Male companionship
With her father having died when she was eight months old, there were few men whom Victoria saw with any regularity during her early years. As a consequence, the rare occasions when she was allowed male companionship were much-anticipated treats for the Princess.
One man she did see regularly was her father's former equerry and her mother's closest advisor, the ambitious Sir John Conroy. Victoria's hatred of this man and his manipulations was deep-seated and permanent. Her Uncle Leopold, however, functioned as a steady, although ultimately remote, father-figure for Victoria throughout her girlhood.
Victoria delighted in the visits that various male cousins from her mother's side of the family would occasionally make. Her first cousins Ernest and Albert of Saxe-Coburg Gotha travelled to London with their father (another brother of the Duchess of Kent) to help Victoria celebrate her 17th birthday. The studious Albert, who would later captivate Victoria and turn her attentions from her first Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, was a rather dull guest for the lively Victoria at this time. He was prone to fits of fainting, and preferred quiet evenings to the balls that Victoria delighted in. In 1836, Victoria was quite enamoured of three Persian princes seeking asylum in England. She coyly related to her journal a delightful bit of flattery she received from these 'exotic' visitors: '[The Princes] were asked by Sir Gore [their translator] what struck them most, or what had made the most impression on them in England. The reply was Windsor Castle, and me.'
The significance of the loss of her father when she was an infant, and of the lack of male company in her childhood, cannot be underestimated when judging Victoria's character and growth into a woman; she would seek male attention and companionship for the rest of her life.
Published: 2001-04-01
Bookmark with:
What are these?