Queen Victoria gives Baby away: The wedding of Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg

Princess Beatrice was the last of Queen Victoria’s children to be married. In fact, the was not interested to see her youngest daughter marry for fear that she would leave her side.  In 1884, Princess Beatrice met and fell in love with Prince Henry of Battenberg, who was affectionately called Liko. They were secretly engaged in Darmstadt and when Beatrice told her mother of her to desire to marry Henry,  she was struck with deafening silence. 

Although residing in the same house, the Queen did not talk to her for seven months and would only communicate with her through written notes. She feared that if her “Baby” would marry, the physical intimacy that came with it would tarnish her favorite child’s innocence. Queen Victoria only relented after Victoria, Princess Royal, and the Prince of Wales reminded her of the happiness Beatrice had brought to her deceased husband. She consented to the marriage on the condition that Henry relinquish his German commitments and live with The Queen. These conditions were met and their marriage took place on July 23, 1885, at St. Mildred’s Church in Whippingham on the Isle of Wight.

Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry with their wedding party,  back row, left to right: Prince Alexander of Battenberg, Princess Louise of Wales, Princess Irene of Hesse, Princess Victoria of Wales, Prince Franz Josef of Battenberg. Middle row, left to right: Princess Maud of Wales, Princess Alix of Hesse, Princesses Marie Louise and Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. Front row, left to right: Princesses Victoria Melita, Marie and Alexandra of Edinburgh, Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg. Photograph taken at Osborne. © Royal Collection Trust

The marriage of Princess Beatrice by Richard Caton Woodville, 1886. Commissioned by Queen Victoria. © Royal Collection Trust

Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg during their wedding. Image from Wikimedia Commons

Princess Beatrice in her wedding dress. Image from Wikimedia Commons

St. Mildred's Church in Whippingham, Island of Wight. Image from Wikimedia Commons

Queen Victoria remarked on her journal that it was a “hot”  but “splendid” summer day. She “slept soundly,  but awoke early, & could hardly realise the event that was going to take place.”  After spending breakfast with Beatrice, she gave her a “ruby half hoop ring.” The piece was itself a wedding present given to The Queen by her uncle, the Duke of Sussex.

The Queen gave her youngest daughter and child a privilege not bestowed to any of her other daughters: she permitted Beatrice to wear her “dear wedding veil,” which Victoria had worn previously “at all my Children's christenings.” The last time The Queen wore it was at the wedding of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, to Princess Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont, in 1882. The bride, “who was busy answering telegrams up to the last”  “wore besides, the diamond circlet with diamond stars.”

Queen Victoria described her daughter’s wedding dress as “quite simple, in ivory white satin, very long, trimmed with my wedding lace, & some small garlands & sprays of orange blossoms, myrtle & white heather. Her jewels were diamonds.”  She “did look sweet” on this special day.  Her bouquet was made of flowers from the royal gardens at Frogmore.  The Queen, meanwhile, donned her usual black dress and wore her small crown.

The six-mile drive from Osborne House to St. Mildred’s church was slow. Mother and daughter shared the carriage together, with two equerries, Sir John McNeill and Sir Henry Ewart riding on either side. The road from Osborne to the church was packed by “crowds of people, who cheered loudly” and greeted well-wishes to the princess. A “fine” guard of honour of the 93rd Highlanders  welcomed the wedding party and guests while playing "Highland Laddie". Waiting at the entrance of the church was the Queen’s eldest son and heir, Bertie, the Prince of Wales, in his field marshal uniform, joined by the “sweet young bridesmaids,” who were all Beatrice’s nieces: Princesses Louise of Wales, Irène of Heese, Victoria of Wales,  Helena Victoria of Schleswig Holstein, Maud of Wales, Alix of Hesse, Marie Louise of Schleswig Holstein, Marie of Edinburgh, Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Alexandra  of Edinburgh. They were all “dressed in white, with bunches of red & white carnations on the front of the dress.”

To accommodate the number of royal relations and dignitaries who flocked to the Isle of White for the wedding, canopies were installed on the church grounds to protect the people lining each side of the way from the heat. The path was “carpeted with red” with “the roof & columns draped in red & white,” which according to The Queen, revealed “a most brilliant festive effect & was imposing, though simple.” The female guests who arrived in the previous day were enjoined to wear demi-toilettes, while those who arrived from London only that morning were allowed to wear bonnets.

The Queen and the Prince of Wales walked with Beatrice on either side proceeding to the chapel.  Inside the church, the groom waited for her bride at the chancel, together with Alix, the Princess of Wales (who looked glorious  in her white eau de nil), the groom’s parents, and  brothers Princes Alexander and Francis of Battenberg. Henry  looked dashing “in his fine white uniform with the ribbon of the Garter, & the collar of the Hessian order.”

During the ceremony  Wagner's “Brant Chor”  was played on the organ by Mr Parratt. The service was  presided by the Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Bishop of Winchester, the Dean of Windsor, and the Vicar of Whippingham.

The Queen was emotional but she was overcome with joy. She later wrote:

It was very touching. I stood very close to my dear child, who looked very sweet, pure, & calm. Though I stood for the 9th time near a child & for the 5th time near a daughter, at the altar, I think I never felt more deeply than I did on this occasion, though full of confidence.

After the couple received the blessing, Queen Victoria “tenderly embraced my darling Baby". A wedding luncheon was hosted by the Queen at Osborne House, during which she “proposed the health of the Bride & Bridegroom, wishing them every possible happiness.”

For their wedding cake, news of the day reported:

Three cakes, one above the other, and a plateau upon which it rests, and surrounding the lower cake, is a wreath of lilies, white, interspersed with ivy, emblematic of purity, sweetness, and friendship. Surrounding the lowest cake are large skeleton shields, bearing on enclosed shields the coat of arms of the Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg, interspersed with passion flowers. Surrounding the second cake are jessamine, and round the second and third cakes are passion flowers, ivy, and roses. On the top are cupids and a large vase containing an immense bouquet, composed of a variety of emblematic flowers. The cake weighs about 4-cwt., and the floral decorations are all modelled entirely of sugar. It stood on a massive gold stand, which was designed and made for the happy occasion. It was made to the order of the Kentish ladies by Messrs. Buzzare, of Oxford Street.

At about 4 in the afternoon, the couple left for their honeymoon in Ryde, just a few miles from Osborne. “The moment had come to take leave of my darling ‘Baby,’” Queen Victoria wrote, “whom it cost me much to part with, even for such a short while.”  She “felt utterly miserable when they left my room, & had not the heart to go down & see them drive away.”

That evening, The Queen hosted a “very large, “ wedding dinner for her family and guests. She remarked that “The Tent had been better ventilated [that evening], & it was not near so hot” as compared to earlier that day.  A fireworks display highlighted the gathering, The Queen commenting that  the illuminations that night was “even more brilliant” than the ones staged on the eve of the wedding.  The yachts in Osborne Bay were well lit  and “sent off rockets” in honour of this special occasion.  After spending the “beautiful” night, she tired queen “felt so low,”  and “escaped quietly to my room.”

Quotations were lifted from The Queen’s Journal entry for July 23, 1885.