Victoria: Queen, Matriarch, Empress

by Jane Ridley

Queen Victoria inherited the throne at 18 and went on to become the longest-reigning female monarch in history, in a time of intense industrial, cultural, political, scientific and military change within the United Kingdom and great imperial expansion outside of it (she was made Empress of India in 1876).

Overturning the established picture of the dour old lady, this is a fresh and engaging portrait from one of our most talented royal biographers. Jane Ridley is Professor of Modern History at Buckingham University, where she teaches a course on biography. Her previous books include The Young Disraeli; a study of Edwin Lutyens, The Architect and his Wife, which won the 2003 Duff Cooper Prize; and the best-selling Bertie: A Life of Edward VII. A Fellow of the Royal Society for Literature, Ridley writes for the Spectator and other newspapers, and has appeared on radio and several television documentaries. She lives in London and Scotland.

Part of the Penguin Monarchs series: short, fresh, expert accounts of England's rulers in a collectible format

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Historical, Victorian, European History, British Literature

144 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2015

About the author

Jane Ridley is an English historian, biographer, author and broadcaster, and Professor of Modern History at the University of Buckingham.

Reviews

[Micah Cummins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clocking in at just over 120 pages, (at least my edition anyway) Jane Ridley has delivered a wonderfully engaging look into the life of Queen Victoria. While some concessions had to be made in order to keep the finished book short, as was the author’s goal from the outset, Ridley has still given the reader a rather balanced glimpse into Victoria’s life. Shining light on her formative years under the oppressive hand of John Conroy and his “Kensington System,” as well as her often obsessive relationship with her husband Albert, and later in life with her highlands servant John Brown, to her rather tumultuous relationships with her children, the many contradiction of Victoria’s personal life are brought front and center. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Victoria’s life. Those who are new to her story will find a wonderful springboard for further reading, and those already aquatinted with the narrative will find a wonderful refresher. Four stars.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nestling in the cleavage between the Introduction and the opening chapter (‘A Resolute Little Tit’) of Victoria, published in 2015 in the Penguin Monarchs series, Jane Ridley provides a vital Family Tree for the eponymous subject of her book. Even the most ardent student of Victoriana will benefit from flicking back regularly to the Tree, the best I’ve seen for illustrating the labyrinthine connections between the House of Coburg and the House of Hanover that Queen Victoria inherited and then sustained through her own marriage and those of her children.

The dazzling brilliance of this book lies in its brevity. In less than 120 pages, Ridley conveys both the consistency of the Queen’s character and her many idiosyncrasies, while ensuring her life is seen in its proper historical context. Prime Ministers pop up offering Victoria their views on the role of the monarch (and a female one at that) but, as Ridley shows, it was Victoria herself who, despite her gender and her German antecedents, shaped an idea of British Monarchy that survives even to the modern day.

That Victoria became queen at all was due to the inability of her ‘wicked’ Hanoverian uncles to conceive, at least within wedlock. George IV had managed, but the death of his daughter, Charlotte, in 1817 resulted in a frantic flurry of avuncular rutting. Only Victoria’s father Edward Duke of Kent, George III’s fourth son, succeeded in producing an heir, Victoria, through his arranged marriage into the Saxe-Coburg dynasty. Ridley explores her subject’s complicated relationship with her mother, Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield, as the starting point for illustrating the complexity resulting from the dynastic couplings of the nineteenth century. Victoria’s marriage to her first cousin began an extraordinary period of intermarriage that consolidated and secured the privilege of Europe’s leading families against a backdrop of rapid social and industrial change.

But it is Ridley’s exploration of Victoria’s character that delights. On the second page of the book she poses the question: ‘What was the source of Victoria’s steeliness?’ Ridley knows that is a question that will keep biographers busy for many years to come. But she uses delicate brushstrokes to delve into the causes – and consequences – of that steeliness. Complex relationships with Prime Ministers (Lord Melbourne, Disraeli and Gladstone), lovers whether sexual or platonic (Albert, John Brown, Abdul Karim), and with her children are all explored with a deft touch.

This is a splendid book, worthy as an introduction to the subject and not without credentials as a standalone monograph.

[lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5 stars

The Victorian period, especially Victoria herself, has always fascinated me. She led such a long and interesting life, and I wanted to learn more about it. So when I saw that the Penguin Monarchs were being re-released in paperback, I knew I wanted to start with this before I moved onto longer and bigger non-fiction books.

Jane Ridley seeks to tackle rather large questions in this rather small biography. Why was Victoria so strong-willed as a young woman? How did her marriage change her? How did she survive Albert's death and how was she altered by it? Ridley tries to answer these by looking closely at her private and public life.

As always, I find the start and middle of Victoria's life the most interesting. She had a very peculiar, and quite sad, childhood - was neglected by her mother, her father died when she was a baby, and she wasn't allowed to play with other children.

