Bertie: A Life of Edward VII

By: Jane Ridley

Narrated by: Carole Boyd

Length: 22 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Entertaining and different, this is an enjoyable study of a flawed yet characterful Prince of Wales seen through the eyes of the women in his life. Edward Vll, who gave his name to the Edwardian Age and died in 1911, was King of England for the final 10 years of his life. He was 59 when at last he came to the throne. Known as Bertie, the eldest son of Victoria and Albert, he was bullied by both his parents. Although Bertie was heir to the throne, Victoria refused to give him any proper responsibilities, as a result of which he spent his time eating, betting, and womanising.

Bertie's numerous mistresses included the society hostess Daisy Brook ('Babbling Brook'), Lillie Langtry and Alice Keppel. When Bertie finally became king, he did a good job, especially in foreign policy. This colourful book gives Bertie due credit, while painting a vivid portrait of the age in all its excess and eccentricity, hypocrisy and heartbreak.

©2012 Jane Ridley (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Excellent

This didn't flow too much like a biography. It flowed more nicely as a story, making it incredibly easy to listen to. All too often, biographers develop a tone of judgement or disapproval towards those they are portraying, but not in this case. The facts were presented as they were and no one absolution was made. Understanding Bertie's story gives a new image of how the 20th century developed. This is definitely worth the time it takes to listen.

Excellent reader!

Enjoyed this historical look at pre WW2 Europe. The reader did a wonderful job with accents and voices…she made the characters live!!

Bertie, the man, not the Monarch.

Took me a while to get into but when I did I was not disappointed. My Grand Mama was born during the reign of 'Good ole' Queen Victoria' and I was told as a child that her son Bertie ( he was NEVER referred to as Edward VII) as a "philandering, good for nothing womanizer" and his poor Father (Albert) must be doing 'wheelies' in his grave.
I think that was the opinion of many of the British public and that was past on from the Victorian generation.
I had seen many BBC adaptations of his life but had not been terribly interested having been more interested in his liaisons thinking that his marriage was not a love match and Mrs Kepple had his heart. I always though that his wife look 'pinched' as if she had been sucking the proverbial lemon. Oh boy! Talking about getting my facts wrong.
This brilliant volume which was beautifully performed REALLY tells us, the reader about a man who had an awful start. Talk about pressure from parents who make you feel less than worthless.
However although he only reigned for nine years he made them count. The people of the Empire loved him. His government respected him even though they did not always agree with him.
Yes he did like the ladies but he was a dreadful flirt BUT never forget that he only had room in his heart for one woman....his wife whom he loved from start to finish.
Victoria and Albert should have smiled down on their son who was not 'born' to be King but became the Monarch rather by defalt

good but loooong

If you love history, you'll love this. I don't love history so at times I found it boring. It was too long for me, but I'd say 80% of it was interesting and entertaining. If it wasn't for Carole Boyd I would've given up! She's excellent!

LOVED IT!

Any additional comments?

Great book! Lots of interesting information and well organized. The narration was the best I've ever heard!! Highly recommend this book!

Royal history and gossip

Had listened to queen Mary about a year ago and have found both greatly entertaining and well researched. And with just the right about of Royal scandal.

A charming pleasure-seeker who did the job his way

The reign of King Edward VII ("Bertie" to his family) was expected to be a disappointment by most. But he would have not have been shocked by this verdict, it was one he had been hearing for most of his life. A gambler and a philanderer, his bad behavior was not only whispered among the upper class, but also ended up as fodder for the unwashed masses when he ended up in court a few times. His most horrible crime was that he was not the carbon copy of his late father Prince Consort Albert, an offense that Queen Victoria could not forgive.

This is an excellent, thorough book on the life of future King Edward VII. It is also very even-handed on the good and bad aspects of the man himself.

In some ways, it's extraordinary that he did as well as he did. Prince Albert had high expectations for his children, especially Bertie, the heir. He devised a rigorous education for them. His oldest child, the Princess Royal Victoria, excelled while Bertie did not. Of course, this must have been the fault of poor strange Bertie, not the teachers and certainly not Prince Albert's program. In response to this failure, his education became more difficult, not less. and leaving him little free time, not that he would have been allowed to socialize with boys his own age if he did have free time.

