Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (1853-84), is acknowledged to have been the most intelligent and, in the words of one writer, 'by far and away the most interesting' of Queen Victoria's four sons. He was a strong-willed, attractive character, with an immense thirst for life. He was also, however, the first royal haemophiliac and suffered continual ill health: in addition to haemophilia, Leopold suffered from epilepsy. A compelling human story which also touches on the wider worlds of late nineteenth-century Oxford and of literature, art and politics in the Victorian period, it examines the question of haemophilia and the royal family from a new angle, at the first appearance of the condition. For example, when did the Queen and Prince Albert realise that their youngest son was ill and how much did they understand of his illness? The book also presents a full and balanced picture of Leopold's relationship with his mother, looking beyond snapshots of individual quarrels between mother and son. Finally, it examines Leopold's life at Oxford, the varied and interesting friendships he developed there with Lewis Carroll, John Ruskin and Oscar Wilde; his political views; and the importance of his work as unofficial secretary to the Queen.
