WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.820 Welcome back to The Deep Dive, where we extract 00:00:01.820 --> 00:00:04.299 the core insights and surprising stories from 00:00:04.299 --> 00:00:06.759 the deepest corners of history. Hello. Today, 00:00:06.860 --> 00:00:09.300 we are immersing ourselves completely in the 00:00:09.300 --> 00:00:12.740 life of a woman whose reign of 63 years didn't 00:00:12.740 --> 00:00:16.260 just passively span decades. It actively defined 00:00:16.260 --> 00:00:19.660 an entire global era. The Victorian era. And 00:00:19.660 --> 00:00:22.219 set the stage for the modern monarchy, Queen 00:00:22.219 --> 00:00:24.929 Victoria. That's such an accurate framing. I 00:00:24.929 --> 00:00:26.789 mean, when we talk about the Victorian era, we 00:00:26.789 --> 00:00:30.589 are talking about a time marked by, well, dizzying 00:00:30.589 --> 00:00:33.469 industrial innovation, seismic political and 00:00:33.469 --> 00:00:36.469 constitutional change in the UK, massive scientific 00:00:36.469 --> 00:00:39.509 leaps, and of course, the unparalleled expansion 00:00:39.509 --> 00:00:42.729 of the British Empire. And Victoria was the symbolic 00:00:42.729 --> 00:00:46.049 figurehead, the literal embodiment of this relentless 00:00:46.049 --> 00:00:49.149 forward motion. She really was. And what an astonishing 00:00:49.149 --> 00:00:51.729 set of titles she accrued. She reigned as Queen 00:00:51.729 --> 00:00:53.689 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 00:00:53.869 --> 00:00:56.229 But then later she took on that monumental additional 00:00:56.229 --> 00:00:59.070 title. Empress of India. Exactly. She presided 00:00:59.070 --> 00:01:01.969 over an empire so vast that famously the sun 00:01:01.969 --> 00:01:05.010 truly never set on it. She was at the same time 00:01:05.010 --> 00:01:08.569 a local sovereign and a global superpower. But 00:01:08.569 --> 00:01:11.290 you have to remember her influence wasn't just 00:01:11.290 --> 00:01:14.170 geopolitical. It was intensely familial. Ah, 00:01:14.310 --> 00:01:16.629 the grandmother of Europe. That's the one. She 00:01:16.629 --> 00:01:19.680 earned that nickname for a reason. Her nine children 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:22.359 successfully married into royal and noble families 00:01:22.359 --> 00:01:24.939 across the entire continent. Spreading the British 00:01:24.939 --> 00:01:28.680 royal bloodlines and, crucially, the house of 00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:32.599 Saxe -Coburg and Gotha. Into Spain, Russia, Prussia, 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:35.480 you name it. This made her not just Queen of 00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:38.379 Britain, but practically the central hub for 00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:41.280 all of European royalty. The sources we've pulled 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:43.500 for this deep dive are just incredibly rich. 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:45.620 We're drawing from comprehensive biographies, 00:01:45.620 --> 00:01:48.019 historical accounts of her court. And her own 00:01:48.019 --> 00:01:50.760 journals, which are voluminous and intimate. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:53.719 Yes. So our mission today is to move past that 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:56.439 dour, stereotypical image we all have in our 00:01:56.439 --> 00:01:59.420 heads. The perpetually grieving widow in black. 00:01:59.500 --> 00:02:02.420 And instead, understand the critical, surprising 00:02:02.420 --> 00:02:05.700 personal details and political shifts that enabled 00:02:05.700 --> 00:02:09.379 this. privately emotional, sometimes highly secluded 00:02:09.379 --> 00:02:12.840 and fiercely determined woman to morph into the 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:17.080 public moral matriarch of a sprawling global 00:02:17.080 --> 00:02:19.500 empire. And to understand that metamorphosis, 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:21.719 you have to start at the very beginning because 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:25.979 her birth itself was steeped in political panic 00:02:25.979 --> 00:02:28.879 and dynastic crisis. So let's unpack the circumstances 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:33.000 leading to her arrival. Victoria was born Alexandrina 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:36.099 Victoria. at Kensington Palace on May 24, 1819. 00:02:36.819 --> 00:02:39.039 But her parents were essentially rushed into 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:41.740 marriage to produce her, right? Absolutely. The 00:02:41.740 --> 00:02:44.300 British monarchy under George III and his sons 00:02:44.300 --> 00:02:46.639 was facing a catastrophic lack of legitimate 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.139 heirs. A real crisis. It came to a head with 00:02:49.139 --> 00:02:51.520 the death of Princess Charlotte of Wales in 1817. 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:54.139 She was the only legitimate grandchild of George 00:02:54.139 --> 00:02:56.639 III at that point. And her death left the succession 00:02:56.639 --> 00:02:59.199 just hanging by a thread. It did. And this forced 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:01.259 the remaining elder sons of George III, who had 00:03:01.259 --> 00:03:03.919 previously enjoyed rather profligate Get lifestyles. 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:05.979 Including Victoria's father, Prince Edward, the 00:03:05.979 --> 00:03:09.449 Duke of Kent. Exactly. It forced them to hastily 00:03:09.449 --> 00:03:12.729 marry and produce legitimate children. So Victoria's 00:03:12.729 --> 00:03:15.349 very existence was a political necessity. It 00:03:15.349 --> 00:03:17.870 was driven by this desperation to secure the 00:03:17.870 --> 00:03:21.569 dynasty. Precisely. Her father was George III's 00:03:21.569 --> 00:03:24.569 fourth son, and her mother, Princess Victoria 00:03:24.569 --> 00:03:27.610 of Saxe -Coburg -Saalfeld, was already a widow 00:03:27.610 --> 00:03:30.310 with two children from a prior marriage. And 00:03:30.310 --> 00:03:32.569 when she was christened, she was named Alexandrina, 00:03:32.650 --> 00:03:35.830 after Tsar Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria. 00:03:36.110 --> 00:03:38.770 after her mother. Yes. At birth, she was fifth 00:03:38.770 --> 00:03:42.129 in line, which might sound secure, but the remaining 00:03:42.129 --> 00:03:45.210 lives ahead of her were, well, they were frail. 00:03:45.250 --> 00:03:47.490 The lineage ahead of her just collapsed almost 00:03:47.490 --> 00:03:50.250 immediately. Her father, the Duke of Kent, died 00:03:50.250 --> 00:03:53.349 suddenly in January 1820, less than a year after 00:03:53.349 --> 00:03:55.919 her birth. Wow. And just a week later... Her 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:58.780 grandfather, King George III, died. The pace 00:03:58.780 --> 00:04:01.060 of succession was breathtaking. That rapid ascent 00:04:01.060 --> 00:04:03.280 meant she was quickly third in line, behind two 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:05.400 uncles, Frederick, Duke of York, and William, 00:04:05.479 --> 00:04:08.219 Duke of Clarence. And crucially, neither of those 00:04:08.219 --> 00:04:10.879 men had surviving legitimate children. I see. 00:04:11.020 --> 00:04:14.620 So, when Frederick died in 1827, and then George 00:04:14.620 --> 00:04:18.980 IV died in 1830, William became King William 00:04:18.980 --> 00:04:22.220 IV. Making Victoria, at age 11, the official 00:04:22.220 --> 00:04:24.829 heir presumptive. The stakes were literally life 00:04:24.829 --> 00:04:26.889 and death for the future of the House of Hanover. 00:04:27.009 --> 00:04:29.930 That immense pressure, combined with her mother's 00:04:29.930 --> 00:04:32.750 immediate widowhood, led to what Victoria later 00:04:32.750 --> 00:04:36.129 described as a rather melancholy childhood. Yes. 00:04:36.170 --> 00:04:38.949 She was raised in astonishing isolation at Kensington 00:04:38.949 --> 00:04:42.069 Palace under a regime that sounds like something 00:04:42.069 --> 00:04:45.000 out of a prison diary. The Kensington system. 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:46.920 It was an incredible structure of control, wasn't 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:49.120 it? It really was. The system was devised by 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:51.759 her mother, the Duchess of Kent, and her fiercely 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:54.420 ambitious comptroller, Sir John Conroy. Their 00:04:54.420 --> 00:04:57.920 stated goal was protection, but the actual operation... 