2019 is the two hundred year anniversary of the birth of Queen Victoria. ‘Victoria and Albert’ tells the story of one of the most famous relationships in history and is the second of three books about ‘The Colourful Personal Life of Queen Victoria’ . Her marriage to Prince Albert was by no means a grand match for Victoria and was very unpopular with the British public. There were early troubles for the couple with power struggles, personality clashes, and unwelcome pregnancies; but they created a true partnership, a happy family life, and founded a dynasty. The book ends with Albert’s early death, and how a man in the prime of life was worn out with the stresses and strains of being Victoria’s husband. Victoria was pregnant for a third of her married life, and the book looks at how she dealt with pregnancy, childbirth, and being a mother. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were married at the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace in London, on 10 February 1840, when they were both twenty years old. For her, their marriage followed a whirlwind romance and Albert would be a life-long passion. For him, it was a successful outcome of long-laid plans - marrying Victoria was his career. They were in an unusual position for their time, because it was Victoria who was the sovereign and Albert had a supporting role. Their marriage would succeed, but stormy waters lay ahead.‘Victoria and Albert’ uses some of Victoria’s own words from her journal and letters to help tell the story and is beautifully illustrated throughout with portraits and other memorabilia from the author’s collection. This short book is intended to be light-hearted and easy-to-read and should appeal to anyone who likes history, or follows royalty, or is interested in people’s personal stories.‘The Colourful Personal Life of Queen Victoria’ focusses on the story of Victoria as a woman - her personal life, the events that formed her character, and the relationships that were important to her. The first book, ‘Young Victoria’, looked at her early years, including her difficult childhood and how she came to the throne aged only eighteen. The third book, ‘The Widowed Queen’, covers the long years of her widowhood after Albert’s early death, as the doyenne of sovereigns and grandmamma of Europe.