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Queen Victoria: A Life from Beginning to End
Queen Victoria The Queen of Great Britain and Ireland for 63 years, the mother of nine children and grandmother to 42, Queen Victoria’s life was one of magnificent proportions. Victoria’s childhood was difficult and lonely but from the time she took the throne aged just eighteen she blossomed into a powerful woman, both frivolous and formidable. Inside you will read about... ✓ An Unsentimental Marriage ✓ Race to Produce an Heir ✓ Finally an Adult and Finally a Queen ✓ V&A ✓ Die Shattenseite ✓ The Hungry Forties and Albert’s Great Exhibition ✓ The Widow at Windsor And much more! In her later years, Victoria struggled to find balance between her wish to live a very private life as a widow and her duty to live the very public life of a Queen and later Empress. The world Victoria was born into was a very different world to that which she left behind and her life story is an incredible journey from infant heir to matriarchal Queen and Empress.
40 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 19, 2016
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Hourly History
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
October 13, 2018
Nice one hour introduction to one of the most popular English Queens.
December 22, 2018
A very fascinating woman, will read more about her.
July 31, 2021
A great figure in British history.
“The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them."
This book nicely depicted the personal life of Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria was born on 24 May 1819 and ruled for more than 60 years. England advanced in fields of industrialization and power in the Victorian Era.
There is a reason why she was called the ‘Grandmother of Europe’.
“The world Victoria was born into was a very different world to that which she left behind”
“The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them."
This book nicely depicted the personal life of Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria was born on 24 May 1819 and ruled for more than 60 years. England advanced in fields of industrialization and power in the Victorian Era.
There is a reason why she was called the ‘Grandmother of Europe’.
“The world Victoria was born into was a very different world to that which she left behind”
August 5, 2020
Enjoyed this brief history on a worthy Queen!
March 3, 2018
Hourly history does a great job of covering many details in this overview of Queen Victoria's life.. it is informative and an easy read. She was a unique and strong willed woman, with unique views. I found it interesting that though she had 9 children she did not really care for mother hood, and had complicated relationships with her children. In her life she suffered much pain and loss, particularly when she lost her beloved husband Albert. A lot of enormous changes took place during Victoria's reign.. She saw much change in the British monarchy and empire, I enjoyed learning more about her reading this and it has sparked me to want to read MORE about her...
May 27, 2024
If you focus, this brief read will show you "real" Queen Victoria.
(Kindle Ed., loc. 103)
Despite the duchess and Conroy’s careful tutelage of Victoria, she knew very little of the political position of a monarch. The only person to have an influence on her decisions during the earliest days of her reign was her Uncle Leopold, who counseled her in letters, warning against making snap judgments and becoming emotionally involved in political matters...
What a great advice, but I’m not sure if she ever really used the advice for her political career. I’m not even certain if she had any “career” as a politician. Did she really rule the United Kingdom?
The book must be rewritten as the lines contradict with one another. But if you focus, this brief read will show you “real Queen Victoria,” hidden behind all the myths we've been told and taught about her greatness for Great Britain at its peak in the mid- to late-19th century.
The truth: She was a wife and mother after all, with the empty titles of the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Empress of India. Her country wasn’t great thanks to her statesmanship, but her image is remembered great thanks to her great country.
(Ibid, loc. 205)
...Such lax security would not do, and the household, in general, was incredibly chaotic and wasteful. Albert appointed a Master of the Household, and wasteful expenditure was immediately cut. In contrast to Victoria’s court during the early days of her reign, which was a joyful place, jokingly referred to as “Camelot,” Albert’s court was more somber. Albert was of the opinion that a royal court should set a moral example; he introduced strict etiquette and forbade any discussion of politics or gossip. Victoria’s amusing social life became a distant memory.
It was Prince Albert, who took a good care of the royal household of the United Kingdom (NOT the Queen at all) to set a good example for the nation, which WAS a “constitutional” monarchy.
(Ibid, loc. 250)
However, the pomp of the Great Exhibition and the spike in popularity Albert experienced following its success was short-lived. In the winter of 1843, the press vilified Albert as an enemy of Great Britain, accusing him of meddling in foreign policy and promoting German interests. The Crimean War was just around the corner, and anti-Russian sentiment in Great Britain spilled over into anti-German sentiment, making Albert public enemy number one.
It was 1853, not 1843. And what “Germany?” There wasn’t German Empire yet (unless the book means “Prussia”), and his home country that would be sucked into the future German Empire, the enemy of Great Britain, was not the same country back then.
(Ibid, loc. 264)
In 1853, the Crimean War broke out between the Ottoman Empire and Russia. Britain joined the war almost immediately in support of the Ottomans. The main effect of the Crimean War on Victoria and Albert’s household was that Albert worked even more feverishly than before, spending hours and hours each day on his administrative tasks.
This book tells the readers the behind-scene "real" politics of the time. Queen Victoria was not in charge, but her husband. And even his royal intervention in real politics was limited as Great Britain was, in fact, run by the British “Parliament.”
So, the images of Queen Victoria and Nightingale that automatically pops up in our head when it comes to Crimean War were...I don't know what to call it 'cause so many images we got based on our education as well are NOT correct: The reality and truth...sigh.
(Ibid, locs. 279-291)
There are many references to violent scenes and terrible rows between Albert and Victoria in her letters. As one might expect, Victoria was prone to tantrums and anxiety attacks more often when she was pregnant than when she was not. By the time Victoria gave birth to her ninth child at the age of 37, her outbursts had become frequent and hysterical...
(Ibid, loc. 291)
...Albert retreated from her, spending more and more time on the mountains of paperwork he had created. Victoria did not wish to become pregnant again, and it is possible that the marriage became chaste at this time, something Victoria struggled with. For years Victoria had made mention of the glorious intimacy shared by husband and wife and the everlasting passion she had for her lover and now, still in her thirties, all that had come to an end.
Just like the "myth" we've been taught today in S. Korean society about Queen Seondeok of ancient Sir’a Khanate...sigh. She wasn’t a good leader, but at least, she had had much more “act’ual” and “pr’actical” power in her hands than Queen Victoria ever did.
(Ibid, loc. 306)
...In 1855, Albert arranged a marriage between 14-year-old Vicky and Frederick William, heir apparent to the king of Prussia, a dynastic match he had been planning since her birth. Albert was thrilled by the union, but Victoria did not approve of child marriage and feared for Vicky’s health should she be forced to conceive a child while still a child herself. Perhaps Victoria’s jealousy of her eldest daughter stopped her from intervening, or perhaps she was at this stage unable to contradict her husband in any way, but Victoria allowed the marriage; Vicky was sent away to live in Berlin. As Victoria had feared, Vicky became pregnant by her new husband. On hearing about her daughter’s pregnancy, Victoria immediately penned her a letter, outlining how upset she was at the “horrid news.” As Victoria had suspected, the pregnancy was a dangerous one, and Vicky almost died in childbirth aged 17. Now that Vicky and her mother shared an experience unlike any other, that of motherhood, their relationship blossomed. Living in different countries but writing to each other twice a week, the mother and daughter became closer than they had ever been while living together.
Prince Albert wasn’t a German, but now his daughter Vicky really was. Vicky was the mother of the last German Emperor Wilhelm II, the enemy of Great Britian during World War 1 (The 3rd GWPH, Global War of Powershift and Hegemony in real). It was like an American First Daughter today marrying Xi's son if he ever had any.
(Ibid, loc. 334)
Victoria retreated into a mourning period so deep and dark that she was never able to return fully to life as a healthy, still-young woman. Although Victoria was determined to keep on top of Albert’s life’s work in documentation, she refused to appear in public at all. Victoria avoided living in London, sharing her time between Osborne and Balmoral, both homes that she and Albert had built together. In these homes Victoria kept Albert’s rooms as shrines, insisting hot water and flowers be put in them every day. She dined alone as any conversation or laughter upset her. Victoria was completely incapacitated by Albert’s death and constantly bemoaned her broken health and weight gain. It took until 1866 for Victoria to agree to open Parliament in person. She arrived without any of a queen’s finery, wearing a simple black gown with a white widow’s cap, and draped her red velvet cape over Albert’s throne, sitting empty but still adjacent to her own. Despite her servant’s insistence that she was perfectly healthy and well, Victoria refused to return to any real form of public life for most of the rest of her life, a decision that had a lasting effect on the monarchy as a whole...
The last line should be edited like "The parliamentary system that had been working since the ‘Bill of Rights 1689’ made it possible that the British government still functioned just fine, or even better, without the royal intervention."
(Ibid, locs. 376-390)
Brown died in 1883, aged just 56, as the result of a skin disease. Victoria had recently injured her leg and was recovering in bed. On hearing of Brown’s death, Victoria lost the use of her legs completely for several months and described herself in letters as feeling “utterly crushed,” writing in the third person, “The Queen feels that life for the second time is becoming most trying and sad to bear deprived of all she needs.” Brown was memorialized for all time with the commission of a bronze statue engraved with words penned by Tennyson: “Friend more than servant, loyal, truthful, brave. Selfless than duty, even to the grave.” Victoria’s relationship with Brown did little for her reputation with the British public and drove an even deeper wedge between her and her children, and now, aged 46, Victoria again found herself alone.