Then she seemed to flourish when she married Albert, but not everything was rosy. Ridley dismissed the notion that Albert and Victoria's relationship was peachy - Albert often infantilized her and undermined her, and I didn't know the extent of that until now. I do think Ridley put her own thoughts and opinions into her writing - she wasn't keen on Albert and was uncertain of Victoria, and it was very obvious from the outside. As always, I like my biographers to be distant from what they're writing.

I learnt a great deal about Victoria's life post-Albert, which is a period I don't know much about. Because this was a short biography, it did skim over a lot of detail, so I do feel like I am still missing a lot of information, but that can be easily rectified with a larger biography.

Overall, a very enjoyable read. Can't wait to read some more of the Penguin Monarchs!

[Annie Booker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but very well written biography

[Nathalie (keepreadingbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s funny - this is likely the shortest biography of Victoria out there and not at all exhaustive in any of the themes it touches upon – her wilful personality, her feelings regarding motherhood, her relationships with the various men in her life (Albert in particular) – but I don’t feel at all like I need to read a larger, more comprehensive biography to get a better idea of who she was.

Before this book, I had this idea that Victoria was an independent, vigorous, wilful, self-assured, determined queen – an idol, one to look up to – who married the love of her life and had a healthy, supportive marriage with a man who understood his role as consort and nothing more. I thought she loved to rule, that she was determined to do her duty and do all the work herself, and that she let Albert help to keep him happy. And the Victoria tv-series has only fuelled that understanding (especially being produced by a historian). Imagine my slight horror at discovering that this was not at all the case.

Victoria was actually, on the contrary, slightly pathetic in her relationship with Albert. He took the reigns and attempted to rule as much as possible (and she let him), while constantly undermining and patronising her, because he was afraid of triggering some ‘madness’ she might have inherited from George III (she didn’t – she merely had a temper). She, on the other hand, agreed that, as a woman, she was not at all fit to rule, and she struggled with her dual role as a queen and a wife.

She was absolutely devoted to Albert, which is of course a good thing, except that everything became about spending as much time with him as possible. Whenever she was pregnant – which she was a LOT – she never complained that she couldn’t keep up with her duties, but she complained that she didn’t get to spend as many nights with Albert. And she furthermore completely neglected her role as monarch after Albert died. Not just in the years after, which might’ve been understandable, but for decades. Albert doesn’t seem to have been as smitten, though I’d probably need to read *his* biography to be sure of this view. She was wilful to the last, though. And she seems to have finally become comfortable with her role as ‘Grandmama V. R. I.’ from her sixties and onwards.

I remain as impressed by her rule as ever but am perhaps a little disenchanted! One thing that would encourage me to read a larger biography would be to (hopefully) see sides of her that would come across as slightly more attractive.

4.5/5

[Shawn Thrasher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ridley certainly knows her royal stuff: I read and four-starred ("It bogged down"... but overall thought it was good) her The Heir Apparent: A Life of Edward VII, the Playboy Prince about Victoria's son and heir. If Edward bogged down, Victoria sang, short and sweet. Zipped by, and I wanted a complete biography of the "We are not amused" queen by Ridley. Victoria has been dealt a crappy hand by male historians down through 120 years since she died, and it's not until recently that Victoria scholarship has recognized how difficult it was to be a Victorian female monarch in an ultra patriarchal world who was in addition married to an exacting and demanding emotionally stunted sometime monster who kept her pregnant for almost all of their married life. Ridley's book does justice to Victoria as a canny, manipulative monarch who ended up being able to hold her own in that male world. While the entire book was a pleasure, Ridley's Victoria really comes into her own after her widowhood, and it's a fascinating read.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Ridley, who has also written an excellent biography of Queen Victoria's eldest son Bertie, King Edward VII, provides a comprehensive overview of the Queen's 63 year reign in just over 100 pages. Ridley takes a fresh look at the Queen's correspondence and edited journals and analyzes the Queen's childhood, personality, politics, parenting, marriage to Prince Albert and close friendship with John Brown. Ridley is especially critical of the romantic narrative of Victoria and Albert's marriage popularized in the film The Young Victoria and observes that Albert undermined Victoria's confidence as a ruler and she had to relearn how to rule alone after his death. A good introduction to Victoria's reign that also includes further reading suggestions.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating little look at Queen Victoria's life, which I didn't know that much about before now, so I'm somewhat ill-equipped to consider whether the author's strong opinions on some elements (like Albert's influence on Victoria's outlook and behaviour) are warranted or supported. The amazing and consciously drawn opacity of her life (through the heavy censoring of her voluminous writings - journals and correspondence - by her descendants) is one of the most intriguing aspects; an overtone of conscious myth-making in the shaping of the modern concept of British monarchy.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and short look at a series of scenes from the life of Queen Victoria. Obviously not a full biography, at just over one-hundred pages, but providing a little glimpse in each chapter. As my own interest in history sort of peaks in the 18th Century, I don't know as much about Victoria as I would like, and Ridley provides a fairly thorough list of further reading at the end of this book for those who are interested enough to learn more.