00:04:58.170 --> 00:05:01.110 It seems designed to ensure Victoria was psychologically 00:05:01.110 --> 00:05:03.689 weak. And completely dependent on them both, 00:05:03.829 --> 00:05:05.990 preventing her from establishing any independent 00:05:05.990 --> 00:05:08.329 alliances. And this wasn't just isolation from 00:05:08.329 --> 00:05:11.290 court or public life. It was this deeply invasive 00:05:11.290 --> 00:05:14.110 physical control. Right. She shared a bedroom 00:05:14.110 --> 00:05:16.529 with her mother every single night until the 00:05:16.529 --> 00:05:19.410 moment she became queen. The psychological impact 00:05:19.410 --> 00:05:30.399 of that. They essentially tried to weaponize 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:32.959 isolation. They did. They cut her off from anyone 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:35.240 they deemed undesirable, which included most 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:37.839 of the royal family. They restricted her social 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:40.860 circle to ensure only Conroy and her mother had 00:05:40.860 --> 00:05:44.220 influence. And this dynamic is so key to understanding 00:05:44.220 --> 00:05:46.319 her later reign, isn't it? Yeah. She learned 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:49.149 early how to resist overwhelming control. Did 00:05:49.149 --> 00:05:52.129 that isolation affect her education? Not in terms 00:05:52.129 --> 00:05:55.529 of rigor, no. She had private tutors, was highly 00:05:55.529 --> 00:05:58.089 intellectual, and learned French, German, Italian, 00:05:58.490 --> 00:06:01.399 and Latin. But interestingly... Despite her mother 00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:03.319 being German and her tutors covering multiple 00:06:03.319 --> 00:06:06.160 languages, she only spoke English at home. That's 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:08.620 right. And she did show early promise. She wrote 00:06:08.620 --> 00:06:10.899 and illustrated a children's story, The Adventures 00:06:10.899 --> 00:06:13.759 of Alice Lascelles, when she was just 10. So 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:16.360 she wasn't repressed in creativity, just in personal 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:19.259 autonomy. So we have this sharp, intensely monitored 00:06:19.259 --> 00:06:22.519 young woman who sees herself clearly as a pawn. 00:06:23.259 --> 00:06:26.060 Which leads directly to the pivotal conflict 00:06:26.060 --> 00:06:28.860 over the regency. Right. King William IV, her 00:06:28.860 --> 00:06:31.560 uncle, profoundly mistrusted Victoria's mother 00:06:31.560 --> 00:06:35.180 and even more so Conroy. And a regency act from 00:06:35.180 --> 00:06:38.360 1830 had designated her mother as the potential 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:41.000 regent if William died before Victoria turned 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:44.120 18. And the thought of Conroy and the Duchess 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:46.519 running the country horrified him. He didn't 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:48.399 keep that horror quiet either, did he? No, he 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:51.300 was spectacularly public about it. He declared 00:06:51.300 --> 00:06:53.540 quite forcefully that he wished to live until 00:06:53.540 --> 00:06:55.860 Victoria's 18th birthday specifically to avoid 00:06:55.860 --> 00:06:58.240 that regency. He essentially gave her a deadline 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:00.560 to reach adulthood and assume full sovereignty. 00:07:00.860 --> 00:07:04.639 The gauntlet was thrown down and Victoria, despite 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:07.240 her youth, started to exhibit that famous resistance. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:10.420 She did. Her resistance to Conroy was fierce 00:07:10.420 --> 00:07:13.310 and it really came... to a head in 1835 when 00:07:13.310 --> 00:07:16.029 she contracted a severe fever. And Conroy and 00:07:16.029 --> 00:07:18.029 her mother saw vulnerability as an opportunity. 00:07:18.620 --> 00:07:20.639 They relentlessly badgered her while she was 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:23.420 ill, pressuring her to make a formal written 00:07:23.420 --> 00:07:26.300 promise to appoint Conroy as her private secretary 00:07:26.300 --> 00:07:28.939 immediately upon accession. And she refused. 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:31.259 She fought them off, even in a state of physical 00:07:31.259 --> 00:07:33.920 weakness. That moment of refusal, when she was 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:36.439 physically vulnerable but intellectually resolute, 00:07:36.500 --> 00:07:39.259 must have cemented her will. It defined her character. 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:43.379 And the pivotal moment arrives on May 24, 1837, 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:47.009 when Victoria turns 18. successfully eliminating 00:07:47.009 --> 00:07:49.990 the need for a regency. Less than a month later, 00:07:50.069 --> 00:07:54.410 on June 20, William IV died. She was queen. And 00:07:54.410 --> 00:07:57.410 the sources are unanimous. Her first act of true 00:07:57.410 --> 00:07:59.829 independence was banning Sir John Conroy from 00:07:59.829 --> 00:08:02.430 her immediate presence. That iron will, forged 00:08:02.430 --> 00:08:05.250 in isolation, immediately manifested in her rule. 00:08:05.410 --> 00:08:07.509 It's a profound irony, isn't it? The mother and 00:08:07.509 --> 00:08:09.410 Conroy tried to make her weak and dependent. 00:08:09.649 --> 00:08:11.990 But the isolation they imposed actually insulated 00:08:11.990 --> 00:08:14.459 her political decision -making capacity. and 00:08:14.459 --> 00:08:17.100 forced her to develop a fierce self -reliance 00:08:17.100 --> 00:08:20.000 that served her reign immediately. That is the 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:22.740 essential takeaway from her childhood. The Kensington 00:08:22.740 --> 00:08:25.100 system was the crucible that burned away weakness 00:08:25.100 --> 00:08:28.459 and left behind a core of absolute non -negotiable 00:08:28.459 --> 00:08:30.920 authority. Let's move to the moment of secession. 00:08:31.540 --> 00:08:35.360 It's a beautifully stark image. She is woken 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:37.820 at 6 a .m., alone in her dressing gown, told 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:40.679 the king is dead, and realizing, consequently, 00:08:40.820 --> 00:08:43.279 that I am queen. That's solitude. After years 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:45.740 of forced cohabitation, it's such a powerful 00:08:45.740 --> 00:08:48.340 symbol of her newfound independence. It marks 00:08:48.340 --> 00:08:50.559 the end of her childhood. And it marked an immediate 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:53.100 geographical shift for the monarchy, too. Yes. 00:08:53.179 --> 00:08:56.659 Since 1714, Britain had shared a monarch with 00:08:56.659 --> 00:08:59.639 the German kingdom of Hanover. However, Hanover 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:02.220 operated under what is known as Salic Law, a 00:09:02.220 --> 00:09:04.799 Germanic legal tradition that explicitly prohibited 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:07.580 women from inheriting the throne. So Salic Law 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:09.980 meant the union was severed. Exactly. Victoria 00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:12.830 couldn't inherit Hanover. Her deeply unpopular 00:09:12.830 --> 00:09:15.169 uncle, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, became 00:09:15.169 --> 00:09:17.710 King of Hanover, leaving Victoria to focus solely 00:09:17.710 --> 00:09:20.690 on the British and Irish crowns. And she was 00:09:20.690 --> 00:09:25.350 18. And politically green. So who steps in to 00:09:25.350 --> 00:09:28.690 guide this fiercely independent but inexperienced 00:09:28.690 --> 00:09:31.450 young sovereign? The Whig Prime Minister, Lord 00:09:31.450 --> 00:09:34.230 Melbourne. He became the dominant figure for 00:09:34.230 --> 00:09:36.590 her first few years, functioning not just as 00:09:36.590 --> 00:09:39.299 a political advisor, but... but really filling 00:09:39.299 --> 00:09:41.899 the emotional void left by her father's early 00:09:41.899 --> 00:09:44.500 death and the psychological conflict with Conroy. 