THE MARRIAGE OF H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES TO H.R.H. PRINCESS ALEXANDRA OF DENMARK IN ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDSOR, March 10, 1863.
Her Majesty the Queen occupies the royal closet above the group of bridesmaids. Next the Prince of Wales are his supporters, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and the Crown Prince of Prussia. The Archbishop of Canterbury and Dean Wellesley officiate. The bridesmaids were the Ladies Victoria Scott, Diana Beauclerk, Elena Bruce, Victoria Howard, Emily Villiers, Agneta Yorke, Feodore Wellesley, and Emily Hare. The English Princes and Princesses are to the left of the bridal group; the mother and sisters of the bride to the right.]
The course of events on the Continent at this time gave to the royal marriage an appearance of political significance which, in reality, it did not possess. In olden times, no doubt, the espousal of the heir of England to the daughter of Denmark would have implied a political and military alliance, offensive and defensive, between the two Crowns. But in Europe of the nineteenth century it is peoples, not princes, who hold the decrees of peace and war. It was this very fact which, shortly after the Prince of Wales's marriage, seemed likely to precipitate a conflict between Great Britain and Denmark on the one side, and Austria and Prussia on the other. Englishmen had grown proud of their beautiful Princess, and were chivalrously disposed to take up the cause of her little country. They forgot or did not know that it was only the adopted country of her family.
[Sidenote: The Schleswig-Holstein Difficulty.]
The crisis arose on the death of Frederick VII., King of Denmark. The succession, as had been decreed by the Great Powers in 1852, devolved on the father of the Princess of Wales, who became King Christian IX. of Denmark. There had existed between Germany and Denmark a long-standing dispute about the possession of the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg. The King of Denmark was also Duke of Holstein and Lauenburg, just as, previous to Queen Victoria's accession, the King of England had been also King of Hanover. But the vast majority of the population of these Duchies was purely German, and the German Confederation had been anxious for a long time to admit them to their common nationality. The Danish Government, on the other hand, desired to incorporate these provinces in the Kingdom of Denmark. Prince Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Augustenburg disputed the succession of Christian IX. to the Duchies in question. The Germanic Diet, under the influence of Herr von Bismarck, supported Prince Frederick's claim, and an allied army, provided by Austria and Prussia, crossed the frontiers of Holstein and Schleswig to enforce it. The Danish army was mobilised, and Denmark entered upon a hopeless contest--hopeless, seeing that she, one of the weakest of European States, was pitted against two of the most powerful.