The life of Princess Victoria of Wales

When looking at Queen Victoria’s 42 grandchildren, there are some key figures that immediately come to mind. However, with 41 contenders, Princess Victoria of Wales has unfortunately become one of the most forgotten. Join me as I rediscover who Princess Victoria was.

Born at Marlborough House on 6th July 1868, Princess Victoria was the fourth child of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark. Exactly a month after her birth, the baby was christened with the name’s Victoria Alexandra Olga Mary, although known as ‘Toria’ by close family.

Growing up, she travelled between Marlborough House and Sandringham, where she was educated alongside her two sisters: Princesses Louise and Maud. When she wasn’t in lessons, the Princess enjoyed horse riding, cycling, dancing and listening to music. Before long, she had become known for her lively and mischievous personality, which was accompanied by a “good sense of humour”. Perhaps it was this zest for life that made Princess Alexandra decide to keep Victoria at home as her permanent companion.

From a young age, Victoria’s personality attracted potential suitors; including her cousin, the future Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, who had lived her throughout his childhood. Other royal contenders included Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich; Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich; Crown Prince Christian of Denmark, later Christian X; and King Carlos I of Portugal, who was rejected by Victorias parents due to his demands for her to convert to Catholicism. It’s said that Victoria had a fling with one of her father’s equerries, Sir Arthur Davidson, and widowed Prime Minister, Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, whom she at one stage had wished to marry.

Much to her mother’s pleasure, Princess Victoria decided never to marry and instead joined her parents on daily outings.

When King Edward VII died in 1910, Victoria moved back to Sandringham with Alexandra, who was by this time almost completely dead. The princess filled her time with listening to music, bookbinding and collecting autographs. She often accompanied her mother on holiday and to institutions, rarely getting time for herself. There are only a couple of known times that Victoria and her sister Louise went to events in their mothers place due to ill health.

When Alexandra died on 20th November 1925, Victoria was naturally distraught. After almost sixty years of being with her mother, Victoria was finally free and moved to Coppins, Iver, Buckinghamshire, where she became honorary president of the Iver Horticultural Society. In her free time, the Princess continued her many hobbies, including gardening, photography and listening to music. She took a keen interest in cellist Beatrice Harrison and her two sisters, and often invited them to her home, as well as taking them to watch concerts. In August 1928, she commissioned HMV to make some recordings of herself playing the piano, with Beatrice on the cello and her sister May on the violin. Although the recordings got most reviews when they were released, I personally feel it helped Victoria achieve a lifelong dream of being a musician.

As with many people, Victoria eventually turned to religion. On one occasion, she told a neighbour that ‘I was the daughter of a king but now I am a child of God’. It was perhaps her faith that helped her to cope with the loneliness caused by her mother’s selfishness.

By November 1935, Victoria’s health began to decline. She died at Coppins in the early hours of 3rd December 1935, aged 67. Her brother, King George V, was distraught by her loss, proclaiming “how I will miss our daily phone calls. Nobody had such a sister as I”. The State Opening of Parliament planned for that day was cancelled out of respect and the kings speech was read to Parliament by the Lord Chancellor. Victorias funeral took place on 7th December at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. Her body was moved a month later to the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, Windsor. Tragically, King George V died just thirteen months later.

When reading about Victorias life, it’s heartbreaking to imagine how lonely and lost she must have felt. I hope you have enjoyed todays blog. Please feel free to leave any questions in the comments section below or message me on Instagram and I will do my best to help. You can also support my research by visiting and subscribing to my Ko-fi page. Don’t forget, you can also subscribe to by blog for email updates about new blogs! Thank you again, Shannon x

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Queen Victoria’s journal- The birth of Princess Victoria of wales, 6th July 1868