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While Queen Victoria is believed to have had a private love affair with John Brown later in life, she was still extremely devoted to her husband Prince Albert, who died 40 years before her. One of the items she requested to be buried with was a plaster cast of his hand.
She was buried with rings on every finger, multiple bracelets and necklaces, and jewel-encrusted brooches. Each item had a particular sentimental value to her. Of course, she was also holding onto the plaster cast of Prince Albert’s hand and a photo of John Brown, and somehow also holding a bouquet of flowers to hide it all.
To complete her eerie wedding-themed funeral, Queen Victoria was buried with a wedding ring on each hand. One was a wedding ring for Prince Albert, and the other was supposedly for John Brown.
However, she requested that her funeral be white-themed rather than the traditional black. She was even buried in a white dress and a bridal veil. Many interpret this as a dedication to her marriage, and a sign of her unresolved grief at the loss of her husband.
Queen Victoria was on bad terms with many people, including some of her nine children, and she believed that they would argue and try to alter her last wishes if they found them. Sir James Reid was responsible for ensuring her requests were carried out to the final letter.
Queen Victoria seemed to have no concerns about filling her coffin with dedications to both her husband and her alleged lover, and seemed intent on reuniting with them both after her death.
Princess Alice was one of Queen Victoria’s favorite daughters. She had a close relationship with both her mother and father. She nursed her father throughout his illness and later stepped up to take over her mother’s duties and care for her while she was grieving.
Prince Albert’s dressing gown was another strange memento of Queen Victoria's husband that was buried with her. This homely item seemed to carry special significance for her and she had insisted that the servants leave it out for Prince Albert every morning after his death.
The heavily laden coffin was arranged as follows: on the bottom was a layer of charcoal, which absorbs dampness and odors from decomposition. On top of the charcoal was Prince Albert’s dressing gown. Queen Victoria’s body was laid directly on top of the dressing gown, and surrounded by all of her other accouterments.
Queen Victoria requested a full military funeral. She wanted to have equerries act as her pallbearers, and her coffin was carried on a gun carriage during the elaborate military funeral procession through the streets of London.
When it came to her funeral, Queen Victoria wanted a ceremony fit for a monarch of her stature. She had ruled for 61 years, a record-setting reign until it was broken by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2015.
John Brown passed away in 1883, 18 years before Queen Victoria’s own death. It’s believed she may have had other affairs after his death, but it’s undisputed that Prince Albert was the greatest love of her life, and John Brown the supposed second greatest.
Even as a child, Queen Victoria wore a locket with a lock of her deceased father's hair inside, as she believed it gave her a connection to him. When she married Prince Albert, she had a locket containing his hair made, and one of her many funeral requests was reportedly to be buried with a locket of John Brown’s hair.
One request that Queen Victoria made to her physician shortly before she died was to see her pet dog. Queen Victoria adored dogs all of her life, and by the time of her death her favorite pet was a Pomeranian named Turi. In the end, as was perhaps her final wish, Turi was the one with her when she died.
Heather is a common flower in Scotland and many believe this request was in honor of her suspected Scottish lover, John Brown. She was even buried with a photo of him hidden in her hands.
Princess Alice made an embroidered cloak as a gift for Prince Albert, who wore it proudly for years. Alice sadly contracted diphtheria while nursing soldiers during the Austro-Prussian War and died at the age of 35. Queen Victoria requested to be buried with the cloak that held such deep significance.
Many of her stranger requests involved items she wanted to have put in her coffin. Reid kept some of these a secret even after the burial because her children would surely have protested if they knew!
They managed to hide some of the more controversial and eccentric items by filling her coffin with flowers, and placing a bouquet of flowers in her hands. The royal florist sourced flowers from all over the world, but Queen Victoria left specific instructions for sprigs of heather to be buried with her.
When Prince Albert died, Queen Victoria was struck with extreme grief and was unable to accept his death. She insisted that his servants continue performing his morning ritual every day, bringing his shaving kit and clothes to his room, and removing the unused items in the evening. She had a plaster cast of his hand made and slept with it every night.
Queen Victoria dictated her lengthy list of burial requests to her personal physician, Sir James Reid. She entrusted him to keep the document a secret until after her death.
It’s even believed that Queen Victoria dabbled in the occult in her grief, which wasn’t uncommon at the time. Seances, hypnotism, and crystal readings were extremely popular. Victorian-era spiritualism mixed religion with other more mystical beliefs.
Although Queen Victoria is known to have been highly sentimental, some also believed that keepsakes like this would help their souls reunite in the afterlife. Mediums would often request such items to help them connect with the spirits of loved ones.
Traditionally, weddings are associated with white, and funerals with black. Queen Victoria wore white for her wedding to Prince Albert, but is most commonly thought of in all black. This is because the majority of photos we have of her were taken after Albert’s death and she stayed in a perpetual state of mourning.
Queen Victoria more or less retired from public life after Prince Albert died and became very private. She didn’t want her body to be laid out for public viewing as is usually the tradition for a monarch.
Queen Victoria’s children were resentful of her relationship with John Brown and had all memory of him removed from the royal homes after her death, but Dr. Reid was still able to ensure that she was buried with many mementos of him.
Instead, she wanted her coffin taken straight from her place of death to St George’s Chapel where her funeral took place. She only allowed for two days of private viewings so her family could pay their respects, but obviously she had quite a bit of loot in her coffin that she didn’t want them to see… Today, she lies in the Royal Mausoleum at the Frogmore Estate in Windsor, side by side with her beloved Prince Albert.
Sources: (History Collection) (Ripley's) (The Guardian)
Queen Victoria was one of the most influential monarchs in British history. So much so that the long period she ruled was named the Victorian era. During this time, it was common to attach much greater significance to burials when someone died. Life expectancy was much shorter, and death was a part of everyday life. Attaching more ritual and meaning to the manner of burial helped to deal with this difficult reality.
Many people left instructions for their funeral and burial, and Queen Victoria was no exception. In fact, the woman left a detailed 12-page manual! She was known for her eccentricities, and this certainly comes across in her last wishes...
Intrigued? Then click through the gallery to learn more about the strange burial requests of Queen Victoria.
The bizarre burial requests of Queen Victoria
Her last wishes reveal her deeply sentimental and mystical nature
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Queen Victoria was one of the most influential monarchs in British history. So much so that the long period she ruled was named the Victorian era. During this time, it was common to attach much greater significance to burials when someone died. Life expectancy was much shorter, and death was a part of everyday life. Attaching more ritual and meaning to the manner of burial helped to deal with this difficult reality.
Many people left instructions for their funeral and burial, and Queen Victoria was no exception. In fact, the woman left a detailed 12-page manual! She was known for her eccentricities, and this certainly comes across in her last wishes...
Intrigued? Then click through the gallery to learn more about the strange burial requests of Queen Victoria.