HRH the Duke of Puke
Banned
In some ways, it would have been a great match:
1) They were the same age (although this is also true of Albert)
2) This would have likely reduced tensions between Boer and Briton, since MW Pretorius was the son of Andries Pretorius, one of the most revered Boer figures.
3) It would have likely assisted the British in their goal of annexing South Africa. Having Andries Pretorius’s grandson as the heir to the British throne would have likely decreased Boer resistance to British annexation by a large margin.
4) MW Pretorius was a far more capable statesman than Albert
5) MW Pretorius was far more handsome than Albert, so it’s likely Victoria could have learned to love him
The only real complication
1) Andries Pretorius, still alive at the time, had trekked away to be free of the Brits, and may not be so keen on his firstborn son marrying their queen, although, who knows? He was a very astute statesmen, and might have seen it as an opportunity for the Boers to increase their influence in London, opening up an opportunity for them to negotiate for more favorable terms, perhaps a personal union between the Boer Republics and the British crown, with the Boers completely independent but able to receive military assistance from Britain when necessary. Something similar happened with some German principality that only ended because Victoria became Queen of England, but women couldn’t inherit the principality.
Some objections that people might assume, but they actually wouldn’t have mattered:
1) MW Pretorius was a foreigner
- Yes, but so was Prince Albert. At least Pretorius was born as a British subject, unlike Albert
2) Pretorius wasn’t a native English speaker
- Victoria and Albert were both native speakers of German, and Albert always had an accent when he spoke English, since he had been born in Germany. Pretorius may have had less of an accent than Albert, seeing as he was born and raised in a British colony.
3) Pretorius wasn’t royalty
- No, but he was a son of a foreign leader, it’s not like he was some random peasant. It would be akin to the Queen marrying the son of a US President. Also, he was descended from a noble family - the van Egmond counts.
4) Pretorius had distant Chinese ancestry
- This wasn’t known at the time, it was only 1/32 of his ancestry, and even Princess Diana had some Indian ancestry (Pretorius’s great-great grandmother, Christina de Veij, was the daughter of Lim Inko, a Chinese convict who was banished to the Cape Colony and took the name “Abraham de Vey” upon his baptism)
www.wikitree.com
I wonder if he would have been required to anglicize his name to “Prince Martin”, the way Prince Philippos of Greece had to anglicize his name to “Prince Philip”.
1) They were the same age (although this is also true of Albert)
2) This would have likely reduced tensions between Boer and Briton, since MW Pretorius was the son of Andries Pretorius, one of the most revered Boer figures.
3) It would have likely assisted the British in their goal of annexing South Africa. Having Andries Pretorius’s grandson as the heir to the British throne would have likely decreased Boer resistance to British annexation by a large margin.
4) MW Pretorius was a far more capable statesman than Albert
5) MW Pretorius was far more handsome than Albert, so it’s likely Victoria could have learned to love him
The only real complication
1) Andries Pretorius, still alive at the time, had trekked away to be free of the Brits, and may not be so keen on his firstborn son marrying their queen, although, who knows? He was a very astute statesmen, and might have seen it as an opportunity for the Boers to increase their influence in London, opening up an opportunity for them to negotiate for more favorable terms, perhaps a personal union between the Boer Republics and the British crown, with the Boers completely independent but able to receive military assistance from Britain when necessary. Something similar happened with some German principality that only ended because Victoria became Queen of England, but women couldn’t inherit the principality.
Some objections that people might assume, but they actually wouldn’t have mattered:
1) MW Pretorius was a foreigner
- Yes, but so was Prince Albert. At least Pretorius was born as a British subject, unlike Albert
2) Pretorius wasn’t a native English speaker
- Victoria and Albert were both native speakers of German, and Albert always had an accent when he spoke English, since he had been born in Germany. Pretorius may have had less of an accent than Albert, seeing as he was born and raised in a British colony.
3) Pretorius wasn’t royalty
- No, but he was a son of a foreign leader, it’s not like he was some random peasant. It would be akin to the Queen marrying the son of a US President. Also, he was descended from a noble family - the van Egmond counts.
4) Pretorius had distant Chinese ancestry
- This wasn’t known at the time, it was only 1/32 of his ancestry, and even Princess Diana had some Indian ancestry (Pretorius’s great-great grandmother, Christina de Veij, was the daughter of Lim Inko, a Chinese convict who was banished to the Cape Colony and took the name “Abraham de Vey” upon his baptism)
Marthinus Wessel Pretorius (1819-1901) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree
Is this your ancestor? Compare DNA and explore genealogy for Marthinus Pretorius born 1819 Graaff Reinet, Cape Colony died 1901 Potchefstroom, Transvaal, South Africa including ancestors + descendants + 5 photos + 1 genealogist comments + DNA connections + more in the free family tree community.
I wonder if he would have been required to anglicize his name to “Prince Martin”, the way Prince Philippos of Greece had to anglicize his name to “Prince Philip”.
