Gloucestershire's Royal Connections - King Edward VII

by:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

This is a statue of King Edward VII in Montpellier in Cheltenham.  He reigned from 1901 -1910 and is the great, great, great, grandfather of Prince William, who was brought up at Highgrove House, Prince Charles' country house near Tetbury in Gloucestershire. 

When Albert, Edward (known affectionately as Bertie by his family) was Prince of Wales, his wait to become King was a long one.  Towards the end of his life, he famously said, "Everyone has an eternal Father but I'm blest with an eternal Mother."   Queen Victoria died on 22nd January 1901 after 40 years of mourning for her beloved husband Albert.  Bertie chose to be called King Edward rather than Albert, because he said he didn't want to "undervalue the name of Albert" and "diminish the status of his father with whom, among royalty, the name Albert should stand alone."

Here King Edward VII is informally dressed and holding the hand of a ragged child. - The huge disparity between rich and poor at that time, was one of the social evils of the period. 

King Edward was related to the Royal families across Europe and was uncle to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.  He could see that his nephew might well push Europe into war.  King Edward was a diplomat and used his family contacts to maintain peace.  Through state visits to France he helped pave the way for the signing of the Anglo-French entente Cordiale of 1904.

Sadly in 1914, four years after King Edward's death, war with Germany was declared and so ended the Edwardian era in Britain.

and there's more....

If you would like a guided tour of the Cotswolds contact:   anne@tourandexplore.com