Charlotte Zeepvat

Charlotte Zeepvat
Occupation(s)	Historian and author
Years active	1991–present
Known for	Royalty Digest Prince Leopold: The Untold Story of Queen Victoria's Youngest Son
Academic background
Education	Master of Arts
Alma mater	University of Birmingham
Thesis	Art collecting and artistic patronage in early Stuart England, with particular reference to the function of the ambassador(1976)
Academic advisors	Eric Ives
Academic work
Discipline	Royal history Royal photography
Website	www.charlotte-zeepvat.co.uk

Charlotte M. Zeepvatis an author and historian of European royal history. She has written five books published by Sutton Publishing, including biographies ofPrince Leopold, Duke of Albanyand theRomanovImperial Family. An avid collector of original historical photographs, Zeepvat has also produced two collections of royal photographs, one aboutQueen Victoriaand the other about theRomanovs.

Zeepvat was the primary contributor to the monthly journalRoyalty Digestfrom 1991 to 2005, and contributes to its successorRoyalty Digest Quarterly.She also has written forThe Independent.

Early life and education

Zeepvat read medieval and modern history at theUniversity of Birmingham,graduating with aMaster of Artsdegree.Her senior thesis, completed in 1973 under the supervision ofEric Iveswith the title "Patrons and collectors in early Stuart England",was released in 1976 entitled "Art collecting and artistic patronage in early Stuart England, with particular reference to the function of the ambassador."Zeepvat's first piece of independent research focused onWorld War IpoetW. N. Hodgson,which she hoped would lead to publication; to help with finances, she painted miniature portraits, which rapidly expanded with orders from around the world.

Writing career

Zeepvat started her professional writing career in 1991, when she became the principal contributor to the new monthly journalRoyalty Digest,which focused on European royalty in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As Zeepvat describes, the invitation to write for the journal resulted from a "chance meeting" and she accepted, believing the job was "an intriguing prospect and an entry to the world of publication".She would contribute toRoyalty Digestfor the following fourteen years, until its closure in 2005; Zeepvat later began writing for its successorRoyalty Digest Quarterly.

...A poignant small masterpiece, a book that constitutes an illuminating entré into the multifaceted Victorian world.

Walter L. Arnstein in his review ofPrince Leopold: The Untold Story of Queen Victoria's Youngest Son

Working for the journal led to her entry into book publications. For Zeepvat's first book,Prince Leopold: The Untold Story of Queen Victoria's Youngest Son,which was published in 1998, she was granted access to theRoyal Archives.Zeepvat has referred to thehaemophiliacsubject,Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany,as a "biographer's dream – an [sic] neglected subject whose voice still spoke through an extensive and almost untapped correspondence. "Of the book, historian Walter L. Arnstein wrote, "A biography of Queen Victoria's eighth child... may not, at first glance, impress readers as a particularly helpful introduction to the broader cultural world of Victorian Britain, but, to a surprising degree, it is just that. Charlotte Zeepvat may not be affiliated with an academic institution, but she is an accomplished historian who carefully documents every quotation and generalization. She also demonstrates how many nuggets may be uncovered in the vast correspondence... of a letter-writing generation."

In 2000, Sutton Publishing released Zeepvat'sRomanov Autumn: The Last Century of Imperial Russia,which detailed the final hundred years of theRomanovImperial family in power.The Irish Times'Mary Morrissy called the work "populist history", referring to Zeepvat work as a tour guide in Moscow. Morrissy remarked, "Each chapter is accompanied by the author's pen-and-ink sketches, which, along with Zeepvat's rather breathy writing style, lends the book an old-fashioned air. Rather like leafing through a Victorian lady's scrapbook."More critical,Booklist's Jay Freeman noted that "while serious historians will find little of value here, royalty junkies can have a field day."

A collector of original historical photographs,over the next few years Zeepvat compiled and wrote two photographic books, one of Queen Victoria's family and another of the Romanovs.

The Contemporary Reviewnoted of Zeepvat's 2006 workFrom Cradle to Crown: British Nannies and Governesses at the World's Royal Courts,"By the extensive use of manuscript collections, official records and published memoirs Miss Zeepvat has uncovered a now vanished world and answers these questions. The nannies' world was 'infinitely more human and more subtle' than merely an example of British power abroad. Given the variety of backgrounds described, this fascinating book is also 'a kaleidoscope of women's lives' and an insight into the history of childhood."

Zeepvat has also contributed articles toThe Independent.

Works

• Prince Leopold: The Untold Story of Queen Victoria's Youngest Son(1998)
• Romanov Autumn: The Last Century of Imperial Russia(2000)
• Queen Victoria's Family: A Century of Photographs 1840-1940(2001)
• The Camera and the Tsars: A Romanov Family Album(2004)
• From Cradle to Crown: British Nannies and Governesses at the World's Royal Courts(2006)