There has been a resurgence of biographical interest in Victoria and her family in recent years, but attempts to develop a 'court history' for the nineteenth century comparable to those which exist for the Tudor and Stuart dynasties, and for the courts of absolutist continental monarchies are as yet in their infancy. It is surely time for serious consideration of an institution which continued to have significance for Victorians as a component in politics, as a social centre, and as a symbol of national and imperial power.

1. 'The last Hanoverian sovereign? The Victorian monarchy in historical perspective, 1688-1988', in A. L. Beier, David Cannadine and James M. Rosenheim, eds., The first modern society: essays in honour of Lawrence Stone (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1989), pp127-165.
2. Mrs Steuart Erskine, ed., Twenty years at court: from the correspondence of the Hon. Eleanor Stanley, 1842-1862 (London, Nisbet, 1916), p21.
3. A. C. Benson and Viscount Esher, eds., The letters of Queen Victoria: a selection from Her Majesty's correspondence between the years 1837 and 1861, (London, John Murray, 1908) First series, vol. iii, p321.
4. 'The transformation of London "Society" at the end of Victoria's reign: evidence from the court presentation records', Albion, 22(Winter 1990) pp. 633-653.
5. G. E. Buckle, ed., The letters of Queen Victoria: a selection from her majesty's correspondence and journals between the years 1886 and 1901 (London, John Murray, 1930), Third series, vol. i, p.5 1.

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