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Queen Victoria's Matchmaking: The Royal Marriages that Shaped Europe
A captivating exploration of the role in which Queen Victoria exerted the most international power and influence: as a matchmaking grandmother.
As her reign approached its sixth decade, Queen Victoria's grandchildren numbered over thirty, and to maintain and increase British royal power, she was determined to maneuver them into a series of dynastic marriages with the royal houses of Europe.
Yet for all their apparent obedience, her grandchildren often had plans of their own, fueled by strong wills and romantic hearts. Victoria's matchmaking plans were further complicated by the tumultuous international upheavals of the time: revolution and war were in the air, and kings and queens, princes and princesses were vulnerable targets.
Queen Victoria's Matchmaking travels through the glittering, decadent palaces of Europe from London to Saint Petersburg, weaving in scandals, political machinations and family tensions to enthralling effect. It is at once an intimate portrait of a royal family and an examination of the conflict caused by the marriages the Queen arranged. At the heart of it all is Victoria herself: doting grandmother one moment, determined Queen Empress the next.
As her reign approached its sixth decade, Queen Victoria's grandchildren numbered over thirty, and to maintain and increase British royal power, she was determined to maneuver them into a series of dynastic marriages with the royal houses of Europe.
Yet for all their apparent obedience, her grandchildren often had plans of their own, fueled by strong wills and romantic hearts. Victoria's matchmaking plans were further complicated by the tumultuous international upheavals of the time: revolution and war were in the air, and kings and queens, princes and princesses were vulnerable targets.
Queen Victoria's Matchmaking travels through the glittering, decadent palaces of Europe from London to Saint Petersburg, weaving in scandals, political machinations and family tensions to enthralling effect. It is at once an intimate portrait of a royal family and an examination of the conflict caused by the marriages the Queen arranged. At the heart of it all is Victoria herself: doting grandmother one moment, determined Queen Empress the next.
347 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 14, 2017
362 people are currently reading
8414 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Cadbury
23 books171 followersDeborah Cadbury is an award-winning British author and BBC television producer specialising in fundamental issues of science and history, and their effects on modern society.
After graduating from Sussex University in Psychology and Linacre College, Oxford she joined the BBC as a documentary maker and has received numerous international awards, including an Emmy, for her work on the BBC's Horizon strand.
She is also the highly-acclaimed author of The Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, The Feminisation of Nature, The Dinosaur Hunters, The Lost King of France and Space Race.
(Source: Wikipedia, HarperCollins)
After graduating from Sussex University in Psychology and Linacre College, Oxford she joined the BBC as a documentary maker and has received numerous international awards, including an Emmy, for her work on the BBC's Horizon strand.
She is also the highly-acclaimed author of The Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, The Feminisation of Nature, The Dinosaur Hunters, The Lost King of France and Space Race.
(Source: Wikipedia, HarperCollins)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 306 reviews
August 15, 2017
Prince Albert and Queen Victoria saw dynastic marriages between their children and European royalty as a safeguard against war, and as a way of creating a balance of power, in Europe, as well as spreading British values across the continent. With Prince Albert’s death, Queen Victoria was determined to make his vision come true and, with forty two grandchildren, the ‘cousinhood’ formed a unique club at the very top of European society. This book looks at Queen Victoria’s desire to be involved in matchmaking marriages for her grandchildren and looks, in greater depth, at seven of her grandchildren who were elevated to the throne at a crucial time in Europe’s history. These include Kaiser Wilhelm (her oldest, and most troublesome, grandson), Sophie, Queen of Greece, George V, Princess Maud, Queen of Norway, Alix, Empress of Russia, Marie ‘Missy’ Queen of Romania and Victoria Eugenie or ‘Ena’, Queen of Spain.
There is no doubt that Queen Victoria felt that, through her grandchildren, she could shape the political landscape of Europe. Although much of this book was familiar to me, such as Victoria’s desperate attempts to stop the marriage of Nicholas and Alexandra, Deborah Cadbury does include many snippets from personal letters from Queen Victoria and these make fascinating reading – especially her long correspondence with her eldest daughter, and mother of the Kaiser, Vicky. She does sometimes quote from other research , or authors, and I was not impressed by her taking one small piece of information from Patricia Cornwall; whose odd ranting about Jack the Ripper leads to any research she comes across being biased to concur with her bizarre theories and so is suspect in my eyes... That aside, the majority of the research comes from sources which are obviously directly from Victoria herself and makes the book, which could be all too familiar, come alive.
Queen Victoria comes across as a figure who is feared, and respected, in her family; the central character in a spider web which spreads across Europe. Her letters are manipulative, she is often insensitive and she is extremely demanding. Nor is she always successful in her attempts and some of the most interesting parts of this book deal with her failed attempts to create a marriage; such as her wishes to marry Prince Albert ‘Eddy’ to her beloved ‘Alicky,’ the later Empress Alexandra. However, even here, you can see how perceptive Victoria was; she thought Alicky’s ‘gauche’ qualities, such as her shyness and her dislike of social occasions, would be seen in England as a positive and make her liked by the press, and public, whereas they would be failings in the Russian Court. She correctly sensed danger for her favourite grand-daughter in Russia, and was also well aware of the dangers that being royal meant. Her ability to deal with Kaiser Wilhelm was not passed on by her son, who disliked the Kaiser, and, by her death, Europe was changing. Anarchy, revolution and war were in the air and Europe was on the brink of danger.
Overall, this is a very interesting read. The author really makes the time come alive and there are some very moving stories in this book, such as Prince Eddy’s attempts to find a bride and the fluctuating fortunes of Princess May of Teck; plus a lot of detail about other members of the royal family, as well as those featured. For anyone with an interest in British history, this is an enjoyable, well written, account of Queen Victoria’s attempts to manipulate her children’s, and grandchildren’s, marriages and to influence politics in Europe with mixed success. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
There is no doubt that Queen Victoria felt that, through her grandchildren, she could shape the political landscape of Europe. Although much of this book was familiar to me, such as Victoria’s desperate attempts to stop the marriage of Nicholas and Alexandra, Deborah Cadbury does include many snippets from personal letters from Queen Victoria and these make fascinating reading – especially her long correspondence with her eldest daughter, and mother of the Kaiser, Vicky. She does sometimes quote from other research , or authors, and I was not impressed by her taking one small piece of information from Patricia Cornwall; whose odd ranting about Jack the Ripper leads to any research she comes across being biased to concur with her bizarre theories and so is suspect in my eyes... That aside, the majority of the research comes from sources which are obviously directly from Victoria herself and makes the book, which could be all too familiar, come alive.
Queen Victoria comes across as a figure who is feared, and respected, in her family; the central character in a spider web which spreads across Europe. Her letters are manipulative, she is often insensitive and she is extremely demanding. Nor is she always successful in her attempts and some of the most interesting parts of this book deal with her failed attempts to create a marriage; such as her wishes to marry Prince Albert ‘Eddy’ to her beloved ‘Alicky,’ the later Empress Alexandra. However, even here, you can see how perceptive Victoria was; she thought Alicky’s ‘gauche’ qualities, such as her shyness and her dislike of social occasions, would be seen in England as a positive and make her liked by the press, and public, whereas they would be failings in the Russian Court. She correctly sensed danger for her favourite grand-daughter in Russia, and was also well aware of the dangers that being royal meant. Her ability to deal with Kaiser Wilhelm was not passed on by her son, who disliked the Kaiser, and, by her death, Europe was changing. Anarchy, revolution and war were in the air and Europe was on the brink of danger.
Overall, this is a very interesting read. The author really makes the time come alive and there are some very moving stories in this book, such as Prince Eddy’s attempts to find a bride and the fluctuating fortunes of Princess May of Teck; plus a lot of detail about other members of the royal family, as well as those featured. For anyone with an interest in British history, this is an enjoyable, well written, account of Queen Victoria’s attempts to manipulate her children’s, and grandchildren’s, marriages and to influence politics in Europe with mixed success. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
June 20, 2022
This book is a fairly interesting read but it didn't particularly appeal to me. Maybe I have read too much about Queen Victoria and there was really nothing new.
She was the "Grandmother of Europe" and intended to put her children and grandchildren on as many thrones as possible. She succeeded in seven instances....Russia, Germany, Greece, Romania, Norway, Spain, and of course, Great Britain......with not a love match in sight. It was inbreeding gone wild and the gene of hemophilia, passed through the Queen, affected several of her descendants, including one of her own sons. The right marriages were political in nature and the Queen knew how to manipulate her kin onto the right throne. However, it was at the wrong time as WWI loomed and changed the environment of Europe and the world forever. Few monarchies remained after the Great War
There were many editing errors in this book, usually concerning dates which often appeared as 1987, 1991, etc. instead of 1887, 1891, etc. This became irritating after the third or fourth time it appeared.
If you are new to the royal marriages during Queen Victoria's reign, this book provide a good overview....otherwise, meh.
She was the "Grandmother of Europe" and intended to put her children and grandchildren on as many thrones as possible. She succeeded in seven instances....Russia, Germany, Greece, Romania, Norway, Spain, and of course, Great Britain......with not a love match in sight. It was inbreeding gone wild and the gene of hemophilia, passed through the Queen, affected several of her descendants, including one of her own sons. The right marriages were political in nature and the Queen knew how to manipulate her kin onto the right throne. However, it was at the wrong time as WWI loomed and changed the environment of Europe and the world forever. Few monarchies remained after the Great War
There were many editing errors in this book, usually concerning dates which often appeared as 1987, 1991, etc. instead of 1887, 1891, etc. This became irritating after the third or fourth time it appeared.
