Noble Blood - The Adult Sons of the Hanover Line in Crisis

Episode Date: August 9, 2022

Even though King George III had 13 living children, in 1817, he only had a single legitimate grandchild: Princess Charlotte. And then the unthinkable happened: Princess Charlotte died in childbirth and the Hanovers were left without an heir. Suddenly, all of George III's unmarried adult children were in a race to find eligible princesses and have children to carry on the family business. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and pre-order its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, I'm Dr. Maya Shunker, a cognitive scientist and hosts of the podcast, a slight change of plans, a show about who we are and who we become when life makes other plans. I wish that I hadn't resisted for so long the need to change. We have to be willing to live with a kind of uncertainty that none of us likes. You can have opinions. You can have like a strong,

dance and then there's your body having its own program. Listen to a slight change of plans on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of IHeart Radio and grim and mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. Just after midnight on November 6th, 1817, Princess Charlotte of Wales, aged 21, died in childbirth. The son she had delivered was dead as well, a stillborn.

To say it was a shocking tragedy would be an understatement. England plunged into mourning. Shops ran out of black cloth. Eventually, ribbon stores would have to beg the government to shorten the official mourning period for fear that people going without adornment in the princess's honor would put them out of business. Princess Charlotte had been the only child of a deeply unhappy marriage.

She was the daughter of the very unpopular Prince of Wales, the Prince Regent, future King George IV. Charlotte finally found bliss in her own marriage to Prince Leopold only to be struck down less than 18 months after their fairy tale wedding. It was a story out of a dark fairy tale, One that I told more in depth in the episode, The Princess that England lost. But there's more to the story, namely what happened next.

The royal family, like the public, was devastated at the loss of the vivacious, progressive, and popular princess. For them, however, the loss was more than just a personal one. Though King George III had 15 children, At the time of Charlotte's death, she was the king's only legitimate grandchild. If none of her many, many uncles produced legitimate children quickly, the Hanoverian line, which had ruled England for more than a century, would be over. It was a terrifying proposition, especially for a family to whom their royal inheritance meant everything.

Given the importance of passing the crown down, it may seem surprising that the Hanover's were even in that position. Again, King George III and his wife, Queen Charlotte, had had 15 children, 13 of whom had survived to adulthood. And yet, though the primary duty of royal children seems to basically be to marry and procreate, when Charlotte died in 1817, not only were there not only were there no more living legitimate grandchildren, most of the by then middle-aged princes and princesses weren't even married. If you think this is unusual, you would be right. George III's many royal children were themselves unusual. Raised by strict, proper parents who demanded perfection, the princesses were stifled and kept close, long past marriageable age. The princes found the

freedom of adulthood intoxicating and ran wild with their mistresses through the gambling halls of Europe. The sons, perhaps, were enjoying the 1800s version of what we think of as trust fund syndrome. They had racked up scores of illegitimate children, tens of thousands of pounds of public debt, and the disdain of the general public. But now, with the fate of the family line at stake, the princes and princesses would have to grow up and fast. They were now in a race to arrange good marriages and produce heirs. This, of course, was easier said than done. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood.

From the beginning of his reign, George III planned to do things differently. His great-grandfather and grandfather, George I, George I, had both been born and raised in the German principality of Hanover, and they spoke German as their first language, which meant that they were perceived as German by their British subjects. Their family had gained the British throne thanks to 1701's Act of Settlement, which declared that only a Protestant could rule England.

When the childless Queen Anne died in 1714, who you might know from the movie The Favorite, the throne passed to her nearest Protestant relative, George I, who began what became known as the Hanoverian line of British monarchs. From his Hanoverian predecessors, George III inherited the throne of Great Britain and also a unique tradition of hatred between father and son. George I and his son George II fought bitterly over matters both political and personal. And the pattern repeated itself with George II and his eldest son, Frederick Prince of Wales. Frederick died in 1751, before his father.

But Frederick's widow, Augusta, continued the estrangement with the king. And so the young future George III grew up barely knowing his grandfather. When, in 1760, the 22-year-old George III, learned that his grandfather was dead, he vowed to break the pattern set by his forebearers. He would be a truly English king of the English, and he would have a close relationship with his children. He would be more successful on the first count than the second. On the first count, he nailed it.

