The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1554: Chapter 5: Seizing Hastings and Breaking the Kensington System_2

”Indeed.” The Duke of Wellington similarly found it nonsensical: ”I admit, as the heir to the British throne, Princess Victoria should see various parts of England. Therefore, traveling during the consecutive summers for three years to the West, the Central, and Wales to expand her horizons makes complete sense. However, openly publishing the princess’s itinerary on the newspapers, attracting the attention of passionate crowds, leading locals to organize welcoming ceremonies, with loyal citizens giving welcome speeches everywhere, seemingly in a manner of a King’s tour, this is just...”

Sir Peel added, ”I heard that when the princess’s yacht passed through the Solent Strait this year, the Duchess of Kent insisted that all warships and batteries at the White Island Military Port must fire royal salute cannons upon the yacht’s arrival. Was this matter resolved in the end?”

The Duke of Wellington replied, ”Are you talking about that incident? At that time, the garrison on White Island immediately consulted Grey (the Prime Minister) and Graham (the Naval Minister). Upon hearing about this, they hurriedly wrote privately to the Duchess of Kent, pleading for her to give up this right. But she is not one to listen to persuasion, especially with Conroy (the Duchess’s private secretary and auditor) egging her on from behind, she was naturally unwilling to concede even an inch. As a result, this matter reached His Majesty the King’s ears, and he was so infuriated that he directly signed a special order, strictly forbidding the Royal Navy from firing royal salute cannons to any ship unless the ship carries the reigning Sovereign or Queen from now on.”

”Conroy, it’s that John Conroy again!” Sir Peel was so incensed at hearing this name he wanted nothing more than to overturn the table: ”That ignorant, self-important Irishman! He shouldn’t think others don’t understand what he’s plotting!”

It’s not easy to provoke Sir Peel, a figure known for his mild and cultured demeanor, into such a fit of anger, and his dislike for Conroy is closely tied to Conroy’s relentless assistance to the Duchess of Kent in building the ”Kensington System” over the past decade.

In Conroy’s view, the Kensington System aims at sculpting Princess Victoria into ”the hope of the nation” by controlling and safeguarding her physical health and public image.

However, insiders working at Kensington Palace believe the principles behind the Kensington System revolve around elevating the Duchess of Kent’s political influence. This way, if necessary, the Government and Parliament would agree to let her regent.

If not, once King William IV passes away before Victoria reaches adulthood, regency power would fall into the hands of one of those royal dukes, such as the Duke of Cumberland or the Duke of Sussex, etc.

Nonetheless, no matter how stringent, the system cannot be completely airtight, even though the Duchess of Kent and Conroy aspire to turn Kensington Palace into an iron fortress. In reality, Princess Victoria is ensconced among three complex factions. Although they might not always be adversaries on different matters, it doesn’t mean they are of one mind either.

Apart from the Duchess’s faction, her brother, Belgian King Leopold I, also holds considerable sway over his niece’s education.

Leopold I’s former wife was Princess Charlotte, the former British Crown Prince, who died due to complications during childbirth. Before becoming Belgian King in 1831, this small German prince had been widowed in England for over ten years.

Before Princess Victoria was officially confirmed as the first in line for the throne, Parliament only allocated an annual annuity of seven thousand British Pounds to the Duke of Kent’s family.

Although this sum seemed like an astronomical figure the working masses dared not dream of, it was still insufficient for royal members striving to maintain the noble style. The Duke of Kent even had to sell his real estate and land for the price of 51,300 Pounds just to maintain basic living.

After the Duke of Kent fell ill and passed away, life became tougher for the now-widowed Duchess. This was not only because the family lost its pillar, but also because their annuity income was further reduced by Parliament to 6,000 Pounds annually.

However, it was fortunate that her brother Leopold, due to once being the husband of Princess Charlotte, the British heir, coupled with his delightful personality and general public favor, Parliament did not cut Leopold’s annual annuity of 50,000 British Pounds even after Princess Charlotte’s passing.

Seeing his sister’s hardship, Leopold proactively assumed the daily expenses for his sister’s family, particularly for Princess Victoria’s educational expenses.

This financial aid often hovered around ten thousand pounds annually, and after Leopold became the King of Belgium, he generously took on his sister’s family’s yearly travel vacation expenses.

Not only did Princess Victoria herself adore her generous, kind Uncle Leopold, but also the servants and attendants at Kensington Palace deeply admired this benevolent prince, sincerely delighted at his ascension to the Belgian throne.

As for Leopold, having shelled out so much money and holding the major economic lifeline to his sister’s family, naturally exercised significant control over domestic matters.

This Belgian King had long disapproved of his sister’s blind obedience to her private secretary, John Conroy, and couldn’t tolerate this fellow nearly controlling all affairs at Kensington Palace. He thus sought every way to persuade his sister to accept a Hanoverian female governess named Leisen to educate his niece, intending to weaken Conroy’s influence.