If you are new to the royal marriages during Queen Victoria's reign, this book provide a good overview....otherwise, meh.
September 10, 2017
2.5 stars
Queen Victoria's Matchmaking is supposed to describe the attempts of Queen Victoria to find partners for her grandchildren in order to ensure their happiness and/or fix them up in a way that augments their stability and power. What it actually chronicles is the relationships between the future crowned heads of Europe and Queen Victoria's grandchildren, with Victoria being mentioned regularly but having little actual influence over their choices. The majority of relationships talked about in this book, including Marie and Ferdinand of Romania, Ena and Alfonso of Spain, and Eddy and Helene, had little to do with Queen Victoria except tangentially as a doting grandmother. The actual matches she did make, such as Victoria Melita and Ernest of Hesse, were barely mentioned except in he space of a few pages chronicling them getting together, unlike other relationships that got analysed till death of the participants. The relationships that got explored after the marriage, like Emperor Nicholas and Alexandra, had nothing to do with Queen Victoria. For some of them, she wasn't even alive from the get go (Ena and Alfonso). The book is an obvious example of marketing that doesn't match the interior. This book was more about the relationships that the grandchildren had rather than about the setting up of them by Queen Victoria and how that affected their marriage. The book also tried to delve into some heavy politics on its many tangents, particularly as done by the Kaiser, which also doesn't fit in the scope of this book and felt like a case of trying to seem ultra-important, which it didn't need to do. It would have been fine as a book that simply focused on the personal romantic relationships of her grandchildren without needing to dive into the muddy, irrelevant waters of pre-World War I politics in order to make it important. The main instance of this was the chapter titled "Ena and Alfonso," which didn't even mention either of them until 2/3 of the way through the chapter and missed mentioning on the other granddaughters of Queen Victoria that caught his eye. Nothing was wrong with the research, premise, or writing of this book, the book's problems were all caused by the author's not knowing what type of book to write or what to focus on.
A digital copy of this book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Queen Victoria's Matchmaking is supposed to describe the attempts of Queen Victoria to find partners for her grandchildren in order to ensure their happiness and/or fix them up in a way that augments their stability and power. What it actually chronicles is the relationships between the future crowned heads of Europe and Queen Victoria's grandchildren, with Victoria being mentioned regularly but having little actual influence over their choices. The majority of relationships talked about in this book, including Marie and Ferdinand of Romania, Ena and Alfonso of Spain, and Eddy and Helene, had little to do with Queen Victoria except tangentially as a doting grandmother. The actual matches she did make, such as Victoria Melita and Ernest of Hesse, were barely mentioned except in he space of a few pages chronicling them getting together, unlike other relationships that got analysed till death of the participants. The relationships that got explored after the marriage, like Emperor Nicholas and Alexandra, had nothing to do with Queen Victoria. For some of them, she wasn't even alive from the get go (Ena and Alfonso). The book is an obvious example of marketing that doesn't match the interior. This book was more about the relationships that the grandchildren had rather than about the setting up of them by Queen Victoria and how that affected their marriage. The book also tried to delve into some heavy politics on its many tangents, particularly as done by the Kaiser, which also doesn't fit in the scope of this book and felt like a case of trying to seem ultra-important, which it didn't need to do. It would have been fine as a book that simply focused on the personal romantic relationships of her grandchildren without needing to dive into the muddy, irrelevant waters of pre-World War I politics in order to make it important. The main instance of this was the chapter titled "Ena and Alfonso," which didn't even mention either of them until 2/3 of the way through the chapter and missed mentioning on the other granddaughters of Queen Victoria that caught his eye. Nothing was wrong with the research, premise, or writing of this book, the book's problems were all caused by the author's not knowing what type of book to write or what to focus on.
A digital copy of this book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
June 10, 2018
I can't remember the last time I had so much fun reading a nonfiction book (most of the history I read these days is at a more academic level than this book).
This book was absolutely gripping. Though written for a popular audience, the author shows impressive research on her subject, drawing from unpublished royal archives. And it's extremely well written. Cadbury understands the art of telling history with the verve and craft of a good novelist. Knowing that half these people will come to sticky ends but constantly kept guessing as to how, you'll find it hard to put down.
Basically, this is the story of the planned, unplanned, or abortive matrimonial alliances made by Queen Victoria's grandchildren between the 1870s and 1890s among the royal houses of Europe. As young newlyweds, Victoria and Albert had formed a vision to bring peace and representative parliamentarian government to Europe. Albert himself prepared his smart and dutiful eldest daughter Vicky for this task, only to die before seeing the fruits of his labour. I knew that Vicky's son would become the infamous Kaiser Wilhelm II of the first World War. I didn't know that after Albert's death, Victoria exerted all her considerable power and influence over her children, grandchildren, and in-laws to bring about his dream of a peaceful Europe. I knew that the plan failed, but I didn't know how.
This book is the story of what happened, and it's marvellous. Forbidden love, rumours, deaths, scandals, shocking revelations - admittedly, this book treads the fine line that divides history from soap opera. Nevertheless, it's impossible not to conclude that the marriages of Victoria's children and grandchildren had a profound effect on European politics in the lead up to WWI.
The book ends with an account of how the gilded edifice of European empire came tumbling down in war. Victoria and Albert dreamed of spreading constitutional monarchy across Europe in order to achieve world peace, yet when Charles of Denmark and his wife Maud (one of Victoria's granddaughters) were invited to become the first monarchs of independent Norway in 1905, and refused their family's urging to pounce on the throne long enough to hold a plebiscite to ensure they were actually wanted, English nobles scoffed that it was "too horrible for an English princess to sit upon a Revolutionary Throne." In the end, the lust for total power proved too strong, even for the gentle Tsar Nicholas II who had witnessed the violent despair of his people under Romanov autocracy. Judgement could not be escaped. But why was it that people like Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsarina Alexandra became blinded to the point of insanity?
Recommended for anyone who likes reading about doomed love affairs, fancy weddings, and bloodshed.
This book was absolutely gripping. Though written for a popular audience, the author shows impressive research on her subject, drawing from unpublished royal archives. And it's extremely well written. Cadbury understands the art of telling history with the verve and craft of a good novelist. Knowing that half these people will come to sticky ends but constantly kept guessing as to how, you'll find it hard to put down.
Basically, this is the story of the planned, unplanned, or abortive matrimonial alliances made by Queen Victoria's grandchildren between the 1870s and 1890s among the royal houses of Europe. As young newlyweds, Victoria and Albert had formed a vision to bring peace and representative parliamentarian government to Europe. Albert himself prepared his smart and dutiful eldest daughter Vicky for this task, only to die before seeing the fruits of his labour. I knew that Vicky's son would become the infamous Kaiser Wilhelm II of the first World War. I didn't know that after Albert's death, Victoria exerted all her considerable power and influence over her children, grandchildren, and in-laws to bring about his dream of a peaceful Europe. I knew that the plan failed, but I didn't know how.
This book is the story of what happened, and it's marvellous. Forbidden love, rumours, deaths, scandals, shocking revelations - admittedly, this book treads the fine line that divides history from soap opera. Nevertheless, it's impossible not to conclude that the marriages of Victoria's children and grandchildren had a profound effect on European politics in the lead up to WWI.
The book ends with an account of how the gilded edifice of European empire came tumbling down in war. Victoria and Albert dreamed of spreading constitutional monarchy across Europe in order to achieve world peace, yet when Charles of Denmark and his wife Maud (one of Victoria's granddaughters) were invited to become the first monarchs of independent Norway in 1905, and refused their family's urging to pounce on the throne long enough to hold a plebiscite to ensure they were actually wanted, English nobles scoffed that it was "too horrible for an English princess to sit upon a Revolutionary Throne." In the end, the lust for total power proved too strong, even for the gentle Tsar Nicholas II who had witnessed the violent despair of his people under Romanov autocracy. Judgement could not be escaped. But why was it that people like Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsarina Alexandra became blinded to the point of insanity?
Recommended for anyone who likes reading about doomed love affairs, fancy weddings, and bloodshed.
December 11, 2017
This is better than 3 stars- 3.5 star to be fair. Although I'm not quite sure that this is titled correctly or at least as accurately as it could have been titled. Because this is more about Queen Victoria's children and grandchildren (and their own choices and departures) just as much as being about the matchmaking tendency that they experienced with their elders and especially with their Matriarch Queen Grandmother. With a huge side category of the position and oversee that Queen Victoria and Albert had, that is TRUE. A rather "master plan" to connect European nations in ally/ peace functions that they spoke of and planned for their own 9. But I don't feel like she actually had dibs on picking much in exact dictated matches as this title presupposes she did. Or leads you to believe that she did for the ones which did develop. Her disapproval was vast and known- but making a match a "sure thing" was really not how she operated. Quite differently than in much earlier centuries, when it was a given, the monarch decided, and you just obeyed by duty and oath to marry who was chosen for you.
