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Bertie was always compared in disadventage with hios elder sister, Vicky, the Princess Royal, who was a very clever girl; Bertie was not. He was a rebel and sometimes absent-minded boy; reluctant to study, he felt unloved by his parents, who marked a clear preference for Vicky, demanding too much from Bertie. Anyway, he was a tender and sensible boy.
When he was eight, Bertie was put under a private perceptor, Mr. Henry Birch. Victoria and Albert were inflexible in anything concerning the Prince's education and sice Birch was considered to be too soft with his pupil and besides he had conceived some affection for the boy, he was relinquished form his charge and quickly replaced. Bertie was really sorry for Birch's departure. His new perceptor was Frederick Gibbs whom he deeply disliked. Because of his rebel attitude, his father introduced a more severe regime of study (7 hours a day, 7 days a week) Such pressure over the boy produced in him terrible acceses of anger, during which he used to throw Gibbs anything at his hand.
Bertie spent his childhood longing for love. When he was 13 years old, in 1855, his parents took him in an official visit to Paris and to the French Imperial family. Bertie fall in love with Paris, and his love for the city would last forever. he journey to Paris made Bertie to discovered the vast world that was waiting for him outside his inmediate ambit and he longed to discovered it by himself.
During the spring of 1858, Victoria, Albert and his old perceptor, Baron Stockmar, decided that Bartie should be confined with his tutor Mr. Gibbs, in a house known as White Lodge, in Richmond Park, in order to devoted himself to study. There would be also at White Lodge with him, Rev. Charles Feral Tarver, Lord Valletort and two officers from the army. Prince Albert ordered Bertie's guardians to subject him to a rigourous code of discipline. The young Prince's reaction to his confinement was rebelion. He disliked Gibbs and any wish or order expressed by the tutor bumped into the Prince's objection. Victoria and Albert changed their mind about Gibbs when one of the officers in charge reported that such disicipline would not report anybenefit to the Prince. Gibbs was dismissed and inmediately replace by General Robert Bruce who assumed the rank of Governor of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The new tutor continued with the mission of forcing Bertie to become a copy of Prince Albert. The Prince of Wales was sent to Edimburgh for a period of intense study and then he would compliment his education in the universities od Cambridge and Oxford, but always under the severe vigilance of General Bruce.
In 1860 it was expected that the Queen paid a visit to Canada to inaugurate a new bridge thatt would cross St. Lawrence River and to put the first stone of the Federal Parliament building in Ottawa. But at forty one, her nerves were so stressed, that Victoria was not able to endure a trip like this. Prime Minister Lord Palmerstone suggested that Bertie could represent his mother in the Canadian trip. Victoria and Albert had some doubts about if Bertie could be equal to the occasion but at last it was decided that Bertie should go to Canada.
On July 10, 1860, Bertie boarded the HMS Hero in direction of Canada. On July 23, the ship arrived to Terranova. The Prince of Wales and his suite traveled around Canada (Terranova, New Scotland, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick) By the second week of august, the HMS Hero sailed trough St. Lawrence River and on the 18th it anchored in Quebec. The Prince was succesful with the Canadian society; he visited Quebec and Montreal presiding over several public acts and in Ottawa he put the first stone of the Parliament building. When he visited Niagara Falls, the french acrobat Blondin crossed the Falls walking over a string. When he arrived where Bertie was he invited the Prince to do the way back with him over the Falls. Bertie was about to accept but Bruce impeded him to do it.
After Canada, Bertie visited the United States, invited by President James Buchanan. In Washington president Buchanan organized a reception in the White House in Bertie's honour. When he visited New York, the Prince was acclaiimed by the crowd. Bertie's American journey was a great success. President Buchanan wrote to Queen Victoria: "He (Bertie) has faced a very difficult task for a person his age, and his behaviour in all this has been that of his age and position. He has shown himself honourable, frank and affable and he won the respect of the sensible and wise people". At the end of the journey, bertie had gained maturity and self confidence.
Prince Albert refused to believe in Bertie's success. To him, the joyfully aclamations of the Americans and Canadians were not really for Bertie but a sign of loyalty to the Queen. Bertie wanted to enter the army but his father refused and sent him back to study. Nevertheless, on March, 1861, Victoria and Albert changed their minds and allowed their son to enter the army. It was decided that Bertie should spent 10 weeks at Curragh Camp in Ireland, with the Granadier Guards, in order to learn the duties of all ranks in the army. Altough he had been forbidden to depart with his collegues (he had his own residence apart for the rest of the cadets) Bertie was delighted with the life in Curragh Camp. His sexual inexperience caused rejoice between his collegues and some of them decided to play the Prince a heavy joke. They persuaded a young actress named Nellie Clifton, to introduce herself in Bertie's bed. Bertie enjoyed the moment but soon the gossip arrive to his parents by a letter sent to Prince Albert by Baron Stockmar.
Prince Albert was shocked when he read Stockmar's letter. He wrote Bertie a long letter recriminating him for his misbehaviour. During the past days Albert had beensuffering muscular pains and insomnia. He suffered also from a chronic cold. Altough he was feeling terribly bad, he went to inspect the construction of the Military Academy of Sandhurst under a terrible rain. When he returned he was completely wet and shivering from cold. Two days later, in a last attempt to reform his son, he went to Cambridge to see Bertie. On a cold and rainy day, father and son took a long walk having an animated conversation. When he returned to Windsor, Albert was suffering form terrible pains i his back and legs; he had typhoid fever. By December 14th, the Prince Consort was dead. To Victoria, Bertie had ben guilty of her father's death and she never would forgive him.
Before his death , Albert had beun to think about a possible marriage for the Prince of Wales. His eledest daghter Vicky (Crown Princess of Prussia) had suggested some candidates like Princess Hilda of Dessau and Princess Elisabeth of Wied (future Queen of Romania), but none of them satisfied Bertie. Like her parents, Vicky wanted a suitable German princess for her brother to consoldate a German alliance. In late 1860, Vicky suggested Princess Alexandra of Denmark, daughter of the heir to the Danish throne, Prince Chrisitan of Glucksburg (future King Christian IX of Denmark). Although a British alliance with Denmark would disgust Prussia, Vicky accepted that Princess Alexandra was really beutiful. When Queen Victoria saw her picture, she agreed with her daughter about her beauty. The Danish Princess pleased Bertie too.
After Prince Albert's death, Bertie was sent on a journey through Mid-Orient wich would last five months. During this trip, Bertie made up his mind about his marriage with Alexandra and when he came back, he was anxious for getting married.
By their side, Prince Christian and his wife were enthusiastic abour the idea of a marriage between their daughter and the Prince of Wales.
The day of the wedding was clear and sunny. At 11'oclock the first seven of the Royal carriages with an escort of House Guards, left Windsor Castle and proceeded in the direction of St. George Chapel. The Queen's choice of St. George or the ceremony, instead of Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral had been severely critizised. Inside the carriages of the first procession, among other guests were the bride's mother, Princess Louise of Denmark, and siblings, Princes Frederik, Wilhelm and Waldemar, and Princesses Dagmar and Thyra. At quarter to twelve, the second procession, this time of ten carriages appeared. The bridegroom's brothers, Prince Alfred, Prince Arthur and Prince Leopold, and sisiters, Princesses Helena, Louise and Beatrice, Princess Alice with her husband and the Crown Princess of Prussia with her eldest son, Prince Wilhelm, came inside the carriages. At tweleve o'clock a third procession left Widsor Castle. This time there were six carriages; inside the sixth one came the Prince of Wales accompanied by his supporters, the Crown Prince of Prussia and his uncle the Duke of Saxe Coburg Gotha. In the last porcvession, which left the castle at quarter past twelve, came the brise, Princess Alexandra, accompanied by her father, Prince Christian of Denmark and the Duke of Cambridge. Her dress was not the Brussels lace one that King Leopold of Belgium had given her, but one of Honiton lace the Queen had decided she sould wear. Queen Victoria attended the ceremony with some reluctance; she was still in mourning for Prince Albert so she remianed discretely in the Catherine of aragon box. Four-year-old Prince Wilhlem of Prussia (the future Kaiser Wilhelm II), who was seated between his uncles Prince Alfred and Prince Leopold, both dresssed in Sccotish kilts, tried to throw the cairngom from the head of his dirk across the choir. His uncles tried to restrain him and the boy showed his displeasurte by bitting them on the legs.
