#my girl died on Christmas Eve and she also gave birth to Georges on Christmas Eve so

[therealslimshakespeare]

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La Marquise Adrienne de Lafayette

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They called me weak

Like I'm not just somebody's daughter

… Coulda been a nightmare

But it felt like they were right there

And it feels like yesterday was a year ago

But I don't wanna let anybody know

'Cause everybody wants something from me now

And I don't wanna let 'em down

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Victoria Louise: The last princess of Prussia

Victoria Louise of Prussia was born on 13 September 1892 as the seventh child and only daughter of German Emperor Wilhelm II and Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.

Her mother later wrote in her diary, “After six sons, God has given us as our seventh child, a small but very strong little daughter. She was born at half past three in our much beloved Marmor (Marble) Palace during the night of Monday/Tuesday. The pleasure over this little ray of sunshine was great, not just for us parents and the nearest relatives, but indeed the whole nation rejoiced at the birth of the little girl. May she some day become a joy and a blessing for many – as she has created happiness by her appearance – let her have happiness in life. Her father, who up to now had always wanted sons, was very happy and is marvelling still.” Although a particularly healthy child, she was very delicately formed.

Victoria Louise was assigned an English governess, Miss Topham. As the only girl in the family, she grew up wanting to be like her brothers. Her brothers made her march with a small wooden rifle, and she enjoyed wearing Highland dress as it made her look more like them. She grew up with a love for horses and often went riding with her mother. Her confirmation took place in the Friedenskirche in Potsdam on 18 October 1909.

Her English governess once wrote that the “warlike” Wilhelm “unbends to a considerable extent when in the bosom of his family… [and is] the dominating force of his daughter’s life. His ideas, his opinions on men and things are persistently quoted by her.”

Wilhelm loved his daughter so much that he let her get away with things he would have never allowed his sons to say or do. Her siblings recognized their father’s adoration of their little sister, so much so that the eldest, Crown Prince Wilhelm, once wrote that she was, “the only one of us who succeeded in her childhood in gaining a snug place” in the Kaiser’s heart."

A few days later she was made Colonel-in-Chief of the 2nd Guard Hussar Regiment, of which Victoria Louise was very proud. When she presented her regiment in a march past her father the following year she wrote, “When I lie in bed at night my heart beats with joyful excitement at the thought that in four weeks time I am to lead my regiment past you. I can never thank you enough, and I kiss your hand for bestowing me this great favour. I have always regretted not having been a boy, so as to be able to join your army, but now at least I have been consoled by your gesture.”

In May 1911, Victoria Louise accompanied her parents on a state visit to the United Kingdom. Immediately there were rumours that she was to be engaged to the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII, who was 17 at the time. She remembered him as nice but also thought he looked terribly young. In any case, the rumours remained rumours. At the beginning of 1912, Victoria Louise became ill with bronchitis and spent several weeks recuperating at St Moritz. While travelling to Bad Homburg to join her mother, news arrived of the death of Prince George Wilhelm of Hanover. He had been on his way to the funeral of King Frederick VIII of Denmark – his uncle – when he was killed in a car accident near Nackel in Mark Brandenburg.

Upon her father’s orders, her brothers Prince Eitel Fritz and Prince August Wilhelm went to the lying-in-state and formed a guard of honour. Shortly after this, Prince George Wilhelm’s younger brother Ernst August came by to personally thank the Emperor.

Ernst August was now the heir to the defunct throne of Hanover, from which his family had been deposed by the Prussians. Upon his first meeting with the Emperor and Empress, Victoria Louise found him quite stiff and solemn – he had just lost his brother after all. When the topic came to horses, Victoria Louise offered to show him her thoroughbreds, and the ice seemed to finally have been broken.

She later wrote that she was in love with him at first sight. Her mother wrote, “He certainly made an impression on my child from the first. God knows whether it will ever come to anything.” In the end, the Duke of Cumberland, Ernst August’s father, renounced any claims to the Duchy of Brunswick in favour of his son and Ernst August was to refrain from claiming the Hanoverian throne.

In May 1913, they were to be married, and it would turn out to be the last great gathering of foreign royals before the First World War. On 24 May, Victoria Louise put on a wedding dress and was helped with her bridal crown and a veil by her mother. After the exchanging of the vows, a 36-gun salute was fired. The day ended with a banquet attended by a 1,000 guests. Her father made the toast, “My darling daughter, today, as you leave our house, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the joy you have given me and your mother, and for the ray of sunshine which you have been in our house.” They spent their honeymoon climbing the mountains and walking in the woods of Gmunden.

In March 1914, Victoria Louise gave birth to their first child; a son also named Ernst August who had plenty of royal godfathers, such as Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and the Tsar of Russia.

