A Shot Fired at Queen Victoria
The young Queen was shot at on May 19th, 1849.
On a pleasant Saturday afternoon in May a few days short of her 30th birthday, Queen Victoria went for a family drive in London's Hyde Park. In the carriage with her were the nine-year-old Princess Royal, the eight-year-old Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) and little Princess Helena, who was three. Prince Albert was on horseback some way ahead of them. As the royal carriage moved down towards the bottom of Constitution Hill on its way back to Buckingham Palace between 5.30 and 6pm, a pistol shot rang out. The man who fired it was standing under a tree and was promptly seized by the bystanders.
No one in the royal party was hurt. The carriage drove straight on and the Queen, who was no coward, was seen to be speaking to the children, presumably to calm them. When she and the children reached the palace, they were met by an agitated and desperately relieved Prince Albert and, as word spread of what had happened, members of the nobility called to express their alarm.
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