1824—Fidi’s German governess, Louise Lehzen, becomes governess to Victoria
1828—In February, Fidi marries Ernst Hohenlohe-Langenburg and moves to Germany
1830—King George IV dies; William, duke of Clarence, succeeds; Victoria is next in line of succession
1831—Victoria’s first public appearance at court
1832—Victoria, age 13, begins keeping a journal
1833—Victoria, age 14, begins royal progresses arranged by John Conroy
1834—Fidi’s first visit in 6 years; Lady Flora Hastings becomes Victoria’s chaperone
1835—Victoria, age 16, confirmed in Church of England; suffers severe illness
1836—visit from German cousins Ernest and Albert, for Victoria’s 17th birthday
1837—tension with mother and John Conroy increases; Victoria turns 18 and comes of age; on June 20, King William IV dies, and Victoria becomes queen; meets with Lord Melbourne, prime minister; moves to Buckingham Palace; appoints her attendants
1838—On June 28, Victoria crowned queen
1839—Victoria’s early reign plagued with crises; in October, Ernest and Albert visit; Victoria in love, decides to marry Albert
1840—On February 10, Victoria and Albert marry; on November 21, their first daughter, Victoria, is born
1841—On November 9, their first son, Edward Albert, is born
1842—In September, Victoria’s longtime friend, Baroness Lehzen, returns to Germany
1861—On December 14, Prince Albert dies at age 42
1901—On January 22, Queen Victoria dies at age 81
carolyn meyer is the celebrated author of more than fifty books for young people. Her many award-winning novels include Mary, Bloody Mary—an ABA Pick of the Lists, an NCSS-CBC Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults—and Marie, Dancing, a Book Sense Pick. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and you can visit her online at ReadCarolyn.com.
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A Paula Wiseman Book
Simon & Schuster • New York
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ALSO BY CAROLYN MEYER
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Mary, Bloody Mary
Patience, Princess Catherine
Duchessina: A Novel of Catherine de’ Medici
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Beware, Princess Elizabeth
Where the Broken Heart Still Beats: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker
The Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie-Antoinette
The Wild Queen: The Days and Nights of Mary, Queen of Scots
White Lilacs
Jubilee Journey
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The True Adventures of Charley Darwin
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hibbert, Christopher. Daily Life in Victorian England. New York: American Heritage Publishing Company, 1975.
———. Queen Victoria: A Personal History. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2001.
Hudson, Katherine. A Royal Conflict: Sir John Conroy and the Young Victoria. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1994.
Mitchell, Sally. Daily Life in Victorian England. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1996.
Plowden, Alison. The Young Victoria. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1981.
Strachey, Lytton. Queen Victoria. London: Chatto & Windus, 1921.
Vallone, Lynne. Becoming Victoria. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2001.
Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819–1901. The girlhood of Queen Victoria; a selection from Her Majesty’s diaries between the years 1832 and 1840, vol i. & vol ii, edited by Viscount Reginald Esher. New York, Longmans, Green & Co.; London, J. Murray, 1912.
INTERESTING WEBSITES TO VISIT
For more about England during Victoria’s teenage years:
www.pbs.org/empires/victoria/history/index.html
For more about fashion in Victoria’s time:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1830s_in_fashion
For more about food in Victoria’s time:
www.victoriana.com/victorianfood/
For more about Victoria’s coronation, ladies-in-waiting, and other royal attendants, visit Yvonne’s Royalty Home Page:
users.uniserve.com/~canyon/index.htm
For more about Victoria’s wedding:
www.queenvictoria.victoriana.com/RoyalWeddings/Queen-Victoria-Wedding.html
To read Lytton Strachey’s 1921 biography of Queen Victoria online:
womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/ls/bl_lsqv_02.htm
To find out more about important people in Victoria’s life, look them up on Wikipedia:
Her mother: see Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Her half brother, Charles: see Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen
Her sister, Feodore (Fidi): see Princess Feodora of Leiningen
Her uncle, Leopold: see Leopold I of Belgium
Her prime minister, Lord Melbourne: see William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
Melbourne’s wife: see Lady Caroline Lamb
Her mistress of the robes: see Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland
Her chaperone: see Lady Flora Hastings
Her dearest Daisy: see Louise Lehzen
And to find out more about Sir John Conroy, read this article:
www.turtlebunbury.com/history/history_heroes/hist_hero_conroy.html
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Carolyn Meyer
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Book design by Laurent Linn
The text for this book is set in Minion Pro.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Meyer, Carolyn.
Victoria rebels / Carolyn Meyer. —1st ed.
p. cm.
“A Paula Wiseman Book.”
Summary: Through diary entries, reveals the life of Britain’s strong-willed and short-tempered Queen Victoria from the age of eight through her twenty-fourth birthday, up to her third wedding anniversary with her beloved Albert in 1843.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4169-8729-1 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-4424-2246-9 (eBook)
1. Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819–1901—Childhood and youth—Juvenile fiction. 2. Great Britain—History—1800–1837—Juvenile fiction. 3. Great Britain—History—Victoria, 1837–1901—Juvenile fiction. [1. Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819–1901—Childhood and youth—Fiction. 2. Great Britain—History—1800–1837—Fiction. 3. Great Britain—History—Victoria, 1837–1901—Fiction. 4. Kings, queens, rulers, etc.—Fiction. 5. Courts and courtiers—Fiction. 6. Albert, Prince Consort, consort of Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819–1861—Fiction. 7. Diaries—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.M5685Vic 2013
[Fic]—dc23
2012
023255
Author’s Note: Queen Victoria’s diaries have provided much of the inspiration for this book. Victoria frequently used capitalization and underlining in her diary for emphasis, and I have kept that style throughout the text. These passages are fictional representations and are not meant to be direct quotes of Victoria’s.
Victoria Confesses (9781442422469) Page 21