[quote]What she liked about it most of all, though, was that as they stood before the archbishop, they were called simply Victoria and Albert. For the rest of her life, she thought with a swelling joy, she would just be Victoria to her Albert. She wasn't a queen or ruler, but simply a wife and lover. She rolled onto her side and looked at her husband as his fingers glided along the piano keys, playing one of his own compositions. Albert looked up and came over to her, kissing her. By 10.20pm, they went to their room, as Victoria spelled out, "of course in one bed". She lay by his side, in his arms, and on his chest, smiling in the darkness as he whispered to her.
[quote]Victoria woke the next morning after a night of little sleep. She lay still, staring at Albert's face in the early light, marvelling at him and his pale throat, which she had seen only glimpses of before. He was "beautiful, angelic". She was sated and thrilled with an intimacy her mind had strained to imagine. Luckily for her, the mortifying tradition of the court coming to peer at the royal couple when they first climbed into the same bed had gone out of fashion with George III. She was also lucky in that Albert seems to have been a competent, tender lover. Victoria's wedding night was the closest thing she had known to bliss. Her elation was palpable in her journal entry:
[quote]"I NEVER, NEVER spent such an evening! MY DEAREST, DEAR Albert sat on a footstool by my side, and his excessive love and affection gave me feelings of heavenly love and happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before. He clasped me in his arms, and we kissed each other again and again! His beauty, his sweetness and gentleness, – really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such a Husband! Oh! This was the happiest day of my life!"
[quote]It was a kind of lustful enchantment. Over breakfast, Victoria gazed at him, again noticing how he had no neckcloth on under his black velvet jacket and was "more beautiful than it is possible for me to say". The next day, she was cooing in otherworldly tones: "Already the 2nd day since our marriage; his love and gentleness is beyond everything, and to kiss that dear soft cheek, to press my lips to his, is heavenly bliss. I feel a purer more unearthly feel than I ever did. Oh! was ever woman so blessed as I am!"
How do you bitches think it REALLY went?
