A Child's Eye View of Queen Victoria

After giving a talk yesterday, a lady from the group told me an amusing anecdote about a relative of hers who, when a child, had been taken to see Queen Victoria during a visit to Sheffield in 1897.

The little girl, sitting on her uncle's shoulders and obviously excited at the prospect of seeing so great a personage, must have been expecting to see someone in a crown and full regalia. When she returned home, her family asked if she had seen the Queen, and she replied very disappointedly (clearly having misheard the 'hurrays'),
"No. There was just an old lady and everyone was waving their arms and shouting, 'Go away!' 'Go away!'"