But it was 5 star in telling the recorded and unrecorded (hearsay of witness and family) positions (both physical and mental)of many of her nearly 3 dozen grandchildren and their possible mates. And that was shocking, IMHO. As many seem to have great variance in mental/emotional abilities, blood related clotting disease of hemophilia or being a carrier for such (although they downplayed this immensely), or in some way also having far from infrequent intersect with anarchists or terrorists during the travel and "meet" process. Physical safety and personal marriage choice (such a small group of choices by royal blood requirement being available) being truly negative particulars, especially for the female offspring. The males seem to have more choices- more European princesses available at young ages of easier compliance?
Regardless, this is a GREAT window into Queen Victoria as a person. Her dislike for children and the more usual emotional distance from the majority of her own offspring, with just a few exceptions. She had great dislikes, and basically from the get-go saw all children, grand-children as secondary to her own roles and especially her own marriage. Before Allbert's early death, she saw the time he spent with the children as "not hers". I think it is ironic that she was considered the great Mother Monarch with her bonnet, instead of a crown.
So extremely sad that she foresaw the dangers of Russia and especially of her female children or grandchildren choosing Russian consorts. And the tale of what happened to her own Sergei, she never forgot that. What a HORRID death!
Actually I appreciated the pages of historical photos and especially all the anarchist attempts drawings of the 1880's and 1890's as much as I was embedded in Victoria's opinions. So many bombs and so many terrorist shots. It's nothing new.
Just a last thought- I hated all the nicknames that they evolved. You would think with all the choices that they would come up with more than a few different names in each generation.
And the most shocking observation. It was that Nicholas (who became Tsar of Russia) and George (Vicky's second son who became King of England) looked SO MUCH ALIKE. They looked like twins. If you saw them side by side in those pictures, I doubt unless they opened their mouths and spoke you could tell them apart. Same beards and facial hair, same hairstyle, same built/weight/height. So many cousins! And so many sick and early deaths!
But it was 5 star in telling the recorded and unrecorded (hearsay of witness and family) positions (both physical and mental)of many of her nearly 3 dozen grandchildren and their possible mates. And that was shocking, IMHO. As many seem to have great variance in mental/emotional abilities, blood related clotting disease of hemophilia or being a carrier for such (although they downplayed this immensely), or in some way also having far from infrequent intersect with anarchists or terrorists during the travel and "meet" process. Physical safety and personal marriage choice (such a small group of choices by royal blood requirement being available) being truly negative particulars, especially for the female offspring. The males seem to have more choices- more European princesses available at young ages of easier compliance?
Regardless, this is a GREAT window into Queen Victoria as a person. Her dislike for children and the more usual emotional distance from the majority of her own offspring, with just a few exceptions. She had great dislikes, and basically from the get-go saw all children, grand-children as secondary to her own roles and especially her own marriage. Before Allbert's early death, she saw the time he spent with the children as "not hers". I think it is ironic that she was considered the great Mother Monarch with her bonnet, instead of a crown.
So extremely sad that she foresaw the dangers of Russia and especially of her female children or grandchildren choosing Russian consorts. And the tale of what happened to her own Sergei, she never forgot that. What a HORRID death!
Actually I appreciated the pages of historical photos and especially all the anarchist attempts drawings of the 1880's and 1890's as much as I was embedded in Victoria's opinions. So many bombs and so many terrorist shots. It's nothing new.
Just a last thought- I hated all the nicknames that they evolved. You would think with all the choices that they would come up with more than a few different names in each generation.
And the most shocking observation. It was that Nicholas (who became Tsar of Russia) and George (Vicky's second son who became King of England) looked SO MUCH ALIKE. They looked like twins. If you saw them side by side in those pictures, I doubt unless they opened their mouths and spoke you could tell them apart. Same beards and facial hair, same hairstyle, same built/weight/height. So many cousins! And so many sick and early deaths!
November 27, 2017
Queen Victoria - Britain's second-longest reigning monarch - died on January 22, 1901. She'd been a widow since December, 1861 and had worn widows-weeds ever since, mourning her beloved husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Gotha. They had had nine children. At the time of her death, Victoria had 20 some-odd grandchildren. It was these children and grandchildren whose marriages with other members of European royalty Victoria plotted as almost her legacy. She and Prince Albert had seen their children as marrying into the other (Protestant) royal houses and bringing along their shared sense of liberal rule. In some marriages they succeeded, in others they failed. Victoria's grandchildren - often first cousins - were then married off to each other. Historian Deborah Cadbury explains Victoria's chess board and chess pieces in her new book, "Queen Victoria's Matchmaking: The Royal Marriages that Shaped Europe".
Cadbury does an excellent job in picking several children and grandchildren to follow through the diplomatic and personal paths to love and marriage. Some paths were more difficult than others and some marriages turned out better than others. But that is the way it is in most families, isn't it? Victoria, though, was playing for the future of Europe and personal happiness might not have always taken first place in her consideration of which cousin would go with which cousin. Victoria was marrying off first and second cousins to each other and wasn't concerned - or knowledgeable - about the genetic dangers of kissing cousins going further than kissing.
A side concern of Victoria's was the growing acts of anarchist terrorism in Europe. Russia, in particular, was the scene of several horrific political assassinations and Victoria worried about her favorite granddaughter, Alix of Hesse (daughter of her late daughter, Alice) and her choice of Nicholas of Russia as her husband. She also oversaw the marriage of her heir Bertie's first son (and then second son when the first died at a young age) to May of Teck. Now, that was a long, double courtship!
Deborah Cadbury's book is very readable. She's an easy writer and doesn't waste a sentence. The reason I mention that is because I had started her previous book, "Princes at War", but didn't finish it. I may go back and try again. In any case, she does a great job laying out the complicated chessboard of British royal marriages.
Cadbury does an excellent job in picking several children and grandchildren to follow through the diplomatic and personal paths to love and marriage. Some paths were more difficult than others and some marriages turned out better than others. But that is the way it is in most families, isn't it? Victoria, though, was playing for the future of Europe and personal happiness might not have always taken first place in her consideration of which cousin would go with which cousin. Victoria was marrying off first and second cousins to each other and wasn't concerned - or knowledgeable - about the genetic dangers of kissing cousins going further than kissing.
A side concern of Victoria's was the growing acts of anarchist terrorism in Europe. Russia, in particular, was the scene of several horrific political assassinations and Victoria worried about her favorite granddaughter, Alix of Hesse (daughter of her late daughter, Alice) and her choice of Nicholas of Russia as her husband. She also oversaw the marriage of her heir Bertie's first son (and then second son when the first died at a young age) to May of Teck. Now, that was a long, double courtship!
Deborah Cadbury's book is very readable. She's an easy writer and doesn't waste a sentence. The reason I mention that is because I had started her previous book, "Princes at War", but didn't finish it. I may go back and try again. In any case, she does a great job laying out the complicated chessboard of British royal marriages.
March 7, 2019
The title, and I assume Cadbury's premise, says that Queen Victoria was busy "matchmaking" for her children and grandchildren. But matchmaking in Cadbury's book seems to consist of QV mostly writing letters that say "No" and "Don't marry this Russian." Perhaps the book should have been called "Dating and Mating Among the Children and Grandchildren of Queen Victoria Who Eventually Became Crowned Heads of Europe: Let's Mostly Skip All of Her Other Children and Grandchildren Who Married, Some Of Whom Were Crowned Heads of Europe Too (Perhaps Because They Were Considered Too Boring). This book sort of fell apart by the end; so much so that I skimmed the last chapter. All of these stories have been told somewhere else, much more interestingly. Here is one here that you will like much better than this: Grandmama of Europe: The Crowned Descendants of Queen Victoria.
January 22, 2018
Queen Victoria's Matchmaking is an absorbing read about a fascinating family! I enjoyed Princes at War by Deborah Cadbury and looked forward to reading about Queen Victoria's efforts to arrange marriages for her children and grandchildren among Europe's royal houses. I especially enjoyed the first two thirds of Queen Victoria's Matchmaking where Queen Victoria's strong character and opinions are present on almost every page and the correspondence of her grandchildren demonstrates their efforts to manage her expectations concerning their personal lives. The book is filled with extracts from royal diaries and letters and the personalities of Albert Victor, George V&Queen Mary, Queen Marie of Romania, Grand Duchess Ella, and Czar Nicholas&Empress of Alexandra of Russia are particularly well illustrated.
The book loses a bit of focus in the final chapters as Cadbury expands the scope of her work to discuss the place of Europe's monarchies during the First World War then relates this material back to the broader theme of royal matchmaking in the final few pages. Cadbury devotes the greatest amount of attention to the courtships and marriages of Queen Victoria's most prominent grandchildren and I would have been interested to read more about the marriage prospects of their lesser known cousins.
I look forward to reading more of Cadbury's books!
The book loses a bit of focus in the final chapters as Cadbury expands the scope of her work to discuss the place of Europe's monarchies during the First World War then relates this material back to the broader theme of royal matchmaking in the final few pages. Cadbury devotes the greatest amount of attention to the courtships and marriages of Queen Victoria's most prominent grandchildren and I would have been interested to read more about the marriage prospects of their lesser known cousins.
I look forward to reading more of Cadbury's books!
September 11, 2023
Fascinerend en tegelijkertijd enigszins kleurloos geschreven.
