In Censoring Queen Victoria: How Two Gentlemen Edited a Queen and Created an Icon, historian Yvonne M. Ward looks at the role of two men who were tasked with editing and publishing Victoria’s correspondence after her death. The final product (coupled with Victoria’s daughter Princess Beatrice acting as her “literary executor” and editing her mother’s memoirs and burning the originals) influenced generations to come.

“Queen Victoria, as she has come down to us, is the product of her biographers. For over sixty years these biographers did not have access to the Queen’s original correspondence…they had to rely instead on the published selections of letters produced by ‘royal command’ of Victoria’s son, King Edward VII, and her grandson, George V,” writes Ward.

The two gentlemen appointed by King Edward VII to take on selecting and editing the correspondence were Lord Esher and Arthur Benson, both well-connected and trusted to show discretion. Ward examines their life stories to show how their backgrounds, perspectives and political interests influenced the choices they made.

Ward’s book is hits a sweet spot in terms of scope. She doesn’t attempt more than she can cover; instead of trying to correct things Esher and Benson got wrong, she focuses on pointing out the gaps and contradictions in what they included and connecting that to their own biases and the society they were working in. For example, the final correspondence is missing a lot of Victoria’s correspondence with women and her pregnancies and children are hardly referenced.

Censoring Queen Victoria is a very intriguing, entertaining, well-organized and accessible 173 pages (not counting references). I highly recommend it.

If you want to know more, my full review is published here.