End Of An Era And Legacy
Queen Victoria made it a custom to spend her Christmas at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight and while spending her holidays there she died on 22nd January, 1901 of a cerebral haemorrhage, at the age of 83. This ended an eventful era in the history of Great Britain that was marked by tremendous development in the field of science and technology, great economic prosperity, unprecedented political reforms and evolution, social reforms, massive expansion of the British Empire and overall transformation of the British people from an agrarian to a modern and industrial society. Victoria's reign spanned a whopping 63 years, seven months and two days. Victoria was buried beside Prince Albert in the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum in Windsor Castle. Above the Mausoleum door has inscription of Victoria's words:
"Farewell best beloved, here at last I shall rest with thee, with thee in Christ I shall rise again."
It is practically a Herculean task to judge Queen Victoria and her reign in short. However, she was a lady of great principle and paid much attention to morality, family values and virtues she learnt from her beloved husband. She was conservative in some aspects of social reforms and was against granting voting rights to women. She was also a champion of the poor and tried her best to favour measures to improve the lot of the downtrodden. Victoria was involved with many charities in the fields of education, hospitals and other areas.
Victoria was an international figure not only as the head of the vast British Empire but also because of family links. Her eight of the nine children married to members of the European royal families and she was affectionately called the "Grandmother of Europe" because she had 43 grandchildren scattered all over the continent.
Regarding foreign policy, she preferred a policy of peace and reconciliation in Europe and Britain was largely uninvolved in European politics except the Crimean War in 1854. But at the same time she was also an imperialist at heart. This was the reason why she became a close ally to Disraeli and Lord Salisbury, both of whom were symbols of British imperialism. On the other hand she despised Gladstone for his liberal views on Ireland. Victoria was delighted when General Kitchener succeeded in avenging the defeat of General Gordon in Sudan. She was never unnerved by British reverses in wars and always supported and encouraged her troops by visiting them in hospitals and telling them "We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat; they do not exist."
Victoria became an icon and symbol of the British society at the time and even now she remains the most commemorative monarch in history, with memorials buildings and statues of her throughout former British territories.
"Long live the Queen, God Save the Queen."
Original Authors: Bishal Chakma
Edit Update Authors: RPN
Updated On: 03/04/2007