In fact, he is the only British monarch to never once leave England, but his relationship with his children, well, we'll get to that. On August 12th, 1762, Queen Charlotte gave birth to the couple's first child, a son whom they named George Augustus Frederick. I know there are a lot of George's in this story, so for clarity's sake, we'll refer to this newborn baby child George, the future regent, future George the fourth, as the Prince of Wales, which is the title that he had during when this story takes place. place, and will refer to his father, King George III, as King George. So over the next 21 years, King George's wife, Queen Charlotte, would give birth to 14 more children, six girls and nine boys, and almost all of them would reach adulthood. The king and queen raised their children in relative simplicity. Both had frugal tastes. Cartoons of the day regularly lampooned them

for drinking the cheapest wine and eating the worst cuts of meat. They were a pretty wholesome couple. George never took a mistress, and he was sometimes affectionately referred to as farmer George for his interest in agriculture. The couple hoped to instill the same wholesome habits in their children. They also hoped to raise well-educated, well-disciplined children, and to this end, the king created a strict, highly structured educational

curriculum for his princes. If the boys misbehaved or they didn't pay attention in lessons, they were whipped by their tutors. The princess's education was focused mostly on art and music, but like their brothers, they were raised strictly. The queen instructed their governesses to never allow any, quote, incivilities or lightness in their behavior, unquote. Though the king had hoped, to create a warmer relationship with his children than he had shared with his own parents and grandparents. He was unwilling to bend royal protocol enough to actually allow that. The royal children were not allowed to speak to their parents unless spoken to. They had to walk backwards when leaving their parents' presence,

and as soon as they left infancy, they almost never saw their parents in informal settings. The pressure placed on them was enormous, and affection from their parents was explicitly tied to obedience and perfection. When the Prince of Wales and his younger brother Frederick were 16 and 15 respectively, King George wrote to them, quote, Act uprightly and show the anxious care I have had of you has not been misspent, and you will ever find me not only an affectionate father, but a sincere friend, unquote. So not exactly unconditionally.

love. Similarly, the queen, writing to her third son, William, told him, quote, I love you so well that I cannot bear the thought of you being only mediocre. Perfection is the thing you should aim at, end quote. The result of this demanding, joyless upbringing created children who would, as the historian John Vanderkeest would write, quote, yearn to be everything their stolid, stayed, dutiful parents were not. unquote. As the children emerged from the cloistered world their parents had built for them, they began to run wild. The Prince of Wales was the first to disappoint their parents. At age 17, in love with his sister's

23-year-old governess, Mary Hamilton, he wrote her a letter describing his own character pretty honestly, saying, quote, he was rather too fond of wine and women, unquote. Rebuffed by Hamilton, the prince turned his attention to the actress Mary Robinson. Robinson, married with an infant daughter, saw the prince's affections as a chance to secure her family's fortunes, and shrewdly she hailed on to the prince's effusive love letters, many of which promised her money. When the affair ended a year later, the letters were brought to the king's attention. Furious, he had his courtiers negotiate a payout with Robinson. He then sent the prince's two younger brothers, Frederick and William, out of the country to keep them away from the bad

influence of their older brother. William, Duke of Clarence, the third son, was sent into the Navy, where he gained a taste for practical jokes and a hearty, casual manner which endeared him to his shipmates, but didn't serve him as well in refined royal circles. The second son, Frederick, Duke of York, was the father's favorite, and he was sent to the family seat in Hanover for military training. Though King George had vowed to always put England first, he saw Germany as an excellent training ground for his sons, and Frederick was eventually joined there in 1785 by the fourth in line, Edward, and then a year later, by three more brothers, Ernest, August, and Adolphus, who went to study at the University of Gottingen.

If the king thought that separation from the scandalous Prince of Wales would keep the younger brothers in line, he was mistaken. The Duchies of Germany had young noble women and gambling halls aplenty. Though the king only gave his son's modest allowances, merchants and casino proprietors were only too willing to extend young men enormous lines of credit because of their royal name. In short order, they all racked up thousands of pounds of debt. The king, begrudgingly, paid off their debts and admonished the boys harshly, only for the cycle to begin again. The princes were no more responsible in their conduct with women, although as with their extravagant spending, their romantic affairs could be seen as a form of rebellion against the

