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The Queen, Her Lover and the Most Notorious Spy in History: The intriguing true story of Queen Victoria's secret
Long before her successful marriage to Prince Albert, Princess Victoria had an affair with the dashing Scottish 13th Lord Elphinstone. After the liaison was exposed, Elphinstone was banished to India, appointed Governor of Madras, which allowed Victoria's mother to engineer a royal union for her with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. After five years pining for Elphinstone, Victoria finally gave in and married Albert.
Despite a successful marriage, Victoria never forgot Elphinstone and after a decade in India he returned to her side as Lord-in-Waiting at Court. He only left her to take up the critical role of Governor of Bombay during the Indian Uprising of 1857. Elphinstone died soon after in June 1860 from a fever.
Many attempts were made to bury the memory of Lord Elphinstone, his long-running relationship with the monarch and his grand service for the Empire, but Victoria recorded it in letters to her confidant, her first- born, the Princess Royal: 'Vicky'. The revealing correspondence, like a ticking time-bomb, sat in a German castle attic until 1945 when King George VI, Victoria's great-grandson, sent a courtier, MI5 operative Anthony Blunt, on seven special missions to gather the letters.
Despite a successful marriage, Victoria never forgot Elphinstone and after a decade in India he returned to her side as Lord-in-Waiting at Court. He only left her to take up the critical role of Governor of Bombay during the Indian Uprising of 1857. Elphinstone died soon after in June 1860 from a fever.
Many attempts were made to bury the memory of Lord Elphinstone, his long-running relationship with the monarch and his grand service for the Empire, but Victoria recorded it in letters to her confidant, her first- born, the Princess Royal: 'Vicky'. The revealing correspondence, like a ticking time-bomb, sat in a German castle attic until 1945 when King George VI, Victoria's great-grandson, sent a courtier, MI5 operative Anthony Blunt, on seven special missions to gather the letters.
391 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
14 people are currently reading
235 people want to read
About the author
Roland Perry
62 books45 followersProfessor Roland Perry (born 11 October 1946) is a Melbourne-based author best known for his books on history, especially Australia in the two world wars. His Monash: The Outsider Who Won The War, won the Fellowship of Australian Writers' 'Melbourne University Publishing Award' in 2004. The judges described it as 'a model of the biographer's art. In the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 2011, Perry was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia 'for services to literature as an author.In October 2011, Monash University awarded Perry a Fellowship for 'high achievement as a writer, author, film producer and journalist.His sports books include biographies of Sir Donald Bradman, Steve Waugh, Keith Miller and Shane Warne. Perry has written on espionage, specialising in the British Cambridge Ring of Russian agents. He has also published three works of fiction and produced more than 20 documentary films. Perry has been a member of the National Archives of Australia Advisory Council since 2006.
In late 2012 Perry accepted an adjunct appointment at Monash University as a Professor, with the title ‘Writer-in-Residence’ in the University’s Arts Faculty.
In late 2012 Perry accepted an adjunct appointment at Monash University as a Professor, with the title ‘Writer-in-Residence’ in the University’s Arts Faculty.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
February 18, 2015
Some passable history interspersed with horrible, saccharine romance-novel scenes made up out of whole cloth - and even the more faithful pieces of historical reconstruction were unfootnoted and soon went off the rails. Bad history - but even if taken as fictionalised history akin to a historical film, as the author claims, it's also shockingly bad fiction, and suggests that the author's métier is 1980s Mills and Boon.
February 9, 2016
Very enjoyable and informative, especially the last part about the retrieval of the letters by Anthony Blunt.
September 14, 2015
* 3.5 stars
A secret love affair that Princess Victoria embarked upon with a Scottish nobleman over ten years her senior, is the astonishing subject of Roland Perry’s work of non fiction, The Queen, Her Lover and the Most Notorious Spy in History. There are further shocking revelations about Queen Victoria in Perry’s book, which details Victoria’s life as a young girl right through to her death and following her succession. The book certainly shattered my long held impression of Queen Victoria. Much is made of the Queen’s sexual appetite, which Prince Albert clearly found difficulty satisfying. Perry’s book also exposes a secret liaison between a widowed Queen Victoria and her young Indian servant, Abdul Karim. It is revealed that Queen Victoria embarked upon this affair after the death of another more well published romance she had with her Scottish bodyguard, John Brown. The spy element of this book is centered on the retrieval of a cache of letters which Queen Victoria wrote to her eldest daughter Vicky, soon after she moved to Germany, following her marriage to the German Emperor. These incredibly personal letters between Mother and Daughter, go into detail about Victoria’s ‘first love’ with the 13th Lord Elphinstone, when she was just fifteen years old. The content of these letters were so precious that for generations the British Royal family sought to keep them heavily under wraps. Eventually, a trusted KGB agent, whom the author Perry researched for another book, safely retrieved all the letters. It is thought had the letters and also other correspondence collected by the same KGB officer involving Edward VIII links to the Nazi’s had of surfaced much earlier, they possibly could of had the power the cause the downfall of the British monarchy.
