Princess Victoria Melita

by John van der Kiste and Van der Kiste

Book Overview

Princess Victoria Melita played a colourful role from her birth in 1876. Using previously unpublished correspondence from the Royal Archives and Astor papers, this is a portrait of the Princess, set against the imperial courts of the turn of the 20th century and inter-war Europe.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0750934697
• ISBN13: 9780750934695
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: History Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

2nd best

This was a book that needed to be written, and it needed more flesh to make it seem less skinny. I say that, because Princess (later Grand Duchess) Victoria Melita was far from a skinny person in terms of her character. She was strong and stubborn, the perfect (or diasterous) mix of both her parents, only without the looks of her elder sister, the Queen Marie of Roumania. What sets Princess Victoria Melita apart from her female cousins is, she has the strength of will equal to her ruling remale cousins (Queen Marie of Roumania, Empress Alexandra of Russia, Queen Ena of Spain, Queen Sophie of Greece, & too a lesser extent, Queen Maud of Norway) but she herself was never to rule. Her 1st husband she had the nerve & courage to divorce, she faced family censure and anger, then remarried and face the fury of her mighty cousins, Tsar Nicholas & Empress Alexandra (who were previously also her in-laws!!) by marrying her cousin against the wishes of the Tsar. She is 2nd best because her life was so colorful and dramatic, and yet, she never became a Queen/Empress herself. Needed more flesh, but otherwise, a good book to build up your library...like anyother Van der Kiste book.

Enjoyable, informative biography

Queen Victoria had some very interesting relatives! This is the biography of one of her namesake granddaughters; the second daughter of Victoria's son, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh-Coburg, and sister to Queen Marie of Roumania. It's a well written biography, and what a life she had. A very tragic life, really; Victoria Melita married twice (both marriages ended badly, though she stayed married to her second husband until her death); she lost her little daughter by the Grand Duke of Hesse (who was another grandson of Queen Victoria's), and the Russian Revolution swept away everything else... I enjoyed this biography very much. I thought Van der Kiste's writing was stronger here than in "Once a Grand Duchess".