restrictions placed on them by their father. In 1772, King George III had proposed to Parliament an act regulating royal marriages, which was eventually passed as the originally titled Royal Marriages Act. The king was motivated by the shocking marriages of his siblings, including his brother, Prince Henry's 1771 marriage to a widowed commoner named Anne Horton, and his sister Caroline Matilda's disastrous scandal-written marriage to the mentally ill King of Denmark, which is the story that I covered in the episode Queen Caroline Matilda's personal doctor. That marriage led to a very scandalous affair. So George was understandably nervous when it came to the idea of his children's marriages. With the new provisions of the Act, any descendants of King George II

could not marry without the consent of the reigning monarch. There was an exception. If a descendant was older than 25 and permission was refused by the monarch, the descendant could still marry, but only with one year's notice and an assent of Parliament. However, it was thought unlikely that Parliament, knowing that the monarch disapproved, would ever consent to the marriage. Previous acts further limited who the royal family could marry. Most importantly, any royal family member who married a Catholic would be removed from the line of succession. Though the purpose of all of these restrictions, especially the Royal Marriages Act, was to promote good beneficial marriages within the royal family, many even at the time believed it would have the opposite effect.

If the royal children weren't allowed to marry who they loved, it seemed likely that they would simply go unmarried and, as the saying goes, quote, live in sin. One member of parliament went so far as to jokingly call the Royal Marriages Act, quote, an act to encourage fornication and adultery in descendants of George II. His prediction would quickly prove true. In December 1785, the Prince of Wales secretly married Maria Fitzherbert, a twice-widoed Catholic commoner. You can hear more about that doomed relationship in the episode of this podcast called What I Has Wept for George VIII. And the Prince of Wales wasn't the only brother to secretly wed.

Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex, the six son, married. Lady Augusta Murray, a Scottish noblewoman in 1793, first in Italy and then again in England. Their marriage was annulled by the court in 74 because of its violation of the Royal Marriages Act, but the couple stayed together until 1801 and had two children. The Duke of Sussex later took up with another woman, Lady Cecilia Underwood, who he married after the death of Lady Augusta in 1831. Other brothers chose a less formal but no less scandalous approach to romance. William, Duke of Clarence, had a 20-year relationship with the Irish actress Dorothea Bland,

known as Mrs. Jordan. The couple had ten children together, and they lived together in relative happiness until 1811, when the Duke's mounting debts meant that he needed to marry someone for income. He spent the next few years unsuccessfully pursuing a number of young heiresses. Another brother, Edward Duke of Kent, also had a long-term relationship with his mistress, Julie Saint Laurent. After meeting in 1791, the couple remained together for more than 25 years. Their life together was good, though they had to live abroad where expenses were lower, given the Duke's surprise, surprise, large debts.

Frederick, Duke of York, the favorite son, remember, unlike most of his brothers, actually married legally. In 1791, he married Frederica Charlotte of Prussia at the behest of his father, who hoped that his favorite second son could provide the legitimate heir that the then illegally wed Prince of Wales would not. Unfortunately, Frederick and Frederica, despite their names, were an ill-suited match. and by 1794 they were amicably separated, with Frederica moving to their country home, Oatlands, where she would live, surrounded by a menagerie of pets until her death. They had no children. After the failure of Frederick's marriage, the Prince of Wales reluctantly agreed to leave Maria Fitzherbert and pursue a legitimate marriage. the king's promise to pay off his debts

certainly helped to motivate him too. In 1795, the Prince of Wales married Caroline of Brunswick Woffenbottle. This arranged couple hated each other nearly instantly, but they did have one daughter, Charlotte, in January 1796, the princess whose tragic death, 21 years later, would set the succession crisis in motion. Given nearly all of the last, of the prince's scandalous behavior and outrageous debts, they were nearly universally despised

by the English public. Percy Shelley wrote of them, quote, princes the dregs of their dull race, who flow through public scorn, mud from a muddy spring, rulers who neither see nor feel nor know, but leech-like to their fainting country cling, unquote. a pretty devastating poem. The Duke of Wellington, remarking on the enormous sums the princes frequently requested from the Parliament, called them, quote,

the damnedest millstones around the neck of any government that can be imagined, unquote. And what of the princesses? Of the six girls, only one married while of childbearing age, largely because their parents preferred to keep them close by as companions. Charlotte, the eldest daughter, apologies I know there are a lot of Charlottes too in this

