Queen Victoria and The Romanovs: Sixty Years of Mutual Distrust

by Coryne Hall

Despite their frequent visits to England, Queen Victoria never quite trusted the Romanovs. In her letters she referred to 'horrid Russia' and was adamant that she did not wish her granddaughters to marry into that barbaric country. 'Russia I could not wish for any of you, ' she said. She distrusted Tsar Nicholas I but as a young woman she was bowled over by his son, the future Alexander II, although there could be no question of a marriage. Political questions loomed large and the Crimean War did nothing to improve relations. This distrust started with the story of the Queen's 'Aunt Julie', Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and her disastrous Russian marriage. Starting with this marital catastrophe, Romanov expert Coryne Hall traces sixty years of family feuding that include outright war, inter-marriages, assassination, and the Great Game in Afghanistan, when Alexander III called Victoria 'a pampered, sentimental, selfish old woman'. In the fateful year of 1894, Victoria must come to terms with the fact that her granddaughter has become Nicholas II's wife, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Eventually, distrust of the German Kaiser brings Victoria and the Tsar closer together. Permission has kindly been granted by the Royal Archives at Windsor to use extracts from Queen Victoria's journals to tell this fascinating story of family relations played out on the world stage.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Royalty, Biography, Russia, 19th Century, Romanovs

288 pages, Paperback

Published May 15, 2022

About the author

Coryne Hall is an historian, broadcaster and consultant specialising in the Romanovs and British and European royalty. She was born in Ealing, West London and developed a fascination for Imperial Russia in childhood when she learnt that her great-grandmother was born in St Petersburg, an almost exact contemporary of Nicholas II. The author of six books, she is a regular contributor to Majesty magazine, The European Royal History Journal, Royal Russia, Sovereign and Royalty Digest Quarterly. She acted as consultant on the Danish television documentaries “A Royal Family” and “The Royal Jewels.”
Coryne has lectured at royalty conferences in England, Denmark, Russia and America. Her media appearances include Woman’s Hour, BBC South Today, the documentaries “Russia’s Lost Princesses” and "13 Moments of Fate", live coverage of Charles and Camilla’s wedding for Canadian television and co-hosting live coverage of Prince William’s wedding alongside John Moore for Newstalk 1010, Canada. She was also the last person to have a private audience with Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She lives in Hampshire.

Reviews

[Moniek Bloks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Queen Victoria's relationship with the Romanovs began with the tragic tale of her aunt Juliane, whose disastrous marriage to Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich of Russia ended in an annulment in 1820. It kicked off many years of Anglo-Russian distrust, despite Victoria having quite the crush on the future Emperor Alexander II of Russia in the early years of her reign.

Queen Victoria would eventually see her granddaughters Elisabeth and Alix married into the Russian Imperial family though luckily she did not live to see their tragic end. I've read many books on both Queen Victoria and Russia over the years and to see this relationship examined in such detail is quite a treat. Coryne Hall never disappoints with her research and eye for detail. The only thing that I didn't like was the use of nicknames but that is just a personal preference.

Overall, I'd highly recommend Queen Victoria and the Romanovs to anyone looking to delve deeper into their complicated relationship.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting look into the complex relationship between Queen Victoria and the Imperial Family of Russia, whose lives intertwined so extensively throughout the years. I can only imagine what it is like for one Queen to reign alongside 4 Russian Emperors in a time where it was rare to see even 1 or 2 successor to a neighbouring throne inherit. One thing I always find with these books, is we can only know so much about people's lives, with the natural passage of time and documents becoming lost, I often found my something wanting just that little bit more, more about a person's reasoning for doing, saying or thinking something. It's like having a taste of something you really want but knowing you'll never get to enjoy the full experience.

