5 Chapter 5: The Crown Prince's Gift
In fact, not just for the British Empire, but also for most European monarchies, Queen Victoria was a benchmark of the monarchial system.
Known as the Ancestor of Europe, Queen Victoria had close blood relations with the royal families of many countries, even including German Emperor Wilhelm II, one of the Great Powers, who was her grandson-in-law.
When Queen Victoria passed away on the Isle of Wight in the original history, many of her descendants were by her side, including Crown Prince Edward and Kaiser Wilhelm II.
As a German Emperor, Wilhelm II was able to accompany Queen Victoria at all times, which shows how high her status was for the major royal families of Europe.
Queen Victoria's idea was met with opposition from the vast majority of people, as no one would want the already over 80-year-old Queen Victoria to travel thousands of miles to the Isle of Wight.(island of white previously)
Even though many people understood Queen Victoria's yearning for her deceased loved ones, neither the British Empire nor European royalty could accept the blow of losing Queen Victoria.
However, Queen Victoria, who had made up her mind, was not stopped by anyone, even Prime Minister Robert and Crown Prince Edward couldn't stop her.
The only fortunate thing was that Queen Victoria did not decide to set off immediately but waited until Arthur had taken care of everything and went to Australia with him.
Although Duke Arthur was assassinated at a young age, he left behind a lot of wealth and property for little Arthur.
Putting aside the two duchies and an earldom that had been converted to Australia, just the castles and two military factories, a steel plant, and a shipyard that were originally managed by Duke Arthur were worth at least tens of millions of pounds.
Duke Arthur also left behind a large number of shares in industrial and other sector factories or companies, which were valued at a minimum of millions of pounds.
Now that Arthur is going to Australia, most of these assets need to be relocated or liquidated to have the greatest impact.
For Arthur, all the shares he holds need to be liquidated. Although these shares may appreciate in value for a period of time in the future, Arthur, who is about to go to Australia, clearly does not have much time to wait for these stocks to appreciate.
It is better to liquidate all of them into pounds and contribute to the development of Australia.
And those shipyards, steel plants, and military factories should all be relocated to Australia if possible.
Arthur, the Duke of Canning, has decided to sell all of his assets and move to Australia. He has several factories in the UK that are rare and valuable, and their sale will accelerate Australia's industrial and technological development.
The Duke also left several castles, which are hundreds of years old and have extensive grounds, well-developed infrastructure, gardens, multiple restaurants, and numerous valuable artworks. The value of these castles alone may exceed £60 million, equivalent to a quarter of the total annual fiscal revenue of the British Empire.
Fortunately, the Duke's butler, Mr. Hunter, was previously in charge of managing the Duke's properties and is familiar with all of his assets. After learning of the Duke's plan to sell all his properties and move to Australia, Mr. Hunter did not object and silently helped the Duke sell off his assets.
Selling the Duke's assets went smoothly, probably due to the prosperity of the British Empire's economy, which has created many wealthy individuals. Most of the stocks and castles were sold in just one month, with the castles being particularly popular among the nobility. The sales generated a staggering £70 million in income for the Duke.
Combined with the income from the sale of stocks, the Duke now has a terrifying £87 million in cash.
On March 3, at Buckingham Palace, it was the Duke's last day in the UK and also the day before Queen Victoria's planned departure. The British government was particularly busy that day, not only dealing with daily affairs but also preparing for Queen Victoria's departure the next day.
As the Queen of the British Empire, Queen Victoria's procession could not be low-key.
This time, she brought along a royal guard of up to 2,000 people, as well as an escort fleet consisting of two battleships and five cruisers.
Accompanying her were members of the royal family including Princess Beatrice, Arthur, Princess Louise, Princess Margaret, and Patrician, as well as the Palace steward Harvey and Deputy Prime Minister John.
To facilitate the care of Queen Victoria's daily needs, an additional 12 servants, three maids, five chefs, and two pastry chefs were also brought along on the trip.
After completing all the preparations, Queen Victoria began her final farewells with government officials and Prince Edward.
The farewell between Prince Edward and Queen Victoria was very stiff, perhaps because both of them had their own thoughts.
But ultimately, their wishes were fulfilled, and Prince Edward appeared very relaxed and happy at this moment. He smiled and instructed Arthur, who was standing next to Queen Victoria, "Arthur, when you go to your own territory, remember not to act recklessly. Your people are the foundation of your territory, and a popular ruler can govern a country for a long time. Learn more from your grandmother and strive to be a qualified ruler."
"Yes, Uncle." Although Arthur did not understand why Prince Edward suddenly seemed so active, he took it as his uncle's advice before he left.
"Edward, Arthur is about to leave. As his uncle, don't you have anything to say?" Suddenly, Queen Victoria, who had been silent all this time, spoke up and looked at Prince Edward with a deep meaning in her eyes.
"Oh, damn, how could I forget such an important thing?" Prince Edward immediately broke out in a cold sweat and quickly said, "Arthur, I promised to give you a gift when you left your territory. I heard that you sold all your property recently, and there's nothing I can do to help you. So, as a private gesture, I will give you 20 million pounds, and then have the London Bank loan you another 30 million pounds interest-free. This is a belated birthday gift for you. I couldn't spend a pleasant birthday with you before because of special circumstances, but I still want to say happy 17th birthday."
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