Albert Edward was born at 10:48 in the morning on the 9th of November 1841 in
Buckingham Palace. He was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and
her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. He was christened Albert Edward at
St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on the 25th of January 1842, and named Albert
after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather Prince Edward Duke
of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the royal family throughout his life.
The Queen and Prince Albert were determined that their eldest son should
have an education that would prepare him to be a model constitutional monarch.
At the age of seven Edward embarked on a rigorous educational program devised by
Albert and supervised by several tutors. Unlike his older sister Victoria he did
not excel in his studies. He tried to meet the expectations of his parents but
to no avail, although Edward was not a diligent
student his true talents were those of charm, sociability and tact.
Benjamin Disraeli described him as informed intelligent and of sweet manner.
After an educational trip to Rome undertaken in the first few months of 1859, Edward
spent the summer of that year studying at the University of Edinburgh under
among others the chemist Lyon Playfair. In October he enrolled as an
undergraduate at Christ Church Oxford and now released from the educational
strictures imposed by his parents he enjoyed studying for the first time and
performed satisfactorily in examinations. He then transferred to Trinity College
Cambridge, where he was tutored in history by Charles Kingsley the Regius
professor of modern history. Kingsley's efforts brought forth the best
academic performances of Edwards life and Edward actually looked forward to
his lectures. In 1860 Edward undertook the first tour of North America by a
Prince of Wales his genial good humour and confident
friendless made the tour a great success. He inaugurated the Victoria Bridge, Montreal,
across they St Lawrence River and laid the cornerstone of
Parliament Hill in Ottawa. He was also present to see Charles
Blondin Traverse Niagara Falls by high wire.
After this he stayed for three days with President James Buchanan at the White
House. Buchanan accompanied the Prince to Mount Vernon where they would pay
their respects at the tomb of George Washington. Vast crowds greeted him
everywhere and the four-month tour throughout Canada and the United States
considerably boosted Edward's confidence and self-esteem, and had many diplomatic
benefits for Great Britain. Following his return Edward had hoped to pursue a career
in the British Army, but his mother vetoed an active military career.
In September 1861 Edward was sent to Germany supposedly to watch military
manoeuvres, but actually in order to engineer a meeting between him and
Princess Alexandra of Denmark the eldest daughter of Prince Christian of Denmark
and his wife Louise. The Queen and Prince Albert had already decided that Edward
and Alexandra should marry. They met at Speyer on 24 September under the
auspices of his elder sister Victoria who had married the Crown Prince of
Prussia in 1858. Edward sister acting upon instructions from their mother had
met Alexandra at Strelitz in June and the young Danish princess made a very
favorable impression. Edward and Alexandra were friendly from the start
the meeting went well and marriage plans were advanced. Although on the surface
the couple seemed inseparable but over the years Edward had gained a reputation
as a playboy, determined to get some army experience he attended manoeuvres in
Ireland during which he spent three nights with actress Nellie Clifden who was
hidden in the camp by his fellow officers. Prince Albert, though ill, was
appalled and visited Edward at Cambridge to issue a reprimand, Albert died in
December 1861 just two weeks after the visit, Queen Victoria was inconsolable
and she wore mourning clothes for the rest of her life and blamed Edward for
his father's death. At first she regarded her son with distaste
as frivolous, indiscreet and irresponsible. She wrote to her eldest daughter
"I never can or shall look at him without a shudder" Once widowed Queen
Victoria effectively withdrew from public life, and shortly after Prince
Albert's death she arranged for Edward to embark on an extensive tour of the Middle East.
British government wanted Edward to secure the friendship of
Egypt's ruler Said Pasha to prevent French control of the Suez
Canal if the Ottoman Empire collapsed. It was the first royal tour on which an
official photographer Frances Bedford was in attendance, but as soon as Edward
returned to Britain preparations were made for his engagement. Edward married
Alexandra of Denmark at St.George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on the 10th of
March 1863 he was 21 and she was 18. The couple established Marlborough house
as their London residence and Sandringham house in Norfolk as their
country retreat. They entertained on a lavish scale.
Yet their marriage met with disapproval in certain circles because most of Queen
Victoria's relations were German and Denmark was at loggerheads with Germany.
Edward seemed more interested in his ability to attract ladies, his marriage
did not stop him in his pursuit of female companions and his willingness
for mistresses continued throughout his married life. He socialised with actress
Lily Langtry, Lady Randolph Churchill, Daisy Greville the Countess of Warwick
actress Sarah Bernhardt singer Hortense Schneider and wealthy humanitarian
Agnes Keyser; and Alice Keppel. To name just a few!
It is considered he had at least 55 liaisons, how far these relationships went is not
always clear Edward always strove to be discreet but this did not prevent
society gossip or press speculation. Edward would never acknowledged any
illegitimate children his wife Alexandra was aware of his affairs and yet seemed
to have accepted them. But in 1869, Sir Charles Mordaunt, a British Member of
Parliament threatened to name Edward as co-respondent
in his divorce suit. Ultimately, he did not do so but Edward was called
as a witness in the case in early 1870. Harriet Mordaunt was the lady Edward was
accused of meeting, in a sensational divorce case at the time it was shown
that Edward had visited the Mordaunts house while Sir Charles was away sitting in
the House of Commons. Although nothing further was proven and Edward denied he
had committed adultery the suggestion of impropriety was damaging. Edward enjoyed
gambling and Country Sports and was also an enthusiastic hunter, but his gambling
got him into trouble in 1891 as Edward was embroiled in the royal baccarat scandal.
