mily as this new home brought. For Victoire, the change in her circumstances was great: with her new baby, and with a husband who doted on her, she was well content. Unfortunately, however, this happy state of affairs did not last long. The family moved down to Sidmouth in Devon in December 1819, and there, on January 23rd, 1820, Edward, Duke of Kent, suddenly died. He, who had no serious illness in his life, caught a cold and took no special care of himself, so that it turned to pneumonia. Grieving and almost penniless, the widowed Duchess allowed her brother Leopold to make all the arrangements for her return to London. For months she remained in seclusion, at Kensington or at Leopold's house at Claremont in Surrey. She had to decide whether to return to the familiar German countryside which had been her home for her whole life or to remain in England, where she was still practically a stranger. The fact that her baby was now third in line to the throne made her stick to her duty: she would stay in England and bring up her child as an Englishwoman, ready to succeed to the throne. The new King George IV had had very little affection for his late brother, he was not happy of the idea of having to contribute to the support of his widowed sister-in-law. Fortunately for Victoire, she had her own brother Leopold at hand, for he had decided to make his home in England after the death of his wife Charlotte, and out of his own allowance he provided most of the Duchess's income. Queen Victoria’s infancy was of people with kind faces. Her mother who always anxious and prudent for the child's health. Her half-sister Feodora was ten years older then Victoria but was her constant companion. Old Baroness Spath was the Duchess's German lady-in-waiting, and the adoring nurse, Mrs. Brock, replaced when Victoria was 4 years old by Fraulein Lehzen, Feodora's governess. There were numerous aunts and uncles of the Royal family. Her favorites were Au...
