Few British monarchs have fit the time, the tone or the energy of an era quite the way Queen Victoria mastered her reign.

From her ascension to the throne in 1837 to her death in 1901, her monarchy was one of spectacular advances in the British Empire. Political, scientific, and industrial wonders were changing the world. Britain''s influence reached all corners of the earth.

But there was one area that particularly intrigued the Queen. Men.

Keenly aware of the opposite sex, her most trusted advisors were men. Lord Melbourne, her first prime minister, was an avuncular presence. Then her beloved husband Prince Albert took the reins until his death in 1861.

In a widowhood of forty years, her ministers were a varied lot. She adored Disraeli, disliked Gladstone, and found genuine friendship with Lord Salisbury. Then there was Mr. Brown, the Scottish ghillie who she found wonderfully attractive. Later there was Abdul Karim, the Munshi, or teacher with whom she had a motherly relationship. She adored her son-in-law, Prince Henry of Battenberg, the ''sunshine of their lives'' and was devastated when he died. She also loved her grandson-in-law, Prince Louis Battenberg, who was one of the executors of her will.

Those years without Albert were not barren loveless years, they were not without happiness and pleasure, even if the queen herself might protest.