(Ibid, locs. 396-407)
...Victoria had recently published her book, Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highland, a selection of diary extracts from 1842 and 1868 that were carefully edited to convey domestic bliss at Balmoral. While Leaves became a best-seller and ingratiated Victoria with many of her subjects, grateful for a peek behind the scenes of royal life, the book was not without its detractors. A very vocal minority criticized the queen’s depiction of endless, luxurious leisure, citing a price tag of £385,000 a year (the queen’s annual civil list payment) paid for by the working people of Britain.
It was just like the English royal family today, which was only possible because Great Britain was, again, already a constitutional monarchy, and there was the working Parliament and a Chancellor, the head of all the working ministers.
The Queen didn’t even have the power to fire the Prime Minister. She could only get rid of the head of the working administration by playing politics just like her subjects, which means the monarch at the time was no longer the sovereign of the nation.
(Ibid, loc. 407)
Gladstone was not a perfumed cavalier accustomed to wooing royals, as Disraeli was. Gladstone was a stern man of conviction and resolve with no time for the gentlemanly ways of times past. That said, Gladstone was a staunch royalist, with a deep reverence for the institution Victoria embodied and a determination to safeguard her position against calls to dissolve the monarchy. The issue between Gladstone and Victoria was a battle of personalities rather than a battle of ideas. Victoria came to loathe Gladstone’s manner, theoretical and idealist, and in turn, Gladstone was appalled by Victoria’s neglect of her duties. The same year Gladstone came into power Victoria built her “Widow’s House,” the Glassalt Shiel. Described by Victoria as the only place in the world where she could have complete rest, the Widow’s House was completely isolated. A cheerless concrete building two and a half miles from Balmoral, the Widow’s House sent a clear message from Victoria to Gladstone: the queen is not to be disturbed.
(Ibid, loc. 422)
...In Europe, conservatism, liberalism, and socialism were battling it out, but politics in England remained fairly calm thanks to the constitutional arrangement. Even as the Second Empire of France collapsed in 1848, Victoria’s Britain had stood firm, but now republicanism was gaining popularity, with a rally in Hyde Park that attracted large crowds...
The author means in “1870,” and it was due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. What collapsed in 1848 was the Second French Republic.
(Ibid, loc. 442)
During the mid-nineteenth century, Britain became a world leader in industry and trade and used its wealth and power to expand its empire drastically. During Victoria’s reign, the British Empire added Canada, Australia, India, and parts of South East Asia to its lands, doubling in size. This period of aggressive expansion was only possible thanks to Victoria’s children and the dynastic marriages they had made. Related by blood or marriage to the royal houses of Russia, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, and Greece, Victoria was able to avoid any serious confrontation over Britain’s expansion overseas.
Totally wrong. The blood-relations have been European tradition since the Middle Ages, and despite all that there wasn’t a single year the continent so-called “Europe” was ever free from armed conflicts. Queen Victoria’s kids got through the same even in the early-20th cent’ury with so-called the Great Game and Great War.
Seriously, brothers have fought over their parents’ inheritances as old and far as we remember our history.
(Ibid, locs. 422-436)
...Surprisingly, the only person who was able to overthrow the Republican animosity Victoria had created for herself was her least favorite child: Bertie. As fate would have it, Bertie came down with Typhoid fever, the same illness that was believed to have killed his father, Prince Albert. Bertie was nursed at Sandringham with his extended family around him and a number of high-profile doctors at his disposal, but his illness only intensified. On December 14, 1871, the tenth anniversary of the death of Prince Albert, Bertie’s doctor diagnosed that he was “on the very verge of the grave.” The public was aghast, and expressions of sympathy for the queen and her family poured in. Against all odds Bertie recovered, and a national service of thanksgiving took place on February 27, 1872, attended by Victoria. The event took over the city of London with well-wishers celebrating in the streets, and as Victoria made a rare appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, waving happily to the adoring crowds, it seemed a full reconciliation between sovereign and subjects had taken place.
So, the truth is that it wasn't Victoria's ability as a capable leader or statesman, but the people’s "usual" sæm-/ sym-path’y towards her "family" matters.
(Ibid, loc. 442)
Now that Victoria was, at last, enjoying an almost unanimous popularity with her subjects, she began to take more interest in life outside the walls of her sitting room. In 1874, Victoria’s favorite politician Benjamin Disraeli again became prime minister, and together they reinvigorated Victoria’s image, ensuring that Britain’s golden age of industry and empire would forever be associated with her name.
What we have learned has all simply been fabricated: What they together reinvigorated was Victoria’s “image.”
p.s.> I’d like to point out that this is the second time I see this series’ title typed correctly with both the prepositions in coherence (on Kindle Ed., loc. 2): “A Life from Beginning to End.” Hope the author or the publisher has been working on it, and if so, yes, a Kudos to them.
(Kindle Ed., loc. 103)
Despite the duchess and Conroy’s careful tutelage of Victoria, she knew very little of the political position of a monarch. The only person to have an influence on her decisions during the earliest days of her reign was her Uncle Leopold, who counseled her in letters, warning against making snap judgments and becoming emotionally involved in political matters...
What a great advice, but I’m not sure if she ever really used the advice for her political career. I’m not even certain if she had any “career” as a politician. Did she really rule the United Kingdom?
The book must be rewritten as the lines contradict with one another. But if you focus, this brief read will show you “real Queen Victoria,” hidden behind all the myths we've been told and taught about her greatness for Great Britain at its peak in the mid- to late-19th century.
The truth: She was a wife and mother after all, with the empty titles of the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Empress of India. Her country wasn’t great thanks to her statesmanship, but her image is remembered great thanks to her great country.
(Ibid, loc. 205)
...Such lax security would not do, and the household, in general, was incredibly chaotic and wasteful. Albert appointed a Master of the Household, and wasteful expenditure was immediately cut. In contrast to Victoria’s court during the early days of her reign, which was a joyful place, jokingly referred to as “Camelot,” Albert’s court was more somber. Albert was of the opinion that a royal court should set a moral example; he introduced strict etiquette and forbade any discussion of politics or gossip. Victoria’s amusing social life became a distant memory.
It was Prince Albert, who took a good care of the royal household of the United Kingdom (NOT the Queen at all) to set a good example for the nation, which WAS a “constitutional” monarchy.
(Ibid, loc. 250)
However, the pomp of the Great Exhibition and the spike in popularity Albert experienced following its success was short-lived. In the winter of 1843, the press vilified Albert as an enemy of Great Britain, accusing him of meddling in foreign policy and promoting German interests. The Crimean War was just around the corner, and anti-Russian sentiment in Great Britain spilled over into anti-German sentiment, making Albert public enemy number one.
It was 1853, not 1843. And what “Germany?” There wasn’t German Empire yet (unless the book means “Prussia”), and his home country that would be sucked into the future German Empire, the enemy of Great Britain, was not the same country back then.
(Ibid, loc. 264)
In 1853, the Crimean War broke out between the Ottoman Empire and Russia. Britain joined the war almost immediately in support of the Ottomans. The main effect of the Crimean War on Victoria and Albert’s household was that Albert worked even more feverishly than before, spending hours and hours each day on his administrative tasks.
This book tells the readers the behind-scene "real" politics of the time. Queen Victoria was not in charge, but her husband. And even his royal intervention in real politics was limited as Great Britain was, in fact, run by the British “Parliament.”
So, the images of Queen Victoria and Nightingale that automatically pops up in our head when it comes to Crimean War were...I don't know what to call it 'cause so many images we got based on our education as well are NOT correct: The reality and truth...sigh.
(Ibid, locs. 279-291)
There are many references to violent scenes and terrible rows between Albert and Victoria in her letters. As one might expect, Victoria was prone to tantrums and anxiety attacks more often when she was pregnant than when she was not. By the time Victoria gave birth to her ninth child at the age of 37, her outbursts had become frequent and hysterical...
(Ibid, loc. 291)
...Albert retreated from her, spending more and more time on the mountains of paperwork he had created. Victoria did not wish to become pregnant again, and it is possible that the marriage became chaste at this time, something Victoria struggled with. For years Victoria had made mention of the glorious intimacy shared by husband and wife and the everlasting passion she had for her lover and now, still in her thirties, all that had come to an end.
Just like the "myth" we've been taught today in S. Korean society about Queen Seondeok of ancient Sir’a Khanate...sigh. She wasn’t a good leader, but at least, she had had much more “act’ual” and “pr’actical” power in her hands than Queen Victoria ever did.
(Ibid, loc. 306)
...In 1855, Albert arranged a marriage between 14-year-old Vicky and Frederick William, heir apparent to the king of Prussia, a dynastic match he had been planning since her birth. Albert was thrilled by the union, but Victoria did not approve of child marriage and feared for Vicky’s health should she be forced to conceive a child while still a child herself. Perhaps Victoria’s jealousy of her eldest daughter stopped her from intervening, or perhaps she was at this stage unable to contradict her husband in any way, but Victoria allowed the marriage; Vicky was sent away to live in Berlin. As Victoria had feared, Vicky became pregnant by her new husband. On hearing about her daughter’s pregnancy, Victoria immediately penned her a letter, outlining how upset she was at the “horrid news.” As Victoria had suspected, the pregnancy was a dangerous one, and Vicky almost died in childbirth aged 17. Now that Vicky and her mother shared an experience unlike any other, that of motherhood, their relationship blossomed. Living in different countries but writing to each other twice a week, the mother and daughter became closer than they had ever been while living together.
