Racy letters for a princess caught the headlines

In April 1926, royalty was all over the news. There was much
expectation as the second in line to the throne, the future George
VI, and his wife, Elizabeth, waited for the birth of their first
child. Royal baby mania was already bubbling as April got under way
but on April 4, Easter Sunday, there were plenty of other regal
stories to catch the eye.

Worries for a princess

All the papers were still filled with concern for Princess
Victoria, one of King George V’s three sisters. She had been ill
with pneumonia for some time and there was continuing speculation
on the state of her health. On Easter Saturday, an update had been
given on her state and most of the Easter Sunday papers carried it.
The Sunday Express reported ”the following bulletin was issued
yesterday with regard to the condition of Princess Victoria” and
then replicated the exact wording ”although the pneumonia is
resolving, the strain on the heart remains great.”

Meanwhile, the Sunday Mirror tried to add a happier note that
Easter as concerns continued. It reported, in its ‘Mainly for
Women’ page, that Prince George, youngest surviving son of George
V, was trying to keep his aunt’s spirits up. Then on service with
the Royal Navy, the paper noted that ”the Prince’s racy letters
from the various ports, illustrated by the little thumbnail
sketches which he knows so well how to do, have been a great joy to
her.”

The Sunday Sun of Newcastle published a quasi obituary of
Princess Victoria which painted George V’s sister as something of a
victim of the Royal Family. It focused on the severe impact that
leaving her home at Sandringham was having on her, noting that ”the
leaving of beloved Sandringham, where she had been for so many
years, was a heavy trial.” And it wrote at length of her devotion
to her mother, Queen Alexandra, who had died the previous
November.

The paper, rather curtly, said Alexandra ”clung with pathetic
affection to Princess Victoria” who was ”afflicted with peculiar
severity” by the death of the then Queen Mother. And it noted that
Victoria was called ”The Unselfish Princess” by her late father,
King Edward VII and claimed that she herself had heard someone call
her ”the Unknown Princess”.

News on the expected royal baby

She was far from unknown that April as the papers pored over
details over her health while trying to keep royalty front and
centre ahead of the expected big regal event of the year, the
arrival of a baby prince or princess. While the impending birth of
the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York was usually
described in genteel terms like ”the forthcoming happy event”, The
People cut straight to the chase that Easter Sunday. It wrote that
”the Duchess of York’s baby is expected to arrive early in May at
17 Bruton Street, the Duchess’ old home.” It turned out that the
paper got everything bar the date right.

The People also had news of the Duke of Norfolk who was also
Earl Marshall and so responsible for organising major Crown events.
A few decades later, it would be this duke who ran the Coronation
of the baby about to be born. However, in April 1926 he had other
things on his mind. The People noted that he is ”not musical but
has been practising lassoing, a rather difficult art in a London
ballroom but useful at times for the removal of a dull guest.”
Presumably, no one at the Coronation of 1952 was boring as the Duke
was never seen lassoing in public.

Royal romance

All that was needed for the papers on Easter Sunday 1926 was a
bit of royal romance and that was provided by the then Crown Prince
of Norway who would later reign as King Olav, one of the most
famous monarchs of the 20th century. On April 4 1926, he was better
known as the handsome prince in a bubbling royal love story except
no one would say who is paramour could be.

Reynold’s Newspaper was one of several to report that Easter
weekend about a forthcoming marriage, saying ”the betrothal of the
Crown Prince of Norway will be announced shortly. The bride-elect
is a member of the British Royal Family, closely related to The
Queen.”

The information was clearly wide of the mark. No engagement was
announced and Olav instead fell in love with Princess Martha of
Sweden with their wedding taking place in 1929.

The amazing princesses

To end, back to the Sunday Mirror which was on form that Easter
Day. It also noted that Princess Victoria, whose ill health was
causing so much concern, had once been a ‘pioneer’ of the Royal
Family. Along with her sister Maud, now Queen of Norway and mother
of Olav, she had ”amazed London by bicycling in Battersea Park”.
Whether it was the bicycle or the sight of two royals as far south
as Battersea that caused the shock wasn’t explained.