Anne Somerset – Queen Victoria and her Prime Ministers

It is generally accepted that Queen Victoria reigned but did not rule. This couldn’t be more wrong. 

Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers masterfully traces Victoria’s political evolution, from headstrong teenager to seasoned octogenarian, demonstrating her passionate involvement in state affairs, and casting fresh light on her relationships with her ten prime ministers – from her girlish adoration of the worldly-wise Lord Melbourne, her first Prime Minster, via her ‘favourite’ Benjamin Disraeli, to her great antipathy for Disraeli’s rival, the Liberal William Gladstone.  

Anne Somerset charts the bitter clashes and affectionate interactions Victoria had with her ten premiers in often hilarious detail. Drawing extensively on unpublished sources, it casts a fresh and highly illuminating perspective not just on Victoria herself, but on the exceptionally able politicians who served her in government. 

Anne Somerset read history at King’s College London, graduating in 1976. She is now an acclaimed and prize-winning writer whose works have spanned the courts of William IV, Elizabeth I, James I and Queen Anne (the latter winning the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography).  

Photo: Caroline Forbes

LFF Priority Booking Opens: Platinum/Founder/Millennium/Gold – 4th February | Silver/Bronze: 11th February | General Booking Opens: 18th February