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Vicky: Princess Royal of England and German Empress
. 1971, bright clean copy, with dustjacket, nest inscription on endpaper, no other markings, Professional booksellers since 1981
382 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1971
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 11, 2024
Born in 1840 in Buckingham Palace, Vicky, as she was known all her life to distinguish her from her mother, was the beloved oldest child of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. Known for her amazing intellect, she was greatly beloved of her father and incredibly close to him. Vicky married Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia and had eight children with him. Theirs was a loving marriage and she was incredibly devoted to him until his death. However, raised in a liberal environment, Vicky was misunderstood in Prussia. When her father-in-law, William I appointed Otto von Bismarck as the first Minister-President of the country, she and her husbands' troubles spiraled. Bismarck actively poisoned William against them and made sure scurrilous stories were published against them. Tragically, after enduring it all for years, when her husband finally ascended the throne, he had mere months to reign, as he was already dying of laryngeal cancer when his own father died. After only a few months as Empress, Vicky was devastated to be left a widow and coldly treated by her son, Kaiser Wilhelm II. Tragically, Vicky herself also died of cancer of the spine at only 60 years of age. In her final years, remaining devoted to Germany and doing what she could for her country and her family became her great salvation.
This was such a moving biography of a most gracious lady. Quick to forgive, but never to forget, she was incredibly wise and never let personal insults stand in the way of doing what was best for her country and family. Unfailingly polite even to the egotistical Bismarck, she is difficult not to be admired. Her unfailing devotion to her dying husband was tender to see and to read that she was often criticized for her devotion and great time spent with her children was remarkable. She remained so close with her mother Queen Victoria for her whole life, maintaining a very active correspondence and visits as frequently as they could manage, while her outlook and principles were heavily governed by those held by her father all of her life.
Although I have read several biographies about Queen Victoria and her husband, this is my first time reading in-depth about any of her children. I really enjoyed this book and have a great appreciation for the portrait Bennett paints of Vicky as a person. Vicky seems to have gone through so many great trials and tribulations from her marriage until her death. In fact, she nearly died in childbirth with her first child and suffered for multiple days until the doctor with the skills to save her was finally told he was needed. Her son, the future Kaiser Wilhelm II, suffered irreversible damage to one of his arms, which remained shriveled and of little use his whole life. Vicky buried two of her children young, watched her husband abused by his family and country and suffer until his death, and suffered horrible agony in her final months of life. She was a great champion of improving hospitals and medical care in her country during her lifetime, but even that was ripped away from her and handed off to other members of the family, who knew little and cared even less about the cause.
In many ways, her skills and life feel like a missed opportunity. Yet she always cheerfully did what she could, when she could, with what she could. Quite an admirable lady. I do wish a bit more details had been shared about her life as a mother. Other than noting her births, little is said about her children in this text until they are grown. However, otherwise this was a really informative read.
This was such a moving biography of a most gracious lady. Quick to forgive, but never to forget, she was incredibly wise and never let personal insults stand in the way of doing what was best for her country and family. Unfailingly polite even to the egotistical Bismarck, she is difficult not to be admired. Her unfailing devotion to her dying husband was tender to see and to read that she was often criticized for her devotion and great time spent with her children was remarkable. She remained so close with her mother Queen Victoria for her whole life, maintaining a very active correspondence and visits as frequently as they could manage, while her outlook and principles were heavily governed by those held by her father all of her life.
Although I have read several biographies about Queen Victoria and her husband, this is my first time reading in-depth about any of her children. I really enjoyed this book and have a great appreciation for the portrait Bennett paints of Vicky as a person. Vicky seems to have gone through so many great trials and tribulations from her marriage until her death. In fact, she nearly died in childbirth with her first child and suffered for multiple days until the doctor with the skills to save her was finally told he was needed. Her son, the future Kaiser Wilhelm II, suffered irreversible damage to one of his arms, which remained shriveled and of little use his whole life. Vicky buried two of her children young, watched her husband abused by his family and country and suffer until his death, and suffered horrible agony in her final months of life. She was a great champion of improving hospitals and medical care in her country during her lifetime, but even that was ripped away from her and handed off to other members of the family, who knew little and cared even less about the cause.