Prince Albert wasn’t a German, but now his daughter Vicky really was. Vicky was the mother of the last German Emperor Wilhelm II, the enemy of Great Britian during World War 1 (The 3rd GWPH, Global War of Powershift and Hegemony in real). It was like an American First Daughter today marrying Xi's son if he ever had any.
(Ibid, loc. 334)
Victoria retreated into a mourning period so deep and dark that she was never able to return fully to life as a healthy, still-young woman. Although Victoria was determined to keep on top of Albert’s life’s work in documentation, she refused to appear in public at all. Victoria avoided living in London, sharing her time between Osborne and Balmoral, both homes that she and Albert had built together. In these homes Victoria kept Albert’s rooms as shrines, insisting hot water and flowers be put in them every day. She dined alone as any conversation or laughter upset her. Victoria was completely incapacitated by Albert’s death and constantly bemoaned her broken health and weight gain. It took until 1866 for Victoria to agree to open Parliament in person. She arrived without any of a queen’s finery, wearing a simple black gown with a white widow’s cap, and draped her red velvet cape over Albert’s throne, sitting empty but still adjacent to her own. Despite her servant’s insistence that she was perfectly healthy and well, Victoria refused to return to any real form of public life for most of the rest of her life, a decision that had a lasting effect on the monarchy as a whole...
The last line should be edited like "The parliamentary system that had been working since the ‘Bill of Rights 1689’ made it possible that the British government still functioned just fine, or even better, without the royal intervention."
(Ibid, locs. 376-390)
Brown died in 1883, aged just 56, as the result of a skin disease. Victoria had recently injured her leg and was recovering in bed. On hearing of Brown’s death, Victoria lost the use of her legs completely for several months and described herself in letters as feeling “utterly crushed,” writing in the third person, “The Queen feels that life for the second time is becoming most trying and sad to bear deprived of all she needs.” Brown was memorialized for all time with the commission of a bronze statue engraved with words penned by Tennyson: “Friend more than servant, loyal, truthful, brave. Selfless than duty, even to the grave.” Victoria’s relationship with Brown did little for her reputation with the British public and drove an even deeper wedge between her and her children, and now, aged 46, Victoria again found herself alone.
(Ibid, locs. 396-407)
...Victoria had recently published her book, Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highland, a selection of diary extracts from 1842 and 1868 that were carefully edited to convey domestic bliss at Balmoral. While Leaves became a best-seller and ingratiated Victoria with many of her subjects, grateful for a peek behind the scenes of royal life, the book was not without its detractors. A very vocal minority criticized the queen’s depiction of endless, luxurious leisure, citing a price tag of £385,000 a year (the queen’s annual civil list payment) paid for by the working people of Britain.
It was just like the English royal family today, which was only possible because Great Britain was, again, already a constitutional monarchy, and there was the working Parliament and a Chancellor, the head of all the working ministers.
The Queen didn’t even have the power to fire the Prime Minister. She could only get rid of the head of the working administration by playing politics just like her subjects, which means the monarch at the time was no longer the sovereign of the nation.
(Ibid, loc. 407)
Gladstone was not a perfumed cavalier accustomed to wooing royals, as Disraeli was. Gladstone was a stern man of conviction and resolve with no time for the gentlemanly ways of times past. That said, Gladstone was a staunch royalist, with a deep reverence for the institution Victoria embodied and a determination to safeguard her position against calls to dissolve the monarchy. The issue between Gladstone and Victoria was a battle of personalities rather than a battle of ideas. Victoria came to loathe Gladstone’s manner, theoretical and idealist, and in turn, Gladstone was appalled by Victoria’s neglect of her duties. The same year Gladstone came into power Victoria built her “Widow’s House,” the Glassalt Shiel. Described by Victoria as the only place in the world where she could have complete rest, the Widow’s House was completely isolated. A cheerless concrete building two and a half miles from Balmoral, the Widow’s House sent a clear message from Victoria to Gladstone: the queen is not to be disturbed.
(Ibid, loc. 422)
...In Europe, conservatism, liberalism, and socialism were battling it out, but politics in England remained fairly calm thanks to the constitutional arrangement. Even as the Second Empire of France collapsed in 1848, Victoria’s Britain had stood firm, but now republicanism was gaining popularity, with a rally in Hyde Park that attracted large crowds...
The author means in “1870,” and it was due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. What collapsed in 1848 was the Second French Republic.
(Ibid, loc. 442)
During the mid-nineteenth century, Britain became a world leader in industry and trade and used its wealth and power to expand its empire drastically. During Victoria’s reign, the British Empire added Canada, Australia, India, and parts of South East Asia to its lands, doubling in size. This period of aggressive expansion was only possible thanks to Victoria’s children and the dynastic marriages they had made. Related by blood or marriage to the royal houses of Russia, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, and Greece, Victoria was able to avoid any serious confrontation over Britain’s expansion overseas.
Totally wrong. The blood-relations have been European tradition since the Middle Ages, and despite all that there wasn’t a single year the continent so-called “Europe” was ever free from armed conflicts. Queen Victoria’s kids got through the same even in the early-20th cent’ury with so-called the Great Game and Great War.
Seriously, brothers have fought over their parents’ inheritances as old and far as we remember our history.
(Ibid, locs. 422-436)
...Surprisingly, the only person who was able to overthrow the Republican animosity Victoria had created for herself was her least favorite child: Bertie. As fate would have it, Bertie came down with Typhoid fever, the same illness that was believed to have killed his father, Prince Albert. Bertie was nursed at Sandringham with his extended family around him and a number of high-profile doctors at his disposal, but his illness only intensified. On December 14, 1871, the tenth anniversary of the death of Prince Albert, Bertie’s doctor diagnosed that he was “on the very verge of the grave.” The public was aghast, and expressions of sympathy for the queen and her family poured in. Against all odds Bertie recovered, and a national service of thanksgiving took place on February 27, 1872, attended by Victoria. The event took over the city of London with well-wishers celebrating in the streets, and as Victoria made a rare appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, waving happily to the adoring crowds, it seemed a full reconciliation between sovereign and subjects had taken place.
So, the truth is that it wasn't Victoria's ability as a capable leader or statesman, but the people’s "usual" sæm-/ sym-path’y towards her "family" matters.
(Ibid, loc. 442)
Now that Victoria was, at last, enjoying an almost unanimous popularity with her subjects, she began to take more interest in life outside the walls of her sitting room. In 1874, Victoria’s favorite politician Benjamin Disraeli again became prime minister, and together they reinvigorated Victoria’s image, ensuring that Britain’s golden age of industry and empire would forever be associated with her name.
What we have learned has all simply been fabricated: What they together reinvigorated was Victoria’s “image.”
p.s.> I’d like to point out that this is the second time I see this series’ title typed correctly with both the prepositions in coherence (on Kindle Ed., loc. 2): “A Life from Beginning to End.” Hope the author or the publisher has been working on it, and if so, yes, a Kudos to them.
April 12, 2021
The book provides an insight into the life of privilege as well as the struggles from the time she became a princess, through her tenure as a queen, and right up to her death. It offers details about the influence of her mother Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Albert on her life and actions. She was the queen under whose reign Britain underwent great transformations by first becoming Great Britain and then the British Empire, whose boundaries extended into all corners of the globe.
Read the full review here: https://www.indiacafe24.com/book-revi...
Read the full review here: https://www.indiacafe24.com/book-revi...
October 25, 2025
As advertised, it’s a quick read! I know the chapters are more like categories than strict timelines, but I did find it a bit jarring to jump around dates and facts. If I didn’t already know Queen Victoria’s life as well as I do, I might have been left confused and spent time rereading.
I felt some parts were marginally biased, but overall, it does give a speedy but detailed account of her life and reign.
I felt some parts were marginally biased, but overall, it does give a speedy but detailed account of her life and reign.
Read
December 12, 2018Queen Victoria: A Life From Beginning to End by Hourly History
I'll usually read something about historical time periods, then follow up with another book about the same era.
In this case I finished Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets: An Audible Original.
I realized I knew nothing about Queen Victoria , and this quick read helped bring me up to speed.
I'll usually read something about historical time periods, then follow up with another book about the same era.
In this case I finished Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets: An Audible Original.
I realized I knew nothing about Queen Victoria , and this quick read helped bring me up to speed.
November 11, 2022
"Victoria’s new determination to officially assume the title of empress was met with serious opposition. Two recent Reform Acts had changed the way the British government worked for the better. Many believed the Royal Titles Act, which would give Victoria her new desired title, was a step backward for political progress and smacked of imperialism. Imperial titles were associated with Russia, Napoleonic France, and Germany, aggressive nations where ordinary citizens came under the rule of a single, often despotic, ruler.
"But Victoria got her way, and the diverse population of India became the subjects of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Empress of India. Victoria’s new title was proclaimed at an event on January 1, 1877, by Lord Lytton, viceroy of India, and was as magnificent an affair as could be. Dripping in the exotic jewels of the Orient, including the Koh-i-Noor diamond of the Maharajas of Lahore, Victoria commissioned a number of new family portraits, and a photograph of herself sat upon an ivory throne."
