Queen Victoria at the Pictures

Abstract

Queen Victoria was enthusiastically taken up by the shows, exhibitions and lectures that blossomed in the nineteenth century. This collaborative essay demonstrates the way Victoria's life and reign was embraced by the moving-image and projected-image formats that proliferated during the period, particularly touring panoramas, magic lantern shows and early film. Victoria and Albert were themselves intermittent visitors to these new pictorial shows in London, while, across both nation and empire, local communities were able to participate in key royal events thanks to their replaying and broadcasting by media such as the magic lantern and early film.