00:09:44.620 --> 00:09:48.070 He became a crucial father figure. He did. The 00:09:48.070 --> 00:09:50.970 sources suggest their bond was profound. One 00:09:50.970 --> 00:09:53.210 commentator likened his affection for her to 00:09:53.210 --> 00:09:55.230 that of a father for a daughter he'd never had. 00:09:55.350 --> 00:09:57.629 And that close relationship was essential, but 00:09:57.629 --> 00:10:00.610 it also fueled her political dependency, which 00:10:00.610 --> 00:10:02.629 led to immediate trouble. Yes, and Melbourne, 00:10:02.769 --> 00:10:05.269 though, was destined to be swiftly overshadowed 00:10:05.269 --> 00:10:08.169 by the ultimate love match, Prince Albert. Initially, 00:10:08.169 --> 00:10:10.409 Victoria was resistant to marriage. She referred 00:10:10.409 --> 00:10:13.350 to it as a shocking sickle alternative when Melbourne 00:10:13.350 --> 00:10:16.179 first suggested it. Her uncle Leopold, king of 00:10:16.179 --> 00:10:18.639 the Belgians, was persistent, though. He'd already 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:20.500 married one of her cousins to Queen Victoria 00:10:20.500 --> 00:10:23.240 and saw Albert, his nephew, and her first cousin 00:10:23.240 --> 00:10:26.860 as the ideal match. And when Albert of Saxe -Coburg 00:10:26.860 --> 00:10:29.440 and Gotha finally visited, Victoria was just 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:32.120 instantly captivated. Oh, she certainly didn't 00:10:32.120 --> 00:10:34.399 hold back in her diary. She described him as 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:37.820 extremely handsome, his eyes are large and blue, 00:10:38.039 --> 00:10:40.399 and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:43.750 mouth with fine teeth. She was absolutely smitten. 00:10:43.850 --> 00:10:46.970 Completely. And due to her status as reigning 00:10:46.970 --> 00:10:49.590 monarch, convention dictated that she had to 00:10:49.590 --> 00:10:53.210 propose to him. Which she did in October 1839, 00:10:53.490 --> 00:10:56.210 just five days after his arrival. That intensity 00:10:56.210 --> 00:10:58.809 really defined their entire relationship. And 00:10:58.809 --> 00:11:00.710 their wedding night entry is perhaps one of the 00:11:00.710 --> 00:11:03.149 most famous and certainly the most ecstatic. 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:06.240 diary entries of any British monarch. It truly 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:08.460 captures the passion. She wrote that she never, 00:11:08.580 --> 00:11:11.460 never spent such an evening. My dearest, dearest, 00:11:11.460 --> 00:11:13.659 dear Albert, his excessive love and affection 00:11:13.659 --> 00:11:15.600 gave me feelings of heavenly love and happiness 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:17.259 I never could have hoped to have felt before. 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:19.799 He clasped me in his arms and we kissed each 00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:22.179 other again and again. It's clear that Albert 00:11:22.179 --> 00:11:24.379 quickly replaced Melbourne as her dominant political 00:11:24.379 --> 00:11:26.799 advisor and emotional confidant. Very quickly. 00:11:26.980 --> 00:11:29.419 And this shift in allegiance didn't go unnoticed 00:11:29.419 --> 00:11:32.019 and immediately led to a constitutional clash. 00:11:32.620 --> 00:11:36.639 the infamous bedchamber crisis of 1839. This 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:39.539 was a genuine constitutional pressure test for 00:11:39.539 --> 00:11:41.600 the young queen. After Melbourne's government 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:44.120 was defeated on a bill concerning Jamaica's constitution, 00:11:44.580 --> 00:11:47.000 he resigned. Right. Robert Peel, the incoming 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:49.860 Tory prime minister, insisted on replacing several 00:11:49.860 --> 00:11:52.620 of Victoria's ladies of the bedchamber who were, 00:11:52.679 --> 00:11:55.539 by convention, the wives of Whig politicians. 00:11:55.980 --> 00:11:58.340 And Victoria saw her ladies as personal friends. 00:11:58.730 --> 00:12:01.350 not political appointments, which is a legacy 00:12:01.350 --> 00:12:03.850 of her isolated childhood where true friendship 00:12:03.850 --> 00:12:06.970 was rare. Exactly. She refused Peel's demand. 00:12:07.289 --> 00:12:09.370 But this wasn't just a personal spat. It was 00:12:09.370 --> 00:12:12.450 a political mistake. How so? Peel insisted he 00:12:12.450 --> 00:12:14.730 could not govern unless he had the full confidence 00:12:14.730 --> 00:12:17.269 and cooperation of the Queen's household. When 00:12:17.269 --> 00:12:19.590 she refused, he resigned, allowing Melbourne 00:12:19.590 --> 00:12:22.370 to return temporarily. Wasn't this a massive 00:12:22.370 --> 00:12:25.379 constitutional misstep? She was essentially preventing 00:12:25.379 --> 00:12:27.759 the formation of a government based on her personal 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:30.539 preference for household staff. It was a clear 00:12:30.539 --> 00:12:33.200 demonstration of her inexperience and her loyalty 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:35.580 to Melbourne over the political necessity of 00:12:35.580 --> 00:12:38.340 deference to Parliament. The ultimate insight 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:41.220 here, though, is that this personal failure taught 00:12:41.220 --> 00:12:43.799 her a critical lesson. That the Crown must remain 00:12:43.799 --> 00:12:45.960 politically neutral in government formation. 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:48.909 She never repeated that mistake. It marks the 00:12:48.909 --> 00:12:51.470 beginning of her journey toward true constitutional 00:12:51.470 --> 00:12:54.409 discretion. Unfortunately, that political learning 00:12:54.409 --> 00:12:57.750 curve came alongside a terrible personal scandal. 00:12:57.950 --> 00:13:02.090 The Lady Flora Hastings affair in 1839. The scandal 00:13:02.090 --> 00:13:05.009 was fueled by the old animosities of the Kensington 00:13:05.009 --> 00:13:08.659 system. Because Victoria fiercely resented Sir 00:13:08.659 --> 00:13:11.379 John Conroy and that odious Lady Flora, who was 00:13:11.379 --> 00:13:13.100 aligned with him and her mother, she readily 00:13:13.100 --> 00:13:15.759 believed rumors that Lady Flora's abdominal swelling 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:18.440 was an out -of -wedlock pregnancy. Possibly by 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:20.899 Conroy himself. That was the rumor. It was pure 00:13:20.899 --> 00:13:24.000 personal vendetta. Lady Flora was pressured into 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:26.580 an intimate examination where she was found to 00:13:26.580 --> 00:13:28.559 be a virgin. And when she died shortly after 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:31.659 from a liver tumor, the press and the Tory opposition 00:13:31.659 --> 00:13:34.740 used the tragedy to portray the Queen as heartless 00:13:34.740 --> 00:13:37.750 and irresponsible. It was terrible for her image. 00:13:37.929 --> 00:13:40.450 The public outcry was severe enough that she 00:13:40.450 --> 00:13:43.289 was hissed and jeered in public as Mrs. Melbourne. 00:13:43.669 --> 00:13:47.309 Her immense initial popularity was severely damaged. 00:13:47.549 --> 00:13:51.049 The volatile public mood of the 1840s also manifested 00:13:51.049 --> 00:13:53.629 in a series of alarming attacks on her person. 00:13:53.870 --> 00:13:55.950 Yes, and rather than listing every single one 00:13:55.950 --> 00:13:58.850 rapidly, let's focus on the pattern this violence 00:13:58.850 --> 00:14:01.289 established. Okay, so the first one by Edward 00:14:01.289 --> 00:14:04.549 Oxford in 1840. actually had the reverse political 00:14:04.549 --> 00:14:07.649 effect, didn't it? It did. It increased her popularity 00:14:07.649 --> 00:14:10.750 by generating public sympathy. The threat galvanized 00:14:10.750 --> 00:14:13.200 public support. But the subsequent attempts really 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:15.659 cemented her personal image as fearless. Right. 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:18.960 Think about John Francis in 1842. He aimed a 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:21.399 pistol at her carriage, but it misfired. And 00:14:21.399 --> 00:14:23.139 what did the queen do the next day? This is an 00:14:23.139 --> 00:14:25.460 incredible story. It's really interesting. Victoria, 00:14:25.500 --> 00:14:27.940 determined to bait the assailant into trying 00:14:27.940 --> 00:14:30.059 again so he could be caught red -handed, drove 00:14:30.059 --> 00:14:32.480 the exact same route the very next day. At the 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:34.820 same time. But much faster and with a larger 00:14:34.820 --> 00:14:37.159 escort. She was deliberately challenging the 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:40.600 threat. That is extraordinary bravery. She essentially 00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:43.340 used herself as bait. And it worked. He fired 00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:45.340 again, but was immediately seized. And there 00:14:45.340 --> 00:14:47.500 were more attempts after that. Yes. Later that 00:14:47.500 --> 00:14:50.159 year, John William Bean tried to shoot her, though 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:52.500 his pistol was only loaded with paper and tobacco. 00:14:53.159 --> 00:14:56.480 Later, William Hamilton, in 1849, fired a powder 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:59.480 -filled pistol, and then Robert Pate in 1850. 