Short Stories

Queen Victoria

By: Rosalie Dale Bullock

On May 24, 1819 a little girl was born in Kensington Palace, London to Victoria Mary Louisa, daughter of the duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Edward Augustus, duke of Kent and Strathem, they named her Queen Alexandrina Victoria. She was called Drina.

Now Drina grew up in a fatherless household because her father died before she was two. She was bullied by her mother, the duchess, but brought up lovingly by Baroness Lenhzen, her nanny/governess.

With the death of her childless uncle, William IV, Victoria became Queen on June 20, 1837, she was only 18 years old.

In 1840 Victoria was married to her first cousin, Albert, prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Although it was a marriage of state, it was a highly romantic and successful one. They had nine children together. In 1861 her beloved husband died and Victoria remained in mourning for much of the rest of her life.

Victoria’s popularity among all classes in British society reached its height in the last two decades of her reign.

Victoria died on January 22, 1901. Her 63 year reign was the longest in the history of England. Her descendants including 40 grandchildren, married into almost every royal family of Europe. The now Queen Elizabeth is her great-great granddaughter and Elizabeth’s consort, Philip, is Victoria’s great-great grandson.

With her personal example of honesty, patriotism, and devotion to family life, Victoria became a living symbol of the solidity of the British Empire. The many years of her reign, often called the Victorian age, witnessed the rise of the middle class and were marked by a deeply conservative morality and intense nationalism.

On June 17, 1893 my grandmother was born in Patrick County, Virginia. Her parents had come from England and loved the Queen so much that they named my grandmother, Queen Victoria. They called her Queen.

My grand mother was a very beautiful young lady. She was admired by all those who met her. She married Roland Henshaw , moved to Richmond, Virginia and became the mother of 4 boys and 2 girls.

I was born of her oldest son, Maryland, on April 1, 1938. Queen wanted my parents to name me Victoria, but my mother would not have any part of that, so I was named Rosalie Dale and they called me Dale.

During World War II all four sons were in the Armed Forces. One in the Navy, one in the Army, one in the Marines and one in the Air Force.

My mother, my brother and I lived with my grandmother during the war.

There are some special things I remember about living there. My grandmother had the most beautiful white lace curtains. They hung from the ceiling to the floor. The windows were long and narrow, all the way to the floor. On summer evenings the wind would gently blow the curtains and I would sit there on the floor and let them blow across my face. The smell of a fresh rain still lingers in my senses. I would pretend that I had a dress made out of lace just like those curtains with pink satin ribbons tied around my waist.

My hair was long and I dreamed of having pink ribbons to tie my hair back out of my face. My grandmother said, it was " war time" and there was no money for those things. My grandmother had two Boston ferns that were on fern stands . They were so green and full, they just billowed over and touched the floor. Sometimes I watered them with my little watering can.

My grandmother had a mirror on the wall by the front door and when someone knocked, she would always look into that mirror and make sure she was presentable. She would also hum a song just before she opened the door. She said it was to make the visitor feel that they had come to a happy home.

My grandmother died of cancer on August 10, 1946. I was in the room at the time. I did not understand why everyone was crying and why they covered her face with the sheet. They finally made me go outside and play with all of my boy cousins. I was the only girl.

Now to this day, my own daughter tells me "Mom, they just plucked you out of the Victoria era somewhere and sat you down right here" and you know what, I believe she is right!

I love all things Victorian. I wear high neck blouses a lot and always with a brooch, of which I have many. I love lace and ribbons, tea cups, hatpins, floppy hats, tussie mussies, violets, ferns and the list goes on and on.

My home is decorated in Victorian/Country French. You might say it has all the feminine side of the Victorians. For instance, I like the look of the soft Country French upholstered furniture, wing chairs, camel back sofas, etc. I prefer the cherry wood also. I have soft flowered background wallpaper with the hues of pinks, burgundy, greens and blues.

I have lots of Boston ferns, lace curtains, hatboxes sitting all around that I have decorated myself. I use velvets or moiré fabric for them and put huge moiré bows or wired organza bows on top.

I use other items as well, such as delicious looking leather grapes , strands of faux pearls, soft silk flowers, jewelry, etc.

I tie back curtains with my floppy hats, decorated with big cabbage roses, tulle, and large bows of ribbon. Some of the curtains have a garland of roses draped from the top.

Tussie mussies are on every tabletop with soft silk roses with tiny ribbons entwined. I would love to have more of these, but they are hard to find. I love my Prince Albert "Old Country Roses" china. I use it everyday.

My yard is full of roses, ferns, pansies, violets by the zillion , lilies of the valley, and yes it has everything else that turns green and blooms.

I have come home from work many times and found neighbors just sitting in my backyard enjoying the view.©

You may come too!!