De invloed van koningin Victoria op de huwelijkskeuzes van haar familieleden is zeker een interessant onderwerp om een boek over te schrijven en de auteur heeft zich goed ingelezen in beschikbare werken over het onderwerp. Samen met uitleg over de beschikbare briefwisselingen, krijgt de lezer een goed inkijkje in het denken van de Britse koninklijke familie onder Victoria.
Tegelijk mist het boek wel een soort ontwikkeling; de auteur begint nu bij elk huwelijkspaar of potentieel paar opnieuw in de opbouw en dit haalt het tempo steeds opnieuw eruit. Dit maakte het boek niet bepaald prettig om te lezen, samen met alle namen die door elkaar heen worden gebruikt begin je je als lezer toch af te vragen waar de auteur heen wil. Dit is aan het einde pas te lezen en komt als rode draad eigenlijk onvoldoende naar voren door het boek heen.
Wél is er sprake van een goede perspectiefwisseling door het werk heen. Niet alleen de visie van koningin Victoria komt naar voren, ook die van haar betrokken familieleden is uit de getoonde correspondentie te lezen. Dit geeft toch iets meer vulling aan het verhaal, gezien dat de plannen van de koningin lang niet altijd succesvol waren.
Afrondend, weet ik eigenlijk niet of ik dit boek zou aanraden aan iemand. Er bestaan pluspunten en minpunten die door het gehele boek aanwezig zijn. Het blijft een interessant onderwerp wat in ieder geval de moeite waard is om meer over te weten te komen.
De invloed van koningin Victoria op de huwelijkskeuzes van haar familieleden is zeker een interessant onderwerp om een boek over te schrijven en de auteur heeft zich goed ingelezen in beschikbare werken over het onderwerp. Samen met uitleg over de beschikbare briefwisselingen, krijgt de lezer een goed inkijkje in het denken van de Britse koninklijke familie onder Victoria.
Tegelijk mist het boek wel een soort ontwikkeling; de auteur begint nu bij elk huwelijkspaar of potentieel paar opnieuw in de opbouw en dit haalt het tempo steeds opnieuw eruit. Dit maakte het boek niet bepaald prettig om te lezen, samen met alle namen die door elkaar heen worden gebruikt begin je je als lezer toch af te vragen waar de auteur heen wil. Dit is aan het einde pas te lezen en komt als rode draad eigenlijk onvoldoende naar voren door het boek heen.
Wél is er sprake van een goede perspectiefwisseling door het werk heen. Niet alleen de visie van koningin Victoria komt naar voren, ook die van haar betrokken familieleden is uit de getoonde correspondentie te lezen. Dit geeft toch iets meer vulling aan het verhaal, gezien dat de plannen van de koningin lang niet altijd succesvol waren.
Afrondend, weet ik eigenlijk niet of ik dit boek zou aanraden aan iemand. Er bestaan pluspunten en minpunten die door het gehele boek aanwezig zijn. Het blijft een interessant onderwerp wat in ieder geval de moeite waard is om meer over te weten te komen.
March 9, 2018
I find Deborah Cadbury to be such a readable writer, that even reading about some of the more well trod territory was really enjoyable. I'd forgotten some of the proposed matches in her and she actually made me interested in Eddy, who I'd almost skimmed past frankly, because he ended up dead so early. It's striking to think how differently world history would have played out if, for instance, he'd lived and Alix of Hesse had agreed to marry him. Would we still be dealing with hemophilia in the British royal family? It's interesting to think about.
(I also feel so much worse for Marie of Romania now and I definitely need to find a biography of her finally.)
(I also feel so much worse for Marie of Romania now and I definitely need to find a biography of her finally.)
June 1, 2019
Overzicht van de vele kleinkinderen van Koningin Victoria en de wijze waarop zij trachtte de onderliggende band tussen de Europese vorstenhuizen te verstevigen
Koningin Victoria kan met recht de 'grootmoeder' van de Europese vorstenhuizen worden genoemd, tot op de dag van vandaag bevolken veel van haar nazaten de Europese tronen. Ze kreeg in totaal 9 kinderen en talloze kleinkinderen en wist deze vaak te bewegen om al dan niet vrijwillig met de vele Europese kroonprinsen en koningen in het huwelijk te laten treden.
Zij probeerde daarmee het visioen van haar man Albert te verwezenlijken. Doel was om op Europa's continent een verband van verwante vorsten te vestigen om na het napoleontische trauma de diplomatie te versterken en vrede te brengen.
Uiteindelijk is ze hier niet in geslaagd. Het was in de armen van notabene Wilhelm II waarin ze haar laatste adem uitblies, diezelfde kleinzoon die later de zo zorgvuldig opgebouwde vrede uiteindelijk de nek om wist te draaien door de Eerste Wereldoorlog te ontketenen. Aan het einde van die oorlog zouden drie van haar kleinkinderen de troon kwijt raken.
Deborah Cadbury neemt ons mee in de uitvoerige correspondentie tussen Victoria en haar (klein)kinderen en geeft ons een intieme inkijk in de relatie met haar grote familie in een tijd waarin de maatschappij - onopgemerkt door haarzelf - veranderde.
Koningin Victoria kan met recht de 'grootmoeder' van de Europese vorstenhuizen worden genoemd, tot op de dag van vandaag bevolken veel van haar nazaten de Europese tronen. Ze kreeg in totaal 9 kinderen en talloze kleinkinderen en wist deze vaak te bewegen om al dan niet vrijwillig met de vele Europese kroonprinsen en koningen in het huwelijk te laten treden.
Zij probeerde daarmee het visioen van haar man Albert te verwezenlijken. Doel was om op Europa's continent een verband van verwante vorsten te vestigen om na het napoleontische trauma de diplomatie te versterken en vrede te brengen.
Uiteindelijk is ze hier niet in geslaagd. Het was in de armen van notabene Wilhelm II waarin ze haar laatste adem uitblies, diezelfde kleinzoon die later de zo zorgvuldig opgebouwde vrede uiteindelijk de nek om wist te draaien door de Eerste Wereldoorlog te ontketenen. Aan het einde van die oorlog zouden drie van haar kleinkinderen de troon kwijt raken.
Deborah Cadbury neemt ons mee in de uitvoerige correspondentie tussen Victoria en haar (klein)kinderen en geeft ons een intieme inkijk in de relatie met haar grote familie in een tijd waarin de maatschappij - onopgemerkt door haarzelf - veranderde.
January 25, 2021
2021 Popsugar reading challenge: A book whose title starts with “Q,” “X,” or “Z”
So on the You're Wrong About... podcast, they have a series of episodes on Princess Diana. They talk about how reading about long ago royalty problems feels weirdly relaxing in these times, even if said problems were actually really consequential. And that was basically my experience with this book. It reminded me of how much I enjoyed reading A Royal Experiment: The Private Life of King George III about half a decade ago. Or, weirdly, Fire & Blood even if that one is fictional. There's just something weirdly soothing to me about going down the family tree of a royal family for a while, exploring how the world stage is often influenced by the intra-family squabbles of a bunch of cousins.
Oddly, although George III and Victoria had a ton of children, their approach to their children's adulthoods could not be more different. The royal family of George III's day was very unhealthily enmeshed and the daughters were highly discouraged from marrying solely because their parents did not want to let them go. Likewise, the male sons were not terribly keen to produce children with their wives. Due to this, there was actually a struggle to find an heir to George III's heir, which was how we wound up with Queen Victoria in the first place. She was one of the only ones available.
Meanwhile, Albert and Victoria hit upon the idea of marrying their children and grandchildren throughout royal courts in order to nudge all of Europe in the direction they thought the continent should go. While this seems like a great idea in theory, in practice it only works if your descendants want to play along. And a lot of their grandchildren did not want to play along, ranging from Kaiser Wilhelm (who was aggressively autocrat, almost in an "own the libs!!" way at his other cousins), to Tsarina Alexandra who struck me as incredibly insular and woefully unprepared for the role she wound up in. This plan also requires one's sons-in-law and daughters-in-law to want to play along, and they often didn't. Some of the grandchildren - like the last queen of Romania - were married off almost entirely to spite Queen Victoria and her attempt at control over the whole brood.
This is a great book to read if you want a bit of escapism - the descriptions of those Romanov weddings! - but also something that demonstrates how the personal really is political.
So on the You're Wrong About... podcast, they have a series of episodes on Princess Diana. They talk about how reading about long ago royalty problems feels weirdly relaxing in these times, even if said problems were actually really consequential. And that was basically my experience with this book. It reminded me of how much I enjoyed reading A Royal Experiment: The Private Life of King George III about half a decade ago. Or, weirdly, Fire & Blood even if that one is fictional. There's just something weirdly soothing to me about going down the family tree of a royal family for a while, exploring how the world stage is often influenced by the intra-family squabbles of a bunch of cousins.
Oddly, although George III and Victoria had a ton of children, their approach to their children's adulthoods could not be more different. The royal family of George III's day was very unhealthily enmeshed and the daughters were highly discouraged from marrying solely because their parents did not want to let them go. Likewise, the male sons were not terribly keen to produce children with their wives. Due to this, there was actually a struggle to find an heir to George III's heir, which was how we wound up with Queen Victoria in the first place. She was one of the only ones available.
