Queen Victoria

 My dear, it seems we were cut off rather abruptly. I do appreciate you picking up our conversation. It is quite important. Now, where shall I start?

Well, let’s start with me, shall we? The Queen. Until dear Lizzie came along, I was the longest reigning British monarch in history. Quite a thing for my time, don’t you agree? Especially when you think of how many women died in childbirth. And I, of course, had nine children, many of whom went on to be monarchs all through Europe.

Now, this is something that bothers me still - people go on about the Victorian era being marked by prudishness. Well! If Victorians were prudes they certainly did not get it from me, dear one. I was a whisky-swilling queen who loved a good roll in the sack. A doctor once advised me to stop having babies and I replied, “What? No more fun in the bedroom?” Poor Albert. I couldn’t get enough of him.

But maybe you haven’t come here to hear of all my lewd adventures, though I do appreciate the opportunity to set that record straight.

Let’s put my reign into a bit of context, shall we? Picture it. I was just 18 when my uncle King William passed and I became Queen. When I was born, I was seventh in line to the throne, so a lot of unfortunate circumstances had to pass for me to be crowned in 1837.

[Summary of empire]

You would not think me a racist if you watch the film Victoria and Abdul, the story of my friendship with my Indian Muslim servant. Oh, I do love it when Judy Dench portrays me. That is a woman after my own heart!

And you know that the Slavery Abolition Act was passed in 1833. So there were moves towards more equal footing.