There's no such thing as "Maharajas of Lahore". Lahore was capital of Punjab until 1947, and the said Maharaja was of Punjab, with state of Kashmir including Jammu, Gilgit, Baltistan and Ladakh part of the state.
Koh-i-Noor, won back by Maharaja Ranjit Singh from Iran where Nadir Shah had taken it after his perpetration of the genocide in Delhi, was one of the priceless objects stolen by various European persons and powers from India.
Another was Hope diamond, and apart from sackfuls of fiamonds stolen by Tavernier, British commenced looting India, impoverishment the land from third wealthiest in world before arrival of British, to one dying of starvation during WWII by millions, due to British theft of harvest.
***
"“I will be good.”
"—Queen Victoria"
If that required, as it seems it did, from quote above, A stern determination over and above a natural inclination, well, one wonders what were the repressed inclinations that she battled with!
Did those get expressed in the descendants?
***
"But, in 1817 the only clear and legitimate heir to the British throne, Princess Charlotte, died in childbirth along with her child. This tragic event created a dynastic crisis that threw the entire royal family into action. The Hanoverian dynasty was unpopular with the public, who thought their days as powerful rulers were numbered. King George III famously suffered from mental illness, and most of his sons lived a lifestyle the British public deemed excessive and immoral. The family knew that key to keeping the Hanoverian dynasty alive was to secure an heir."
Just so the family could live off England, presumably.
"The middle-aged Hanoverian dukes, whom Victoria often referred to later as her “wicked uncles,” immediately sought out new wives to give them a legitimate heir. The Duke of Kent was the winner of this unsentimental race up the aisle as in 1817 he promptly discarded his mistress of some 27 years, Madame de Saint-Laurent, and rushed into an arranged marriage to Victoire of Saxe-Coburg."
Just how old was this guy, and wasn't the bride a widow with two, if not more, children from her earlier marriage?
These half-brother and sisters of the then future queen of England and grandmother of Europe are sort of kept secret, via half truths given out to public.
"This union was the result of a careful dynastic calculation that saw the political benefits of uniting the houses of Saxe-Coburg and Hanover. Victoire was the sister of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, the husband of Princess Charlotte. Leopold had recently lost both his wife and unborn child and any claim to the British throne along with it, and he hoped that by marrying his sister to the Duke of Kent he could still stage a Saxe-Coburg takeover of the British crown."
And he did it doubly, at the very least - he saw to it that his English Hanover niece married a Saxe-Coburg cousin of hers.
***
"“Conceived, born and bred . . . to mount the summits of greatness.”
"—Edith Sitwell"
It's unclear what exactly is the virtue attached meant here, unless it's one common to all of middle-class grandmothers of yore.
At that, most of the latter must win, since few escaped housekeeping, feeding family and childcare.
***
"In 1820, both Victoria’s father the Duke of Kent and King George III died within six days of each other. Victoria was just eight months old at the time. The Prince Regent succeeded to the throne as King George IV, and Victoria’s position shifted to third in line to the British throne after her uncles, the Duke of York and Duke of Clarence, neither of whom had children."
It's unclear why that last bit was not only settled but assumed so.
"Thanks to financial support from her Uncle Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, Victoria was raised at Kensington Palace in England by her mother, the formidable Duchess of Kent. Despite the fact that Victoria was in fact three-quarters German, she was raised to speak English as her first language and was always addressed as Your Royal Highness. By Victoria’s own admission in letters written later in her life, she was a spoiled child raised by a suffocating but affectionate single mother. Energetic and healthy and, in portraiture, cherubic, Victoria was often described as a willful child. Despite Victoria’s sylvan surroundings, her life at Kensington Palace was one of confinement. Moreover, she often described her childhood as an unhappy one."
Why did the then presumed heir to English throne require financial support from a maternal uncle, that too a German one?
***
"Victoire’s resolve to raise Victoria as a future monarch was not completely selfless. King George IV was still on the throne but was in very poor health. The Duke of Clarence William was next in line to the throne, and should William die before Victoria reached her 18th birthday the duchess wanted to assure that she would be appointed regent in her place. The duchess was successful in achieving this ambitious aim, and the Regency Act received royal assent on December 23, 1830.
"In the year 1831, at the age of 14, Victoria first learned the exact nature of her royal destiny thanks to a genealogical table slipped into one of her history books. Her response to learning that she was a clear and close heir to the British throne was to say simply, “I will be good.”"
Heartbreaking!
"It later became known that what Victoria endured under the direct tutelage of the duchess and her accomplice Lord Conroy was nothing short of abuse. Victoire was essentially Victoria’s jailer. Victoria slept in the same room as her mother and was constantly watched by members of her house. It is said that she was not allowed to walk downstairs without having someone hold her hand. Victoria was raised in complete isolation from others her own age, and she later admitted to being bullied by her mother and Conroy, who taunted and insulted her all the way into adulthood."
It's unclear why, what were they thinking, unless it was yo break her down into complete submission, as a subconscious revenge for their inability to enjoy their own lives and rage at the young girl's secure future!
................................................................................................
"“I trust to God that my life may be spared for nine months longer, after which period, in the event of my death, no Regency would take place.”
"—King William IV"
If he was aware of the abuse suffered by his niece and heir, why was he unable to put a stop to it, and what's the use of being king of England if this inability were real?
***
"Around the same time, a scandal from Victoria’s court hit the headlines of the British press. At the center of the scandal was Lady Flora Hastings, one of Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting who had been under the orders of the duchess when Victoria was a child. Victoria wrote to Lord Melbourne that she believed Lady Flora was with child and that the father was undoubtedly Sir John Conroy. The gossip reached every level of Victoria’s court and, eventually, to clear her name, Lady Flora submitted to a medical examination. It was proven she was not, in fact, pregnant but gravely ill; she died soon after, possibly of liver failure or some other disease that caused her abdomen to swell.
"Lady Flora’s family were horrified at how Queen Victoria had treated their daughter, and when they received no form of apology, they sent letters to the newspapers for publication. The reporters jumped at the chance to publish such a scandal, and the Duchess of Kent, still haunting the remote reaches of Buckingham Palace, jumped on the bandwagon and shared stories with the press of how badly Victoria had treated her. At this point in her reign, Victoria is said to have been as unpopular with the British public as George IV had been at the time of his attempted divorce. How could the queen win back the hearts and minds of her public?"
It's understandable how family of Lady Flora felt, but the senior person that Victoire was, shouldn't she have been quietly making amends, calming and soothing them, even if denied presence of the daughter who had only unhappy memories of her - and, worse, of a man who'd been allowed to expect to control the future queen?
That she, the mother, chose instead to be vindictive - and publicly so, maligning a daughter and a queen - in fact justified every possible deprivation that she'd been made to suffer after coronationof the daughter, and only making one wonder why the daughter hadn't banished her to Saxe-Coburg instead!
***
"“He comes to take ‘for better or worse’ England’s fat Queen and England’s fatter purse.”
"—Popular mid-nineteenth century cartoon"
Kind, weren't the English!
No wonder England lost India.
"England’s fat Queen"????
What was Henry VIII, slim???
***
"Years before Victoria was crowned queen of Great Britain, all of the great royal houses of Europe had designs on who should be her king. One such design came from Duchess Augusta, the matriarch of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty and Prince Albert’s grandmother. Although Prince Albert and Queen Victoria were first cousins, Albert was groomed for the sole purpose of becoming Victoria’s husband and king."
No, that's a convenient lie, and in reality he was only offered as an alternative in case Victoria didn't like the one meant for her, which was a younger brother of Albert - after all, Albert was to inherit Saxe-Coburg, and it couldn't be combined with England.
But Victoria preferred Albert, who'd rather have not been forced into this alternative, unlike the younger cousin who did like her. And her will would prevail, since otherwise she might have refused the younger cousin and they'd lose the match.
***
"Victoria and Albert were married on February 10, 1840, in the Royal Chapel of St James’ Palace, London—a day Victoria described as the happiest of her life. Despite her newlywed status, Victoria was unwilling to sideline her responsibilities as queen. On Albert’s suggestion that they take a long honeymoon, Victoria snapped, “You forget, my dearest Love, that I am the Sovereign, and that business can stop and wait for nothing.”
"On a visit in 1840, Victoria and Albert’s Uncle Leopold expressed his opinion that Albert “ought to be in business as in everything necessary to the Queen.” Leopold told Victoria that Albert should be her walking dictionary of reference and should be called upon by her to answer any questions she may have about pretty much anything. Essentially, Leopold thought Albert should be Victoria’s advisor. However, Victoria had been warned against taking on an advisor as, in the eyes of her court and Parliament, it amounted to an admission that she was not up to the task of ruling Britain. Victoria still refused to share any officialdom with Albert."
Good for her!
***
"“There is great happiness and great blessedness in devoting oneself to another who is worthy of one’s affection . . . still men are very selfish and the woman’s devotion is always one of submission which makes our poor sex very unenviable.”
"—Queen Victoria"
She knew only one half of a happy marriage - one where she was subjected to discipline and required to submit, despite her stature as a queen, and never seen as an equal, despite husband's lower status as her subject.