Meanwhile, Albert and Victoria hit upon the idea of marrying their children and grandchildren throughout royal courts in order to nudge all of Europe in the direction they thought the continent should go. While this seems like a great idea in theory, in practice it only works if your descendants want to play along. And a lot of their grandchildren did not want to play along, ranging from Kaiser Wilhelm (who was aggressively autocrat, almost in an "own the libs!!" way at his other cousins), to Tsarina Alexandra who struck me as incredibly insular and woefully unprepared for the role she wound up in. This plan also requires one's sons-in-law and daughters-in-law to want to play along, and they often didn't. Some of the grandchildren - like the last queen of Romania - were married off almost entirely to spite Queen Victoria and her attempt at control over the whole brood.
This is a great book to read if you want a bit of escapism - the descriptions of those Romanov weddings! - but also something that demonstrates how the personal really is political.
July 20, 2018
Britain's Prince Albert believed his children could usher Europe into an age of peace and political liberalization by carrying British values into other royal families via the pathway of marriage. After Albert's death, Queen Victoria attempted to carry on Albert's vision by helping pair off her children and grandchildren (and she had dozens of them!). Unfortunately, social revolution and World War I got in the way of what might theoretically have been a success story. Although seven of the Queen's grandchildren were crowned, only three kept their thrones. Ms. Cadbury uses this matchmaking as a frame through which readers can see the end of one era and the tumultuous, violent beginning of another.
For me, the book was quite a page-turner. The author was able to access a rich wealth of primary sources (mostly letters between Queen Victoria and her offspring) and provides a truly intimate look at a family that ranged across Europe. I was particularly interesting in observing the way nationalism changed the lives of royalty.
Admittedly, some readers may find the back-and-forth between a controlling grandmother and her daughters and granddaughters a bit claustrophobic. In addition, the author presents history in a very conventional way--none of her interpretations challenge what we might call mainstream views/stereotypes. This isn't necessarily a problem but may mean that not every statement is accurate. Overall, a highly readable book.
For me, the book was quite a page-turner. The author was able to access a rich wealth of primary sources (mostly letters between Queen Victoria and her offspring) and provides a truly intimate look at a family that ranged across Europe. I was particularly interesting in observing the way nationalism changed the lives of royalty.
Admittedly, some readers may find the back-and-forth between a controlling grandmother and her daughters and granddaughters a bit claustrophobic. In addition, the author presents history in a very conventional way--none of her interpretations challenge what we might call mainstream views/stereotypes. This isn't necessarily a problem but may mean that not every statement is accurate. Overall, a highly readable book.
March 22, 2018
The soap opera that was the royal family at the turn of the 19th century will fascinate devoted Anglophiles. Queen Victoria's children and grandchildren were on the thrones or heirs to the thrones of most of the European countries - and this was no accident! Cadbury reveals the scheming grandmother behind many royal marriages and the effects those marriages had on European and world politics. The long-reigning queen of England firmly believed that a network of marriage alliances by the "royal mob" would keep the peace over most of the world. In the end, it proved to be a narrow vision as these royal couples had direct involvement with the start of WWI and the Bolshevik revolution.
While it can be hard to keep all the Victorias and Alberts straight and follow the convoluted royal lineage, Cadbury does an admirable job of succinctly presenting her case using available historical documents.
While it can be hard to keep all the Victorias and Alberts straight and follow the convoluted royal lineage, Cadbury does an admirable job of succinctly presenting her case using available historical documents.
September 20, 2019
Deborah Cadbury's starting-point is the partnership between Victoria and Albert and their dream (Albert's dream, really, but one that Victoria continued to work towards) of creating a peaceful, united Europe by way of connections between its various royal families. Their children and grandchildren married into most of Europe's other royal houses, with varying degrees of happiness and varying degrees of success in terms of both the V&A dream and the consequences for other royal families and, indeed, for other countries. This is well-written and gives plenty of detail and background information without ever straying so far that it becomes bogged down. There is lots of social history, politics and conniving/coercion/manipulation covered here; this is not just a book for watchers of royalty.
September 23, 2018
Poor Queen Victoria: she spent quite a lot of time trying to put her late husband’s diplomatic theories into play by encouraging (or discouraging) various marital alliances for her grandchildren, only to find that these young people were not very cooperative. And even when they were, their unions did not necessarily bring about peace and liberal democracy.
The first half of the book is moderately interesting, but the second is a rather dreary rehearsal of the events leading up to WWI, when, you may remember, Queen Victoria had already been dead for a dozen or so years. I was interested to learn a bit more of George V’s romance with his cousin Missy, (later the ebullient Marie, queen of Romania) and its effect on his future bride, Princess Mary of Teck. (What a different queen of England Missy would have been!) The strange history of Nicholas’ obsession with Alix of Hesse and the roles played in it by Victoria, her grandson Kaiser Wilhelm and her granddaughter Elizabeth of Hesse were also interesting. How foolish Ella of Hesse, and how prescient was Victoria, who foresaw how fatally dangerous it might be for Ella’s sister to become empress of Russia.
Ms. Cadbury is an adequate writer, and her abundant quotes from the letters of different royal personages—particularly those of Queen Victoria to and from her daughter Vicky, Empress of Germany—greatly enliven the book. But what a very strange world these exalted creatures lived in!
The first half of the book is moderately interesting, but the second is a rather dreary rehearsal of the events leading up to WWI, when, you may remember, Queen Victoria had already been dead for a dozen or so years. I was interested to learn a bit more of George V’s romance with his cousin Missy, (later the ebullient Marie, queen of Romania) and its effect on his future bride, Princess Mary of Teck. (What a different queen of England Missy would have been!) The strange history of Nicholas’ obsession with Alix of Hesse and the roles played in it by Victoria, her grandson Kaiser Wilhelm and her granddaughter Elizabeth of Hesse were also interesting. How foolish Ella of Hesse, and how prescient was Victoria, who foresaw how fatally dangerous it might be for Ella’s sister to become empress of Russia.
Ms. Cadbury is an adequate writer, and her abundant quotes from the letters of different royal personages—particularly those of Queen Victoria to and from her daughter Vicky, Empress of Germany—greatly enliven the book. But what a very strange world these exalted creatures lived in!
January 30, 2020
3.75 stars. The title is a bit misleading as the book seems to be only secondarily about Queen Victoria’s matchmaking and much more about how personal diplomacy failed in the face of widespread social change. Not a lot of new information, but I did enjoy the sections on George and May and Prince Albert Victor, which is often overlooked in books on the era due to the stability of the British monarchy during that time. Some parts of the book are rushed, as one might expect in a book trying to encompass forty + years of history, but I would have loved it to talk more about people like Princess Sophie and Princess Maud. All in all, a solid book that focuses on the clash of monarchy and democracy fueled by social change, through the point of view of Queen Victoria and several of her most notorious grandchildren.
December 4, 2017
This is excellent, Deborah Cadbury is excellent.
This was also low key about one of my favourite things: Historical What If's. What if Eddy had lived? What if Frederich was Kaiser longer? What if Ella didn't marry Serge? What if Alix didn't marry Nicholas? What if George married Missy?
This was also low key about one of my favourite things: Historical What If's. What if Eddy had lived? What if Frederich was Kaiser longer? What if Ella didn't marry Serge? What if Alix didn't marry Nicholas? What if George married Missy?
August 25, 2019
As an American, I have to admit that I’ve never really understood the fuss about The Royals, or, indeed, the whole concept of hereditary monarchy. The idea that some ill-equipped dolt gets to be the King simply because of his parentage has always struck me as bizarre. (Of course, recent electoral history proves that my treasured American democracy hardly provides any guarantees against ill-equipped dolts bizarrely coming to power. . . . But I digress.)
Still, I liked this book by Deborah Cadbury. It’s an interesting combination of 19th century European diplomatic history mixed with accounts of fairy tale romances between beautiful princesses and their Prince Charmings – although in most cases, without the “happily ever afters.”
In Cadbury’s telling, which I surmise somewhat simplifies the historical record, Queen Victoria’s beloved husband Prince Albert (from the German state of Saxe-Coburg) envisioned the marriages of their children as a diplomatic tool in spreading British-style constitutional monarchy, which he hoped would lead to a stable and peaceful Europe. (And which, not coincidentally, would also be good for the British Empire.) By the time of Albert’s early death, he and Victoria had succeeded in step one of the plan: marrying their oldest daughter Vicki to the heir to the Prussian throne, Prince Frederick. Even after that, however, The Queen (who remained devoted to Albert for the rest of her life) did her utmost to continue implementing Prince Albert’s vision by arranging, or influencing as best she could, the marriages of her nine children and her oodles of grandchildren. But the results were, shall we say, mixed.
Take Vicki and Frederick. Vicki was carefully trained by her father to take on the mission of spreading British-style enlightenment and liberalism to Germany. While her father-in-law Wilhelm I remained King of Prussia with Bismarck as his Chancellor, her ability to influence things was limited -- but still there was hope for the future, when Frederick would assume power. Unfortunately, by the time her husband was crowned Frederick III, German emperor and King of Prussia, he was dying of cancer. A few months later he was gone, and the new emperor was his and Vicki’s son William. Somehow, this offspring of liberal-minded Vicki and decent Frederick turned out to be the infamous Kaiser Wilhelm II, a militaristic and egomaniacal brat who apparently was hated by all of his relatives (including his own mother) and who, in Cadbury’s account, was primarily responsible for World War I.
Oops.
