This book was given to me by the Amazon Vine program in return for a fair review. The fact that the book was free in no way influenced my review.
While much has been written about the life of Queen Victoria,
Prince Albert and their royal
children, not much has been put out there about the other people around them. Kate
Hubbard has gone to original sources- letters and diaries- of the people who
worked for her: the people who were neither royalty nor laborers, but those who
occupied a stratum in the middle. Her doctors, the children’s governess, her
maids of honor and women of the bedchamber, her private secretary all held
titles that were considered honors but were in reality onuses. It was nearly
impossible to refuse an invitation to serve at court- and serving did, in fact,
have some advantages if one were just starting out and in need of some steady
cash and introductions to the right people. And once Victoria
liked a person, she was loathe to allow them to leave.
Victoria’s
quirks made court a strange place. Hers was not a court of brilliant wit and
scandals, nor was it one of jewels and balls. Victoria and Albert led a life of
royal privilege combined with middle class sensibilities. Victoria dressed in
what many considered a dowdy style (even before Albert’s death), she wouldn’t
have any conversation around her that could possibly create offense or
argument, she considered nursery games to be perfect after dinner activities,
liked to have the windows open and no fires burning even in the dead of winter
(not just in her quarters, but throughout whatever dwelling she was in), and
saw no problem with not allowing her attendants to sit down at the theater
rather than standing the whole time behind her seat, holding her things for
her. In other words, court life was uncomfortable and boring. Lady in waiting
was a very apt term; these women spent the vast majority of their time just
waiting to see what they would be doing: walking outside with the Queen, riding
with her in the carriage, playing cards. Even if she had no current task for
them, they had to …. Wait, making no use of their time. Their time belonged to
the Queen. It had to be the most boring job in the world; one woman bemoaned
the lack of books. The men, on the other hand, sometimes got overworked. Her
doctor, for instance, had to see her at least four times a day, sometimes
eight. Her personal secretary had his hands full at all times, with both
business dealings and the behind the scenes feather soothings that went along
with living in a court where some people were the Queen’s pets and could do no
wrong, while taking advantage of her.
The Victorian Era is one I’m very interested in, and
Hubbard’s book has added a new dimension to what I know of it. While I knew any
court would be a place of constant maneuvering for favor, it never occurred to
me that it would be a boring place to be avoided at all costs!
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