Queen Victoria Dies

Setting the scene

Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, aged 81, after a reign of 63 years and 216 days—the longest of any British monarch until Elizabeth II. Her death ended the Victorian Era, a period that had seen Britain become the world's dominant industrial and imperial power. Victoria had been in declining health for months, suffering from rheumatism, cataracts, and general frailty. Her last words, according to her journal, were reportedly 'Oh, that peace may come,' though this is disputed.

What happened

Victoria's death triggered an outpouring of grief across the British Empire, which at her death covered 11.5 million square miles and ruled 400 million people. Her funeral on February 2, 1901, was a massive state occasion, with her coffin transported through London and then to Windsor for burial beside Prince Albert in the Frogmore Mausoleum. Her eldest son, Edward VII, succeeded her, ending the House of Hanover and beginning the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (later Windsor).

Why it still matters

Victoria's death marked the end of an age. The Victorian Era had been characterized by industrialization, imperial expansion, strict social morality, and constitutional monarchy. Her reign saw the British Empire reach its zenith, but also the beginnings of its challenges—Irish nationalism, labor unrest, and competition from Germany and the United States. Victoria had transformed the monarchy from a political to a symbolic institution, a model that endures. Her death was widely seen as the end of the 19th century in spirit, though it had technically ended 22 days earlier.

Background

Victoria 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, a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom 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. The Edwardian era opened in Britain.