16 Times Victoria Made Us Wish History Didn’t Happen

Photo: ITV

That Time They Sort of Put the Government on Hold

The Queen of England being willing to shut down her own government over a guy feels like something that should be included on this list as a “wishful thinking for your OTP” kind of item. And yet, that’s actually one of the few things on this list that happened on both Victoria and in real life too. Well, sort of. This event was known as the Bedchamber Crisis. What happened was this: When Melbourne lost a close vote in Parliament, he declared his intention to step down as Prime Minister. This had something to do with the fact that he felt he didn’t have the confidence of his party anymore. And the subsequent effort to find a new Prime Minister didn’t go so well.

Historically speaking, Victoria’s reign was just two years old when this incident occurred. She was so upset at the thought of losing her first and favorite advisor that she allowed the government to grind to a halt rather than ask a Tory candidate to form a new coalition. (Her own diaries confirm that she burst into tears at the news, and that the “Do you really mean to forsake me?” line in the show was legitimate.) Victoria was also upset at the idea that she must dismiss some of her ladies of the bedchamber, since they were all of the opposite political persuasion of the incoming government. This gave this incident its name: The Bedchamber Crisis.

But the fact that Victoria chooses to equally emphasize the queen’s reluctance to be parted from Melbourne is an interesting one. In fact, the show actually makes it look as though the entire Bedchamber incident was strategically planned by Victoria herself. Her purpose? To manipulate the other ministers of government to her desired outcome: Keeping Melbourne around almost solely because she couldn’t bear to part from him. Victoria certainly embellishes this moment for dramatic effect. But the moment in which Melbourne realizes that he can’t leave Victoria alone to face her political foes is pretty dreamy. He literally appears out of nowhere to help her with the unveiling of a painting, and to talk in doublespeak about serving her still. Not all heroes wear capes, it would seem.