Queen Victoria and her Prime Ministers: a Personal History
Anne Somerset
William Collins, £30, 630 pages
For two-thirds of the last two centuries the United Kingdom had a female head of State. The general perception would be that the nation was greatly blessed during those long reigns. With Elizabeth II, that is indisputable. This hefty volume may give cause for a reassessment in relation to the Queen-Empress, Victoria.
It will surprise many how politically active Victoria actually was. It is important, however, not to read the events of the early 19th century through a 21st-century lens. Just three years before her accession, her uncle, William IV, had dismissed a Whig ministry commanding a majority in the House of Commons – the last time a monarch exercised this power. Although contentious, few disputed the King’s right to do so. Even at the time of her death, Britain was still far from being a fully representative democracy. Victoria was firmly of the opinion that it should not become one.