On the other hand, Victoria’s matchmaking instincts come off somewhat better in the case of her dear granddaughter Alix – not that it led to a better outcome. Above all else, The Queen feared having any of her descendants end up in Russia, foreseeing trouble ahead in that violent, backwards land. When it became apparent that the tsarevich Nicholas, next in line to the Russian throne, had fallen for Alix, Queen Grandmama did everything in her power to thwart the match. But Victoria was herself thwarted by another of her granddaughters, Alix’s sister Ella, who had already married Grand Duke Sergei (against Victoria’s wishes) and who longed for her sister’s companionship in Russia. And so Nicholas and Alexandra were wed, becoming the last of the Romanovs and one of history’s least successful power couples. Happily for her, Victoria was dead long before Nicki and Alix met their grisly ends at the hands of the Bolsheviks. (Ella herself came to have huge regrets later in her life, even before the final collapse of the monarchy. After her husband was blown to bits by terrorists, she renounced the world and became a nun. Cadbury suggests that this was her attempt to atone for her own pride and vanity as well as her disastrous role in influencing Alix to disregard her grandmother’s advice and enter into her tragic marriage. I guess, in those circumstances, a simple “my bad” wouldn’t have quite done the trick.)
What’s perhaps most interesting is how often Queen Victoria, the most powerful woman on Earth, simply wasn’t able to get things to go her way. She constantly wrote letters haranguing her grandchildren and arranged visits to exercise her influence over them, but much of the time they stubbornly resisted her wishes, and then in other cases even when the grandchildren would have been compliant, their own parents (i.e., Victoria’s children) got in the way. (Poor granddaughter Missy, whose own mother made her reject her cousin George, second in line to the English throne and who truly adored her! So instead of ending up as the Queen of England she ultimately became Queen of . . . Romania!) It’s almost as if this younger generation felt that they could get away with acting like spoiled little princes and princesses. Oh, right - they were.
Anyway, it’s a pretty fun read.
Still, I liked this book by Deborah Cadbury. It’s an interesting combination of 19th century European diplomatic history mixed with accounts of fairy tale romances between beautiful princesses and their Prince Charmings – although in most cases, without the “happily ever afters.”
In Cadbury’s telling, which I surmise somewhat simplifies the historical record, Queen Victoria’s beloved husband Prince Albert (from the German state of Saxe-Coburg) envisioned the marriages of their children as a diplomatic tool in spreading British-style constitutional monarchy, which he hoped would lead to a stable and peaceful Europe. (And which, not coincidentally, would also be good for the British Empire.) By the time of Albert’s early death, he and Victoria had succeeded in step one of the plan: marrying their oldest daughter Vicki to the heir to the Prussian throne, Prince Frederick. Even after that, however, The Queen (who remained devoted to Albert for the rest of her life) did her utmost to continue implementing Prince Albert’s vision by arranging, or influencing as best she could, the marriages of her nine children and her oodles of grandchildren. But the results were, shall we say, mixed.
Take Vicki and Frederick. Vicki was carefully trained by her father to take on the mission of spreading British-style enlightenment and liberalism to Germany. While her father-in-law Wilhelm I remained King of Prussia with Bismarck as his Chancellor, her ability to influence things was limited -- but still there was hope for the future, when Frederick would assume power. Unfortunately, by the time her husband was crowned Frederick III, German emperor and King of Prussia, he was dying of cancer. A few months later he was gone, and the new emperor was his and Vicki’s son William. Somehow, this offspring of liberal-minded Vicki and decent Frederick turned out to be the infamous Kaiser Wilhelm II, a militaristic and egomaniacal brat who apparently was hated by all of his relatives (including his own mother) and who, in Cadbury’s account, was primarily responsible for World War I.
Oops.
On the other hand, Victoria’s matchmaking instincts come off somewhat better in the case of her dear granddaughter Alix – not that it led to a better outcome. Above all else, The Queen feared having any of her descendants end up in Russia, foreseeing trouble ahead in that violent, backwards land. When it became apparent that the tsarevich Nicholas, next in line to the Russian throne, had fallen for Alix, Queen Grandmama did everything in her power to thwart the match. But Victoria was herself thwarted by another of her granddaughters, Alix’s sister Ella, who had already married Grand Duke Sergei (against Victoria’s wishes) and who longed for her sister’s companionship in Russia. And so Nicholas and Alexandra were wed, becoming the last of the Romanovs and one of history’s least successful power couples. Happily for her, Victoria was dead long before Nicki and Alix met their grisly ends at the hands of the Bolsheviks. (Ella herself came to have huge regrets later in her life, even before the final collapse of the monarchy. After her husband was blown to bits by terrorists, she renounced the world and became a nun. Cadbury suggests that this was her attempt to atone for her own pride and vanity as well as her disastrous role in influencing Alix to disregard her grandmother’s advice and enter into her tragic marriage. I guess, in those circumstances, a simple “my bad” wouldn’t have quite done the trick.)
What’s perhaps most interesting is how often Queen Victoria, the most powerful woman on Earth, simply wasn’t able to get things to go her way. She constantly wrote letters haranguing her grandchildren and arranged visits to exercise her influence over them, but much of the time they stubbornly resisted her wishes, and then in other cases even when the grandchildren would have been compliant, their own parents (i.e., Victoria’s children) got in the way. (Poor granddaughter Missy, whose own mother made her reject her cousin George, second in line to the English throne and who truly adored her! So instead of ending up as the Queen of England she ultimately became Queen of . . . Romania!) It’s almost as if this younger generation felt that they could get away with acting like spoiled little princes and princesses. Oh, right - they were.
Anyway, it’s a pretty fun read.
January 23, 2019
Enjoyable and engrossing read. It is not telling us anything we don't know about the lives of Queen Victoria's grandchildren but their lives are well told by Deborah Cadbury.
August 2, 2020
Deborah Cadbury always makes history fun. Is this what is meant by history light? Cadbury ignores all other things that are happening in Victoria's reign, and focuses only on the theme of the Queen's marital matchmaking.
Thus we see Queen Victoria scheming, like a Jane Austen mother, to marry her grandchildren to suitable people. Of course, she is only thinking of peace in Europe (and incidentally her grandchildren's happiness) as she sets about to make the most advantageous matches in line with the plans of her husband, the deceased Prince Albert, for a better world for England and its friends.
My only disappointment is that this book doesn't go further and examine matches that are made after Queen Victoria dies. We miss out on the courting and matching of the younger grandchildren whose parents have an interest in following their own mother's example.
Thus we see Queen Victoria scheming, like a Jane Austen mother, to marry her grandchildren to suitable people. Of course, she is only thinking of peace in Europe (and incidentally her grandchildren's happiness) as she sets about to make the most advantageous matches in line with the plans of her husband, the deceased Prince Albert, for a better world for England and its friends.
My only disappointment is that this book doesn't go further and examine matches that are made after Queen Victoria dies. We miss out on the courting and matching of the younger grandchildren whose parents have an interest in following their own mother's example.
August 7, 2017
I enjoyed this look at the role Queen Victoria played in the marriages of her seven crowned grandchildren. I always enjoy books about Queen Victoria and her descendants and the incredible role the family played in the politics of Europe.
However, I did not feel like I learned anything new in this book. It is however and interesting read if you enjoy the subject.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
However, I did not feel like I learned anything new in this book. It is however and interesting read if you enjoy the subject.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
March 15, 2022
I thought this was an enjoyable and informative look into the marriages and alliances of Victoria’s children and grandchildren that changed the face of the modern world. It’s fascinating how some of the biggest historical events of the 20th century can be traced back to that one royal line.
January 6, 2018
Extremely well-written, thorough biography of the widowhood of Queen Victoria and her influence over Western civilization as “The Grandmother of Europe.”
April 9, 2019
The central premise of the book is at least questionable. Cadbury assumes that the marriage of the Princess Royal to the Prussian heir was the opening salvo in first Albert's and then Victoria's campaign to tilt Europe toward constitutional monarchy. Albert was long dead by the time the plan could even begin to come to fruition through the intermarriages of the Saxe-Coburg grandchildren. An astounding number of Victoria's grandchildren married their first cousins. And alas for the best laid plans of Prince Consorts, his first grandchild was Wilhelm, who succeeded to the imperial throne of Germany after his liberal mother and sort of liberal father had reigned for three months. Cancer took Friedrich III; Wilhelm's very first action was to surround his parents' home and make sure his mother couldn't get his father's personal papers. His mother, who was much brighter than her eldest son, had already smuggled them out through an English diplomat.
Wilhelm, in words that a previous historian once used to describe Marcus Aurelius' son Commodus, was a startling product for a good home to produce. But he was far from the only difficult grandchild. Two of them went to imperial Russia. One was Elisabeth, who married Alexander III's younger brother Grand Duke Sergei. In 1905 Sergei was blown to smithereens by terrorists, and Ella sprinted to the scene from the Kremlin and gathered the very little bits of her husband left, carefully removing his rings from the few fingers that remained. She later showed up in the cell of the assassin to try and lead him to Christ. He wasn't having any. Cadbury hazards the theory that Ella then tried to atone for her previous luxurious life by becoming a nun. She was eventually murdered by the Bolsheviks and has since been canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. This despite the fact that Sister signed off on Rasputin's murder.
