Customer Reviews

Prince Leopold: The Untold Story of Queen Victoria's Youngest Son

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This biography has a wealth of detail and is extremely well written, I recommend it highly. For anyone with an interest in Queen Victoria; hemophaelia in the British Royal family, and just British Royal history in general, this is a great read. Lots of new information (to me) and very well presented. Leopold had a frustrating life due to his illness and his position, but he overcame a great many personal difficulties, matured well, and ultimately had a happy marriage. The book explores Leopold's close relationship with his sister Alice and her family, which I had not read about in any other biography. His difficult relationship with Queen Victoria is covered fairly, with sympathy for both parties. Zeepvat is the rare biographer who can really bring the material alive.

I have read many royal and historical biographies, but I must say that this book did not live up to my expectations. I found it written in an illogical manner, and could not keep my interest in it at all. I was very eager to read about things that had not come to light in other books, but everything I read about I have read in other books concerning Queen Victoria.

TWO STARS

This is the first book, of the many I have read on Queen Victoria and/or her children, that focuses on Prince Leopold. Even reading the edited letters between Victoria and her daughter Vicky had very little mention of this child. The book was informative and I learned a great deal regarding her true obsessive and sometimes vicious behavior to Leopold, as a child and as a grown man. I highly recommend it.

With this book, the author takes a welcome look at the life of Prince Leopold, fourth and youngest son of Queen Victoria. A fascinating prince, Leopold is one royal that history has more or less forgotten save his sad position as the first known royal hemophiliac. The earnest Leopold was highly intelligent (later Oxford educated), and desperate to live some semblance of a normal life, despite his illnesses (besides his hemophilia, Leopold was also likely a mild epileptic, both of which were not well-known outside of his family). His precarious health also made his already overbearing mother keep an even shorter leash on her youngest son, and his battles for a life separate from her were hard-won.

Zeepvat is by profession a historian, and this book was definitely well-researched. The author includes much correspondence amongst a family of prolific letter-writers, and gives her audience an almost daily account of Leopold's activities and whereabouts. This approach also gives a well-rounded portrait of Leopold's personality, his thoughts on his illnesses, his struggles for independence, and his familial relationships. Aside from his dealings with Queen Victoria, Zeepvat also highlights Leopold's very close relationship with Alice, Grand Duchess of the small German principality of Hesse, and likewise her husband Louis. Zeepvat likewise describes Leopold's Oxford days well, along with the long-lasting friends he made there (Alice Liddell of Alice in Wonderland fame among them) and the happy memories he kept.

The author also offers a theory on Leopold's hemophilia coming from Victoria's mother's family. Though the disease is passed to sons by their mothers, hemophilia was previously unknown on Victoria's maternal side. Hypotheses since Victoria's time have offered suggesting that Victoria's genes were perhaps mutated. Zeepvat points out what little was known about hemophilia even in Leopold's time, and further points out several young boys of Victoria's maternal family who died of what was thought to be usual childhood maladies of the times.

The book is well-written in the fact that it is so rich in historical fact; however, Zeepvat's profession as a historian is evident, as the narrative is not particularly engaging. Also absent is much information on Leopold's wife, Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Though their marriage was brief (it lasted just short of two years, ending in Leopold's sudden death), Leopold had wanted to marry very badly as part of living a more ordinary life. He and Helena had a very happy relationship, unlike many arranged royal unions of the time, and had two children, a rare feat for a 19th century hemophiliac.

Nonetheless, Zeepvat has provided a solid effort with this work on Leopold, giving her audience a good picture Leopold's life, one that was all too short and is remembered far too little.

I'd rate this less than zero, if the rating system allowed me to. This is completely lousy book and a huge waste of money! Many facts are wrong, which is a disgrace for someone of Ms. Zeepvat's experience. Her writing is flat and uninspiring and almost anything of interest is obtained from other books about the subject. Personally I'm sick of all these royal books that are basically re-packaged versions of previous books.

This is a decent biography on Prince Leopold, although the author's theories on how he contracted hemophilia through his mother Queen Victoria was a little over my head, and the author could have made her explanation a bit more clearer. Also, I do wish the author would have made a family tree of Prince Leopold's descendents.