"Early one morning, less than a month after her eighteenth birthday, Alexandrina Victoria is roused from bed with the news that her uncle William IV has died and she is now Queen of England. The men who run the country have doubts about whether this sheltered young woman, who stands less than five feet tall, can rule the greatest nation in the world. Surely she must rely on her mother and her venal advisor, Sir John Conroy, or her uncle, the Duke...

Gillian Gill offers a revolutionary portrait of a queen and her prince, revealing at once both an intimate but far-from-idyllic relationship that succeeded against all odds as the strong, feisty queen and the brilliant, fragile prince worked together to build a family based on support, trust, and fidelity.

The early life of Queen Victoria, from her ascension to the throne at the tender age of 18 to her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert.

Lucy Worsley re-stages the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, including the most important elements of the ceremony and the celebrations, scouring archival materials and Queen Victoria's diaries for the details. Lucy also tells the story of Victoria and Albert's courtship and engagement as she reveals how this one extraordinary event helped to invent modern marriage.