In this edition we travel back in time to hear about the life of Princess Beatrice, the youngest of Queen Victoria's nine children.

Queen Victoria was the longest reigning British monarch and she gave her name to an age. She was born in London in 1819 and became queen when she was only 18 years old. She died in 1901, and Princess Beatrice is famous for spending almost 30 years of her life editing her mother's journals.

Matthew Dennison is the author of the first biography of Princess Beatrice and he tells us about her fascinating life - from being her mother's favourite and then breaking free to marry Prince Henry of Battenberg, to her work on her mother's private papers.

You can download the script and the programme from the 'Extras' section below.

Listen
	Princess Beatrice

Vocabulary

to be swayed by something
to be influenced by, or persuaded by, something

cheeky
to be rude in a funny way

your constant companion
someone who is always with you

like a shutter coming down
this expression means that life had changed for the worse from this moment

to shrug off
to break free from

to step into the fray
to take up the challenge

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Extras:
Programme script (pdf - 22k)
Download this programme (mp3 - 1.5 MB)
Information about Queen Victoria

Read more about Queen Victoria *

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