Just a few months later, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated, kickstarting the First World War. Her husband reported to the army and days followed without any news from him. She began to fill her time with the care of the wounded soldiers. A large block of the castle became a hospital. At Christmas, her husband wrote to her, “Today is Christmas Eve and we three are separated. It is a severe sacrifice, but in these times it is the least we can do. The worse it is just now, the better it will be later. God bless you.” All of Victoria Louise’s brothers were now in the army as well.

In November 1918, the German Empire came to an end with the abdication of Victoria Louise’s father. He had crossed the border into the Netherlands and had been granted asylum. Brunswick itself was not safe either and as Victoria Louise lay ill with the Spanish flu revolutions rocked the state.

The family – now with the additions of Georg Wilhelm and Frederica – was ordered to leave immediately and together they left for Karlsruhe. Upon arrival, they were promptly arrested. They managed to escape to Bavaria and then on to Austria. They went to live with Ernst August’s parents until they could move into Villa Weinburg. In 1919, she gave birth to their fourth child.

In March 1920, Victoria Louise was at last allowed to visit her parents in their Dutch exile. Along the way, she visited several relatives. Her mother had been terribly ill for quite some time. Her parents were able to buy their own home in the Netherlands, and House Doorn and the few miles around it became their new home. Her mother did not live to enjoy it for very long. As her mother lay dying, they received the news that Victoria Louise’s brother Prince Joachim had killed himself. The Empress died on 11 April 1921, but Victoria Louise was not there.

Her father’s decision to remarry not even two years later hurt Victoria Louise. His intended bride was the much younger and widowed Hermine Reuss of Greiz, who had five children by her first husband. Victoria Louise and her brother Oskar wrote a letter to their father, but the wedding went ahead as planned, though several members of the family – including Victoria Louise – were not present. The following year, Victoria Louise gave birth to her fifth and last child, a son named Prince Welf Henry.

It was the Crown Prince who first had contact with Adolf Hitler in 1926. He also sent Hermann Göring to Doorn to meet with the Emperor. Prince August Wilhelm became a member of the Nazi party to his father’s dismay. Victoria Louise met Hitler in 1933 when he invited her and her husband to Berlin. She thought him to be polite and correct and he spoke in a friendly fashion. She would meet him a few more times over the years.

Their children were growing up now, and in 1938, Frederica married the future King Paul of Greece. At the end of the year, Victoria Louise became a grandmother with the birth of Sophia (later Queen of Spain and mother of King Felipe VI of Spain).

The Second World War threw things into turmoil. Victoria Louise’s sons went off to war with their cousins. The invasion of the Netherlands brought her father into an uncomfortable position, and he would welcome the invaders with open arms, smilingly shaking soldiers’ hands. He would die the following year on 4 June 1941 with Victoria Louise by his side.

The end of the Second World War brought the American and British troops to Victoria Louise’s home. Several boxes of the German Foreign Office had been stored at her home, and they mainly showed interest in those. They were confiscated by the Americans, but Victoria Louise and her family were treated well by them. Nevertheless, the family went on the move once more, and they went to Marienburg Castle.

Ernst August suffered from an eye ailment that required an operation. He lost the sight in one eye, and a little while later, he had a severe inflammation of the lungs and never fully recovered. In early 1953, he became weaker and weaker. He told his doctor, “I’ve lived a wonderful life, and I want to go through the remainder courageously.” Victoria Louise was by his side during his final hours. He died on 30 January 1953. Victoria Louise would survive him for almost 30 years.

She returned to Brunswick two years after her husband’s death. She threw herself into charity work and worked for prisoners of war who returned from Russia. She outlived all her siblings and buried her last brother, Prince Oskar in 1958. In her later years, she wrote several books, including her own memoirs.

She died on 11 December 1980 at the age of 88 and was buried beside her husband in the Berggarten at Herrenhausen in Hanover. Victoria Louise was the last of Emperor Wilhelm II’s children to die, for her final two surviving brothers, Crown Prince Wilhelm and Prince Oskar had died in 1951 and 1958 respectively.

Victoria Louise lived to see the births of all of her grandchildren. Having seen her daughter Frederica become the Queen of Greece in 1947 when Frederica’s husband, Paul, ascended to the throne as well, she lived to see Frederica became the mother of King Constantine II of Greece and Queen Sofía of Spain.

In many ways her legacy to the present royal houses in Europe is considerable.