***
"To speed up his attempt to make Victoria subservient to him, Albert isolated her from her two closest companions. Until the day Albert came into her life, Lord Melbourne had been the most dominant male figure in Victoria’s life and her closest friend. Melbourne had retired from his role as prime minister after suffering defeat at the 1841 election and frequently wrote letters to Victoria from his retirement. The letters were for the most part friendly notes with little mention of politics or royal matters, but nonetheless, Albert put a stop to them, effectively banning correspondence between Victoria and Melbourne.
"A more difficult relationship to break was that between Victoria and Baroness Lezhen, Victoria’s former governess. Victoria put Lezhen in charge of her court and household, something Albert was very much against. In January 1842, Victoria had recently given birth to her second child Edward when her first child, Victoria, became ill. Albert seized the opportunity to blame the child’s sickness on Lezhen, accusing her of mismanaging the household and neglecting the child. A furious row ensued at which time Albert left the family home and refused to communicate with Victoria except through letters passed through a third party. In one of his letters, he said, “Take the child away and do as you like, and if she dies you will have it on your conscience.”"
Horrible guy. Does it run in the family, treating a effect horribly? Would seem so, looking at various descendents, a prime example being those who were among the branch relocated to Greece.
"Eventually, Victoria capitulated and dismissed Baroness Lezhen, a woman who had been by her side since childhood. This marked a turning point in Victoria and Albert’s relationship. From this point on Victoria became consumed by her loyalty to and love for Albert and agreed to submit to his wishes in all things. Victoria re-wrote her own history, destroying many of the letters she had written before her marriage to Albert, dismissing them as “mere amusement, flattery, excitement and mere politics.” Everything that had come before Albert was meaningless; Victoria was now entering the most important stage of her life and was determined to succeed in her role as a good wife and mother."
Who, of course, could not possibly have a mind of her own! And if she did, it must be killed.
***
"Following Lezhen’s dismissal, Albert carried out a complete overhaul of the running of the palace. It did seem that the management of the queen’s household left a lot to be desired. In 1838, a young boy was discovered in the palace kitchens. He had been living there unobserved for the past 12 months, and in 1840 another young boy was discovered sleeping under a sofa in a room next door to the queen’s bedroom. Such lax security would not do, and the household, in general, was incredibly chaotic and wasteful. Albert appointed a Master of the Household, and wasteful expenditure was immediately cut. In contrast to Victoria’s court during the early days of her reign, which was a joyful place, jokingly referred to as “Camelot,” Albert’s court was more somber. Albert was of the opinion that a royal court should set a moral example; he introduced strict etiquette and forbade any discussion of politics or gossip. Victoria’s amusing social life became a distant memory."
This was reflected in clothes and couture, all the more - with black from head to foot replacing bright colors.
"By the time Victoria had her third child, Alice, born in 1843, Albert had begun to attend meetings with ministers and sat on a throne directly alongside hers in the House of Lords. Albert’s new status may have quashed the tension between man and wife, but it had intensified the tension between man and state. By his own design, Albert was the natural head of the family, manager of the queen’s private affairs, private secretary, confidential political advisor and assistant, tutor of the royal children, and permanent minister. Albert could hardly be considered a minister if he was not accountable to Parliament and there were many layers to his power. As Albert saw it, he was king in all but name, and Victoria was now merely an ornamental queen."
How did England change that, and bring him back to earth to his own status?
***
"In 1845, Victoria and Albert moved to an isolated spot on the Isle of Wight where Albert bought a seaside home known as Osborne using the queen’s private funds. Victoria was thrilled to leave London, where she felt she and her family were under increasing scrutiny from the press. She loathed living at George IV’s Pavilion in Brighton and complained that she was regularly mobbed in the streets. Victoria had also recently been subjected to two further assassination attempts while riding in her carriage at Constitution Hill. Both attempts left her unharmed but gave her ample ammunition to defend her seclusion from criticism. At Osborne, the royal family became completely separated from court life and led a quietly productive lifestyle, just as Albert had wanted."
In short, the German cut an English Queen not only down to reproduction but off and away from her Queendom, except nominally!
***
"There are many references to violent scenes and terrible rows between Albert and Victoria in her letters. As one might expect, Victoria was prone to tantrums and anxiety attacks more often when she was pregnant than when she was not. By the time Victoria gave birth to her ninth child at the age of 37, her outbursts had become frequent and hysterical. Albert had a habit of quietly walking away from Victoria when she made a scene, punishing her later with patronizing notes that criticized her behavior."
Obviously he never was, never had been, in love with her. Obviously she did feel it subconsciously, even if she was inexperienced as far as matters of heart go.
Obviously that was why she was unhappy with her pregnancies, because they were not born of love, only of a German man getting his wife pregnant, whether out of his own physical need or out of sense of duty of his role, or a need to subjugate the queen he'd married, if only via getting her pregnant and keeping her out of office in fact, if not de jure.
***
"But Victoria got her way, and the diverse population of India became the subjects of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Empress of India. Victoria’s new title was proclaimed at an event on January 1, 1877, by Lord Lytton, viceroy of India, and was as magnificent an affair as could be. Dripping in the exotic jewels of the Orient, including the Koh-i-Noor diamond of the Maharajas of Lahore, Victoria commissioned a number of new family portraits, and a photograph of herself sat upon an ivory throne."
There's no such thing as "Maharajas of Lahore". Lahore was capital of Punjab until 1947, and the said Maharaja was of Punjab, with state of Kashmir including Jammu, Gilgit, Baltistan and Ladakh part of the state.
Koh-i-Noor, won back by Maharaja Ranjit Singh from Iran where Nadir Shah had taken it after his perpetration of the genocide in Delhi, was one of the priceless objects stolen by various European persons and powers from India.
Another was Hope diamond, and apart from sackfuls of fiamonds stolen by Tavernier, British commenced looting India, impoverishment the land from third wealthiest in world before arrival of British, to one dying of starvation during WWII by millions, due to British theft of harvest.
***
"“I will be good.”
"—Queen Victoria"
If that required, as it seems it did, from quote above, A stern determination over and above a natural inclination, well, one wonders what were the repressed inclinations that she battled with!
Did those get expressed in the descendants?
***
"But, in 1817 the only clear and legitimate heir to the British throne, Princess Charlotte, died in childbirth along with her child. This tragic event created a dynastic crisis that threw the entire royal family into action. The Hanoverian dynasty was unpopular with the public, who thought their days as powerful rulers were numbered. King George III famously suffered from mental illness, and most of his sons lived a lifestyle the British public deemed excessive and immoral. The family knew that key to keeping the Hanoverian dynasty alive was to secure an heir."
Just so the family could live off England, presumably.
"The middle-aged Hanoverian dukes, whom Victoria often referred to later as her “wicked uncles,” immediately sought out new wives to give them a legitimate heir. The Duke of Kent was the winner of this unsentimental race up the aisle as in 1817 he promptly discarded his mistress of some 27 years, Madame de Saint-Laurent, and rushed into an arranged marriage to Victoire of Saxe-Coburg."
Just how old was this guy, and wasn't the bride a widow with two, if not more, children from her earlier marriage?
These half-brother and sisters of the then future queen of England and grandmother of Europe are sort of kept secret, via half truths given out to public.
"This union was the result of a careful dynastic calculation that saw the political benefits of uniting the houses of Saxe-Coburg and Hanover. Victoire was the sister of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, the husband of Princess Charlotte. Leopold had recently lost both his wife and unborn child and any claim to the British throne along with it, and he hoped that by marrying his sister to the Duke of Kent he could still stage a Saxe-Coburg takeover of the British crown."
And he did it doubly, at the very least - he saw to it that his English Hanover niece married a Saxe-Coburg cousin of hers.
***
"“Conceived, born and bred . . . to mount the summits of greatness.”
"—Edith Sitwell"
It's unclear what exactly is the virtue attached meant here, unless it's one common to all of middle-class grandmothers of yore.
At that, most of the latter must win, since few escaped housekeeping, feeding family and childcare.
***
"In 1820, both Victoria’s father the Duke of Kent and King George III died within six days of each other. Victoria was just eight months old at the time. The Prince Regent succeeded to the throne as King George IV, and Victoria’s position shifted to third in line to the British throne after her uncles, the Duke of York and Duke of Clarence, neither of whom had children."
It's unclear why that last bit was not only settled but assumed so.
"Thanks to financial support from her Uncle Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, Victoria was raised at Kensington Palace in England by her mother, the formidable Duchess of Kent. Despite the fact that Victoria was in fact three-quarters German, she was raised to speak English as her first language and was always addressed as Your Royal Highness. By Victoria’s own admission in letters written later in her life, she was a spoiled child raised by a suffocating but affectionate single mother. Energetic and healthy and, in portraiture, cherubic, Victoria was often described as a willful child. Despite Victoria’s sylvan surroundings, her life at Kensington Palace was one of confinement. Moreover, she often described her childhood as an unhappy one."
Why did the then presumed heir to English throne require financial support from a maternal uncle, that too a German one?
