Youthful Marriages Of Royalty Rare Today

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30043, 30 January 1963, Page 2

Youthful Marriages Of Royalty Rare Today

[By CYRIL HANKINSON}

The announcement of the engagement of a lovely 16-year-old princess to a charming prince of 22. has in it all the romantic elements which capture the imagination. Everyone will wish Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark and the Crown Prince, of Greece good fortune and happiness in their forthcoming marriage.

Youthfill royal marriages were once far more frequent than they are today—especially amongst continental royalty—and one does not have to go back very far in history to find a British princess who became betrothed at an even earlier age than Princess Anne-Marie. She was Princess Victoria, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and great-grandmother of Crown Prince Constantine.

Queen Vtatoria. filled with aaristectfon eft having disposed of her daughter’s hand in eft (to early age of 14. wrote to the Foreign Peer ettey. the Esri at Clarendon, in September, 1855: “I may teM you in the sMctert confidence that “BjUt erBOCauC ASivf the Empetor Fredemc of Gennsny) bee yesterday laid beta* uo has wash tor an Filterrr wtth the Princess Royal (Princess Victoria). We have accepted hie proposal n te m w- personally are concerned. but have asked that the rtvtld should not be made acquainted with it until after her conftmsftion

nett spring. ... W« beg that

under present circumstances ft may be kept a strict secret. What the world may say we cannot help.**

In informing her unde, the King of the Belgian*, the Queen arid “he is really dehalted wtth Vicky.” and added that the prince would come to Bngtand to mate ids formal proposal to “Vicky” the next Stater. In spite of ril the measures

taken to preserve the secret of the betrothal, within a month "The Times” had got hold of the story and published the news of the impending engagement in a leading article etgavteng die. approve! of such a marriage. As arranged “Fritz,” as he was known in the family, duly arrived to acquaint “Vicky” with has feelings towards her, and found, that they were reciprocated. He really was very much in love with the Princess, but with a seuee of propriety which would not be tolerated by the young people of today. Queen Victoria explained in a letter to the King of the Beigtens that she could not receive his daughter, Charlotte, on a visit, as so much of her precious time was taken up by acting as chaperon to the young couple, for they could not of course, ever be left alone together. Marriage At 17 The marriage took place when “Vicky” was two months pest her seventeenth birthday, and a year later her elder son, afterwards Kaiser Wilhelm H, was born. Her second daughter, Sophia, married King Constantine of Greece, and was grandmother of Crown Prince Constantine. Of Queen Victoria's nine OhUdrea, ail of whom married, only Princess Alice, who was 10 when she married, and Princess Helena 20, married when tinder age- As ail of King Edward VH's children were of age when they married, youthful marriages in the British Royal family now seem-a thing of the past. The Duke of Edinburgh’s sister, Princess Sophie, of Greece, however, married at an even younger age than “Vicky,” being only 16j when she became the wife of Prince Christopher of Hesse in 1930. Turning back the pages of history we find that Caroline, sister , of George in, married King Christian VII of Denmark at the age of 15. It was during Christian VIPs reign that Nelson fought and defeated the Danish Fleet in the Sound in 1801. On this occasion, when signalled to discontinue the action, Nelson placed his telescope to his blind eye and said he could not see the signal. Another princess to marry at the age of 15 was Mary, elder daughter of James 11, who married her cousin, William of Orange. Twelve years later she accepted the Crown of England jointly with her husband after her father had fled the country. As her father never abdicated and made several attempts to regain the throne her position was not a happy one. Father's Carse Even her coronation day was spoilt as the news reached her, just as she was about to set out for the ceremony, that her father had landed in Ireland and had set a curse upon her if she became Queen during his lifetime or that of her brother. It is said that she was so overcome by this message that it was some time before she had sufficiently

recovered to proceed to Westminster Abbey.

Yet another princess of considerable importance in our history was married at 15 —Elizabeth, daughter of James I, who married Frederick V, Elector Palatine of the Rhine and King of Bohemia. She is often known as the Winter Queen as shortly after her husband was chosen King of Bohemia in November, 1519, he was driven out of the country and also lost his position as an elector. The couple vzere forced to live in exile and great poverty.

Eventually, however, Elizabeth was able to return to England, where Charles II befriended her. She was the mother of 13 children, the twelfth child being Sophia, mother of George I. With the passage of time, Elizabeth’s descendants spread all over Europe and made many important matrimonial alliance*. By the outbreak of war in 1900 every crowned head in Europe could trace descent from her. The King of England who married at the earliest age was Henry TV, who married at the age of 14, Mary, daughter of Humphrey, Earl of Hereford. He' became father of Henry V. the victor of Agincourt, at the age of 21. Married at Four The youngest and most tragic marriage in the history of the Royal family, however, is that of Richard, Duke of York, younger brother of King Edward V. He was married when four years old to Anne, daughter of John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, in 1478. The poor little girl died some two or three years later at the age of eight, whilst Richard only survived to be murdered in the Tower with his brother, Edward, in 1483, by the orders, it is generally supposed, of bis unde, Richard 111, who had usurped the throne. Most, if not all, of these youthful marriages were arranged for political reasons without much regard to the feelings of those involved. Fortunately the Royal family has been freed from the fetters of such marriages for many years past and its members are able to marry the man or woman of their choice.