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Marie Luise Viktoria, Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess in Saxony ( August 17 , 1786 – March 16 , 1861 ) was the daughter of Duke Francis Frederick Of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield ( 1750 - 1806 ) and Countess Auguste Reuss Of Ebersdorf And Lobenstein ( 1757 - 1831 ). FIRST MARRIAGE On December 21 , 1803 at Coburg, she married (as his second wife) Karl, Prince Of Leiningen ( 1763 – 1814 ) whose first wife Henriette Reuss Of Ebersdorf was her aunt. They had two children: SECOND MARRIAGE On May 29 , 1818 at Coburg (and again on July 11 , 1818 at Kew Palace ) she married Edward Augustus, Duke Of Kent ( 1767 – 1820 ). Their only child was: LATER LIFE After the death of the Duke of Kent, his widowed Duchess had little cause to remain in England, not speaking the language and having a palace at home in Coburg, where she could live cheaply on the incomes of her first husband, the late Prince of Leiningen. However, the British succession at this time was far from assured: the only other son of George III who had a viable marriage, the Duke of Clarence (the future William IV ) had yet to produce any legitimate children. The Duchess decided that she would be better served to gamble on her daughter's accession than to live quietly in Coburg, and sought support from the British government, having inherited her husband's debts. At the time, Princess Victoria was only fourth in line for the throne, and Parliament was not inclined to support yet another impoverished royal. The Duchess was allowed a suite of rooms in the dilapidated Kensington Palace , along with several other impoverished nobles. There she brought up her daughter, Victoria, who would become Queen. Viktoria, who barely spoke English, relied heavily on government, headed by the princess's mother. As the personal secretary of the Duchess, Conroy would be the veritable "power behind the throne". He did not count on Victoria's uncle, William IV, surviving long enough for Victoria to reach her majority. He had cultivated her mother as his ally, and ignored and insulted Victoria. Now he had no influence over her, and thus tried to force her to make him her personal secretary upon her accession. This plan too backfired, as Victoria came to associate her mother with Conroy's schemes, for pressuring her to sign a paper declaring Conroy her personal secretary. When Victoria became Queen, she relegated the Duchess to separate apartments away from her own. When the Queen's first child, the Princess Royal , was born, the Duchess unexpectedly found herself welcomed back into Victoria's inner circle. It is likely that this came about as a result of the dismissal of Baroness Lehzen at the behest of Victoria's husband, Prince Albert . Firstly, this removed Lehzen's influence, and Lehzen had long despised the Duchess and Conroy, suspecting them of an illicit affair. Secondly, it left Victoria wholly open to Albert's influence, and he likely prevailed upon her to reconcile with her mother. DEATH Viktoria died on 16 March, 1861. She is buried in the Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum at Frogmore , Windsor Home Park. TITLES FROM BIRTH TO DEATH Here is a list of titles Viktoria held from birth to death in chronological order:
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