From ‘a piece of grossness’ to ‘minute particularity’: Queen Victoria’s First Pregnancy in the British Press

Abstract

Abstract It is a truism that Victorians were prudish about pregnant bodies. Interrogating this assumption, this paper provides a case study of one of the century’s most public pregnancies: that of Queen Victoria with her first child. It tracks press speculations about and discussions of Victoria’s pregnancy from weeks after her 10 February 1840 marriage to Princess Victoria’s 21 November birth. During this period, Victoria’s body was subject to relentless press scrutiny, ranging from speculations about possible pregnancy shortly after marriage to comments about her sex life with Albert. In summer 1840, concern shifted to possible miscarriage after an unsuccessful assassination attempt and the need for a regency if she died in childbirth. Finally, Princess Victoria’s birth prompted surprisingly detailed descriptions of Victoria’s labour and delivery as well as speculations about when the child was conceived. Victorian periodicals demonstrated awareness of their own coverage, accusing other papers of ‘grossness’ and objecting to the ‘minute particularity’ of accounts of her labour. Repeatedly invoking delicacy even as they detailed Victoria’s body, the national press captures the stakes of writing about the queen’s ‘interesting condition’. Clearly, it was not impossible for Victorians to speak about pregnancy.