Recently I asked my instagram followers to send in their questions for biographer Ilana D Miller. After a few weeks of preparation, I am excited to finally be able to share her answers!
1. What got you interested in Queen Victoria’s Hessian granddaughters?
Many years ago, I was in a used book store in Santa Monica (I live in Los Angeles) and as usual, I was perusing the British History section looking for royal biographies. I saw an intriguing title called Advice to My Granddaughter which some of you might know is a book of Queen Victoria’s letters to her granddaughter Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. I always flip to the photos and beside the usual I had seen at the time, I saw the handsome Battenberg brothers and got, let’s face it, a little crush. Anyhow, I was fascinated by this young woman and began to learn more about her, her sisters, her brother-in-laws, how they were related to the queen, etc., etc
2. Which of the Hessian sisters is your favourite?
Hands down — Princess Victoria. Some of you (if you’re in Britain) might have seen a documentary/drama called Royal Mob. I was one of the talking heads since the emphasis was Princess Victoria telling the story of her family. I have always found her intelligent, admirable, pragmatic and compassionate. As well, she was the lynchpin of her family. She had a way of rallying people after great tragedies, I’m thinking of the death of her father and also the terrible tragedy of the plane crash in 1937. Victoria was the one to tell everyone what should be done and to keep people moving forward during these dreadful times.
3. What is the most interesting thing about Victoria’s life after Albert?
I think the most interesting thing about her was her attempt to control so much of her family and her voluminous correspondence to try to do just that. Of course, she herself would have said that no one listened to her, and probably they mostly did, but just didn’t do what she advised — but she certainly cast a wide net! I also think that it was interesting how she, as one historian put it, did what no one wanted her to do (hanging on to her ladies when they were in the party out of power, constantly haranguing Gladstone and gossiping with Disraeli) at the cost of doing what everyone wanted her to do — which was to show herself more often. As you may know for years she refused to open parliament and complained about how they were trying to coerce a poor widow to do things that she simply couldn’t do. However, she did realize after a while that if she wanted allowances for her sons and dowries for her daughters, she was going to have to be more willing to make public appearances. I love that she was genuinely surprised about how much her subjects loved her during the jubilee celebrations.
4. Did Victoria grieve Albert as much as we all believe?
I think she probably did. However, she did slowly (and I mean slowly) come out of it. Enough so that she actually was worried that she wasn’t grieving enough and talked to the Archbishop of Canterbury (I think either him or the Dean of Windsor) about it. I strongly believe she began to enjoy her life again after a while and certainly enjoyed her grandchildren and the various men in her life.
5. What sources do you use for your research?
Mostly biographies, memoirs, documents and letters. I was lucky enough to look at letters at the Royal Archives in Windsor Castle. For my Princess Victoria book I was privileged to go to the Broadlands Archives, the Hessian Archives and the Mountbatten Archives at the University of Southampton.
6. How long does it take you to write a biography?
About a year. I’m starting one now that may take me longer since they are subjects I’m not as intimately familiar with as I was with the Hessians
7. What made you want to become a historian / author?
My father gave me my great love for history. Our house was inundated with books, so much so that my mother scolded him when he bought new ones as he hadn’t nearly finished all the ones that he had, but he never listened. We also talked about it at the dinner table a great deal. As for being an author, I’ve always written little stories and journals since I was about 9 years old. I tried writing fiction, but it just never gelled for me. I seem to do better with non-fiction.
8. How many books have you written?
Having said the above, one of my first forays in writing about Princess Victoria was a fictional memoir called The Royal Mob under a pseudonym, Theresa Sherman. It was published in 2008, though not self-published it may as well have been considering that this so-called publisher did NO editing. Nevertheless, many people have told me that they enjoyed it. It’s available as an e-book on Amazon if you’re curious. I wrote a book about the Times of London reporter, William Howard Russell and his time in the US during the American Civil War called Reports from America. That was published in 2001. Since then I’ve written royal non-fiction:The Four Graces: Queen Victoria’s Hessian Granddaughters, Royal Gatherings I and II with Arturo Beeche; The Grand Ducal House of Hesse with Arturo Beeche; and, Recollections: The Memoirs of Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine with introduction and epilogue by myself and annotated by Mr. Beeche. Queen Victoria after Albert was published last October and if all goes well Queen Victoria’s Favourite Granddaughter (a solo biography of Princess Victoria) will be published in September. And, as I said, I’m working on another set of granddaughters in the research stage at this point
9. What advice would you give to aspiring author / historian?
Corny but true, find a subject you love and swim in it. You’ll get a feel for the person and their history so much that you can almost anticipate what they will say and do before you learn that they did exactly that! That was the fun of Princess Victoria for me. I felt like I knew her. And…I warn against liking your subject too much, you’ll start to lose your objectivity. Not going to be a problem for the current set of granddaughters I’m writing about, I don’t like them that much. LOL!!!!!!
10. If you could go back to any date in history, what would you choose and why?
So many, but if I could be a fly on the wall, probably would just want to observe some of the interesting events in Queen Victoria’s life, some of the weddings, the jubilees and maybe listen to some of her audiences with Disraeli, I think that would be a hoot. Perhaps be in Russia for Alix’s wedding or coronation, though she is not a favorite. If I could change things is another question that is even more intriguing. I would have had Nicholas marry nearly anyone except Alix, and probably have George V married to Missy of Edinburgh. Just my little what if game. Or…another, Alexander III living to a ripe old age. Could he have put down the revolution? Oh that one is a fun one…. Don’t get me started!! 🙂
Thank you to everyone that has read today’s Q&A and of course, a huge thank you to Ilana for agreeing to take part!
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