Ella's youngest sister, and Queen Victoria's odds-on favorite grandchild, did rather worse for herself. Princess Alix married the heir to the Russian Empire in the immediate aftermath of his father's death. There had been signs before the match that Alicky was a pill of the first order, but nothing could have prepared the rest of the family for (1) how crazy she was going to become and (2) how much damage she was going to wreak. It is giving too much credit to Alexandra Fedorovna to say that she brought down the Romanov dynasty . . . but she certainly helped. The net result was to get her waffle of a husband and five attractive children shot to death in an Ekaterinburg cellar --- to say nothing of four hapless household members.
Prince Albert Victor, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and second in line to the throne after his father, was borderline problematic. Oh hell, not borderline. Cadbury dances around the euphemisms used by a succession of tutors to avoid saying that he was mentally slow, but there it is. Moreover, he had an annoying habit of falling in love with all the wrong girls (and perhaps one or two messenger boys, although Cadbury won't commit). These included his first cousin Alix, whom Victoria actually thought would be a good influence upon Prince "Eddy", Princess Helene of Orleans (Catholic, so no go) and a commoner or two. They eventually forced him to propose to the stolid Princess May of Teck. When Eddy died shortly thereafter, they subbed in May to marry his brother George. George was marginally brighter than Eddy and had been pining for his cousin Marie ("Missy"), who wound up being hustled into a marriage with the Crown Prince of Romania. Since he proposed within nanoseconds of their meeting, and Missy was sixteen, it will surprise no one that the marriage was not a success. At least he wasn't her first cousin, unlike her sister Victoria Melita ("Ducky" to her friends), who wound up marrying Ella and Alix's brother Ernie. All of them were first cousins, and I am not even mentioning the fact that Wilhelm had torched for Ella and Alix as well!
There were other marriages as well, so that in the end Victoria had a grandchild sitting on many of the European thrones. Which didn't matter at all as far as World War I was concerned. Most of the kings, emperors, kaisers and tsars departed at the end of the war, however unwillingly. So from the point of view of Albert's "Grand Design", not so much.
But the surprising thing about the book, given the thesis and the title, is that virtually none of Victoria's grandchildren married where she wanted them to, especially the two who went to Russia. She wasn't very good at it, despite having a lot of, shall we say, opinions.
The book is a good read as popular history. Cadbury has gleaned some really interesting nuggets of information. The structure of the book can be a little confusing, as she jumps from relationship to relationship. My only real complaint is the lack of a family tree. Cadbury tries to explain how they themselves sorted each other out through nicknames, given the sheer amount of Victorias and Alberts running around, but a graphic could have helped.
Wilhelm, in words that a previous historian once used to describe Marcus Aurelius' son Commodus, was a startling product for a good home to produce. But he was far from the only difficult grandchild. Two of them went to imperial Russia. One was Elisabeth, who married Alexander III's younger brother Grand Duke Sergei. In 1905 Sergei was blown to smithereens by terrorists, and Ella sprinted to the scene from the Kremlin and gathered the very little bits of her husband left, carefully removing his rings from the few fingers that remained. She later showed up in the cell of the assassin to try and lead him to Christ. He wasn't having any. Cadbury hazards the theory that Ella then tried to atone for her previous luxurious life by becoming a nun. She was eventually murdered by the Bolsheviks and has since been canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. This despite the fact that Sister signed off on Rasputin's murder.
Ella's youngest sister, and Queen Victoria's odds-on favorite grandchild, did rather worse for herself. Princess Alix married the heir to the Russian Empire in the immediate aftermath of his father's death. There had been signs before the match that Alicky was a pill of the first order, but nothing could have prepared the rest of the family for (1) how crazy she was going to become and (2) how much damage she was going to wreak. It is giving too much credit to Alexandra Fedorovna to say that she brought down the Romanov dynasty . . . but she certainly helped. The net result was to get her waffle of a husband and five attractive children shot to death in an Ekaterinburg cellar --- to say nothing of four hapless household members.
Prince Albert Victor, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and second in line to the throne after his father, was borderline problematic. Oh hell, not borderline. Cadbury dances around the euphemisms used by a succession of tutors to avoid saying that he was mentally slow, but there it is. Moreover, he had an annoying habit of falling in love with all the wrong girls (and perhaps one or two messenger boys, although Cadbury won't commit). These included his first cousin Alix, whom Victoria actually thought would be a good influence upon Prince "Eddy", Princess Helene of Orleans (Catholic, so no go) and a commoner or two. They eventually forced him to propose to the stolid Princess May of Teck. When Eddy died shortly thereafter, they subbed in May to marry his brother George. George was marginally brighter than Eddy and had been pining for his cousin Marie ("Missy"), who wound up being hustled into a marriage with the Crown Prince of Romania. Since he proposed within nanoseconds of their meeting, and Missy was sixteen, it will surprise no one that the marriage was not a success. At least he wasn't her first cousin, unlike her sister Victoria Melita ("Ducky" to her friends), who wound up marrying Ella and Alix's brother Ernie. All of them were first cousins, and I am not even mentioning the fact that Wilhelm had torched for Ella and Alix as well!
There were other marriages as well, so that in the end Victoria had a grandchild sitting on many of the European thrones. Which didn't matter at all as far as World War I was concerned. Most of the kings, emperors, kaisers and tsars departed at the end of the war, however unwillingly. So from the point of view of Albert's "Grand Design", not so much.
But the surprising thing about the book, given the thesis and the title, is that virtually none of Victoria's grandchildren married where she wanted them to, especially the two who went to Russia. She wasn't very good at it, despite having a lot of, shall we say, opinions.
The book is a good read as popular history. Cadbury has gleaned some really interesting nuggets of information. The structure of the book can be a little confusing, as she jumps from relationship to relationship. My only real complaint is the lack of a family tree. Cadbury tries to explain how they themselves sorted each other out through nicknames, given the sheer amount of Victorias and Alberts running around, but a graphic could have helped.
July 7, 2018
I admit I turned to this book after watching the latest Royal Wedding on t.v. and reading about the naming of little Prince Louis (for his well-connected kinsman, Lord Mountbatten), but the story that's told here is about more than palace balls and glamorous courtships. It is both a well-researched political history and a very believable portrait of an extended family.
On the political side, the royal marriages arranged for Queen Victoria's offspring were not just about acquiring more crown jewels, but were meant to further Prince Albert's goal of spreading liberal, British-style constitutional monarchy to the more autocratic courts of Europe. Unfortunately, however well intended, the idea of making princesses the agents of democracy was inherently flawed and, as the nineteenth century turned into the twentieth, most of the thrones of Europe were teetering on the brink of violent upheaval.
So some carefully planned matches, such as the marriage of Victoria and Albert's daughter, Vicky, to Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia, failed to achieve the desired political goal. The marriage was happy and Frederick embraced liberalism. But he died of cancer shortly after ascending the throne, leaving it to his autocratic, England-and-mother-hating son, Kaiser Wilhelm.
Then there were the true love matches, pursued over Grandmother Queen's objections, that led to tragic results, both politically and personally. The most violent ends befell Victoria's granddaughters Alix and Ella of Hesse, who married into the House of Romanov (Alix becoming Empress Alexandra and Ella a Grand Duchess) a few decades before the Russian Revolution. Eventually, both were brutally murdered, as were their husbands and children.
Cadbury does an excellent job of depicting Europe at a turning point. From a heyday for royalty in the mid-nineteenth century -- when newly formed nations such as Belgium, Greece and Bulgaria recruited princes from other nations to occupy new thrones and found new dynasties-- to the growing threat of assassination and anarchy as the century ended. Interestingly, Queen Victoria (described at one point as a little old lady with "the mind of a lawyer") was keenly aware of the precarious positions of many of her fellow monarchs. She repeatedly warned her Hesse granddaughters, in vain, against their Russian marriages.
Yet, at the same time, we see Victoria's international clan as a real family. They meet for weddings and funerals and summer vacations. The royal cousins become pen pals and share their private hopes and fears. The otherwise odious Kaiser is the grandson who stays by Victoria on her deathbed, holding her with his good arm (both literally and figuratively). One senses that while Victoria was alive, she could influence the course of history with grandmotherly advice. But the dynastic web she created could not survive her.
Cadbury's work is both well-researched and entertaining. Granted, this is the sort of popular history in which the author freely imagines what her subjects are thinking and feeling without necessarily citing sources. And the final chapters cover World War I and the Russian Revolution in a bit of a rush. But overall, there is a fine balance between big events and intimate details.
On the political side, the royal marriages arranged for Queen Victoria's offspring were not just about acquiring more crown jewels, but were meant to further Prince Albert's goal of spreading liberal, British-style constitutional monarchy to the more autocratic courts of Europe. Unfortunately, however well intended, the idea of making princesses the agents of democracy was inherently flawed and, as the nineteenth century turned into the twentieth, most of the thrones of Europe were teetering on the brink of violent upheaval.
So some carefully planned matches, such as the marriage of Victoria and Albert's daughter, Vicky, to Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia, failed to achieve the desired political goal. The marriage was happy and Frederick embraced liberalism. But he died of cancer shortly after ascending the throne, leaving it to his autocratic, England-and-mother-hating son, Kaiser Wilhelm.