As a young man away from home, his male friends introduced him to a "loose woman" who became his mistress. An aghast Prince Albert hurried to confront his son about his behavior. Prince Albert's health declined soon afterwards, leading to his death.

The fractious attitude of widowed Queen Victoria towards Bertie became a constant problem. Heartbroken by the loss of her beloved husband, Queen Victoria always blamed Bertie's dissolute behavior for Albert's death. Her punishment of him was of the most unproductive kind. For years, she forbade him any involvement in governmental affairs even after he expressed an interest, essentially making sure her heir was unprepared for his eventual responsibilities. It also gave him lots of free time to engage in the type of profligate lifestyle that his father had been determined to curtail. Bertie knew his mother was disappointed in his present behavior, but also knew that no penance he could do would have earned her forgiveness and healed the relationship. Queen Victoria even had Bertie and his new wife, beautiful, sweet Alexandra of Denmark spied on by the staff, to try to make sure both followed her directions. Not a perfect husband to Alexandra, he nonetheless backed her over the Queen during the war between her home country of Denmark and Germany (favored by the Queen) and the diplomatic problems that it caused.

Though not officially allowed in governmental affairs, Bertie stepped into the royal role that his reclusive mother refused to fill after Albert's death: the social role. Always impeccably dressed Bertie and Alexandra performed almost all of the public functions as representatives of the royal family. They were a glamorous pair, probably a big contrast to the stiff and stolid Victoria and Albert. Infidelity in an upper class man was still acceptable as long as there was discretion and a devoted wife at the side. Bertie's letters to mistresses are surprisingly mundane - no husband would read these lines and grab a pisol. His unwelcome court appearances were the result of getting dragged into the limelight by the indiscreet misdeeds of others in his circle. He was open-minded for his time: he welcomed successful Jewish financiers into his social circle and he did not discriminate among race (though he opposed women's rights).

His accession to the throne happened late in life. By then, he was aware of his own strengths and weaknesses. His interest in foreign relations, convivial manner and good relationships with the royalty of other contries (many of them relatives) were put to the good use on behalf of England. Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm's forceful, intrusive manner was annoying to the quiet Russian Tzar Nicholas II. King Edward VII told the Tzar that he had no wish to offer unsolicited advice like Wilhem. He had been a help to the young Tzar years earlier at the death of Tzar Alexander II (Alexandra's sister was the Tzarina). He and Alexandra comforted the grieving family, and performed all of the traditional Russian mourning rituals as members of the late Tzar's family (even kissing the lips of the rapidly decaying body), gaining the respect of the Russian public. King Edward VII's personality, his ability to put people at ease, and his shrewdness of the public impact of social behavior were his biggest assets and he made use of them in his reign.

Enjoyable and interesting history !

I enjoyed most of this audible book despite being very long. It made my commute enjoyable and gave me insight into King Edward the VII . Highly recommend this book.

“Edward the Caresser”

As a fan of royal scandal, I’ve been meaning to read this biography for some time. It was generally interesting if not a bit slow at times. I struggled to get through the last couple hours as the narrative turned more political. It’s still a worth while read into the king that is often overlooked in the wake of Queen Victoria’s long reign. I enjoyed the narrator very much—she did a great job of bringing the various foreign characters to life with accents, etc.

Underscores the absurdity of hereditary monarchy

Narrator changed volume constantly, from barely audible to loud. Annoying. I would not want to listen to her again.
The history of a bunch of ordinary, fallible people who led frivolous lives while influencing world affairs. Often dim-witted, occasionally insane, morally corrupt, intermarried in a very unhealthy way, they bumble around and serve mostly to make the lives of their 'subjects' worse. The author tries to make the story meaningful, and succeeds somewhat, but the book does make clear the dangers and tragedies of embracing royalty as a way to govern. Arguably, but for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert trying to put their children and grandchildren on every throne in Europe, many of the tragedies of the 20th century could have been avoided.