The Victorians were famously obsessed with spirituality but only now that even Queen Victoria was partial to attending seances? Join me, Shannon McInulty, as I explore Queen Victoria’s experience with the spiritual world and how it’s connected to her highland servant, John Brown.
It is often know that Queen Victoria ventured into the world of spirits, apparition and otherworldly beings after her husband Prince Albert's death in 1861 but in fact The Queen's interest began much earlier than we think.
Even as a young woman she often expressed an interest in the supernatural, often speaking about it with Lord Melbourne and her ladies in attendance. In November 1839 Victoria even asked Prince Albert if he believed in spirits and in which he replied that he rather believed in them. We must keep it mind that spiritualism and the supernatural were shunned upon by the Christian faith, with Queen Victoria being the head of the The Crurch of England it was a rather grey area for her to venture into formally. While it's a known fact that Victorians enjoyed delving into the land of the dead, doing so was often seen as going against religion, certainly not a trait that should be associated with the Head of the Church of England. As a result, the royal family destroyed many documents relating to Queen Victorias unusual interest, leaving little evidence for future researchers.
During my countless hours of research I came across some material stating that Queen Victoria would regularly hold seances in the Horn Room, which is situated on the ground floor. It was here at Osborne that - in July 1846 - Queen Victoria welcomed her first psychic performer, an eleven-year-old girl named Georgiana Eagle, also known as
"The Mysterious Lady".
The young girl had grown up in the care of her father, who was a stage magician. At a young age, Georgiana's father noticed that she had an unusual psychic ability and the two soon began performing together.
While there's no official record of Georgiana's visit, it's strongly believed that this watch (pictured below) was given to her by the Queen following her performance. It's provenance is strengthened by an inscription which reads: "Presented by Her Majesty to Miss Georgiana Eagle for her Meritorious and Extraordinary clairvoyance produced at Osborn House, Isle of Wight, July 15th, 1846”
While the spelling of 'Osborne' is incorrect on the engraving, the watch matches the style of watch given out by Queen Victoria to children that visited her, suggesting that the inscription was added by Georgiana after her visit.
Over the next few years, Victoria and Albert continued attending seances. The most interesting clairvoyant to enter the palace is a man named Robert James Lees, who was born in Hinckley, Leicestershire in 1849.
Robert James Lee is a controversial character in himself and later went on to claim that he could use his powers to find the identity of Jack the Ripper.
However, just a few months after the death of Prince Albert in December 1861, Lees was performing in Birmingham when Albert's spirit supposedly spoke through him. An account of the event was published in Spiritualist Magazine and a copy was sent straight to the Queen.
At first, Victoria - who already claimed to hear Albert's voice - was sceptical. Following her husbands death, several clairvoyants had come forward claiming to communicate with the Prince. Not wanting to fall for potential trickery, Victoria came up with a plan.
Of course, Victoria couldn't attend one of Robert James Lees shows herself. So, she arranged for two courtiers to sit in the audience of his next preference incognito. While they were there, they were shocked to hear Albert's voice coming out of the man's body and sharing private information about the Queen that only her husband would have known. On top of this, Lees - a man that had never stepped foot inside the Queens court - began talking to the courtiers and addressing them by their real names, opposed to the false ones they had given.
Soon after the performance, supposedly Lees sent Queen Victoria a letter, which he claimed to be from Albert beyond the grave. The letter again contained information that only Albert would have known and was signed off by a pet name that had been privately used by the couple. After reading the letter, Victoria was convinced that Lees was telling the truth and arranged for him to preform at Buckingham Palace. In total, Lees held nine seances for the Queen.
After his final show, Victoria asked the man to join her household as resident medium. Surprisingly, the man turned down her offer, supposedly on the advice of his spirit guide. He then explained to the Queen that Albert's spirit had chosen to communicate through a different clairvoyant ... her highland servant, John Brown.
At first, Victoria was apprehensive but then she remembered the last thing Brown had said to her as the family was preparing to leave Balmoral in autumn 1861. The servant had not only wished her a safe journey, but also said he hoped that they have no deaths in the family. Within weeks of their departure from Scotland, three members of Victoria’s family had died - including her beloved Albert.
Wanting to speak to her husband once more, Victoria sent for Brown. The two would often sit in the Blue Room at Windsor Castle where Albert had passed away. Through the darkness, the Queen was greeted with a voice. It wasn't the bellowing Scottish accent of John Brown, but the angelic voice of Prince Albert.
From then on, the two were inseparable. Brown began joining Victoria on family outings, sleeping in a room adjacent to the Queen's and Victoria even got John brown gifts for Albert's birthday. Soon, rumours began spreading that Victoria was in a relationship with her servant, with tabloids even nicknaming her "Mrs Brown" and claiming that the two were secretly married. Of course, if you've been following me for a while you'll already know that Victoria was buried wearing John Browns mother's wedding ring on her finger.
Unfortunately for Victoria, her affection towards Brown wasn't reciprocated amongst her family and household, who were regularly on the receiving end of his fiery temper and complete lack of respect. It was their dislike of John Brown - and a fear that mixing with mediums would make the Queen seem anti-Christianity - that led to Victorias’s children destroying all of Brown’s letters and journals that gave context around his friendship with the Queen. As a result, we will never truly know the full extent of their story
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