[Ubah Khasimuddin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book - but than I'm a huge fan of this timer period and European royalty at this time; so this book was made for me! This time of the end of the Romanov's fascinates me to no end and I was already well versed in many of the people mentioned in this book.
This is a deep, deep, dive about Queen Victoria and her relationship with the Romanov's - starting with Nicholas I; she has familiar ties to the Romanov's but Russia and Britain were often at odds with each other on the world stage - so you get to read about how she negotiated this situation and also how she very smartly used these ties to her advantage. I particularly liked how we got to learn more about the relationship between Grand Duchess Maria and the Queen. The Grand Duchess married into the family (marrying the Queen's son Alfred) but she not used to being lower on the pecking order and was not particularly happy about her life in England. I think Queen Victoria, at times, felt the same (that the Grand Duchess was spoiled). Still, they seem to have finally come to some peaceful existence (though their animosity did led to 2 disastrous marriages for the Grand Duchesses daughter's/Queens granddaughter's [Missy and Victoria Melita]).
Much I already knew about the Queen's great hesitation in her granddaughter Alexandra marring the Tsar Nicholas and to the end she tried to help Alexandra, but the girl was too stubborn for her own good.
This is a book for die-hard fans of European royalty, not sure its for the armchair reader, really gets into the weeds. I enjoy this author's work as writer for Majesty Magazine and this was an extension of that writing. Would have given it 5 stars, but because it doesn't parlay to universal appeal, had to dock a point. This book will be added to my permanent collection.

[John Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

BOOK REVIEW ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” (Tolstoy, “Anna Karenina”) could have been written to describe the various and manifold interrelationships between the royal houses of Britain, Russia (arguably neither truly British nor Russian) and all those German states, as superbly if confusingly illustrated here. You have to enjoy diary and letter citations and the ability to distinguish between personages all with the same range of names. I do.

[Aside: Originality is not a hallmark of royalty. At least the Russians help with patronyms, so Nikolai Pavlovitch and Nikolai Alexandrovich rather than simply “Emperor Nikolai”, but it’s no day in the park. There are two Alexander Alexandroviches and more M. or A. Feodorovnas than seems reasonable. Meanwhile, the British and Germans are no help to the uninitiated: which George or Ernst is which? Good luck.]

It’s interesting to see these relationships through the lens of Queen Victoria who reigned contemporaneously with five Russian emperors (fun fact: two Nikolais, three Alexanders). Thankfully Victoria did not live to see the toppling of most of the family’s European thrones, or the murder of the Romanovs including her granddaughters.

All up and all in, they all despised one another under the cover of literal sweet nothings. That is the real fun here. And you thought Thanksgiving could be tough? The Crimean War was a family affair. Pass the cranberry.

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2021📚 65/84

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay book. It was an avenue not looked at in the Romanov saga. We all know that she did not like Russia or the Romanovs but this book explains why and looks into the various relationships she had throughout her life with the Romanovs and now it makes sense why she was so against Alexandra marrying Nicholas II. It all began with her unfortunate Aunt Julie married off to a Grand Duke and abused by him throughout the marriage and it dissolved from there. She did like Alexander II and one wonders what might've happened had he lived and the reforms he was pushing had gone through. A democratic constitutional monarchy in Russia we might've had no cold war, Nicholas and Alexandra would've had more time as newly weds to adjust to life on the throne and Nicholas most likely would've been as beloved a figure as the late Queen Elizabeth was. They might even have been able to change succession laws and the whole Alexei Rasputin thing might not have happened. Who knows? History unfolded as it did and here we are. I'm rambling but it's because this book was dry in parts but had interesting parts that brought me back into the book and because the question of Alexander II surviving has always intrigued me. It was nice to finally get to know just why she so loathed the Romanovs while somehow being civil toward them and even showing kindness like sending Empress Marie condolences and helpful books after her husband died. So this was a decent look at an unexplored Romanov topic overall.

