A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION : VICTORIA, ALBERT, AND THE DEATH THAT CHANGED THE BRITISH MONARCHY
by Helen Rappaport

Queen Victoria was married to Prince Albert for twenty years. They had nine children which is truly amazing since the the Queen didn't really like children and mostly ignored them. The Prince was never made a king even though he performed all of the functions. His title was Prince Consort. Albert was considered a foreigner (German) and was not well-liked. Ironically, Victoria had German relatives herself but that was never discussed. Their marriage was secure and happy. Victoria loved Albert with such fierce devotion and as the years went by, she depended on him much more to make decisions for the sovereignty while she was content to recede into the background.
In the late 1850s, Albert started to not feel so good having major stomach problems. He was stressed to the max with doing speeches, making policy decisions, attending public functions, writing tons of letters, going to meetings, etc. Victoria didn't think much of his complaints (he was sickly as a child) and shrugged it off. In fact, she was pretty much in denial the four years that he was ill. When Albert finally died in December 1861, Victoria was plunged into such grief that she never recovered from it and wore black until the end of her reign. Prince Albert was criticized as he lived, but in death the people realized what he had done for them and the country and he finally was recognized as the true ruler of Britain.
Helen Rappaport certainly knows how to write a superb book. Her previous work The Last Days of the Romanovs was just as good (reviewed in this blog). Rappaport used unpublished sources such as letters, diaries, and memoirs, plus archival materials to define the relationship between Victoria and Albert, his death, the invisibility of the Queen, the fumbling inefficiencies of the four Royal doctors, the interaction of the people around Victoria who tried to guide her but were afraid of stepping on her toes.
Victoria had three obsessions: Albert, mourning his death and afterwards for the next forty years, and the building of structures and sculptures that commemorated his role in her life.
Not to be missed.
Very highly recommended.