She was astonished, therefore, when Lord Derby called on her and told her that he thought it very unwise for John Brown to accompany her to the review.
‘And why not, pray?’ demanded the Queen.
‘The people might resort to violence. The mob can easily be aroused and these distasteful cartoons have been read by thousands.’
‘And because of unscrupulous scribblers who have tried hard to damage the character of a good honest man, he is not to perform his usual duties?’
Lord Derby tried to imply discreetly that it was not the defamation of John Brown’s character which worried him so much as that of the Queen’s, but the Queen would not see this.
‘I shall not be dictated to,’ she told Derby coldly. ‘And I shall certainly not allow my comfort to be spoiled by the interference of wicked people.’
That was as far as the Prime Minister could get with her. He went to Disraeli and told him of the Queen’s response. Disraeli was grave. ‘There could be trouble,’ he said. ‘John Brown there in the Queen’s company with that smug self-satisfaction of his … for all the world as though he is the new Consort. Now if the Queen would relegate Mr John Brown to the Highlands where he belongs and take some handsome Prince for her husband – preferably a gay one – nothing would delight the people more.’
But it was no use hoping for the impossible. The Queen had made up her mind that John Brown should accompany her at the Hyde Park review and accompany her he should.
Over cold patty from Fortnum and Mason’s and champagne fresh from the ice bucket taken together after Dizzy’s return from the House he and Mary Anne discussed the situation.
‘It’ll be a miracle if there’s not trouble with the mob over John Brown,’ said Dizzy.
‘There are occasional miracles in public life,’ Mary Anne reminded him. ‘Think of my own Dizzy’s climb to fame.’
‘That’s not a miracle, that’s hard work.’
‘Geniuses might make miracles happen. Couldn’t you bring your dulcet tones to drive home the truth by putting the whole thing in one of your clever little nutshells?’
‘My dearest Mary Anne, what a delectable concoction of metaphors. But even I am not capable of mixing them into a tasty little cake to delight Her Majesty’s palate.’
‘Oh come, Dizzy, you’re capable of anything and you can’t tell me that she doesn’t take more notice of you than that crude John Brown.’
‘We run neck and neck, my dearest, and I couldn’t tell you who is the favourite.’
‘Now who’s talking in metaphors and I won’t have my Dizzy compared with a horse, even a race-horse. And as for that John Brown he’s nothing better than an old carthorse.’
Dizzy laughed; but he was very anxious about the review.
Affairs in Mexico provided the miracle. Napoleon III had set up the Archduke Maximilian as ruler of Mexico and given him the title of Emperor; he had married Princess Charlotte, Uncle Leopold’s daughter, so was therefore close to the Queen. But the Mexicans would not acknowledge him. The civil war in North America had come to an end and Washington warned Napoleon that the army he had set up there must be withdrawn. This was done but Maximilian remained, hoping to raise an army of his own and retain his position. It was hopeless; the Mexican republic was restored and Maximilian court-martialled, sentenced to death and shot.
In view of such a catastrophe, it was decided that the Hyde Park review must be cancelled.
‘God has sent us our miracle,’ said Dizzy.
But Mary Anne was certain that her clever husband had arranged it.
Although she would have been pleased to, the Queen could find no reason why Bertie should not go to Paris to attend the International Exhibition.
Her ministers seemed impressed by Bertie’s popularity abroad and called him a good ‘ambassador’. She feared that meant behaving very frivolously but in her heart she had to accept the fact that Bertie did balance to a certain extent the disfavour into which the family had fallen by her love of seclusion and devotion to John Brown – so off Bertie went to Paris to open the British section of the Exhibition.
Alix, often feeling very ill, unable to walk without the aid of sticks, was a little depressed wondering what Bertie was doing in his favourite city. Paris, he had said, suited him better than any other foreign capital; he felt at home there; he believed he understood the mood of the people; and the Emperor and his wife always made him feel so welcome.
Bertie had always been devoted to Napoleon III. When he had visited Paris as a boy with his parents and had made the acquaintance of the Emperor he had said, rather to the embarrassment of the Emperor and those who heard him, ‘I wish you were my father.’ The Emperor remembered this and there was always a special friendship between him and the Prince of Wales.
So Bertie settled down to enjoy his visit which he did to such effect that Vicky, and Alice too, were soon expressing alarm at his behaviour and saying how sorry they felt for poor Alix.
While in Paris he met the Sultan of Turkey and the Khedive of Egypt who intimated that they would like an invitation to come to England. The Queen was disturbed. Bertie knew that she disliked the ceremonies which must take place during the sojourn of visiting potentates, but he considered the visits necessary. Once again the government was on Bertie’s side and it was decided that it would be a direct snub to Turkey to refuse to invite the Sultan and the Khedive.
‘Very well, then,’ said the Queen. ‘But they are Bertie’s responsibilities. He must take charge of them.’
The Queen’s ministers thought that in view of the Prince’s amiable nature this was a good idea; as for Bertie, he greatly looked forward to doing the honours. Alix would not be able to join in as they could have wished because her limbs were still painful, but her condition was improving and the Queen had agreed that if she maintained progress a visit to Wiesbaden would not be frowned on.
The Sultan was affable in the extreme; he was greatly taken with Alix and eyed her speculatively as though contemplating what a delightful addition she would be to his harem; he compromised by offering her one of his palaces in Constantinople where she could recuperate very happily, he was sure.
Bertie organised entertainments for the Sultan who was delighted with everything he saw. The Queen received him graciously at Osborne and declared that she would bestow the Garter on him.
When he heard what a great honour this was the Sultan was delighted and as the Spithead Review was about to take place Bertie thought it would be a good idea for the presentation to be made on board the Royal Yacht.
Bertie enjoyed making the arrangements; and Alice, who was visiting England with her husband, Prince Louis of Hesse, had to admit that Bertie had a way of enhancing such occasions. Bertie was at his best entertaining and if he was over-gallant to the prettiest women and pressed their hands too frequently and whispered to them what might well have been the arrangement of an assignation, this must not be stressed, because the Queen’s minister affirmed that when Bertie was a host or a guest, relations with foreign countries were always improved.
So it was with the Sultan. But even Bertie could not command the ocean.
Although it was the month of July the sea suddenly became grey; the wind had risen and the poor Sultan, unused to such conditions, began to feel queasy. It would be unthinkable to mention such bodily discomfort on such an occasion and he managed to stagger on deck.
Bertie whispered to Louis of Hesse that they had better get the ceremony over as quickly as possible and Louis agreed. But the Queen was unused to being hurried and was quite unaware of her guest’s discomfiture.