On 30th July 1892, Queen Victoria awoke to an array of telegrams from “Beatrice & Liko [Henry of Battenberg] which gave me a great fright”. Upon reading the line “Beatrice is now calm & composed”, Victoria instantly feared for the worst. As she went through more of the telegrams, the Queen soon realised that her youngest – and favourite – child, Princess Beatrice, had narrowly escaped a fire in her bedroom at Schloss Heiligenberg.
Royal Collection Trust / ©️ HM King Charles III
The Princess had been staying with her German in-laws and was already in bed when – at about midnight- her maid “carelessly” took a candle too close to the bed, setting the surrounding mosquito net alight. The flames instantly spread to the bed hangings and before long, the whole bed had been engulfed by flames. Fortunately, Beatrice was able to escape the bed in time, allegedly receiving minor burns from the hurry. Despite this, she kept her composure as she vacated the bedroom wearing just her nightgown, leaving all her belongings behind.
The thirty-five year-old princess then alerted the rest of the household. Her husband, Prince Henry of Battenberg, had been spending the night in a shooting box in a nearby wood but, upon hearing the news rushed back to be with his wife. Those in attendance attempted to extinguish the flames but found that the water hose nearest the bedroom didn’t work. By the time the fire brigade arrived half an hour later, the whole of that wing had been completely gutted. Two of the fire crew suffered burns and were released from their duties while others continued to fight the flames. Fortunately no one else was injured.
Unfortunately for Beatrice, all her dresses and jewels were destroyed, including her Diamond Star Tiara and Fringe Tiara, two of her favourite pieces. He niece, Princess Victoria of Hesse, described how “Aunt Beatrice’s losses were great, for the jewels she had in a little case in her bedroom were nearly all destroyed. The fine pearls, which had belonged to her Grandmother, the Duchess of Kent, were so damaged that they looked like parched peas. Some that were set in a bracelet looked all right, though their colour had turned grey from white, but when you rubbed them with your finger they dissolved into powdered chalk. A pair of lovely emerald drops were split in two. I am glad to say that Grandmama gave her another set of pearls to replace the lost ones.”
Queen Victoria had been particularly “distressed at the loss of the pearls, as 2 rows had been collected from her [Beareice’s] birth & one long row had been my darling Mother’s, constantly worn by her, & in which she had been painted.”
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Oh dear! How frightening to have your bed catch fire. So very sad that Princess Beatrice lost so many of her beloved jewels. I enjoy these excerpts in the lives of Queen Victoria and her family. Thank you for all the work you do for us.