Did anyone try to assassinate Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria 1854

A. Yes. There were seven attempts - all, obviously, unsuccessful. The all-powerful and utterly grumpy Queen died in 1901 aged 81. Seven attempts were made:

Q. Kindly run through them.

A. All right. The first was in June 1840, when Victoria, aged 21 and four months pregnant with Princess Vicky, had just set off from Buckingham Palace with Prince Albert in a low open carriage. They were travelling up Constitution Hill when Albert noticed on the footpath 'a small disagreeable-looking man' leaning against the railing of Green Park only six paces away from them. He had a pistol. Albert pushed Victoria down into the carriage. The offender was Edward Oxford, aged 18, son of a jeweller, and said to be feeble-minded. He was convicted of high treason, but declared insane. He was released from the asylum in 1867 and allowed to emigrate.

Q. Next

A. In May, 1842, Victoria and Albert were out for an afternoon drive along the Mall when a man wearing a 'shabby hat and of dirty appearance', pointed a pistol, but misfired, then disappeared in the crowd. It happened so quickly that Albert began to doubt what he had seen. But the next morning, a boy of 14 went to Buckingham Palace and told Albert that he 'had seen a man present a pistol at us ... but not fire, exclaiming afterwards, 'Fool that I was, not to fire!'

Q. Quite an adventure for that lad

A. Yes. It's not often you called upon the Prince Consort with that tale to tell. However... the next day the gunman tried again - and the shot went under the carriage. Would-be assassin was John Francis, 20, a cabinet-maker.He was convicted of high treason and condemned to death, but this was commuted to transportation for life, in Tasmania.

Others followed - and they all bore similarities. In July, 1842, a boy shot at Victoria, Albert and their uncle King Leopold of the Belgians as they were in a carriage on their way from Buckingham Palace to St James's Palace. But the pistol misfired and the crowd pounced on what they thought was the offender - but it was a heroic lad who had tried to stop the shooting. The real perpetrator was a deformed youth, John William Bean, who worked at a chemist's. His pistol contained mainly paper and tobacco, rather than gunpowder. He was jailed for 18 months.

In May, 1849, William Hamilton fired upon Victoria and three of her children as they returned to the place after her birthday celebrations. Albert rode ahead. Hamilton came from Adare, Ireland. His pistol was made from wood and a kettle spout - and contained no bullets. He was transported for seven years.

Q. That takes us up to number five, doesn't it

A. Yes. The next June a man in the crowd struck the Queen in the face with a heavy cane as she left Cambridge House to visit her ill uncle. She was stunned for a few moments before being revived by a lady-in-waiting. Victoria stumbled to her feet and cried out to the crowd 'I am not hurt'. In fact, this was the only attempt on her life that left her injured: she had a black eye and it would have been worse if her bonnet brim had not shielded her. The attacker, a dandified retired Hussars officer named Robert Pate, was transported for seven years. He was son of a former high sheriff and he never revealed his motives.

Q. Didn't her faithful retainer, John Brown, once help save her life

A. Yes - that came in February 1872. Victoria, accompanied by her sons Prince Arthur and Prince Leopold, a lady-in-waiting and Brown, were returning to the palace and had just gone through the gates. A man appeared - and Victoria thought he was a footman. Then, as the Queen realised something was wrong and cried 'save me!' Arthur sprang into action while Brown grabbed hold of the intruder, who dropped a pistol. The assailant was a weak-minded 17-year-old Irishman called Arthur O'Connor. He did not intend to harm the Queen, but to frighten her into releasing Fenian prisoners.

O'Connor, whose gun wasn't even loaded, was jailed for a year and given 20 strokes of the birch. Victoria thought the sentence too lenient. Prince Arthur received a gold pin for his bravery; Brown was thanked publicly, with a gold medal and an annuity of 25.

Q. And lastly

A. In March 1882, Victoria was sitting in her carriage at Windsor station, having just arrived from London. Her daughter, Princess Beatrice, and the Duchess of Roxburghe accompanied her. As the carriage was leaving the station, there was an explosion that sounded as if it came from the steam engine. In fact it was from a gun just a few yards away. The gunman was a Scots youth called Roderick Maclean who thought himself a poet. He was tried for high treason and found not guilty, but insane. William McGonagall, another man who thought himself a poet, wrote:

Maclean must be a madman,

Which is obvious to be seen,

Or else he wouldn't have tried to shoot

Our most beloved Queen

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By Steve Cunningham