Serving Victoria

“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. But what was it truly like to live in such close, uneasy intimacy with the most powerful woman in the world? Life at Court: Based on the private letters and diaries of six members of the royal household, from the Queen’s personal physician to her children’s governess. A More Human Monarch: Discover a queen who was prone to fits of giggles and frequent tears, a far cry from the austere, emotionless figure of official portraits. A Court in Mourning: Witness the household’s intimate view of Queen Victoria’s extraordinary grief following the death of her beloved Prince Consort. The Victorian Era Up Close: Explore the tension between the strict prudery of the age and the surprisingly comical, selfish, and emotional reality of life inside the royal palaces.