Queen Victoria had a majestic sixty-three-year reign but despite this, she was not universally loved. While some people protested against her, others had a slightly more radical method. From Edward Oxford to Roderick Maclean, during her reign Queen Victoria survived eight assassination attempts.
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The first attempt on the Queen's life occurred on June 10th 1840 at a parade around Hyde Park, London. Edward Oxford, an unemployed eighteen-year-old, fired a duelling pistol at the Queen who was five months pregnant at the time, only to miss from a short distance. Prince Albert noticed Oxford soon after leaving the palace gates and recalled seeing a “little mean man”.
After the traumatic experience, the Queen and the Prince managed to maintain their composure by finishing the parade whilst Oxford was wrestled to the ground by the crowd. The reason for this attack is unknown, but afterwards at his trial at the Old Bailey, Oxford proclaimed that the gun was only loaded with gunpowder, not bullets. Eventually, Oxford was found not guilty but insane, and spent time in an asylum until he was deported to Australia.
However, he was not nearly as motivated an assassin as John Francis. On May 29th 1842, Prince Albert and the Queen were in a carriage when Prince Albert saw what he called “a little, swarthy, ill-looking rascal”. Francis lined up his shot and pulled the trigger, but the gun failed to fire.
He then left the scene and readied himself for another attempt. Prince Albert alerted the Royal security forces that he had spotted a gunman, however despite this Queen Victoria insisted on leaving the Palace the next evening for a drive in an open barouche. Meanwhile, plain-clothes officers scoured the site for the gunman. A shot rang out abruptly only a few yards away from the carriage. Eventually, Francis was sentenced to death by hanging but Queen Victoria intervened and he was transported instead.