Queen Victoria: drug addiction, sexual scandal and despiser of children.

Queen Victoria is iconic for many things: but drugs may not be one of them, but it’s true: Queen Victoria (real name Alexandrina) was a drug addict with a very full medicine cabinet. Also, why were her intimate diaries destroyed by her youngest daughter? Was it to save face and sexual scandal with her Scottish servant John Brown? And lastly: Victoria didn’t like children, so why did she have nine of them?

Let us address the drug enthusiast in the room: Victoria from a child to an adult and finally an elderly lady was many different people and grew up in an age of progress and scientific experimentation, Victorians were not scared to try new things, this also meant chemical compounds, powders, liquid concoctions, and new alcoholic drinks such as gin (also known as mothers ruin) 

 One had a daily morning dose of opium, which was sold as a pain killer at the time, Victoria’s preference was to have laudanum (a tonic that contained opium dissolved in alcohol) Victoria had the best doctors’ money could buy and maybe it was easier to have a high as a kite queen rather than one that was not amused. If the opium was not working its magic and Victoria needed a pick me up, she has sweets laced with cocaine, Victoria was very enthusiastic about this product and even shared some with a young Winston Churchill when he and his family came to stay with her at Balmoral. Marijuana was used when Victoria was experiencing cramps, Victoria was pregnant for many years of her life and at times the pain was unbearable, so what better way to fix it than get high! Although this may have been very forward-thinking as we are only now in the 21st century accepting the benefits of medicinal marijuana. It was Queen Victoria herself that was one of the first women ever to use chloroform when giving birth, she remarked that chloroform was “delightful beyond measure”. The laws were not in place regarding drug abuse and many of the long-term consequences of the drugs mentioned were not entirely known in the Victorian age, it was all new and uncharted territory, so by today’s standards, yes, she would be classed as an addict, but back then maybe not. The Queen was absent a lot of the time from public duties after her husband Prince Albert died, it was thought she was in mourning but maybe she was just high? I guess we will never know.

 In 1860 when Albert died prematurely somewhat unexpectedly, Victoria took retreat up at Balmoral for long periods, it was here an odd relationship of sorts was struck up with her servant John Brown. John Brown was a non-nonsense servant who would NOT conform to formalities and would often refer to the Queen as “woman”. Brown and Victoria were in each other’s company for much of the day and isolated themselves from everyone else who was frequenting Balmoral. Speculation about the nature of their relationship had been questioned from day one and rumours have been flying around ever since, This was made even more suspicious when after Queen Victoria died in 1901 her youngest daughter Beatrice had all her diaries from this period destroyed. 

Rumours went from the believable to the ridiculous, some such tales are that Victoria had a baby with Brown and also secretly got married to him, they were said to have shared a bed on many occasions and were openly affectionate towards each other. What we do know for certain is that Brown had a place in Victoria’s heart and when he died she went into a state of mourning for the second time in her life.   When Victoria died, she left instructions that a lock of Brown's hair, his photograph, a handkerchief, and some letters should be placed in her coffin alongside keepsakes of Prince Albert. Any secrets in the letters will presumably remain steadfastly in the Queen's crypt.

 Victoria’s children (all 9 of them) had a very trying relationship with her, from day one she was outraged that she fell pregnant so quickly and was almost resentful that her time with her beloved Albert would now have to be shared with a child.

The firstborn “Vicky” was the apple of Albert’s eye; however, The Queen was never overly keen to be a warm mother, much preferring to spend time with adults over her children. Victoria would often tell Albert he was spending too much time with the children. Victoria had a difficult upbringing herself in a very strict controlled environment so maybe she simply just didn’t know how to be warm and affectionate. It is almost certain that Victoria was way more into Albert than he was into her, she had always been a very lustful person whilst Prince Albert had been much more reserved and they didn’t have that much in common, they had only met three times before the marriage took place in 1840.

Babies are a product of sex and it's clear that Albert and Victoria both had very different agendas. Albert was intent on building a strong monarchy and great alliances with Europe and the world, plus if Victoria was pregnant almost solidly for over 10 years, he could take up the position of working as a stand-in monarch. Victoria’s nine children included: 

·         Victoria Adelaide Mary, Princess Royal

·         Albert Edward, King of England as Edward VII

·         Alice Maud Mary

·         Alfred Ernest Albert, Duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

·         Helena Augusta Victoria

·         Louise Caroline Alberta

·         Arthur William Patrick, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn

·         Leopold George Duncan, Duke of Albany

·         Beatrice Mary Victoria

 Victoria personally blamed her second son (the future King Edward VII) for the death of Prince Albert. “Bertie” as he was called was studying at Cambridge University when some fellow students arranged a night of passion and lust for Bertie by hiring a lady of the night. The scandal soon got back to Victoria and Albert in London and in a very uncharacteristic move: Albert went to see Bertie, after a long walk in the cold in the rain, upon Albert's return home he became extremely sick and died a few weeks later. The facts all point to Albert already being sick before this trip however The Queen would never forgive Bertie for “killing” her husband

Bertie at Cambridge

 Victoria was vicious with the pen and some of the letters she addressed to her children throughout her life were intense and scathing, Victoria until very recently was the longest-reigning monarch in British History, against all odds she has become a legend: The woman in black was more than just a mere mourning widow

 Her legacy is much, an entire historical period is named after her worldwide for goodness’ sake, and yet we are still discovering things about the somewhat rebel that was Victoria to this very day.  

 Oliver Green 2020. 

Re-published 2022.  

 "I don't dislike babies, though I think very young ones rather disgusting." - Queen Victoria