Last Princess: The Devoted Life of Queen Victoria's Youngest Daughter Book

List of Illustrations ix

Author's Note xi

Family Trees xiii

1 'It is a fine Child' 1

2 'The most amusing baby we have had' 10

3 'Paroxysms of despair' 21

4 'The bright spot in this dead home' 30

5 'Beatrice is quite well' 39

6 'A nervous way of speaking and laughing' 49

7 'Auntie Beatrice sends you many loves' 61

8 'Youngest daughters have a duty to widowed mothers' 69

9 'The flower of the flock' 80

10 'A Good, handy, thoughtful servant' 92

11 'She is my constant companion' 102

12 'Dear Beatrice suffered much from rheumatism' 109

13 'If only she could marry now' 116

14 The Handsomest Family in Europe 124

15 'Many daughters have acted virtuously, but thou excelleth them all' 134

16 'Tge fatal day approaches' 144

17 'There now burnt a bewitching fiery passion' 157

18 'Capital fun' 170

19 'A simple life, with no great incidents' 178

20 'Blighted happiness' 187

21 'I have taken up my life again' 197

22 'I . . . can hardly realize what life will be like without her' 208

23 'I have my dear Mother's written instructions' 215

24 'Osborne . . . is like the grave of somebody's happiness' 224

25 'Please God the young couple may be very happy' 232

26 'Days of overwhelming anxiety' 241

27 'The older one gets the more one lives in the past' 250

28 'She struggled so hard to "carry on"' 258

Notes 266

Bibliography 284

Index 290