‘Fascinating, rigorously researched and vividly told...[a] groundbreaking biography’. - Dr Anna Whitelock

Princess Louise played a crucial role in rise of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, but while her son Albert entered history, she was removed from it. Based on a decade of original research, this is the first English-language biography to explore her life and legacy — and the scandal the royal family tried to bury.

Married off to the older Duke Ernst Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Louise bore two sons, Ernst and Albert, but her unhappy marriage led to her banishment, divorce, and loss of her children. She died alone at just thirty-one, her reputation destroyed by court gossip and political intrigue. Was she a fallen woman, or a victim of royal machinations? And was Prince Albert truly Ernst’s son?

Louise’s story is one of scandal, tragedy, and secrets that shape the House of Windsor today.