Becoming Queen
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  • Published: 1 May 2009
  • ISBN: 9780099451822
  • Imprint: Arrow
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 432
  • RRP: $32.99
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Becoming Queen

Formats & editions
EBook
30 Apr 2013
Audiobook
27 Jan 2011
Paperback
1 May 2009
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The astonishing story of Queen Victoria's passionate youth, her bitter struggle with her mother - and how her life was shaped by the life of her forgotten cousin, Princess Charlotte, the Queen who never was.

Our perception of Victoria the Queen is coloured by portraits of her older, widowed self - her dour expression embodying the repressive morality propagated in her time. But Becoming Queen reveals an energetic and vibrant woman, determined to battle for power. It also documents the Byzantine machinations behind Victoria's quest to occupy the throne, and shows how her struggles did not end when finally the crown was placed on her head.

Laying bare the passions that swirled around the throne in the eighteenth century, Becoming Queen is an absorbingly dramatic tale of secrets, sexual repression and endless conflict. After her lauded biography of Emma Hamilton, England's Mistress, Kate Williams has produced a most original and intimate portrait of Great Britain's longest reigning monarch.
  • Published: 1 May 2009
  • ISBN: 9780099451822
  • Imprint: Arrow
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 432
  • RRP: $32.99
Categories:
Share…

About the author

Kate Williams

Kate Williams is an author, social historian and broadcaster. She fell in love with history whilst studying for her BA and DPhil at the University of Oxford and has MAs from Queen Mary and Royal Holloway. She is a Professor of History and appears regularly on television – she recently presented The Stuarts, is the in-house historian and royal expert for CNN, and has appeared on programmes from The Great British Bake Off to election coverage and comedy panel shows. She has written five historical biographies and a series of historical novels, and loves nothing more than a spending her time in dusty archives.

Also by Kate Williams

Rival Queens
Josephine
The Pleasures of Men
England's Mistress
See all

Praise for Becoming Queen

Passionate, exuberant and entertaining, a treasure trove of royalty, intrigue and politics ... vividly and sensitively brings to life the girl who would become Queen

Simon Sebag Montefiore

Becoming Queen showcases an outstanding talent from whom we can expect much more

Matthew d'Ancona, Spectator

Examining the death of Princess Charlotte, and Victoria's own struggle for power, this is a bracing recreation

Scotland on Sunday

The amazing untold story of Victoria before she was Queen ... Kate Williams reveals a passionate young woman beloved of her future subjects but at war with her family

Sunday Telegraph

This fresh and vivid portrayal of the young Queen Victoria is deserving of the highest praise. I cannot recommend it highly enough

Alison Weir, author of The Lady Elizabeth

History as exciting and tempestuous as you are ever likely to find

Country Life

A dashing and vivid account of Charlotte and Victoria's lives

Daily Telegraph

Detailed and sympathetic

Independent

An illuminating biography

Tatler