# Attempted assinations of Queen Victoria **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218 "2020-05-21T02:08:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/1 "2020-05-21T02:08:37Z")
Why were there two attempts on her life? Corn laws, land owners having the only voting rights…MPs, PMs I can understand, but why the young Queen, and possibly her angel, Albert? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2020, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/2 "2020-05-21T03:42:49Z")
There were more than two attempts, or at least apparent attempts, on her life. In most cases the attackers were mentally disturbed, or in desperate straits (at least two attacks were motivated by a desire to be sent to prison), and several attacks were designed not to succeed - e.g. guns loaded with powder only. Only one attack, by an Irish Fenian in 1872, appears to have had a political motivation (and that one involved a non-working pistol, so should perhaps be classed more as a protest than an assassination attempt). ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2020, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/3 "2020-05-21T11:41:28Z")
It wasn’t just Victoria; [assassinating royalty was all the rage in the late 1800s:](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137347794_7) > [@](#): > > In the late nineteenth century alone, assassins tried to kill nearly every major European ruler and head of state, including Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, the Kaisers Wilhelm I, Friedrich III and Wilhelm II of Germany, the Tsars Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II of Russia, the kings Victor Emmanuel II, Umberto I and Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, and various presidents of France, as well as numerous prominent politicians. During her long reign, Queen Victoria famously survived seven attempts on her life, while her husband, Prince Albert, and the future kings of England, Edward VII and George V, were targeted. Unfortunately, I only have access to the abstract of the linked article, so I don’t know if the author discusses why there was such an uptick. If I had to guess, I’d say that the same Europe-wide intellectual foment that led to [the revolutions of 1848](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1848) was still running hot at the time. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2020, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/4 "2020-05-21T13:13:20Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > It wasn’t just Victoria; [assassinating royalty was all the rage in the late 1800s:](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137347794_7) > > Unfortunately, I only have access to the abstract of the linked article, so I don’t know if the author discusses why there was such an uptick. If I had to guess, I’d say that the same Europe-wide intellectual foment that led to [the revolutions of 1848](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1848) was still running hot at the time. I was thinking about that, although the two I read of were 1844. I guess revolutions to take a while to get started. I recall Wagner signing a “procurement for hand grenades”. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/5 "2020-05-21T15:08:02Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > It wasn’t just Victoria; [assassinating royalty was all the rage in the late 1800s:](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137347794_7) One could argue that the unusual thing about Queen Victoria is that she faced so few assassination attempts. The trend for trying to assassinate royals - and, of course, presidents - was particularly pronounced during the half century or so before 1914. It had, in a sense, become fashionable and there was certainly a copycat element to some of them. But the decades after 1861 were also those when, for very different reasons, Victoria was appearing in public far less often. It is not a coincidence that most of the attempts against her were made before then. It’s not that there were none after that, because she never completely disappeared from view, but there would probably have been even more if she had remained as visible as she had previously been. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/6 "2020-05-21T17:22:01Z")
A number of attempts were made, some more serious than others, and some just attention-seekers or mentally ill persons. As mentioned, after Prince Albert’s death she largely withdrew from public life so opportunities were much fewer. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2020, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/7 "2020-05-21T23:45:05Z")
No, her posterior managed to avoid any bullets and bombs, as did the rest of her. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2020, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/8 "2020-05-21T23:47:51Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > No, her posterior managed to avoid any bullets and bombs, as did the rest of her. Except for maybe Mr. Brown’s love missile. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2020, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/9 "2020-05-21T23:57:51Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > It wasn’t just Victoria; [assassinating royalty was all the rage in the late 1800s:](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137347794_7) > > Unfortunately, I only have access to the abstract of the linked article, so I don’t know if the author discusses why there was such an uptick. If I had to guess, I’d say that the same Europe-wide intellectual foment that led to [the revolutions of 1848](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1848) was still running hot at the time. [Anarchists, mostly.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_of_the_deed) ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/10 "2020-05-22T11:32:35Z")
Having read the title’s second word as “assignations”, I came to this thread expecting something a bit different from what I found. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/11 "2020-05-22T11:56:38Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Except for maybe Mr. Brown’s love missile. Cite? Or perhaps a saucy etching? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/12 "2020-05-22T20:13:20Z")
U.S. presidents were not left unscathed in that period, as well, of course: Lincoln in 1865, Garfield in 1881, and McKinley in 1901. There were at least two attempts on Theodore Roosevelt’s life. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/13 "2020-05-22T22:39:51Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > U.S. presidents were not left unscathed in that period, as well, of course: Lincoln in 1865, Garfield in 1881, and McKinley in 1901. There were at least two attempts on Theodore Roosevelt’s life. TR made his speech with a bullet in him, I understand. They don’t make politicians like that any more. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/14 "2020-05-22T23:31:18Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > TR made his speech with a bullet in him, I understand. > They don’t make politicians like that any more. They only ever made one of him. No one else remotely like him really. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/15 "2020-05-23T20:17:39Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > They only ever made one of him. No one else remotely like him really. A recent successor of his likely agrees (7:15 to 8:02 here): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM-Q\_zpuJGU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM-Q_zpuJGU) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-assinations-of-queen-victoria/854218/16 "2020-05-23T20:37:32Z")
I knew he was smart.