by Gillian Gill
First published 2009
Gillian Gill dismantles the traditional story of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's marriage. Most biographers present Victoria as a naive teenager saved by her German cousin's steady guidance. Gill argues the opposite. She reveals a strong-willed queen and a brilliant but fragile prince who fought for dominance throughout their twenty-year marriage. Their first meeting in 1836 went poorly. Seventeen-year-old Victoria was charming but stubborn. Albert was chubby, self-absorbed, and uninterested in girls. When they reunited in 1839, Victoria was queen and Albert her presumed consort. Neither expected much. But Victoria discovered a refined, accomplished man. She wrote "Albert is beautiful" and proposed three days later. Their marriage became a public contest for control. Both spouses were headstrong and passionate. Each wanted to lead on their own terms. The marriage succeeded against all odds, but remained a work in progress. Albert's early death allowed Victoria to create the myth of their union as a perfect idyll. Gill uses their journals and letters to show their relationship was great precisely because it was passionate and complicated, not peaceful and perfect.
Genres: biography, historical, historical-fiction, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, power-struggle
Period: 1836, 1839
480 pages · Kindle Edition · Ballantine Books