Queen Victoria's Journals
History
Thank you SO much for sharing this! I was hooked on monarchy from several lovely juvenile biographies of my mother's from the 1950s (much to the distress of my Irish-American father!!), especially two delightful volumes on Marie-Antoinette and (most especially) the Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, later Queen (and Empress) Victoria. When I was older I consumed several bios of Victoria and an abridged version of her journals. She is very "real" and engaging in her writing, and it is fascinating to read the thoughts of the woman behind the rather stern-looking portraits. I especially love her description of her coronation day - what teenage girl, dreaming of being a princess, could touch what the real princess wrote, not forgetting her beloved dog Dash in the midst of it all? Her courtship and marriage to her cousin Albert of Saxe-Coburg (her mother's nephew) is also a delight. This is a wonderful gift from Her Majesty to scholars and laymen alike on her jubilee, God Save the Queen!