Customer Reviews

Beloved & Darling Child. Last Letters between Queen Victoria and her Eldest Daughter 1886-1901

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I loved reading these letters! Behind the cold royal facade are two very likeable women who truly understand each other. It is fun to see these two (a Queen and Crown Princess) relate to each other in the same way most mothers and daughters do. "Keep your back straight, brush your teeth, don't eat too much or laugh too loud"

their desolation over the deaths of Albert, Victoria's beloved husband and Vicky's dad and of Alice, Vicky's sister, is so real and palpable.

there are other books in this series, I've read them as well and they're delightful.

This is an excellent book, but not for the beginner. If you know very little about German or English history, this book might be confusing at times. For those with some background it is an absolutely delightful glimpse into the lives of two outstanding characters. A "must have" for fans of Queen Victoria or the Kaiserin Friedrich!

This last collection of the letters between Queen Victoria and her oldest daughter, the Empress Frederick, cannot help but be fascinating. Unfortunately, the editing and annotation cannot in any way compare to Roger Fulford's work on the previous volumes. The annotations are either in brackets (interrupting the flow of the page-- the Queen and her daughter were fond of nicknames and abbreviations, so a great deal of annotation is needed) or at the end of the book (necessitating flipping to the back of the book and figuring out the footnote number to read the clarifying information). While this book is not as easily readable as the previous volumes, the information it contains is just as interesting.

After Queen Victoria's death, her youngest daughter Beatrice (at Victoria's own request) edited all her journals and destroyed the originals. However, the letters between Victoria and her eldest daughter, Empress Frederick of Germany, were kept elsewhere and remained intact.

This series provides an invaluable, candid look at Victoria's intimate feelings and private opinions. Forget the dour old monarch intoning "We are not amused"; here you encounter a mother sharing her thoughts, hopes, fears and opinions with her daughter.

This book is a follow-up to the multi-volume series by Roger Fulford (Your Dear Letter, Dearest Mama, Dearest Child, etc). Fulford's work as an editor was superior in my opinion. If you are seriously interested in finding out what Queen Victoria and Vicky (Empress Frederick) were like as people, I'd recommend looking for the Roger Fulford series in a good library or through used booksellers.

This book is still very enjoyable, and definitely worth reading for Victoriana buffs. But some may have difficulty keeping track of historical events and figures.