story. This is not Charlotte the granddaughter who died at 21, nor Queen Charlotte. This is a different Charlotte. The queen's eldest daughter married Frederick, crown prince of Vertonberg in 1797, but they had no children. The next daughter to wed would be Mary, who nearly 20 years later, married her cousin, William Duke of Gloucester, in 1816. Though the Duke loved Mary, her own motives for marriage were more complicated. As her niece, Princess Charlotte, recorded, marriage gave Mary an opportunity to escape her parents' grasp. Quote, being her own mistress, having her own house, and being able to walk in the streets, all delight her in their several ways, unquote. Unfortunately, William would prove to be even more controlling than Mary's parents, the king and queen.

The next princess, Elizabeth, married Frederick, Landgrave of Huss-Holmberg, for similar reasons to marry, though their marriage would actually be much happier. Some of her sisters found other outlets to evade the control of their parents. Sophia is rumored to have had an illegitimate child by her father's chief equerry, Thomas Garth, while Augusta had a long-term relationship with an army officer, Sir Brent Spencer. Outside their romantic entanglements and financial problems, the princes and princesses also had to confront their fathers' increasingly unstable, physical, and mental health, which had begun to deteriorate by the early 1790s.

His incapacity caused inter-family power struggles, which would largely be resolved by making the Prince of Wales, the Prince Regent, a role in which he would serve as ruler because the monarch was unable to do so. If you ever wondered why that period is called the regency, this is why the prince was the regent. All of this is to say that by 1817, when Princess Charlotte died, the 13 living children of King George III and Queen Charlotte had weathered unhappy childhoods, illicit relationships, family drama and unsuccessful marriages. They were almost all immature, impetuous, sheltered, scandal-ridden,

and altogether uniquely unsuited for the responsibility of carrying on the family line. Unfortunately, their family and their country now desperately needed them to produce an heir. As we enter into the frenzied royal marriage market of 1818, let's review our not-so-eligible bachelors. As all of the princesses were past childbearing age, the focus was exclusively on the princes. Of the seven living sons, four were already married, but with no living or legitimate issue. That left us with three middle-aged dukes on the hunt for princesses, William, Duke of Clarence, Edward, Duke of Kent, and Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. One other brother, Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, had recently married Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strellets,

a German princess who had previously broken the heart of one of Ernest's younger brothers. Queen Charlotte hated Frederica because of this rejection and refused to accept her into court. Ernest himself was a deeply controversial figure, accused at various times of murder, incest, and election interference, all of which I discussed on this podcast, seems like ages ago, truly, in the episode The Butler in the bedroom with a saber. If you're wondering why I've covered so many Hanoverian tangents on this podcast, it is because there are just so many scandals. But the Cumberlands were not thought of often during the succession crisis due to their unpopularity, and though they would eventually have children, they were low in the line of succession. They would later become the rulers of Hanover.

But back to our bachelors, Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, was the youngest of the bunch at 43. He had had no serious romantic attachments, suffered no notable scandals, and was lively, musical, and energetic, relative to his brothers, quite a catch. His older brother, William, had asked Adolphus to find him a bride shortly after Charlotte's death, And when Adolphus wrote to William about a young princess, Augusta of Heskisal, his description was so glowing that William declared Adolphus ought to marry Augusta himself. Adolphus happily took his brother up on the offer, and the couple was married in May 1818. They returned to England three weeks later, where the 20-year-old bride, who spoke almost no English,

was overwhelmed to be greeted by throngs of cheering crowds at 10. Dober. William, Duke of Clarence, turned his attention to Princess Adelaide of Saxe Meningen, 27 years younger than he was. Adelaide was said to be plain, and Saxe Miningen was a poor principality, but she was practical and kind-hearted, even willing to take the Duke's 10 illegitimate children under her wing. William, if you recall, was the former Navy man, and he had spent much of his life frittering away his privileges. But he seemed to come into a new sense of responsibility in the presence of his young bride. Quote, I cannot, I will not, I must not ill-use her, he wrote to his eldest illegitimate son George Fitzclairance in March 1818. He considered calling off the marriage entirely,

but the promise of an increased allowance from Parliament, as well as the prospect of a stepmother for his many children, whose mother, the actress Dorothea Jordan, had died in 1816, was too tempting to resist. In July, Adelaide and her mother traveled to England and prepared for the wedding ceremony, which would be a double. They were all in such a rush to get married and have legitimate children that William was married alongside his younger brother, Edward Duke of Kent. Edward, now nearing 50, was the most straight-laced of the brothers. He did not drink or gamble, though he still regularly exceeded his income, spending extravagantly on renovations to his estate and Ealing and Knightsbridge.

