The Christening of Queen Victoria

Portrait of Princess Victoria by Stephen Denning, c1823. Image from Wikimedia Commons

The death of Princess Charlotte, the only child of the Prince Regent and future king George IV, plunged the House of Hanover in a succession crisis. The younger sons of King George III, eventually decided to marry acceptable royal brides. Edward Augustus Duke of Kent, the king’s fourth son, married the widowed Princess of Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and she gave him their only daughter and child.

Lytton Strachey later wrote that the baby’s  birth received “but scant attention.” The Duchess of Clarence  gave birth two months before the Kent baby was born, and although the infant died, she was still young and healthy and, again, would become a mother. Victoria Duchess of Kent was also young and the Duke was strong so the likelihood that the couple would have a son to push the baby princess down the line of succession was highly probable.

The baby’s christening took place on June 24, 1819 at the Cupola Room of Kensington Palace. The Prince Regent, wanting to upset his brother, suddenly announced that he would be present at his niece’s baptism. He also wanted  the Emperor Alexander of Russia as one of the child’s godfathers.

Now Strachey narrates what went on…

When the Archbishop of Canterbury asked by what name he was to baptise the child, the Regent replied "Alexandria." At this the Duke ventured to suggest that another name might be added.

"Certainly," said the Regent; "Georgina?" "Or Elizabeth?" said the Duke.

There was a pause, during which the Archbishop, with the baby in his lawn sleeves, looked with some uneasiness from one Prince to the other.

"Very well, then," said the Regent at last, "call her after her mother. But Alexandrina must come first."

The Duke of Kent was disgusted, but his brother’s will prevailed. Thus, the child was named Alexandrina Victoria.