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:01.960 He had actually struck her. He did, with a cane, 00:15:02.139 --> 00:15:04.519 crushing her bonnet and bruising her forehead. 00:15:04.820 --> 00:15:07.200 And Pate and Hamilton were sentenced to seven 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:10.000 years' transportation. For our listeners who 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:12.360 might not be familiar with that older legal term, 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:14.720 what does transportation mean in this context? 00:15:15.179 --> 00:15:18.240 It means exile to a penal colony, usually in 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:20.320 Australia. They weren't just jailed in England. 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:22.600 They were shipped overseas to serve their sentence. 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:25.019 The severity of the punishment reflects the seriousness 00:15:25.019 --> 00:15:27.919 with which the Crown viewed these attacks, even 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:30.460 if the weapons were ineffective. The key takeaway, 00:15:30.580 --> 00:15:33.059 though, is that the queen refused to allow these 00:15:33.059 --> 00:15:35.159 repeated threats to stop her from appearing in 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:37.679 public, which ultimately solidified her reputation 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:40.419 for constitutional resilience. Moving to her 00:15:40.419 --> 00:15:43.059 personal life, despite the intense romance with 00:15:43.059 --> 00:15:45.500 Albert, the sources are quite clear that she 00:15:45.500 --> 00:15:49.200 loathed pregnancy. She did. Nine children in 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:53.379 17 years, and she called babies ugly. She was 00:15:53.379 --> 00:15:56.139 very blunt in her journals. She hated the physical 00:15:56.139 --> 00:15:58.740 demands of pregnancy, the vulnerability of it. 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:02.179 And viewed breastfeeding with disgust, preferring 00:16:02.179 --> 00:16:05.139 wet nurses. Yet this personal discomfort led 00:16:05.139 --> 00:16:07.539 to a groundbreaking moment in medical history. 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:10.960 The use of chloroform. Precisely. During the 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:13.379 birth of her eighth child, Prince Leopold, in 00:16:13.379 --> 00:16:16.899 1853, she demanded the use of the new anesthetic, 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:19.460 chloroform. And this was incredibly controversial 00:16:19.460 --> 00:16:21.960 at the time. Very. Why the controversy? It sounds 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:24.360 like an obvious medical benefit. There was major 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:27.139 religious opposition, which argued that relieving 00:16:27.139 --> 00:16:29.440 the pain of childbirth went against the biblical 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:32.259 decree that women must labor in sorrow. And medical 00:16:32.259 --> 00:16:34.980 caution as well? Yes, about the potential unknown 00:16:34.980 --> 00:16:38.299 long -term effects. But Victoria was so relieved 00:16:38.299 --> 00:16:40.340 by the pain reduction that she... demanded it 00:16:40.340 --> 00:16:42.860 again four years later for the birth of Beatrice. 00:16:43.059 --> 00:16:45.240 Effectively legitimizing the use of obstetric 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:47.960 anesthesia for women across Britain and Europe. 00:16:48.120 --> 00:16:50.759 Her personal decision had a massive global health 00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:53.320 impact. That is a remarkable transition, moving 00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:56.139 from a deeply personal medical choice to one 00:16:56.139 --> 00:16:58.179 of the biggest national tragedies of her reign, 00:16:58.519 --> 00:17:02.519 the Great Famine in Ireland. Between 1845 and 00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:06.960 1849, a million died, a million emigrated. It 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:10.000 was an unparalleled disaster and it permanently 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:13.319 scarred Anglo -Irish relations. And Victoria 00:17:13.319 --> 00:17:15.920 Romaine's controversial often labeled the famine 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:18.420 queen, leading to persistent myths about her 00:17:18.420 --> 00:17:20.680 indifference. Right. We need to address one of 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:23.019 those myths directly. The idea that she only 00:17:23.019 --> 00:17:25.500 donated five pounds. That's just completely untrue. 00:17:25.789 --> 00:17:27.970 That myth is thoroughly debunked by the sources. 00:17:28.329 --> 00:17:30.930 She personally donated two thousand pounds to 00:17:30.930 --> 00:17:33.750 the British Relief Association in January 1847, 00:17:33.970 --> 00:17:36.150 which was a staggering sum equivalent to hundreds 00:17:36.150 --> 00:17:38.549 of thousands of modern pounds and significantly 00:17:38.549 --> 00:17:40.930 more than any other individual private donor. 00:17:41.150 --> 00:17:43.589 So while the crown was politically and structurally 00:17:43.589 --> 00:17:46.230 incapable of preventing the disaster, her personal 00:17:46.230 --> 00:17:49.019 philanthropy was genuine. It was. Furthermore, 00:17:49.220 --> 00:17:51.839 she supported the Maynooth grant, providing funds 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:54.599 to a Roman Catholic seminary in Ireland, which 00:17:54.599 --> 00:17:56.960 was a politically fraught decision given the 00:17:56.960 --> 00:17:59.579 significant anti -Catholic sentiment among the 00:17:59.579 --> 00:18:01.460 British Protestant establishment at the time. 00:18:01.539 --> 00:18:04.339 So her actions in Ireland showed genuine concern, 00:18:04.519 --> 00:18:06.859 even if the government response was inadequate. 00:18:07.420 --> 00:18:09.680 I think so. Shifting to international relations, 00:18:10.019 --> 00:18:12.700 she was highly proactive, especially in trying 00:18:12.700 --> 00:18:15.279 to cultivate peace with France. Yes, she was 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:18.259 a keen diplomat. Her visits to King Louis Philippe 00:18:18.259 --> 00:18:22.579 I in 1843 and 1845 were landmark moments. Making 00:18:22.579 --> 00:18:24.980 her the first reigning British monarch to visit 00:18:24.980 --> 00:18:27.000 a French monarch since the field of the cloth 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:30.609 of gold in 1520. She valued these personal connections, 00:18:30.829 --> 00:18:33.369 but her strong interest in foreign policy often 00:18:33.369 --> 00:18:36.069 put her in direct conflict with her own ministers, 00:18:36.329 --> 00:18:38.690 most notably the aggressive and willful foreign 00:18:38.690 --> 00:18:41.750 secretary, Lord Palmerston. Victoria despised 00:18:41.750 --> 00:18:44.410 Palmerston's unilateral style. She complained 00:18:44.410 --> 00:18:46.789 that he acted entirely without consulting her 00:18:46.789 --> 00:18:49.190 or the cabinet. This was a direct challenge to 00:18:49.190 --> 00:18:51.369 what Walter Bagehot would later codify as the 00:18:51.369 --> 00:18:53.509 monarch's constitutional rights. The right to 00:18:53.509 --> 00:18:55.509 be consulted, the right to encourage, and the 00:18:55.509 --> 00:18:58.559 right to warn. So she saw him as infringing upon 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:01.119 the very limited constitutional power she still 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:03.900 held. Precisely. She viewed it as a constitutional 00:19:03.900 --> 00:19:06.960 breach. She complained incessantly to the Prime 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:09.539 Minister, Lord Russell, demanding Palmerston's 00:19:09.539 --> 00:19:12.720 removal. And the clash finally culminated in 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:16.500 1851. It did, when Palmerston recognized Louis 00:19:16.500 --> 00:19:18.720 -Napoleon Bonaparte's coup in France without 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:22.380 consulting anyone. Victoria successfully orchestrated 00:19:22.380 --> 00:19:25.420 his removal. She used her power to warn and consult 00:19:25.420 --> 00:19:28.539 to great effect there. But politics is cyclical, 00:19:28.579 --> 00:19:32.000 especially when war comes knocking. Indeed. The 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.200 poor management of the Crimean War led to the 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:37.220 collapse of the government in early 1855. And 00:19:37.220 --> 00:19:39.640 despite Victoria's profound personal distrust 00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:42.160 and animosity toward Palmerston, she had no choice 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:44.319 but to appoint him as prime minister, as neither 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:46.460 of the other contenders could command sufficient 00:19:46.460 --> 00:19:49.140 parliamentary support. This was a critical lesson. 