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Queen Victoria in Her Letters and Journals
This revealing selection from the Queen's papers provides essential clues to her character, tracing her development from shy princess to the formidable and uncompromising grande dame of Europe. How did she feel on hearing that she had become queen? How close was she to her eldest grandchild, who became Kaiser Wilhelm II? Why was she so reluctant to yield the crown to her son and heir, the future King Edward VII? What did she really think of Gladstone and Disraeli? These questions and many more are answered clearly and candidly in the Queen's own words. Victoria's passionate adoration of Prince Albert is evident throughout her journals, and later extracts give a touching insight into her feelings of loneliness and susceptibility after his death. Illustrated with some of the Queen's own drawings, this book presents an absorbing account of one of the most remarkable personalities of the nineteenth century.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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Queen Victoria
381 books29 followersThe expansion and industrial growth marked reign of Victoria, queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 and empress of India from 1877, and her strict moral code influenced 19th-century society.
Alexandrina Victoria from 20 June 1837 until her death. People know her 63 years and seven months as the Victorian era, a period of cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom. She was the last monarch of the house of Hanover.
Albert, her prince consort, died in 1861.
Victoria wrote an average of 2,500 words a day during her adult life. From July 1832, she kept a detailed journal, which eventually encompassed 122 volumes, until her death. After death of Victoria, survivors appointed Beatrice, her youngest daughter and a princess, as her literary executor. Beatrice transcribed and edited the diaries, covering accession of her mother onward, and she burned the originals in the process. Despite this destruction, much of the diaries still exist. In addition to edited copy of Beatrice, Lord Reginald Baliol Brett Esher transcribed the volumes from 1832 to 1861 before Beatrice destroyed them.
Alexandrina Victoria from 20 June 1837 until her death. People know her 63 years and seven months as the Victorian era, a period of cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom. She was the last monarch of the house of Hanover.
Albert, her prince consort, died in 1861.
Victoria wrote an average of 2,500 words a day during her adult life. From July 1832, she kept a detailed journal, which eventually encompassed 122 volumes, until her death. After death of Victoria, survivors appointed Beatrice, her youngest daughter and a princess, as her literary executor. Beatrice transcribed and edited the diaries, covering accession of her mother onward, and she burned the originals in the process. Despite this destruction, much of the diaries still exist. In addition to edited copy of Beatrice, Lord Reginald Baliol Brett Esher transcribed the volumes from 1832 to 1861 before Beatrice destroyed them.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 20, 2017
I was mostly struck by how very "Un-Victorian" Queen Victoria seemed to me, especially in her later years.
It is clear she does not much care for babies or motherhood, and she is embittered by having to be weighed down with pregnancy and breastfeeding when she'd much rather go and fulfill her duties as Queen. In a letter to her daughter, who is about to give birth for the first time, she writes, for example:
"What you say of the pride of giving life to an immortal soul is very fine, dear, but I own I cannot enter into that; I think much more of our being like a cow or a dog at such moments."
You can get a pretty good idea of the extent of her disdain for pregnancy, breastfeeding, etc, from this selection: http://www.victoriana.com/doors/queen....
Her exchanges reveal a strong and brilliant woman, passionate in youth, embittered in mature age, but always most conscientious in her duties toward her country. I really loved the exchanges between her and her uncle Leopold, King of Belgium, in her early years. I learned a few things from him! All the letters between her and her family members were very interesting to me.
The entire collection can be read for free online on gutenberg.org, which is where I read it. Here is the link: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20023/...
It is clear she does not much care for babies or motherhood, and she is embittered by having to be weighed down with pregnancy and breastfeeding when she'd much rather go and fulfill her duties as Queen. In a letter to her daughter, who is about to give birth for the first time, she writes, for example:
"What you say of the pride of giving life to an immortal soul is very fine, dear, but I own I cannot enter into that; I think much more of our being like a cow or a dog at such moments."
You can get a pretty good idea of the extent of her disdain for pregnancy, breastfeeding, etc, from this selection: http://www.victoriana.com/doors/queen....
Her exchanges reveal a strong and brilliant woman, passionate in youth, embittered in mature age, but always most conscientious in her duties toward her country. I really loved the exchanges between her and her uncle Leopold, King of Belgium, in her early years. I learned a few things from him! All the letters between her and her family members were very interesting to me.
The entire collection can be read for free online on gutenberg.org, which is where I read it. Here is the link: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20023/...
February 4, 2012
I wish that some of the more significant details of the journals and letters were better highlighted amongst the day to day entries.
July 14, 2010
I love love love my girl Queen Victoria! It was wonderful to read her own words and, through them, observe her maturing from a young, sometimes silly, impressionable Queen to a major force to be reckoned with on the European stage.
April 6, 2026
Took a long time to get through because the print is so small, not for lack of interest. I’ve been wanting to read for a while. My initial reaction is in how the book is organized. It would have been easier to follow had the entries been in exact chronological order. Instead, they were grouped by topic.
Not surprisingly, Victoria was happiest during her married years to Albert. Albert seemed to be her voice and guide on political matters; he bore a lot on her behalf. It’s possible the stress (in addition to his own chronic ailments) contributed to his premature demise.
