On 6th September 1844, Prince Alfred, fourth child and second son of Queen Victoria, was baptised in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle.
“How thankful do I feel to be so well, exactly a month after I was confined. — We went down to the Mews to see a beautiful Charà bancs, which the King of the French has kindly sent us. We got into it & had 4 horses harnessed to it, & it moved with great facility & rapidity. The King had sent over 2 of his “Piqueers” in charge of it to show, & explain everything. It is so very handsome carriage. — Heard from Sir Robert Peel that the announcement of the amicable settlement of affair with the French, had been very well received in the Hse of C. — Mama come to luncheon. — Albert drove me out & it was very hot. — I was full of agitation at the approaching ceremony. — At ½ p. 5, I began to dress; I wore a white satin dress trimmed with flowers of the wedding lace, in short, just as I wore it on my dear wedding day, now only 4 & ½ years ago, & I reappear in it for the Christening of our 4th Child! I wore my diamond circlet in my hair, & my Turkish diamonds, & big sapphire & diamonds brooch. Dear Albert wore the uniform of Governor of the Round Tower. We took Vicky, Bertie, & Alice, (whom I led) into the Corridor, where were assembled, the Queen Dowr, Mama, Aunt Gloucester, The Cambridges, Augusta & Fritz Strelitz & the Pce of Prussia. I must say, the dear Chicks looked very sweet, the 2 little girls in white satin with lace, & Bertie, looking very handsome too in a white “éfinglé” velvet blouse, with silver braid, white trousers, trimmed with lace & satin shoes. The Children were universally admired & we were very proud of them. We formed a procession to the Chapel, the Pce of Prussia leading me, & good dear little Vicky at my hand, Albert leading the Queen Dowr, with Bertie at his hand. The Sponsors, (Proxies) who were Mama, representing Alexandrine, Uncle Cambridge, representing George, & the Duke of Wellington, representing Charles, went in 1rst. The Chapel looked extremely pretty, lit up, & held the number of people present, wonderfully, but it was very hot.
I stood between the Prince & Albert. The Children behaved quite admirably, never once opening their lips the whole time. The Archbishop of Canterbury performed the ceremony, & with him were besides, the Bishop of Norwich, the Bishop of Oxford, the Dean of Windsor, Mr Courtenay, Archdeacon Wilberforce, & Ld Wriothesley Russell. The service commenced with “O be joyful”, by Palestrina, & at the conclusion Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus was sung. The Baby looked magnificent, in the same robe & cap worn successively by his sisters & brother at their Christenings, & more like 3 months old, than 1 month. We returned to the Corridor, where good little Alice (who did not go to the Chapel met us again. Little Alfred also appeared, & was greatly admired. May God bless the precious child, & grant that he may grow up to become like his beloved Father. The 2 eldest remained till ½ p. 9, enjoying everything. Bertie asked the Archbishop, pointing to his wig: “What’s that you got on?” & said to me “You are Queen; got a Crown on.” This hurried sketch or rather scrawl, may serve to give some idea of how the Children looked
We remained in the Corridor, until dinner was ready, & at ½ p. 7 we proceeded to St. George ‘Hall, through the Reception Room, where the company Was assembled. I annex the list of those who dined The Pce of Prussia led me in, & I sat between him & Uncle Cambridge. The music after dinner was very fine, including the “Festmarsch” by Meyerbeer, & we sat in the Waterloo Gallery At ½ p. 10, we retired, & I took leave of the truly amiable Pce of Prussia, who went back to London & was to embark next day. All, but the Queen Dowr left. – Felt somewhat tired.”
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