Queen Victoria was the longest reigning monarch at the time to rule over Britain.
She would spent 63 years and 215 days on the throne, and her life saw a huge amount of
change inside of the United Kingdom.
She was the Empress of India as well as the Queen, and she inherited the throne at 18,
but she was a woman who suffered a significant amount of turmoil in her life.
She married her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg in 1840, but in 1861 at a young age Albert
died, and Victoria was plunged into a deep sense of mourning.
She never got over Albert’s death but one iconic home and house where she lived and
spent a lot of time was Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.
Victoria regarded Osborne House as a piece of paradise, and it was a beautiful residence
where she and her husband put their stamp on, planting trees and creating this incredible
house.
She even had a miniature home built for her children, and it was a place where the Queen
would love being.
But Osborne House was also a place where the Queen died, and it was inside of her bedroom
specifically where the Queen died.
But what is this room like?
In 1897, Queen Victoria would finalise plans for her funeral.
But she would in 1900 experience a tricky and difficult year.
The Boer War was very unpopular and her country were fighting and taking heavy losses in,
and also in July 1900 her second son Alfred died.
She would state that, ‘it is a horrible year, nothing but sadness and horror of one
kind and another.’
But then as was tradition, Victoria would spend her Christmas in 1900 at Osborne House
on the Isle of Wight.
Osborne on the Island was a house that Albert designed himself and Victoria always enjoyed
her time there, and it was a royal retreat where the Queen could spend time in privacy
bathing in the sea, and spending time with her family.
The house was marked by a beautiful Pavilion wing in which contained the royal apartments
and the house was upgraded massively introducing a billiard room for the Queen to play billiards
with her ladies and family.
It was certainly a homely house and residence, and walking around you really get a sense
of family and intimacy with many family portraits on the wall.
The Queen loved also bringing her children up there and when she was away from Osborne
she longed for it.
It was a place of great importance, and Victoria whilst there even witnessed the first telephone
call being made to Cowes, Southampton and London.
But at 1901 came around it was clear that Queen Victoria was very poorly and ill.
Her last diary entry was written from Osborne on the 13th January and it read, ‘Had a
fair night, but was a little wakeful.
Got up earlier & had some milk.
— Lenchen came & read some papers.
— Out before 1, in the garden chair, Lenchen & Beatrice going with me.
— Rested a little, had some food, & took a short drive with Lenchen & Beatrice.
— Rested when I came in & at 5.30, went down to the Drawing room, where a short service
was held, by Mr Clement Smith, who performed it so well, & it was a great comfort to me.
— Rested again afterwards, then did some signing & dictated to Lenchen.’
She claimed that ‘from not having been well, I see so badly which is very tiresome.’
She had at the time suffered from Rheumatism and she rapidly went downhill in her final
years.
The royal doctors had to contend with the fact the family could not see what was happening,
and the royal family were oblivious to the fact that Victoria was slowly slipping away
and dying.
They could not accept this, and Princess Helena and Beatrice did not believe that their mother
could die, and they kept things normal.
But the doctors continued to argue and members of the royal family were summoned to Osborne
House as it was clear that Victoria was dying.
She suffered a number of strokes, and the royal family who gathered were reluctant to
go to Osborne.
The Prince of Wales and heir was frustrated as he had to cancel weekend plans, and many
including Kaiser Wilhelm II came from Europe to Osborne as they realised how seriously
ill Victoria was.
Annoucnements were made that said, ‘Queen unconscious, sinking fast,’ and the Queen
did at times keep rallying.
She could not accept that death was coming and she asked her doctor, ‘Am I getting
better?
I would like to live a little longer as I have a few things to settle.’
But Victoria had a number of serious strokes and the royal family were by her side inside
of Osborne.
They were housed inside of the different rooms and apartments of the house, and the servants
were incredibly busy tending to their wishes and needs when they needed it.
Calls were being bombarded to the house asking for news, and people then began to gather
around the gates of Osborne House.
The Bishop of Winchester and a rector of the local church prayed for her and sung hymns.
Victoria said ‘Sir James I am very ill,’ and the doctors continued to reassure her
that she would get better.
But this was all happening inside of a small and tiny bedroom inside of Osborne House.
What is fascinating about Victoria’s bedroom is that by the bedside was a picture of Prince
Albert her husband on his deathbed which was kept, and it is a rather small and intimate
room.
The Queen was inside this for many days dying on what was a smallish bed which was in the
centre of the room.
Images portray the Queen’s death being in a large room but this was not the case and
on the cold January morning, the whole of the royal family were gathered around Victoria
as she was taking her last breathes.
It would have been a loud room with the chanting of priests going on, and it was a room which
was in chaos.
It’s a strange room as inside this tiny part of a royal residence such a significant
historical event took place.
The furniture was moved to make more room around the Queen, and she was slowly slipping
away.
This was very distressing for the royal family, and there was a lot of crying.
One by one, each son, daughter and grandchild was summoned to bid the Queen farewell and
to kiss her hand and say their final words.
At half past 6 in the evening inside of her bedroom on the 22nd January 1901, Victoria
died.
The Queen’s body was left inside of the room for some time.
Her final moments were described as ‘like a great three decker ship sinking.
She kept on rallying and then sinking.’
But the bedroom where Victoria died was then kept as it was following her death.
For the next 50 years this room was left exactly as it was with Victoria dearth and it became
a family shrine and a bronze memorial plaque was placed above the bed.
The blinds were pulled down constantly and an altar was constructed from a chest draped
with a cloth with candlesticks on.
The bedroom was kept as a shrine, and to reinforce this, an iron gate was placed outside of the
bedroom to stop people going inside of it.
Edward VII made this gate and placed it there to only allow members of the royal family
access to it.
The bedroom features a number of large paintings and it feels rather homely but inside this
a huge amount of history was made.
Following Victoria’s death there was a huge amount of panic surrounding the royal funeral
and the state proceedings that happened next.
But inside of the small quaint bedroom in Victoria’s favoured royal residence on the
Isle of Wight, she would die in a house that for her very much felt like home.
That is the feeling you get walking around the house, it was a family home no matter
how large, but inside of her small bedroom she died, after being ill for a number of
weeks.
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