George Fleming 'faithful Servant'

QUEEN VICTORIA's SERVANT & FRIEND.At a time when we are being fed a surfeit of movies and TV series about Queen Victoria's life, particularly her supposedly tempestuous, scandalous or strange male relationships, serious thinkers might find a recently published non-fiction book about George Fleming, her personal servant and friend for more than 55 years, to be more than of passing interest. Comparing with books written about Prince Albert, Lord Melbourne, John Brown or Abdul Karim, this new publication points up a few historical errors, attempts to set the record straight with regard to such overly sensational stories that have gone the rounds during the past 170 years and establishes that the Queen, her mother and members of her family were actually very nice and kind people, only too happy to be 'ordinary' when allowed. George kept a diary of sorts, in which he described his duties from when he became 'Steward's Room Boy' at Kensington Palace until reaching his ultimate position as 'Page of the Backstairs', including his extensive travels in the UK and on the Continent and interactions with many members of European Royalty. The ups and downs of his own family's life received equal attention, particularly the 35 year period during which they lived at beautiful Adelaide Cottage in the grounds of Windsor Castle. There George and his wife, Mary Ann, frequently looked after the Queen's children, playing alongside their own, an especially important role following Prince Albert's tragic death.Peter Farrell, author of "George Fleming - faithful servant", inherited his 2 x Great Grandfather's 'diary', when his mother Betty passed away in Cornwall at the age of 98 in 2014. He has since carried out more research into the family's history, discovering that George had an uncle, one William Wood, who was a British secret agent during the Napoleonic Wars and who also features in the book as the subject of a new 'family mystery'.