Queen Victoria: A Personal History
A major biography to mark the centenary of Queen Victoria’s death, by the uncrowned king of historical biographers, Christopher Hibbert.In 1837 Victoria came to the throne at the age of eighteen, a pretty girl not five feet tall, to preside over what was, perhaps, the most momentous period in British history. During the 64 years of her reign she saw thrones fall, empires crumble, new continents explored and mapped, while her own country became the most powerful, richest and most highly developed nation in the world. For generations the stubborn, vital woman who was seen as the epitome of this time has fascinated all who read of her.Christopher Hibbert’s biography deals with all aspects of the Queen’s life, personality and times, her relations with her large and widespread family, her ‘wicked uncles’ and their wives and mistresses, and with the politicians, prime ministers and foreign statesmen and monarchs of her day – from her opinionated grandson, the Kaiser, to the Emperor Napoleon III with whom she fell rather in love. The book describes her married life and her failings as a mother, her love of food and gossip, her strange relationships with her Indian and Scottish servants, and her influence on the manners, morals and outlook of the age to which she gave her name.
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Queen Victoria
A Personal History
Christopher Hibbert
For Amy, Lily and Rose with love
Table of Contents
AUTHOR’S NOTE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
QUEEN VICTORIA’S PRIME MINISTERS
COLOUR
Princess Victoria aged two with her mother, by Sir William Beechey. © Mary Evans Picture Library.
Princess Victoria aged four, by Stephen Poyntz Denning. By permission of the Trustees of Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Princess Victoria with her spaniel, ‘Dash’, after Sir George Hayter. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Sir John Conroy, painted by Alfred Tidey in 1836. By courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.
Queen Victoria aged twenty, by Sir Edwin Landseer. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Watercolour of Prince Albert by Queen Victoria. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Prince Albert. A portrait by the miniature painter Sir William Charles Ross. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Queen Victoria in her wedding veil, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Windsor Castle in Modern Times: Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and Victoria, Princess Royal, by Sir Edwin Landseer. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Queen Victoria, painted in 1843 by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
La Filatrice Addormentata, by Julius Froschel. The Royal Archives 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II/A Disderi.
Florinda, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Queen Victoria with the Prince of Wales in 1846. A portrait of Franz Xaver Winterhalter. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
The Swiss Cottage at Osborne. A watercolour by William Leighton Leitch. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
The Prince of Wales just before his ninth birthday. A sketch by Queen Victoria. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Princess Beatrice in a purple dress. A watercolour by Queen Victoria. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Painting of Queen Victoria holding Prince Arthur, with the Duke of Wellington and Prince Albert. A painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Queen Victoria opening the Great Exhibition. An illustration by André & Sleigh, after a painting by H. C. Selous. © Mary Evans/Edwin Wallace.
Fir trees decorated with lighted tapers at Windsor at Christmas. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Princess Alice in 1861. A portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Sorrow by Sir Edwin Landseer. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
The Queen’s dressing room at Balmoral, by James Roberts. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
The Queen’s bedroom at Balmoral, by James Roberts. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
BLACK AND WHITE
Victoria, Duchess of Kent, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Leopold I of Belgium. © Mansell/Time Inc/Katz.
Luigi Lablache. A sketch by Queen Victoria. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Baroness Louise Lehzen. A sketch by Queen Victoria in 1833. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Queen Victoria riding with Lord Melbourne, after a painting by Sir Francis Grant. © The British Museum.
Lord Melbourne. A portrait by Queen Victoria. The Royal Collection 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Baron Stockmar. A painting by John Partridge. © Mansell/Time Inc/Katz.
Queen Victoria holding a portrait of Prince Albert. A photograph by B. E. Duppa. The Royal Archives 2000. © HM Queen Elizabeth II/B E Dupper.
Prince Albert in 1854. A photograph by B. E. Duppa.
