The Accession of Queen Victoria

In the early hours of June 20th 1837, while she slept, Victoria became queen. The sun had already risen when she was awoken by her mother who informed her that the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chamberlain of the Household wished to see her. Obediently, Victoria got out of bed. It was the last time she ever had to obey anyone. For as she walked into a draughty room at Kensington Palace, her visitors fell to their knees. The great reign had begun.

The moment was captured in her diary, where she wrote ''I was awoke at 6 o'clock by Mama, who told me the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Coyngham were here and wished to see me. I got out of bed and went into my sitting room (only in my dressing gown) and alone, and saw them. Lord Coyngham then acquainted me that my poor Uncle, the King, was no more and had expired at 12 minutes past 2 this morning, and consequently that I am Queen.''

Three things always strike me about this moment, told so quietly by Victoria. Firstly, that she was so delighted to be allowed to go anywhere alone. Her mother, the Duchess of Kent, had kept her on such a tight leash in the hope of controlling her that by then Victoria was used to always being accompanied. Now, as she stood on the brink of an empire, she was allowed to be alone. Secondly, her innocence is so noticeable. She mentions that she is wearing just a dressing gown as she is rushed into her sitting room to receive the great news. But thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, there is an understanding of her changed status. I am Queen. A simple but stark statement. For in that moment, as two of the most revered men in the land knelt before her, Victoria changed from teenager to Monarch.

Of course, in the minutes leading to this historic scene, Victoria must have been aware that she was already queen. The Archbishop of Canterbury wasn't in the habit of dropping into royal palaces randomly at dawn while it was common knowledge that her uncle, William IV, was very ill. I try, sometimes, to imagine the feelings that must have swirled through her as she made that journey from childhood bedroom to lonely sitting room, knowing that in all likelihood she was about to be told she was queen. No one can ever really know, it is a moment that belonged to her alone. A moment, on June 20th 1837, that changed Britain forever.

All images via Wiki Commons