A Magnificent Obsession Victoria, Albert, and the Death That Changed the British Monarchy

by Rappaport, Helen

• ISBN13: 9780312621056
• ISBN10: 0312621051
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-03-13
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Summary

After the untimely death of Prince Albert, the queen and her nation were plunged into a state of grief so profound that this one event would dramatically alter the shape of the British monarchy. For Britain had not just lost a prince, during his twenty year marriage to Queen Victoria, Prince Albert had increasingly performed the function of King in all but name. The outpouring of grief after Albert's death was so extreme, that its like would not be seen again until the death of Princess Diana 136 years later. Drawing on many letters, diaries and memoirs from the Royal Archives and other previously uncited sources, Rappaport offers a new perspective on the crucial final months of the prince's life and the middle years of Queen Victoria's reign. She draws a portrait of a queen obsessed with her living husband and later with his place in history. It will also throw new light on the true nature of the prince's chronic physical condition, overturning for good the 150year old myth that he died of typhoid fever.

Author Biography

HELEN RAPPAPORT studied Russian at Leeds University and is a specialist in Russian and nineteenth-century women’s history. She lives in Oxford.

Table of Contents

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