queen victoria assassination attempts...

[magicbeatle]

Why did Queen Victoria have eight assassination attempts made on her life? If she was unpopular then why, it seems rather alot - or has there been another british monarch to have more?

[Rumford]

Queen Victoria reigned for a long time for one thing, over 60 years, so that's a lot of time for things to happen. Also in many ways she was 'Great Britain' and a significant symbol of British power and prestige, particularly toward the end of her reign. Therefore a shot at her could have been seen as a shot at the British Empire rather than a personal attack on her.

[dot.hawkes]

one guy who tried to assassinate her was just a poet and all she had done was turn down his verse, but he was found not guilty but insane, The Queen didn't lke that and had the law changed to guilty but insane, bit vindictive wasn't she?

[Octavius]

Political reasons and public opinion.....

Because of her close friendship with Lord Melbourne she was viewed as indecent by the public. One day Victoria saw Lady Flora Hastings, one of her ladies-in-waiting, getting into a carriage with Sir John Conroy. A few months later Victoria noticed that Lady Hastings appeared to be pregnant. When Victoria approached Lady Hastings about this she claimed that she was still a virgin and had not had a sexual relationship with Conroy. Victoria refused to believe her and insisted that she submitted to a medical examination. The queen's doctor discovered that Lady Hastings was indeed a virgin and that the swelling was caused by a cancerous growth on the liver. The story was leaked to the newspapers and when Lady Hastings died of cancer a few months later, Victoria became even more unpopular with the British public. Soon afterwards an attempt was made to kill Victoria while she was driving in her carriage in London. Further assassination attempts took place in 1842 (twice), 1849, 1850, 1872 and 1882.

Go here and scroll down to section 4.6
http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/4_05.htm

[jake-the-peg]

I have been told a story by a native of the Wicklow mountains in Ireland (otherwise known as my wife) about a planned visit by Queen Victoria which was to include a trip to Powerscourt and the waterfall there which is the tallest in the British Isles.

Unfortunately it can be a bit of a trickle in the summer so they built a dam and a viewing platform, the idea being that this could be released during the visit with a satifying display.

Anyway events conspired and the visit was cancelled but the dam and platform remained. The story goes that a few night later some local lads sitting in the pub thought it was a shame to see it go to waste and went up to release the water, which flooded down totally distroying the platform!

No amount of reassurance would convice the authorities that the whole affair wasn't an attempt on the Queens life.

Don't know if I believe it but it's a damn fine story!

[Golden Shred]

Lady Flora Hastings was married to the 15th Earl of Norfolk. She died aged 34 in 1887. They had a son, Philip, who was born blind and epilectic and died aged 23. It was a grand love match, and the Earl built a great church in Norwich to celebrate the marriage.