Queen Victoria's journals

Queen Victoria maintained diaries and journals throughout her life, filling 122 volumes which were expurgated after her death by her daughter Princess Beatrice.

Most of the originals from 1840 onwards were then destroyed, despite opposition from Victoria's grandson King George V and his wife, Queen Mary.

[3] The nature of Beatrice's editing can be judged by comparison with the typescript copies which were made earlier by Lord Esher for his book, The Girlhood of Queen Victoria.

[4] These cover the period from 1832 to 1840; for instance, on 13 February 1840, Victoria recorded her delight at Albert putting on her stockings and then watching him shave.

In 2012, they were scanned and made available online as a special project for the diamond jubilee of Victoria's great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II.