A MOST ENGLISH PRINCESS – Clare McHugh
William Morrow Paperbacks
ISBN-10: 0062997602
ISBN-13: 978-0062997609
September 22, 2020
Historical Fiction

England and Prussia 1847 to 1901

The Prologue takes place in 1901 with the approaching death of the oldest child of England's Queen Victoria, Vicki, who lives in Germany. Her mother the queen died earlier that same year. Through the years, her father and mother have written many letters to her. The dying empress asks an old friend visiting from England to smuggle her saved collection of letters and papers back to her family in England.

Victoria, called Vicki by her family, is a cherished daughter and England's Princess Royal. Her father, Prince Albert, is from Prussia. He is forward thinking and liberal in his thoughts and believes that all people should be able to take part in governing, an outlook he teaches Vicki. His daughter is a smart child, who at age ten meets nineteen-year-old Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, called Fritz, from Prussia. His uncle is the king of Prussia. Four years later Fritz asks Vicki to marry him. Vicki's parents are elated but won't allow their daughter to marry until she is seventeen. Their marriage is one based on love.

Once living in Prussia, Vicki finds those of the Hohenzollern dynasty who rule Prussia dismiss her. She is too liberal and outlandish, and they find her too ‘English' and unworthy of her position. Her plans to help advance Prussian society are crushed, but she never gives up.

The story is divided into four parts: Daughter, Bride, Wife, and Mother, and is based on the letters smuggled out of Prussia. It is an interesting look at an historical era which ultimately led to her son, the Kaizer of Germany, being involved in World War I to advance Germany's power in Europe. I don't believe many of us understand what it must have been like for so many royal women to be married off to men from other royal dynasties, but this story gives an interesting glimpse into that world and its many difficulties.

Robin Lee