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Queen Victoria's Mysterious Daughter : a Biography of Princess Louise / Lucinda Hawksley.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, N.Y. : Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, 2015Edition: First U.S. editionDescription: x, 374 pages : illustrations ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781250059321
  • 1250059321
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Introduction : how it all began -- Prologue : a celebrity comes to Liverpool -- Born in the year of revolution -- A royal education -- In the shadow of her siblings -- An Annus Horribilis -- The first sculpture -- What really happened with Walter Stirling? -- The Locock family secret -- An art student at last -- Falling in love with the Cult of Beauty -- The people's princess -- A controversial betrothal -- "The most popular act of my reign" -- A battle for independence -- Politics and aestheticism -- The first year in Canada -- A marriage lived in different continents -- Escaping the Fenians in Bermuda -- Return to London, and tragedy -- Keeping up appearances -- Scandal amongst the Campbells -- Celebrating the Golden Jubilee -- The princess and the sculptor -- Trying to dull the pain -- Scandal in the royal household -- A new century and the end of an era -- The death of Henry Locock -- The king, the kaiser and the duke -- Widowhood and war -- The Grande Dame of Kensington -- "This remarkable lady" -- One last rebellious command -- Epilogue.
Summary: "In Queen Victoria's Mysterious Daughter, Lucinda Hawksley delves into artistic and royal secrets to discover the life of Princess Louise, whose true story has either been lost in history or has been deliberately kept secret. The sixth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had a difficult childhood and troubled adolescence, a world away from the usual perception of the life of a privileged princess. For such a prominent public figure, much of her life story has been hidden away inside impenetrable walls. What was so scandalous about this princess that her files in the Royal Archives and at her husband's home, Inveraray Castle in Scotland, still need to be locked away? Can we believe, as many do, that Louise in fact gave birth secretly to an illegitimate royal child? An indomitable woman, Louise lived her life to the full, in a manner that few 21st-century readers would believe possible for a 19th-century woman. She lived through wars and revolutions. As well as being a prominent member of the Aesthetic art world, Princess Louise was a passionate campaigner for women's rights, health reform and education for all. She travelled widely, holidaying in Europe, Africa and North America, and she lived in Canada for five years as the wife of the Governor General. Here is our best evidence yet that Queen Victoria's many secrets have yet to be fully disclosed"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Biography Louise H395 Available 33111008349041
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The secrets of Queen Victoria's sixth child, Princess Louise, may be destined to remain hidden forever. What was so dangerous about this artistic, tempestuous royal that her life has been documented more by rumor and gossip than hard facts? When Lucinda Hawksley started to investigate, often thwarted by inexplicable secrecy, she discovered a fascinating woman, modern before her time, whose story has been shielded for years from public view.

Louise was a sculptor and painter, friend to the Pre-Raphaelites and a keen member of the Aesthetic movement. The most feisty of the Victorian princesses, she kicked against her mother's controlling nature and remained fiercely loyal to her brothers-especially the sickly Leopold and the much-maligned Bertie. She sought out other unconventional women, including Josephine Butler and George Eliot, and campaigned for education and health reform and for the rights of women. She battled with her indomitable mother for permission to practice the "masculine" art of sculpture and go to art college-and in doing so became the first British princess to attend a public school.

The rumors of Louise's colorful love life persist even today, with hints of love affairs dating as far back as her teenage years, and notable scandals included entanglements with her sculpting tutor Joseph Edgar Boehm and possibly even her sister Princess Beatrice's handsome husband, Liko. True to rebellious form, she refused all royal suitors and became the first member of the royal family, since the sixteenth century, to marry a commoner. She moved with him to Canada when he was appointed Governor-General.

Spirited and lively, Queen Victoria's Mysterious Daughter is richly packed with arguments, intrigues, scandals, and secrets, and is a vivid portrait of a princess desperate to escape her inheritance.

Originally published: The mystery of Princess Louise. London : Chatto & Windus, 2013.

"In Queen Victoria's Mysterious Daughter, Lucinda Hawksley delves into artistic and royal secrets to discover the life of Princess Louise, whose true story has either been lost in history or has been deliberately kept secret. The sixth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had a difficult childhood and troubled adolescence, a world away from the usual perception of the life of a privileged princess. For such a prominent public figure, much of her life story has been hidden away inside impenetrable walls. What was so scandalous about this princess that her files in the Royal Archives and at her husband's home, Inveraray Castle in Scotland, still need to be locked away? Can we believe, as many do, that Louise in fact gave birth secretly to an illegitimate royal child? An indomitable woman, Louise lived her life to the full, in a manner that few 21st-century readers would believe possible for a 19th-century woman. She lived through wars and revolutions. As well as being a prominent member of the Aesthetic art world, Princess Louise was a passionate campaigner for women's rights, health reform and education for all. She travelled widely, holidaying in Europe, Africa and North America, and she lived in Canada for five years as the wife of the Governor General. Here is our best evidence yet that Queen Victoria's many secrets have yet to be fully disclosed"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 351-354) and index.

Introduction : how it all began -- Prologue : a celebrity comes to Liverpool -- Born in the year of revolution -- A royal education -- In the shadow of her siblings -- An Annus Horribilis -- The first sculpture -- What really happened with Walter Stirling? -- The Locock family secret -- An art student at last -- Falling in love with the Cult of Beauty -- The people's princess -- A controversial betrothal -- "The most popular act of my reign" -- A battle for independence -- Politics and aestheticism -- The first year in Canada -- A marriage lived in different continents -- Escaping the Fenians in Bermuda -- Return to London, and tragedy -- Keeping up appearances -- Scandal amongst the Campbells -- Celebrating the Golden Jubilee -- The princess and the sculptor -- Trying to dull the pain -- Scandal in the royal household -- A new century and the end of an era -- The death of Henry Locock -- The king, the kaiser and the duke -- Widowhood and war -- The Grande Dame of Kensington -- "This remarkable lady" -- One last rebellious command -- Epilogue.

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