In many ways, her skills and life feel like a missed opportunity. Yet she always cheerfully did what she could, when she could, with what she could. Quite an admirable lady. I do wish a bit more details had been shared about her life as a mother. Other than noting her births, little is said about her children in this text until they are grown. However, otherwise this was a really informative read.
February 16, 2023
After having read “An Uncommon Woman” by Hannah Pakula, considered the definitive biography on Vicky, I thought that little else was there to find about this woman. However, much to my amazement, despite being written 50 years ago, this book has given me a deeper and greater insight into the life of this extraordinary character.
I must admit that when writing royal biographies of this kind authors often tend to get bogged down talking too much about politics. Yet such is not the case with this book. The political events that took place at the time such as the wars and the unification of Germany (and many more) are explained without losing track of the actual subject matter, which is Vicky, and so the author successfully manages not to go off off topic and strictly connects every single fact with Vicky’s own personal story (unlike Hanna’s book). With her absorbing and engrossing writing style Daphne Bennett, thus, puts everything in such a way that makes sure to keep the reader hooked on the storytelling throughout.
Though hers may have been a happy marriage, what is certain is that Vicky was not made to live in Germany. She was too cultivated and selfless a woman for such a backward society and narrow-minded family. With the passing of the years the mission for which she was sent off to Germany and her dreams were becoming more and more out of reach following a series of events that made her life terribly unhappy and riddled with tragedy.
Things came to a head after Bismarck’s rise to power. From that moment on, Vicky’s future was to be anything but promising. To be honest, I will never understand what lay behind Bismarck’s hatred towards Vicky and why he was so bent on discrediting and ruining her life. Because she was too English? Because her advocacy of liberalism and constitutionalism? Because she was one of the very few people who did not lick his boots as everybody else did? Because her husband and son could be swayed by her beliefs? Eventually she did manage to learn not to play into his hands and keep him at bay whenever he came up with new attacks against her, the majority of which were fed and backed up by her own son. The lengths to which they went to spread misrepresentations and misconceptions about her are just unaccountable. I am sure that had Bismarck never come to power, Whilhem would have not become such a despot and tyrant.
It breaks my heart the thought that after Fritz’s death, once she threw off the shackles of the Berlin court and was finally living a settled life in her beloved Friedrichshof, her own end was near and hardly was she able to enjoy her longed-for freedom.
The conclusion I draw from this book is that being a royal sometimes is not a privilege, rather the opposite, and this can be even seen in the present-day Royal Family. Though Vicky has been long forgotten in history, this book brings her back to life and unfolds her remarkable and untold story. Highly recommended.
I must admit that when writing royal biographies of this kind authors often tend to get bogged down talking too much about politics. Yet such is not the case with this book. The political events that took place at the time such as the wars and the unification of Germany (and many more) are explained without losing track of the actual subject matter, which is Vicky, and so the author successfully manages not to go off off topic and strictly connects every single fact with Vicky’s own personal story (unlike Hanna’s book). With her absorbing and engrossing writing style Daphne Bennett, thus, puts everything in such a way that makes sure to keep the reader hooked on the storytelling throughout.
Though hers may have been a happy marriage, what is certain is that Vicky was not made to live in Germany. She was too cultivated and selfless a woman for such a backward society and narrow-minded family. With the passing of the years the mission for which she was sent off to Germany and her dreams were becoming more and more out of reach following a series of events that made her life terribly unhappy and riddled with tragedy.
