At the age of 35 inside of Claremont House, Princess Victoria of Saxe Coburg and Gotha,
and the Duchess of Nemours died inside of her bedchamber. She was attended on by many
servants and doctors, and following giving birth to her fourth child it was clear that
Victoria was very ill and was gravely in trouble. After hearing of the death of her niece, Queen
Victoria the British monarch along with her husband Prince Albert were devastated and
were gutted and they rushed to visit the family and be by their side. The Duchess of Nemours
today is a forgotten member of the royal family, but she was a woman who had a very interesting
life, but at a very young age she succumbed to complications after giving birth. But what
is the story of her death?
Princess Victoria of Saxe Coburg and Gotha was born to Ferdinand the Prince of Sage Coburg
and his wife Princess Maria Antonia. Her mother was a wealthy daughter and heiress to the
Hungarian chancellor, however when Victoria’s grandfather died her mother inherited all
of his estates in Slovakia and Hungary and the family became incredibly wealthy. Victoria
was very well linked to many royal family’s across Europe, and she had very influential
relatives. Her older brother was King Ferdinand II of Portugal, and she was first cousins
with Queen Victoria of Britain, and also her husband Prince Albert as well as being cousins
with Belgiums’ King Leopold II and his sister Empress Carlota of Mexico. This made the question
of Princess Victoria’s marriage a very interesting one, as her father would have wanted her to
marry a wealthy and important prince of King to secure further alliances and wealth for
his Duchy.
Arrangements were made between Victoria’s representatives and Louis d’Orleans, who
was known as the Duke of Nemours. The couple got married on the 26th April 1840, at the
Chateau de Saint-Cloud. The occasion was huge and many members of the royal family across
Europe attended and were present. Her husband was also the second son of King Louis Philippe
of France, but around this time in France there were murmurings of possible revolution
in the country, and following the French Revolution breaking out a number of years later, the
royal family including Victoria and her husband went into exile and they crossed the English
Channel and they settled in England. Her husband had been involved in dealing with the outbreak
of the revolution and in protecting the King, as he had covered the King’s retreat at
one point, but he refused to take action against the mob and the rebels. His brother had died
the Duke of Orleans previously, and he was the natural regent if his nephew the Count
of Paris had come to the throne, however as a man Prince Louis did not like public events
which were high profile, and her was considered a rather quiet man.
But the couple did have children but in England Queen Victoria described her cousin as ‘like
a dear sister to us all.’ The Duchess lived the rest of her life in England in exile with
the rest of the French royal family, and she lived at Claremont House in Surrey. But regularly
she travelled to Buckingham Palace and whilst here she spent a huge amount of time with
Queen Victoria and the pair were great friends. They even sat for paintings together, and
these images would show the bond between the Duchess of Nemours and the Queen of Britain.
She was also great friends with Prince Albert, and Victoria described her as ‘so dear,
so good, one of those pure virtuous unobtrusive characters who make a home peaceful cheerful
and happy.’ The portraits of the pair were even hung in the Queen’s bedroom at Osborne
House, the very room that Queen Victoria would die inside of decades later. In England, her
husband’s chief aim was to reconcile the two branches of the house of Bourbon, and
to establish the French monarchy again following the Revolution. He was prepared to go quite
far with this, and there were negotiations that took place regarding this.
In total Princess Victoria the Duchess of Nemours and her husband would have four children.
The first was a son named Gaston, who later became the Prince Imperial Consort of Brazil.
Next came another son named Ferdinand Philippe, who became the Duke of Alencon, a title which
had huge importance and power across Europe throughout the centuries. Their third child
was Marguerite, who became a Princess in her own right, and their final child was another
daughter named Blanche. All of her children had children and heirs of their own, which
in a sense meant Victoria had done her duty ensuring her families line. However the only
one who didn’t have a child was her youngest daughter Blanche, who ever did marry.
However the birth of Blanche caused a significant amount of strain and stress on Victoria’s
body, and following giving birth to her in 1857, it was clear that something was very
wrong. Victoria elected to give birth inside her home in England in Claremont House, and
the birth was rather troubling it’s believed, but initially she survived. But within a few
weeks of giving birth the royal doctors had been summoned to Claremont, and they were
trying all they could to save the life of the Duchess of Nemours. But it’s believed
that she died from some form of childbirth fever, or from the complications of this birth.
The birth had placed too much strain on her body, and it was incredibly tragic as her
family and husband were left heartbroken by the loss of Princess Victoria. Queen Victoria
was devastated as was her husband.
It was said of her death, ‘When the Duchess died suddenly on 10 November 1857, only ten
days after she had given birth to her fourth child, Blanche, both the Queen [Victoria]
and her husband [Prince Albert] were ‘deeply afflicted’ and ‘completely upset’, and
rushed to visit the family on the following day. The Queen provided a highly melodramatic
account of the death to Lord Clarendon: “We visited the house of mourning yesterday and
no words can describe the scene of woe… There was the broken-hearted, almost distracted
widower… and lastly, there was in one room the lifeless, but oh! even in its ghostliness,
most beautiful form of his young, lovely, and angelic wife, lying in her bed with her
splendid hair covering her shoulders, and a heavenly expression of peace; and in the
next room, the dear little pink infant sleeping in its cradle… The dear Duchess’s death
must have been caused by some affection of the heart, for she was perfectly well, having
her hair combed, suddenly exclaimed to the Nurse, “Oh! mon Dieu, Madame” – her
head fell on one side – and before the Duke could run upstairs her hand was cold!”.Prince
Albert wrote equally emotionally to his brother on November 11 and described her as looking
“like an angel of beauty, her glorious hair falling over her bosom”.
Queen Victoria to commemorate her cousin and great friend compiled an album which included
a watercolour image of the Duchess on her deathbed, and this image was used by a sculptor
for the effigy on her tomb. The artist who made this never saw the Duchess alive, and
he carved the effigy 24 years after she died, and he was known to have never come to England.
But in the images, Princess Victoria was shown looking serene and very young, showing how
much of a shock it was for her death. When a portrait bust was cast of the Duchess, Princess
Beatrice wrote that ‘“the cast of the bust of dear Aunt Victoire that you would
like to have is ready and Mother will send it to you. She is very happy for you to have
it. I will put you in contact with a sculptor for the monument at Weybridge.” To begin
with, Victoria the Duchess of Nemours was buried at the Chapel of Saint Charles Borromeo
in Weybridge, however over 120 years after her death they were transferred back to France
and she was buried in the traditional place of the House of Orleans’ deceased family
members.
Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and the Duchess of Nemours was a very influential
and important figure across European politics. She was the daughter of an influential German
Prince, and she was well connected to many important rulers and Kings and Queens. She
was a great friend and also niece to Queen Victoria and she was a woman whose company
was greatly appreciated inside of the royal court. However at the age of 35 shockingly
inside a house in England she died from complications from giving birth to her fourth child. She
was a woman who mixed very well in the circles of royalty, but she was a woman who also commanded
a significant amount of respect from the most important people in 19th century society.
Thanks for watching
To support please subscribe