Asa young child, the future Queen Victoria often walked in Kensington Gardens, wishing onlookers a cheerful “Good morning!”. During these walks, her mother Victoire, the Duchess of Kent, held one of her hands.Victoria’s older half-sister, Princess Feodora, held the other hand. e trio became a familiar sight and were described by one observer as “a group of exquisite loveliness”. While Victoria had a di cult relationship with her mother, she remained close to Feodora throughout her life.
Princess Anna Feodora Augusta Charlotte Wilhelmine of Leiningen was born in Amorbach in Bavaria, Germany, in 1807, the second child of Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Emich Carl, Prince of Leiningen. Feodora and her older brother, also named Carl, spent their early childhood with their mother and maternal grandmother, the Dowager Duchess Augusta of Saxe-Coburg, while their father fought in the Napoleonic Wars.