Author Archives: Judith Hatfield

The moment Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert died in 1861, she set a new trend. Her lengthy mourning began a style of oppressive traditions that funeral directors were to make last until her own death forty years later. Her entire court was commanded to dress in a certain style and the Queen herself dressed in full mourning attire consistently until three years later. Grieving was no longer enough. Inner emotions were to be on show through the full-on grieving that had now become trendy. Seeing their Queen’s lead, those who could afford to do so purchased expensive funerals, built complex monuments on the grave and went along with the new style of mourning. Along with specific clothing came an entire set of rules restricting the way people could act. Popular household guides provided detailed instructions about the proper etiquette to adopt for each period of mourning. Queen Victoria’s poorer subjects had to make do with stirring all their clothes in a large vat of black dye. Continue reading →