Name: 3 surprising things you may not know about Queen Victoria | BBC Ideas
Uploaded: 2020-08-15T19:05:48.000Z
Duration: 3 min 47 s
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Comedian and podcast host and I want to talk about the icon,

Born in Kensington Palace in 1819, her father died when she was a baby

She married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840.

Victoria fell in love with Albert, his Christmas trees

Albert died of typhoid fever in 1861, but not before Victoria had

But guess what? Turns out she was an awful mother.

She was disgusted by babies and she resented them keeping her away

from her beloved Albert. All she wanted to do was spend time with him.

That's from one of Victoria's letters - so not a fan.

it was, according to one of her letters...

She didn't want Beatrice to marry either and when Beatrice got engaged,

Victoria used notes to communicate with her at mealtimes.

Wow, Victoria using notes instead of talking to her - that's cold.

Now I feel guilty 'cause I only ever drop my mum a text.

But here's a positive you maybe weren't expecting.

Victoria's diaries reveal she unashamedly loved sex.

Everyone loves sex, maybe we're just shocked because it's coming from

the woman we remember as the grumpy old monarch in her mourning clothes.

Maybe we're just shocked because it's coming from a woman.

For all her ramped up sexiness though, there's a rumour that

Victoria wouldn't pass laws on lesbianism

Fun and games aside, there's one dodgy fact you cannot dodge,

when you're talking about Queen Victoria.

She was the figurehead of the British Empire.

While Victoria was Queen, 1,000,000 people died unnecessarily

Africa was carved up by Europeans, scrambling to take advantage

There were concentration camps in the Boer War.

Men, women and children died in the 1857 Indian Rebellion.

Perhaps worst of all, millions of Indian people died in famines

A couple of points in Victoria's defence here and I promise I'm not

just pathetically grovelling for a knighthood.

First of all, how involved could Victoria have been

She only had updates every couple of weeks

and she was surrounded by advisors who did the nuts and bolts

Something else, she once made a personal donation of £2,000

to those starving during the Irish Potato Famine.

So that would suggest she wasn't entirely comfortable with what

And remember, she also condemned atrocities on both sides

And add to that, she was firm in her belief that there should be

So can she be held responsible? You decide.

Anyway, there's some facts, do what you will.

She was an emotionally repressed nookie addict who was also

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