Queen alexandrina victoria pictures of the dead
Queen Victoria and the Photographic Expression of Widowhood
Author: Helen Trompeteler (Independent Curator)
Visualizing Victoria
Queen Victoria and the Photographic Expression of Widowhood
Author: Helen Trompeteler (Independent Curator)
Abstract
After Prince Albert’s death in 1861, Queen Victoria began an extended period of mourning that remains indelibly linked to perceptions of her identity and visual representation. This article firstly addresses the place of photography in the construction of family memory and examines how Victoria used photography to articulate her private grief and to remember Albert in the context of both her immediate and extended family. Secondly, I seek to establish the ways in which this private image is made public and is circulated by Victoria to generate popular empathy and support for political ends. Lastly, I touch on the global reach of this, and question how mourning and widowhood are implicated in international royal networks and imperial power. Thus, the article reveals the photograph of the mourning widow as more than just an illustration of Victoria and her grief; rather, it shows how the medium shapes that grief and makes it useful for monarchy and empire.
Keywords: photography, mourning, Queen Victoria, matriarchy, gender, visual culture
How to Cite:
Trompeteler, H., (2022) “Queen Victoria and the Photographic Expression of Widowhood”, 19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century 2022(33). doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/ntn.4717
Introduction
After Prince Albert’s death in 1861, Queen Victoria began an extended period of mourning that remains indelibly linked to perceptions of her identity and visual representation. During the Victorian era in Britain, death permeated everyday life, especially for the poor and middle classes. Infant mortality rates rose throughout the nineteenth century. Additionally, the 1860s and early 1870s saw a succession of
Queen Victoria
Queen of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901
"Victoria of the United Kingdom" and "Victoria I" redirect here. For other people, see Victoria of the United Kingdom (disambiguation) and Queen Victoria (disambiguation). For other uses, see Victoria (disambiguation).
| Victoria | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Alexander Bassano, 1882 | |
| Reign | 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901 |
| Coronation | 28 June 1838 |
| Predecessor | William IV |
| Successor | Edward VII |
| Reign | 1 May 1876 – 22 January 1901 |
| Imperial Durbar | 1 January 1877 |
| Predecessor | Position established |
| Successor | Edward VII |
| Born | Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent (1819-05-24)24 May 1819 Kensington Palace, London, England |
| Died | 22 January 1901(1901-01-22) (aged 81) Osborne House, Isle of Wight, England |
| Burial | 4 February 1901 Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore, Windsor |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | |
| House | Hanover |
| Father | Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn |
| Mother | Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld |
| Religion | Protestant |
| Signature | |
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days—which was longer than those of any of her predecessors—constituted the Victorian era. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.
Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without survi 1901 death and state funeral of the United Kingdom's queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, died on 22 January 1901 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 81. At the time of her death, she was the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Her state funeral took place on 2 February 1901, being one of the largest gatherings of European royalty. Following a custom she maintained throughout her widowhood, Victoria spent the Christmas of 1900 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Rheumatism in her legs had rendered her disabled, and her eyesight was clouded by cataracts. Through early January, she felt "weak and unwell", and by mid-January she was "drowsy [...] dazed, [and] confused". Her favourite petPomeranian, Turi, was laid on her bed as a last request. She died aged 81 on 22 January 1901, at half past six in the evening, in the presence of her eldest son, Albert Edward, and grandson Wilhelm II. Albert Edward immediately succeeded as Edward VII. On 25 January, her body was lifted into the coffin by her sons Edward VII and Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, and her grandson the German EmperorWilhelm II. She was dressed in a white dress and her wedding veil. An array of mementos commemorating her extended family, friends and servants were laid in the coffin with her, at her request, by her doctor and dressers. A dressing gown that had belonged to her husband Albert, who had died 40 years earlier, was placed by her side, along with a plaster cast of his hand, while a lock of John Brown's hair, along with a picture of him, was placed in her left hand concealed from the view of the family by a carefully positioned bunch of flowers. Items of jewellery placed on Victoria included the wedding ring of John Brown's .Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria
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