The 24th of May is the Queen’s birthday, If you don’t give us a holiday, we’ll all run away!
Pompous, prudish, plump and plain! If anyone thinks of Queen Victoria, who still ranks as the longest-reigning monarch in British history, it’s to remember her in those terms.
That and the fact that we have a May long weekend named in her honour covers the gamut of most people’s knowledge of this lady.
When asked why they get a holiday on May 20, students at Bellerose Composite were as knowledgeable as most of us are.
“Victoria was the longest-reigning queen so we get a holiday,” said Nicole Berezansky, 17 and a student in Grade 12.
But what about that holiday? Why celebrate Victoria Day on the 24th of May? Why not celebrate Elizabeth Day?
“Our celebration on the 24th of May is uniquely Canadian. Queen Elizabeth’s birthday is April 21, but in England they celebrate on the second Saturday in June,” said Dr. Ken Munro, professor emeritus of history at the University of Alberta.
The ditty at the top of this story wasn’t only a school child’s recitation, Munro said. Instead, the poem was likely propaganda that began in the middle of the 19th century in an effort to promote pro-British sentiment after the parliament buildings were burned in Montreal.
At the time, it was the French Canadians who supported the monarchy and the Tory English descendents, many of them from United Empire Loyalist stock, who rejected the British control of the government.
“In 1848 the Tories signed a petition to join the United States. The need to promote the monarchy, was an attempt to show loyalty to Britain, as one more argument against joining the United States,” Munro said.
The only things saved from the parliament building fire were about $200 worth of books and a portrait of Queen Victoria.
“The French Canadians were very monarchist because the Crown gave them rights with the Quebec Act,” Munro said.
When Father Lacombe came to St. Albert in 1861 pro-monarchist feelings were likely strong among the Métis settlers.
“The natives were also pro-monarchists because of the signing of the treaties,” said Munro.
The Victorian era covers Victoria’s reign from 1837 to 1901 – a total of 63 years, seven months and two days. Queen Elizabeth’s reign began Feb. 2, 1952 so as of this weekend, she has reigned for 61 years and three months.
Queen Victoria wasn’t quite the trendsetter that modern members of the royal family have become. She didn't after all, change her clothing very often and her trademark black widow's weeds always looked the same.
In her younger days, when Victoria was a bride, she did make a fashion statement with her white silk and lace gown.
“I think my dad told me that Queen Victoria was the first one to wear a white wedding dress. She set the trend for wearing white when you get married,” said Anastasia Vanier, 15, and a Grade 11 student at Bellerose.
Indeed, Victoria did set the white trend among wealthy brides of the day. When Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, in February 1840 most fashionable royal brides of the day wore richly coloured brocades.
As for what she wore under all those yards of fabric, well that's another of Victoria's many secrets.
“When Victoria was young, it was fashionable to have generously sized hips and bosom and very narrow waists. The dresses had a padded contraption to pad the look of their tummies and there was a strong emphasis on their hips, with a bustle. Victoria would have had a made-to-measure corset with a tight, tight waist, like the one Scarlett O'Hara had in Gone With the Wind," said Dr. Anne Bissonnette, curator of the clothing and textile collection at the University of Alberta.
Bissonnette said that she once worked in a museum in Ohio, which owned a pair of Queen Victoria's bloomers, which had two separate legs joined with a drawstring at the waist. Victoria's undies, like those of all women of her era, were crotchless.
"They had an open crotch because that would enable the wearer to not have to remove everything when they went to the toilet. With all those long skirts, that would have been useful," Bissonnette said.
Victoria's underwear was likely made of linen.
"Her underwear would have been made by fine needle workers who used strong stitches. Linen was used because it was sturdy, and it had to be because it took the brunt of body soilage from bodies that weren't washed very often," she said.
It would have taken a lot of linen to cover the Queen's generous, fashionable hips. Internet stories about Queen Victoria's knickers show that in her old age, the garment's waist expanded to an impressive 50 inches in diameter.
Washing fabrics was difficult. Even Queen Victoria didn't just throw her black satin into the nearest washing machine. Instead all garments would have been soaked, and squeezed, wrung out and hung in the sun to dry. Some garments would be boiled.
"It wasn't until 1956 that we had chemicals that could dye permanently. Washing causes fabric to deteriorate. All her dresses looked the same but they wouldn't have been washed very often," Bissonnette said.
Queen Victoria is known for her long period of mourning, which lasted 40 years from Albert's death in 1861 until she died in 1901.
For 40 years the widowed Queen Victoria wore black, which was the acknowledged way of the times. Widows were expected to be in full mourning for at least two years and were not allowed to go out in public. Later they could wear grey or purple to mark a period of half mourning, but Victoria stayed in what was known as "full mourning" for the remainder of her life.
"Victoria didn't set the new styles. Napoleon III's wife was the one who set styles. Victoria followed fashion and in those days widowed women in the Western world wore black," Bissonnette said.
Just how sincere her mourning was in private is sometimes speculated because the Queen did have a very special servant named John Brown, who came into her life after Prince Albert died. For 20 years Brown was Victoria's fishing and hunting guide. He was also her protector and on at least one occasion was there to save her when there was an assassination attempt on her life. A 1997 film, Mrs. Brown, placed John's "protective" bedroom right next door to Victoria's.
Their relationship will always remain Victoria's secret, but Brown died in 1883 when she was 64 years old, leaving her alone again in grief. The inscription on his grave reads: Friend more than Servant, Loyal, Truthful, Brave, Self less than duty, even to the grave."
Queen Victoria, who lived so long and looked so stern remains something of an enigma to most of us, perhaps because her history is so old and even her historical bloomers are far away in museums in Ohio and England. There will be no fireworks this weekend and a phone call to the Alberta Legislature's visitor's services proved there are no formal ceremonies planned to mark her birthday.
Even the calendar date remains a puzzle. Check the date out. All it says is "Victoria Day" and her titles are not listed. For 63 years Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India.
And that's no secret.
