Assassination of Queen Victoria

Hi all,

I am exploring an alternate history for a children's novel I am attempting to write. In this world Victoria and Albert were assassinated a few months after Princess Victoria was born. The Princess is then sent to live with her family in Belgium - King Leopold being Queen Victoria's uncle - for her own safety.

My question is.... what event would or could prevent the Princess Victoria returning to England to take up her position on the throne when she was deemed old enough? I need a reason that would prevent her from ever actually officially becoming Queen.

What would the consequences be of her marrying the Crown-Prince of Belgium and therefore becoming Queen of Belgium?
 
Hi all,

I am exploring an alternate history for a children's novel I am attempting to write. In this world Victoria and Albert were assassinated a few months after Princess Victoria was born. The Princess is then sent to live with her family in Belgium - King Leopold being Queen Victoria's uncle - for her own safety.

Bit uh... dark for a children's novel? Maybe young teens would be better suited. In most children stories if the parents disappear its sort of a tragedy in a storm or something, not full on assassination.

Don't know much about the time, but if there's another potential heir or claims of illegitimacy? Then we might have a problem with Victoria returning.

And... A personal union with Belgium? Maybe it eventually involves in the Belgian Congo (if that still becomes a thing) would be incorporated into the British sphere, and give Britain a further anchor on European politics. That in itself could be a whole new idea with Britain no longer in true 'Splendid Isolation'.
 
The whole assassination of Queen Victoria is a very minor element to the book but it does affect the world the book is set in - (it ties in with another story) but I do need to be able to explain why the Princess Victoria has not taken up her position as Queen Victoria II
 
errrr...Victoria wouldn't be sent to Belgium. Parliament will keep her in the UK. And i doubt thered be a Belgium match.
 
Belgium is Catholic. Sending her there would be far too controversial.

And anywhere in Germany she might be seen as in danger from Uncle Ernest.

She'd be kept in Britain, though possibly with the Tower as her main residence. That's as secure as anywhere
 
Ok, but what would stop her from actually becoming Queen. She was a baby when her parents were assassinated.

A massive change in the British political and civilian mindset. With the exception of a couple of instances, the Monarchy was really quite stable. Youd need something like the 1848 revolutions but to happen on a much bigger scale to affect Britain. Or have Ernst become Kind, which can't happen unless Victoria II was dead, as the legal tenants are she is immediately Queen upon the previous sovereign, Victoria I's death ("The Queen is dead, Long live the Queen")

The big question is who would be Regent for the child. This might be the best way to get her dethroned, with some kinda republican movement, but this requires a pod prior to even Victoria I's ascension, and it's very unlikely after her death giving there would be mass sentiment for the young Victoria II with her mother's assassination, and a dead nail for any republic type thing if it turns out that a republican was behind it.
 
In this alternative world - Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are assassinated in the summer of 1842. A major fire at the Palace of Westminster decimates Parliament and as a result the Royal Society with his mix of politicians and scientists form a technocratic Government - this leads to Great Britain being more scientifically and technologically advanced - heralding a Steampunk style era - Babbage's Analytical Engine is produced for example. I know this is quite a wild leap but it is a work of fiction after all :)
 
In this alternative world - Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are assassinated in the summer of 1842. A major fire at the Palace of Westminster decimates Parliament and as a result the Royal Society with his mix of politicians and scientists form a technocratic Government - this leads to Great Britain being more scientifically and technologically advanced - heralding a Steampunk style era - Babbage's Analytical Engine is produced for example. I know this is quite a wild leap but it is a work of fiction after all :)

The decimation would have to be very complete. Forty members is a quorum.
 
A major fire at the Palace of Westminster decimates Parliament and as a result the Royal Society with his mix of politicians and scientists form a technocratic Government... I know this is quite a wild leap but it is a work of fiction after all :)
The decimation would have to be very complete. Forty members is a quorum.
Well, that and the by-elections: odds are you'd get men elected who very similar to the ones being replaced, i.e. the usual mix of country squires and industrialists. However, this is meant to be a children's book rather than a serious piece of historical fiction. It might be better to work out the end state in which the country needs to be in for the purposes of the narrative, and then work backwards from there. For instance, is the point to have another royal unfairly depose Victoria II, so that he can act as an antagonist? Or is the point to have a technocratic republican government against which the rightful monarch-in-exile can act as a rallying point of resistance? Internal consistency- a world that feels right- sometimes matters more than plausibility.
 
Thanks - the idea was that the British Empire is effectively ruled by scientists, but there are small groups who oppose their rule - (such as the New-Luddites) and the more peaceful Pro-Victorians - who want their Queen back.
 
Hi all,

I am exploring an alternate history for a children's novel I am attempting to write. In this world Victoria and Albert were assassinated a few months after Princess Victoria was born. The Princess is then sent to live with her family in Belgium - King Leopold being Queen Victoria's uncle - for her own safety.

My question is.... what event would or could prevent the Princess Victoria returning to England to take up her position on the throne when she was deemed old enough? I need a reason that would prevent her from ever actually officially becoming Queen.

