Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia, England, 1829

The Royal Diaries

by Anna Kirwan

In 1829, nine-year-old Victoria begins a journal chronicling her life as an English princess, in a title which includes information on the reign, marriage, and family life of Queen Victoria and English civilization during that period.

29 MAY

...I had to kiss His Majesty's hand. Really, one kisses the air over his hand, and that's a good thing, for he's so glistening with lotions and powders to cover the liver spots on his skin, which he hates...

Aunt Soap says he was a beautiful lad when he was young. "Prinny was the handsomest Prince ever. His curls were the colour of honey on toast, like that red-gold Russian sable the Princess de Lieven wears." Now, unfortunately, his beauty has quite fled. Perhaps he does wear a corset, as I once heard Lady C. remark--though I can't see that it does much good. (I'm sure she would be shocked to know I overheard. But I do wonder why so many people seem to think a young person's ears do not work unless they are instructed to by some adult.)

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Historical, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Royalty

224 pages, Hardcover

First published November 20, 2001

About the author

Anna Kirwan is the best-selling author of two titles in The Royal Diaries series, Victoria, May Blossom of Britannia. She is an accomplished poet as well, and her work has appeared in a number of anthologies, including The Alchemist"s Retort and Alphabestiary. Anna Kirwan lives in Sunderland, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Anna Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised to revisit this entry in my Royal Diaries read-through project. This is one of the ones that I owned as a child, though it was often neglected in favor of the flashier entries (Marie Antoinette! Cleopatra! Anastasia Romanov!). Even to this day, Queen Victoria isn't a historical personage that interests me a great deal as a reading subject, so when I picked this up next I was kind of like "Ehhhh okay."

But - although Queen Victoria and the events in this diary may not be as "exciting" as the ones listed above, I came really close to enjoying it even more because of its author. Anna Kirwan does an excellent job of writing as a young girl might - it doesn't feel forced or like she's trying to cram historical people and places in left and right. Victoria's tone is cheeky and humorous and fun, more so than I've found in another entry in this series so far. I'm glad that I got the chance to read it again and find this out for myself.

[iz✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars I'm so glad I finally finished this

This was fast paced without being engaging, namely because there was no plot. It was literally just a diary about a young, posh girl's life and that was the entire premise. It was a middle grade, but even then it wasn't anything special and I have read much better books of the same age category that didn't rely on 'ooooh its a princess but #relatable' as its premise. Victoria was quite annoying and she didn't seem to have many opinions and thus every opinion she did have had to be repeated way too many times. The historical afterword was more interesting than the book itself which is slightly concerning but even that had an unnecessary bit which tried to justify the British Empire as a good thing while also acknowledging all of the murder and colonisation? Anyway yeah that was a bit icky and also the book wasn't that good. Maybe if you have a young relative (I think I would have enjoyed this more if I was of the target audience but there you go) that you need to buy something for and this comes in a set then buy it but otherwise I wouldn't because there are much better options out there.

[Shannon of the Grave · Rating 1 out of 5]

bland. Very,very bland. Boring. If you really want to fall asleep, read this book.

[Shelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Normally I love sharing this series with my daughter but we actually abandoned reading it more than half way in because it never got even remotely interesting.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

And here ends my reading of all 20 Royal Diaries with Queen Victoria (who later wed Prince Albert). This one didn't have much of a plot, but was elegantly written.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am very fond of the Royal Diaries, and this one is very good. It traces Victoria's development from a small child into a girl who could be queen someday, and in a mostly historically-accurate way. I do feel that pieces of the book could've had more tension, and I think it ended somewhat abruptly, but on the whole it's a good book to give to a child interested in history.

[Angelique Sapone · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE. Its about Queen Victoria before she became Queen. She was SOOOOOO cheeky and adorable. I love the way this was written.

