A message from HM Queen Elizabeth II
In this the year of my Diamond Jubilee, I am delighted to be able to present, for the first time, the complete on-line collection of Queen Victoria's journals from the Royal Archives.These diaries cover the period from Queen Victoria's childhood days to her Accession to the Throne, marriage to Prince Albert, and later, her Golden and Diamond Jubilees.
Thirteen volumes in Victoria's own hand survive, and the majority of the remaining volumes were transcribed after Queen Victoria's death by her youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice, on her mother's instructions.
It seems fitting that the subject of the first major public release of material from the Royal Archives is Queen Victoria, who was the first Monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee.
It is hoped that this historic collection will make a valuable addition to the unique material already held by the Bodleian Libraries at Oxford University, and will be used to enhance our knowledge and understanding of the past.
You can access the journals here until June 30th. It's a rare chance to read documents that are normally only available to scholars.
I enjoy looking up today's date and seeing what the Queen was up to; there's a lot of "woke at 8, rose at 9, went for a carriage ride in the park". Sounds much like my daily routine :-)
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ReplyDeleteBandhej Salwar Kameez