In 1832, Princess Victoria went on a tour of the Midlands and North Wales so she could see some of the country over which she would one day be Queen. She was given a journal by her mother, the Duchess of Kent, so she could write about her journey. In this extract from her journal dated 2 August 1832, she writes about travelling through a coal mining town near Birmingham.

Princess Victoria would go on to keep a journal throughout her life and the many volumes of her journal, which cover nearly seventy years, are held in the Royal Archives.



© Royal Archives, Windsor Castle

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Tasks
2a. What do you think of Princess Victoria’s description of this coal mining town? Do you think it sounds like a nice place to live?

2b. How different do you think Princess Victoria’s life in London was in comparison to the lives of the ‘ragged children’ she describes?