The Shadow of Great Britain

As the ruler of the world’s most powerful nation in 1838, the influence of Victoria’s coronation was not limited to within Britain. In fact, as soon as the coronation ceremony plan was formally finalized earlier in the year, the major countries worldwide immediately decided to send envoys to attend the ceremony held on June 28 at Westminster.

Among those who attended, besides the envoys stationed in England from various countries, were the Special Envoy Prince Ligne from the Belgian Kingdom, Count Stroganov from the Russian Empire, Duke of Ossuna from the Kingdom of Spain, Earl Northington from the Kingdom of Sweden, Prince William Maltz Z Putbus from the Kingdom of Prussia, Ahmed Pasha and Ibrahim Salim Pasha from the Ottoman Empire, and others...

However, among all the envoys, the most eye-catching were the two envoys sent by King Louis Philippe of France.

The French delegation was led by Jean-de-Dieu Soult, Duke of Dalmatia and Marshal. Soult, who rose from the Great Revolution wars, had fully experienced the battlefield fires of the Napoleonic Wars, perhaps had the second-best ending among the first batch of 18 marshals appointed by Napoleon.

”Portrait of French Marshal Soult”Painted in 1840 by American artist George Healey

Other than Bernadotte, who was crowned King of Sweden and Norway and continued to rule to this day, the rest of the marshals in Europe did not have political influence comparable to Soult.

Although Soult’s military reputation is not as good as that of Lannes, who died on the battlefield, or Davout, who almost had zero blemishes in his military record, he was at least not like Massena, who was defeated by the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War and lost his reputation in his later years, nor was he like Ney, who was accused of treason and eventually executed due to his defeat at Waterloo.

Politically, although Soult liked to jump sides, his political methods were obviously much more clever than ”traitor” Marmont, who surrendered Paris to the Anti-France Alliance in 1814.

Certainly, Marshal Mortier originally had a chance to surpass Soult in political standing during the July Monarchy.

Sadly, Mortier died in the ”Hell machine” bombing incident targeting King Louis Philippe of France a few years prior.

Since the rise of the July Monarchy, Soult had enjoyed smooth sailing in his political career, first serving as the War Minister and then, due to his iron-handed suppression of the first Lyon worker uprising and his successful conquest in Algeria, he became Chairman of the Ministerial Council and served as Prime Minister for two years.

However, after the second Lyon worker uprising in 1834, discontented Paris Republicans and numerous secret societies conspired to stage revolts, forcing Louis Philippe’s government to mobilize the army and National Guard for suppression, which further intensified conflicts.

Facing mounting pressures of public opinion, the July Monarchy had to ”comply” with public sentiments and let Soult recede from the frontline of power.

Yet, although nominally a Cabinet reshuffle, the French government evidently did not abandon this distinguished Imperial Marshal, nor did it seize the opportunity to liquidate Napoleon’s former generals as the restored Bourbon Dynasty did.

Under the manipulation of Louis Philippe, the master of balancing power, Soult retained all his honors, remaining the Duke of Dalmatia, still a Marshal and War Hero of France, holding high esteem within the military. He simply no longer presided over the Ministerial Council nor appeared at the forefront of parliamentary debates, nor needed to bear political responsibility for any domestic suppression actions.

In some ways, the handling of Soult by Louis Philippe mirrored that of Sir Arthur by King William IV back then.

The only difference between them was that Arthur’s political standing in Britain was indeed not as high as Soult’s in France, to the extent that everyone almost forgot him in Russia.

The British Parliament might forget there is a figure like Arthur Hastings, but the French government always remembered they had a Soult.

This truth was evident when Louis Philippe sent Soult full of honors to represent him at Victoria’s coronation. After all, the deputy envoy of the French delegation was Louis Philippe’s son—the Duke of Nemour, the French Crown Prince.

Of course, although the envoys from other countries do not have as intriguing stories as Marshal Soult, there is no doubt that they are also top nobility with significant status in their respective countries.

The Prussian envoy, Prince Putbus, hailed from the ancient Slavic-Lugan family, a prominent noble house in the Pomerania Region. His father once served as court marshal of Sweden during the Thirty Years’ War.

”Photograph: Prince William Maltz Von Putbus in Prussian Deputy Chief Uniform”

During the Napoleonic Wars, Prince Putbus served as the Governor of Swedish Pomerania. After 1815, the hereditary lands of the Putbus family were transferred to Prussia, and Prince Putbus naturally became the Governor of Prussian Pomerania and Rügen Island and concurrently served as the principal of the University of Greifswald.

Incidentally, this envoy was also an alumnus of the University of Gottingen and had been classmates with several dukes of the British Royal Family. Therefore, it was most fitting for King Frederick William III of Prussia to send him to attend the coronation ceremony.