Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household - Softcover

Hubbard, Kate

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062269925 ISBN 13: 9780062269928

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2014

Synopsis

"A vivid, entertaining and often comical portrait of life at court." --Wall Street Journal

"Compelling. . . . The rhythm of court life at Windsor or Balmoral is the backdrop to a rich human drama, a story of people existing in uneasy intimacy with the royal family." -- Daily Telegraph (London)

Based on the letters and diaries of six members of Queen Victoria's household, Serving Victoria offers unique insight into the queen and her court. Seen through the eyes of her servants--including the governess to the royal children, her maid of honor, her chaplain, and her personal physician--Victoria emerges as more vulnerable, more emotional, more selfish, more comical than the austere figure depicted in her portraits.

We see a woman prone to fits of giggles, who wept easily and often, who shrank from confrontation yet insisted on controlling the lives of those around her. We witness her extraordinary and debilitating grief at the death of her husband, Albert, and her sympathy toward the tragedies that afflicted her household.

A perfect foil to the pomp and circumstance, prudery and conservatism that has become synonymous with Victoria's reign, Serving Victoria is an unforgettable glimpse of what it meant to serve the queen.

About this title

About the Author

After leaving Oxford University, Kate Hubbard worked variously as a researcher, a teacher, a book reviewer and a publisher's reader and a freelance editor. She currently works for the Royal Literary Fund. She is the author of the acclaimed historical biography Serving Victoria and lives in London and Dorset.

From the Back Cover

Based on the letters and diaries of six members of Queen Victoria's household, Serving Victoria offers unique insight into the queen and her court. Seen through the eyes of her servants--including the governess to the royal children, her maid of honor, her chaplain, and her personal physician--Victoria emerges as more vulnerable, more emotional, more selfish, more comical than the austere figure depicted in her portraits.

We see a woman prone to fits of giggles, who wept easily and often, who shrank from confrontation yet insisted on controlling the lives of those around her. We witness her extraordinary and debilitating grief at the death of her husband, Albert, and her sympathy toward the tragedies that afflicted her household.

A perfect foil to the pomp and circumstance, prudery and conservatism that has become synonymous with Victoria's reign, Serving Victoria is an unforgettable glimpse of what it meant to serve the queen.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0062269925
• ISBN 13: 9780062269928
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448