00:19:49.460 --> 00:19:52.079 Even the queen's strongest preferences must yield 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:54.720 to political necessity and the will of the commons. 00:19:55.049 --> 00:19:57.150 Absolutely. And despite her struggles with him, 00:19:57.210 --> 00:19:59.630 she continued her diplomatic efforts with France, 00:19:59.829 --> 00:20:03.670 returning a visit to Napoleon III in 1855, attending 00:20:03.670 --> 00:20:06.789 a massive ball at Versailles. It shows her ability 00:20:06.789 --> 00:20:09.309 to separate personal political feeling from the 00:20:09.309 --> 00:20:12.710 needs of the state. We now arrive at 1861, which 00:20:12.710 --> 00:20:15.049 stands as the single most psychologically devastating 00:20:15.049 --> 00:20:18.150 year of Victoria's life. A calamity that utterly 00:20:18.150 --> 00:20:21.630 reset her identity and the character of the British 00:20:21.630 --> 00:20:24.390 monarchy for generations. Two profound personal 00:20:24.390 --> 00:20:27.890 losses occurred in quick succession. First, the 00:20:27.890 --> 00:20:30.410 death of her mother in March. And this death 00:20:30.410 --> 00:20:33.299 was deeply complicated. Victoria had spent most 00:20:33.299 --> 00:20:35.279 of her life estranged from her mother due to 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:37.720 the machinations of the Kensington system. But 00:20:37.720 --> 00:20:40.460 upon her mother's death, Victoria read her private 00:20:40.460 --> 00:20:43.440 papers and was stunned to realize the depth of 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:45.519 her mother's love for her, which she felt had 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:47.579 been entirely obscured. That must have been a 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:50.220 crushing realization. It caused tremendous heartbreak 00:20:50.220 --> 00:20:53.200 and profound guilt. She immediately redirected 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:55.640 her blame, holding Conroy and Leighton responsible 00:20:55.640 --> 00:20:58.079 for what she saw as their wicked estrangement 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:00.660 during those critical formative years. She carried 00:21:00.660 --> 00:21:02.980 that emotional burden heavily. And then came 00:21:02.980 --> 00:21:05.460 the devastating loss in December. Prince Albert 00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:08.319 died. Albert had been unwell, suffering from 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:11.039 chronic stomach issues, but his death was diagnosed 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:14.819 as typhoid fever. Yes, but Victoria, in her grief, 00:21:15.019 --> 00:21:18.640 she personalized the loss. She rejected the medical 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:21.000 diagnosis and clung instead to the belief that 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:23.680 Albert was killed by that dreadful business. 00:21:24.299 --> 00:21:27.039 The worry and stress caused by their son, Albert 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:29.720 Edwards, Bertie's philanderings. Albert had traveled 00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:32.039 to Cambridge to confront Bertie shortly before 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:34.960 falling ill, and Victoria blamed the stress of 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:37.359 that confrontation for his death. The intensity 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:39.740 of her grief was immediately visible to the public. 00:21:39.940 --> 00:21:42.500 Utter devastation. She plunged into a state of 00:21:42.500 --> 00:21:45.019 deep, perpetual mourning, wearing black for the 00:21:45.019 --> 00:21:47.279 remaining 40 years of her life. And crucially, 00:21:47.400 --> 00:21:49.740 she avoided public appearances almost entirely, 00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:53.059 retreating to her private residences at Windsor, 00:21:53.400 --> 00:21:56.960 Osborne, and Belmoral. This self -imposed isolation 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:59.759 is how she earned the famous nickname Widow of 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:02.500 Windsor. But this wasn't just a personal retreat. 00:22:02.700 --> 00:22:05.200 It had enormous constitutional and political 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:09.140 consequences. It did. The queen's absence severely 00:22:09.140 --> 00:22:11.240 diminished the popularity of the monarchy and 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:14.160 created a vacuum that fueled a powerful Republican 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:17.339 movement throughout the 1860s and 1870s. Right. 00:22:17.420 --> 00:22:19.680 For the middle and working classes who were experiencing 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:22.779 massive cultural shifts, a monarch who refused 00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:25.339 to perform her public duties seemed irrelevant. 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:28.539 The political commentary at the time was scathing. 00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:31.559 reflecting that sentiment. Scathing in public. 00:22:31.859 --> 00:22:35.920 In March 1864, an anonymous person actually posted 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:38.099 a notice on the railings of Buckingham Palace. 00:22:38.380 --> 00:22:41.150 Anna read. These commanding premises to be let 00:22:41.150 --> 00:22:43.769 or sold in consequence of the late occupants 00:22:43.769 --> 00:22:46.450 declining business. That kind of direct public 00:22:46.450 --> 00:22:49.029 hostility shows how vulnerable the monarchy had 00:22:49.029 --> 00:22:51.650 become due to her seclusion. So how did the monarchy 00:22:51.650 --> 00:22:54.650 pull back from that abyss? What brought the widow 00:22:54.650 --> 00:22:57.089 of Windsor back into public favor? It was a very 00:22:57.089 --> 00:22:59.750 gradual process urged on by her family, including 00:22:59.750 --> 00:23:02.089 her uncle Leopold. She made token appearances 00:23:02.089 --> 00:23:04.369 like a drive through London or attending parliament 00:23:04.369 --> 00:23:07.109 in 1866. But the real turning point was another 00:23:07.109 --> 00:23:09.640 medical crisis. the Prince of Wales contracted 00:23:09.640 --> 00:23:11.920 typhoid fever, the same disease that supposedly 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:15.660 killed Albert. In late 1871, at the peak of the 00:23:15.660 --> 00:23:18.299 Republican movement, the public feared a repeat 00:23:18.299 --> 00:23:20.799 of Albert's death. Exactly. And the genuine public 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:23.200 anxiety showed that people still cared about 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:25.859 the royal family as individuals. When Bertie 00:23:25.859 --> 00:23:29.380 recovered in early 1872, the response was generalized 00:23:29.380 --> 00:23:32.740 rejoicing. That relief was channeled into massive 00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:35.789 expressions of public loyalty. It was essential 00:23:35.789 --> 00:23:38.769 for the crown's survival. The recovery was celebrated 00:23:38.769 --> 00:23:41.430 with a huge public parade and a grand service 00:23:41.430 --> 00:23:44.009 of Thanksgiving in St. Paul's Cathedral in February 00:23:44.009 --> 00:23:47.450 1872. Effectively silencing the Republican movement 00:23:47.450 --> 00:23:50.569 for years. And almost bizarrely, a harmless assassination 00:23:50.569 --> 00:23:53.569 attempt two days later further solidified that 00:23:53.569 --> 00:23:56.230 public goodwill. Right. Arthur O 'Connor, a 17 00:23:56.230 --> 00:23:59.029 -year -old, aimed an unloaded pistol at her carriage. 00:23:59.210 --> 00:24:01.470 And the public reaction was overwhelming loyalty 00:24:01.470 --> 00:24:04.410 and sympathy for the queen. The monarchy's... 00:24:04.460 --> 00:24:06.799 Popularity was reestablished, ironically, not 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:08.779 through the queen performing her duties, but 00:24:08.779 --> 00:24:11.000 through shared anxiety and relief over her son 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:13.960 and sympathy following yet another attack. As 00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:16.619 she navigated this return to public life, she 00:24:16.619 --> 00:24:18.680 was cultivating highly controversial personal 00:24:18.680 --> 00:24:21.579 relationships and her private life, relationships 00:24:21.579 --> 00:24:24.839 that defied court sensibilities. Let's talk about 00:24:24.839 --> 00:24:27.859 John Brown. John Brown was a Scottish manservant. 00:24:28.109 --> 00:24:30.269 who became Victoria's indispensable personal 00:24:30.269 --> 00:24:33.269 attendant throughout the 1860s and beyond. He 00:24:33.269 --> 00:24:36.210 developed an unparalleled closeness to the queen, 00:24:36.410 --> 00:24:39.329 leading to those widespread, persistent rumors 00:24:39.329 --> 00:24:42.750 of a romantic attachment or even a secret, non 00:24:42.750 --> 00:24:45.269 -formal marriage. Rumors that led to her being 00:24:45.269 --> 00:24:47.569 called Mrs. Brown. in court circles. Correct. 00:24:47.769 --> 00:24:50.769 The court was scandalized by his easy familiarity, 00:24:51.150 --> 00:24:53.930 his occasional impudence, and the immense trust 00:24:53.930 --> 00:24:56.650 Victoria placed in him. And she publicly affirmed 00:24:56.650 --> 00:24:58.630 his importance in her published work, Leaves 00:24:58.630 --> 00:25:00.210 from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands. 00:25:00.329 --> 00:25:03.250 Yes, she did. These deep, intense emotional bonds, 00:25:03.430 --> 00:25:06.549 first with Albert, then with Brown, were clearly 00:25:06.549 --> 00:25:09.059 personal necessities for the Queen. But were 00:25:09.059 --> 00:25:10.819 they politically savvy? No, not at all. They 00:25:10.819 --> 00:25:12.440 weren't politically savvy. They were an emotional 00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:15.339 reaction to profound loss. Victoria's intense 00:25:15.339 --> 00:25:17.759 need for connection, dating back to the emotional 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:20.559 vacuum of her childhood, overruled political 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:23.900 prudence. She needed a link to the past. And 00:25:23.900 --> 00:25:26.279 Brown was a touchstone of her life with Albert 00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:29.380 at Belmoral. Exactly. And after Brown's death 00:25:29.380 --> 00:25:32.460 in 1883, the true extent of her devotion was 00:25:32.460 --> 00:25:34.720 revealed when she intended to publish a highly 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:37.599 eulogistic biography about him. And her advisors 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:40.640 stepped in. to prevent that. They panicked. Her 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:43.559 private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby, and the 00:25:43.559 --> 00:25:45.720 Dean of Windsor convinced her to destroy the 00:25:45.720 --> 00:25:48.220 manuscript, fearing it would reignite the Mrs. 00:25:48.299 --> 00:25:51.059 Brown rumors. And severely damage the recovered 00:25:51.059 --> 00:25:53.559 image of the monarchy. Right. She eventually 00:25:53.559 --> 00:25:56.440 compromised by publishing a sequel, More Leaves, 00:25:56.539 --> 00:25:59.539 dedicated to her devoted personal attendant and 00:25:59.539 --> 00:26:02.640 faithful friend, John Brown. But the full, unfiltered 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:05.079 tribute to Brown was censored by her own court. 00:26:05.380 --> 00:26:07.859 While navigating these emotional and public crises, 00:26:08.329 --> 00:26:11.190 She was simultaneously making a massive geopolitical 00:26:11.190 --> 00:26:13.789 maneuver, becoming the Empress of India. This 00:26:13.789 --> 00:26:16.190 happened after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. 00:26:16.549 --> 00:26:19.269 The rebellion led to the British government dissolving 00:26:19.269 --> 00:26:21.869 the East India Company and formally incorporating 00:26:21.869 --> 00:26:24.670 its Indian territories and protectorates directly 00:26:24.670 --> 00:26:27.349 into the British Empire, which necessitated a 00:26:27.349 --> 00:26:29.799 new symbolic title for the sovereign. It did. 00:26:30.039 --> 00:26:32.339 And Victoria's role in the proclamation that 00:26:32.339 --> 00:26:34.440 followed was actually very balanced for the time, 00:26:34.519 --> 00:26:37.240 wasn't it? It was. She condemned atrocities on 00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:40.019 both sides of the conflict. Urged by Albert's 00:26:40.019 --> 00:26:42.519 previous sensibilities, she insisted that the 00:26:42.519 --> 00:26:44.519 official proclamation announcing the transfer 00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:47.279 of power should breathe feelings of generosity, 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:50.650 benevolence, and religious toleration. She personally 00:26:50.650 --> 00:26:53.390 ensured that language threatening the undermining 00:26:53.390 --> 00:26:55.970 of native religions and customs was removed, 00:26:56.289 --> 00:26:59.029 guaranteeing religious freedom instead. And this 00:26:59.029 --> 00:27:01.210 political act of consolidation was championed 00:27:01.210 --> 00:27:03.990 by her favorite prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli. 00:27:04.009 --> 00:27:06.390 Disraeli, whom she adored, pushed through the 00:27:06.390 --> 00:27:10.009 Royal Titles Act of 1876, granting her the title 00:27:10.009 --> 00:27:13.970 Empress of India from May 1st, 1876. This title. 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:17.180 Formerly proclaimed of the Delhi Durbar, solidified 00:27:17.180 --> 00:27:19.680 her identity as the ruler of a subcontinent and 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:21.940 dramatically cemented her public image as the 00:27:21.940 --> 00:27:24.660 head of an unparalleled imperial force. We now 00:27:24.660 --> 00:27:27.680 move to her later reign. As queen and empress, 00:27:27.779 --> 00:27:30.099 Victoria's long life meant working with a huge 00:27:30.099 --> 00:27:32.920 roster of political figures. But none were more 00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:35.500 important or more illustrative of her political 00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:38.740 preferences than her two great rivals, Benjamin 00:27:38.740 --> 00:27:42.160 Disraeli and William Urich Gladstone. The contrast 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:44.579 in her feelings toward these two men highlights 00:27:44.579 --> 00:27:47.819 her deeply personal, almost idiosyncratic approach 00:27:47.819 --> 00:27:51.559 to governance. She absolutely adored Disraeli. 00:27:51.740 --> 00:27:54.140 He was a master of charm and flattery. Oh, yes. 00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:56.019 I love that quote about his approach to royalty. 00:27:56.180 --> 00:27:58.180 He said, everyone likes flattery, and when you 00:27:58.180 --> 00:27:59.779 come to royalty, you should lay it on with a 00:27:59.779 --> 00:28:02.420 trowel. He certainly did, and she loved it. He 00:28:02.420 --> 00:28:05.099 flattered her by referring to them as we authors, 00:28:05.299 --> 00:28:07.839 ma 'am, referencing her published journals. This 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:10.180 personal connection, this ability to make her 00:28:10.180 --> 00:28:15.660 feel consoled. It did. She also strongly endorsed 00:28:15.660 --> 00:28:18.559 his expansionist foreign policy, living firmly 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:20.700 that Britain had to maintain its global status 00:28:20.700 --> 00:28:23.420 and consequently must be prepared for attacks 00:28:23.420 --> 00:28:26.480 and wars continually. This political alignment 00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:29.299 was clearly about personality as much as policy. 00:28:29.769 --> 00:28:32.509 because she hated Gladstone. She truly detested 00:28:32.509 --> 00:28:35.029 him. She complained that his demeanor was far 00:28:35.029 --> 00:28:37.430 less appealing, finding him overly earnest and 00:28:37.430 --> 00:28:40.029 moralizing. Her most famous complaint was that 00:28:40.029 --> 00:28:42.750 he spoke to her as though she were a public meeting 00:28:42.750 --> 00:28:45.549 rather than a woman. He treated her as a constitutional 00:28:45.549 --> 00:28:48.789 office. Disraeli treated her as a person. And 00:28:48.789 --> 00:28:51.670 this personal animosity translated into attempts 00:28:51.670 --> 00:28:53.750 to interfere with his government's composition, 00:28:54.089 --> 00:28:57.750 even late in her reign. Yes. When Gladstone returned 00:28:57.750 --> 00:29:00.990 to power after the 1892 general election, she 00:29:00.990 --> 00:29:03.970 successfully objected to his proposal to appoint 00:29:03.970 --> 00:29:07.009 the radical MP Henri Labouchere to the cabinet. 00:29:07.450 --> 00:29:10.230 She leveraged her right to be consulted and warned 00:29:10.230 --> 00:29:12.910 into an effective veto based entirely on her 00:29:12.910 --> 00:29:15.109 political discomfort with the man. She openly 00:29:15.109 --> 00:29:17.450 considered Gladstone's subsequent ministry the 00:29:17.450 --> 00:29:20.450 worst I have ever had and never forgave him for 00:29:20.450 --> 00:29:22.789 what she considered his reckless policy in the 00:29:22.789 --> 00:29:25.309 Sudan. Specifically blaming him for the death 00:29:25.309 --> 00:29:27.289 of General Gordon during the siege of Khartoum. 