Queen Victoria, her girlhood and womanhoodGreenwood, Grace
History
Queen Victoria, her girlhood and womanhood
Greenwood, Grace
Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819-1901
Another writer from America, James Gordon Bennett, sent home, this
coronation year, some very pleasant descriptions of the Queen. At the
opera he had his first sight of her. "About ten o'clock, when the opera
was half through, the royal party entered. 'There! there! there!'
exclaimed a young girl behind me--'there's the Queen!' looking eagerly up
to the royal box. I looked too, and saw a fair, light-haired little girl,
dressed with great simplicity, in white muslin, with hair plain, a blue
ribbon at the back, enter the box and take her seat, half hid in the red
drapery at the corner remote from the stage. The Queen is certainly very
simple in her appearance; but I am not sure that this very simplicity
does not set off to advantage her fair, pretty, pleasant, little round
Dutch face. Her bust is extremely well-proportioned, and her complexion
very fair. There is a slight parting of the rosy lips, between which you
can see little nicks of something like very white teeth. The expression
of her face is amiable and good-tempered. I could see nothing like that
awful majesty, that mysterious something which doth hedge a Queen. ...
During the performance, the Queen would now and then draw aside the
curtain and gaze back at the audience, with that earnestness and
curiosity which any young girl might show."
Mr. Bennett gave other descriptions of the Queen as he saw her driving in
the Park. He wrote: "I had been taking a walk over the interior of the
Park, gazing listlessly at the crowd of carriages as they rolled by. Just
as I was entering the arched gateway to depart, a sensation spread
through the crowd which filled that part of the promenade. 'The Queen!
the Queen!' flew from lip to lip. In an instant two outriders shot
through the gate; near Apsley House, followed by a barouche and four,
carrying the Queen and three of her suite. She sat on the right hand of
the back seat, leaning a good deal back. She was, as usual, dressed very
simply, in white, with a plain straw, or Leghorn bonnet, and her veil was
thrown aside. She carried a green parasol."
Ah, why _green_, O Queen? Later that afternoon he saw her again, going at
a slower rate, holding up that green parasol, bowing right and left and
smiling, as the crowd saluted and cheered. The Queen does not bow and
smile so much nowadays, but then she no longer carries a green parasol.
N. P. Willis also saw the young sovereign at the opera, and dashes off a
poet's vivid sketch of her:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account