I cannot say whether reading the now committed to history letters of Her Majesty the Queen Victoria and HRH Prince Albert to and about each other is a good way to spend my free time but it at least has granted me a fair share of shock, wicked amusement and a little bit of scandal.
She does not sound in these letters and journals like the woman I met or the image she projects.
...Then again, now I think about it, nine children is quite a lot even for someone needing to produce heirs and spares. Definitely not "the bare minimum"...