I have had this plant in the ground now for 12 years. It was a bit slow off the mark, but has always been about the fastest rose to repeat it's blooms. No sooner do you go to deadhead the spent flowers (which usually drop very cleanly, I might add), then you see new growth starting from the leaf axils below. And before you know it, there are buds and blooms again. My bush is in bloom constantly from late April until I prune it back in January. The spring blooms are definitely the largest and best, later flowers seem to become smaller and smaller, the early winter blooms with fewer petals and no lasting power at all. The fragrance is strong and beguiling. I've always thought this rose seemed the quintessential "Victorian cabbage rose" depicted on teacups and plates, always charming and producing more than it's share of flowers.
A warning though -- in the damp, cool summer of San Francisco, it is a martyr to blackspot, although it never seems to really dim the plants vigor. I now spray monthly through August and have no problems with blackspot. If you're not willing to spray and live where bs is a problem, expect a textbook show on your Reine Victoria.