VICTORIA R.I.

by Elizabeth Longford ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1973

The ""essence,"" presumably distilled by Lady Longford from her 1965 biography Queen Victoria: Born to Succeed, is presented in this lavishly illustrated edition. The biography, not unanimously regarded as definitive but certainly important, views Victoria in terms of her relationships with Albert, her Prime Ministers, and immediate family. Lady Longford has used Victoria's diaries and their hyperthyroid prose with discretion and telling application, casually picking up Victoria's constant use of ""snug,"" ""cosy"" and ""safe"" particularly in her later life -- scattered but coherent clues to the Queen's dislike of change, from revolutions to switching ministers. The author devotes some time to the influence of Lord Melbourne on the young Queen, favoring him in regard to Victoria's acceptance of ""the full rigor of the Constitution"" but faulting him for ""blunting"" her social consciousness. The relationships with Peel, Disraeli, Gladstone, Palmerston, etc. Longford sees as colored by the Queen's very strong response to their daring and independence from the Crown. Palmerston, particularly, was a maddening thorn in the side -- the author suggests the possibility that the Queen was jealous of his popularity: As for Albert; Longford says that Victoria was only too happy to pass over the reins to him (she ignores the famous quarrels which so many others have exploited). The young Victoria here was quite enchanting -- hot tempered but kind, earnest and fired with enthusiasm but utterly dependent on Melbourne, lively and with an eye for masculine attractions (""It was with some emotion that I beheld Albert -- who is beautiful!""); the widowed monarch is often petty, desperately carrying on her duties to country and family, sometimes obtuse, sometimes abruptly wise and, in a way, quite gallant. And Mr. Brown was but an innocent Highland crutch -- ""she needed a man to lean on, not to marry.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1973

Categories: NONFICTION