were married in the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace on 25 January 1858.

It was a true love match, but the couple's lives in Germany would be far from easy.

Answer: Vicky, the Crown Princess of Prussia

Under her mother's instructions, Vicky scoured the 'Almanach de Gotha' for a suitable princess to marry her troublesome brother Bertie. She would have preferred him to marry a German, but the photos she sent him failed to light his fire. In the end, it was her lady-in-waiting and good friend, Walburga ('Wally') Hohenthal, whose husband had worked as an attache at the Danish court, who pointed her in Princess Alexandra's direction. Vicky risked Prussian ire in arranging this marriage - it was extremely unpopular in Prussia, because of the mired Schleswig-Holstein dispute with Denmark.

It was a testament to her love for Bertie that she did her best to further the match. Bertie and 'Alix' married in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on March 10 1863. Alix and Bertie seemed happy, and she endured his frequent affairs with amazing patience.

Answer: Prince Willem of Orange

Vicky also suggested Prince Albrecht of Prussia, but nothing came of it. Willem was a strong candidate, but Alice disliked him, and her parents were reluctant to force her. He died unmarried in 1878, just months after Alice herself. In the end, Prince Louis of Hesse and the Rhine was invited to Windsor.

He and Alice hit it off immediately, though she would in later years want to communicate on a deeper level than Louis was able. In any case, the couple married on 1 July 1862 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

It was a dismal affair, with Queen Victoria wearing black, still in mourning for Albert, who had died several months earlier.

Answer: Bertie, Alix and Alice

This was all tied up in the affair of the Schleswig-Holstein Duchies. In 1864, Bismarck's Prussia had invaded the Duchies, taken them from Denmark and annexed them to Prussia. Meanwhile, Prince Christian's family claimed to be their lawful rulers. Christian's brother was an old school friend of Fritz's and Vicky (with characteristic enthusiasm) proclaimed Christian 'the best creature in the world.' Queen Victoria was also pleased with him, since she knew he would not mind living in England.

But Princess Alexandra, whose father was the King of Denmark, attested that 'the Duchies belong to Papa!' Bertie supported her, and so did Alice, who privately felt that the age gap (15 years) between Christian and Helena was too much.

In the end, Alice mediated, and convinced Bertie to attend the weddding for Helena's sake.

Helena married Christian in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle on 5 July 1866. The couple seemed to genuinely care for each other, and the marriage lasted 51 years, the only marriage among those of the Queen's children to reach its golden anniversary.

Answer: All of the above

Alfred (Affie) married Marie on January 23, 1874 at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. Queen Victoria did not travel to Russia for the ceremony. Unfortunately, Marie did not get on well with her English in-laws. Her engagement to Affie had a history of bad grace - Queen Victoria had insisted on inspecting Marie before the wedding. Marie's father immediately labeled the Queen a 'silly old fool'.

The Queen flatly refused to journey to Russia to see the Grand Duchess. The Tsarina suggested that the Queen meet her and her daughter halfway, at Coburg. Queen Victoria swiftly shot this down. That she, the 'Doyenne of Sovereigns' who had been on the throne 'more than twenty years more than the Tsar' should be expected to leave Britain was ridiculous. Marie herself was a very haughty woman (well, at nineteen, she was almost still a girl).

As the only daughter of her family, she had been completely spoiled. Her father, Tsar Alexander II, demanded that she was to be styled 'Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, Duchess of Edinburgh.' Queen Victoria, who had always considered the Romanovs arrogant, said she didn't care if the girl wanted to be called 'Imperial Highness' - so long as 'Royal' came first. Marie and her father also resented that she, the daughter of the Tsar of Russia, had to give precedence to the Princess of Wales, the princess of a small-fry country like Denmark.

She did, however, exact a subtle and feminine revenge: she paraded about in her magnificent Russian jewels and had all the English princesses seething with jealousy. Even Queen Victoria, a sensible woman concerning jewels, looked sour. Ironically, by Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887, Affie had become Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and thus Marie, as the wife of a German reigning Duke, outranked her sisters-in-law.

Answer: 1871

The Princess of Wales had proposed her brother, Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark as a possible suitor, but Queen Victoria was wary of annoying Prussia with another Danish marriage. Vicky once again suggested Prince Albrecht, as she had for Alice, but he would not live in England.

After much deliberation, Queen Victoria suggested a member of the British nobility. Bertie was firmly oppossed to the idea, because the Marquess of Lorne, the man the Queen had in mind, was an MP. Bertie thought that Louise, a royal princess, should not associate herself with party politics.

In the end, Louise married Lorne on March 21 1871 in St George's Chapel, Windsor. It was not a happy marriage. Louise was unable to have children, and Lorne was rumoured to be homosexual.

Answer: First Cousin once removed

The Princess in question, Princess Luise Marguerite, was the daughter of Prince Frederick Carl of Prussia, Fritz's first cousin, who had reputedly boxed his wife's ears on the delivery bed because she had still not produced a son. The Queen was delighted with Luise, as was Arthur, and it was a happy marriage. The wedding took place on 13 March 1879.

Answer: the Netherlands

Helen's sister, Queen Emma, was married to the Dutch King William III. Leopold had spent a long time trying to free himself from the Queen's apron strings, and he married quite late for the standards of the day (he was 29). Victoria was quite bemused that her haemophiliac son had actually lived long enough to produce a family. Leopold and Helen were married on 27 April 1882 in St. George's Chapel Windsor.

Answer: True

By marriage only, though. Henry's brother Louis was married to Beatrice's niece, Victoria, eldest daughter of Princess Alice. In fact, Beatrice and Henry met at Louis and Victoria's wedding. Queen Victoria, having hoped that Beatrice would stay with her to be her companion (just as she had wanted Leopold as her private secretary), was initially displeased with the match, but she came round after Beatrice gave her the silent treatment for six months. Beatrice and Henry married on 23 July 1885 at St. Mildred's Church, Whippingham, the Isle of Wight.

Answer: 5

Vicky was 17, Bertie was 21, Alice was 19, Helena was 20 and Louise was 23. As for the others, Affie was 29, Arthur was 28, Leopold was 29 and Beatrice was 28.