***
"Victoire’s resolve to raise Victoria as a future monarch was not completely selfless. King George IV was still on the throne but was in very poor health. The Duke of Clarence William was next in line to the throne, and should William die before Victoria reached her 18th birthday the duchess wanted to assure that she would be appointed regent in her place. The duchess was successful in achieving this ambitious aim, and the Regency Act received royal assent on December 23, 1830.
"In the year 1831, at the age of 14, Victoria first learned the exact nature of her royal destiny thanks to a genealogical table slipped into one of her history books. Her response to learning that she was a clear and close heir to the British throne was to say simply, “I will be good.”"
Heartbreaking!
"It later became known that what Victoria endured under the direct tutelage of the duchess and her accomplice Lord Conroy was nothing short of abuse. Victoire was essentially Victoria’s jailer. Victoria slept in the same room as her mother and was constantly watched by members of her house. It is said that she was not allowed to walk downstairs without having someone hold her hand. Victoria was raised in complete isolation from others her own age, and she later admitted to being bullied by her mother and Conroy, who taunted and insulted her all the way into adulthood."
It's unclear why, what were they thinking, unless it was yo break her down into complete submission, as a subconscious revenge for their inability to enjoy their own lives and rage at the young girl's secure future!
................................................................................................
"“I trust to God that my life may be spared for nine months longer, after which period, in the event of my death, no Regency would take place.”
"—King William IV"
If he was aware of the abuse suffered by his niece and heir, why was he unable to put a stop to it, and what's the use of being king of England if this inability were real?
***
"Around the same time, a scandal from Victoria’s court hit the headlines of the British press. At the center of the scandal was Lady Flora Hastings, one of Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting who had been under the orders of the duchess when Victoria was a child. Victoria wrote to Lord Melbourne that she believed Lady Flora was with child and that the father was undoubtedly Sir John Conroy. The gossip reached every level of Victoria’s court and, eventually, to clear her name, Lady Flora submitted to a medical examination. It was proven she was not, in fact, pregnant but gravely ill; she died soon after, possibly of liver failure or some other disease that caused her abdomen to swell.
"Lady Flora’s family were horrified at how Queen Victoria had treated their daughter, and when they received no form of apology, they sent letters to the newspapers for publication. The reporters jumped at the chance to publish such a scandal, and the Duchess of Kent, still haunting the remote reaches of Buckingham Palace, jumped on the bandwagon and shared stories with the press of how badly Victoria had treated her. At this point in her reign, Victoria is said to have been as unpopular with the British public as George IV had been at the time of his attempted divorce. How could the queen win back the hearts and minds of her public?"
It's understandable how family of Lady Flora felt, but the senior person that Victoire was, shouldn't she have been quietly making amends, calming and soothing them, even if denied presence of the daughter who had only unhappy memories of her - and, worse, of a man who'd been allowed to expect to control the future queen?
That she, the mother, chose instead to be vindictive - and publicly so, maligning a daughter and a queen - in fact justified every possible deprivation that she'd been made to suffer after coronationof the daughter, and only making one wonder why the daughter hadn't banished her to Saxe-Coburg instead!
***
"“He comes to take ‘for better or worse’ England’s fat Queen and England’s fatter purse.”
"—Popular mid-nineteenth century cartoon"
Kind, weren't the English!
No wonder England lost India.
"England’s fat Queen"????
What was Henry VIII, slim???
***
"Years before Victoria was crowned queen of Great Britain, all of the great royal houses of Europe had designs on who should be her king. One such design came from Duchess Augusta, the matriarch of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty and Prince Albert’s grandmother. Although Prince Albert and Queen Victoria were first cousins, Albert was groomed for the sole purpose of becoming Victoria’s husband and king."
No, that's a convenient lie, and in reality he was only offered as an alternative in case Victoria didn't like the one meant for her, which was a younger brother of Albert - after all, Albert was to inherit Saxe-Coburg, and it couldn't be combined with England.
But Victoria preferred Albert, who'd rather have not been forced into this alternative, unlike the younger cousin who did like her. And her will would prevail, since otherwise she might have refused the younger cousin and they'd lose the match.
***
"Victoria and Albert were married on February 10, 1840, in the Royal Chapel of St James’ Palace, London—a day Victoria described as the happiest of her life. Despite her newlywed status, Victoria was unwilling to sideline her responsibilities as queen. On Albert’s suggestion that they take a long honeymoon, Victoria snapped, “You forget, my dearest Love, that I am the Sovereign, and that business can stop and wait for nothing.”
"On a visit in 1840, Victoria and Albert’s Uncle Leopold expressed his opinion that Albert “ought to be in business as in everything necessary to the Queen.” Leopold told Victoria that Albert should be her walking dictionary of reference and should be called upon by her to answer any questions she may have about pretty much anything. Essentially, Leopold thought Albert should be Victoria’s advisor. However, Victoria had been warned against taking on an advisor as, in the eyes of her court and Parliament, it amounted to an admission that she was not up to the task of ruling Britain. Victoria still refused to share any officialdom with Albert."
Good for her!
***
"“There is great happiness and great blessedness in devoting oneself to another who is worthy of one’s affection . . . still men are very selfish and the woman’s devotion is always one of submission which makes our poor sex very unenviable.”
"—Queen Victoria"
She knew only one half of a happy marriage - one where she was subjected to discipline and required to submit, despite her stature as a queen, and never seen as an equal, despite husband's lower status as her subject.
***
"To speed up his attempt to make Victoria subservient to him, Albert isolated her from her two closest companions. Until the day Albert came into her life, Lord Melbourne had been the most dominant male figure in Victoria’s life and her closest friend. Melbourne had retired from his role as prime minister after suffering defeat at the 1841 election and frequently wrote letters to Victoria from his retirement. The letters were for the most part friendly notes with little mention of politics or royal matters, but nonetheless, Albert put a stop to them, effectively banning correspondence between Victoria and Melbourne.
"A more difficult relationship to break was that between Victoria and Baroness Lezhen, Victoria’s former governess. Victoria put Lezhen in charge of her court and household, something Albert was very much against. In January 1842, Victoria had recently given birth to her second child Edward when her first child, Victoria, became ill. Albert seized the opportunity to blame the child’s sickness on Lezhen, accusing her of mismanaging the household and neglecting the child. A furious row ensued at which time Albert left the family home and refused to communicate with Victoria except through letters passed through a third party. In one of his letters, he said, “Take the child away and do as you like, and if she dies you will have it on your conscience.”"
Horrible guy. Does it run in the family, treating a effect horribly? Would seem so, looking at various descendents, a prime example being those who were among the branch relocated to Greece.
"Eventually, Victoria capitulated and dismissed Baroness Lezhen, a woman who had been by her side since childhood. This marked a turning point in Victoria and Albert’s relationship. From this point on Victoria became consumed by her loyalty to and love for Albert and agreed to submit to his wishes in all things. Victoria re-wrote her own history, destroying many of the letters she had written before her marriage to Albert, dismissing them as “mere amusement, flattery, excitement and mere politics.” Everything that had come before Albert was meaningless; Victoria was now entering the most important stage of her life and was determined to succeed in her role as a good wife and mother."
Who, of course, could not possibly have a mind of her own! And if she did, it must be killed.
***
"Following Lezhen’s dismissal, Albert carried out a complete overhaul of the running of the palace. It did seem that the management of the queen’s household left a lot to be desired. In 1838, a young boy was discovered in the palace kitchens. He had been living there unobserved for the past 12 months, and in 1840 another young boy was discovered sleeping under a sofa in a room next door to the queen’s bedroom. Such lax security would not do, and the household, in general, was incredibly chaotic and wasteful. Albert appointed a Master of the Household, and wasteful expenditure was immediately cut. In contrast to Victoria’s court during the early days of her reign, which was a joyful place, jokingly referred to as “Camelot,” Albert’s court was more somber. Albert was of the opinion that a royal court should set a moral example; he introduced strict etiquette and forbade any discussion of politics or gossip. Victoria’s amusing social life became a distant memory."
This was reflected in clothes and couture, all the more - with black from head to foot replacing bright colors.
"By the time Victoria had her third child, Alice, born in 1843, Albert had begun to attend meetings with ministers and sat on a throne directly alongside hers in the House of Lords. Albert’s new status may have quashed the tension between man and wife, but it had intensified the tension between man and state. By his own design, Albert was the natural head of the family, manager of the queen’s private affairs, private secretary, confidential political advisor and assistant, tutor of the royal children, and permanent minister. Albert could hardly be considered a minister if he was not accountable to Parliament and there were many layers to his power. As Albert saw it, he was king in all but name, and Victoria was now merely an ornamental queen."
How did England change that, and bring him back to earth to his own status?
***
"In 1845, Victoria and Albert moved to an isolated spot on the Isle of Wight where Albert bought a seaside home known as Osborne using the queen’s private funds. Victoria was thrilled to leave London, where she felt she and her family were under increasing scrutiny from the press. She loathed living at George IV’s Pavilion in Brighton and complained that she was regularly mobbed in the streets. Victoria had also recently been subjected to two further assassination attempts while riding in her carriage at Constitution Hill. Both attempts left her unharmed but gave her ample ammunition to defend her seclusion from criticism. At Osborne, the royal family became completely separated from court life and led a quietly productive lifestyle, just as Albert had wanted."
In short, the German cut an English Queen not only down to reproduction but off and away from her Queendom, except nominally!