Things came to a head after Bismarck’s rise to power. From that moment on, Vicky’s future was to be anything but promising. To be honest, I will never understand what lay behind Bismarck’s hatred towards Vicky and why he was so bent on discrediting and ruining her life. Because she was too English? Because her advocacy of liberalism and constitutionalism? Because she was one of the very few people who did not lick his boots as everybody else did? Because her husband and son could be swayed by her beliefs? Eventually she did manage to learn not to play into his hands and keep him at bay whenever he came up with new attacks against her, the majority of which were fed and backed up by her own son. The lengths to which they went to spread misrepresentations and misconceptions about her are just unaccountable. I am sure that had Bismarck never come to power, Whilhem would have not become such a despot and tyrant.
It breaks my heart the thought that after Fritz’s death, once she threw off the shackles of the Berlin court and was finally living a settled life in her beloved Friedrichshof, her own end was near and hardly was she able to enjoy her longed-for freedom.
The conclusion I draw from this book is that being a royal sometimes is not a privilege, rather the opposite, and this can be even seen in the present-day Royal Family. Though Vicky has been long forgotten in history, this book brings her back to life and unfolds her remarkable and untold story. Highly recommended.
November 1, 2020
This is an impressively researched biography, but it suffers from Bennett's writing style, which would have been badly outdated half a century ago ("Sides were taken, and Teuton was matched against Teuton in a battle of words more destructive than the sword."). A better editor might have been able to prune some of the cliches ("which he learned all about as a fledgling at Bismark's knee") and deal with redundancies like "real truth." In an effort to give her narrative the compelling quality of a novel, Bennett cannot resist at times telling the reader what thoughts were in various characters' minds or what emotions they were feeling on specific occasions, even when she does not cite any external evidence like diaries or letters to support her case. Bennett's great admiration for her protagonist gives the book the tone of a hagiography, with Vicky as a martyred saint. The historian Philip Ziegler's assertion that "it is the duty of the biographer to be conspicuously charitable to his subject's enemies" is certainly ignored here, since everyone who opposes Vicky is treated as a villain, with Bismark in particular portrayed as evil incarnate.
June 23, 2020
I had always wondered about the mother of Kaiser Wilhelm, not realizing that she was the daughter of Queen Victoria. This book was a fascinating and tragic read.
November 19, 2021
So
Well written and not a typical biography in that it deals with chronological events. Fascinating to read in different details things I’d already read. Definitely recommend
Well written and not a typical biography in that it deals with chronological events. Fascinating to read in different details things I’d already read. Definitely recommend
March 5, 2014
Strong narrative by an author who loves her subject matter. Does a lot to help people see Kaiser Wilhelm in a more human light. He was a baby before he led Germany into World War I. The character of Bismarck is seen in fine detail and not sentimentally, but he is also done justice as a man of great talent and intelligence. His relationship with Vicky is the most interesting thing in the book, besides the terrible story of how hard it was for her to give birth. It was a miracle both the mother and the child survived.
The only flaw of this book is a small one. One is the author is, of course, so sympathetic to Vicky's point of view that she is a bit hard on the Prussian court and the other women Vicky met there. She hardly allows any of them to be pretty, let alone agreeable. This is not a false picture so much as an unbalanced one. It's not a serious problem, but it is noticeable.
I would recommend this as a good reading companion to Cecil Woodham-Smith's biography of Victoria.
The only flaw of this book is a small one. One is the author is, of course, so sympathetic to Vicky's point of view that she is a bit hard on the Prussian court and the other women Vicky met there. She hardly allows any of them to be pretty, let alone agreeable. This is not a false picture so much as an unbalanced one. It's not a serious problem, but it is noticeable.
I would recommend this as a good reading companion to Cecil Woodham-Smith's biography of Victoria.
August 26, 2015
I have read quite a lot on Queen Victoria and twice delved into brief snippets of her eldest daughters life but this was my first in depth look and I was quite impressed as well as heart broken. She and her husband had to deal with so much and had so much good and potential in them that was cut short so brutally. It really touched me to have so much opportunity for good taken away especially when they had so much to good. How history might have been different if they had been on the throne later or allowed the influence that they deserved. It is the story of Empress Vicky that inspires this devastation but also the author who never goes overboard with conveying this or underestimates what she went through.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews