Serving Victoria

Kate Hubbard's book looks at Queen Victoria through the people who worked closest to her. Drawing on letters and diaries kept by six members of her household, it follows a governess to the royal children, a maid of honour, a chaplain and a personal physician as they navigate daily routines at court.

Their accounts show a queen quite unlike the rigid figure of her portraits. She laughs suddenly, cries often, and avoids direct conflict, yet still tries to direct the lives of those around her. The writers also record the deep and crippling grief she felt after Prince Albert died, and the sorrow she showed when misfortune struck members of her staff.

The book sets this intimate view against the formality, propriety and conservative manners now linked with Victoria's reign. It moves between Windsor, Osborne and Balmoral, describing the social worries, small crises and unexpected dramas of those who served her. The material comes from papers that had never been published before.