[Sue Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

Surprisingly fascinating. I couldnt stop reading it. Although the author stops with Victoria's death and doesn't speculate on how her distrust of the Russians may have passed down to her grandson George V and influenced him not to try to rescue his cousins and their children. Also the author seems to imply Victoria understood the hemophilia she had brought into the family and other things I have read said she simply did not, commenting once (when another grandson died) that she didn't understand why her family members were so prone to the disease. If as the author states doctors at the time were aware of the hereditary nature of the disease but royal families were not, it's interesting to speculate how world and especially European history would be different if they had.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love my Victoriana, and I appreciate new ways to look at the era. This book does that in spades, by spinning a real-life soap opera web of intimacies and machinations as Queen Victoria deals with the Romanovs of Russia. At times it becomes daunting and overwhelming, but there is no denying the byzantine political & marriage relationships help to highlight just how interconnected the era was, and how the lines of politics and royal breeding constantly collided. I would have appreciated an epilogue that enlightened the final fates of a number of the central players in this story, but in the end it delivers as an unique way to examine the 19th century.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always enjoy Coryne Hall's biographies of the Romanovs. My favourites include Little Mother of Russia: A Biography of Empress Marie Feodorovna and Princesses on the Wards: Royal Women in Nursing Through Wars and Revolution. In Queen Victoria and the Romanovs, Hall examines the intertwined personal and political repercussions of the difficult relationship between Queen Victoria and the Russian Imperial family, Russia and the United Kingdom over the course of the nineteenth century. Hall does not only examine the well known marriages of Queen Victoria's son Prince Alfred to Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, and her granddaughters Princesses Ella and Alix of Hesse to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Czar Nicholas II respectively but the lesser known connections between the British and Russian reigning houses. Queen Victoria's distrust of the Romanovs was shaped by the disastrous marriage of her aunt Juliane of Saxe-Coburg to Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich, which cast a long shadow over her attitude toward the Russian Imperial family. During her last years, however, Queen Victoria enjoyed friendly relations with a wide social circle of Romanovs who shared her enthusiasm for holidays on the French riviera. A fascinating book that combines well known and little known royal history.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good overview of the relationship between Queen Victoria and the Russian House of Romanov. Queen Victoria met with every Russian monarch beginning with Tsar Nicholas I. All these visits and exchanges are faithfully recounted here. The book also describes each exchange she had with other members of the family, including the more obscure branches.

While there's nothing new to be read here, it's a more complete look than the bits and pieces we pick up from various other books. It's nice to have all the accounts together in one volume. Queen Victoria definitely mistrusted her Russian counterparts. The treatment of her aunt at their hands definitely colored her views.

All in all, a worthy installment in the story of Queen Victoria and the Romanovs.

[Becky Batchelor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Filled with hidden pearls of knowledge about the real heritage and bad blood between Queen Victoria, her Russian godfather, and her grandson-in-law, Nicholas II.

If you look at the circumstances of the era, you can see why history recorded a slightly different view of how Victoria and England viewed her Russian relatives and guess at the implications of why she allowed her granddaughter to marry the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas VIi.

[Zosi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although not compulsively readable, the diary passages Hall chooses as evidence are fascinating and she touches on many different people and personages important in both imperial Russia and Victorian England. Probably not a book for those just learning about the topic, as they may be confused by all the similar names. A fantastic topic to research.

[Tambra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book, I learned so much about the ROmanovs and Victoria. Great book, I read this in one day could not put it down.

[anne xx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many books have been written about Queen Victoria in these 200 years since the start of her reign, but her relationship with the Romanovs were never a focus of research. Given how the families are interconnected by blood and marriage, and how war, conflict, and politics tangle their way in between, this has been a very intriguing read from a new perspective. The character of Victoria is much like how she has been painted - a dull, commanding matriarch, but the thorough research and new evidence first coming to light through this book has helped readers understand the British and Russian history of the long 19th century, in the shoes of the royals themselves.

[Angela Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I read when I decided to start reading about Queen Victoria & her descendants. Interesting to see how so many marriages of the Romanovs were somehow related to Queen Victoria (by marriage or by blood). At times I had to google names & events, & sometimes it was more complex to read, but otherwise I did enjoy it.