He had spent time in the military, but his career ended in humiliation after the soldiers under his command in Gibraltar mutinied over his decision to close the city's wine shops. At the time of Princess Charlotte's death, he was living in Brussels with his longtime mistress, Julie Saint Laurent. But marriage had been on his mind for some time, and it was likely the only way to settle his debts. He even traveled to Russia in 1816 to meet one prospective bride, but he deemed her too old, even though she was eight years younger than he was. After Charlotte's death, Edward renewed his hunt for a bride, this time with an unlikely wingman, Prince Leopold, Princess Charlotte's widower. Leopold thought he knew just the right woman for Edward,

his own sister, Victoire, Dowager Princess of Linegin. Victoire had married the Crown Prince of Linegin three years her senior when she was 17, and she had had two children with him before she was widowed, 11. years later. Like her brother, Leopold, Victoire had glossy, dark hair, fine features, and a tall frame. Edward went to visit her in Linogen, a German principality, where Victoire was serving as regent for her 10-year-old son, Carl, and he proposed only days later. At first, Victoire was resistant. She had a good life in Germany, and she spoke no English, and she felt no strong connection to the English Duke, nearly two decades older than her, who, I guess, was her brother's ex-uncle-in-law?

More than any of that, she worried that marriage to Edward might mean losing custody of her children in Germany. But Leopold, the widower, hoping to retain his place in the English royal family after his wife's death, worked hard to encourage his sister. Eventually, after Edward pledged that Victoire would not lose her children, she accepted his proposal. In January 1818, she wrote to him, quote, I am leaving an agreeable, independent position in the hope that your affection will be my reward, unquote. Edward delightedly replied that he would do everything he could to make her happy, and also assured her that his relationship with his mistress, Julie Saint Laurent, was over, as indeed it was. He had given his partner of 20-plus years a modest pension and set her off to Paris,

where she quietly mourned her lost love. Edward and Victoire, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, were married in Germany, and then they traveled in England for the double wedding with William and Adelaide, the Duke and Duchess of Clarence. Now, with four royal couples able to have children, the Clarences, the Cairns, the Cumberlands, the Cumberlands, and the Cumberland. Cambridge's, in order of succession, the public eagerly awaited news of incoming airs. They didn't have to wait long. By late 1818, all four duchesses were visibly pregnant. On March 26, 1819, Augusta, Duke of Cambridge, gave birth to a son. The baby was an enormous relief and delight to the royal family and public alike. Though the Duke of Cambridge was the youngest,

brother of these four, meaning that any children his elder brothers might have, would now supplant his son in the line of succession, an heir was an heir, and the Hanover line was now secured. The very next day, Adelaide, Duchess of Clarence, went into premature labor. The Clarences were at the top of the line of succession, at least among the couples who could have children at this point. Unfortunately, though, their baby, a girl they named Charlotte, lived only a few hours following her premature birth. The Kent's received the news of the Cambridge's joy and the Clarence's sorrow while en route to England. Edward strongly believed that his child would inherit the throne,

and he wanted the baby to be born in England, as he felt this would strengthen the English people's support for his child's claim. And so in late March, Edward and the eight-months pregnant Victoire embarked on an arduous, month-long journey from their home where they were living in Germany to England. They had so little money that the Duke himself drove their carriage to save costs. The rest of the trip was paid for by various supporters. The Prince Regent, Edward's brother, refused to help until, fearing bad press, he offered the couple the use of the royal yacht to cross the English Channel.

The Kentz arrived at Kensington Palace in late April to find the palace in disarray. Their apartments had not been used in five years because they were living in Germany. The walls were dripping with damp and rot. Edward immediately began a program of refurbishment, spending more than 2,000 pounds to kid out the place, while Victoire prepared for the birth with her German ladies-in-waiting and a German physician, Charlotte von Seibold, a female physician. On May 22nd, Edward completed his renovation projects. The very next evening, Victoire went into labor.

