Anxiety Everywhere

Lilies of the valley

This is "Arras", by Mark Lewanski, and the medium is G L A S S.

❝ The fact that Albert stated Victoria’s enervation added to his workload shows that one should be cautious about assuming that he had taken over her political role so completely that nothing whatever was done by her. Victoria herself would later say that Albert took ‘almost all the labour & all the responsibility off my hands’, but state business still demanded a good deal of her attention. It may have been true, as Lord Clarendon asserted, that the Queen was ‘absolutely guided by the superior mind of her husband’, but Lord Granville went too far when, after describing the Queen as ‘not clever’, he insisted ‘everything is done by the Prince…and [she] never writes a letter that he does not dictate every word of’[...] Yet the Queen’s role was not as passive as this implied. Though Albert dealt with an enormous amount himself, Victoria was not shut out from his working life. She was privy to almost everything he did, even if she had become the less active partner in a joint enterprise.

There is no question that Victoria relied on Albert for direction, and also to articulate their thoughts in written communications to ministers, but when she copied out letters Albert had composed for her, it was not a mindless exercise. On bringing her a draft, Albert would say, ‘read it; I should think this would do’, and she would check what he had written. Sometimes she altered the wording, but this tended to be because she found a phrase with Germanic overtones, and not on account of the content. Although their intensely loving relationship was periodically ‘embittered by “scenes”, they rowed about matters such as the children’s upbringing, not politics. However, her willingness to accept Albert’s views did not preclude her judging them intelligently, for she understood what had shaped his conclusions. The process was mutually beneficial, for expounding his ideas to her helped Albert clarify his thoughts and made him more cogent when dealing with ministers. During crises Victoria’s involvement increased as she and Albert tackled problems together. At busy times, both of them were inundated with paperwork, with Victoria complain- ing more than once of being ‘literally overwhelmed’ by despatches. Her journal contains references to business keeping her and Albert from dinner, as well as having ‘never more to read and write’. When the situation in Italy was looking worrying in 1859, she mentions being ‘very busy writing a long letter to the Emperor Napoleon at the desire of the Ministers’; the following year she alludes to writing ‘our observations’ on one of Russell’s draft despatches, clearly indicating a collaborative effort by her and Albert. It is evident, too, that when the Queen and prince jointly met with ministers, she took a prominent share in the conversation rather than letting her husband do all the talking. ❞