Prince Leopold: The Untold Story of Queen Victoria's Youngest Son | 
 enlarge | Author: Charlotte Zeepvat
Publisher: The History Press
Category: Book
Buy New: $51.14
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Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 1011852
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 0750913088
Dewey Decimal Number: 941.081092
EAN: 9780750913089
ASIN: 0750913088
Publication Date: January 1, 1998
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Product Description
Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (1853-84), is acknowledged to have been the most intelligent and probably the most interesting of Queen Victoria's four sons. He was the youngest and a strong-willed attractive character, with an immense thirst for life. He was also, however, the first haemophilia sufferer in the royal family and endured continual ill health; as if haemophilia was not enough, he was also epileptic. In this biography, Charlotte Zeepvat has drawn on sources to reveal a compelling human story which also touches on the wider worlds of late 19th-century Oxford and of literature, art and politics in the Victorian period. In particular, it examines the question of haemophilia and the royal family. There are many questions to answer, such as when did the Queen and Prince Albert realize their youngest son was ill and how much did they understand of his illness? Some of Leopold's early attacks were described as "rheumatism" - was this an attempt to keep the truth concealed or a genuine misunderstanding? The book also presents a full and balanced picture of Leopold's relationship with his mother. Letters already published provide snapshots of individual quarrels between mother and son but no one has yet considered the relationship as a whole. Finally it eamines Leopold's life at Oxford, the varied and interesting friendships he developed there (with, among others, Charles Dodgson - "Lewis Carroll" - John Ruskin and Oscar Wilde), his political views and the importance of his work as unofficial secretary to the Queen.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Informative, historically rich, and well-researched December 11, 2006
With this book, the author takes a welcome look at the life of Prince Leopold, fourth and youngest son of Queen Victoria. A fascinating prince, Leopold is one royal that history has more or less forgotten save his sad position as the first known royal hemophiliac. The earnest Leopold was highly intelligent (later Oxford educated), and desperate to live some semblance of a normal life, despite his illnesses (besides his hemophilia, Leopold was also likely a mild epileptic, both of which were not well-known outside of his family). His precarious health also made his already overbearing mother keep an even shorter leash on her youngest son, and his battles for a life separate from her were hard-won.
Zeepvat is by profession a historian, and this book was definitely well-researched. The author includes much correspondence amongst a family of prolific letter-writers, and gives her audience an almost daily account of Leopold's activities and whereabouts. This approach also gives a well-rounded portrait of Leopold's personality, his thoughts on his illnesses, his struggles for independence, and his familial relationships. Aside from his dealings with Queen Victoria, Zeepvat also highlights Leopold's very close relationship with Alice, Grand Duchess of the small German principality of Hesse, and likewise her husband Louis. Zeepvat likewise describes Leopold's Oxford days well, along with the long-lasting friends he made there (Alice Liddell of Alice in Wonderland fame among them) and the happy memories he kept.
The author also offers a theory on Leopold's hemophilia coming from Victoria's mother's family. Though the disease is passed to sons by their mothers, hemophilia was previously unknown on Victoria's maternal side. Hypotheses since Victoria's time have offered suggesting that Victoria's genes were perhaps mutated. Zeepvat points out what little was known about hemophilia even in Leopold's time, and further points out several young boys of Victoria's maternal family who died of what was thought to be usual childhood maladies of the times.
The book is well-written in the fact that it is so rich in historical fact; however, Zeepvat's profession as a historian is evident, as the narrative is not particularly engaging. Also absent is much information on Leopold's wife, Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Though their marriage was brief (it lasted just short of two years, ending in Leopold's sudden death), Leopold had wanted to marry very badly as part of living a more ordinary life. He and Helena had a very happy relationship, unlike many arranged royal unions of the time, and had two children, a rare feat for a 19th century hemophiliac.
Nonetheless, Zeepvat has provided a solid effort with this work on Leopold, giving her audience a good picture Leopold's life, one that was all too short and is remembered far too little.
 A decent biography. July 3, 2006
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a decent biography on Prince Leopold, although the author's theories on how he contracted hemophilia through his mother Queen Victoria was a little over my head, and the author could have made her explanation a bit more clearer. Also, I do wish the author would have made a family tree of Prince Leopold's descendents.
Victoria's Little Known Youngest Son December 21, 2002
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is the first book, of the many I have read on Queen Victoria and/or her children, that focuses on Prince Leopold. Even reading the edited letters between Victoria and her daughter Vicky had very little mention of this child. The book was informative and I learned a great deal regarding her true obsessive and sometimes vicious behavior to Leopold, as a child and as a grown man. I highly recommend it.
 Stinks to High Heavens! June 24, 2002
9 out of 16 found this review helpful
I'd rate this less than zero, if the rating system allowed me to. This is completely lousy book and a huge waste of money! Many facts are wrong, which is a disgrace for someone of Ms. Zeepvat's experience. Her writing is flat and uninspiring and almost anything of interest is obtained from other books about the subject. Personally I'm sick of all these royal books that are basically re-packaged versions of previous books.
 Great Bio of a little known royal April 26, 2002
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
In the many books about Queen Victoria's family that I have read, Leopold seems to be known only for his haemophilia. He seems to have been the most popular member within the royal family, although not with his mother, who seemed to see him as a convenient drone. She was notorious for trying to keep her children on a leash long into adulthood. Leopold appears to have overcome these obstacles. In his short life, he accomplished a great deal, he was the first of the royal family to attend Oxford, he was on the boards of a great many charities, he managed to travel, and he worked as an unofficial secretary to his mother. This is a well written and researched book. The author provides information on other more obscure members of Queen Victoria's family, such as her half sister Feodora and her family. The family tree of the female side of Victoria's family is the most extensive and interesting I have seen, although it does not solve the question of where the haemophilia in the family came from.
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