[Tony Bertram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little biography...makes some of the longer biographies seem bloated. The only other one that is better than this is Elizabeth Longford's. I guess Victoria is an important figure in history but I shudder when avowed feminists spend time writing about her. There has got to be more important figures to tackle than this old lady.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. It must have been very difficult to condense such a long and eventful life like Victoria’s into such a small book. But Jane has done a fantastic job. Most key events are in there and you definitely get a sense of who Victoria was as a Queen, wife, mum, grandmother and friend. Very well done Jane.

[Robert Tostevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illuminating - Victoria was not the stereotype we’ve previously been led to believe

Excellent and well written short overview of this monarch’s life.

A great example of how I think the Penguin Monarch short biographies SHOULD be be written - sadly not all of them are.

[Anushka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for those who already know a lot about Queen Victoria, but a good introductory book for those like me who have only a casual interest in the British monarchy. Never boring or tedious to read, and flows much like a novel really.

[Cora Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew very little about Queen Victoria before reading this book. It’s the prefect introduction for those who are looking into Queen Victoria’s life. I very much enjoyed this, and I look forward to reading more about her.

[Sarah u · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book is a brief yet detailed history of Queen Victoria, her marriage, children, widowhood and reign, and I really enjoyed reading it.

[It's Mii? · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Paul Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good little objective, introduction to the career of one of our longest serving monarchs.

[David Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect depth of detail. Especially if you are reading through all the monarchs from the Tudors. Not only covers the personal life, but also the political and social changes happening.

[Elle VP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little biography about Queen Victoria with great insights. Very much enjoyed reading this.

[Skylar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this offered a really good insight into her whole life, not just her reign as queen, which is something that is not usually written about.

[Momo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very nicely written and concisely informative little book! I wish the author would write a full novel about Queen Victoria.

[Nora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice informative read!

[John FitzGerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is part of the Penguin Monarchs series of brief biographies of English and British monarchs. They’re short – this one just 117 pages – so the best thing to look for is a good guide to further reading. And that is what Julia Ridley provides in this interesting collection of hypotheses about Victoria.

The final sentence of Ridley's introduction is: “If this book has a purpose, it is to suggest that Queen Victoria’s many contradictions can only be fully understood by exploring the tensions between her public role and her private life.” Since Queen Victoria will never be fully understood – for one thing, the royal family destroyed thousands of her documents that might have reflected badly on her – that might not be the best phrasing, but Ridley does provide several well-argued hypotheses about Victoria that can be tested by further reading.

The one that interested me most was the idea that Prince Albert used her nine pregnancies to usurp the throne (I may not be expressing this hypothesis in the way Ridley would consider most accurate, but you get the idea). The spare male heir was produced by the fourth pregnancy, so the other five kept her in a weakened position for another 13 years. Whether Albert did this because he was plotting to increase his family’s influence or simply because nineteenth-century upper-class men were expected to “guide” their wives is an open question. Another consideration is that, unlike many men of the era, he seems to have been as interested in his wife’s pleasure as his own when they were engaged in what Victoria called “fun in bed.” Maybe the nine pregnancies were simply the result of that, and Albert was just doing his bit to help out by taking over queenly functions.

Ridley’s idea that Victoria treated her children poorly because she was treated poorly as a child, on the other hand, is clearly untestable. On the whole I’m not persuaded that the tension (which quite clearly existed) between her private and public roles had much effect on her. She started out selfish, self-indulgent, irresponsible, and petulant, and that’s how she ended up.

But I could be wrong, eh? The corollary of that question is that Ridley could well be right. I’ve only read Woodham-Smith’s and Wilson’s biographies of Victoria, and intend to re-read them with Ridley’s ideas clearly in mind, as well as reading a few others. Ridley provides both a good introduction to the study of Queen Victoria’s life and a collection of interesting and helpful commentary.

[Harriet Rix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, accessible and highly readable biography of Victoria. Possible to read in an afternoon with lots of memorable stories to take away ... I didn’t know about Victoria’s name being something intended initially to distance her from the English crown, Albert’s blue room, the extent of the queen’s self absorption or troubled relationship with many of her children.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it in one day. This short account of the life of Queen Victoria is a good beginning for anyone who is keen to know about this long-reigning monarch who ruled England for 64 years.

[Victoire · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,8/ 5

[ella]

Short but sweet.

The mini look into Victoria’s life was actually really entertaining. The book itself was so well written, it was almost told to me in a way where I learnt a lot but it felt more relaxed, like a story almost. The style and the incorporation of all the small journal entries and letters was great. They allowed me to see the little things (like the fact Victoria underlined words to emphasise them when writing) which means you really get to know the monarch.

Overall, I loved it!! Since buying this I’m now aiming to get the entire Penguin Monarchs series.