It is Victoria Day, and while there are few of us left who remember that glorious day in 1837 when the 18-year-old Princess took the throne (which she then held for sixty-three years and seven months) there are celebrations (and a day off) throughout Canada and what is left of the British Empire.
In response to many queries, we now provide a few answers:
Q: What was Queen Victoria's family name?
A: D'Este.
Q: Was Queen Victoria musical?
A: Both she and Prince Albert were pianists and singers, and spent many a happy hour with Felix Mendelssohn. In her daily journal, the morning after Albert proposed marriage, Victoria wrote, "He sang to me some of his own compositions, which are beautiful, and he has a very fine voice. I also sang for him."
Q: Were her journals preserved?
A: The edited edition fills 111 volumes--one-third of what she wrote.
Q: Was she also a graphic artist?
A: She made some charming pencil sketches and watercolors.
Q: How tall was Queen Victoria?
A: At the beginning of her reign, four feet and eleven inches; at the end, four feet and seven inches. But she had added some inches horizontally.
Q: When she said "We are not amused," whom was she talking to and why?
A: Alexander Grantham Yorke was the unfortunate jester. Two stories: (a) He had been heard telling a joke considered unsuitable for the ladies of the court; (b--and more likely) He had been caught engaging in some monarchical mimicry.
Enjoy the parades. Watch for a tiny rotund lady wearing a crown.
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