and fourth sons, the Dukes of Clarence and Kent, had married. Of the Duke
of Clarence we need say little more. He and his consort eventually reigned
as William IV. and Queen Adelaide, and they had two children who died in
earliest infancy, and did not further complicate the succession to the
crown.

The Duke of Kent, born in 1767, fourth son of George III.--a tall, stately
man, of soldierly hearing, inclined to corpulency and entirely
bald--married the widowed Princess of Leiningen, already the mother of a
son and a daughter by her first husband. The duke was of active, busy
habits; and he was patron of many charitable institutions--he presided
over no less than seventy-two charity meetings in 1816. Baron Stockmar
describes the Princess of Leiningen after her marriage in 1818, as 'of
middle height, rather large, but with a good figure, with fine brown eyes
and hair, fresh and youthful, naturally cheerful and friendly; altogether
most charming and attractive. She was fond of dress, and dressed well and
in good taste. Nature had endowed her with warm feelings, and she was
naturally truthful, affectionate, and unselfish, full of sympathy, and
generous.' The princely pair lived in Germany until the birth of a child
was expected, when the duke at first thought of taking a house in
Lanarkshire--which would have made Queen Victoria by birth a Scotchwoman.
Eventually, the Duke and Duchess of Kent took up their abode in Kensington
Palace.

On the 24th May 1819, their daughter was born, and she was named
Alexandrina Victoria, after the reigning Emperor of Russia and her mother.
The Prince Regent had wished the name of Georgiana; her own father wished
to call her Elizabeth. The little one was the first of the British royal
house to receive the benefits of Jenner's discovery of vaccination. The
Duke of Kent was so careful of his little girl that he took a cottage at