The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1642: Chapter 40: Victoria’s Secret (Part 2)

Three years have passed, and his skills have further improved.

Sometimes you have to admit, when it comes to making Palmerston speechless, a seasoned veteran can’t compare to a naturally gifted individual.

Arthur is eager to prove himself, and Kensington Palace is equally on high alert regarding Arthur’s visit.

Because just yesterday, King William IV, who had always been very resistant to hosting the Crown prince’s test, finally nodded in agreement and even marked the authoritative figures he recognized on the list of examiners submitted by Kensington Palace.

Due to Michael Faraday declining the King’s examiner appointment, and Whig Party MP Thomas Macaulay, renowned in the field of history, unable to fulfill the role due to his reassignment as Advisor to the Governor of India, Sir Arthur Hastings, Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of London, very ”unexpectedly” stepped in as a last-minute addition.

According to The Times, this education expert will not only be responsible for the Natural Philosophy assessment but will also take on the heavy responsibility of being the history examiner.

Whenever the Duchess of Kent spoke about her daughter’s education plans, she lost her usual calm and composure.

As for Arthur, he looked at the packed schedule and only felt a headache.

He knows the Royal Family has ample resources and willingness to educate their offspring, but even so, the Duchess of Kent’s education plan still feels overwhelmingly dense.

Starting with language classes, the Countess of Northumberland is responsible for teaching Italian, while Miss Barbara Evans is the Latin teacher.

However, just two classes don’t mean Victoria only understands two languages.

English and German are considered her native languages, and French, as the public social language of European high society, was already fully mastered by Victoria at the age of eight.

Therefore, Kensington Palace actually requires her to be proficient in five languages, and it is not ruling out the possibility of arranging for her to continue learning Spanish and Dutch in the future.

But if she can master Italian and German well, the difficulty of learning the other two languages should reduce significantly.

After all, Spanish and Italian have many similarities, and German is essentially Dutch with an accent, or as Heine puts it, Dutch is actually a degraded form of German.

Lablache’s singing class and Miss Taglioni’s dance class are also major challenges.

In addition to that, classes in literature, geography, mathematics, history, natural philosophy, and theology fill up the rest of the Monday to Friday schedule.

Even more unexpectedly for Arthur, the Duchess of Kent actually follows academic trends by specifically adding political economy to the curriculum.

The only regret she feels is probably that the political economy master Malthus unfortunately passed away two years ago, otherwise she would most likely have invited him from the East India Company Haileybury College to teach.

The Duchess of Kent looked at Arthur with hope: ”To be honest, Sir Arthur, I personally, or rather, Kensington Palace, has an unwelcome request for you. If you’re willing, I hope you could become Victoria’s tutor. I don’t want to measure your value with money, but I assure you, as long as you agree, we will definitely offer a salary level that matches your personal achievements.”

Standing aside, Conroy timely added: ”In all of England, and even across Europe, we have an absolutely competitive salary level.”

Everyone knows, there is no better educational method than having the examiner personally act as the tutor.

Although the Duchess of Kent is extremely confident about her daughter’s academic situation, it’s always good to have an extra layer of assurance for the test to be held in a month.

She does not expect Arthur to teach her daughter anything in a month’s time, but as long as Arthur accepts the salary from Kensington, he would at least not make things difficult for Victoria during the exam.

More importantly, she believes that winning over Sir Arthur Hastings is equivalent to gaining the support of the Greater London police force and the goodwill of many middle-class ladies.

And to achieve these, all it takes is an annual salary of 800 pounds for the position of a tutor, which is simply too cheap.

Arthur looked at the job contract lying in front of him, pondering with a frown.

The salary for teaching a little girl how to read is actually 22 times more than brawling with hooligans in the street, 4 times more than catching bullets under the Tower of London, and even 300 pounds more than braving the weather in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

It must be said, the Duchess of Kent’s investment in education is indeed substantial, and her generosity is astonishing.

However, compared to Princess Victoria’s annual educational funding for Young Italy, this price suddenly seems very reasonable.

Indeed, the closer you are to the center of power, the easier it is to earn money.

But Arthur did not rush to express his stance; instead, he spoke kindly: ”I understand your feelings. But, have you forgotten? I have not yet met the Princess in person.”

The Duchess of Kent thought Arthur had reservations.

Because both in her personal view and the media circles of London, most Royal Family members have a rather poor reputation.

Victoria’s uncles are almost all notorious, mostly known for their unruly nature in their youth, and their illegitimate children also carry on their fathers’ characters.

The current Prime Minister, Viscount Melbourne, once commented on the sons and grandsons of George III: ”These are just a bunch of beasts mating wherever they go and then apologizing for not being able to marry, and in fact, no one can do anything about them.”