The Real Cause of Death of Queen Victoria
When Queen Victoria passed away on the 22nd January 1901, the elderly 81 year old Queen had
ruled for around 64 years. Her reign was a long one in which the British Empire was at its height,
and people even began to be categorised by their Queen, and known as victorians. However
what caused her death? Initially Victoria’s death caused a great deal of shock, but join us as we
look at the real cause of death of Queen Victoria. and remember to support please subscribe.
The year before the long reigning monarch passed away had been rather rough. In 1900 Victoria had
her awful year, one which she believed was full of sadness. At the time, Britain was fighting
in the Boer War and this caused her a great deal of anxiety and her eldest son Edward, who would
succeed her, the Prince of Wales was shot in an assassination attempt in protest over the Second
Boer War. He had been travelling through Belgium, and the assassin was only just a young boy. Her
eldest daughter, Vicky the Dowager Empress of Germany also was rather sick, and had been
diagnosed with breast cancer which had already spread to her spine. Victoria’s daughter’s ill
health was incredibly sad, however her favourite son Alfred the Duke of Edinburgh also passed away.
Alfred was a chain smoking heavily drinking prince, but his death shocked the monarch.
Death continued to surround the royal family, as her much treasured grandson Prince Christian
Victor died from fever whilst he served in South Africa with the British Army. Also Lady Churchill,
Victoria’s best friend and oldest acquaintance passed away in her bed whilst visiting the Queen
at Osborne House. All this had a big effect on Victoria, who was known for falling into
states of depression in her lifetime. As the 19th century came to an end, she was a shadow
of her former self. She wouldn’t eat as much, and lost a large amount of weight. Victoria was
also forced to live in a wheelchair, and she also lost her sight and became confused and delusional.
The once great Queen who reigned for almost 64 years was slipping away, and her children refused
to accept the end was near, and the government were also not briefed on the Queens ill health.
She stated how, ‘Another year begun, I am feeling so weak and unwell that I enter upon it sadly.’
But just three weeks later after the turn of the year 1901, on the 22nd January
Osborne House, the Queen’s Isle of Wight residence was locked down.
No-one was allowed to leave, and the phone lines were suspended as a crowd gathered
outside the entrance gates of the house. On a small bulletin board a notice was put up saying,
‘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 spread quickly around the world and shocked the
nation, and there was huge confusion. No one knew how to prepare for a full state funeral
as it had been so long since the last. Despite the Queen going rapidly downhill,
it’s fair to say that her family were shocked by her death. The public were misled, and her doctors
argued that she wasn’t ill. Her doctor of 20 years Sir James Reid knew that the end was close,
but he tried to convince the royal family that this was the case but he could not.
Victoria spent her final days confused and delirious,
but what actually killed her? Well she had been suffering with Rheumatism in her legs
which forced her into the wheelchair, and also her eyesight was greatly affected and clouded
by cataracts. She had complained throughout January of being unwell and weak, and as time
went on she began to feel more confused, dazed and drowsy. At some point it seemed like the Queen
who had been against accepting her death began to rally, as she spoke to her doctor and stated,
‘I should like to live a little longer, as I have still a few things to settle.’
However from the 17th January, things began to take a swift turn for Victoria.
She suffered a number of strokes which caused her delirium and these must have been very painful,
and it was with this that the royal family was summoned to the Isle of Wight. With these strokes
it was clear the end was nigh, and there were talks of the regency and of the successor, and the
government ground to a stop as the Queen was no longer able to carry out her duties effectively.
Inside Victoria’s small bedroom, the royal family gathered around along with the Bishop
of Winchester and other priests who sung hymns and chanted prayers at the Queen. The Kaiser
of Germany was summoned, her grandson Kaiser Wilhelm II who was also there at her deathbed.
The Queen was conscious but was unable to see, and she was cared for by a number of doctors still.
The deathbed and room was surrounded by Victoria’s closest family including her
children and grandchildren, each of which kissed the Queen’s hand and said farewell to the monarch
in their own way. Whilst this happened, the clerics chanted and sang their songs, hoping that
the Queen would muster. There have been a number of different causes of Victoria’s death debated,
including the number of strokes that she suffered before, and also a short and painless illness.
Other’s consider that she died simply from old age being incredibly frail, and some even point
towards some kind of cerebral hemorrage. It’s clear that she had been suffering for a while,
and that her health was in decline. The Queen lost her appetite and began to look frail and thin,
like so many people do before death. She began to tire easier as well as become more confused.
So the real cause of Victoria’s death is up to some debate, however it’s most probable
that a short illness is responsible, as well as the element of old age too.
But what can be confirmed is that the Queen did not die alone,
surrounded by her successor her eldest son, and her eldest grandson, the Kaiser.
After her death there was more confusion, as to who would take control in the planning of
Victoria’s funeral. The casting of a death mask was ordered by the Kaiser, and this caused a
great deal of upset as the Queen herself would not have ordered this. During the proceedings,
the Duke of York was taken by a dangerous illness and the royal undertake arrived on the Isle of
Wight to take the body back to London however he forgot to bring a coffin. This caused chaos too,
and eventually a new coffin was built by a local carpenter and brought to Osborne House.
Victoria’s doctor and the Queen’s dresser Mrs Tuck prepared the body for her coffin.
They refused to embalm the Queen, and threw charcoal on the floor of the coffin to stop
the smell and to absorb any moisture. They also cut her hair, and dressed the Queen in a
white silk dressing gown with garter ribbon and star, placing her wedding veil over her face.
The Kaiser, new King and other royal dukes were brought to lift the body into the coffin.
Inside of Victoria’s coffin were a number of different artefacts and objects that were left.
Placed inside were one of her husband Albert’s dressing gowns, a plaster cast of his hand,
a lock of her close friend and confident John Brown’s hair and a picture of him,
and also flowers were placed. Other items of jewellery including the wedding ring of John
Browns’ mother were placed on Victoria’s body, and she was prepared for her final journey.
The coffin made it’s way back to England under a incredible guard of battleships and cruisers
crossing the Solent, and it was followed by the largest military procession since the funeral of
the Duke of Wellington around 50 years earlier. It went through Hyde Park to Paddington, and
lasted 2 hours and the state funeral was a huge spectacle. There was more blunders however when
the clerical procession at the funeral arrived an hour too early for the coffin, and had to wait in
the nave for a while. The official service occured first, and then a smaller ceremony took place in
the mausoleum that Victoria had built for Albert at Frogmore. Both her successor and his grandson,
the man who would become Edward VIII knelt with Kaiser Wilhelm
II whilst the Queen’s body was lowered into the crypt.
Finally in death, Queen Victoria was united with her husband Prince Albert,
the man she loved and mourned so much. Her death was incredibly sad, and it’s clear that
the effect of the monarchy’s passing upset many across her country. She was seen as the Empress,
and the woman at the head of the British Empire who oversaw many countries, so her death was felt
all around the world, and in the decades after the Empire would crumble. However in her final
moments, the Queen who reigned for over 6 decades was surrounded by her family and much love.
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