[marq-de-laf]

Gilbert & Adrienne

@vanillascribblez: Hiya!! I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but could you tell me about Adrienne and Lafayette? I really love them, and since you know a lot about them, I was wondering if you could tell me about them

Hello! I would love to share what I know. To start off, here are two resources I’d like to leave with you to give you a larger picture. First, here’s a recent post of mine addressing Lafayette’s affairs and his attitude towards his wife. Second, @sonofhistory​ did a brilliant presentation on Adrienne’s life here.  Lastly, I appreciate your patience on my tardy reply. I’d love to go into detail on some of this in other posts, but this will be kind of a generic overview to start you off.

Now then. On to the good stuff.

Adrienne’s family kept her in the dark about her own engagement for over a year. Because of Adrienne’s tender age (she was 14 when she married Lafayette), her mother insisted that her daughter’s betrothal was never to spoken of in the girl’s presence. She made her opinion very clear with Lafayette and his guardians, who agreed that Adrienne was too young to be considered for matrimony when the original arrangement took place. 

Lafayette lived with Adrienne and the Noailles family before their marriage. Adrienne’s mother suggested that he stay with them while he attended school in Paris. His close proximity to his betrothed, the mother thought, would give Adrienne the chance to develop feelings for the young man who she did not know was her fiance...and it worked. Adrienne fell head-over-heels for Lafayette during his stay in her family’s home and he, knowing that he could not divulge the secret of their engagement, noted her young age (although he was only 16 at the time) and decided to treat her like a knight would treat a little princess until he could call her his wife. 

Adrienne and Lafayette did not consummate their marriage immediately after the ceremony. Once again, Adrienne’s mother intervened. It wasn’t until later that they got the chance to do what comes natural...although the circumstances surrounding it were not exactly pleasant. Shortly after their marriage, Lafayette decided he would be inoculated for smallpox -- a dangerous procedure in an age before proper vaccination. People often sickened from the exposure to such a deadly disease and many died from the process. Still, he insisted. A little house was rented out for that purpose and Adrienne and her mother accompanied him to be sure that he was looked after should his health turn. Luckily, it did not and by all accounts, it was here that the newlyweds finally got to get it on. Adrienne looked back on their time in this small house as one of the fondest memories in her life.

Adrienne gave birth to their first child, Henriette, while Lafayette was still in Europe and was pregnant with her second when he left for America. Many tongues in France wagged when the Marquis vanished to the American colonies, especially since he had all but abandoned his new family. Adrienne, however, withstood their criticism and did everything in her power to bolster his reputation regardless. She was tremendously grieved by his absence, but she never showed her feelings in public and defended him when she thought it necessary. Sadly, little Henriette passed while Lafayette was serving in the Continental Army. His second daughter, Anastasie, was born shortly after, followed by his son, George Washington de Lafayette, and a third daughter, Virginie after the state of Virginie.

Yes, Lafayette was involved with other women. For more on that, check the links at the top of this post.

Adrienne remained supportive during Lafayette’s time in the United States. Letters from Adrienne to her wayward husband take on a bit of a frustrated undertone after he returned to America from his trip to France to petition King Louis for aid and the possibility of an American alliance. His replies are more often than not apologetic. Still, she protected his reputation in France and stood by his beliefs when he was not there to defend them himself. She was not an incredibly outspoken woman, but she still put her foot down in her own way.

After the war, the Lafayettes were famous. In both America and France, the Marquis de Lafayette found himself dubbed a hero. American ambassadors, diplomats, spokesmen, merchants, and so many others came to stay with him and his wife and commented that while many French nobles sent their children off with private tutors, Adrienne and Gilbert ushered their kiddos into the room personally and introduced them to their guests. They also let their kids hang out with them while they entertained and let them eat with them...not typical behavior for two people of such high standing. Many who met Adrienne during this time said that she was a woman of refinement, pleasant and well-mannered. Fun fact: most Americans that came to visit Lafayette found themselves somewhat disappointed. They had expected to be treated to the finest delights French culture had to offer. What they found instead was that Lafayette had modeled his home, furnishings, customs, and even food after the American fashion. These travelers left America, arrived in France, and got...well, more America.

Some of Adrienne’s most heroic achievements happened during the hell-storm that was the French Revolution. Eventually, I’ll write a post about all of the specifics, but while Lafayette was arrested trying to escape the guillotine, Adrienne’s closest family was executed by the very instrument of destruction her husband had sought to avoid. She would have been killed herself had she not stood her ground before the governing authority...and had it not been for the outcry of some of her American acquaintances. When it became clear that Lafayette was not going to be released from prison, she joined him there with her two daughters. George Washington Lafayette was smuggled to America with a falsified passport. Her time there ultimately proved fatal.

