Book Review: "Queen Victoria" by Lucy Worsley (Pt. 6)

As we make our way towards the end of Victoria's reign, there are a number of stories about other people. We've had the story of Bertie and Alix, the story of Beatrice and Henry, we've also had stories about Albert, Benjamin Disraeli, Victoria's mother and father and more. Chapter 22 though is about a young Indian muslim named Abdul Karim who became Queen Victoria's closest friend. She needed to be helped more about the place and that is what he was for. After holding a colonial exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall, Abdul didn't return to India but stayed behind in England to help out. He climbed to become one of the most respected gentlemen (at least by the queen) in England. All of the other gentlemen around the queen were obviously disliking of him as were Victoria's children. However, he seems to have been completely devoted to her comfort and safety.

Lucy Worsley writes this chapter as Victoria basically choosing her own attendants in a manner that she would not have done had there been more people around. It is somewhat nice that in the final years of her life she definitely had some sort of agency, but whether or not she recognised that many of her gentlemen did not approve of this man is still something to be thought about. However, I do think that there was probably some monetary advantage he was taking of his time in the Victorian court if it was not advantage of position (which there is little evidence for).

As we cover the Queen's diamond jubilee there is an air of unease. Lucy Worsley explains that though Bertie had organised some of it, his head was elsewhere. She explains that Alix was doing her best to look pretty and basically placating the public. The queen looked rather depressed (you can see this from the photographs) and not very queenly at all. The person missing was the grandson who would become Kaiser Wilhelm and though the queen didn't like him all that much because he was german, there was s certain sentimentality she still felt for him. This was definitely a day of oddities where the whole public affair was focused on celebration but of course, Victoria was focused on her own mortality. She knew that this was her 'swan song' as it were and basically wanted to go out as quietly as possible. For a woman who had lived her kind of life, it seemed almost fitting but still a bit distant and sad.

On her deathbed, Victoria saw the changes in her family. There was still a bit of in-fighting regarding the german grandchild who wished to be at her side when she died, and the fact that Bertie had allowed Abdul Karim to come and say goodbye. But the queen seemed to decline in a way that was purposefully hidden from public view and of course, as we are to move into the next reign - it is a short one, we see her ghost linger over the new modern age. By now, several people close to Victoria had already passed away and she had several grandchildren all over Europe. She was older, getting bored of receiving news another grandchild had been born and people could sense her disinterest with life. Lucy Worsley writes this as not a woman who did not care anymore but a woman who had outlived so many of her closest confidantes that she had simply run out of steam.

By now, Albert had been dead for several decades, her son had died from drinking himself to death after the end of his marriage and suicide of his son, and atop of this there were new fights springing up around Europe. Victoria seemed to want to peacefully retire to her grave after a long, long reign of constant battles. Lucy Worsley reminds us of the fact that when Queen Victoria was told she was to be queen, she broke down and cried.

This book has been a fantastic insight into the life and times of Queen Victoria. It focuses not on the age but on an episodic view of the queen's life. I am glad to say that I have now finished the three big works of Lucy Worsley: Jane Austen at Home, Agatha Christie and now Queen Victoria. Each of them deserve a 5/5 rating and if you have the time to plough through this intense and vivid biographies, I would highly recommend them. They are all so incredible.