The royal family seemed to have pulled off a classic when they ventured into the archives and revealed some of the lesser known gems to the public aside from the literal jewels.
The Royal Collection Trust shared an update the team delved into to restore a copy of a famous novel that came from Prince Albert’s private collection as they marked the 250th anniversary of the literary legend.
The palace celebrated Jane Austen, who was born in 1775. Queen Victoria had a personal attachment to the book.
Pride and Prejudice was one of the many novels that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert read together, the palace revealed. It was first published anonymously in three volumes in January 1813.
In a video clip, they shared the copy from the Royal Library, a later edition published in 1853, but believed to be the personal copy of the royal.
On 22 July of that year, Queen Victoria wrote in her diary that Albert “in the evening began to read Miss Austen to me. Pride and Prejudice”.
Albert continued to read it over several days and the Queen was evidently hooked, describing it as a “very funny”, “admirably written” and “interesting and entertaining” book.
In a tragic twist, when Albert died, Victoria had her Lady in Waiting read the novel to her again in the summer of 1867.
Over the years, the novel has been adapted into several films, the most popular being the 2005 film starring Kiera Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen.