What would the consequences be of her marrying the Crown-Prince of Belgium and therefore becoming Queen of Belgium?

So to add some detail to your first point - there would have been a Regency Council, although the Regency Act of 1840 complicates matters as it sort of assumed that Albert would survive Victoria if it came into effect. In reality you'd see a mixture of the Royal Family (the Duke of Cambridge is still kicking around and up until 1849 you have Queen Adelaide too who few would have objections to) and politicos - probably prominent figures like Melbourne, the Duke of Wellington, etc. You've also got Victoria's mother (this Victoria's Grandmother) too, although in 1840 she was still somewhat out of favour at Court.

VII would not be sent to Belgium, although Leopold would agitate for it, but would be kept in Britain. I think suggesting the Tower of London is a bit extreme and impracticable - by this point it was little more than a dusty storehouse really. Much more likely would be the relative security of Windsor Castle. Somewhat of a gilded cage, but still more realistic than the Tower.

She wouldn't be allowed to marry the Crown-Prince of Denmark because of the laws governing Royal marriage to Catholics at the time. It would be almost impossible to change those laws - and the future Edward VII's son gave it a good try.

In this alternative world - Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are assassinated in the summer of 1842. A major fire at the Palace of Westminster decimates Parliament and as a result the Royal Society with his mix of politicians and scientists form a technocratic Government - this leads to Great Britain being more scientifically and technologically advanced - heralding a Steampunk style era - Babbage's Analytical Engine is produced for example. I know this is quite a wild leap but it is a work of fiction after all :)

This is a very wild leap and also makes quite large assumptions about what the Royal Society actually was in the period. Until the Government bailed it out in 1850, for example, the RS was struggling to even pay its bills, let alone take on the mantle of Government. The hurdles to forming a "technocratic" government (and remember that's a very modern usage of the term that wouldn't have had much purchase at the time) would be huge. You would need, as other posters have suggested, a very different path for Britain in the period.

Thanks - the idea was that the British Empire is effectively ruled by scientists, but there are small groups who oppose their rule - (such as the New-Luddites) and the more peaceful Pro-Victorians - who want their Queen back.

Poor Luddites. So misunderstood by history. :closedtongue: I'm not sure what you have planned for them, but please be aware that they weren't simple "Down with Technology" rednecks but workers caught up in a very real crisis where machines were destroying decades upon decades of craft skills they had hoped would continue to provide for their children and grandchildren down the line.


I will try and think of a semi-plausible timeline and post later if I can... as it is an interesting challenge.
 
The trouble with trying to explain my alternate world here is that everything has a slight twist - the Royal Society, for example, is a very very very well funded organisation
 
If it's an alternate world with multiple PoD then you are better off in the writers forum or in ASB.

Unless you really have developed a credible world structure you can outline to us then you'll always be saying "This works like that .....because" - which is a bit annoying if we are playing by OTL rules.
 
Hi all,

I am exploring an alternate history for a children's novel I am attempting to write. In this world Victoria and Albert were assassinated a few months after Princess Victoria was born. The Princess is then sent to live with her family in Belgium - King Leopold being Queen Victoria's uncle - for her own safety.

My question is.... what event would or could prevent the Princess Victoria returning to England to take up her position on the throne when she was deemed old enough? I need a reason that would prevent her from ever actually officially becoming Queen.

What would the consequences be of her marrying the Crown-Prince of Belgium and therefore becoming Queen of Belgium?
The recent TV program in the UK made a suggestion that Albert could have been Leopold's bastard son with Ernest's wife. So Victoria the younger as Leopolds grandaughter could end up marrying her half uncle, Leopold's son.. The scandal would be immense. Not sure its suitable for kids though!
 
If it's an alternate world with multiple PoD then you are better off in the writers forum or in ASB.

Unless you really have developed a credible world structure you can outline to us then you'll always be saying "This works like that .....because" - which is a bit annoying if we are playing by OTL rules.

This is your best bet. You've not only inserted a divergent POD, but a divergent society with no POD to support it. To make this not ASB/writer's forum material, one: you'd have to change your POD to before Victoria I's reign, in order to advance your "royal society" and establish it as you have indicated; and two: Parliament, even if the members are 'decimated' is still going to have a House of Lords and quite soon, standing members elected - probably before the rubble is cleared. As it stands, your POD and proposed "going to Belgium for her safety" is ASB. England has had lots and lots of experience defending royals and since she's the QUEEN (Victoria II), she ain't leaving England. She may be residing in the tower (which was often used for housing), but she will remain in England with the POD you've given us. Sorry. Just change the forum and you'll have more leeway.
 
She wouldn't be allowed to marry the Crown-Prince of Denmark because of the laws governing Royal marriage to Catholics at the time. It would be almost impossible to change those laws

Was he a Papist? I thought that family were Lutheran.

Not that it matters. Having at long last got rid of the link with Hanover, the politicians won't want to immediately replace it by a connection with anywhere else. V2's husband would have to be someone who wasn't heir to anything significant.
 
Apologies if this wasn't quite the right forum to post this in but thank you for all the feedback and information - it has all been very useful
 
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