Few British monarchs have fit the time, the tone or the energy of an era quite the way Queen Victoria mastered her reign. From her ascension to the throne in 1837 to her death in 1901, her monarchy was one of spectacular advances in the British Empire. Political, scientific, and industrial wonders were changing the world. Britain's influence reached all corners of the earth. But there was one area that particularly intrigued the Queen. Men. Keenly aware of the opposite sex, her most trusted advisors were men. Lord Melbourne, her first prime minister, was an avuncular presence. Then her beloved husband Prince Albert took the reins until his death in 1861. In a widowhood of forty years, her ministers were a varied lot. She adored Disraeli, disliked Gladstone, and found genuine friendship with Lord Salisbury. Then there was Mr. Brown, the Scottish ghillie who she found wonderfully attractive. Later there was Abdul Karim, the Munshi, or teacher with whom she had a motherly relationship. She adored her son-in-law, Prince Henry of Battenberg, the 'sunshine of their lives' and was devastated when he died. She also loved her grandson-in-law, Prince Louis Battenberg, who was one of the executors of her will. Those years without Albert were not barren loveless years, they were not without happiness and pleasure, even if the queen herself might protest. AUTHOR: Ilana D. Miller is an Adjunct Professor of American History at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, as well as the Senior Editor of the European Royal History Journal. Her publishing credits include Reports from America: William Howard Russell and the American Civil War, TheFour Graces: Queen Victoria's Hessian Granddaughters. She has co-authored with Arturo Beeche: Royal Gatherings I & II; The Grand Dukes, Volume I; The Grand Ducal House of Hesse and lastly, Recollections: Victoria Marchioness of Milford Haven Formerly Princess Louis of Battenberg annotated and expanded by Mr Beeche and Ms Miller. She has authored several scholarly articles in historical magazines and journals as well as historical fiction. She is currently working on a biography of Princess Victoria Battenberg and with Mr Beeche she is working on the fourth book, Royal Gatherings III: 1940-1972. She lives in Los Angeles. 25 b/w illustrations
