Hi my name is Jon and welcome to another edition of History Roadshow.
When it comes to philanthropy, you'd be hard pushed to meet a queen whose benevolence
and generosity achieved so much throughout her reign.
In one particular case, it's been suggested she was more than charitable, when it came
to marriage in 1818 when she agreed to be with William, a 53-year-old duke of Clarence.
The thing was, he had already been turned down by a least 12 princesses of European origin,
so what attracted this lady?
William was well known, not in a good way, but by having a coarse mouth,
a womaniser, and the father to at least ten illegitimate children.
Not what you'd call an inspiring choice when it comes down to matrimony.
William was the third son of King George III, yet no one ever thought he would gain
the highest order in the land. So what attracted this lady to this man?
Sit back and relax as we now look at the incredible life of Queen Adelaide
of Saxe-Meiningen.
Please subscribe to the channel hit the bell icon to select all notifications
so you never miss any of our videos and with that said, lets begin todays story.
Adelaide was born on 13 August 1792 at Meiningen, Germany,
she was the eldest child of George I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen.
Her mother was Luise Eleonore.
Adelaides life was about to change, she was an amiable and loving woman,
but little did she know what she was letting herself in for.
William on the other hand came from a completely different background.
From 13, he had been sent to fight in the American Revolution,
became a good friend to Horatio Nelson and probably had a girl in every port.
When he reached 24, he wrote to his brother, stating he had had three nasty doses of pox.
His father was angry; he retired William from the forces and insisted he now settled down
to a more normal life if normal is a word that can be used with such a man.
But he never learnt his lessons; almost right away, he fell for another woman whose foul
mouth displays matched his own, and she had already had three children to different men.
However, Dorothy Jordan, an actress and William would stick it out for the next 20 years.
Over that time, the couple had ten children.
However, they were pretty much penniless; such a large family needed large amounts of money
to keep it going.
Dorothy continued to act; as for William, he was slowly being pulled away from the relationship.
Charlotte, Williams mother told him his only option was to find a rich woman to aid
his crippling financial situation.
He left Dorothy in 1811 and started his hunt.
But there was little to no one accepting him; his history laid out before him made it difficult
to entice any respectable young lady.
The situation became critical in 1818 when the death of the heir princess charlotte
and her child in childbirth.
He had somehow found himself raised up the monarchy ladder
and now had to marry and produce heirs.
Williams continuing search for a lady was becoming more improbable
as time went by, until one day Adelaide, a 26-year-old, said Yes!
Saxe-Meiningen was a tiny principality;
her home region's choice against London's highlights was a no brainer.
In her eyes.
After Adelaide arrived in the country, she would discover that her wedding day
was a double affair, with Williams brother also taking the marriage oath to a German bride.
Edward duke of Kent and Victoria of Saxe Coburg tied the knot.
With both couples now raring to go, it would be a race to bring about a new heir.
But Adelaide struggled; her first child died in infancy,
two twin boys were stillborn, and again she suffered further miscarriage.
Adelaide never had any additional opportunity to produce offspring.
Victoria, on the other hand, did produce some children.
In a sad letter,
Adelaide wrote to Victoria asking if her children could also be considered hers too.
But Victoria never really agreed becoming more defensive over time.
William and Adelaide
had failed in their marriage, yet Adelaide started to have more effect on her husband now.
She settled him down and began to make inroads into his behaviour.
William cut down on drinking and swearing and even gave up his love of mistresses.
When George III died, and George IV came to power, Adelaide tried to keep her distance from him.
She found it distasteful that he was just as bawdy and scandalous as his predecessors.
Over time children were still being produced, and the line of succession
was looking much healthier.
Williams younger brother Adolphus, duke of Cambridge, had a son called George in 1819.
Then two daughters, Augusta and Mary Adelaide, who went on to become the mother of the future
queen and George V's wife Mary of Teck. The Hanoverian dynasty
look set to continue after all, with or without the help of William.
1827 was a pivotal year for William.
Frederick, duke of York, had died, which made William heir presumptive to the throne.