After the nupcial ceremony, the Prince and Princess of Wales left for Osborne for their honeymoon, where later, they were joined by the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia with their four -year-son Wilhelm.
Bertie and Alix, as Princess Alexandra was familiarly known, became leaders of Brtish society life ; during the London season of 1863 they attended several balls and social getherings where they were the focus of attention. By May, they had established they residence at Marlborough House and since then they were seen en every social event in London. Soon the Queen began to be displesed by the Prince's and Princess' s agitated social life and commented that they wer just "liker puppets runnimng form one place to another with the only purpose of exhibing themselves. Whatever the Queen could think or say, Bertie and Alix continued with their active social life and wich made them popular and re-established the prestige the monarchy had lost because of the Queen's seclusion
They also had an intense social life at Sandringham, their country house at the northeast of Norfolk, where they used to spend the first towo months of the year and where fun and hunting were daily activities. In early March, Bertie left Alix behind and ud¿sed to go to Paris, his favourite city, where some kind friends prepared him as much pleasures as possible. After two or three days he used to take a train to the Blue Coast where he boarded his private yatch; after several weeks of balls, dinners, parties and visits to casinos, he returned to Marlborough House for the London season. During the summer he attended the Ascot races and in October, he and Alix left for Scotland where they lodged at Albergeldie Castle not far from Balmoral. Here Betie enjoyed the deer huntring. When ther hunting season ended, Bertie and Alix traveled again to Sandringham to celebrate Bertie's birhtday firs, then Alix's and finally Christmas.
Bertie was fond of night life. Accompanied by some friends (mainly Charled Carrington, with whom he mainteined a whole life friendship) he attended places of dubios reputation like Evans Music Hall in Convent Garden or to Cremorne Garden of Vauxhall. The Queen disliked his eldest's son frivolous and idle life of which she was partially guilty because of her attitude of maintening Bertie away from official affairs and becuase of the repression she and Albert had submitted the Prince to during his childhood and early youth.
Soon children began to arrive for the Wales couple. On January 8 1864, Alix attended to see Bertie playing hockey in Windsor. She was pregnant and the baby was expected for March. When she returned Frogmore after the hockey game, accompanied by Lady Macclesfield, she began to feel the symthomes of a forthcoming childbirth. Nothing was prepared; Lady Macclesfield called the only doctor in Windsor, who attended the Princess only asited by Bertie and by the lady-in-waiting. At nine o'clock in the evening Alix gave birth to a premature child, a small boy who only weight about three pounds. The boy was named Albert Victor, after his grandparents. The Queen was pleased with the newly born but she diliked the fact that he had been a premature child.
A year and a half later, on June 3, 1865, another boy was born to the Prince and Princess of Wales, this time at Marlborough House. The boy was named George. He was folloed by three daughters.Louise on Februeary 20, 1867, Victoria on June 6 1868 and Maud, on November 26, 1869. Bertie and Alix adored and spoiled their children, with the Queen displeased. Any effort was not enough to please the Wales children and to make them happy.
