Newly-unearthed clip of Queen Victoria smiling in sunglasses on royal trip to Ireland
FOR many, Queen Victoria was an austere, serious figure, known for donning herself in black after the death of her beloved husband.
But in rare, newly unearthed footage, a new side of the monarch has been revealed – donning sunglasses and smiling as she visits Ireland in 1900.
The black and white clip, discovered in a New York museum archive, is believed to be one of the last times the Queen was filmed before her death in 1901.
The Queen can be seen smiling as she is given flowers from two curtsying girls as thousands of people crowd around to catch a glimpse of the symbol of the British Empire.
Bryony Dixon, curator of the British Film Institute, said she couldn’t believe her eyes when she found the footage.
She said: “I nearly fell off my chair because I’d never seen Victoria in close-up before.
“It is completely unique because you can see the Queen’s face for the first time properly since 1900, since this was shown.. …you can see her expressions, you can see her in movement, rather than just as a stiff portrait or a still photograph.”
The moving footage of the Queen, who ruled for 63 years, shows a different side of the monarch usually considered to be a severe figure.
Ms Dixon added: “It’s very rare to see her smiling. She doesn’t in any of her portraits, so it humanises her, I think, for the first time.”
And she pointed out it was a fitting last clip of Queen Victoria, who had been at the forefront of technical changes during her rule.
She was even the first reigning monarch to use trains – making her first rail journey in 1842.
Ms Dixon said: “Queen Victoria was always very up to date with technology and she was interested in art.
“She was interested in photography in particular so here, instead of a posed photo or painting, we see her in movement.”
THE WIDOW OF WINDSOR: Who was Queen Victoria?
QUEEN Victoria became monarch at the age of just 18 – going on to become the symbol of the British Empire.
The monarch’s reign was marked by great strides in industry and technology.
She married Prince Albert, a passionate advocate of the arts and the sciences, with the pair going on to have nine children together.
Victoria was deeply attached to her husband and she sank into depression after he died, aged 42, in 1861. She had lost a devoted husband and her principal trusted adviser in affairs of state. For the rest of her reign she wore black.
Until the late 1860s she rarely appeared in public; although she never neglected her official Correspondence, and continued to give audiences to her ministers and official visitors, she was reluctant to resume a full public life.
Despite her advanced age, Victoria continued her duties to the end – including an official visit to Dublin in 1900.
Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, on 22 January 1901 after a reign which lasted almost 64 years, then the longest in British history. Her son, Edward VII succeeded her.
It comes after it was revealed Victoria and her husband Prince Albert gifted each other nude sculptures during their marriage.
Michael Hunter, curator at Osborne, said: “Queen Victoria may be remembered as the mourning widow in black, but these gifts show a different side to her personality.
“She was open to nudity and the sensuous, more open than Albert who perhaps surprisingly was the more prudish of the pair.’
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But she is reportedly planning to make a trip to the LA so the baby boy can learn about her family history, it has been claimed.
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