Daniel A. Willis - The Children of Victoria II

The Children of

Victoria II

A Novella

Daniel A. Willis

Copyright 2022, Daniel A. Willis

Published by:

DX Varos Publishing

7665 E. Eastman Ave. #B101

Denver, CO 80231

This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

Book cover design and layout by, Ellie Bockert Augsburger of Creative Digital Studios.

www.CreativeDigitalStudios.com

ISBN: 978-1-955065- 20-7 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-955065-19-1 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Introduction

This is the story of three siblings living in the first quarter of the 20th century: The King of the United Kingdom, the German Empress, and the Tsarina of Russia.

These three people were not siblings, you say? In the timeline you and I live in, that would be true. But in this alternate history, started in the full-length novel, Victoria II, the European royal family tree looks very different. And all because Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, husband of Queen Victoria I, protected his wife from an assassins bullet at the cost of his own life in 1842. This left her with an only child, their daughter, Vicky.

Now, 72 years later, the thread of history has been altered into a new braid, an unrecognizable twine binding The Children of Victoria II to their unexplored destinies.

Cast of Characters (in 1914)

Queen Victoria I (deceased) Grandmother of our 3 main characters. Reigned 18371859.

Queen Victoria II (deceased) Mother of our 3 main characters and their other siblings. Reigned 18591901.

William (Billy), Duke of Saint Albans (deceased) Father of our 3 main characters and their siblings, died 1898.

GREAT BRITAIN (now the House of Stewart):

William V (Wils), King of the United Kingdom (b.1860) succeeded 1901. Widowed.

Queen Louise of the United Kingdom (deceased, 18751906) daughter of King Frederik VIII of Denmark & Pss Louise of Sweden, married Wils in 1896

Pr. Albert, Prince of Wales (b.1898) only child of Wils & Louise (later George V)

Pr. George, Duke of York (b.1862) 2nd son of Victoria II. Married Pss May of Teck. Their descendants match our timelines descendants of King George V, with suitable title differences.

Pss Anne, Queen of the Hellenes (b.1869) 2nd daughter of Victoria II, wife of King Constantine I (Connie). Their descendants match those of Constantine in our timeline.

Pss Beatrice, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg (b.1876) youngest daughter of Victoria II, married Infante Afonso of Portugal, who succeeded as Duke of Saxe-Coburg in 1893. They have no children.

GERMANY :

Empress Louise (Lulu) (b.1863) eldest daughter of Britains Victoria II. Married 1885 the German Emperor.

Friedrich IV (Fritzi), German Emperor (b.1862) son of Emp. Friedrich III & Pss Alexandra of Denmark, first cousin of late Queen Louise of the UK.

Crown Pr. Friedrich (Fredo) (b.1887) son of Fritzi & Lulu, married to Pss Alexandra of Schleswig-Holstein 1 son: Alexander (b.1912).

Pr. Wilhelm (Willy) (b.1888) son of Fritzi & Lulu, about to marry Countess Ina-Marie von Bassewitz, a cause of some concern given her lower rank.

Pr. Albrecht (b.1890) son of Fritzi & Lulu, not married yet.

Pss. Viktoria Luise (b.1892) only daughter of Fritzi & Lulu, married the Crown Prince of Hanover in 1913, first son, Prince Ernst August (b.Mar 1914).

Crown Prince Ernst August of Hanover (b.1887) son-in-law of Fritzi & Lulu, grandson of King Georg V, who was briefly heir-presumptive to Queen Victoria II. Through his mother, Queen Thyra, he is also a first cousin of Queen Louise of the UK.

Pr. Christian (b.1894) youngest child of Fritzi & Lulu; unmarried.

RUSSIA

Empress Alexandra (Alix) (b.1872) 3rd daughter of Victoria II; married Tsar Nicholas II in 1892.

Nicholas II (Nicky), Tsar and Emperor of All the Russians (b.1868) has reigned since 1894. He and Alix have five unmarried children: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei. The boy suffers from hemophilia.

Dowager Empress Maria (b.1847) formidable mother of Nicky. Born Pss Dagmar of Denmark, she is the aunt of Queen Louise of the UK, Fritzi of Prussia, and Crown Pr. Ernst August of Hanover.

IMPORTANT CHARACTERS NOT RELATED TO THE MAIN FAMILY:

AUSTRIA

Emperor Franz Joseph (b.1830) Emperor since 1848, a widower, his only son died in a murder/suicide scandal in 1889.

Archduke Franz-Ferdinand (b.1863) nephew and heir of Franz Joseph. His wife was not of equal rank, so she is titled Duchess of Hohenberg and their children have no succession rights.

Archduke Karl (b.1887) Grandnephew of Franz Joseph, nephew of Franz-Ferdinand, 2nd in line to the Throne. Married to Pss Zita of Bourbon-Parma. They have two little boys so far (will go on to have a total of eight children).

July 1914

Buckingham Palace

1 July 1914

I.M.K. Die Kaiserin

Neuer Stadtschloss

Berlin

Dearest Lulu,

The past 3 days have been quite the whirlwind of telegrams, but I think its all sorted now. Fritzi and I are in complete agreement that neither of our kingdoms have any business getting involved with Austrias problems. We have both implored Nicky to stay out of it too, but hes convinced he is bound by treaty to those Serbians. And now he is committed by blood, as I have been informed the first shots of this war have been fired between Austrian and Russian soldiers...in Budapest of all places!

Thank God! the French and Italians have agreed to stay out of it was well. But of course the French arent going anywhere without Big Brother Britain there to hold their hand. I only hope Italy can stay out, what with them being so close to the conflict. It wouldnt take much for the fighting to enter their territory. But Victor Emanuel does not want to fight, so that will go a long way to keeping the cooler heads there.

It is all quite mad. But then so is the murder of the Archduke in Sarajevo which sparked all of this. It is a real shame. I had so much hope for him to pull Austro-Hungary into this century, something old Franz Joseph is just not capable of.

Its even more a shame they couldnt stop there but also shot his charming wife, those dogs! She wasnt even equal, she had no role in the political situation whatsoever. Such a loss. She was so gracious when they visited London a few years ago, you would never know she was not born to a royal house. Theres another area, maintaining such strict rules about equal birth, where Franz Joseph lives too much in the past.

But then, maybe so does Fritzi? Have they settled the matter of Ockies fiance? So what that her father is a Count and not a King? When I met them at Viktoria Luises wedding, she fit in just as well as any princess would, and maybe a mite better than Alexandra has, if Im being perfectly honest. The point is she makes the boy happy. Is that not good enough? If Papa was good enough for Mama, then Ina-Maria should be good enough for Ockie. Hes not the heir or anything, so let him be happy!

In happier news, London has grown hot sooner than usual this year. Thankfully, we seem to have our end of the continent settled so I can escape to Windsor for a few weeks. Might do a little fishing while Im there.

My love to the kids and give an extra kiss to those grandbabies from their Grossonkel Wils!