Victoria's Daughters | 
 enlarge | Author: Jerrold M. Packard
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  50 reviews
Sales Rank: 276201
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 370
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0312244967
Dewey Decimal Number: 941.0810922
EAN: 9780312244965
ASIN: 0312244967
Publication Date: December 23, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Incisive character studies of Queen Victoria's five daughters provide the framework for a lively survey of 19th-century European history. With three brothers securing the English throne, the princesses' royal duty was to further Britain's interests through marriage. Vivacious, intelligent Vicky (1840-1901), the spoiled eldest, had a happy union with Hohenzollern prince Frederick William, though her liberal views were unpopular in Prussia and vehemently resisted by her son Willy, who eventually became the emperor of Germany. Sensitive, altruistic Alice (1843-78); dutiful, dull Lenchen (1846-1923); and shy baby sister Beatrice (1857-1944) all married minor German royalty--though Beatrice, intended to be her domineering mother's spinster companion, didn't marry until she was 28 and continued to live in England at Victoria's beck and call. Centuries-old custom dictated that princesses must not wed subjects, but artistic, rebellious Louise (1848-1939) married a Scottish nobleman anyway and managed to lead a slightly less restricted life than her sisters, particularly as a strong supporter of charitable organizations for women. Jerrold Packard, a veteran historian-biographer with six previous books to his credit, spins an enjoyably old-fashioned narrative emphasizing personal relationships among Europe's royalty and their impact on political developments. --Wendy Smith
Product Description
Five women who shared one of the most extraordinary and privileged sisterhoods of all time...Vicky, Alice, Helena, Louise, and Beatrice were historically unique sisters, born to a sovereign who ruled over a quarter of the earth's people and who gave her name to an era: Queen Victoria. Two of these princesses would themselves produce children of immense consequence. All five would face the social restrictions and familial machinations borne by ninetheenth-century women of far less exalted class.Researched at the houses and palaces of its five subjects-- in London, Scotland, Berlin, Darmstadt, and Ottawa-- Victoria's Daughters examines a generation of royal women who were dominated by their mother, married off as much for political advantage as for love, and passed over entirely when their brother Bertie ascended to the throne. Packard, an experienced biographer whose last book chronicled Victoria's final days, provides valuable insights into their complex, oft-tragic lives as scions of Europe's most influential dynasty, and daughters of their own very troubled times.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 Royal Girls September 21, 2008
This story of the lives and deaths of Victoria & Alberts female children is written at a fast and furious pace, thus avoiding any hint of dullness. We are introduced to a world of splendour and wealth,but, also a world of human frailty. Victoria's mothering skills or lack of, are laid bare as are her relationships with each daughter.
For anybody with the most basic interest in Royalty and how they live their lives, this is a must read.
Excellent biography September 8, 2008
I am a history buff. There is a great deal of written material on Victoria, but not so much on her children even though the family was part of some major historical events. Mr. Packard wrote respectfully and made each daughter come alive for me. The photos were the icing on the cake.
Five Stars July 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A very good biography on Queen Victoria's five daughters Victoria, Alice, Helena, Louise , and Beatrice. All five growing up under a domineering and interfering mother who was also queen which none of them were ever allowed to forget. Victoria grew up the favorite daughter while Alice became the more humble and more interested in helping others especially nursing. The youngest three found it more difficult to try and have their own marriages after the death of their father the last on Beatrice in particular ended up fighting over a year in order to get her marriage because her mother didn't want to lose her helper. In the end Beatrice got her marriage but was still not allowed to leave her mother's side as her mother's messager Beatrice was often isolated from her other siblings. In fact upon her mother's death didn't quite know what to do with herself. I enjoyed reading about their childhood especially. An excellent read.
A fascinating read March 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Victoria's Daughters is so well-written and informative, I found it hard to put down. Jerrold Packard seems to strike just the right happy medium of having tons of information without going into too many unnecessary details. The book contains sometimes startling insights into the personalities and private lives of Vicky, Alice, Helena, Louise, and Beatrice that most biographers don't delve into. This is easily one of the best royal biographies I've ever read.
Who'd want to be Princess! March 6, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
For all the pomp, ceremony and privileges of belonging to a Royal family, the chores, the duties, the self discipline and living your life in the public eye would make, for me, an onerous task, for which no amount of money or fame could make up. This book is a fascinating look at Victoria's daughters and how their lives were virtually mapped out for them at birth. In that era, Royal Princesses were expected to marry according to rank and for whatever alliances could be brought to their country. I had known a fair bit about the lives of the more well known daughters, such as the Empress of Germany, poor creature, whose early widowhood caused the rise to the throne by her lunatic son, William, the Kaiser who started WW1, but loved finding out about the private lives of several of the younger girls and their marriages and families, some of which worked out quite well and others which were an utter disaster. The tragedy of the haemophilia which was passed through the generations by Victoria's daughters brought sorrow to many of the girls who lost sons in infancy or when they were only very young men, was a constant terror among the Royal families of Europe, into which these daughters married, as there was no way of forecasting or curing any potential carrier. It's a great look into life in Victorian times.
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