[Marla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of 9 year old Victoria told through her diary entries. It's hard to keep all the relatives and people straight, especially since I am hopeless with history. It was entertaining how much food was listed in this book. Queen Victoria actually kept a journal for many years, so it could be true.

Nice family tree chart, descriptions of characters and family members. Pictures of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were great!

[Chrisanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found young Victoria fascinating before it was cool. Just saying.


And all those people gushing over the TV series should check out Colin Firth's younger brother as Albert.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not find this book nearly as interesting as the others I have read in the Royal Diaries series.

[Little Seal]

This was a tough read, as it was hard to follow who everyone was and what was even happening. I'm a full grown adult so I can't imagine a child reading this would understand what was going on. I know it's typical for the Royal Diaries to have a lot of characters but this one was extra confusing. I think this might be my least favorite of the Royal Diaries I have read thus far.

On a positive note though, I did like the historical information at the end of the book.

[Kennedy Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many of the royal diaries, and I can definitely say this one was probably my favorite! A lot of people in the comments say it was boring, and there was no plot, and it's just about a posh girls life, but I like how it was calming and not in a slow way. I also like how she listed the food she eats, which for me I found very interesting. And a lot of people also said she misspelled her sisters name (which is feo) like fie, no, actually she doesn't misspell her sisters name, fie means disgust or being angry at someone, such as, fie on them! This book for me personally was one I LOVED.

[Jinny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This time around in my reading of The Royal Diaries series (one of my absolute favourite childhood series, though I never managed to read ALL of them when I was a kid), the focus is on Queen Victoria from England. I am really interested in Queen Victoria, but it’s hard to find historical fiction on her (I only know of two novels that are about Queen Victoria, including this one). There are lots of books that take place in the Victorian Era, but very few where Queen Victoria is the main character … sad!

This book is about Victoria when she was 9 to 10 years old. The book centers around her childhood and her relationships to the various people in her lives. In particular, she is fond of the king of her time, George IV, who she calls Uncle King. She doesn’t have the strongest relationship with her mother, but does love her; unfortunately she is under the influence of John Conroy, her mother’s comptroller, who also is hoping to rule over Victoria (through her mother). For unbeknownst to Victoria, Uncle King’s heir (his brother) is most likely unable to have children with his wife, making Victoria, their niece, very likely to become Queen of England one day.

One thing that stood out to me in this Royal Diaries installment is that the writing actually feels more authentic to its time period than others. I mean, I understand some of the Royal Diaries are going to have a difficult time making the writing seem authentic to the time period when the princess writing it isn’t even supposed to know English. But some of the other Royal Diaries do take place in European countries and none of them had writing that felt as “real” as this one.

Like most of the other Royal Diaries books, this book is also mainly concerned with the day to day life of little Victoria in 1800′s England. Maybe that would be more interesting to a child reading this book (which I realize is its intended age group); I thought it was just okay. I wouldn’t say I’m really knowledgeable in what life was like in 1800′s England, but I probably know more than a child reading this book, so probably the educational portion of this novel would be much more fascinating to a kid. This book has not much action, I’m afraid. Towards the end, it gets a little more exciting (though I use that word in the relative sense) when Victoria begins to piece together how the inheritance of the throne of England is going … and her shock when she realizes it could be her, though she tries to brush it off at first.

All in all, it was a solid read with both pros and cons. I’m just glad to read something on Queen Victoria, there should be more his-fics on her life!

[Carrie Slager · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even for a princess in The Royal Diaries, Victoria is quite young when she’s ‘writing’ this book, at only 10 years old. Maybe it’s because I’m a cynical old reader, but even for ten years old she was, quite simply put, an annoying brat. Part of it was her immaturity and the other part was the annoying quirks Anna Kirwan used to make her ‘unique’.

In this portrayal of the future Queen Victoria, Anna Kirwan has made her quite ignorant of her station, immature and an incredibly annoying writer. You see, sometimes Victoria speaks in the language you would expect of the times and in the same entry you might see language you would use in an email to a friend. I don’t know why Kirwan decided to do this, but she makes Victoria use the arcane form of ‘choose’ (‘chuse’) without using any other arcane language. This, of course, doesn’t make it authentic so much as it makes it annoying. The most annoying personality quirk used was Victoria’s habit of using ‘v.’ as an abbreviation of ‘very’. So we end up with a character who uses words that are ten letters long, but abbreviates a four letter word. Writers take note: this is not quirky; it’s annoying.

When you have a book written in diary form, a good narrator is an absolute must because you can’t escape from their point of view. Therefore, Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia was bad overall. I’m sure with a better narrator I would have been more focused on the historical events than on translating v., but that was not the case. As far as I can tell, this book is mostly accurate, but Anna Kirwan admits to changing a few things around in her Historical Note.

I give this book 1.5/5 stars, rounded up to 2 stars for Goodreads rating purposes.

[Katharine Ott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This book was not given to me, nor did I buy it with my own pocket money." The book in question is a pilfered farm stock notebook that the future Queen Victoria of England uses to record her thoughts as a young girl. "Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia" is author Anna Kirwan's contribution to Scholastic's "The Royal Diaries" series and is written in diary or journal form.

I have a keen interest in England's royal families and this book was an interesting glimpse into Victoria's early life as she chafed under the interfering control of Captain John Conroy. As I read, I constructed my own family tree to try to keep track of all the royal relatives, and was happy to see an official one at the end of the book.

I'm not sure that my interest would be shared by this series' target audience though, middle grade girls. The maneuvering and manipulations that were a common part of aristocratic life, and a main focus of the book, are certainly a part of our American politics, but not on a family level.

Kirwan opens a little window for us on court life in England in 1829 and, while faithful to the obligation of the series, might have left behind many young readers.

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia is a solid installment in the Royal Diaries collection, but it has never been among my personal favorites. I remember feeling bored by it when I read it around middle school, but I enjoyed and appreciated it much more on this re-read. I love the attention to historical detail, which was incorporated smoothly and heightened the immersion. Victoria herself is very likable, the character relationships are consistently well-written(especially that between Victoria and her "Uncle King"), and the tone is generally pleasant. Tim O'Brien's cover art is lovely as usual, even though in the cover painting Victoria looks much more like a teenager than a ten-year-old.
The ending is the weakest part, and could have delivered a lot more impact. Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia does have its own merits but isn't, at least by my standards, the best of the series.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten-year-old Victoria is a princess, but her life is anything but easy. Her father died when she was less than a year old, and she has no memories of him. Being a princess means having no privacy, which is why she decides to write her personal thoughts and feelings down in a secret diary. She describes her life at Kensington Palace, attending parties, going on summer holidays by the sea, her tiresome lessons, her dislike and distrust of her mother's financial advisor, her worries over the deteriorating health of her uncle, who is the King, and more. In this book, the young Victoria, between ages ten and twelve, comes alive as a very real girl with feelings, hopes, and dreams. Although this isn't the best Royal Diaries book, readers of the series will likely enjoy it.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked Victoria (still do like reading about her & the English royal family) but this was not a favorite.

I have to reread this series and give my adult post graduate degree perspective but what I remember liking was:
-the characters in this series were roughly my age when I read the books (YA)
-it gave you an idea of what life may have been like back then
-they did have an afterword with historic information that gave you more context on their real lives and often photos or paintings

[Kelsey Hanson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have officially read all of the Royal Diaries. Nine-year old me would be very impressed. Victoria was a pretty incredible leader (You know you're doing something right when they name an entire era of history after you). Victoria is portrayed as a uniquely practical and mature young lady determined to be a good leader.

[Cheyenne Langevelde · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting (if fictional) glimpse of young queen Victoria's life. I struggled a bit because a lot of the entries felt very childish, until I remembered the entries I wrote at that age, and suppose it is probably realistic. Nothing really exciting happened, though, and there was nothing really driving the plot, so it was kinda boring.

[Corinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series. I had harder time understanding the language of this book. Thought maybe the author was trying to write in the style of the era which made reading cumbersome sometimes. Otherwise a wonderful glimpse into the young life of Queen Victoria.

[Mehvish Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting learning about how the Queen would have lived in 19th century England.

[Sophia Musgrave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read, a little juvenile but written based on her diary she kept as a child. I am personally amazed at how poised she is at the age of 10, a true princess since childhood.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very detailed and amazing.

[Jenna Jakubowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book!

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was a lot to take in with all the names & I found some mistakes in the book which made it hard to understand like her sisters name Feo was sometimes spelled fie. She called her Dad’s equerry “O’Hum which she goes back and forth by calling him Captain Conroy. She was very close to her uncle Leopold at the end he was sent away to be King of somewhere he can not refuse. King George IV was very sick eventually died & Uncle Billy took over. She didn’t realize how close she was to becoming Queen. Captain Conroy was very abusive to her Mom & She caught him hurting her Mom & told her servant. Her mother fired her servant I am very mad that they let it slip Yes he was Drunk but they still had a relationship & nothing else was mentioned on how cruel he was other then her knowing it. She did mentioned it to her uncle Leopold but he told her he can’t do nothing if she doesn’t admit to it. In the end very political based with too many names and just to mature themed for a kid to comprehend that is why I believe I quit reading these so many times in Third Grade lol😂 I would at least recommend 10 or older 8 is just too young

[Patron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third new Royal Diaries book I read in 2018. Book #4 of my Reading Challenge.

For a series that covers so many eras of history in so many different locations, the prose in this installment could get confusing at times, much to my embarassment. Perhaps Victoria being nine at the start of this novel is to blame, but the Englishness reached a peak here. Eat your heart out, Elizabeth I.

I was worried that the book would be annoying, but even if it's limited by the protagonist's age occasionally, that also happens to be where it shines. You'd expect Victoria to be a bratty little kid, but most of the time she's quite adorable. The rest of the characters are great, too, especially Uncle Bill and Uncle Leopold. Also, this is by far and away the most generous portrayal of George IV I've ever seen!

I do think the epilogue washes Victoria's hands a bit too much, though. The negative effects of colonialism were only mentioned ONCE. Not the best novel so far, but I'll take it!

[Lauren (LivLovesBooks17) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read one of Carolyn Meyer's previous books which was AMAZING. It was the book that started it all for me. I am a bit of an anglophile and it's because of her "Doomed Queen Anne" book that I have this obsession! So natually when i saw this book later on in my life I had to read it! This started a WHOLE NEW obsession for me. So adding to my British royalty obsession I wanted to learn more and more about this 18 year old girl named Victoria! She was so fascinating to me. Now, 9 years later, I have a whole bookshelf dedicated to not only British Royalty history but a shelf dedicated to Queen Victoria! This was the book that "launched a thousand ships" for me. I loved it and I learned so much from it! I highly recommend. I actually still have my copy to this day. I can't find it in my heart to ever get rid of it since it was the one that started my love of Queen Victoria!!

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very soothing and enjoyable. A perfect bedtime book, to relax and wind down for the day. The diary sounded natural and realistic. And it created an in Queen Victoria -- which I never had before -- and now I want to read more about her. This is my second "Royal Diaries" book and I will definitely look for others.

(BTW, the Historical Note contains an error -- Belize, which is in Central America, was once called British Honduras. British Guiana was a different country located in South America, and is now called Guyana.)

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in 1829, the story is written through diary form, about a young English Princess. I picked this book up because it was rather interesting, and I quite liked it. I'm not a huge fan of the cover artwork, but the general story was alright. It took the first 50ish pages to actually realise who all of the characters were, but the glossary at the back was a very useful feature! I felt the story took a while to get into, but apart from that, it was good! 4 stars!