An 1880s poster for General Mite and Millie Edwards, a pair of little people who were exhibited around the world as “The Royal American Midgets", likely due their popularity with European monarchs.

As I’ve said before, I don’t find so-called “freaks" odd in the slightest, I do, however, find it odd that people would pay money to go and stare at them, especially when “people" are royalty. As the poster shows, for example, Queen Victoria was especially fond of these demeaning spectacles, as demonstrated by her inviting General Mite, and other little people, Lucia Zarate and Commodore Nutt, over to Buckingham Palace for her family to have a good old gawp at. According to Her Majesty’s journal, on February 26th 1881, after having breakfast, she:

The poster seems to depict a subsequent visit with Mite accompanied by Edwards. Lucia Zarate, “appeared by special command three times before Queen Victoria and the Royal Family", whilst perhaps the most famous little person of the era, General Tom Thumb, appeared twice before the Queen and met a three year old Edward VII during a 1844 tour.

[Thanks to Sir Cecil for providing the inspiration for this]

This image of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their family was published in the Illustrated London News on 22 December 1848. It features the family gathered around a Christmas tree and is surrounded by images of Christmas (sleigh rides, bountiful amounts of food for a Christmas feast) and images of giving to charity. It is accompanied by an article explaining what a Christmas Trees is and what is used to decorate it:

The article also points to the Christmas tree being a German tradition brought to the royal family through their German heritage. Their use of a Christmas tree began to influence upper class families to have a Christmas tree in the early 1840s. This article in the Illustrated London News marks a wider, middle class audience being influenced to include a Christmas tree for their family’s Christmas celebrations.

Image from Illustrated London News, “The Christmas Tree at Windsor Castle”,22 December 1848

The Curse of the Koh-i-Noor

The Koh-i-Noor was once the largest known diamond. It has belonged to various rulers who have fought bitterly over it and seized it as a spoil of war time and time again. It was taken from India in 1850 by the British East India Company and became part of the British Crown Jewels when Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India in 1877. The diamond is currently set into the Crown of Queen Elizabeth and on display at the Tower of London.

It is believed that the Koh-i-Noor carries with it a curse which affects men who wear it, but not women. All the men who owned it have either lost their throne or had other misfortunes befall them. Since Victoria’s reign, the stone has generally been worn by the British Queen Consort, never by a male ruler.

The possibility of a curse pertaining to ownership of the diamond dates back to a Hindu text relating to the first authenticated appearance of the diamond in 1306: “He who owns this diamond will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes. Only God, or a woman, can wear it with impunity.”

[The images shows the diamond set into Queen Alexandra’s crown. Alexandra was the first Queen consort to wear the diamond in her crown, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth followed her example. Queen Victoria had it set into a brooch, which she wore often. The British Royal Family were apparently aware of the curse when the diamond came into their ‘possession’]

Maharani Suniti Devi was the wife of Nripendra Naraya, the Maharaja of Cooch Behar. She was the first Indian woman to be awarded the rank of Companion in the Order of the Indian Empire, which was founded by Queen Victoria. She attended the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of Queen Victoria in 1898, and the celebrations in India for the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911.

Her husband had a girls school set up in her name, and she gave annual grants for the institution, exempted the girl students from paying tuition fees and also rewarded the successful students.She had arranged for palace cars to ferry the girl students from home to school and back. In an further effort to avoid any controversy she ordered that the windows of the cars carrying the girls to school to be covered by curtains.

She along with her sister Sucharu Devi also financed the foundation of Maharani Girls’ High School at Darjeeling in 1908.She was the President of State Council and also the first President of All Bengal Women’s Union in 1932 and worked along with other women’s right activist from Bengal like Charulata Mukherjee, Saroj Nalini Dutt, T. R Nelly and her sister Sucharu Devi, the Maharani of Mayurbhanj.

She died suddenly in the year 1932 at Ranchi.

Queen Victoria’s Crown 

Queen Victoria had this crown created in 1870, when she was forced to come out of mourning for Alfred, and begin participating in state events once more. The crown was made to be worn at state occasions, as a more lightweight option than the Imperial State Crown. It was also designed so that it could be more easily worn with her mourning veil, as she still insisted on wearing the proper widows clothing for the rest of her life. Victoria first wore the crown on the State opening of Parliament in 1871. 

