Princess Victoria, the "Sweet-Natured" Royal

Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom ( 6 July 1868 – 3 December 1935) was the fourth child and second daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. A younger sister of King George V, she, together with her two sisters, Louise and Maud, led a very sheltered and isolated childhood. Their mother, the then-Princess of Wales, was overly protective of her daughters that she was reluctant to marry them off.

While Louise and Maud succeeded in fleeing their mother’s clutch, Victoria remained as her parents’ companion and eventually remained "a glorified maid to her mother" until Queen Alexandra’s death. While, in old age, Princess Victoria was pictured as a harsh and bitter figure, here’s a more sympathetic description of a Princess, which was syndicated in many newspapers of the day.

No member of the Royal Family is more sweet-natured than Princess Victoria, who takes a special delight in doing kindly acts. She was born in 1868 and has many quiet interests in life. Her devotion to her august parents has often been proved and those about the Court describe her as a peacemaker and an angel in the house.

She is known in the home circle as Toria. The youngest princesses were brought np in the simplest fashion, taught to sew, and even to cook; and Princess Victoria was especially clever with her needle, doing plainwork in quite a capable fashion.

She is now an excellent embroideress, often working cushions and coverlets that find a ready sale at London bazaars. Her health seems somewhat delicate, and she neither rides nor shoots, but, all the same, may be counted as one of the most athletic ladies in the English Royal family. She is fond of tennis, a really good golf player, and an excellent cyclist. Blading, both prose and poetry, occupies much of her spare time, and Browning is said to be her favourite poet. Like her mother, Queen Alexandra, she is a keen photographer, and carries her camera wherever she goes. Each of King Edward's daughters has, from childhood, had her own special friend among the aristocratic families. Princess Victoria's are Lady Hillingdon, with whom she has stayed at Overstrand Hall, Cromer, and Lady Musgrave, who has several times been her hostess at Eden Hall, Cumberland.