An Audience with Queen Victoria
An Audience with Queen Victoria

Author: Ian Lloyd

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2019-03-29

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 0750991194

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One of Britain's most famous and longest serving rulers, Queen Victoria saw widespread change across her empire. During her sixty-three-year reign, in which she became one of the most powerful and influential people in the world, Victoria met everyone from Florence Nightingale to 'Buffalo Bill', as well as royalty from around the world with whom she exchanged truly unique gifts. After meeting the exalted monarch her subjects often recorded their impressions of her, sometimes favourable and sometimes not, and she wasn't shy with her opinion either. The records range from her less than enamoured assessment of 'Greatest Showman' P.T. Barnum and her opinions about Jack the Ripper, to how much she enjoyed Jane Eyre and the affection she held for her family. An Audience with Queen Victoria examines the meetings and letters exchanged between the Queen and a veritable 'who's who' of her time. Through brand-new archival research, newspapers and interviews with descendants, sit right alongside Victoria and, for the first time, experience queenship from her perspective.

The Enchanted Glass
The Enchanted Glass

Author: Tom Nairn

Publisher: Verso Books

Published: 2011-11-07

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 1844677753

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In this acclaimed study of British statehood, identity and culture, Tom Nairn deftly dispels the conviction that the Royal Family is nothing more than an amusing relic of feudalism or a mere tourist attraction. Instead, he argues that the monarchy is both apex and essence of the British state, the symbol of a national backwardness. In this fully updated edition, Nairn’s powerful and bitterly comic prose lays bare Britain’s peculiar, pseudo-modern, national identity—which remains stubbornly fixated on the Crown and its constitutional framework, the “parliamentary sovereignty” of Westminster.

Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II

Author: Lamar Cecil

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2000-11-09

Total Pages: 518

ISBN-13: 0807860743

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Wilhelm II (1859-1941), King of Prussia and German Emperor from 1888 to 1918, reigned during a period of unprecedented economic, cultural, and intellectual achievement in Germany. This volume completes Lamar Cecil's prize-winning scholarly biography of the Kaiser, one of modern history's most powerful--and most misunderstood--rulers. As Cecil shows, Wilhelm's private life reflects a deeply troubled and very superficial man. But the book's larger focus is on Wilhelm as a head of state. Cecil traces the events of the years leading up to World War I, a period that offers ample evidence of the Kaiser's inept conduct of foreign affairs, especially relations with England. Once war broke out, his generals and statesmen kept him on the sidelines. He was dethroned on November 9, 1918, when a socialist republic was established in Berlin, and he fled in exile to Holland, where he resided for the remaining twenty-three years of his life, working energetically, but to no avail, for his restoration to the throne. Originally published in 1996. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Wilhelm II: Emperor and exile, 1900-1941
Wilhelm II: Emperor and exile, 1900-1941

Author: Lamar Cecil

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 534

ISBN-13: 9780807822838

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Traces the early years in the life of Wilhelm II, German emperor before the First World War, focusing on his genealogy, education, and service as an officer in the Prussian Army

John Brown
John Brown

Author: Raymond Lamont-Brown

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2011-08-26

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 0752468995

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A century after Queen Victoria's death, debate still rages surrounding her relationship with her gillie, John Brown. Were they ever married? What was the extraordinary hold he had over her? This biography aims to shed new light on these questions and to discover the truth behind Brown's hold on his royal employer. Following the death of Prince Albert in 1861, the Queen found solace in the companionship of John Brown, who had commenced his royal employment as a stable hand. He became "The Queen's Highland Servant" in 1865 and rose to be the most influential member of the Scottish Royal Household. While the Queen could be brusque and petulant with her servants, family and ministers, she submitted to Brown's fussy organization of her domestic life, his bullying and familiarity without a murmur. Despite warnings of his unpopularity with her subjects by one Prime Minister, the Queen was adamant that Brown would not be sacked. The Queen's confidence was rewarded when Brown saved her from an assassination attempt, after which he was vaunted as a public hero. The author reveals the names of republicans and disaffected courtiers who related gossip about Queen Victoria and John Brown and their purported marriage and child, and identifies those who plotted to have Brown dismissed. Based on research in public, private and royal archives, as well as diaries and memoirs of those who knew Brown and interviews with his surviving relatives, this text analyzes the relationship between Queen Victoria and Brown.

Royal Wills in Britain from 1509 to 2008
Royal Wills in Britain from 1509 to 2008

Author: Michael L. Nash

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-02-09

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1137601450

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This is the first book on Royal Wills since 1780 and aims to take over where the previous ones (in 1775 and 1780) left off. Therefore the period 1509 to 2008 is covered. It aims to uncover the many dilemmas and conundrums they have had to deal with, against a backdrop of Imperial splendor and political strife, society scandals and in later instances, a disintegrating infrastructure. This period covers the wills of Henry VIII, Edward VI and George I, which all sought to divert the accepted rules of succession; the wills of Queen Charlotte and George III, which brought into sharp focus the differences between State and Personal property; and the wills from Prince Albert to the present day (with a few exceptions) which sought to exclude the public from seeing their contents, in devices known as ‘closing’ and ‘sealing up’ the wills. The authority by which the latter was done has been seriously questioned in signal cases in 2007 and 2008. Sources drawn upon include not only the Royal Archives, but the Kilmorey Papers in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, and the Teck Letters in Wellington College, where Prince Frank received much of his early education. The sealed will of Prince Frank of Teck, the brother of Queen Mary and great-uncle of the present Queen, is the seminal chapter in this study.