Monday, 18 May 2020
Why do we celebrate Victoria Day?
We just celebrated Victoria Day here in Canada. It was an odd one for sure. Where there would normally be cars parked along at least some part of every residential side street in towns and cities across the country, there weren’t. Where we would all plan ahead to go to the absolute best place to view the fireworks, we didn’t have to because, well…there weren’t any. I never even heard the startling pop of fireworks go off on my own street at the hands of my inexperienced neighbours. This led me to have to remind myself on Monday evening that it was indeed a holiday.
Victoria Day is affectionately called “May 2-4 weekend”. No, it’s not because that’s what we also call a case of beer…a 2-4. It’s because Victoria Day is the commemoration of Queen Victoria’s birthday. This holiday signifies a coming out of hibernation for Canadians and the unofficial beginning of summer.
The date is significant as Victoria was born May 24th, 1819. She was the Queen of England from 1837 until she passed away in 1901. That’s quite a reign, the second longest in history actually. Who is number one you ask? It’s her great great granddaughter, the current Queen, Elizabeth II.
This means Victoria was only 18 years old when she became queen! When her Uncle, the king died, she was woken up and just in her bed clothes, she had a meeting where she was informed she was now the Queen of the United Kingdom. Most of us wake up and just have a cup of coffee and maybe meditate, or jump in the shower. I can’t imagine what she felt at that moment.
I love researching so I started reading up about Victoria’s life. I know from school and stories that she was a well liked Queen but I wanted to know why we celebrate her so much over other monarchs. What did she go through and do to make England better that earned her this honour?
I learned she was a very smart, straight talking woman right from childhood. She didn’t get along with her mother, but because she was an unwed Queen, she had to live with her. Victoria was the first monarch to live at Buckingham Palace. She learned that if she got married, it would resolve the issue of having to live with her mother. She found this a shocking alternative. Enter Albert, her future husband. They met a couple of times and at their second meeting, she actually proposed to him. That’s probably something that didn’t happen too often back then. It’s not something that happens often now.
She reigned during times of the abolishment of slavery, huge advances in industry, and major continued changes in the way parliament functions…all at a very young age. She helped out the Irish during the Great Famine as well when so many were dying and emigrating to England. Her mother and husband died within nine months of each other in 1861, which crushed her. She learned her mother had in fact loved her very much her whole life. This had to make her feel awful as they didn’t speak much, until Albert came along and tried to help them mend their relationship. She loved her husband dearly. After their deaths, she wore black for the rest of her life. Three years of seclusion followed, until she was encouraged to make public appearances again. The public liked her very much and she had to pick herself up and continue with her duties. This shows how strong she was and she must have had great support in her life from others.
She struck me as someone who sought advice when she needed and lived on her own terms, while helping others when she could. She set an example of how to be good to others, which led to an entire country, and British colonies around the world looking up to her as a true matriarch. From what I briefly read, she seemed to be a fair, honest person who was well liked and enjoyed a good laugh. I don’t know about you, but this is the embodiment of what we stand for here in Canada. I couldn’t think of a better person to celebrate and honour than someone like Victoria who showed us what it’s like to be a patriot, be strong, proud and unite others together. Remember her as we all try to make sense of what is going on in our world right now. There are always trying times, there are always things that have to be dealt with, that we have to go through, but we will get through. She taught us that.
