Wholesale Queen Victoria After Albert: Her Life & Loves

Few British monarchs fit their era like Queen Victoria. From her ascension in 1837 to her death in 1901, her reign saw spectacular advances in the British Empire. Political, scientific, and industrial wonders changed the world, and Britain's influence reached all corners. One area intrigued the Queen: men. Her trusted advisors were men. Lord Melbourne, her first prime minister, was an avuncular presence, followed by her beloved husband Prince Albert until his death in 1861. In her forty years of widowhood, her ministers varied; she adored Disraeli, disliked Gladstone, and found friendship with Lord Salisbury. She was attracted to Mr. Brown, the Scottish ghillie, and had a motherly relationship with Abdul Karim, the Munshi. She loved her son-in-law Prince Henry of Battenberg, devastated by his death, and adored her grandson-in-law Prince Louis Battenberg, executor of her will. Her years without Albert were not loveless; they held happiness and pleasure.