In 1863, eight years after Betie and Alix got married, King Frederik VII of Denmark died and Alix's father ascended the throne of Denmark as King Christian IX. Soon after, the conflict for the duchies of Schleswig Holstein sprang out, pushing Denmark into a war with Prussia. This conflict placed Bertie and Alix in a difficult position within tht Royal family. Queen Victoria had always been attached to Prussia as a loyalty to beloved husband, who had once dreamt in a unified Germany under Prussia, and besides her daughter Vicky was married to the Crown Prince of Prussia. So in the Prussian side there were the Queen, Vicky and her husband and in the Danish, there were Bertie and Alix, who wanted that the British Government gave its support to alix's country, but England remained neutral and Alix's father lost the duchies by an humiliating treaty for Denmark. The Princess never forgave Prussia for having humiiliated her father.
The Queen continued denieing Bertie any acces to official affairs; the Prince for his part increased his fondness for horse races and he became an entusiastic visitor to the hipodrome. Because of his privileged position he had the best advising in the matter and hired the services of the ebst trainers in the country. He joined the Jockey Club and attended to all the main races and when his horses won he received the enthusiastic support of the public. Obviusly the Queen deplored his son's fondness for races, which was not his only hobby; Bertie was also fond of gambling and soon rumours of his tight financial situation spread all over London. Among the circle of Bertie's intimate friends were Lord Charles Beresford, Prince Louis of Battenebrg, Lord Aylesford, Lord Randolph Curchill, Christopher Sykes, and the most intimate Charles Carrington, who was the Prince's constant companion in his nights adventures.
Meanwhile Alix had been ill with rheumatic fever since the birth of Princess Louise. Her health had weakened even more becuase she used to remain awaken the whole night, waiting for Bertie with anxiety. Even Alix's mother, the Queen of Denmark, said that Bertie was responsible for her daughter's illness. The Pricess's recovery was slowly, but with the rheumatic fever, the deafness inherited from her mother developed and she lost the grace and elegance of her first youthk, walking from then on with a certain lameness that resulted in another kind of elegance which the society ladies used to imitate.
Bertie did not change his way of life after Alix's illness. In 1869 he and Alix to Mid-Orient and as his costume was Bertie included Paris in their tour. When they returned, Bertie went to White Club with some friends and becuase of the smoking restriction in the place, he retired annoyed and took the decision to form his own club. The Marlborough Club was built with great luxury infront of the mansion. Nobody could bvecome member if Bertie didn't accept him. Smoking was allowed everywhere in the place and there were no special rules; it also included a billiard hall. On one occasion, while playing billiard Bertie rebuked Sir Frederick Johnstone, who was drunk: "Feddie, Freddie, he said, you are too drunk". Johnstone replied, piontig to Bertie's abdomen: "Tum-Tum, you are very fat". Bertie ordered his assistant to prepared Johnston's luggage for the next morning.
That same year, Bertie became involved in a scandal that damaged even more his public reputation. An acquaintance of Bertie, Sir Charles Mourdant , a landowner who possesed a residence in Warwick, was married to Harriet Montcrief, a young and pretty but a little excentric woman. After having given birth to a girl, who was suspected to be blind, her excentricity became insanity. She told her husband that she had went to bed with Lord Cole, Sir Frerick Johnston, among others, including the Prince of Wales. Mourdant foolishly believed her and complaint before a court, accusing Bertie of adultery. The Prince was summoned to appear in court on Februeary 23, 1870. When Alix learned about the case, she accepted Betie's innocence and supported him by acompaining him in all public appearences. The Queen also supported her son, but her true feelings were expressed in a letter to the President of the House of Lords, where she said that the Prince's frivoulous, selfish and pleasureness conduct was cotributing to increase the spirit of democracy.
The day when Bertie had to confront the tribunal arrived. Lord Penzance, the cause judge, asked him several questions like, when he had met Lady Mourdant, if she frenquented Marloborough House before, or if he (Bertie) had seen frequently Lady Mourdant and her husband. Bertie answered "Yes" to everything and he recognized he had written a letter to her before, on the event of her marriage, to congratulate her and he had sent her a wedding present. In fact, some days before he had published the letter and he had prooved it was not compromising. The last question Lord Penzance asked Bertie was if there had ever been any familiarity or any delictive act between the Prince and Lady Mourdant. Bertie answered in a firmly tone: "No, there was not". The case ended succesfully for the Prince of Wales and he could recover his honour. But his scandalous life, added to the Queen's seclusion had severely damage the prestige and popularity of the monarchy and waves of republicanism began to difuse evereywhere in the country.
