Victoria Victorious

In this unforgettable novel of Queen Victoria, Jean Plaidy re-creates a remarkable life filled with romance, triumph, and tragedy.At birth, Princess Victoria was fourth in line for the throne of England, the often-overlooked daughter spent most of her childhood in genteel poverty, exiled from court because of her mother s dislike of her uncle, the king. A strong, willful child, Victoria was determined not to be stifled by her powerful uncles or her unpopular, controlling mother. Then at the age of eighteen this almost-forgotten princess became Queen of England. She was finally free of her mother s iron-hand and her uncles manipulations. Her first act as queen was to demand that she be given a room and a bed of her own.Victoria s marriage to Prince Albert was a blissfully happy and produced nine children. Albert was her constant companion and one of her most trusted advisors. Victoria s grief after Prince Albert s untimely death was so shattering that for the rest of her life nearly forty years she dressed only in black. She survived several assassination attempts, and during her reign England s empire expanded around the globe until it touched every continent in the world.By the end of her sixty-four-year reign, this 'Girl Queen' embodied the glory of the British Empire.