Beloved mama: Private correspondence of Queen Victoria and the German Crown Princess, 1878-1885

This fifth volume of letters between Queen Victoria and her eldest daughter, the German Crown Princess, covers the period mid-1878 to 1885, and once again Roger Fulford's skillful editing graphically reveals the characters and courage of these two gift women. the period covers years of personal sorrow for both correspondents and, internationally, the Zulu and Afghan Wars and the growing influence of Russia caused them grave concern. In England, Queen Victoria had to come to terms with a Liberal Government under Gladstone and, in Germany, the Crown Princess agonized as the affairs of Germany in general but Prussia in particular drifted into the clutches of Bismarck. The Crown Princess's political awareness gives us an important insight into affairs in Prussia, to the ill-treatment she often had to endure from the Prussian royal family and the indifference shown to her by the German people. The queen, on the other hand, writes with the authority which came naturally to one who had been longer on the throne than any other sovereign of the leading European powers. She had very clear ideas of what was right and wrong in international affairs and consequently she wrote on political matters with great confidence. Even the slow drift to the Left throughout her reign did not embitter her as did the sharper drift the Right embitter her daughter in Germany. Perhaps more often than in previous years the Crown Princess disagrees with something which her mother has said, to which the Queen replies with all the prowess of her nature, although her letters are always deeply affectionate. This mother and daughter correspondence is unique, presenting as it does a vivid picture of royal life in England and Germany and a frank commentary on international affairs toward the end of the 19th century.