By the end of 1870 Alix learned she was pregnant again. On April 6 1871 she gave birth to a premature child, a son, Alexander, who was very small and weak. It seemed he had only a remote chance to survive. In fact he died the following day, causing a great sadness in Bertie and Alix.
By the end of the year Bertie fell ill with typhoid fever and during several days he was at the doors of death. On December 13th, on the eve of the anniversary of Prince Albert's death, everybody feared the worse, but on the contrary to what everyone expected, on the 14th Bertie showed a light improvement and 24 hours later he showed clear signs of having overcome the illness.
On Frebruary 27 1872 a Thanksgiving service was held in St.Paul's Cathedral for Bertie's recovery. It was the first time for ten years that Queen Victoria appeared in public since Prince Albert's death. Both, the Queen and her heir were accalimed by the crowd. The Prince's illness had contribute to recover the Royal family's popularity and now nobody thought in republicanism
Altough the Queen had noticed that Bertie had chnaged his attitude since his illness, she continued refusing him any chnace of inteerfering in official matters. Bertie, for his part, always anxious of doimg domething for his country, decided himself to made a tour through India. The reasons for justifying the trip were that an insurrection was fear in the country; there had already been one in 1857, and besides, Lord Mayo, Viceroy of India, and Bertie's friend, had been murered the year before. The rule of India had been transfer from the West India Comany directly to the Crown and the presence of the Prince of Wales in the country would have a pacifying effdect and would transmit the native princes and the troops the human side of the Crown, which for them were just an abstract concept.
But Queen Victoria didn't even want to hear about Bertie's trip, which she considered ridicule; but the Pirnce convinced his mother arguing that Prince Albert had planned an extensive programme of trips for him, including India it, and that the Cabinet had already aproved it, which was not completely true.
Bertie had not informed Alix about his plans and when she learned of them she was quite irritated, and she told her husband that she would accompnied him; her great illussion was to visit India which she considered such a wonderful and magic country, but Bertie didn't intend to take her with him. He had hardly convinced his mother to let him do the trip and she would never allow Alix to go, since she (the Queen) considered that the Waleses shildren needed of her mother's presence. On the other side, there was no money to cover Bertie's expenses during the trip. He had no money and the Queen would not give any. Finally, Prime Minister Disraeli achived that Bertie received 12 thousand pounds for his trip form the Parliament. But the Prince would do the trip alone and Alix would never forgive him for not having taken her.
Bertie departed form England on October 11 1875. The trip was a great success for him; besides hunting lots of tigers and elephants he estbalished an excellent relation with several British functionaries like the Viceroy and the governors of lesser states, who felt reanimated by Bertie's sincere interest in their jobs. On the other hand, the Prince was displeased by the way some British officers gave to the native chiefs. On the matter he wrote: "It is cerntainly a deplorable situation... I'm sure that the natives of this country would feel more pleased towars us if they were treated with kindness and firmness but not with brutality and disdain."
Bertie's report about the conditions in India gained him the ministers' respect; they were surprised to discover that the Prince could be respomsible and Gladstone decided to appoint him fideicommisiioner of the British Museum. Later on he was assigned to do some labour in the Royal Commision for the Working Class Housing.
When Bertie and Aylesford arrive, the latter publicly declared, on May 12, he was not to divorce his wife. Later on they separeted quietly. Churchill sent Bertie a brief note of apology which the Prince rejected. Instead he declared that he and Alix woul never set a foot again in the house of any who offered hospitality to Lord Randolph or his wife. The Churchills fled to the United States in a kind of forced holiday. Bertie's dispute with Lord randolph would last eight years more, altough Bertie had accepted a more complete apology he himself prepared.
