We Are Very Much Amused Trivia Quiz

Answer: "She behaved with great propriety and like a Christian."

Princess Victoria, or Vicky as her parents fondly called her, crowed and laughed and waved her arms around the entire time, so much so that the attention of all present was on the child rather than on the royal couple.

Answer: "All this dissipation does me a great deal of good."

Victoria had a very strict and lonely childhood at the hands of her mother and Captain Conroy, where she was kept isolated and controlled. It is understandable that, after becoming Queen, she would relish all the delights of a ball. The one person to whom she could share these thoughts and to whom she always turned for affection and understanding in those early years of her reign was this most loved uncle.

Answer: "I was very much amused indeed."

After Victoria became Queen, and until she married Albert, she continued to be somewhat of a social butterfly and liked to attend as many entertaining functions as possible. The serious Albert brought a steadying and sobering influence into her life.

Answer: Gave her spaniel, Dash, a bath

Another occasion where Victoria was witnessed escaping from the regal image imposed upon her was following the occasion of her first Privy Council meeting, when she was just eighteen. She presided over this event with great dignity and remarkable composure for one so young and inexperienced.

After leaving the Chamber in a dignified manner becoming of a Queen however, she forgot it was a glass door which closed behind her. All members of the Council therefore witnessed their Queen skipping off like a pupil just released from school.

Answer: "It's 10 to 1 that I shouldn't agree with anybody."

Victoria had become a little hard to handle at this stage because of her high spirits and impetuosity and quick flashes of temper. When a fellow Parliamentarian congratulated Lord Melbourne, the only person who seemed to be able to control her, on his skill in keeping the Queen's impulsiveness within bounds, Lord Melbourne answered in exhaustion, "By God, I am at it morning, noon and night!"

Answer: "There was too much of the method in his madness."

Fraulein Lehzen adored Victoria. She was the one immediate person always on hand from Victoria's childhood, and provided the child with love and as much protection as she could from the manipulations of the girl's mother and Conroy.

Answer: Frogs

Theirs was a loving and close family, but the children were also brought up with an eye to what their duties in life would be. Bearing in mind that Edward, the eldest son, would be king one day, he was particularly kept under close parental supervision. All the children however were boisterous and as high-spirited as their mother.

The Queen's third daughter, Helena, was especially hard to control and simply settled any arguments she had with her royal brothers by punching them on their regal noses.

Answer: "As for the thistles, they would have rejoiced the heart of a donkey."

Another complaint common to all visitors was about the pipers who marched around the dinner table every evening. One maid of honour complained dolefully to all and sundry, out of earshot of the royal couple, that the pipers playing at the evening dinner "nearly blew our heads off."

Answer: French Horn

Victoria wrote in her diary that evening, "I was very sorry for the poor man and kept grave very long indeed, but my lips shook and finally some very deep notes vanquished me at last."

Answer: "We're going to have a good look at her bottom and have it scraped, Ma'am."

Another time a dignitary made her laugh was on the occasion of the celebrations for her sixtieth year as Queen. Driving through the cheering crowds to the Cathedral, Lord Dundonald was riding behind her carriage on his horse which was very unsettled because of the cheering.

He kept shouting, "Steady old girl! Whoa old girl!" to the horse attempting to calm it down. The Queen at first was a little insulted, thinking he was addressing her, but when she realised it was the horse he was attempting to calm, she once again lost her composure and laughed heartily.