‘It makes one mad to think of all the misery that may yet come.’” ‘I think with fright and horror of the future’ she confided to her mother in 1897. But unlike many of Victoria’s grandchildren, Wilhelm couldn’t be controlled with a word from his grandma.Īs he veered closer and closer to war, says Cadbury, his mother Vicky “was driven almost to treason in her letters to her British mother, so alarmed was she by the actions of her son. He was the product of what Victoria once thought was one of her most successful matches: the marriage of her daughter, Vicky, to Prince William of Prussia. Victoria’s most contentious grandchild was Kaiser Wilhelm II, the volatile ruler of the German empire. Once these first cousins took their thrones, they often found themselves at cross purposes. The imperial family-Nicholas II, Czarina Alexandra and their five children-were executed by Bolshevik troops in 1918. Their love was strong, but fated for tragedy: During Nicholas’ reign, Russia collapsed into revolution and war, and his British cousin, George V, declined to offer aid to the Romanovs, as he thought it would be politically unpalatable. Though Alix turned down Nicholas twice, she eventually got Victoria’s grudging approval and married him right after he became Tsar of Russia. “Granny was right of course,” says Cadbury, “but Alix was in love.” She thought the Russians were barbaric and corrupt, and forbade the match. Victoria’s favorite granddaughter, Alix of Hesse, fell in love with Nicholas Romanov, heir apparent to the Russian throne. She accepted and, as queen consort of George V, became a beloved ruler.īut not everyone listened to their grandmother’s warnings. Victoria then pressured Albert’s brother, George, who was now second in line to the throne, to propose to Princess Mary. (Credit: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) Queen Victoria with the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George and Queen Mary) while on their honeymoon at Osborne House in the Isle of Wight, 1893.
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