When Queen Victorias husband Prince Albert died in December 1861 the nation was paralysed with grief. His death was a catastrophe for Victoria who not only adored her husband but had through twenty-one years of marriage utterly relied on him: as companion father of their children friend confidant & unofficial private secretary. Without Albert to guide & support her the Queen retreated into a state of pathological grief which nobody could penetrate & few understood. Drawing widely on contemporary letters diaries & memoirs Rappaport brings new light to bear on the causes of Alberts death & tracks Victorias mission to commemorate her husband in perpetuity. Richly compelling this is the story of a magnificent obsession that even death could not sever.