If you’re not sure whether or not Lafayette had feelings for Adrienne, read the account of her death that he wrote. Lead poisoning that she’d been exposed to during her time in prison eventually caught up with Adrienne, but not before she had tirelessly hunted down a sizable portion of their property that had been seized during the chaos of the Revolution. In a letter some time after her passing, Lafayette explained in detail how her final few days were spent. It cut me to the quick when I first read it--it made me sob. He fills every paragraph with his grief, his adoration, and the stricken tones of a man torn from a vital piece of himself. 

Adrienne died on Christmas Eve, 1807...her son’s birthday. I’ll let Lafayette describe it. ‘For so long as her right hand had any power of movement left, she laid mine first to her mouth, then to her heart. My left hand had all the while been holding hers. I could feel it move, and it was as though that movement were repeating the last words she ever spoke: "I am all yours."’ ‘It was without any appearance of suffering, with a smile of sweetness on her lips and my hand still clutched in hers, that this angel of tenderness and goodness departed this life. We let our tears fall upon the lifeless body. I felt myself being led away by Messieurs de Mun and de Tracy: my dear son supported me in his arms. They let me kiss her once again, and there I bade farewell to her, and to all my happiness in this world.’ 

[the-writer-blog-posts-blog]

The Thoughts of the Dead -part one

The Picture Dorian Gray, an interesting book to say the least, all about the undefined love of Basil, the ego of the never aging Dorian and the unforgettable sins of the man in the painting. All unreal, all made up to those who are normally boring. But what if it had been true, what if a painting, or drawing, or carving had, maybe not captured our sins but stolen our mortality. Unlikely right? Yeah well, I never liked Oscar Wilde; he was a tad to arrogant for me. My brother liked him, talked long and hard about his story with him, even took the stand in a courtroom trying to vouch for Oscar being straight. Of course it didn’t work, had too much evidence against him. My brother said it was a shame, but they still remained friends afterwards. Richard was never the type to judge, he even tried to set Oscar up with our youngest half brother Seb, but by the time that idea came about Seb looked young enough to be Oscar’s son, which again was a shame.

Richard was there when he died. I think they’d been friends for so long he’d forgotten Oscar eventually had to die. He dealt with it the best that anyone could in that situation, but never the less you could still feel his pain. Seb wasn’t best pleased either. He always liked the idea of dating a writer, still hasn’t happened though. Surprising really, seeing the type of people he hangs out with, seems somewhat ridiculous he hasn’t, but then again he’s been saying “writers these days aren’t what they used to be” for the past six decades.  Idiot if you ask me, art, whether it’s paintings, clothing or literature, goes in fashions. The artwork of 1432 is very different of the art work of 1902, hence he’s just complaining about the literature style of the day, which from someone who used to read newly printed Greek mythology like it was the bee’s bollocks is slightly obnoxious. But I suppose that’s Seb, he likes the writer not the written. I can see his perspective, would try it myself but I can’t help but hate people so I tend to avoid the talkative types at all cost.

“Amelia?” Richard called from down stairs. I didn’t answer of course. I was too busy thinking of how to bring my other siblings into the page of writing in front of me. “Amelia!” he called again. I looked up from my typewriter. I had had the thing for a good hundred and thirty years, it was originally smooth and entirely painted black but now it’s old and rusted. More trouble than it’s worth these days but still one of my most liked possessions. The damn thing’s always jamming which, of course, annoyed me but it gave me a much needed break from my computer and always ended up reminding me of something that happened over a century ago that I hadn’t thought about in decades. “Amelia?” He called for the third time. You’d think he’d know where I am seeing as I’ve been in this room for the past two days. “WHAT!” I finally called back. He popped his head round the door smiling and said “Theo’s back” I smiled back at him thinking of how long it had been since seeing our little sister.

Unlike Sebastian, Theo has been married since it was legalised in the UK in 2014, she wanted a London wedding, but has been with her wife since 1205. They were officially married on the 15th of December because they met on that date during an elaborate 1490th birthday party thrown in Theo’s honour by a close friend at the time, Eleanor Kingston. They were dating by Christmas and have been together ever since. I didn’t get to meet April for a while though, didn’t even get told about her until the following year but once I did, I approved. Back when we were alive, due to me being the oldest member of our existing family that we knew of, I got a say in who my siblings married. Alex and Kenny, my triplet sisters, weren’t known of, Cian was thrown into his father’s family as the bastard sibling and Richard grew up thinking he was his mother’s child and the sixth or nine children. When I originally married Theo off, I married her to a man. I knew she was a lesbian, we didn’t have a name for it back then but she described it and I understood, therefore I married her to a boy named George Stevenson who was also gay. I said I would be the only witness for the consummation and if they decided they didn’t want to do it they didn’t have to, I’d lie and say they did. They didn’t at the time, but they eventually went on to have children which they we’re very pleased about to say the least. For the life of me I can’t remember what they called them but it’ll come to me later.