Perry explains this book is a work of dramatised non fiction. It is thoroughly researched and written in such a way that it makes a part of British history very accessible to the reader. I did feel there was a slight gap in the sources used to back up all of these very interesting claims. Overall, a great read and one which will appeal to royalists.
A secret love affair that Princess Victoria embarked upon with a Scottish nobleman over ten years her senior, is the astonishing subject of Roland Perry’s work of non fiction, The Queen, Her Lover and the Most Notorious Spy in History. There are further shocking revelations about Queen Victoria in Perry’s book, which details Victoria’s life as a young girl right through to her death and following her succession. The book certainly shattered my long held impression of Queen Victoria. Much is made of the Queen’s sexual appetite, which Prince Albert clearly found difficulty satisfying. Perry’s book also exposes a secret liaison between a widowed Queen Victoria and her young Indian servant, Abdul Karim. It is revealed that Queen Victoria embarked upon this affair after the death of another more well published romance she had with her Scottish bodyguard, John Brown. The spy element of this book is centered on the retrieval of a cache of letters which Queen Victoria wrote to her eldest daughter Vicky, soon after she moved to Germany, following her marriage to the German Emperor. These incredibly personal letters between Mother and Daughter, go into detail about Victoria’s ‘first love’ with the 13th Lord Elphinstone, when she was just fifteen years old. The content of these letters were so precious that for generations the British Royal family sought to keep them heavily under wraps. Eventually, a trusted KGB agent, whom the author Perry researched for another book, safely retrieved all the letters. It is thought had the letters and also other correspondence collected by the same KGB officer involving Edward VIII links to the Nazi’s had of surfaced much earlier, they possibly could of had the power the cause the downfall of the British monarchy.
Perry explains this book is a work of dramatised non fiction. It is thoroughly researched and written in such a way that it makes a part of British history very accessible to the reader. I did feel there was a slight gap in the sources used to back up all of these very interesting claims. Overall, a great read and one which will appeal to royalists.
February 5, 2022
This was a book of 3 parts for me:
The first section alludes to a secret love affair that the teenage Princess Victoria embarked upon with Lord Elphinstone, a Scottish nobleman. The government advisers of the time sent Elphinstone to India to remove him from Victoria’s immediate circle whilst they worked diligently to find a suitable consort for her. History could have been very different if Victoria had been allowed to pursue her first love, and it certainly changes the long-held perception that Victoria was besotted with Prince Albert from the start, though she did undoubtedly grow to be very devoted to him.
The third section about how Anthony Blunt, the infamous spy, became involved was also interesting – it seems that there were some family secrets, including the affair with Lord Elphinstone, mentioned in letters between the Queen and her daughter Vicky. The letters had remained in Germany after Vicky’s death, and Blunt was tasked to retrieve them. The fact that Blunt passed copies of many of the letters to the Russians may still be a sensitive issue!
Unfortunately the middle section covering the time after Prince Alberts death, including Victoria’s relationships with John Brown & Abdul Karim, was quite slow, rather repetitive & nothing that has not been covered in depth in such films as Mrs Brown! I found this part almost unnecessary and the pace dragged here.
The book is written by a journalist/historian and the authors note at the end gives some indication as to how the author found out about these new facts and some of the research he did to determine the truth, though there definitely remain gaps and this reinforces my feelings that the book is part fiction, though it is not always clear what is fact & what has been invented to keep the story flowing.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by David Tredinnick & Deidre Rubenstein who really brought the story to life. It was a long listen at over 15 hours, but their accents and ability to distinguish the various characters well kept me interested.
The first section alludes to a secret love affair that the teenage Princess Victoria embarked upon with Lord Elphinstone, a Scottish nobleman. The government advisers of the time sent Elphinstone to India to remove him from Victoria’s immediate circle whilst they worked diligently to find a suitable consort for her. History could have been very different if Victoria had been allowed to pursue her first love, and it certainly changes the long-held perception that Victoria was besotted with Prince Albert from the start, though she did undoubtedly grow to be very devoted to him.
The third section about how Anthony Blunt, the infamous spy, became involved was also interesting – it seems that there were some family secrets, including the affair with Lord Elphinstone, mentioned in letters between the Queen and her daughter Vicky. The letters had remained in Germany after Vicky’s death, and Blunt was tasked to retrieve them. The fact that Blunt passed copies of many of the letters to the Russians may still be a sensitive issue!
Unfortunately the middle section covering the time after Prince Alberts death, including Victoria’s relationships with John Brown & Abdul Karim, was quite slow, rather repetitive & nothing that has not been covered in depth in such films as Mrs Brown! I found this part almost unnecessary and the pace dragged here.
