Victoria Sampler

CONTENTS 12 Victoria’s childhood was surprisingly happy

34 The story of Victoria and Albert’s large family

20 Victoria’s romantic life before Albert

Timeline Key events and turning points in the reign of Queen Victoria

10 L OVE AND FAMILY 12 Victoria’s youth

Tracy Borman reassesses

Victoria’s allegedly miserable early years, and finds evidence of a surprisingly happy childhood

20 Love before Albert

Several suitors were lined up for

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Victoria, says Helen Rappaport, before Mr Right came along

26 The royal wedding Victoria’s ambitious wedding plans raised the game for royal nuptials, says Tracy Borman, establishing traditions that are still in favour today

34 Victoria’s children Denys Blakeway explores the parenting styles of the queen and her consort as they raised their nine children together

42 L IFE AS QUEEN 44 Memorable visits Queen Victoria was charmed by train travel, and loved to take in the sights, at home and abroad.

Helen Carr follows in her tracks

50 The royal marriage Jane Ridley lifts the veil on the golden couple, discovering the pressures they were under

56 Victoria’s prime ministers Jane Ridley examines the monarch’s relationship with some of her 10 prime ministers

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Victoria’s appetite for food – and more 26 The nuptials that changed British weddings for ever 64 The queen’s glorious royal palaces

102 How Victoria has been portrayed on screen

94 Head of the largest empire in the world

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64 Glorious palaces Victoria Arbiter and Paul Bloomfield explore five of the queen’s grandest and most significant homes

70 The queen’s appetites

Victoria enjoyed her food, says

Rebecca Earle, at a time when a healthy appetite was thought to suggest a love for other pleasures

77 Friends and rivals Victoria had dealings with Europe’s most powerful leaders – and she was related to many of them, explains John Van der Kiste

86 LEGACY 88 Albert’s death The demise of Prince Albert dealt the royal family a hammer blow and was regarded as a national calamity, writes Helen Rappaport

94 The empire Miles Taylor explores the queen’s role in the expansion of empire – and the empire’s impact on her

106 The queen’s final days She’d been on the throne so long that no-one quite believed she could go. Stewart Richards looks at the chaotic response to her death

114 Opinion Lucy Worsley examines our enduring fascination with a monarch born two centuries ago

102 Victoria on screen Ted Powell looks at three of the film dramatisations portraying Victoria and her reign 103

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A succession of suitors were presented to Queen Victoria (pictured, centre, in 1839) from her early teens, yet none of them proved acceptable – initially, at least. On first meeting Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, her future husband, there was no spark; Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich of Russia was charming, but a match was politically impossible; she didn’t warm to her cousin, George of Cumberland; and she found princes William and Alexander of Orange too plain and too ‘Dutch’ looking

GETTY IMAGES/ROYAL COLLECTIONS OF THE NETHERLANDS/BRIDGEMAN-ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST © HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II, 2019

Love and family / Victoria’s suitors

Love before Albert

YOUNG VICTORIA’S SUITORS

Victoria’s devotion to her beloved husband Prince Albert famously endured for over 60 years. But, as Helen Rappaport reveals, he was only the last of a succession of men who tried to win Victoria’s hand during her younger years

Love and family / Victoria’s children

Queen Victoria gave birth to nine children – four boys and five girls – between 1840 and 1857.

Denys Blakeway explores the queen’s parenting style and her relationship with her family

GETTY IMAGES

First eleven Albert and Victoria, pictured in 1857 with their nine children. From left to right: Alfred, Louise, Alice (rear), Arthur, Beatrice (being held by the queen), Vicky, Helena, Leopold (front) and Albert

RULING IN THE FAMILY

Life as queen / Prime ministers

The monarch and her MINISTERS

During her long reign, Victoria dealt with 10 prime ministers – some of whom she admired, while others provoked her ire. Jane Ridley profiles six of the most important premiers of the Victorian era

GETTY IMAGES

Victoria interviews prime minister Benjamin Disraeli at Osborne House.

Disraeli held the post twice during her reign

Life as queen / Victoria’s appetites

Victoria’s voracious appetites From ‘fancy breads’ and smoked haddock to whisky and mulled wine, the queen greatly enjoyed food and drink – along with other, earthier pleasures of the flesh. Food historian Rebecca Earle explores the monarch’s various 5

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Tickling the royal tastebuds 1 Victoria and her family picnic in the mountains on 16 October 1861 at Cairn Lochan, west of her castle at Balmoral 2 A late 19th-century illustration of a variety of ‘fancy breads’, a key component of the queen’s breakfast 3 The queen enjoys lunch near Nice with her daughter Princess Beatrice and granddaughter Princess Helena Victoria in 1895 4 A grand banquet at the Guildhall in London honouring the new queen, 1837 5 Victoria eats at Windsor in 1895 with her daughter Beatrice and son-in-law Henry of Battenberg, along with three of their four children 6 A selection of French desserts, painted in the 1860s. “A cranberry tart with cream is one of her favourite dishes,” reported one observer 7 Roast beef fillet, illustrated in c1890 – a dish commonly served as a course in the royal dinner

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Legacy / Death of Prince Albert

Unrelenting grief Queen Victoria at Balmoral with her daughters Princess Alice and Princess Louise and a portrait of her late husband, Albert, in 1863

THE DEATH

GETTY IMAGES

THAT ROCKED THE MONARCHY

The demise of Queen Victoria’s beloved husband, Prince Albert, dealt Britain’s royal family a hammer blow from which it struggled to recover.

Helen Rappaport explains why Albert’s death was regarded as a national calamity

Legacy / Victoria’s expanding empire

AN EMPRESS

During Victoria’s reign, British dominions spread across the globe to create the largest empire the world has ever seen. Miles Taylor explores the queen’s role in this expansion – and the empire’s impact on her Queen Victoria – pictured in 1887, her golden jubilee year – was “addicted to the empire in India”, says Miles Taylor, and accumulated Indian artefacts including the Koh-i-Noor diamond, worn here in a brooch. After her death the queen’s birthday, 24 May, was celebrated as Empire Day in many countries – above, in Australia in 1907

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FROM THE MAKERS OF BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE

VICTORIA Marking 200 years since her birth, this collector’s edition from the makers of BBC History Magazine charts the life and times of Queen Victoria – from young princess to imperial majesty.

Inside you will: ◆ Learn about Victoria’s lonely childhood ◆ Explore her tempestuous marriage to Prince Albert ◆ Meet key people in her life, from family to ministers ◆ Follow in the queen’s footsteps on royal tours at home and abroad ONLY ◆ Take a closer look at some of her great royal residences, from Balmoral to Windsor Castle ◆ Explore Victoria’s role in the expansion of the INCLUDING British empire FREE P&P*

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Discover new research about Victoria’s childhood

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