Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #297524 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 344 pages

VOGUE
"the fascinating and somewhat asphyxiating relationship between the Queen and her daughter Beatrice."

Review
"Matthew Dennison has written Beatrice's biography as though it was a novel, which must be the best way to treat a life which was so much more a matter of feeling than incident. This is an engaglingly sympathetic, balanced and intelligent biography which trimphantly succeeds in bringing to live the princess who, ever since the age of four, has been in the shadow of her mother." (JANE RIDLEY THE SPECTATOR )

"An engrossing biography of Queen Victoria's youngest daughter that focuses on her relationship with her wilful mother. Beautifully written." (TATLER )

"Dennison emerges as a natural storyteller, succeeding in the difficult task of turning a relatively uneventful, acquiescent life into a hugely satisfying biography. The Last Princess is emotionally sympathetic and beautifully written, its detail meticulous... a confident and disarmingly impressive debut" (KATE COLQUHOUN THE DAILY TELEGRAPH )

'This is an old fashioned biography about an old-fashioned subject. At a time when non-fiction writers are desperately thinking up fancy new ways to tell stories, theres something rather comforting about a narrative that has no embarassment in starting at the beginning.' (KATHRYN HUGHES THE GUARDIAN )

"It is an enthralling story, not just of a mother-daughter relationship but that of a monarch and her favourite subject." (MAJESTY MAGAZINE - BOOK OF THE MONTH )

"the fascinating and somewhat asphyxiating relationship between the Queen and her daughter Beatrice." (VOGUE )

Kathryn Hughes in THE GUARDIAN: 'This is an old fashioned biography about an old-fashioned subject. At a time when non-fiction writers are desperately thinking up fancy new ways to tell stories, there's something rather comforting about a narrative that has no embarassment in starting at the beginning.' JANE RIDLEY THE SPECTATOR: "Matthew Dennison has written Beatrice's biography as though it was a novel, which must be the best way to treat a life which was so much more a matter of feeling.' (MIRANDA SEYMOUR SUNDAY TIMES )

"Matthew Dennison has researched assiduously in the Royal Archives at Windsor. He writes well." (MARK BOSTRIDGE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )

'Dennison tells a sorry, complex story with tact and sympathy' (THE TIMES )

"Matthew Dennison paints a sympathetic portrait of a rather lonely child who eventually found love and fought for the right to marry the man she loved while never leaving her mother." (BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE )

"A colourful peephole into Victorian times, as well as the peculiar ways of royalty." (THE HERALD )

"leaves no psychological stone unturned" (MAIL ON SUNDAY )

'Dennison's biography is an engrossing tale of a mother and daughter who were also a queen and her subject.' (THE GOOD BOOK GUIDE )

MARK BOSTRIDGE, INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
"Matthew Dennison has researched assiduously in the Royal Archives at Windsor. He writes well."

Customer Reviews

In the shadow of the Queen - the life of the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria rediscovered
HRH The Princess Beatrice was the youngest daughter and child of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort and the last of their children of die. She was married to Prince Henry of Battenberg and mother of four children: one of them Ena became Queen of Spain (the present Spanish King's grandmother). Her real historical significance however lies in the editing of Queen Victoria's journal.

Beatrice spends most of her life in the shadow of the Queen, during the Queen's lifetime but as well after her death. More than any other of the Queen's children Beatrice was absolutely dominated by her mother. This biography is therefore as well a biography on Queen Victoria and a mother-daughter relationship. Matthew Dennison delivers quite a psychological portrait of Beatrice - the effects on her by her mother's domineering and quite selfish behaviour. Therefore, it might be just that why during the book not very much emerges about Princess Beatrice herself. To a certain extend she remains a personality very difficult to grab and I suppose that is what she exactly was. There is an element of pity one feels for her. Matthew Dennison is not abstaining from criticism, especially as the does not have been a very good mother, putting her mother always first, even before her own children. The book is anyway very weak on the relationship of The Princess with her children. Her eldest son Drino Lord Carisbrooke who was pompous and effeminate or as diarist James Lees-Milne put it "really and old queen" and of whom the PoW said in 1919 "I hear that Irene Carisbrooke is great with child and Drino has retired to bed for the duration". Hardly any words on granddaughter Iris, who married for the first time in 1941 and therefore during Princess Beatrice`s lifetime.

All in all, it is lovely that after nearly 50 years a new biography of the Princess has been published and her relationship with the Queen thoroughly exposed and examined. Rightly Dennison sums up: that she was an essential component in the smooth-running of Victoria's queenship. I enjoyed this book very much as it complemented my studies of the rule and personality of Queen Victoria perfectly. For all who are interested in this period it will add much to the understanding of Queen Victoria. All in all: a book to be recommended.

enjoyable
I enjoyed reading this book very much, though I don't think I learned much that was new about the Princess. Like most biographies of Queen Victoria's children, the bulk of the book was about the princess's life when her mother was alive. I wanted to know much, much more about the period after the Queen's death. Certain areas , of course, are touched on, for example the death of the Prince Maurice in action in 1914, and also of the marriage of the Princess Ena to the king of Spain, but I would have liked more detail about the final years. Maybe there's no documentation to hand?? I would recommend this book though - one of the better royal books of recent years.

Princess Beatrice
I really enjoyed this book. Beatrice, although the youngest and, to some contemporary views, of the least dynastic importance, certainly played the most important role to the Queen of all her children.

The book is easy to read yet does not gloss over the facts. It is honest and frank, although I would have liked to know more about the sometimes strained relationship she shared with her sister Louise. What I particularly enjoy about biographies about Queen Victoria's children is that it opens up a whole new facet of her character, as it is true to say that her relationship with each one was so remarkably different. Beatrice's biography gives excellent examples of the best and the worst of Victoria's personality traits. It also gives excellent background information for anyone wishing to read further about Beatrice's daughter Victoria-Eugenie, who became Queen of Spain.

In short I thoroughly recommend this book. Enjoy!