Bertie showed himself with Lillie in public, everywhere in London, with the aknowledge of Edwrad Langtry. Alix knew about the "Lillie affair" too and she accepted it. She knew that if she complained she would be herself humilliated, so she resigned herself in silence; she even invited Lillie to Marlborough House.
The Prince's relation with Lillie cooled down when, in a party where she had drunk so much, she slipped a piece of ice through Bertie's back, which infuriated him. Form some time he didn't even see her. Nevertheless he continued being fond of her and he even help her to be acepted in the theatre as an actress. He then encouraged Prince Louis of Battenberg to replace him as Lillie's lover. Louis became sincerely in love with her and she even had a baby with him. When Louis confess his parents he was the father of Lillie's baby, he was sent on board of the warship Inconstant and Lillie, after receiving some money, retired to the country to gave birth. Her marriage was dissolved and she married again with Sir Hugh de Bathe.
Bertie got then involved with a series of temporal lovers (among them there was the legendary French actress Sarah Bernhardt). The most famous of them was Lady Frances Brooke, later Duchess of Warwick. Lady Brooke had had a previous love affair with one of Bertie's friends, Lord Charles Beresford. An enemity sprang out between the two friends when Bertie tried to recover a compromising letter that Lady Brooke had written to Beresford, and which was in the hands of the latter's wife. Lady Beresford. The quarreled last until Prime Minister Lord Salisbury interfered and both parts reached an agreement. Nevetheless, the relations between Bertie and Beresford remained weak forever.
When Bertie's relation with Lady Brooke began, Alix was in Denmark and the news of the whole affair reached her. She decided to viasit her sister dagmar in Russia instead of comming back to England. She returned until on November 12, 1891, she received the news that her son, Prince George, had fallen ill with typhid fever. Bertie and Alix's mutual anxiety for their son's health aused their reconcilioation; nevertheless it was more difficult for Alix to accept Lady Brooke as her husband's lover as she had done with Lillie Langtry.
In September 1890, Bertie saw himself involved in another sacndal. He was lodging at Tranby Croft, the residence of a businnessman named Arthur Wilson, near Dorcaster, in order to attend the races. During the evenings, gambling was organized at Tranby Croft; one evening while palying Baccarat, Arthur Wilson's son noticed that one of the guests, Colonel Sir William Gordon Cumming, was cheating. He advised some of the other guests and the following evening, when Gordon Cumming won 25 pounds, the main part to Bertie who was the bank, young Wilson and his companions could testified the Colonel's cheating. On the third evening Gordon Cumming was confronted by his accusers and was forced to sign a document where he compromised himself not to play Baccarat again. Next morning he left Tranby Croft saying he was going to commit suiceide. He did not; instead he complaint before a court for damage and mischief caused by calumny. Bertie was summoned to testify. The Prince's prestige was again damaged since he was publicly known as being playing Baccarat, an ilegal game in England. Gordon Cuming lost the case but it was Bertie was the most affected by the scandal.
1891 was a year of great anxiety for Bertie and Alix because of their eldest son, Prince Albert Victor, or Eddy as he was familiarly called. He had incurred in a disolute life and used to frequent burdels at Cleveland Street; it was evident that he needed a wife. His affairs with two princesses, Alix of Hesse and Hélène of Orleans ended in nothing and when he finally became engaged to Princess Mary of Teck, soon after his brother, Prince George, had recover from typhoid fever, he fell ill with influenza. He never recovered; he died on January 14, 1892. It was a great shock and a great pain for both of his parents. During the funeral Bertie remained with his sight set on his son's death body with tears in his eyes; Alix, for her part, ordered that Eddy's bedroom remained the same as if he were alive.