00:29:27.509 --> 00:29:29.890 Exactly. The evidence of her preference is literally 00:29:29.890 --> 00:29:33.589 set in stone. It is. After Disraeli died in 1881, 00:29:33.769 --> 00:29:36.410 she erected a memorial tablet dedicated by his 00:29:36.410 --> 00:29:39.069 great - sovereign and friend, Victoria R .I. 00:29:39.130 --> 00:29:41.289 She made sure the world knew he was her friend, 00:29:41.410 --> 00:29:44.190 not just a minister. These later years were defined 00:29:44.190 --> 00:29:47.549 by enormous, joyous public celebrations, the 00:29:47.549 --> 00:29:50.250 Jubilees, which effectively signaled the complete 00:29:50.250 --> 00:29:52.950 success of the monarchy's popular recovery after 00:29:52.950 --> 00:29:55.490 the years of seclusion. The Golden Jubilee in 00:29:55.490 --> 00:29:59.450 1887, marking 50 years on the throne, was a colossal 00:29:59.450 --> 00:30:02.559 affair. The banquet hosted 50 kings and princes, 00:30:02.819 --> 00:30:05.099 demonstrating her re -established international 00:30:05.099 --> 00:30:07.559 prominence and the stability of the institution. 00:30:07.940 --> 00:30:10.500 And it was shortly after this jubilee that she 00:30:10.500 --> 00:30:14.000 brought in her second highly controversial confidant, 00:30:14.039 --> 00:30:18.029 Abdul Karim, who became known as the Mushi. Kareem 00:30:18.029 --> 00:30:20.509 was one of two Indian Muslims hired as waiters, 00:30:20.569 --> 00:30:23.769 but Victoria rapidly promoted him, making him 00:30:23.769 --> 00:30:26.750 her munshi, or teacher, instructing her in Urdu. 00:30:26.990 --> 00:30:29.509 This relationship replicated the emotional necessity 00:30:29.509 --> 00:30:32.069 she found in John Brown, and it triggered an 00:30:32.069 --> 00:30:34.329 equally tremendous uproar among her family and 00:30:34.329 --> 00:30:36.069 her retainer. They weren't just jealous, they 00:30:36.069 --> 00:30:38.269 were suspicious. They accused him of lying about 00:30:38.269 --> 00:30:40.529 his parentage and background, spying for a political 00:30:40.529 --> 00:30:43.569 organization, and notably, they exhibited blatant 00:30:43.569 --> 00:30:45.930 racial bias against him. Complaining he favored 00:30:45.930 --> 00:30:48.960 Hindus over Muslims. Right. Her own equerry, 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:51.460 Frederick Ponsonby, reported that the Munchie 00:30:51.460 --> 00:30:54.140 occupies very much the same position as John 00:30:54.140 --> 00:30:58.680 Brown used to do. So she had these intense, emotionally 00:30:58.680 --> 00:31:01.779 necessary but politically unwise relationships 00:31:01.779 --> 00:31:04.559 with men who fell outside the rigid court structure. 00:31:04.990 --> 00:31:07.170 And she dismissed her court's outcry as simple 00:31:07.170 --> 00:31:10.309 prejudice. She supported him fiercely, despite 00:31:10.309 --> 00:31:12.849 the internal chaos and the family's attempts 00:31:12.849 --> 00:31:15.069 to have him expelled. She even wrote that the 00:31:15.069 --> 00:31:17.990 complaints were rooted in racial prejudice. Karim 00:31:17.990 --> 00:31:21.230 remained in her service, teaching her Urdu until 00:31:21.230 --> 00:31:24.089 her death. He did. Ten years later came the ultimate 00:31:24.089 --> 00:31:27.170 spectacle of imperial power, the Diamond Jubilee 00:31:27.170 --> 00:31:30.980 in 1897. This was deliberately framed as a festival 00:31:30.980 --> 00:31:33.480 of the British Empire at the suggestion of colonial 00:31:33.480 --> 00:31:36.180 secretary Joseph Chamberlain. The scale was unprecedented. 00:31:36.380 --> 00:31:38.920 It was a massive demonstration of global might. 00:31:39.059 --> 00:31:41.279 Prime ministers of all self -governing dominions 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:43.779 were invited to London. And critically, foreign 00:31:43.779 --> 00:31:46.099 heads of state were excluded. Yes, and that was 00:31:46.099 --> 00:31:48.940 deliberate diplomacy driven by Victoria's personal 00:31:48.940 --> 00:31:51.380 feelings. She wanted to avoid inviting her eldest 00:31:51.380 --> 00:31:54.819 grandchild, Wilhelm II, the German emperor. Who 00:31:54.819 --> 00:31:57.670 she considered autocratic. and who, she believed, 00:31:57.950 --> 00:32:00.750 lacked what she called little heart or zartgefühl. 00:32:01.069 --> 00:32:03.349 Zartgefühl. What exactly does that German word 00:32:03.349 --> 00:32:07.210 imply here? It translates roughly as tact, delicacy, 00:32:07.210 --> 00:32:11.210 or sensitivity. She felt Wilhelm II was boorish, 00:32:11.349 --> 00:32:14.069 arrogant, and lacked the subtlety necessary for 00:32:14.069 --> 00:32:16.670 statecraft. So by excluding foreign heads of 00:32:16.670 --> 00:32:19.410 state, she avoided a public diplomatic incident 00:32:19.410 --> 00:32:22.089 with a relative she found deeply distasteful. 00:32:22.380 --> 00:32:24.779 It shows that her personal opinions still significantly 00:32:24.779 --> 00:32:27.940 influenced state protocol. The Jubilee procession 00:32:27.940 --> 00:32:30.980 was six miles long, a true spectacle. Yet the 00:32:30.980 --> 00:32:33.660 queen herself, due to failing health, couldn't 00:32:33.660 --> 00:32:36.440 even participate fully. No, she was 78 and suffering 00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:39.200 terribly. She'd been plagued by lameness and 00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:41.640 rheumatism since falling downstairs in 1883, 00:32:41.880 --> 00:32:44.299 and her weight had increased significantly due 00:32:44.299 --> 00:32:46.589 to comfort eating. She was unable to climb the 00:32:46.589 --> 00:32:48.509 steps of St. Paul's Cathedral for the service. 00:32:48.710 --> 00:32:50.950 So the service had to be held outdoors, and she 00:32:50.950 --> 00:32:53.430 remained seated in her open carriage. It was 00:32:53.430 --> 00:32:56.250 a poignant image of the immovable elderly empress 00:32:56.250 --> 00:32:58.970 presiding over an endlessly changing world. The 00:32:58.970 --> 00:33:01.150 final years of her life were marked by increasing 00:33:01.150 --> 00:33:04.490 frailty. Her health declined rapidly. In addition 00:33:04.490 --> 00:33:06.890 to rheumatism and weight issues, her eyesight 00:33:06.890 --> 00:33:10.170 was failing due to cataracts. She spent her final 00:33:10.170 --> 00:33:13.309 Christmas of 1900 at Osborne House feeling weak, 00:33:13.450 --> 00:33:16.329 drowsy, and confused. She died on January 22, 00:33:16.670 --> 00:33:20.869 1901 at the age of 81 at Osborne House. Her son, 00:33:21.109 --> 00:33:24.190 Edward VII, and her difficult grandson, Wilhelm 00:33:24.190 --> 00:33:27.130 II, were at her bedside. Her final instructions 00:33:27.130 --> 00:33:29.829 for her funeral were highly symbolic of her life. 00:33:30.009 --> 00:33:32.809 They were. She insisted on a military funeral. 00:33:33.480 --> 00:33:35.259 befitting a soldier's daughter and the head of 00:33:35.259 --> 00:33:37.099 the army. And she used to be dressed in white, 00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:39.480 completely abandoning the black she had worn 00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:41.740 for 40 years of mourning. But the small secret 00:33:41.740 --> 00:33:44.859 details of her burial truly reveal the emotional 00:33:44.859 --> 00:33:47.400 core of her life. They reveal everything the 00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:50.079 court tried to repress. Exactly. Hidden beneath 00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:52.319 a carefully positioned bunch of flowers in her 00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:54.799 left hand and concealed from the family's view 00:33:54.799 --> 00:33:57.660 were an array of mementos that bridged her two 00:33:57.660 --> 00:34:00.440 great emotional pillars. One of Albert's dressing 00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:03.259 gowns, a plaster cast of his hand. And a lock 00:34:03.259 --> 00:34:06.599 of John Brown's hair, Brown's picture, and John 00:34:06.599 --> 00:34:08.780 Brown's mother's wedding ring, which Brown had 00:34:08.780 --> 00:34:12.579 given Victoria in 1883. She ensured her two closest 00:34:12.579 --> 00:34:15.159 companions went with her. She was the last monarch 00:34:15.159 --> 00:34:17.280 of the House of Hanover. That's right. Victoria's 00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:20.139 reign was so long and transformative that her 00:34:20.139 --> 00:34:23.679 legacy is essentially the blueprint for the modern 00:34:23.679 --> 00:34:25.780 monarchy. Let's start with the lighter side, 00:34:25.960 --> 00:34:30.000 the persistent myth of we are not amused. It's 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:32.809 a complete fabrication. She actively denied ever 00:34:32.809 --> 00:34:35.250 saying it, and her staff's journals frequently 00:34:35.250 --> 00:34:38.070 recorded that she was immensely amused and roared 00:34:38.070 --> 00:34:40.570 with laughter often. The image of the constantly 00:34:40.570 --> 00:34:43.750 grim puritanical monarch is largely inaccurate, 00:34:44.130 --> 00:34:46.550 fueled by her long period of seclusion. Right. 