At 4 a.m. on May 24, 1819, the Duchess gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Over the next few years, other children would be born to the Cambridges and the Cumberlands, but none would surpass the Kent's daughter in the order of succession. Adelaide, Duchess of Clarence, suffered a number of miscarriages. In late 1820, she gave birth six weeks early to an apparently healthy baby, but the girl, named Elizabeth, lived only five months. The Clarences would never have another surviving child together. Fortunately, their marriage was a happy one.

Adelaide proved a calming influence on William, and she enjoyed warm relationships with his 10 illegitimate children, as well as relationships with her nieces and nephews. She was particularly close to the Kent's daughter, once writing to Victoire, quote, My children are dead, but your child lives, and she is mine too, unquote. So who was this beloved little Kent girl? On June 24th, two months after her birth,

the Prince Regent hosted a christening ceremony for her at Kensington Palace. Though the Prince Regent was glad to see the family line renewed, the sight of the healthy baby girl brought to mind his lost daughter, Charlotte, and her stillborn child, and he couldn't help but resent the Kent's their happiness. His pain bubbled over at the christening, where he told the shock parents that he would be choosing the baby's name. As the Archbishop of Canterbury held the infant over the baptismal font, the regent wavered back and forth, before choosing Alexandrina after the infant sponsor, Tsar Alexander of Russia. Victoire, the baby's mother, burst into tears at this.

She had given up her homeland and her native tongue to become an English duchess, and in return she was being denied the chance to name her own daughter. The Prince Regent relented, blithely declaring, give her the mother's name also then, but it cannot proceed that of the emperor. The baby was thus christened Alexandrina Victoria, though today we, of course, know her best, as Queen Victoria. The path to the throne would not be a smooth one for the young Victoria. Her family had little money to begin with, relatively speaking,

and they were put in an even more precarious position after her father unexpectedly died of pneumonia in January 1820 when she was still an infant. But the Kent persevered and eventually, after the deaths of Victoria's grandfather, George the 3rd, her eldest uncle, George the 4th, and then another uncle, the Duke of Clarence, aka King William IV, Victoria would become Queen of England. And Queen Victoria, perhaps intrinsically understanding the need to play the odds when it came to royal children, would go on to have nine children of her own. The Hanover line had lived to rule another day.

Story of the Succession Crisis of 1817, but keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear a little bit more about the journey of pregnant victoire to deliver her baby on English soil. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wode. My next guest, you know from Stepbrothers, Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and The the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo. Woo.

Woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day. And I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through,

and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration.

It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wadam.

My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place they come look for up-and-coming talent. said if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet.

Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat, just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that.

There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. To keep her baby safe while on the dangerous journey to England in April 1819, the heavily pregnant Duchess of Kent, Victoire, had enlisted the help of a well-regarded physician, Charlotte von Seibold. Seibold was a prominent figure in the German medical community, the daughter of two physicians. Her mother, Regina von Seibold, was the first woman to receive a university degree in Germany. Like Regina, Charlotte attended university, receiving her degree in obstetrics from Giesin University in 1817.

Though victoire was required to have British doctors at her side during the birth, she also insisted on having von Siebold present, perhaps in part because she was well aware of the way that British male physicians had so grossly mismanaged Princess Charlotte's tragic, fatal childbirth. It would be von Siebold who helped Victoire labor, and von Sieboldt, who would announce the birth of the healthy baby girl on May 24, 1819. After the birth, Von Siebold stayed in England for several more months before returning to Germany to deliver another royal infant.

This baby was born on August 26, 1819. in Schloss Rosinau to Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg Saffield and Louise of Saxe-Coburg Altenberg. The delighted parents named their baby boy Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel, but he went simply by Albert. This baby would grow up to be Albert of Saxe Cobraig and Gotha, the kindly patient prince who would, on February 10th, 1840, Mary Queen Victoria. Noble Blood is a production of IHeart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is hosted by me, Dana Schwartz.

Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori Goodman. The show is produced by Rima Il Kiali, with supervising producer Josh Thain, and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Hey, I'm Dr. Maya Shunker, a cognitive scientist and hosts of the podcast, a slight change of plans, a show about who we are and who we become when life makes other plans. I wish that I hadn't resisted for so long the need to change. We have to be willing to live with a kind of uncertainty that none of us likes.

You can have opinions. You can have like a strong stance. And then there's your body having its own program. Listen to a slight change of plans on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.