Queen Victoria's Granddaughters: 1860-1918

Publisher's Summary

On 6 July 1868, when told of the birth of her seventh granddaughter, Queen Victoria remarked that the news was "a very uninteresting thing for it seems to me to go on like the rabbits in Windsor Park". Her apathy was understandable - this was her 14th grandchild, and, though she had given birth to nine children, she had never been fond of babies, viewing them as "frog-like and rather disgusting...particularly when undressed".

The early years of her marriage had, she claimed, been ruined by frequent pregnancies, and large families were unnecessary for wealthy people since the children would grow up with nothing worthwhile to do. Nevertheless, her initial reaction to the birth of Princess Victoria of Wales belied the genuine concern that Queen Victoria felt for each of her 22 granddaughters. "As a rule," she wrote, "I like girls best," and she devoted a great deal of time to their well-being and happiness, showering them with affection she had seldom shown her own children.

By 1914, through a series of dynastic marriages, the queen's granddaughters included the empress of Russia; the queens of Spain, Greece, and Norway' and the crown princesses of Rumania and Sweden. As their brothers and cousins occupied the thrones of Germany, Britain, and Denmark, Prince Albert's dream of a peaceful Europe created through bonds of kinship seemed a real possibility. Yet in little more than a decade after Queen Victoria's death, the prince consort's dream would lie shattered in the carnage of the First World War. Royal cousins and even siblings would find themselves on opposing sides; two of them would die horrifically at the hands of revolutionaries, and several others would be ousted from their thrones. They had lived through the halcyon days of the European monarchies, but their lives, like the lives of millions of their people, would be changed forever by the catastrophe.

©2013 Christina Croft (P)2017 Christina Croft

Loved every minute!

Well written and researched with helpful summaries before each chapter. Liked it so much that I bought the hard copy as well for reference!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Too wordy,Jumps around in family&between decades

I couldn't follow the jumps between family members and within each family. This book was not for me and I'm returning it.
I know it's a very large family, but every good story has a Beginning, a Middle, and an Ending. I just cannot get my teeth into it and follow it. It's like picking up War and Peace and just start reading any random page you happen to open...expecting to understand the literature's 'flow' from that.

Tinny

The narrators voice is real tinny on this recording but the history is truly fascinating and extremely sad.

Great book, Bad production

Queen Victoria's Granddaughters is a well written book and throughly enjoyed it. However, the production is horrible. Often, the actress actress sounded as if she was speaking through an aluminum can. One part of the story Miss Edward's was possibly battling a cold. While, the voice work is distracting it does not take away from the story. If you're a Queen Victoria enthusiasts like myself there is no doubt you will enjoy the story of a time when her granddaughters sat on thrones all over Europe.

Really intriguing

I found this book to be a captivating look in to this time period and in to the varied lives of these women.

The pivotal role in which Queen Victoria and her family played across the European royal houses and political climates of the time lead to many fascinating and dramatic stories, some times comic but often very traumatic, as seen through the eyes of her Granddaughters.

Great writing by the author and excellent read by the Narrator kept me gripped throughout, I loved it!

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

A whole lot of Princesses

If you are a royal history lover this is a book for you. You'll learn more about minor European royalty and family ties. The granddaughter who became a saint, 2 who supposedly married gay men, and the dedication to hospital works and causes. But be warned the name listing of family members at the start of each chapter is about irritating at first, but you soon find you need the lists to keep up with whose who.
An interesting and engaging listen.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Lovely listen

Really interesting account of the trials and tribulations of Queen Victoria's Granddaughters. Fascinating insights and stories too.

Lovely read by the narrator too, really helped to make the subject come alive. Spot on with the variety of strange pronunciations and names.

Would highly recommend.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Excellent content, bizarre narration

Clear and well written. The repetition of relevant genealogy at the beginning of each chapter was really helpful.
The only downside was the robotic style of the narration with some strange emphasis in some sentences and bizarre pronunciation of some words. Not enough to put me off listening, but not a narration I’d go out of my way to hear again.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Informative book

Love this book, the story of the lives of Victoria's granddaughters (unfortunately the same book on her grandsons is not yet available as an Audible book). Good narration too, an easy listen.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A moving story

Too complex a list of characters and this leads to a superficial analysis of their lives. Stylistically quite good.
However, the narration spoiled it for me. Several words were mispronounced - dowager, Ypres, for example - and the voice was monotonous and rather plaintive.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Fantastic content - annoying reader

This is a really great book for anybody interested in early 20th century European monarchy. It really is detailed and pretty easy to follow (they repeat who is who at the beginning of each chapter, which is lovely). But the person reading it doesn’t know how to pronounce quite a few fairly important words, which is a jarring irritation throughout.

Victoria's Granddaughters

What did you like best about Queen Victoria's Granddaughters: 1860-1918? What did you like least?

Interesting story - how can it not be? Let down by the dreadful narration.

Would you be willing to try another one of Fleur Edwards’s performances?

No. She seemed to manage the tough Prussian and German names really well and then spent a period of times pronouncing 'Cannes' as 'Cans'. It just threw me completely. And she also seemed to need to take breathy pauses in the wrong places. Not impressed at all. Great shame.

Any additional comments?

This will never fail to be interesting as a history - the way that Victoria knitted Europe together with her breeding programme, but I really feel it was let down by the narrator, and very badly so. Such a shame.

4 of 8 people found this review helpful