The book is written by a journalist/historian and the authors note at the end gives some indication as to how the author found out about these new facts and some of the research he did to determine the truth, though there definitely remain gaps and this reinforces my feelings that the book is part fiction, though it is not always clear what is fact & what has been invented to keep the story flowing.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by David Tredinnick & Deidre Rubenstein who really brought the story to life. It was a long listen at over 15 hours, but their accents and ability to distinguish the various characters well kept me interested.
November 3, 2023
I listened to this as an audiobook and found the narrator quite annoying and the foreign accents she put on were laughably bad.
However the book overall was interesting. I had no idea Victoria was so keen on a bit (or rather a lot) of hanky panky. The image of her banging on Albert’s bolted bedroom door demanding her conjugal rights will remain with me for a long time 😂
Albert himself either disliked sex, or disliked Vic or perhaps dislikes females as a whole as is implied, but obviously not proved.
I didn’t know about Vic and Lord Elphinstone so that was interesting, as was the revelation that she also had John Brown as a lover and not just a servant. And then in old age a young Indian servant to enjoy, aesthetically at least.
The last bit was of no interest to me ie the bits about the spy Blunt and the Russians, I could have dispensed with that.
However the book overall was interesting. I had no idea Victoria was so keen on a bit (or rather a lot) of hanky panky. The image of her banging on Albert’s bolted bedroom door demanding her conjugal rights will remain with me for a long time 😂
Albert himself either disliked sex, or disliked Vic or perhaps dislikes females as a whole as is implied, but obviously not proved.
I didn’t know about Vic and Lord Elphinstone so that was interesting, as was the revelation that she also had John Brown as a lover and not just a servant. And then in old age a young Indian servant to enjoy, aesthetically at least.
The last bit was of no interest to me ie the bits about the spy Blunt and the Russians, I could have dispensed with that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 4, 2018
Perry explains that the book is certainly based on facts derived from the family letters but it lurches uncomfortably between a 'reporting' style of writing and then a more 'historical novel' style. There are lovely sections that give interesting insight into the personalities of Victoria, her royal family, politicians and the dynamics between them. These anecdotes gave these historic figures a more human aspect, which was enjoyable. The best thing for me was being introduced to the 13th Lord Elphinstone and the amazing Hasna who becomes his friend and lover while he was Govenor of Madras. An amazing woman of intelligence, who did not adhere to the conventions of her time. I would love to know her life story!
April 14, 2022
Very compelling but I’m not sure how much is strictly factual. But the youthful “affair” does provide context for Queen Victoria’s obsessions with Scotland and India. And the book dampens the myth of the Victoria & Albert grand passion, and presents it as a marriage of convenience that was a consolation prize after a thwarted first love.
August 16, 2022
A fascinating read. I had no idea so many people had influence over Queen Victoria’s life and marriages. It made her seem more human to me, more relatable.
And there were so many secrets and betrayals and things swept under the rug. Everyone seemed to be out for themselves.
Thoroughly enjoyed this insight to the lives of the monarchy.
And there were so many secrets and betrayals and things swept under the rug. Everyone seemed to be out for themselves.
Thoroughly enjoyed this insight to the lives of the monarchy.
August 8, 2018
The pace only really picked up in the last 80 pages or so (well after Victoria died). Maybe the author tried to impart too much information. Did we need to know quite so much about the East India Trading Company?!
June 8, 2017
a bit dry but intriguing. I have to wonder how much embroidery went into some "facts" to make it more controversial.
August 8, 2018
Written by a journalist and historian, Perry made the story flow weaving the facts into an interesting read. Makes me want to read more about the spys who functioned in WWII and beyond.
July 13, 2021
Interesting and entertaining, rushed ending.
December 8, 2023
Interesting premise but not sure it holds true. However it would explain why Blunt was never tried.
February 24, 2023
Interesting content.
March 19, 2015
An interesting book to read, it alleges that Queen Victoria, before her marriage, loved and had an affair with the Scotsman John, 13th Lord Elphinstone. The government sent him to India to remove him from the scene. Parts of the book are about his years in India and about the woman that he met and loved there. Much of the book is about Queen Victoria's private life, with Prince Albert and later with John Brown as her manservant.
Queen Victoria, so the book says, had written letters to her daughter Victoria in Germany about the affair with Elphinstone. Edward VII, George V and his wife Queen Mary, and George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth were all aware of the existence of the letters, and eventually George VI sent the spy Anthony Blunt to Germany and to the Netherlands after the war to retrieve various letters. Blunt was a double agent also working for the Russians.
The book is a combination of fact and fiction. It describes scenes and sets out conversations that might have happened, but that may be more conjecture than fact. The reader does not necessarily know exactly what is fact and what is supposition in the book.
