Victoria princess royal an uncommon woman

If you envision the life of a princess as something from fairy tales, the biography of Vicky, the firstborn of England's Queen Victoria and her Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg will dispel any such notions.

Vicky was a serious, intelligent girl, tutored in principles of liberal governance by her father. At 17, she married a man she loved and admired, the similarly-principled Frederick, in line for the throne of Prussia. But various forces of history conspired to thwart Vicky's ideals and her happiness.

At 18, she nearly died giving birth to her first child, Wilhelm, whose arm was badly damaged as the doctors apparently mangled a breach birth. One of her 7 subsequent children died at a young age, and when Vicky herself was barely 21, she lost her beloved father, Albert, who might have been her guide through the tumultuous political dev