After 63 years on the throne, Victoria’s death left the nation pondering its own mortality. Having known no other leader, the nation’s future felt uncertain…
A mass of black-clothed mourners waited to say their last goodbyes to the queen who had served them devotedly for nearly 64 years – the second longest of any British monarch. An eerie silence hung over them like a shroud as people bowed their heads in sorrow, some shaking with grief and others from the bitter cold. The only sound came from the clopping of horses’ hooves and the muffled gun salutes fired in Hyde Park, as the gun carriage passed. At the sight of the queen’s coffin, it was as if a thousand mouths drew breath at once. Writer John Galsworthy described it as “a murmuring groan… So unconscious, so primitive, deep and wild… The queen was dead, and the air of the greatest city upon Earth grey with unshed tears.”
From inside the queen’s carriage, one of the two ladiesin- waiting, Edith, the Dowager Countess of Lytton, felt incredibly moved by the sight of the mourners. “The most heart and soul stirring thing I have seen,” she wrote in a letter to her daughter. “[The Diamond] Jubilee can’t compare with it to my mind because what was uppermost all the time was not the splendour of the show, but the intensity of loyal and devoted feeling, which seemed to fill every man and woman in that enormous, monotonously black crowd.” The country hadn’t witnessed a state funeral since the death of the Duke of Wellington in 1852, so court officials closely examined the details of royal protocol and rights of precedence while arranging the funeral procession.
The queen herself had left strict instructions, expressing that she wanted a ‘white funeral’, so London was draped with purple crepe – the colour of royalty – and white satin bows. Victoria wore a white dress and her wedding veil, despite wearing nothing but black for the 40 years she spent as the so-called Widow of Windsor. Numerous mementos were placed inside the coffin with her: Albert’s dressing gown and a plaster cast of his hand, jewellery, photographs as well as a picture of her good friend and faithful servant John Brown, a lock of his hair and his mother’s wedding ring – Victoria’s physician Sir James Reid saw to it that these last few items were concealed from the family’s view. It was to be a military funeral, with eight white horses and a white and gold satin pall over her coffin. The carriage drive through the capital came to an end at Paddington Station, in preparation for the final stage to Windsor. But it was at Windsor where the long journey to the queen’s final resting place faltered. While waiting for the funeral procession to begin once more, the artillery horses grew restless. They reared and kicked, proving unable to draw the gun carriage, so the naval guard of honour quickly made alternative arrangements. A communication cord was turned into an impromptu harness and the sailors on guard at the station pulled the queen’s funeral carriage instead. Ever since that day, it became a tradition for sailors to pull the coffin along the processional route in State funerals.
“The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them” – Queen Victoria
The service took place at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, in a private ceremony with the new King, Edward VII, the queen’s family and royalty from around the world. Victoria had 37 great grandchildren, whose marriages with other monarchies earned her the nickname of ‘the grandmother of Europe’.
After lying in state for two days, the queen was finally buried next to Albert at the Frogmore Mausoleum at Windsor Great Park. Throughout her long widowhood, she had always maintained her desire to be with him again. Shortly before he died, Albert reassured her, “We don’t know in what state we shall meet again; but that we shall recognise each other and be together in eternity I am perfectly certain.” And above the Mausoleum door was inscribed Victoria’s words, “Farewell best beloved, here at last I shall rest with thee, with thee in Christ I shall rise again.” The queen was 81 when she died, making her the then longest reigning monarch. Before her, that accolade had belonged to her grandfather, King George III. Ten years of mental illness had forced him to retire from public life, but Victoria was strong throughout – so was the public’s loyalty. This was never more apparent than at her Diamond Jubilee, where subjects from all parts of the Empire assembled to celebrate, including 11 colonial prime ministers. There was a sense of imperial wonder as Victoria journeyed through London; she later wrote in her journal, “No one ever, I believe, has met with such an ovation as was given to me, passing through those six miles of streets… The cheering was quite deafening and every face seemed to be filled with real joy.” Fast-forward four years and the news of the queen’s death had filled London with shock and sadness. When the government and her family got wind of her illness, the news was deliberately withheld from the public for over a week. It was a testament to the impact she had had since her ascension to the throne, at a time when the Crown was tarnished by the public scandals of her predecessors. Victoria was the only child of Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Edward Duke of Kent and became queen at just 18 years old. Her uncle George IV and his brothers, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent (Victoria’s father), were bigamists and fathered many children out of wedlock, causing public outrage. The Reform Act of 1932 had passed the powers of the monarch to Parliament, and there were even calls to abolish the royal institution completely, but Victoria won the people’s loyalty against all odds.
“We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat; they do not exist” – Queen Victoria, speaking about the Boer War
“The sailors on guard at the station pulled the queen’s funeral carriage. Ever since that day, it became a tradition for sailors to pull the coffin in State funerals”
In 1840, she married her cousin Albert Saxe-Coburg and over 17 years she had given birth to four boys and five girls. Paintings and photographs of the devoted couple surrounded by their brood appealed to the family values of the growing middle class, while having legitimate children also assured the royal line, which her predecessors had failed to do. That’s not to say everyone liked her and, in fact, there were seven assassination attempts during her reign. Popularity also took a downturn when Prince Albert died and, in her all-consuming grief, she was seen as neglecting her duties to her subjects. What was the point of a monarchy who had seemed to disappear before their eyes?