I ordered the book from Australia. I can only wonder why the printed book has not been released in the United States or the United Kingdom, although an audio version has been released in those two countries.
Queen Victoria, so the book says, had written letters to her daughter Victoria in Germany about the affair with Elphinstone. Edward VII, George V and his wife Queen Mary, and George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth were all aware of the existence of the letters, and eventually George VI sent the spy Anthony Blunt to Germany and to the Netherlands after the war to retrieve various letters. Blunt was a double agent also working for the Russians.
The book is a combination of fact and fiction. It describes scenes and sets out conversations that might have happened, but that may be more conjecture than fact. The reader does not necessarily know exactly what is fact and what is supposition in the book.
I ordered the book from Australia. I can only wonder why the printed book has not been released in the United States or the United Kingdom, although an audio version has been released in those two countries.
February 12, 2017
I was totally absorbed by this book. It is very well written and tells a fascinating tale of love, intrigue and politics.
June 20, 2016
The usual image of Queen Victoria is of a staid monarch, devoted to her husband, Prince Albert, who unfortunately died fairly young, leaving her with a long widowhood. In this book, Roland Perry, a historian, paints a different picture, one of a lusty woman who had several affairs, including one as a teenager, which may, or may not, have resulted in the birth of a baby.
She described her affair with the Lord Elphinstone in detailed letters to her daughter, Vicky. These letters became the target of a secret operation commissioned by George VI to recover them so that they did not fall into the wrong hands. Instrumental in that operation was Anthony Blunt, the double agent, who also photographed some of them and handed the photos over the the Russians.
This is a fascinating look at a period of history and an intimate portrait of Queen Victoria.
She described her affair with the Lord Elphinstone in detailed letters to her daughter, Vicky. These letters became the target of a secret operation commissioned by George VI to recover them so that they did not fall into the wrong hands. Instrumental in that operation was Anthony Blunt, the double agent, who also photographed some of them and handed the photos over the the Russians.
This is a fascinating look at a period of history and an intimate portrait of Queen Victoria.
Read
January 27, 2015This long book focuses on Victoria's reign - and her life before it, starting when she was around 15. The spy issue in the title only comes in the last few chapters, but is relevant since he was part of the Royal household and involved in the attempt to get letters between Victoria and her German based daughter back, out of an attic in Germany. World War II and then the Cold War complicated these matters somewhat.
April 13, 2016
A generous 3 stars, mostly for entertainment value.
A fun read that did make me interested in the people and politics, but many private scenes can only have been imagined and it is shockingly under referenced for an apparently non-fiction book.
An enjoyable read and I'm inspired to read up (actual reference books) on some of the events and people I found intriguing, but I'd shelve it under 'inspired by a true story'...or possibly 'historical fiction'!
A fun read that did make me interested in the people and politics, but many private scenes can only have been imagined and it is shockingly under referenced for an apparently non-fiction book.
An enjoyable read and I'm inspired to read up (actual reference books) on some of the events and people I found intriguing, but I'd shelve it under 'inspired by a true story'...or possibly 'historical fiction'!
January 2, 2015
An easy, entertaining read but not convincing. The conversations felt very made up and unrealistic. The lack of evidence or reference to primary sources means I did not believe the so-called revelations the book contained. That's not to say it wasn't fun to read but I got annoyed as I got towards the end and expected some primary source references. This is a good beach read.
January 15, 2015
I can't help thinking that the book actually got a lot more interesting once the later spy arc started. That's what sparked my interest. I wish more of the book has been about that rather than going on about Victoria's rumoured love affairs. I also found interesting that she was involved with Karim as that has been relatively hushed up in comparison to her relationship with John Brown.
December 29, 2014
Interesting story, not one I'd ever heard about, but not very well written. The author has imagined many conversations which don't sound believable to me. Not sure just how much is based in fact and how much is imagined.
January 13, 2015
An interesting book, but it's still left me with lost of unanswered questions. I'm not sure that I'm that comfortable with his embellishing the tale with invented conversations to 'spice up' the story. It's left me unclear as to what was fact versus what is fanciful summation...
November 15, 2015
I thought this was an entertaining book. I liked the background and history on Queen Victoria. I have no idea if it was meant to be an actual "biography " or how much actual fact was included, but it was entertaining nonetheless.
December 11, 2014
This book has much detail but it is still very interesting. It is full of romance and intrige as well as politics and military history. A great read.
December 31, 2014
Couldn't make up my mind between 3.5 or 4 stars. Just too long, and too much conversation. Felt it could have been tighter. Would have liked more about the Spy.
August 3, 2015
Dreadful. Inconsequential drivel. Why did I even bother?
April 12, 2016
A good read, a lot of fiction filling the gaps between the facts. It did make me interested in learning more about some of the key figures and historical events.
December 29, 2019
Interesting
August 22, 2016
3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews