This is basically a group biography, if a biographical study of two people can be described as such. It describes how the premature death of George IV's daughter Princess Charlotte, led the way to Victoria becoming queen. The first half tells Charlotte's story, and it then moves on to follow Victoria from childhood until her marriage to Albert finally freed her from the shadow of her mother and her accolyte Sir John Conroy. Charlotte's life is much less well-known than that of her cousin, which is hardly surprising given that the latter went on to reign for over sixty years. I found that my lack of familiarity with Charlotte's story made the first part of the book more interesting than the chapters on Victoria. ( )

An interesting read, about 1/3 of the book is about Princess Charlotte with out whom death in 1817 Princess Victoria would most possible of never been born in 1819.
This is not a history of VR's reign.
Most of the part about Queen Victoria is about her Childhood, her Coronation up until the birth of her First Child after which the remainder is covered in 20pp including the epilogue.
346pp+ 67p of notes/index. ( )