Queen Victoria's Matchmaking
The Royal Marriages That Shaped Europe
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Queen Victoria's Matchmaking
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Narrated by:
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Charlotte Strevens
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By:
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Deborah Cadbury
About this listen
A captivating exploration of the role in which Queen Victoria exerted the most international power and influence: as a matchmaking grandmother.
As her reign approached its sixth decade, Queen Victoria's grandchildren numbered over 30, and to maintain and increase British royal power, she was determined to maneuver them into a series of dynastic marriages with the royal houses of Europe.
Yet for all their apparent obedience, her grandchildren often had plans of their own, fueled by strong wills and romantic hearts. Victoria's matchmaking plans were further complicated by the tumultuous international upheavals of the time: revolution and war were in the air, and kings and queens, princes and princesses were vulnerable targets.
Queen Victoria's Matchmaking travels through the glittering, decadent palaces of Europe from London to Saint Petersburg, weaving in scandals, political machinations, and family tensions to enthralling effect. It is at once an intimate portrait of a royal family and an examination of the conflict caused by the marriages the Queen arranged. At the heart of it all is Victoria herself: doting grandmother one moment, determined Queen Empress the next.
©2017 Deborah Cadbury (P)2018 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"[An] absorbing book... The fall of the Romanovs occupies the superb last pages of Cadbury's book... Dynastic mergers, we may deduce from Deborah Cadbury's account, offer no defence against the whims of history. This catastrophe-laced slice of royal history offers a ripping read." (Miranda Seymour, The Observer)
"A rich history of Queen Victoria's canny use of political power." (Bookpage)
"Engrossing...Cadbury engagingly presents [Queen Victoria] as a mesmerising Mrs Bennet, summoning her children and then her grandchildren to Balmoral. ..The stories of [Queen Victoria's] descendants are mesmerising and often stranger than fiction...From the pen of a writer of skill and style, this surprising narrative leaves you wanting more." (Paula Byrne, The Times)
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5 out of 5 stars
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This book has old and new info
- By Dr. A. on 10-29-14
By: A. N. Wilson
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Victoria's Daughters
- By: Jerrold M. Packard
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 222
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 189
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 187
Vicky, Alice, Helena, and Beatrice were historically unique sisters, born to a sovereign who ruled over a quarter of the earth's people and who gave her name to an era: Queen Victoria. Two of these princesses would themselves produce children of immense consequence. All five would curiously come to share many of the social restrictions and familial machinations borne by 19th-century women of less-exulted class.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Terrible Narrator
- By Kijana Mayfield on 03-28-17
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Marie Antoinette
- The Journey
- By: Antonia Fraser
- Narrated by: Donada Peters
- Length: 20 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 564
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 398
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 399
France's iconic queen, Marie Antoinette, wrongly accused of uttering the infamous "Let them eat cake", was alternately revered and reviled during her lifetime. For centuries since, she has been the object of debate, speculation, and the fascination so often accorded illustrious figures in history. Married in mere girlhood, this essentially lighthearted child was thrust onto the royal stage and commanded by circumstance to play a significant role in European history.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Annoying Narration
- By LaFemmeRouge on 10-28-06
By: Antonia Fraser
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The Assassination of the Archduke
- Sarajevo 1914 and the Romance That Changed the World
- By: Greg King, Sue Woolmans
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 312
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 274
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 273
Set against a backdrop of glittering privilege, The Assassination ofthe Archduke combines royal history, touching romance, and political murder in a moving portrait of the end of an era. One hundred years after the event, it offers the startling truth behind the Sarajevo assassinations, including Serbian complicity, and examines rumors of conspiracy and official negligence.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Sarajevo trip in riveting slow motion
- By Skeptical on 06-29-14
By: Greg King, and others
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Catherine de Medici
- Renaissance Queen of France
- By: Leonie Frieda
- Narrated by: Sarah Le Fevre
- Length: 21 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 516
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 446
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 443
Poisoner, despot, necromancer - the dark legend of Catherine de Medici is centuries old. In this critically hailed biography, Leonie Frieda reclaims the story of this unjustly maligned queen to reveal a skilled ruler battling extraordinary political and personal odds - from a troubled childhood in Florence to her marriage to Henry, son of King Francis I of France; from her transformation of French culture to her fight to protect her throne and her sons' birthright. Based on thousands of private letters, it is a remarkable account of one of the most influential women to wear a crown.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Narrator didn't get one name right
- By Georgina García- Menocal on 09-15-19
By: Leonie Frieda
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We Two
- Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals
- By: Gillian Gill
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 18 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 325
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 250
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 250
It was the most influential marriage of the 19th Century - and one of history’s most enduring love stories. Traditional biographies tell us that Queen Victoria inherited the throne as a naïve teenager, when the British Empire was at the height of its power, and seemed doomed to find failure as a monarch and misery as a woman until she married her German cousin Albert and accepted him as her lord and master. Now renowned chronicler Gillian Gill turns this familiar story on its head, revealing a strong, feisty queen, and a brilliant, fragile prince working together to build a family.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I found it extremely moving.
- By Cheryl on 08-07-09
By: Gillian Gill
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Her Little Majesty
- The Life of Queen Victoria
- By: Carolly Erickson
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 109
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 96
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
Her Little Majesty is a fresh and fascinating portrait of the diminutive monarch who ruled the vast British empire for over 60 years. Award-winning biographer and historian, Carolly Erickson, transports you behind the walls of Buckingham Palace to introduce you to the quirky, loveable Queen Victoria—revealed only to her closest associates. Emotionally deprived, inadequately educated, and socially isolated for much of her life, young Victoria felt ill-prepared to ascend the throne.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing after Josephine.