It was revealed he had played an illegal card game for money the previous
year, the prince was forced to appear as a witness in court for a second time
when one of the participants unsuccessfully sued his fellow players
for slander after being accused of cheating. In the same year Edward was
involved in a personal conflict when Lord Charles Beresford threatened to reveal
details of Edwards private life to the press as a protest against Edward
interfering with Beresford's affair with Daisy Greville the Countess of Warwick.
The friendship between the two men was irreversibly damaged and their bitterness
would last for the remainder of their lives. In late 1891 Edwards eldest son
Albert Victor was engaged to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, just a few weeks
later in early 1892 Albert Victor died of pneumonia
Edward was grief-stricken "to lose our eldest son" he wrote "is one of those
calamities one can never really get over" Edward told Queen Victoria "I would have
given my life for him as I put no value on mine" Albert Victor was the
second of Edwards children to die. When Queen Victoria died on the 22nd of
January 1901, Edward became the king of the United Kingdom emperor of India and
in an innovation King of the British dominions. He chose to reign under the
name of Edward the Seventh instead of Albert Edward the name his mother had
intended for him to use declaring that he did not wish to undervalue the name
of Albert and diminish the status of his father with whom the name should stand alone.
Edward donated his parents house Osborne
on the Isle of Wight to the state and continued to live at
Sandringham. He could afford to be magnanimous his private secretary Sir
Francis Knollys claimed that he was the first heir to succeed to the throne in credit.
Edwards coronation had originally been scheduled for June 26 1902 however
two days before he was diagnosed with appendicitis, the disease was generally
not treated operatively it carried a high mortality rate but
developments in anesthesia and antiseptics in the preceding 50 years
made life-saving surgery possible. The next day Edward was sitting up in bed
smoking a cigar. Two weeks later it was announced that he was out of danger
Sir Frederick Treves who carried out the operation on him was honoured with a baronet.
Edward was crowned at Westminster Abbey on the 9th of August
1902 by the 80 year old Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick temple who died
only four months later. Edward was related to nearly every other European
monarch and came to be known as the 'Uncle of Europe'. Edward doted on his
grandchildren and indulged them to the consternation of their governesses.
However, there was one relation whom Edward did not like: Wilhelm II. His difficult
relationship with his nephew exasperated the tensions between Germany and Britain.
In April 1908, during Edward's annual stay at Biarritz, he accepted the resignation of
British Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman in a break with
precedent Edward asked Campbell-Bannermans successor Asquith to travel to Biarritz and
Asquith complied, but the press criticised the action of the King in appointing a prime
minister on foreign soil instead of returning to Britain. In the last year of
his life Edward became embroiled in a constitutional crisis when the
conservative majority in the House of Lords refused to pass the people's
budget proposed by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Asquith.
The crisis eventually led after Edward's death to the removal of the Lord's right
to veto legislation. The king was displeased at liberal attacks on his
peers which included a critical speech by David Lloyd George at Limehouse.
Cabinet Minister Winston Churchill publicly demanded a general election for
which Asquith apologised to the King's advisor Lord Knollys and rebuked
Churchill at a cabinet meeting. Edward was so dispirited at the tone of
class warfare in vain, the King urged conservative leaders Arthur Balfour and
Lord Lansdowne to pass the budget which Lord Esher had advised him was not
unusual as Queen Victoria had helped to broker agreements between the two houses
over Irish disestablishment in 1869 and the third Reform Act in 1884.
The kings speech from the throne on the 21st of February made reference to introducing
measures restricting the Lord's power of veto to warn of delay, but Asquith
inserted a phrase 'in the opinion of my advisers' so the King could be seen
to be distancing himself from the planned legislation. Edward habitually smoked
twenty cigarettes and twelve cigars a day. In 1907 a rodent ulcer, a type of
cancer affecting the skin next to his nose was cured with radium. He suffered a
momentary loss of consciousness during a state visit to Berlin in February 1909
and In March 1910, he was staying at Biarritz when he collapsed. On the 6th of
May, Edward suffered several heart attacks
but refused to go to bed saying "No, I shall not give in; I shall go on
I shall work to the end." Between moments of faintness, his son the Prince of
Wales told him that his horse 'Witch of the Air'
had won at Kempton Park that afternoon. The king replied "Yes, I have heard of it."
I am very glad": those were his final words. At 11:30
he lost consciousness for the last time and was put to bed he died 15 minutes later.
On the morning of 17 May, the coffin was placed on a gun
carriage and drawn by black horses to Westminster Hall. With the new king, his
family and Edwards favorite dog Caesar walking behind. Following a brief service
the royal family left and the hall was open to the public, over 400,000 people
filed past the coffin over the next two days. Edward received criticism for his
apparent pursuit of self indulgent pleasure but he received great praise
for his affable manners and diplomatic tact as his grandson Edward the eighth
wrote 'his lighter side obscured the fact that he had both insight and influence
he had a tremendous zest for pleasure but he also had a real sense of duty'
(Music)