Henry and Mary Ponsonby: Life at the Court of Queen Victoria

Description:

This work draws extensively on the private correspondence of Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby (1825-1895) and his wife Mary Elizabeth Ponsonby (1832-1916), to provide an intimate account of life behind the scenes at the Victorian court. Henry, a Crimean War veteran and former equerry to Prince Albert, served as Queen Victoria’s Private Secretary from 1870 until 1895, becoming one of her closest and most influential advisers. Mary served as a Maid of Honour to Queen Victoria from 1853 until her marriage to Henry in 1861, and remained closely connected with court circles. Their lively and often candid letters reveal the personalities, domestic tensions and political manoeuvring concealed behind the formal façade of the Royal Household, while illuminating Henry’s important role in managing relations between the increasingly reclusive Queen and her ministers and the wider public. A revealing study of Queen Victoria and the inner workings of the monarchy during the later decades of her reign.

Condition

Vg in d/w (price-clipped).