The crown is of a similar design to most of the British Crowns. It contains four half arches, which meet underneath a cross, including fleur-de-lis in between the arches. Because it is so small there was never a velvet cap inside, the crown only being 9 centimetres across and 10 centimetres high. It is made entirely of diamonds, as coloured stones were not suitable to wear in mourning, and contains 1,187 of them. 

After her death Victoria left this, her personal crown, to the British Crown to become part of the Crown Jewels. Queen Alexandra, Edward VII’s Queen, and Mary of Teck, George V’s Queen, both wore the crown on some state occasions. After George V died, Mary no longer wore the crown and it was passed on to George VI’s wife, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Elizabeth chose not to wear the crown and as such sent it to the Jewel House in the Tower of London in 1937, where it can still be viewed today. 

And it has now emerged that Queen Victoria was also the proud owner of one of Britain’s longest serving pairs of stockings - which were repaired and reused throughout a substantial part of her 63 year reign. A pair of black silk undergarments worn by Victoria have been discovered which show how she refused to have them replaced even after they had been laddered and large holes appeared.

One of the stockings shows extensive repair work where two holes had been darned over in the foot area while a long ladder in the other was crudely stitched back together. It is thought the Empress of India repeatedly wore the stockings in the 1870s.She was in mourning for late husband, Prince Albert, and black would have been consistent with her dress at the time.

‘Four Generations’ (King George V, Queen Victoria, King Edward VII and Edward, Duke of Windsor)

By John Chancellor

Albumen panel card, 1899

The Boy Jones: Queen Victoria’s Stalker

Edward Jones, or the boy Jones, as he was called by the British newspapers of the early Victorian era, was a notorious intruder into Buckingham Palace between 1838 and 1841. 

In 1838, aged 14, he entered Buckingham Palace, disguised as a sweep. He was caught by a porter in the Marble Hall and, after a chase, captured by the police in St James’s Street, with Queen Victoria’s underwear stuffed down his trousers. He was brought before court and it turned out that he had frequently mentioned his intention to enter the palace to his employer, a builder. Although he had apparently stolen linen and a regimental sword from the palace, he was acquitted by the jury.

On 30 November 1840, he “scaled the wall of Buckingham Palace about half-way up Constitution Hill”, entered the palace, and left it undetected. On 1 December he broke in again. Shortly after midnight a nurse discovered him under a sofa in the queen’s dressing room and he was arrested. His father’s plea of insanity being without success, he was sentenced to three months in a house of correction. This incident caused a stir because it was feared that it might affect the Queen, happening so shortly after she gave birth to her first child.

On 15 March 1841, after a snack in one of the royal apartments, Jones was caught by the police guarding the palace. This time he was sentenced to three months hard labour. A short time after his release he was again caught loitering in the vicinity of the palace and was sent to do duty on a warship, but after a year he found an opportunity to walk from Portsmouth to London. Having been caught before he reached the palace, he was sent back to his ship. He became an alcoholic and a burglar and later went to Australia, where he became the town crier of Perth. He died in Australia from a drunken fall in 1893.

Eat your heart out Michael Fagan. 

QUEEN VICTORIA’S CORONATION RING. 1838.

“The royal goldsmiths made the ring for the wrong finger of the Queen, thinking it should go on the little finger. Unfortunately the Archbishop forced it on her ring finger and Queen Victoria had to soak her hand in iced water after the ceremony” - Royal Collection.

Chavtastic…

Queen Victoria’s Mourning Clothing Sold at Auction

Alexandrina Victoria of the Royal Hanover house was queen of Great Britain and Ireland from the time she was 18 years old on June 20, 1837 up until her death at age 82 on January 22, 1901. Not only was Queen Victoria, with a reign that spanned over 63 years, the longest reigning British Monarch of all time but she was also the longest reigning female monarch in history.

Other than being remembered for her extended reign, many remain interested in Queen Victoria due to her somewhat odd reputation for being “obsessed” with death. She was a huge influence on the public’s beliefs and behaviours during this era which is why, to Victorians, death and its rituals held just as much importance as rituals concerning life.

Click through for the rest of this great article from the writers at Mysendoff!