Augusta of Cambridge – Dear, old England (Part two)

Read part one here. 

Augusta quickly fell pregnant, but their first child – a son – was stillborn. A second son was born two years later, but he did not survive his first birthday. Their third son, Adolphus Frederick, born on 22 July 1848, survived to adulthood.¹ Shortly before  his birth, Mary Adelaide wrote, “You no doubt are aware that my dear sister hopes to make me a little Aunt very soon, which event makes Mama very anxious, as she cannot be with her during her confinement, and dear Augusta cannot come here; but we must trust to a higher Power that all will go off well.”²

On 31 July, a delighted Mary Adelaide wrote, “I thank you a thousand times for your affectionate congratulations on the happy event which has made me an Aunt. You will be glad to hear that Mama has had very good accounts from Strelitz today; dear Augusta is going on very well, and her little darling also. They say he is a most beautiful child, very much like the first, and his hands are the same as Augusta’s. He screams a great deal, which makes my sister very happy, as they say it is very good for little babies to make a noise; the little gentleman came rather unexpectedly on Saturday (22nd) morning at seven o’clock, the Doctor and nurses from Hanover had not arrived, so my sister was surrounded by Mecklenburghers.

“The people of Strelitz were so happy when they heard that they had a little Erbprinz that they fired the cannons, and the bands of the “Burgergarde” began to play before the Palace; they dined in the open air, and in the evening they illuminated the whole town. My sister’s picture was hung out at every window, surrounded with lights… Mama and Papa are, as you may imagine, very happy, and so indeed are all the inmates of Cambridge House — indeed, I may say the whole family, for Aunt Mary was at Osborne when my letter reached her to announce the arrival of another little grand-nephew, and the Queen was, she says, as delighted as she herself at this agreeable news. We all now look forward with great pleasure to seeing Augusta soon in dear old England again…”³

Augusta intended to travel back to England to visit her family after the birth of her son, but the revolutions that rocked Europe that year kept her in place. Ultimately, it was the death of her father that prompted her return to England in 1850. She had received news of his illness but arrived too late to see him alive. Mary Adelaide wrote, “On the following morning, between five and six o’clock, seven hours after dear Papa had breathed his last, poor Augusta, who had travelled night and day to reach England in time, arrived. She could say nothing but “Too late! ” and sunk down by the side of the body. Thank God, we have an agreeable, I might say hallowed recollection of my dear Father, as when I kissed his forehead for the last time, a sweet and heavenly smile played on his lips, and but for their marble hue I could not have believed that they were closed forever.”⁴ Augusta and Mary Adelaide’s brother, George, now became the new Duke of Cambridge. Their father was initially buried at St Anne’s Church at Kew, but he was moved to St George’s Chapel in 1930.

In 1852, Augusta suffered a period of ill health, and she went to Dresden to undergo treatment. Her husband, too, had his own health problems, and he had completely lost sight in one eye. She was back in England the following year in time for Queen Victoria’s birthday. She and Mary Adelaide often went to church but also had fun outings, such as to the opera with Queen Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent. As usual, she was accompanied by her husband and son, who had been nicknamed “Dolphus” in the family. They returned home at the end of October.

Over the year, Frederick William’s eyesight worsened and by 1856, he was “as nearly blind as possible”, which was “a fearful trial for both.”⁵ They visited oculists who “left them just the shadow of a hope.”⁶ He would come to depend on Augusta a lot as he was still the heir to the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Frederick William and Augusta were in England when a telegram arrived saying that the old Grand Duke was very ill. Mary Adelaide wrote, “Augusta and Fritz left as soon as possible, and had the comfort and satisfaction of being with the dear old man during the last ten days of Ms life, and of assisting at the sad scene on the 6th of September. The dear Grand Duke, who you know was our Uncle, having married Mama’s sister, had ever been most kind to Augusta, whom he loved with a fatherly affection, mingled with much of the chivalry of by-gone days, and she has felt his death very, very deeply. A new sphere of action now lies before her, and the duties she is entering upon will doubtless lend additional interest to her everyday life. Poor Pritz feels his sad privation more acutely than ever, now that the well-being of so many are entrusted to his care and rule, and in his speech at the ceremony of taking the oath of allegiance, he made a very touching allusion to his blindness.”⁷

Part three coming soon.

1. Herzoghaus Mecklenburg-Strelitz by Helmut Borth p.160
2. A memoir of Princess Mary Adelaide, duchess of Teck; based on her private diaries and letters by Clement Kinloch Cooke p.85
3. A memoir of Princess Mary Adelaide, duchess of Teck; based on her private diaries and letters by Clement Kinloch Cooke p.87
4. A memoir of Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck; based on her private diaries and letters by Clement Kinloch Cooke, p. 116
5. A memoir of Princess Mary Adelaide, duchess of Teck; based on her private diaries and letters by Clement Kinloch Cooke p.265
6. A memoir of Princess Mary Adelaide, duchess of Teck; based on her private diaries and letters by Clement Kinloch Cooke p.265
7. A memoir of Princess Mary Adelaide, duchess of Teck; based on her private diaries and letters by Clement Kinloch Cooke p.343-344