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Following the death of Queen Victoria's mother and husband in 1861, Victoria went in to a depression fueled isolation, and just barely performed the functions of Queen of the British Empire. This was at the same time that rumours were circulating that the Crown Prince (the future King Edward VII) was having an affair with an Irish actress. Afterwards, rumours also circulated that the Queen was having a romantic affair with her manservant. Victoria remained in a funk with little-to-no public appearances while a republican movement grew in strength until 1871, when the Crown Prince survived a case of typhoid fever and the Queen recovered from a serious illness brought on by an abscess, after which she emotionally recovered and returned to her Queenly duties.

But what if the Royal Family's bad luck hadn't ended? What if the antiseptic spray used to heal the Queen in 1871 hadn't been available, causing her death, and the Crown Prince becomes King, only to die a few months later of typhoid fever? That would leave seven year old Prince Albert Victor as 'King' and the Queen's second son, Alfred, as Regent.

But let's complicate it further and say that the 1868 assassination attempt against Alfred succeeds. That leaves Prince Arthur, who's off in Canada pursuing a military career, as Regent.

But let's make it even worse!


Arthur takes a bullet fighting Fenian rebels in Canada in 1870, and Prince Leopold becomes Regent instead. Regent Leopold, a noted hemophiliac, stubs his toe and his head explodes, leaving none of Victoria's sons left. At this point, I don't know who the Regent would be. Princess Alice? George V of Hanover? Some other royal relative?

Would this series of unfortunate events be enough to strengthen the republican movement sufficiently to allow the adoption of a British Republic inspired by the French Third Republic, or would this almost comically poorly timed series of deaths only strengthen the popularity of the monarchy through sympathy?

tl;dr rocks fall, Victoria and her sons die. Republic?
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