They went away on their honeymoon the day after and haven’t been back since. I miss them both but I know better than anyone having time away from our family is always good. We all do it now and then. Seb usually goes to the Alps which sounds weird but isn’t. He’s been doing it for so long the family that owns the building he repeatedly stays in have stories about him that have been told for generations. By this point no one knows the stories are about him, but he still likes hearing them when he goes and always tells me how they’ve changed when he comes to back. Seb is the only one of us that disappears on their own now, Cian (my oldest, younger half-brother) used to but then he met Mike (his husband) and they started to travel together.

I didn’t find out about Mike as “quickly” as I found out about April. It was probably because Cian told Theo she was disgusting when he found out she liked girls. He eventually came around though, after I slapped him round the back of the head and said he was being arrogant and selfishly stupid in front of his friends. I think he felt awkward, as if we’d do the same to him, which didn’t and never would. They’ve also been on their honeymoon for a while, Theo and April originally wanted to tie the knot on New Year’s Eve to start 2015 married. Because they didn’t, Cian and Mike thought it was a wonderful idea to steal, well Mike did anyway. Cian didn’t care, he had the opinion that he’d been with Mike for 607 years so an extra couple of years not being married wasn’t going to hurt. April agreed with Cian however would never say it out loud in front of Theo due to the fact they’d spent the last eight centuries together and April didn’t want their relationship to end.

Although Cian and Mike have been together ninety eight years less than Theo and April they’ve been spending most of their wedding anniversaries together as a foursome. They didn’t spend their first one together but then again, I wouldn’t have either, even though my siblings and I have been on this planet for millenniums we still appreciate the firsts. Mike was Cian’s first boyfriend. He was in denial for years, married nine times in his mortality and didn’t like, let alone love, any of them. Necessarily seven of them died, most people did in those days we had really bad immune systems, but he did divorce two. Unknowingly at the time of his mortality both Mina Elysia Milas, his fourth wife, and Lucia Stratos, his ninth wife, had between them carried and given birth to his three of his children. Daniel Crispus Milas and Amelia Eve Milas were twins born on the 6th of December 26AD and Cian Statos was born on the 18th of August 34AD. They alone carried on the traveller and witch genes.

Richard and I have usually been referred to as home. Where ever we go, separate or together our siblings eventually come back to us as if we’re their parents. That’s only been a resent thing with me; I disappeared for the first 1451 years of our immortality trying to find a way out of it. Didn’t work, I’m still here, but for a while I thought I would. Our family was notaries for being able to see the future, I was even born with the skill, but all I could see was the past and how much I missed it. But that’s a story for another time.

“Really? Do you know how long for? Did she bring April? If she didn’t then we both know she’s not staying long.” I said quickly not allowing Richard to answer any of the questions I was asking him. I turned away from him, unknowingly placed a hand on my chin and turned back to the typewriter. “Wait, if Aprils here, does that mean they’ve finished their honey moon? Are they going…” I was cut off by a great lump running straight into me and knocking me off my chair. I lay on my back looking at the ceiling. The lump was still on me with its arms around my waist and head on my chest. “You were taking too long. I didn’t travel all this way just to see Sexton you know!” Theo sat up so she was straddling my stomach and continued on her, rather loud, one sided conversation. “I’ve also brought presents but you’re going to have to come down and see what they are.” She said still straddling me. “I take it you had a good time. April must be tired.” I said sarcastically once she’d finally stopped talking. Theo slapped my shoulder while trying to look hurt by my statement but instead just looked as joyful as ever. “I am actually. From your position I can see you’ve forgotten how impatient and energetic she is.” April said while positioning herself in the door way next to Richard with a grin on her face. “Do you know what I love most about my wife and older sister, Sexton?” Theo asked while looking sideways as if trying to scowl at her spouse. “Is it the fact they talk about you like you’re the five year old daughter they have joint custody over?” Richard answered looking smug because they we were getting told off and he wasn’t. “Also stop calling me Sexton; you know I prefer my first name over my second.” Sexton’s smugness disappeared while he speaking as if he realised what he was saying needed more eyebrow lowering than he was using. “Yes that is exactly why brother. And no, I’ve been calling you your middle name since I was born, why on Earth would I stop now?” Theo said while finally getting off of me. Sexton rolled his eyes, turned around, and went back down stairs. Theo followed him, stopping momentarily at the door to let April kiss her forehead and whisper “sorry” quietly before continuing on her way.

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