- By Debra V on 08-24-21
By: Carolly Erickson
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Matriarch
- Queen Mary and the House of Windsor
- By: Anne Edwards
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,367
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,123
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,120
The life of Princess May of Teck is one of the great Cinderella stories in history. From a family of impoverished nobility, she was chosen by Queen Victoria as the bride for her eldest grandson, the scandalous Duke of Clarence, heir to the throne, who died mysteriously before their marriage. Despite this setback, she became queen, mother of two kings, grandmother of the current queen, and a lasting symbol of the majesty of the British throne.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wow! Did not want this to end!
- By Susan Nall Sheehan on 07-16-17
By: Anne Edwards
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Marie Therese, Child of Terror
- The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter
- By: Susan Nagel
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 18 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 221
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 182
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 181
Nagel tells a remarkable story of an astonishing woman, from her birth, to her upbringing by doting parents, through to Revolution, imprisonment, exile, Restoration, and, finally, her reincarnation as saint and matriarch.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Essential reading for students of Bourbon history
- By Adeliese Baumann on 03-07-13
By: Susan Nagel
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Secret Lives of the Tsars
- Three Centuries of Autocracy, Debauchery, Betrayal, Murder, and Madness from Romanov Russia
- By: Michael Farquhar
- Narrated by: Enn Reitel
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 158
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 148
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 147
Scandal! Intrigue! Cossacks! Here the world’s most engaging royal historian chronicles the world’s most fascinating imperial dynasty: the Romanovs, whose three-hundred-year reign was remarkable for its shocking violence, spectacular excess, and unimaginable venality. In this incredibly entertaining history, Michael Farquhar collects the best, most captivating true tales of Romanov iniquity.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A good introduction to the Romanovs
- By Daniel Burgon on 07-14-14
By: Michael Farquhar
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Daughters of the Winter Queen
- Four Remarkable Sisters, the Crown of Bohemia, and the Enduring Legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots
- By: Nancy Goldstone
- Narrated by: Laura Kirman
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 340
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 294
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 294
Young Elizabeth Stuart was thrust into a life of wealth and splendor when her godmother, Queen Elizabeth I, died and her father, James I, ascended to the illustrious throne of England. At 16 she was married to a dashing German count far below her rank, with the understanding that James would help her husband achieve the crown of Bohemia. Her father's terrible betrayal of this promise would ruin "the Winter Queen", as Elizabeth would forever be known, imperil the lives of those she loved, and launch a war that would last for 30 years.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Misnamed but Wonderful
- By Anonymous User on 05-16-18
By: Nancy Goldstone
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Victoria: The Queen
- An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire
- By: Julia Baird
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
- Length: 21 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
When Victoria was born, in 1819, the world was a very different place. Revolution would threaten many of Europe’s monarchies in the coming decades. In Britain, a generation of royals had indulged their whims at the public’s expense, and republican sentiment was growing. The Industrial Revolution was transforming the landscape, and the British Empire was commanding ever larger tracts of the globe. In a world where women were often powerless, during a century roiling with change, Victoria went on to rule the most powerful country on earth with a decisive hand.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Masterpiece!!
- By DKSTRYKER on 01-07-24
By: Julia Baird
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Becoming Queen Victoria
- The Unexpected Rise of Britain's Greatest Monarch
- By: Kate Williams
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 209
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 180
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 180
In 1819, a girl was born to the fourth son of King George III. No one could have expected such an unassuming, overprotected girl to be an effective ruler - yet Queen Victoria would become one of the most powerful monarchs in history. Writing with novelistic flair and historical precision, Kate Williams reveals a vibrant woman in the prime of her life, while chronicling the byzantine machinations that continued even after the crown was placed on her head.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Extremely Well Written and Readable
- By Wren on 04-01-17
By: Kate Williams
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The Queen Mother
- The Untold Story of Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, Who Became Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
- By: Lady Colin Campbell
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 25 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 192
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 172
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Story4 out of 5 stars 170
For the first time, Lady Colin Campbell reveals the fascinating and moving life of The Queen Mother. With unparalleled sources, including members of the Royal Family, aristocrats, and friends and relatives of Elizabeth herself, this mesmerizing account takes us inside the real and sometimes astonishing world of the royal family.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Real Person
- By The Barbster on 01-05-19
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A Magnificent Obsession
- Victoria, Albert, and the Death That Changed the British Monarchy
- By: Helen Rappaport
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 80
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
After the untimely death of Prince Albert, the Queen and her nation were plunged into a state of grief so profound that this one event would dramatically alter the shape of the British monarchy. For Britain had not just lost a prince: during his 20-year marriage to Queen Victoria, Prince Albert had increasingly performed the function of King in all but name. The outpouring of grief after Albert's death was so extreme that its like would not be seen again until the death of Princess Diana 136 years later.
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5 out of 5 stars
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All consuming grief
- By Flatbroke on 06-15-13
By: Helen Rappaport
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Crown of Blood
- The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey
- By: Nicola Tallis
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 264
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 234
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 231
"Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same." These were the heartbreaking words of a 17-year-old girl, Lady Jane Grey, as she stood on the scaffold awaiting death on a cold February morning in 1554. Minutes later, her head was struck from her body with a single stroke of a heavy ax. Her death for high treason sent shock waves through the Tudor world and served as a gruesome reminder to all who aspired to a crown that the ax could fall at any time.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliantly Compelling
- By J.Brock on 11-26-19
By: Nicola Tallis