Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (1853-84), is acknowledged to have been the most intelligent and probably the most interesting of Queen Victoria's four sons. He was the youngest and a strong-willed attractive character, with an immense thirst for life. He was also, however, the first haemophilia sufferer in the royal family and endured continual ill health; as if haemophilia was not enough, he was also epileptic. In this biography, Charlotte Zeepvat has drawn on sources to reveal a compelling human story which also touches on the wider worlds of late 19th-century Oxford and of literature, art and politics in the Victorian period. In particular, it examines the question of haemophilia and the royal family. There are many questions to answer, such as when did the Queen and Prince Albert realize their youngest son was ill and how much did they understand of his illness? Some of Leopold's early attacks were described as "rheumatism" - was this an attempt to keep the truth concealed or a genuine misunderstanding? The book also presents a full and balanced picture of Leopold's relationship with his mother. Letters already published provide snapshots of individual quarrels between mother and son but no one has yet considered the relationship as a whole. Finally it eamines Leopold's life at Oxford, the varied and interesting friendships he developed there (with, among others, Charles Dodgson - "Lewis Carroll" - John Ruskin and Oscar Wilde), his political views and the importance of his work as unofficial secretary to the Queen.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A different biography of an unknown prince,
By gaism@unisono.net.mx (Mexico) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Prince Leopold: The Untold Story of Queen Victoria's Youngest Son (Hardcover)
Authors usually writes about famous people, kings and queens, politicians, artists, scientists, etc. This biography is different because is about the obscure and sad life of a young prince and his struggle with haemophilia. Prince Leopold lived always under the shadow of his powerful mother, Queen Victoria, who overprotected him because of his illness. As you read the book you get to know and love this shy and intelligent young prince. The book is interesting because the author gives us a theory about why the haemophilia gene appeared on Queen Victoria's genetic code. She analyses th Queen's genealogical tree on the female line and discovers that many of her female ancestors'sons died in infancy so they may had been haemophiliacs. This is a more interesting theory than that of thinking than Queen Victoria was an illegitimate child, not being the Duke of Kent's daughter but being the daughter of her mother's lover, who could have been an haemophiliac.
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An overlooked but gifted Prince,
This review is from: Prince Leopold (Paperback)
Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, was the youngest son of Queen Victoria. His hemophilia caused his mother, a temperamental and difficult parent to all of her children, to smother him with care and starve him of true affection. It is a tribute to Prince Leopold's innate strength of character that he grew up to be mentally sound and in many ways the most gifted of the Queen's nine children. His frequent illnesses forced him to assume a lower profile than did his siblings, but his love of creativity assured him warm friendships with many of the leading artistic and cultural lights of the Victorian era. His ability to cope with his illness with grace and good humor makes his early death an even greater tragedy. If he had lived on into the reign of his niece Alexandra, Empress of Russia, for example, he might have been able to proffer her some fatherly advice on how to handle her son's hemophilia, thus preventing her from falling into Rasputin's clutches.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Bio of a little known royal,
By Moe811 (New York USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Prince Leopold (Paperback)
In the many books about Queen Victoria's family that I have read, Leopold seems to be known only for his haemophilia. He seems to have been the most popular member within the royal family, although not with his mother, who seemed to see him as a convenient drone. She was notorious for trying to keep her children on a leash long into adulthood. Leopold appears to have overcome these obstacles. In his short life, he accomplished a great deal, he was the first of the royal family to attend Oxford, he was on the boards of a great many charities, he managed to travel, and he worked as an unofficial secretary to his mother. This is a well written and researched book. The author provides information on other more obscure members of Queen Victoria's family, such as her half sister Feodora and her family. The family tree of the female side of Victoria's family is the most extensive and interesting I have seen, although it does not solve the question of where the haemophilia in the family came from.
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