It was decided that the new heir pressumtive, Bertie's second son, Prince George, should marry his death brother's fiance, Princess Mary. It was not easy for Alix to accept this; altoough she adored Geroge, her favourite son had always been Eddy and she never recovered from his death.
Bertie's quarrel with Lord Randolph Churchill had ended in 1884 and they re-established their old freindship. Alix was glad to be friend again of Lord Randolph's wife, Jeannie Jerome, for whom she felt sympathy and admiration. Churchill's political career developed quickly; in 1885 he became leader of the House of Commons and later on he became Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Salisbury's ministry. During this time, he maintened Bertie well informed about the private management of the Cabinet and passed him copies of official confidencial papers. It was the first time the Prince had access to Government affairs. Lord Randolph also guided the Prince in all mportant speeches he had topronounce.
Lord Randolph resigned to the Exchequer when he tried to introduce some reforms that were not supported by the Conservative Party. He toought he would pressure the party by resigning, but unexpectedly for him, Lord Salisbury accepted his resignation wich meant a shock for him. For 1890, Loprd Randolph was completely retired from his political career. During six years Bertie tried to convince his friend to return to policy, but it was in vain. The Waleses and the Churchills continued with their friendship; Bertie and Alix supported Jeannie Churchill througout the declnation of Lord Randolph's health , caused probably by an excess of drug consumption in order to balance his nervous system. He died on January 24, 1895 when he was 45 years of age.
On February 27, 1898, Bertie had dinner for the first time in the residence of Hon.George Keppel and his 29-year-old wife, Alice, who was the daughter of Almiral Sir William Edmonstone. The Prince fell inmediately attracted by the talent and grace of his hostess and it was enough to begin a passionate realtion that would last until Bertie's death. George Keppel accepted the relation and soon Alice was shown everywhere in Bertie's company. Because of her qualities and discretion she was welcome almost everywhere they went, in England and in the Continent.
Alix tolerated Mrs. Keppel although she never sympathized with her. She was displeased with the fact the Alice appeared everywhere Alix and Bertie went. She was in the yatch races at Cowes, in Biarritz for Bertie's winter holidays or in Marienbad where the Prince attended for his anual cure. Nevertheless, the Princess was was grateful to Alice Keppel for keeping Bertie entertained, good tempered and far for boredom which haunted him permanently; she used to laugh at her husband and his lover while watching them sitting side by side, since they were both quite plump while Alix, twenty five years the senior of Mrs. Keppel, had always a slim figure.
That same year of 1898, Bertie met two persons that would be of great importance in his life: Sir Ernest Cassel, who became his financial adviser and would remain in the post until Berties's death, and Miss Agnes Keyser, a generous woman who founded a hospital to provide help for military officers. Miss Keyser became Bertie's intimate friend, but not in the way Alice Keppel was; she was for him like a sister or a mother, and she was his confident. Their friendship lasted also until Bertie's death.
By the end of 1900, Queen Victoria's health had notroriously declined. She was almost blind qand was too weak. By mid-January the end was inminent. On January 22th most of the Queen's family had gathered at her bedside at Osborne House. Her eldest grandchild, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, had taken posession of the situation by occupying the most important place at his grandmother's side, putting his arm around her neck. Alix was kneeling at the bedside taking the Queen's hand in hers, with Bertie standing by her side. Before dying the Queen prononced Berties's name. She died at 6:30 that evening. When her small body was to be placed in the coffin, Kaiser Wilhelm tried to lift it, but Bertie stopped him saying that it was the right of the Queen's sons to place their mother into her coffin, so, putting the Kaiser aside, he and his only survivng brother, the Duke of Connaught, lifted the body and placed it into the coffin
The Queen's cofin was taken from Osborne to London on board the Royal yatch Alberta. Bertie noticed that the Royal standard in the yatch was at half-mast; he asked the captain the reason at which the man replied: "The Queen is dead sir". But Bertie frimly declared: "But the King is alive", and the satndard was soared. The Victorian Era was over and Bertie was now King Edward VII.