***
"There are many references to violent scenes and terrible rows between Albert and Victoria in her letters. As one might expect, Victoria was prone to tantrums and anxiety attacks more often when she was pregnant than when she was not. By the time Victoria gave birth to her ninth child at the age of 37, her outbursts had become frequent and hysterical. Albert had a habit of quietly walking away from Victoria when she made a scene, punishing her later with patronizing notes that criticized her behavior."
Obviously he never was, never had been, in love with her. Obviously she did feel it subconsciously, even if she was inexperienced as far as matters of heart go.
Obviously that was why she was unhappy with her pregnancies, because they were not born of love, only of a German man getting his wife pregnant, whether out of his own physical need or out of sense of duty of his role, or a need to subjugate the queen he'd married, if only via getting her pregnant and keeping her out of office in fact, if not de jure.
***
April 3, 2023
Between being responsible and representing her nation to the world, alongside being a wife to Albert, and a mother to nine children, Queen Victoria sure had her hands full! She lived for 81 years, and ruled for 63 years and 7 months.
~~~~~
I can’t wrap my head around the idea of forced marriages, but I know that’s how it was in the 1800’s. The sons of King George III wasted no time between wives, all for the sake of producing an heir to take over the Hanoverian dynasty; later on, Victoria referred to these men as “wicked uncles”. King George III was her grandfather.
Victoria was born to the Duke of Kent and Victoire of Saxe-Coburg at Kensington Palace on May 24, 1819. At her birth, Victoria was fifth in the line of succession to the British throne. When her father and King George the third passed away she was only 8 months old, and then became third in line after her uncles.
Victoria described, in a letter to her daughter, that she did not have a happy childhood. She was fatherless and without any siblings. Her mother was controlling, isolated her from other children her age, and bullied and insulted her well into her adult years. It’s no wonder Victoria didn’t have the best relationship with her own children, she didn’t have a proper example set before her while she was growing up.
~~~~~
I can’t wrap my head around the idea of forced marriages, but I know that’s how it was in the 1800’s. The sons of King George III wasted no time between wives, all for the sake of producing an heir to take over the Hanoverian dynasty; later on, Victoria referred to these men as “wicked uncles”. King George III was her grandfather.
Victoria was born to the Duke of Kent and Victoire of Saxe-Coburg at Kensington Palace on May 24, 1819. At her birth, Victoria was fifth in the line of succession to the British throne. When her father and King George the third passed away she was only 8 months old, and then became third in line after her uncles.
Victoria described, in a letter to her daughter, that she did not have a happy childhood. She was fatherless and without any siblings. Her mother was controlling, isolated her from other children her age, and bullied and insulted her well into her adult years. It’s no wonder Victoria didn’t have the best relationship with her own children, she didn’t have a proper example set before her while she was growing up.
August 29, 2017
Born on May 24, 1819, at Kensington Palace to Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent and Strathearn and Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Victoria was born fifth in line to the throne of England. She was preceded by the Prince Regent, the Duke of York, the Duke of Clarence, and her father, the Duke of Kent, making the chance that she would succeed to the throne very small.
Victoria’s childhood was far from happy. Raised by her German speaking mother, Princess Victoire, at the age of eleven, she had no command of the English language and living in virtual solitude, had very few social skills. In England, with a rise in xenophobia, this wasn’t a good position for a future monarch. Upon the death of her father in 1820, her mother started grooming her to be queen. King William IV was in poor health and Victoria’s mother had hopes of being regent until Victoria came of age. Her plans fell through as King William lived long enough to leave the monarchy directly over to Victoria.
I was interested to read about the influence Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert had over the Queen. It seemed to me to be rather out of character and much different than after his death in 1861.
Queen Victoria reigned for sixty-three years and seven months. Until Queen Elizabeth II past this milestone, she was the longest reigning monarch. Because of the various marriages of her many children, she earned the sobriquet of “The Grandmother of Europe.” Victoria was more than a queen. Under her reign England was first transformed into Great Britain and then the British Empire; with possessions spanning the world. Starting out as an unhappy princess, she was made a queen and then raised with the title of Empress of India. Victoria represented an age, spanning from colonization through the industrial revolution. This book is a short history of a great life. I can only recommend that you enjoy it.
Victoria’s childhood was far from happy. Raised by her German speaking mother, Princess Victoire, at the age of eleven, she had no command of the English language and living in virtual solitude, had very few social skills. In England, with a rise in xenophobia, this wasn’t a good position for a future monarch. Upon the death of her father in 1820, her mother started grooming her to be queen. King William IV was in poor health and Victoria’s mother had hopes of being regent until Victoria came of age. Her plans fell through as King William lived long enough to leave the monarchy directly over to Victoria.
I was interested to read about the influence Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert had over the Queen. It seemed to me to be rather out of character and much different than after his death in 1861.
Queen Victoria reigned for sixty-three years and seven months. Until Queen Elizabeth II past this milestone, she was the longest reigning monarch. Because of the various marriages of her many children, she earned the sobriquet of “The Grandmother of Europe.” Victoria was more than a queen. Under her reign England was first transformed into Great Britain and then the British Empire; with possessions spanning the world. Starting out as an unhappy princess, she was made a queen and then raised with the title of Empress of India. Victoria represented an age, spanning from colonization through the industrial revolution. This book is a short history of a great life. I can only recommend that you enjoy it.
January 6, 2017
Within the first few pages of this book the phrase 'it does what it says on the tin' came to mind. A straightforward factual account of the key events in Victoria's life.
But part way through, the narrative gained more depth, and more complexity. This is a small history book attempting to burst out of the confines of its hour. A good introduction that left me wanting to delve deeper .
It also inspired me to commence an 1863 quotation collection:
"Victoria’s personal physician Sir James Clark recorded that he feared for Victoria’s sanity in 1863, and there were some who thought that Victoria had inherited the “madness” that had taken hold of George III, Victoria’s grandfather. "
A collection that one day will find its home here-
https://navsbooks.wordpress.com/2015/...
But part way through, the narrative gained more depth, and more complexity. This is a small history book attempting to burst out of the confines of its hour. A good introduction that left me wanting to delve deeper .
It also inspired me to commence an 1863 quotation collection:
"Victoria’s personal physician Sir James Clark recorded that he feared for Victoria’s sanity in 1863, and there were some who thought that Victoria had inherited the “madness” that had taken hold of George III, Victoria’s grandfather. "
A collection that one day will find its home here-
https://navsbooks.wordpress.com/2015/...
October 11, 2016
This book is combination of British history of golden era of the United kingdom. The narrative style of the writer is admirable like the reader feel being watching every thing happening in front of his eyes.le
I wanted to read a book on real life of the great monarchy of all times. I thank the writer of his talents and observation to depict even very minor things to show the real personality.
I wanted to read a book on real life of the great monarchy of all times. I thank the writer of his talents and observation to depict even very minor things to show the real personality.
September 28, 2017
As advertised, you get a history lesson in an hour.
I certainly had heard of Queen Victoria before I read this book, but that was about it. Now I know a lot more about her, and her impact on the royal family, and all it took was a lunch time read.
I certainly had heard of Queen Victoria before I read this book, but that was about it. Now I know a lot more about her, and her impact on the royal family, and all it took was a lunch time read.
January 16, 2017
No doubt, this literally took less than an hour to read. It was the Cliff Notes of Victoria's life, so it barely skimmed the surface. Other than needing a good proofreader, it met the requirements.
January 20, 2017
Concise, easy to read history of Queen Victoria.
February 25, 2017
Well written
I always enjoy books abut queenVictoria. This was short but good .good for history buffs. Wis it was longer .
I always enjoy books abut queenVictoria. This was short but good .good for history buffs. Wis it was longer .
May 27, 2018
The book is marketed as a 1-hour read that covers the entirety of Victoria's life. This isn't exactly accurate. First, Victoria was the longest reigning Monarch in England to date, which makes condensing her life into a 1-hour read impractical. The sheer amount of information covers more than 2 hours if there is to be any understanding of who she was. I was unable to read the entire thing in 1 hour and I average reading books with 30 chapters in less than 4. The problem has more to do with the way the content is presented than the actual length of the book. The content is broken up by the timeline of Victoria's life, but it also attempts to tell the story of that life. The rushed nature of the story left me feeling like this was a retelling of The Taming of the Shrew. While my knowledge of the royal families history is admittedly limited, this left Victoria with no redeeming qualities at all.
It was ambitious to think that the full history of any monarch can be conveyed in an hour or less and this book is no exception. The actual facts and dates are lost, and the narrative plays out as a tragedy. The compressed data makes the story feel rushed and harsh. Additionally, the run-on sentences and poor editing do not help.
It was ambitious to think that the full history of any monarch can be conveyed in an hour or less and this book is no exception. The actual facts and dates are lost, and the narrative plays out as a tragedy. The compressed data makes the story feel rushed and harsh. Additionally, the run-on sentences and poor editing do not help.
January 2, 2019
Queen Victoria was a small woman 4 feet, 11 inches tall and strong willed, she became Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for 63 years and 7 months from June 20, 1837 until her death in 1901.
Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, her first cousin in 1840, Queen Victoria was 16 years old. Prince Albert couldn't propose to her so she proposed to him. They had nine (9) children and 42 grandchildren, a very large family.
