Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 1.djvu/581

 The queen was absent. Her speech from the throne, which had been read by the lord chancellor at the opening of the session, announced the conclusion of her son's marriage treaty, which had been signed at Copenhagen on 10 Jan. 1863, and ratified in London the day before. The prime minister, Lord Palmerston, informed the House of Commons that the marriage might 'in the fullest sense of the word be called a love match' and was free of any political intention (, Commons Report, 5 Feb. 1863). A few days later a message from the queen invited the House of Commons to make pecuniary provision for the bridegroom. Parliament on the motion of Palmerston granted him an annuity of 40,000l., which with the revenues of the duchy of Cornwall brought his annual income up to 100,000l. At the same time an annuity of 10.000l. was bestowed on Princess Alexandra, with a prospective annuity of 30,OOOZ. in case of widowhood. Advanced liberals raised the issue that the revenues of the duchy of Cornwall supplied the prince with an adequate income, and that parliament was under no obligation to make addition to it. It was complained, too, that public money had been voted to the prince on his creation as K.G. and for the expenses of his American tour. But Gladstone defended the government's proposal, and the resolutions giving it effect were carried ''nem. con''. The grant finally passed the House of Commons without a division. No other of Queen Victoria's appeals to parliament for pecuniary grants to her children enjoyed the same good fortune.

The marriage was fixed for 10 March. The princess left Copenhagen on 26 Feb. and spent three days (2-5 March) on the journey in Brussels as the guest of King Leopold, who was a chief sponsor of the union. On 7 March the prince met his bride on her arrival at Gravesend. Travelling by railway to the Bricklayers' Arms, Southwark, they made a triumphal progress through the City of London to Paddington. The six carriages, headed by a detachment of life-guards, seemed to many onlookers a mean pageant, but a surging mass of people greeted the couple with boundless delight (cf. Lettres sur l'Angleterre, 2nd ser. i. 13 seq.). At times the pressure of the enthusiastic mob caused the princess alarm. From Paddington they went by railway to Slough, and drove thence to Windsor. The poet laureate, Tennyson, summed up the national exultation in a Danish alliance when in his poetic 'Welcome,' 7 March 1863, he greeted the princess, with some poetic licence, as 'Sea-kings' daughter as happy as fair, Blissful bride of a blissful heir, Bride of the heir of the kings of the sea.' The wedding took place on 10 March in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. The prince was in the uniform of a general and wore the robes of the Garter. Queen Victoria in widow's weeds overlooked the proceedings from a gallery. 'A fine affair, a thing to remember,' wrote Disraeli of the ceremony. Kingsley, who attended as royal chaplain, admired 'the serious, reverent dignity of my dear young master, whose manner was perfect.' The crown princess brought her little son, Prince William (afterwards the German Emperor William II), who wore highland dress. The short honeymoon was spent at Osborne.

On 17 March the prince and princess were back at Windsor, and on the 20th they held a court at St. James's Palace in honour of the event. At Marlborough House they received an almost endless series of congratulatory addresses. Numerous festivities and entertainments followed, and the prince's social experience widened. On 2 May he attended for the first time the banquet of the Royal Academy. He bad hardly spoken in public before, and tie had learnt by heart a short speech. His memory momentarily failed him and he nearly broke down. The accident led him to rely henceforth in his public utterances on the inspiration of the moment. He mastered the general idea beforehand but not the words. His tact and native kindliness stood him in good stead, and he soon showed as an occasional speaker a readiness of delivery and a grace of compliment which few of his contemporaries excelled. Lord Houghton, who was a past master in the same art, judged the prince to be only second to himself.

The corporation of the City of London presented the prince with the freedom on 7 June, and gave a ball in honour of himself and his bride on the same evening at the Guildhall. He had already identified himself with civic life by accepting the freedom of the Fishmongers' Company on 12 Feb., which his father had enjoyed. A second City company, the Merchant Taylors', paid him a like compliment on 11 June. In this busy month of June