On May 28, 1877, former President Ulysses S. Grant, his wife Julia and their youngest son Jesse stepped off the ship SS Indiana in Liverpool, England — the first stop of what became the Grants' famous two-and-a-half-year world tour. England held a personal draw: their daughter Nellie and her family lived there.
Queen Victoria welcoming the Grants at Windsor Castle. From John Russell Young, Around the World with General Grant.
During their month in England, the Grants couldn't escape their celebrity. Soon an invitation arrived: the Lord Steward had been commanded by Her Majesty to invite General and Mrs. Grant to dinner at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, June 26, and to stay until the next day. Grant was about to meet his first European head of state.
Two very different leaders
| Queen Victoria | Ulysses S. Grant | |
|---|---|---|
| Born | 1819, a few years before Grant, granddaughter of King George III | Son of a tanner; struggled financially as a farmer near St. Louis |
| Rise | Became queen in 1837, at eighteen, on the death of her uncle William IV — two years before Grant entered West Point | Union general, then president |
| Marriage | Devoted to Prince Albert; nine children; mourned him for the rest of her life after he died at 42 | Married to Julia for almost 29 years by 1877; four children |
Victoria reigned over a constitutional monarchy and a vast empire. Her invitation was the first time a British monarch had received a former U.S. president. (James Buchanan had served as minister to Great Britain, but before he was president.) Because Grant was neither a sitting president nor a monarch, there was no established protocol — and that caused awkward moments.
Queen Victoria (1819–1901). National Portrait Gallery.
Awkward moments
- No grand welcome. According to Grant's aide Adam Badeau, who traveled with them, the queen was out driving and wouldn't appear until dinner; newspaper stories of her greeting Grant at the foot of the grand staircase, as she would a visiting monarch, were baseless.
- Where would Jesse sit? The teenage Jesse wasn't keen on the invitation, saying the honor was meant for his father. But Julia wanted him treated with the same respect, and Jesse was invited — only to learn that he, like Badeau, would dine with the Queen's household, not at the royal table. Jesse declared he would go back to London rather than eat with the household. A duchess explained on the queen's behalf that too many at her table would make Victoria dizzy. Grant, who wanted his son to stay, diplomatically told the master of the household that he didn't wish to change any arrangements but that the invitation had been misunderstood — he had assumed Jesse would sit with him. In the end, Victoria let Jesse dine at her table.
The dinner
The dinner itself went smoothly. The queen asked how Grant's visit was going, and spoke with Julia about the labors and duties of being queen — to which Julia replied that she could imagine them, having herself been the wife of a great ruler. Grant showed the queen a telegram from General Hartranft, commander of the national encampment of Union veterans, meeting in Rhode Island, which sent greetings to their old commander and asked to thank England, through its queen, for Grant's reception. Badeau recorded that, protocol troubles aside, the queen was gracious throughout.
Afterward
It was their only meeting. When Grant died in 1885, Queen Victoria had her minister to the United States offer condolences, and her son, the Prince of Wales, told the American minister in London of his regret and of how much he and his family had valued knowing Grant.
Sources
Based on "Ulysses S. Grant Meets Queen Victoria: A Test of Protocol," Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
In these publicationsUlysses S Grant National Historic Site
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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