"This book tells the tragic story of the doomed romance between Charlotte, heir to the English throne, and Leopold, uncle of Queen Victoria and first King of the Belgians. Charlotte was the only legitimate royal child of her generation, and her death in childbirth - at the hands of bungling doctors - was followed by an unseemly scramble to produce a substitute heir. Queen Victoria was the product. Chambers offers a vivid and sympathetic portrait of a couple whose lives are in many ways not their own. From the day she was born Charlotte won the hearts of her subjects. Yet, behind the scenes, she was used, abused and victimised by rivalries - between her parents; between her father (the Prince Regent, later George IV) and (Mad King) George III; between her tutors, governesses and other members of her discordant household; and ultimately between the Whig opposition and the Tory government."--Global Books in Print.