Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
1.1840-1844:THEFIRSTFOURCHILDREN
thenapologisingbysayingshewasnotconscious,justasifitwaspossible,
whichImaintainitisnot,fortheaccoucheurtotellwhetherthepatient
wasorwasnotconsciousofbeingexposed.Womendonotmakeknown
allthewoundstheyreceiveonthoseoccasionsfromimprudence.”216
InthecaseoftheQueen,whenlabourreacheditsfnalstagessometime
pastnoon,herbedroomdoorwasopenedandanordinaryFrenchbedhead
wasseentohavebeenplacedinthedoorway,intheverycentreoftheline
offoldingdoorsbywhichthewholesuiteofapartmentswasconnected.
ThismeantthattheoffcialscouldseetheactualbedbutnottheQueen
herself,becauseascreenhadbeenerectedatthefootboardofthebedon
whichshelay.Thenurse,MrsLilly,andDrLocockcouldbeseenonthe
left,andPrinceAlbertontheright.TheQueenwasquiteinvisibleand,
underlinesFerguson,despiteherpainsquiteinaudibleeventothedoctors
intheanteroom,usofrmlydidshesuppressheranguish”.217Thismust
havecomeasasurprisetoPrinceAlbert,asafewweeksearliertheQueen
hadaskedLocockwhethershewouldu[…]suffermuchpain.Hereplied
thatsomepainwastobeexpected,butthathehadnodoubtHerMajesty
wouldbearitverywell.tOhyes,’saidtheQueen,tIcanbearpainaswell
asotherPeople’”.Despitethis,PrinceAlberttoldLocockthathedidnot
thinkshewouldbearpainwellatall,andthatheexpecteduShewould
makeagreatRompos”.218
Assoonasthedoorswereopened,FergusonandBlagdenenteredthe
roombutLocockimmediatelymadeclearitthattheQueendidnotdesire
theirpresence.Forafewmoments,thechildremainedasyetunbornand
Fergusonbegantobeafraidthatifnotassisted,it[thechild]wouldbestill-
born.However,itscriesweresoonheardandinaninstantitwasdeclared
thataprincesshadbeenborn.Thus,uafteragoodmanyhourssuffering”
wrotetheQueen,uaperfectlittlechildwasbornat2intheafternoon”.219
Itisusuallystatedthatonrealisingthesexofthechild,DrLocock
declared,uOh,Madamitisaprincess”,andthattheQueenreplied:
uNevermind,thenextwillbeaprince”.220Thesestatementsarebased
onGrenville’sreportofhisdinneron18DecemberwiththeEarlof
Erroll,LordStewardoftheHousehold,andoneoftheoffcialspresent
attheaccouchement.ErrollagreedtosharewithGrevilleusomegossip-
ingdetails”oftheQueen’saccouchement221andtoldhimthatfromthe
room[threeroomsawayfromthatinwhichtheQueenwasinlabour]
whereheandtheotheroffcialswerewaiting,uhecouldseetheQueen
plainlythewholetimeandhearwhatshesaid”.ThisbelieswhatFergu-
sonwrote,namelythattheoffcialscouldseethebedbutnottheQueen,
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