Becoming Queen.

Becoming Queen. Kate Williams. Hutchinson. [pounds sterling]20.00. xviii + 414 pages. ISBN 978-0-091-79479-8. In this biography cum history Dr Williams set out to describe Victoria's accession. To do this she first describes the reigns of George IV (as Regent and King) and of William IV. She continues her story up to the 1840s. Whilst the author has consulted some archives and many (but by no means the latest) printed sources, one senses less than a full grasp of constitutional law and terminology. She writes that after Albert's death the Queen 'intervened in politics'--a very odd way of describing Victoria's role in government and not one ministers of the day would have understood. Dr Williams continues to refer, inaccurately, to George III as 'mad' and fails to understand the constitutional ban on the Prince of Wales' (George IV) marriage with Mrs Fitzherbert. She describes this as 'morganatic' whereas it was in fact illegal. Surprisingly, although the author has both used and quoted from the Royal Archives, she does not acknowledge the Queen's permission to do so. The book has an interesting perspective--the transition brought about by an 18-year-old female sovereign--but the treatment is marred by a fear that the writer is not fully in command of her subject. (E.B.)