After his death, Victoria seems helpless physically and mentally. She laments at every turn that she will likely die soon and uses that as a reason for reclusion. At one point she begrudgingly writes to the PM that she will come open parliament but she hopes he doesn’t expect her to do this every year, because it’s just too much for her. Frankly, she comes across as quite whiny and gossipy. She talks ill about members of the government to other members but then summarily praises them directly. She is quickly critical of others, especially her children.
I definitely subscribe to the belief that she had a close, affectionate relationship with John Brown, as he rarely left her side. She also admits to speaking plainly with him. That she went with him to his mother’s house when his father died seemed out of step. When she fell and hurt her knee, she seemed to exaggerate her pain, forcing people, including Brown, to lift and carry her around. It’s plausible his being overworked during this time exacerbated his illness and eventual death.
I wondered if Brown became her voice after Albert, but once Brown passed, she continued her discourse and spoke clearly and intellectually about state and foreign matters.
To me, it seems she did not always command respect from her PMs and other government officials. This could be because she was female, but could also be due to her demeanor. In her letters and journals, she often comes across as a spoiled, petulant child, who never gets her way.
Though this was just an abridged compilation of letters and journal entries, it still reveals much about the Queen’s daily life, her attitudes and feelings. I highly recommend. There is nothing like reading first-hand accounts to gain true understanding of history.
Not surprisingly, Victoria was happiest during her married years to Albert. Albert seemed to be her voice and guide on political matters; he bore a lot on her behalf. It’s possible the stress (in addition to his own chronic ailments) contributed to his premature demise.
After his death, Victoria seems helpless physically and mentally. She laments at every turn that she will likely die soon and uses that as a reason for reclusion. At one point she begrudgingly writes to the PM that she will come open parliament but she hopes he doesn’t expect her to do this every year, because it’s just too much for her. Frankly, she comes across as quite whiny and gossipy. She talks ill about members of the government to other members but then summarily praises them directly. She is quickly critical of others, especially her children.
I definitely subscribe to the belief that she had a close, affectionate relationship with John Brown, as he rarely left her side. She also admits to speaking plainly with him. That she went with him to his mother’s house when his father died seemed out of step. When she fell and hurt her knee, she seemed to exaggerate her pain, forcing people, including Brown, to lift and carry her around. It’s plausible his being overworked during this time exacerbated his illness and eventual death.
I wondered if Brown became her voice after Albert, but once Brown passed, she continued her discourse and spoke clearly and intellectually about state and foreign matters.
To me, it seems she did not always command respect from her PMs and other government officials. This could be because she was female, but could also be due to her demeanor. In her letters and journals, she often comes across as a spoiled, petulant child, who never gets her way.
Though this was just an abridged compilation of letters and journal entries, it still reveals much about the Queen’s daily life, her attitudes and feelings. I highly recommend. There is nothing like reading first-hand accounts to gain true understanding of history.
February 13, 2018
A very interesting book. Victoria, who became Queen at the age of 17, wrote over 2500 words a day almost her entire life! Her writing is fascinating, and I loved correlating her letters and journal entries with the history I know, but I ended up learning a lot more history through these writings. I started it when the second season of the PBS series "Victoria" began last month, and I suspect that there is a lot of dramatic fiction in the TV series. For example, she mentioned her visits to Scotland frequently, but she never mentioned getting lost there with Albert and spending the night in a farmer's hut. Still, both the series and the book are wholly enjoyable, and I recommend the book to anyone who wants to get to know Victoria better, from her own words.
January 13, 2020
A fascinating collection of excerpts of Queen Victoria's letter and journal. I glossed over the duller letters to and about the politics and reveled in the more personal writing about family and life and her emotions.
November 13, 2021
Quite an interesting read, it's always nice to see the letters/journals of these historical figures. My complaint would be that the editor does not provide a lot of historical background information, which makes some of the letters/ journal entries difficult to understand.
March 4, 2017
This was an interesting view into the prose and emotions of one of the most famous queens.
February 14, 2016
3.5 stars. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's love story is just inspiring to me. I first heard about them when I rented the movie "The Young Victoria." It said that movie was based on the Queen's actual journals. I set out to find a book where I could read the Queen's own words about her and Prince Albert's life and thus found this book. I also quite enjoyed the entries about her children and the letters written to her children. My only complaint was that I wish the book was entirely chronological as opposed to being arranged in chapters. Those chapters were chronological, but then the next chapter would jump back a few years that I had already read in the previous chapter, so it would get a bit confusing. I entered quite a few quotations from the book on the detials page that I thought were so thought provoking and poignant.
March 5, 2012
Queen Victoria wrote an average of 2500 words per day her entire adult life. If all her writing was to be published it would take up over 700 volumes (60 million words). Hibbert did an admirable job of selecting letters and journal entries which would enlighten us the most regarding her reign and her personal views. There was much insight about her family relationships, but I have a great deal of trouble keeping track of them all! (My fault since I'm not well-versed (yet!) in British history and politics.) I will continue to read additional books to learn more about her family and of that time period. It's fascinating!
December 27, 2007
Queen Victoria rocks!
November 13, 2011
an interesting insight into the queen's private thoughts. I would have appreciated more letters between her and Albert but hey, you can't have it all.
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May 16, 2017Interesting but couldn't get through it.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews