by Sarah Mountbatten-Windsor Duchess of York
First published 1995
Sarah Mountbatten-Windsor embarks on an ambitious quest to follow Queen Victoria's footsteps across Europe. Armed with the monarch's personal diaries, sketchbooks, and watercolor collections housed at Windsor Castle, the Duchess maps out her own royal itinerary. She visits the same palaces and castles that once hosted Victoria, now forgotten by time. Her collaborators Benita Stoney and photographer Robin Matthews document each location with fresh eyes. The Duchess weaves Victoria's own written observations into her contemporary impressions, creating a dialogue between past and present. Matthews captures modern photographs that stand alongside Victorian watercolors, revealing how these royal destinations have changed. What begins as a travel adventure becomes something deeper as the Duchess discovers unexpected connections between her modern perspective and Victoria's nineteenth-century world. The journey transforms both traveler and reader.
Genres: biography, history, art, adventure, 21st-century, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, travelogue
Setting: Europe, Windsor Castle
Period: 19th-Century, 21st-Century
208 pages · Hardcover · Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd