Love history so enjoyed the book ftom that perspective. Good read but nothing new to me. That said, it was written in the 30s and it shows. I would definitely recommend it though. Good accompaniment to the tv series to see what happens after Prince Albert dies.

‘All these books are interesting, but they have a common fault. The books about King Edward are written at the expense of the Queen and the books about the Queen at the expense of King Edward.’

I agree with the statement above! This is a fascinating book that looks at the mother-son relationship between Queen Victoria and King Edward. The book focuses on how their relationship struggled and changed after the death of Victoria’s beloved Prince Consort. Queen Victoria absolutely adored Alfred the Prince Consort, and losing him would have been such a devastating moment for her. The narrative begins in 1861 with the death of Albert and Queen Victoria’s inconsolable grief at the loss of her love. It looks at how the grief of Queen Victoria was impacting her role as a Queen and how the future King Edward had to start accepting his role and preparing himself as future heir but at the same time is a young man who does want to enjoy life.

Victoria and Edward are here given equal attention, viewed as distinct individuals with their own motivations and flaws, without bias, or retrospective judgement.

I would recommend it to all those who love to read about Queen Victoria or King Edward.

It's 1.5 stars.

I wanted to read this book because it focuses on Queen Victoria as widow, without leaving out her son and heir to the throne.
The author is clearly biased towards the Queen, pointing out her flaws and bad decisions but excusing them all, blaming them on her fairly sheltered upbringing, on the influence of Prince Albert, on her mourning after the death of her husband.
It's also a very cringey read because of all the casual racism when speaking of the Empire and the colonies. But what can you expect from a book written in the 30s? Not that I condone it.

I'm very interested in English monarchy history, however, I never had a chance to read more of Queen Victoria. I was very pleased to come upon this book on NetGalley. This is not only my very first book about Queen Victoria, but it's my first book written by Hector Bolitho. Fantastic writing followed by a fair introduction of two English sovereigns.

The book begins right after the passing of Victoria's most Dear Angel - Albert. As we already know, Victoria grieved the death of her husband for the rest of her days. The author mentions her heartbreak, however, the main focus of this book is on Victoria's reign after the passing of Albert and her mentorship of the next King of England.

At the beginning of this book, Victoria is portraited as a grieving widow who lives in the shadow of her departed husband, Albert. But years pass by and Victoria learns to separate her sorrow from running her kingdom. Her relationship with her children improves as they grow older. As one of the longest-lived British monarchs, thru 64 years of her reign, Queen Victoria had built a strong Empire. The United Kingdom not only went thru changes in industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military fields but also expanded its territory. This book is another proof that Queen Victoria was an incredibly smart and very patient monarch.

Queen Victoria's successor, Prince Albert Edward, followed his mother's footsteps. He had no choice but to grown up fast and dedicate his life to the English throne. In this book we learn that he was a people's prince, he took a great part of improving education, health reforms, and social welfare.

Wonderful book, filled with many details of Queen Victoria and Prince Edward's personal and political lives. One other part that I loved about the book - it includes parts of Queen Victoria letters. I've become fond of Hector Bolitho's writing and would love to read more of his books in the near future.

This is a must-read for any history fan of the Victorian/Edwardian eras in British history. It brings each of the protagonists to life and delves into the turbulence of their relationship along with that of the times itself. I found the book very interesting and well-written. Recommended.

My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

It is a great book!
The author describes the 40 years of widowhood of Queen Victoria. In this 40 years many things happend in the world, things that changed her and prepared the Prince of Wales to be the King of England.
The letters, used as sources for the book, offer authenticity.
The relationships that England had with other countries on that period influenced a lot of the changes that happend in the country. They also had a huge impact on the Queen and her son. Because of that the author discribes in detail all the important crisis that the Queen had to face. It helps the reader to understand the role of the Queen, her relationships with her son and with her Ministers.
I particulary enjoyed the short parts in which the author gave interesting information about the Queen. For exemple:
- In the first years of bereavement she left all the objects that Albert used in the place and in the position he left them;
- Although she was very punctual for public occasions, she had a problem with punctuality when she was in her palace.
- she spent 5 years in Scotland during her reign and only few weeks in Ireland