George IV, who had spent the majority of his life doing what every other member of his family
seemed to do, would now end. His days of womanising and drink, finally caught up with him in 1830 when he died.
William, ready or not, was about to take a leap of faith.
Anyone's guess how it would end, but as the public liked to call him 'sailor billy',
he was ready to go with Adelaide by his side; what could go wrong?
The new queen was now set for a showdown with her court; it had to be cleaned
and become spotless, the days of passionate behaviour would become a distant memory.
A new era was starting, one where manners and integrity were top of the list.
Many ladies were barred due to their previous shady dealings.
Adelaide was very fond of one Duchess of Kents children, also called Victoria.
So when the duchess demanded that her young princess
have her own special procession at the abbey,
William stirred; he said she should not discount the fact
that his wife Adelaide could still have children and if the young princess did attend,
she would be merely classed as the princess Victoria, nothing more.
The duchess replied and said, ok, that's fine, we won't attend at all.
Adelaide was distraught at the news;
William didn't care, as he had always had a strong dislike towards his sister in law.
William was not what you'd call a strong ruler, but the people liked him.
His popularity grew and was far higher than that of his predecessors.
Adelaide played a significant part in this through her charity work.
She would give away up to a third of her own resources to help others and worthy causes.
She was also the first queen to employ an almoner to look into potential new trusts
and charitable organisations. It wasn't always pleasant times for the couple;
they had their moments of downturns like any other.
The reform bill of 1532 was one such occasion.
It was an act based on spreading the demographic range of landowners and the aristocracy.
It's entirely possible
the public thought Adelaide was behind the move and the king in knocking back this idea.
Due to Adelaide's well-known influence on her husband,
people put two and two together as they did; it's unlikely Adelaide knew much about politics.
She was and would always be a lady
who concentrated on handling matters of the home and keeping her husband in domestic bliss.
A rumour spread about Adelaide, now
43 years old, that she had become pregnant to one of her courtiers.
Once again classed as utter nonsense but, for a time, got people thinking.
In 1835 things began
to change, William was now suffering from ill health, and Adelaides favourite princess,
Victoria, now aged 16, suddenly fell to typhoid, but luckily she fully recovered.
Yet while in bed recuperating, her mother and an advisor called Sir John Conroy attempted
to get Victoria to sign a paper nominating him as her advisor when she became queen.
But Victoria refused; it was time to step out of the pressurised relationship with her mother,
and now began to completely distance herself.
On 20 June 1837, William died, Adelaide was by his side.
On 28 June 1838, Victoria was crowned queen.
Adelaide would call her Vicky, and their long friendship continued to grow.
Although Adelaide had slipped back into a more quiet lifestyle,
she would still ensure to be with the queen at the most important events.
Her wedding in 1840 to Albert of Saxe-Coburg
and the christenings of her first six children between 1840 and 1848.
Adelaide was undoubtedly a genuine lady, and we know how charitable and forgiving
she was, yet one small detail about her is quite possibly unknown to many.
She had what you might call a quirk.
She loved pins so much that they would be kept in rows in pincushions in an orderly format.
So if one were borrowed and then not returned, Adelaide would have the whole house, if necessary
hunting it down until it was placed back in its spot.
There is no rhyme or reason why she felt this way about such a simple object;
maybe it was a childhood order from a fierce governess.
It's, of course, unsubstantiated
but nonetheless, an interesting insight into the dowager queens life.
In 1849, Adelaide's health was now starting to become a concern.
Victoria was expecting her 7th child, but Adelaide would never see this.
She died quietly at the age of 67 and was buried alongside her husband at Windsor.
William and Adelaide performed an excellent service to the royal family.
However, they lacked a certain dynamic, but held together a chronically
sick monarchy in Britain when others around Europe were toppling like a pack of cards.
George IV had left the kingdom at its lowest point for many years, but the couple fared
well and brought a British monarchy the people were proud of, back to life.
It was great praise indeed and a fitting memorial to both William and Adelaide.