After almost a decade of isolation, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli urged Victoria to begin making public appearances again, and by the time of her Golden Jubilee in 1887, she had regained the respect and love of her country and overseas. In 1857, the government of India was transferred to the United Kingdom following the Indian Rebellion and in 1877 Victoria was given the title Empress of India. Celebrations were held in Delhi, led by Viceroy of India Lord Lytton, who presented the Indian princes with their own coats of arms and read a telegraph that had come from Victoria herself. These grand festivities marked Britain’s imperial status as a global force to be reckoned with.
Her long reign saw Britain became an empire on which the sun never set. Queen Victoria was seen as having played an active role and towns, rivers and cities were named after her; such was the sense of national pride in their matriarchal figurehead. When she died, the great Victorian age died with her, as The Times wrote, “to write the life of Queen Victoria is to relate the history of Great Britain during a period of great events… An unexampled national prosperity.”
It wasn’t just her home nation that was left numb from the shock of her death. In Kolkata, India, the Victoria Memorial Hospital was opened, largely financed by the British Indian merchants who wanted to show their appreciation for the free trade and peace enjoyed under British protection during her reign. In Canada, the people went into mourning. The Mail and Empire newspaper in Toronto wrote, “The private and personal concern was more touching than any public or ceremonial expression of grief. It showed, as no ceremony could, how near the queen was to the hearts of her people, and how the thought of her had become part of the routine of life.” Flags hung at half-mast and shop windows were draped in black.
The queen was called the Mother of Confederation after Canada became a unified state on 1 July 1867. “I believe it will make [the provinces] great and prosperous”, she told Sir Charles Tupper, one of the principal fathers of Confederation. Main roads in Canadian communities were named after her and the queen’s Birthday became a national holiday. It became known as Victoria Day in 1901, and is still celebrated in memory of the great queen. John Diefenbaker, the 13th prime minister of Canada, recalled the reaction on the day of her death in his memoirs: “When Queen Victoria died, Father regarded it as one of the most calamitous events of all time. Would the world ever be the same? I can see him now. When he came home to tell us the news, he broke down and cried.”
On the other side of the world, Australia wept too. Like Britain, Australia had experienced population growth and an increase in wealth during her time, so Victoria was well-loved. On 9 July 1900, she had declared the Commonwealth of Australia to come into being on 1 January 1901, unifying the Australian colonies. She died shortly after the celebrations, at the height of her popularity. “Millions who have never seen the face of the dead queen honour and revere her memory throughout the length and breadth of the entire civilised world,” read the next day’s announcement in the Herald, an Australian newspaper. “In all stages of her history the imaginations were captured. Whether as Virgin Queen, or happy wife and mother or afflicted widow, Queen Victoria has appealed to us all as a great queen and a noble woman.” In Australia, the names given to two colonies during the 19th century – Victoria and Queensland – were retained even after they achieved statehood, but the relationship between Australia and Britain was beginning to show signs of weakening.
For many, Victoria’s death would become symbolic of the British Empire’s decline, and for more than 50 years after her demise, people from all across the Empire would celebrate being a part of it. This occasion was known as Empire Day and – according to New Zealand newspaper Oamaru Mail on the eve of their first celebration – it served “the dual purpose of keeping fresh and green the memory of a most illustrious reign and rejoicing in the consolidation of our great Empire.” School children would sing songs like Jerusalem and God Save The Queen, listen to stories about brave warriors and pioneers from across the Empire and then leave school early to join marches, maypole dances and parties. One New Zealand school journal from 1922 contained a poem that summed up the event nicely: “Our Union Jack, on Empire Day, floats proudly in the breeze; not here alone, but far away, in lands across the seas. Wherever British children dwell, or British folk may be, on Empire Day our flag shall tell that we are Britons free…” In Australia, the festivities were more commonly known as Cracker Night, which was celebrated with bonfires and fireworks.
“Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves” – Victoria in a letter to King Leopold of Belgium
“ For many, Victoria’s death symbolised the decline of the Empire, but people from all across the Empire would celebrate being part of it”
“Another year begun, I am feeling so weak & unwell, that I enter upon it sadly” – Victoria’s diary entry, just days before her death
“When Edward VII died in 1910, his funeral was a parade of royalty from all over Europe and was the last of its kind”
However, as the Empire began to weaken in the 1950s and countries started to revel in their own identity, this anniversary fell out of favour. It was later re-branded as Commonwealth Day, and the date was changed from 24 May to the second Monday in March. Queen Elizabeth II still sends a special message to the countries of the Commonwealth via radio broadcast on this date. In a recent address, she warned that “when common goals fall apart, so does the exchange of ideas. And if people no longer trust or understand each other, the talking will soon stop too,” she continued. “Not only are there tremendous rewards for this cooperation, but through dialogue we protect ourselves against the dangers that can so easily arise from a failure to talk or to see the other person’s point of view.” And there was certainly a lack of dialogue and understanding between England and Germany when the frosty relationship between the two rulers led to an intense rivalry that would steer them towards the Great War.
When Edward VII died in 1910, his funeral was a parade of royalty from all over Europe. The nine reigning European kings assembled at Buckingham Palace looking unified in their military regalia and extravagant facial hair. It would have seemed to anyone that blood was thicker than bombs, but that illusion was soon shattered. By 1914, three crowned cousins were at war, with King George V of Great Britain and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia on one side, and the German Kaiser on the other in a conflict that would leave only four kings still on their thrones. While the Kaiser signed the papers sanctioning mobilisation of the German armed forces, he lamented, “To think George and Nicky (the Tsar) should have played me for false! If my grandmother had been alive, she would never have allowed it.”
english #english language #english vocabulary #english lesson #queen victoria #LITERRA_SCHOOL #английский #английский онлайн #английский для взрослых #английский язык изучение