00:34:46.650 --> 00:34:48.909 More substantially, her most enduring legacy 00:34:48.909 --> 00:34:51.469 is biological and cultural. She is literally 00:34:51.469 --> 00:34:53.929 the grandmother of Europe, and she firmly established 00:34:53.929 --> 00:34:56.230 the concept of the family monarchy. And this 00:34:56.230 --> 00:34:58.550 concept was vital for the survival of the crown. 00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:01.420 You have to remember, her predecessors, George 00:35:01.420 --> 00:35:04.179 IV and William IV, were associated with serious 00:35:04.179 --> 00:35:06.940 scandal, excessive debt and dissolute living. 00:35:07.179 --> 00:35:09.880 Victoria's family monarchy emphasized morality, 00:35:10.360 --> 00:35:14.239 piety and stable family values. And why was that 00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:16.739 emphasis on morality so important to the audience? 00:35:17.099 --> 00:35:19.000 Because it appealed directly to the burgeoning 00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:22.059 middle classes. These were the pious, industrial, 00:35:22.460 --> 00:35:25.599 non -aristocratic people who now formed the backbone 00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:28.429 of Britain's prosperity. By presenting the crown 00:35:28.429 --> 00:35:32.230 as the ultimate moral familial institution, an 00:35:32.230 --> 00:35:35.369 image carefully crafted by Albert Victoria made 00:35:35.369 --> 00:35:37.960 the monarchy respectable. Relatable and therefore 00:35:37.960 --> 00:35:40.360 politically necessary to this new influential 00:35:40.360 --> 00:35:43.260 social group. Politically, her long reign saw 00:35:43.260 --> 00:35:46.139 the finalization of the shift to a modern constitutional 00:35:46.139 --> 00:35:48.820 monarchy, where the monarch is symbolic rather 00:35:48.820 --> 00:35:51.139 than dominant. That process was ongoing, but 00:35:51.139 --> 00:35:53.800 Victoria's era finalized it. While she certainly 00:35:53.800 --> 00:35:56.079 used her political influence, as seen in the 00:35:56.079 --> 00:35:58.659 removal of Palmerston and her objections to Gladstone's 00:35:58.659 --> 00:36:01.239 cabinet, the absolute power had definitively 00:36:01.239 --> 00:36:03.239 transferred to the House of Commons. And this 00:36:03.239 --> 00:36:06.139 shaked is perfectly encapsulated by Walter Badshot's... 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:09.159 1867 analysis of the monarch's residual powers. 00:36:09.340 --> 00:36:11.780 He famously defined the monarch's remaining rights 00:36:11.780 --> 00:36:15.380 as the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, 00:36:15.619 --> 00:36:18.039 and the right to warn. We've seen her use those 00:36:18.039 --> 00:36:19.840 rights frequently, but the fact that they had 00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:23.000 to be defined so specifically shows just how 00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:25.719 far the political pendulum had swung away from 00:36:25.719 --> 00:36:28.139 the crown's direct authority. Victoria's long 00:36:28.139 --> 00:36:31.360 life helps smooth this transition, ensuring the 00:36:31.360 --> 00:36:33.739 monarchy remained a respected, though politically 00:36:33.739 --> 00:36:36.920 limited, symbol. It did. Finally, we must address 00:36:36.920 --> 00:36:40.420 the royal disease, hemophilia B, which traces 00:36:40.420 --> 00:36:43.519 back to her. Her youngest son, Prince Leopold, 00:36:43.539 --> 00:36:45.400 was affected by the blood clotting disorder, 00:36:45.619 --> 00:36:48.800 and two of her daughters were carriers. Through 00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:50.760 their marriages, Victoria became the source of 00:36:50.760 --> 00:36:53.139 hemophilia B that spread through several royal 00:36:53.139 --> 00:36:55.920 lines across Europe. Including the Spanish, German, 00:36:56.039 --> 00:36:58.659 and Russian royal families, famously afflicting 00:36:58.659 --> 00:37:01.460 Czarovich Alexei. This biological mystery often 00:37:01.460 --> 00:37:03.780 leads to speculation that she was not the daughter 00:37:03.780 --> 00:37:06.239 of the Duke of Kent, as the disease was not seen 00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:08.880 in her direct ancestors. But the historical records 00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:11.820 offer no support for that theory. No, and modern 00:37:11.820 --> 00:37:13.920 medical analysis suggests a much simpler and 00:37:13.920 --> 00:37:16.440 more likely explanation. Spontaneous mutation. 00:37:17.659 --> 00:37:19.920 Hemophilia arises more frequently in children 00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:21.920 of older fathers. And the Duke of Kent was over 00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:24.340 50 at the time of Victoria's conception. This 00:37:24.340 --> 00:37:26.920 condition accounts for about a third of all spontaneous 00:37:26.920 --> 00:37:29.980 cases, making her the spontaneous originator 00:37:29.980 --> 00:37:32.719 of the disease in the royal line. And one last 00:37:32.719 --> 00:37:35.400 piece of legacy, perhaps the most critical for 00:37:35.400 --> 00:37:38.480 historians, her voluminous personal writing. 00:37:38.829 --> 00:37:41.690 She kept detailed journals for nearly 70 years, 00:37:41.849 --> 00:37:46.230 filling 122 volumes averaging 2 ,500 words per 00:37:46.230 --> 00:37:49.449 day. It is an unparalleled primary source. But 00:37:49.449 --> 00:37:52.250 it comes with a major unfortunate caveat. After 00:37:52.250 --> 00:37:54.650 her death, her youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice, 00:37:54.750 --> 00:37:57.559 was appointed her literary executor. Beatrice 00:37:57.559 --> 00:38:00.280 dutifully transcribed and edited the diaries, 00:38:00.360 --> 00:38:02.460 particularly those covering political matters. 00:38:02.599 --> 00:38:04.420 And in the process, she burned the originals. 00:38:04.480 --> 00:38:07.119 She became the great royal censor. Beatrice filtered 00:38:07.119 --> 00:38:09.440 the historical record, ensuring that much of 00:38:09.440 --> 00:38:11.699 the raw, unfiltered political maneuvering and 00:38:11.699 --> 00:38:13.760 personal opinion of the queen remains partially 00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:17.250 obscured. It is the great irony. The Queen, who 00:38:17.250 --> 00:38:20.210 documented her life so extensively, left the 00:38:20.210 --> 00:38:23.449 final, crucial editorial decision to the one 00:38:23.449 --> 00:38:26.590 person who prioritized protecting the royal image 00:38:27.019 --> 00:38:29.420 over historical transparency. It really is. We 00:38:29.420 --> 00:38:31.719 have successfully synthesized the incredible 00:38:31.719 --> 00:38:34.519 life of Queen Victoria, who started isolated 00:38:34.519 --> 00:38:36.780 and manipulated under the Kensington system, 00:38:36.980 --> 00:38:39.320 yet fought back to become a sovereign who knew 00:38:39.320 --> 00:38:41.739 the power of her own will. She found ecstatic 00:38:41.739 --> 00:38:44.659 love only to lose it, was transformed by grief 00:38:44.659 --> 00:38:47.760 into the secluded widow of Windsor, and finally 00:38:47.760 --> 00:38:50.579 emerged as the symbol of an unparalleled global 00:38:50.579 --> 00:38:53.659 empire. Successfully ushering the British monarchy 00:38:53.659 --> 00:38:56.619 into its modern constitutional role. Her entire 00:38:56.619 --> 00:38:59.119 life was a balancing act between intense personal 00:38:59.119 --> 00:39:01.860 emotion and absolute public duty. It really was. 00:39:02.039 --> 00:39:04.500 We've seen how Victoria's personal choices, from 00:39:04.500 --> 00:39:06.739 her initial resistance to her mother and Conroy 00:39:06.739 --> 00:39:09.099 to her deep controversial bonds with men like 00:39:09.099 --> 00:39:11.840 John Brown and her years of seclusion, directly 00:39:11.840 --> 00:39:14.280 shaped the constitutional and cultural power 00:39:14.280 --> 00:39:16.539 of the monarchy for the next century. Consider 00:39:16.539 --> 00:39:19.480 this provocative thought. If the death of her 00:39:19.480 --> 00:39:21.659 father, the Duke of Kent, had occurred just one 00:39:21.659 --> 00:39:24.320 single month earlier, she would have inherited 00:39:24.320 --> 00:39:27.260 the throne as a minor, necessitating the hated 00:39:27.260 --> 00:39:30.099 regency of her mother and Sir John Conroy. Right. 00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:32.699 How fundamentally different might the Victorian 00:39:32.699 --> 00:39:35.539 era and the entire trajectory of the modern British 00:39:35.539 --> 00:39:38.780 monarchy have been had Queen Victoria not spent 00:39:38.780 --> 00:39:41.579 her first night as queen alone, free from the 00:39:41.579 --> 00:39:43.420 oversight of the Kensington system? Something 00:39:43.420 --> 00:39:45.880 to ponder. Something to ponder as you reflect 00:39:45.880 --> 00:39:46.659 on this deep dive.