Prince Albert died at the age of 42 in 1861. Queen Victoria carried on the duties of Queen during the Industrial Revolution of Great Britain; experiencing the industry expansion, building railroads, bridges, building underground sewers, advancing in science, inventions, and growth in large cities. Also expanding it's imperial encompassing Canada, Australia, Africa and the South Pacific. A quote: The Sun never sets on the British Empire'. Queen Victoria died in 1901, Victoria's son King Edward VII succeeded her British Throne.
This was a very interesting book, it was loaded with facts and interesting stories throughout. I would recommend this to everyone, it's an easy to read interesting hourly history book.
Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, her first cousin in 1840, Queen Victoria was 16 years old. Prince Albert couldn't propose to her so she proposed to him. They had nine (9) children and 42 grandchildren, a very large family.
Prince Albert died at the age of 42 in 1861. Queen Victoria carried on the duties of Queen during the Industrial Revolution of Great Britain; experiencing the industry expansion, building railroads, bridges, building underground sewers, advancing in science, inventions, and growth in large cities. Also expanding it's imperial encompassing Canada, Australia, Africa and the South Pacific. A quote: The Sun never sets on the British Empire'. Queen Victoria died in 1901, Victoria's son King Edward VII succeeded her British Throne.
This was a very interesting book, it was loaded with facts and interesting stories throughout. I would recommend this to everyone, it's an easy to read interesting hourly history book.
November 5, 2018
Hourly History provides snippets of history that can be read in about an hour. In this short biography of Queen Victoria you will get a glimpse of the woman who reigned over Great Britain and its Empire for more than 60 years. Her life was tempestuous from beginning to end. From conception to coronation was a time of political intrigue to insure a particular lineage ascend the throne. She ascended the throne at the age of 18, ruled for just under 64 years, and died at the age of 81. Her life spanned two centuries. She had nine children. This short treatise on her life touches upon her marriage to Albert and her subsequent widowhood, which consumed a great deal of her life.
When I think of Victorian England, my thoughts tend toward Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper; the stories of both attract me like a moth to a flame. This book only touches upon the elements that make these two so timeless without ever mentioning either.
Think of VICTORIA: A LIFE FROM BEGINNING TO END as a jumping off point in the study of her monarchy and the period of history that bears her name.
When I think of Victorian England, my thoughts tend toward Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper; the stories of both attract me like a moth to a flame. This book only touches upon the elements that make these two so timeless without ever mentioning either.
Think of VICTORIA: A LIFE FROM BEGINNING TO END as a jumping off point in the study of her monarchy and the period of history that bears her name.
August 22, 2021
This Hourly History book is about the Life of the famous British Queen, Queen Victoria. She ruled the seas and established colonies all over the world. This book is about Queen Victorias life from Childhood to her death in 1901. On the day she became Queen, she wrote in her diary how she was shocked to hear that her uncle (the King) died suddenly at night and she is now Queen. The book also wrote about her finding a husband for herself and how she fell in love with Prince Albert. After she became Queen, there were many gossips about her and she was a fairly unpopular queen. She gave birth to 9 children and she was devastated when her lover, Prince Albert died when she was just 42 year old. Her daughters left her to marry to Princes from faraway lands and she was extremely lonely.
She died in 1901 and her legacy still lives on.
This book was extremely informative and i have learnt a lot more about Queen Victoria after reading this book.
She died in 1901 and her legacy still lives on.
This book was extremely informative and i have learnt a lot more about Queen Victoria after reading this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 22, 2025
Brief But Informative Biography
Queen Victoria was one of the most celebrated monarchs in human history. Great Britain became the empire where “the sun never set “during her sixty-three years reign. She had difficulty with the Liberal government and constantly bickered with her children but enjoyed the adoration of many of her subjects. Her husband pushed her into the background until his death. Following his unexpected death, the Queen went into secluded mourning. Her interest in government and foreign policy coaxed her back into the limelight. Her final years were tainted by the Boer War which historians label “ Britain’s Vietnam.” She passed away before the war ended.
This book discusses all necessary details of her life from beginning to end and in a limited number of pages. It is recommended for all readers interested in Victorian England.
Queen Victoria was one of the most celebrated monarchs in human history. Great Britain became the empire where “the sun never set “during her sixty-three years reign. She had difficulty with the Liberal government and constantly bickered with her children but enjoyed the adoration of many of her subjects. Her husband pushed her into the background until his death. Following his unexpected death, the Queen went into secluded mourning. Her interest in government and foreign policy coaxed her back into the limelight. Her final years were tainted by the Boer War which historians label “ Britain’s Vietnam.” She passed away before the war ended.
This book discusses all necessary details of her life from beginning to end and in a limited number of pages. It is recommended for all readers interested in Victorian England.
December 24, 2017
The book covers the life of Queen Victoria. It notes that early in her reign she didn't know much about politics. It also says there were three attempts to assassinate her. A good part of the book deals with her relationship with Alfred, her husband. The book notes that he spoke this of his wife: '...her essential character is deeply flawed.'
It goes into how Alfred did not want to be just a consort but wanted actual power and how he maneuvered things so that he got just that, part of his idea being to keep Victoria pregnant as much as possible, removing her from the daily business of the Crown. He seemed to have some kind of Svengali-type hold over her.
It goes into how Alfred did not want to be just a consort but wanted actual power and how he maneuvered things so that he got just that, part of his idea being to keep Victoria pregnant as much as possible, removing her from the daily business of the Crown. He seemed to have some kind of Svengali-type hold over her.
June 16, 2018
This was a very brief history of Queen Victoria. I clearly don't remember learning anything about her in school, and was very fascinated by this. I'm not sure why she was so in love with Prince Albert, considering how controlling and verbally abusive he was. It's interesting that the author states a few times how influential Queen Victoria was, when for most of her reign she let Albert handle everything, and after his death stayed in seclusion for many years. She had a terrible upbringing, so it's hard to fault her for how she turned out. I want to find a more in depth history to get a better idea of her life.
May 10, 2018
In this 'snapshot' of Queen Victoria's life, it seems she was a woman of many contradictions. Her public life (and Reign) versus her seclusion; her love for, possible subservience to Albert; her difficult relationships, yet dependence on her children-- all make her out to be a very complex individual. Prior to reading this edition, I knew of the great love story between Victoria and Albert but this suggests it wasn't nearly the storybook romance of folklore. When I have time, I hope to read more about her as this only gives a glimpse into her life and reign as Queen of England.
April 9, 2019
I learned a lot about Queen Victoria, and I also learned there was a lot about her that made her unlikable in my eyes. I don't like how she treated her children, or how she behaved like a victim during her pregnancies, or how she allowed her husband Albert to push her around. But the basic facts are in this biography. She lived 81 years and ruled as the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for 63 years, 7 months. She had nine children and 42 grandchildren. She mourned the loss of her husband, murmuring his name as she died.
January 17, 2020
Great way to experience history
Reading these hourly history books has brought me to really appreciate and enjoy history. Having to take history courses over 50 years ago was all about memorizing dates. Now as I work on my genealogy I am finding great enjoyment in reading history books that go along with the ancestors I am researching. Not having to wade through all the minutia that some authors get bogged down with has allowed me to come to actually enjoy reading history stories from a personal point of view.
Reading these hourly history books has brought me to really appreciate and enjoy history. Having to take history courses over 50 years ago was all about memorizing dates. Now as I work on my genealogy I am finding great enjoyment in reading history books that go along with the ancestors I am researching. Not having to wade through all the minutia that some authors get bogged down with has allowed me to come to actually enjoy reading history stories from a personal point of view.
June 6, 2021
◾Queen Victoria lived for 81 years and ruled as the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for sixty-three years and seven months.
◾She had nine children with her husband Albert, seven of which were born in the first ten years of their marriage, and had forty-two grandchildren, thirty-four of whom lived into adulthood. Victoria more than earned the nickname the Grandmother of Europe.
◾Victoria died of a cerebral hemorrhage on January 22, 1901, at Osborne House.
◾Her last words were “Oh, Albert…”🥺
◾She had nine children with her husband Albert, seven of which were born in the first ten years of their marriage, and had forty-two grandchildren, thirty-four of whom lived into adulthood. Victoria more than earned the nickname the Grandmother of Europe.
◾Victoria died of a cerebral hemorrhage on January 22, 1901, at Osborne House.
◾Her last words were “Oh, Albert…”🥺
October 14, 2021
A Queen of the Ages
The story of queen Victoria is a beautiful story of love and power and royalty in Britain. Her love for her husband who was her first cousin rivals all loves. She bore nine children, although she was not particularly fond of motherhood. She was highly intelligent and ruled well. Both she and her husband Albert contributed greatly to the history of England. A wonderful story of her life! Masterpiece Theatre has also done a wonderful series on her life which should be enjoyed as well.
The story of queen Victoria is a beautiful story of love and power and royalty in Britain. Her love for her husband who was her first cousin rivals all loves. She bore nine children, although she was not particularly fond of motherhood. She was highly intelligent and ruled well. Both she and her husband Albert contributed greatly to the history of England. A wonderful story of her life! Masterpiece Theatre has also done a wonderful series on her life which should be enjoyed as well.
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