Bertie, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales — Tyler Whittle

First of a two-part biographical novel about Queen Victoria's eldest son & heir apparent, Prince Edward known as Bertie to family members. This novel begins with his birth and takes the reader right up to the death of Queen Victoria and him becoming King Edward VII. Before his accession to the throne, he served as heir apparent and held the title of Prince of Wales for longer than any of his predecessors. During the long reign of his mother, Queen Victoria, he was largely excluded from political power and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. The Edwardian era, which covered Edward's reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including powered flight and the rise of Socialism. Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet, the reform of the Army Medical Services, and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War. Edward fostered good relations between Great Britain and other European countries, especially France, for which he was popularly called "Peacemaker." Edward, as Prince of Wales set many fashions as he was always well-dressed, he became a trend-setter in fashion. During Queen Victoria's widowhood, Edward pioneered the idea of royal public appearances as we understand them today-for example, opening Thames Embankment in 1871, Mersey Tunnel in 1886, and Tower Bridge in 1894. A fascinating, entertaining novel.