Disraeli and Gladstone

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/disraeli_benjamin.shtml - BBC Profile

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/disraeli_gladstone_01.shtml - Disraeli and Gladstone

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/gladstone_william_ewart.shtml = Gladstone

http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10787?docPos=9 -

He maintained his diary daily and almost unbroken until 1894, then spasmodically until 29 December 1896 (about 25,200 entries). Its terse first entry established its usual format: lists of reading, correspondence, and activities both religious and secular, only exceptionally fleshed out with reflections or comments, and these usually telegraphic in form.

‘No, sir; if you please, we will not leave it yet’ -Gladstone

'I thrice kissed my Father's cheek & forehead before & after his death: the only kisses that I can remember’ -Gladstone

http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36652?docPos=15 - Victoria

'From 1830 onwards the duchess and Conroy implemented what was termed the ‘Kensington system’. Their aim was to ensure that Victoria was totally dependent on them, and would not look to others for advice when she came to the throne. The duchess was appointed regent in the event of William IV dying before Victoria reached eighteen, and Conroy's aim was to get the princess to agree to appoint him her private secretary. There was thus a practical, political reason for keeping Victoria away from the court, where she might find other advisers, and away from society, in which she might find alternative sources of support. The Kensington system was, however, more than an exercise in ambition: the aim was to make Victoria herself popular and ensure the survival of the monarchy. The Britishness of her education and upbringing was to be stressed, while her youth and purity marked her out as the herald of a new future, distanced from the moral and political corruption of the British ancien régime.'

'In this they misread Victoria's character completely. Strong-willed, intelligent, emotionally sensitive, lonely, with a fierce temper kept firmly in check, the young Victoria had a deep sense of duty and obligation instilled in her by Lehzen, and also a profound sense of propriety.'

'King William IV survived for another month, before finally succumbing on 20 June 1837. Lord Conyngham (the lord chamberlain) and William Howley (the archbishop of Canterbury) were dispatched at once to Kensington Palace to bring the news to the new queen. Victoria was summoned from her bed by her mother at six in the morning to receive them, which she did ‘(only in my dressing gown), and alone’ (Girlhood, 1.196). That characteristic emphasis pointed to the total and immediate failure of the Kensington system as far as it concerned the ambitions of its progenitors: Conroy was immediately banished from the royal presence, and although the duchess was regularly called upon to attend her daughter in public, she was systematically excluded from all the new queen's decisions and counsels.'

'even when fully grown she was only 4 feet 11 inches tall'