One of the most iconic Queens throughout History is Victoria, who’s reign was known as the
Victorian era.
It was a huge period of change throughout the UK, and was also seen as a period of great
expansion for the British Empire.
She was the Queen, but was also considered the Empress of India, and ultimately she reigned
for a colossal 63 years and 216 days which at the time was the longest of any previous
British monarch.
She was a woman who suffered though with her health, and also with depression following
the death of her beloved husband Albert.
However on the 22nd January 1901 at the age of 81 she passed away inside of Osborne House,
her beloved residence on the Isle of Wight.
But what is the story of the suffering death of Queen Victoria?
The year 1900 was described by Victoria as her horrible year, as Britain and been fighting
in the Boer War and the loss of this caused her stress.
Also the heir apparent her eldest son Edward was shot in an assassination attempt when
he was passing through Belgium.
Her eldest daughter Vicky the dowager Empress of Germany was also very sick and had been
diagnosed with breast cancer which was spreading quickly around her body and to her spine.
This caused Victoria great upset, but then another son Alfred the Duke of Edinburgh passed
away.
He was a man who smoked heavily, and died from throat cancer, but this loss upset Victoria
greatly.
The English royal family was surrounded by more death as her grandson Prince Christian
Victor passed away from fever in South Africa.
But then Lady Church, Victoria’s best friend died in her sleep whilst visiting Osborne
House.
Victoria was known for having serious bouts of depression, but she was not herself.
She was not eating as she had done, and she lost a significant amount of weight which
worried the doctors and her family.
She eventually was bound to a wheelchair, and she suffered with her eyesight and bouts
of delusion.
Victoria was now an old woman, and was beginning to come to terms with her age.
She said, ‘another year has begun, I am feeling so weak and unwell that I enter upon
it sadly,’ showing how depressed she was.
But within 3 weeks of this she would be dead.
Victoria died on the 22nd January, and then Osborne House was then placed on a strict
lockdown.
No one was allowed to leave as the Queen had died, and the phone lines were taken down,
and a crowd had even gathered at the entrance gates.
A bulletin board was placed outside which read,’ ‘Osborne House, January 22nd 6:45pm.
Her majesty the Queen breathed her last at 6:30pm surrounded by her children and grand
children.’
The news then travelled very quickly, and most people had only ever known Victoria as
their Queen, but as she reigned for some long no one knew how to plan a state funeral.
It was clear that she had been ill for a while, and that the public had been told she was
not ill.
But doctors knew she was dying.
James Reid who looked after her health for 20 years knew she was about to die, and he
tried to inform the other royals that she was slipping away, but he could not convince
them that this was occurring.
But it’s not completely known what killed Victoria.
She was suffering from confusion and delirium, as well as other problems including rheumatism
which affected her legs and her mobility leaving her wheelchair bound.
Her eyesight was bad and she had cataracts, but this would have been distressing for the
Queen.
These conditions though would not have killed her, but could have led and contributed to
her poor moods.
She complained in her last few months that she was feeling very sick and unwell, but
as January 1901 continued things got worse and she became more dazed and confused.
She did say to her doctors that, ‘I should like to live a little longer, as I have a
few things to settle,’ and this shows that she wanted to live longer, but this spirit
quickly left as her final days came.
Following the 17th January things went very downhill, as Victoria suffered from a stroke.
This could have killed her instantly, but Victoria survived the initial one, but she
then suffered more.
She began in more pain and more delirious, but following these, the royal family was
summoned to come to the Isle of Wight immediately as the Queen was on deaths door.
Preparations were being drawn up for her successor, and the government made plans to pause as
the Queen could not effectively carry out her duties in her final days.
The royal family was gathered in Victoria’s small bedroom at Osborne House, and along
with them was the Bishop of Winchester who prayed with them, and each family member said
their final words.
Priests continued to sing hymns and chant prayers by her side, and Kaiser Wilhelm from
Germany even arrived, along with other grandchildren of Victoria.
The Queen was conscious but she could not see and she was surrounded by her closest
family.
Each one of them kissed the Queen’s hand and they said goodbye in their own way.
The changing and singing continued, in an attempt to rouse the Queen from her bout of
poor health.
But this did not happen.
Many Historians believe that the strokes she suffered caused her death, however others
consider that a short and painful illness was responsible for the death of Victoria
such as a cerebral hemorrage.
But her health would never recover and she would not get better.
The Queen looked thin as she was not eating, and grew tired and confused a lot of the time,
but this could have been a sign of her old age.
When the moment of death came, she was not on her own and she was surrounded by the love
of her family, many who had come from Europe to see her.
But following her death, there was a huge amount of confusion regarding her funeral.
As she had reigned for so long, there were no people around to plan the state funeral
or understand the procedure as to what should happen for this funeral.
Because of this there was a significant amount of panic.
Kaiser Wilhelm also ordered a death mask to be cast of her face, but Victoria did not
want this to happen.
During the funeral preparations, the Duke of York was taken very ill by some form of
pestilence, but humorously the royal undertakers arrived from London to the Isle of Wight to
prepare her body and to take it back to London.
However the undertaker forgot the very coffin which was intended to carry her coffin.
Because of this there was further delay, and a coffin for the Queen was built by a local
carpenter, who then took the wooden box to Osborne House.
Victoria’s doctor during this time along with her dresser prepared the body for her
coffin, but they refused to embalm the Queen.
Instead they threw charcoal around the floor of the coffin to stop the smells and to also
absorb any moisture.
Her hair was cut and she was laid out in the coffin, and she was dressed in a white silk
dressing gown, with a garter ribbon and a star, but her wedding veil was also placed
over her face.
The new King, along with the Kaiser and royal dukes then came into her room to lift Victoria’s
body into her coffin.
Along with her remains, one of her husband’s dressing gowns and a cast of his hand was
placed in, along with a picture of her close friend John Brown and a local of his hair.
Also John Brown’s mother’s wedding ring was placed on Victoria’s hand, symbolising
the love she had for Brown.
Her coffin was then sent on it’s journey to London and was given a guard of battleships
and cruisers across the Solent.
It had a huge military procession, and later a small funeral would occur in the mausoleum
Victoria had built for Albert at Frogmore.
Her body was lowered into the vault as Kaiser Wilhelm II and King Edward VIII knelt beside
it.
But this was a striking end for Queen Victoria, a woman who was at the time the longest reigning
royal to rule over Britain, and her final moments were painful for her, but they were
also filled with love.
She was surrounded by her family, which must have been the most important thing for her,
considering that despite all she achieved, she loved her family more than anything.
Her final moments as she passed were filled with love.
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