Chapter Text
Heirs and spares. The provision of several children was any monarch’s duty. But in case of King George IV, he had failed to provide his Kingdom with a spare in the case of his dearly beloved daughter’s death.
Though no one could have predicted that Princess Charlotte of Wales died in childbirth, it was not an unexpected outcome as still many women died from childbirth consequences.
Thus, the duty of providing the United Kingdom with a new heir fell on the shoulders of the King’s younger brothers William and Edward. Both married, but only Edward had surviving children: Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, born 24 May 1819, and Princess Augusta Joanna of Kent, born 29 August 1820.
The Duke of Kent passed away several months prior to the birth of his second daughter, but the girls were being taken care of by their mother and Palace staff at Kensington Palace.
Victoria was the heir, Joanna the spare. Yet both would have to marry in order to secure the line of succession. Plans were made for both girls after Victoria’s coronation on 28 June 1838, and thus their destinies were set in stone from that moment onwards.
Though they were both able to make their own choice, the girls received a limited list of potential suitors from Parliament who would be beneficial to the Kingdom and found appropriate. And they were expected to make a choice of that list within the next 5 years.
Joanna was getting rather frustrated with this whole ‘husband-hunting’ stuff.
Despite the limited list Parliament had given her and her sister, the younger had hoped to have found a man of sufficient standing who was at least decent enough in his behaviour. But all of the options she had evaluated up till now had been an incredible disappointment.
She was currently in the company of Charles, Crown Prince of Württemberg, and had previously met with Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Prince Ernst of Saxe-Hildburghausen, and Crown Prince Friedrich Francis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Yet none of the men had impressed her in any way, shape, or form.
The Princess was close to giving up and wait until Parliament decided her marriage for her.
That was the consequence if she did not find someone of her own.
At least, that’s what she thought that would happen.
She hadn’t exactly planned on meeting Archduke Andreas Nikolaus of Austria, the only child of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and his first wife Princess Maria Luisa Carlota of Parma.
The Austrian was there to meet the Crown Prince’s unwed sisters Catherine and Augusta as potential brides, making the encounter quite a surprise.
Neither seemed to mind, however.
Niki, as the Archduke preferred to be called, was also receiving a ‘hurry up’ from his rather ambitious stepmother Princess Sophie of Bavaria who, by all accounts, wore the metaphorical pants in the marriage. He openly spoke about the pressure he received from his family to get married, as it was incredibly likely that the Imperial throne would be passed from the reigning Emperor Francis to his oldest surviving nephew. Also, the Austrian-Hungarian government was not keen on one of the minor Habsburg-Lorraine lines such as the Austria-Tuscany line inheriting the main Imperial title.
The pair of foreigners spent quite some time in each other’s company, supervised by chaperones.
As the British woman’s stay was coming to an end, the Archduke made an offer for marriage under the condition that they had not found anyone by the end of that year (1840), and she agreed.
Victoria was disappointed when her younger sister came back from her travels through Germany without having found herself a husband, an emotion which was clear on her face. She had hoped that this time her sister would finally choose a husband as the number of prospects were dwindling.
Although, she had perhaps judged too quickly.
Joanna spoke of a marriage pact between her and the senior Austrian heir Archduke Andreas Nikolaus.
Had neither found a suitable spouse by the end of 1840, they would marry.
The newlywed woman quickly gave her sister Royal permission for the match. She saw the pact as an opportunity to mend the relationships between their respective dynasties. She also didn’t mind if her sister became Empress Consort of Austria, as it was a more than prestigious title for a British Princess who was the sister of a Queen Regnant.
She would have to fight Parliament for her sister, but it was something she didn’t mind doing.
Princess Augusta Joanna of Kent would find herself married to Archduke Andreas Nikolaus Ludwig Franz Karl Joseph of Austria on 11 December 1841, a year and a half after they met.
They had had an 11-months long engagement period. Such a lengthy period was unheard of in Royal circles, but the couple had chosen to have such a long period in place in order to get to know each other better before the wedding came around. It also gave the governments time to decide on the couple’s post-marital allowance and allowed for their apartments to be properly furnished.
The first year of their Royal marriage was all about settling in and adjusting to a new environment as well as new Royal duties, especially for the Archduchess by marriage. The courts of London and Vienna were incredibly different, thus new court etiquette had to be learned.
It took some time for the couple’s first child to arrive, but a singleton daughter was born on 21 March 1843 and she was named Maria Louisa Christina Augusta Karolina Fernanda. She was the first of 11 children to be born to the Imperial couple, 6 of whom were sons.