Book description
When Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, died in December 1861
the nation was paralysed with grief.
His death was a catastrophe for Victoria, who not only adored her
husband but had, through twenty-one years of marriage, utterly relied
on him: as companion, father of their children, friend, confidant, and
unofficial private secretary. Without Albert to guide and support her,
the Queen retreated into a state of pathological grief which nobody
could penetrate and few understood.
Drawing widely on contemporary letters, diaries and memoirs,
Rappaport brings new light to bear on the causes of Albert's death and
tracks Victoria's mission to commemorate her husband in perpetuity.
Richly compelling, this is the story of a magnificent obsession that
even death could not sever.
Helen Rappaport is an historian and Russianist with a specialism in
the Victorians and revolutionary Russia. She has contributed to a three
part BBC Two documentary on Queen Victoria,
Queen Victoria's Children,
to be screened in January 2013. Her books include
Ekaterinburg: The
Last Days of the Romanovs
and
No
Place for Ladies: The Untold Story of Women in the Crimean War
. She lives in Oxford. For more information, you can visit her website
at
www. helenrappaport. com
