Queen Victoria was known by some as “her little majesty” however, it was also noted
that Victoria had a large appetite, and could sometimes eat a little too much. But food
wasn’t the only thing that the queen enjoyed, as she is quoted as saying after her wedding
night to Prince Albert that they “did not sleep much” and she is even noted to have
enjoyed self pleasure and a tumble beneath the sheets. Victoria went against the victorian
standards for a woman in terms of food. A social reformer and doctor at the time, mary
ward-allen, thought that Victorias un-natural appetite for spicy and exciting foods was
inevitably the result of an equally un-natural practice of mastubation.
To understand this however we need to look at Victorias childhood. As a child Victoria
displayed a healthy enjoyment of food, but according to historians, this love of food
severely worried Victorias relatives. They thought she should slow down when eating and
to take more exercise. One family member is quoted as saying that the then teenaged princess
“eats a little too much, and almost always a little too fast”.
However, because of this concern, Victoria was then subjected to a strict and meticulous
regime of controlled eating. A regime that only allowed for instance a meal of milk and
bread. This made Victoria vow that when she grew up, that she would eat mutton every day.
So when Victoria reached adulthood, she allowed herself to indulge.
Victoria once queen had a feast spread for each meal. you could even say her own mini
banquet. Breakfast usually consisted of things such as eggs on toast, porridge, fish, smoked
haddock and a wide variety of fancy breads. Victoria felt it was extremely important,
that even though she wouldn’t eat all thaw as offer, that she was given the choice. Something
she was deprived of as a child.
An observer once stated “Her Majesty confesses to a great weakness for potatoes, which are
cooked for her in every conceivable way,” and a such Victorias dinners contained things
such as soup or fish, cold chicken or roast beef. There would also be a variety of desserts
and fruits, and lastly pineapple. Something that was grown specifically for the royal
household. Victorias dinners would also contain seasonal vegetables. The observer also stated
“She never permits her own table or that of her household to be served with anything
that is out of season.”
Sweet foods were also a big favourite of the queen and her wedding cake was certainly a
taste of what was to come. Victoria had a great appetite. Her loves included mulled
wine, ice cream, cakes and pastries.
“chocolate sponges, plain sponges, wafers of two or three different shapes, langues
de chat, biscuits and drop cakes of all kinds, tablets, petit fours, princess and rice cakes,
pralines, almond sweets, and a large variety of mixed sweets.” “Her Majesty”, it
added, “is very fond of all kinds of pies, and a cranberry tart with cream is one of
her favourite dishes”.
However, in a contrast, Victoria fed her children on a diet she felt was appropriate and it
was somewhat blander. They were given plain foods, such as a plain roast or broth. This
was food that Victoria felt was appropriate for a nursery.
Victoria is also noted as being a lover of tea and whiskey and as she got older, a small
distillery near to balmoral produced a whiskey just for her, a drink which she had with soda
water.
Sadly for Victoria, her love of food and drink took its toll on her body. She piled on the
weight and a doctor noted in the 1840s that she was more like a barrel than anything else.
He stated that if the queen carried on eating shed become enormously corpulent. By the time
Victoria was in her sixties she had a BMI of 32, which in todays stanadards would classify
her as obese. She had abandoned her cousins quite early on and was described as ver large,
ruddy and fat. When Victoria was advised to cut down, she simply then ate “diet foods”
on top of her existing eating.
As stated, Victorias eating habits did not conform to what as expected of a woman at
the time. The standards and dietary advice dispensed to women stated that Good table
manners demanded sedate and measured eating and discouraged visible surrender to gustatory
delight. The female digestive system was moreover said to require soft, dainty and bland foods.
Exciting foods and those high in seasoning were advised to avoid, and to treat them as
if they were laced with poison.
This all came down to the believed link between food and the bedroom. If a person ate highly
spicy and exciting foods, then they must surely have a dangerously enthusiastic attitude to
other bodily pleasures. As I’ve already said A social reformer and doctor at the time,
mary ward-allen, thought that Victorias un-natural appetite for spicy and exciting foods was
inevitably the result of an equally un-natural practice of mastubation.
Its believed that if a woman had a bird like appetite and had a disregard for food then
it showed her moral state and enabled her to remain dainty and have slim physique.
Interesting its believed that Victoria enjoyed the private time she and her husband shared,
beneath the sheets that is. She and Albert married on the 10th of February 1840 and she
noted in her diary shortly after that they didn’t sleep much as she described their
first night together. Albert and Victoria collected exotic artwork
and when advised to forgo sexual activity to prevent further pregnancies, Victoria responded
with dismay, yet she thought that her nine pregnancies were a hinderance to married life.
Now interestingly, it is believed that the cultural roots of some illnesses lie within
the generation of queen Victorias reign. The victorian era defined that degeneration of
eating was unfeminine and dangerously sexual. The 1890s have cases of young girls who stopped
eating because their mothers said they were too fat or for fear of being too heavy. This
refrain of eating distanced women from their sexuality and therefore showed their proper,
genteel and moral status. Its believed that the refusals of food gave these women a voice.
They were deprived of any avenue of self expression and therefore found their voices in the refusal
of food. “young women searching for an idiom in which to say things about themselves focused
on food and the body”.
Going a long the lines that appetite was a voice, then Victoria was shouting from the
rooftops. Her position as queen allowed her to ignore most of the constraints put on a
woman and she was therefore able to make her own choices and decisions about diet and her
body.
Thank you for watching.