Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers

Book excerpt: A riveting portrait of Queen Victoria and the ten prime ministers who headed British government during her sixty-three-year reign It is generally accepted that Queen Victoria reigned but did not rule. This couldn’t be more wrong. A passionate and opinionated leader, Victoria was born to govern with no room for doubt about her historic destiny or the might of the empire that was built in her name. When it came to her involvement in state affairs, Victoria herself acknowledged that she had held strong “likes and dislikes” for the various prime ministers who served throughout her political evolution from headstrong teenager to seasoned leader. Anne Somerset’s Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers charts the feuds and affectionate interactions Victoria had with her ten premiers in often hilarious detail, from her adoration of Benjamin Disraeli, her favorite prime minister who filled her life with “poetry, romance, and chivalry,” to her detestation for William Gladstone, a man she deemed a “dangerous old fanatic.” Drawing extensively on unpublished sources such as material from the Royal Archives and never-before-seen prime ministerial papers, Somerset casts a fresh and highly illuminating perspective not just on Victoria, but on the exceptional politicians who served her in a time of massive global change.