nt Adelaide, Duchess of Clarence, and her bluff husband William, as well as the devoted Uncle Leopold from Germany. On the other hand, there was "Uncle Sussex" who lived next door and who, it was always threatened, would be angry if his niece's raised voice reached his ears. And the sinister "Uncle Cumberland", next in line to the throne after the little Victoria, who, it was rumored, was not incapable of "removing" such an irritating, small rival to his aspirations to the crown. “We lived in a very plain manner”, reminisced the Queen later, “breakfast was at half past eight, luncheon at half past one, dinner at seven - to which I came generally (when it was not regular large dinner-party) -- eating my bread and milk out of a small silver basin. Tea was only allowed as a great treat in my later years.” (British Heritage, P.2, 1998) “A few pen-pictures of the young Victoria were written by contemporaries: the plump toddler attempting to water the flowers in the Palace gardens but pouring most of the contents of her watering-can over her shoes; a straight backed infant atop an ambling donkey, with a sweet-faced elder sister to guide her; a solemn little girl at church at Esher, so wrapped in her own thoughts that she failed to notice the threatening bumble-bee buzzing inside the rim of her bonnet.” (B.H., P.4, 1998) Victoria wasn’t a model child. She had her fair share of the royal temper, screaming and stomping when she was crossed, throwing a pair of scissors at Lehzen in a royal rage. “When you are naughty, you make me and yourself very unhappy,” her mother rebuked her on one occasion. “No, Mamma,” corrected the child, “not me, mot myself, but you!” (Erickson, P.12, 1997) All her life the future Queen would be stubborn and obstinate, but when she became calm after an uncontrolled fit of temper, she would always be apologetic and looking for forgiveness. ̶...