Then there were the true love matches, pursued over Grandmother Queen's objections, that led to tragic results, both politically and personally. The most violent ends befell Victoria's granddaughters Alix and Ella of Hesse, who married into the House of Romanov (Alix becoming Empress Alexandra and Ella a Grand Duchess) a few decades before the Russian Revolution. Eventually, both were brutally murdered, as were their husbands and children.
Cadbury does an excellent job of depicting Europe at a turning point. From a heyday for royalty in the mid-nineteenth century -- when newly formed nations such as Belgium, Greece and Bulgaria recruited princes from other nations to occupy new thrones and found new dynasties-- to the growing threat of assassination and anarchy as the century ended. Interestingly, Queen Victoria (described at one point as a little old lady with "the mind of a lawyer") was keenly aware of the precarious positions of many of her fellow monarchs. She repeatedly warned her Hesse granddaughters, in vain, against their Russian marriages.
Yet, at the same time, we see Victoria's international clan as a real family. They meet for weddings and funerals and summer vacations. The royal cousins become pen pals and share their private hopes and fears. The otherwise odious Kaiser is the grandson who stays by Victoria on her deathbed, holding her with his good arm (both literally and figuratively). One senses that while Victoria was alive, she could influence the course of history with grandmotherly advice. But the dynastic web she created could not survive her.
Cadbury's work is both well-researched and entertaining. Granted, this is the sort of popular history in which the author freely imagines what her subjects are thinking and feeling without necessarily citing sources. And the final chapters cover World War I and the Russian Revolution in a bit of a rush. But overall, there is a fine balance between big events and intimate details.
July 24, 2018
Another title for this book could be Matchmaking Gone Wrong. So many of the marriages in this book ended in sadness and tragedy, some with global impact. But, when you look a bit closer, some of the marriages that ended in the worst way (Nicholas and Alexandra) were actually not Queen Victoria's idea and vigorously opposed by her. So, I guess you can't blame the demise of Victorian Europe on bad matchmaking.
It is true, however, that Queen Victoria's children and grandchildren played vital roles in the changes that swept Europe at the beginning of the 20th century: seven of them were crowned and many others were involved in the lower levels of monarchist systems. Some married the spouses picked out by the Queen, others did not. Probably her best match was George V and Princess May of Teck. They married under obligation and not for love but theirs ended up being a stable and affectionate relationship. Without that marriage, we wouldn't have Queen Elizabeth (they were her grandparents).
This book had more of a big picture view of the political changes of the Victorian Era than I had anticipated. It was quite sweeping in its scope and I thought the author did quite well managing the myriad of details that lead up to World War I (I'm still trying to get a handle on that time period). There were times, though, when it got a bit dry for me because of this focus, especially in the beginning, but as the book progressed the author spent more time on the details of each romantic couple. Those parts were much more enjoyable for me. The functional and even momentarily beautiful prose made for an enjoyable reading experience.
Possible Objectionable Content: Some discrete discussion of sexual immorality; some graphic description of bombing and shooting victims (a few scenes were especially horrifying).
It is true, however, that Queen Victoria's children and grandchildren played vital roles in the changes that swept Europe at the beginning of the 20th century: seven of them were crowned and many others were involved in the lower levels of monarchist systems. Some married the spouses picked out by the Queen, others did not. Probably her best match was George V and Princess May of Teck. They married under obligation and not for love but theirs ended up being a stable and affectionate relationship. Without that marriage, we wouldn't have Queen Elizabeth (they were her grandparents).
This book had more of a big picture view of the political changes of the Victorian Era than I had anticipated. It was quite sweeping in its scope and I thought the author did quite well managing the myriad of details that lead up to World War I (I'm still trying to get a handle on that time period). There were times, though, when it got a bit dry for me because of this focus, especially in the beginning, but as the book progressed the author spent more time on the details of each romantic couple. Those parts were much more enjoyable for me. The functional and even momentarily beautiful prose made for an enjoyable reading experience.
Possible Objectionable Content: Some discrete discussion of sexual immorality; some graphic description of bombing and shooting victims (a few scenes were especially horrifying).
March 20, 2019
Queen Victoria is such a fascinating person. This book focuses on her years near the end of her life and her relationships with her adult grandchildren. But it's wild to think that she became queen at 18 years old and to imagine how politically astute and persuasive she had to become in order to be the most influential monarch across several continents.
I liked how Cadbury established the royal grandchildren as characters and there is a mostly narrative format to the book as we follow them through heartbreak, disappointment, love, and loss. But Cadbury never lets us forget about the world outside of the royal palaces or how so much more than domestic happiness was riding on the success of these marriages.
The thing that I found most interesting about this book is how Cadbury is able to walk the reader through huge historical events by telling the stories of individuals whose personal lives were the catalysts for said events. I remember learning about World War I in high school, but it was eye-opening to view it from the experiences of the rulers involved. They were all family who had grown up together and spent summers visiting their beloved "Grandmama Queen". The Great War was devastating for Europe, but the book offers a personal perspective not often explored in other history books. Imagine having your own cousin declare war on you, or a brother refusing asylum to his sister. As with their marriages, they were forced to choose between the expectations of their country and their personal relationships. Not only did the war destroy nations, empires and monarchies, it also destroyed a family. Queen Victoria believed that marriages and familial connections would create a peaceful Europe, but her grandchildren proved that blood isn't thicker than water.
I liked how Cadbury established the royal grandchildren as characters and there is a mostly narrative format to the book as we follow them through heartbreak, disappointment, love, and loss. But Cadbury never lets us forget about the world outside of the royal palaces or how so much more than domestic happiness was riding on the success of these marriages.
The thing that I found most interesting about this book is how Cadbury is able to walk the reader through huge historical events by telling the stories of individuals whose personal lives were the catalysts for said events. I remember learning about World War I in high school, but it was eye-opening to view it from the experiences of the rulers involved. They were all family who had grown up together and spent summers visiting their beloved "Grandmama Queen". The Great War was devastating for Europe, but the book offers a personal perspective not often explored in other history books. Imagine having your own cousin declare war on you, or a brother refusing asylum to his sister. As with their marriages, they were forced to choose between the expectations of their country and their personal relationships. Not only did the war destroy nations, empires and monarchies, it also destroyed a family. Queen Victoria believed that marriages and familial connections would create a peaceful Europe, but her grandchildren proved that blood isn't thicker than water.
January 13, 2018
This book tells about the matchmaking schemes of Queen Victoria. Victoria continued Prince Albert's belief that by marrying his children into various royal houses the peace of Europe would be secure at the hands of family members. After his death the Queen continued this practice. The book though looks at how other family members manipulated events as well.
I learned many details before that were unknown to me. I did not realize King George V wanted to marry another cousin rather than Queen Mary but was turned down and so fell to the pressure to marry Princess May. Princess Marie who became Queen of Romania was manipulated by her mother to marry the King of Romania simply because she did not like the British Royal family. It is doubly sad to know how much Queen Victoria feared her granddaughter Alix's fate by marrying the Russian Tsar. Queen Victoria knew Alexandra did not have the personality to be a successful Empress of Russia.
A small detail that puzzles me in the book is Prince Eddy often refers to talking to his brother-in-law Louis of Battenberg. This confuses me because Prince Eddy did not have a brother-in-law let alone it not being Louis of Battenberg. If I am wrong I hope someone can explain.
All in all a great book and worth the read for anyone who loves British History.
I learned many details before that were unknown to me. I did not realize King George V wanted to marry another cousin rather than Queen Mary but was turned down and so fell to the pressure to marry Princess May. Princess Marie who became Queen of Romania was manipulated by her mother to marry the King of Romania simply because she did not like the British Royal family. It is doubly sad to know how much Queen Victoria feared her granddaughter Alix's fate by marrying the Russian Tsar. Queen Victoria knew Alexandra did not have the personality to be a successful Empress of Russia.
A small detail that puzzles me in the book is Prince Eddy often refers to talking to his brother-in-law Louis of Battenberg. This confuses me because Prince Eddy did not have a brother-in-law let alone it not being Louis of Battenberg. If I am wrong I hope someone can explain.
All in all a great book and worth the read for anyone who loves British History.
December 17, 2023
Queen Victoria was the reigning monarch of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 to 1901. She had nine children, and arranged their marriages for them. She also meddled in the affairs of her grandchildren, arranging marriages for those as well. She denied marriages between two people who really wanted to enter into a marriage based on her political whims or feelings that she knew best what would create a successful marriage. Many of those that she arranged marriages for were expressly unhappy, not that it mattered to her. Many of these children and grandchildren would go on to become rulers of other European countries, causing rifts and creating drama that directly contributed to both World War I and World War II. Many of these children and grandchildren met with unfavorable conditions, such as the Romanov family, being executed.
I have always had mixed feelings about Queen Victoria. I can appreciate her contributions to the historical record, as well as the aesthetic of the Victorian Era. I have always believed that she was meddlesome, and this book certainly helped solidify my belief in that. If you are at all interested in arranged marriages between royals, this is a great book. It is well written and researched and provides a lot of insight and information into how and why marriages were arranged, even as recently at the 1900s.
I have always had mixed feelings about Queen Victoria. I can appreciate her contributions to the historical record, as well as the aesthetic of the Victorian Era. I have always believed that she was meddlesome, and this book certainly helped solidify my belief in that. If you are at all interested in arranged marriages between royals, this is a great book. It is well written and researched and provides a lot of insight and information into how and why marriages were arranged, even as recently at the 1900s.
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