35. Victoria

On the death of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), Arthur Balfour wrote, ‘I suppose that, in all the history of the British Monarchy, there never has been a case in which the feeling of national grief was so deep-seated as it is at present, so universal, so spontaneous. And that grief affects us not merely because we have lost a great personality, but because we feel that the end of a great epoch has come upon us—an epoch the beginning of which stretches beyond the memory, I suppose, of any individual whom I am now addressing, and which embraces within its compass sixty-three years, more important, more crowded with epoch-making change, than almost any other period of like length that could be selected in the history of the world.’ Characters Queen Victoria – Queen of the United Kingdom and Ireland (1837-1901)Prince Albert – Prince Consort of the United Kingdom and Ireland (1837-61)Prince Edward (Bertie) – Duke of Edinburgh, son of Victoria and Albert, heir apparentDuchess of Kent – mother of VictoriaPrince Edward, duke of Kent – father of Victoria Previous Kings of the United Kingdom and Ireland George III –1760-1820George IV – 1820-30William IV – 1830-37   John Conroy – comptroller to the duchess of KentLouise Lehzen – governess of the Victoria’s householdFeodore – Victoria’s half-sisterLeopold I – King of Belgium Ernest Augustus – King ofHanover, uncle of Victoria Prime Ministers Lord Melbourne – 1835-41Robert Peel – 1841-46John Russell – 1846-52, 65-66Earl of Derby – 1846-52, 66-68Earl of Aberdeen – 1852-55, 58-59Lord Palmerston – 1855-58, 59-65Benjamin Disraeli – 1868, 74-80William Gladstone – 1868-74, 80-85, 86, 92-94Earl of Rosebury – 1894-95Lord Salisbury – 1885-86, 86-92, 95-02Arthur Balfour – 1902-05 Flora Hastings – lady-in-waiting for the DuchessJohn Snow – physician and leader in the development of anaesthesiaMary Seacole – nurse who set up the ‘British Hotel’Florence Nightingale – social reformer and founder of modern nursing Sultan Khaleefah Abdul-Majid – Sultan of the Ottoman EmpireBahadur Shah Zafar – Mughal Emperor of IndiaCecil Rhodes – mining magnate and politicianGeneral Charles Gordon – army officerLili’uokalani – Heir apparent and later Queen of HawaiiJohn Brown – Victoria’s personal attendantAbdul Karim – Victoria’s India SecretaryKaiser Wilhelm II – Emperor of Germany, grandson of Victoria Credits Cherry RipeSail the Ocean Blue – HMS pinafore – Gilbert and SullivanHallelujah – George Frideric Handel 328065__guntherdorksen__old-book_-old-book-hard-casesfx194982__soundmary__wild-horses-runningbbc_crowds-che_07035074365676__mr_alden__dinner-table-ambience328065__guntherdorksen__old-book_-old-book-hard-casesfxbbc_rifle---ma_0009046423918__martinsadoux__african-bush-birds-insect-ms163456__lemudcrab__pistol-shot627087__clutvh__silenced-pistol-shotbbc_clocks--gr_07070146bbc_clocks---g_07022188bbc_whistles--_07055012660975__mchrpt__load_gun_slow.ogg584126__seventhsamurai__nasik-ambiencebbc_gunfire---_07034194bbc_old-textil_07016338bbc_wolf-flies_nhu0508611bbc_ships-and-_07043335592380__cribbler__fireplace-snappy