A Victorian Christmas - How Queen Victoria And Prince Albert Shaped Christmas As We Know It

Christmas is around the corner. Did you know we have to thank Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha for Christmas as we know it? Influenced in part by Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert, Christmas became a domestic family celebration in the 19th century. So in today's video we'll take a brief look at how Christmas, as it's celebrated nowadays, One of the most famous customs which came to England during the Victorian era, and has also found further international distribution, is putting up and decorating the Christmas tree. In Germany the custom already existed well before the 19th century. The Roman Catholic Church initially wasn't a fan of the Christmas tree because of its Pagan origin, but after some time the Church adopted the tradition as an element of the Christian Christmas. In the 19th century the tradition of a Christmas tree was already deeply rooted in the German Christmas tradition. Despite popular belief that Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, introduced the Christmas tree to the British royal court, it was in fact Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz of the British royal family in Windsor in 1800. Queen Charlotte, who was the wife of George III, was familiar with the tradition of a Christmas tree in her homeland and also introduced it in England. From that moment on, the custom of erecting a Christmas tree spread among the British aristocracy. But while the upper class imitated the royal family and adopted the custom, it did not yet reach the majority of the British population. Although Queen Victoria and Prince Albert did not put up the first Christmas tree in England, it is safe to say that they spread and established the custom in all social classes in England due to the emergence of the new illustrated print media. Most relevant to the spread of the Christmas tree tradition in England was the Illustrated London News, a newspaper largely aimed at the middle class market. The middle class of the time was in a period of growth and the magazine not only reflected this, but also provided them with an image of a desirable lifestyle. In December 1848, a picture of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children with a decorated tree standing on a gift table full of presents appeared in the newspaper. In addition to the picture, an article describing the Christmas tradition of the royal family was published. A story about the German tradition of Christmas trees followed, which gave readers a further insight into this new tradition. Through this article, the custom of decorating a Christmas tree, which the years before had only been practiced behind closed doors, became known to a wider readership who started to imitate the tradition in the following years. In the 1909 Christmas edition of the Illustrated London News, the Christmas tree was described as a firmly established element of Christmas festivities that could not be imagined without. In Covent Garden alone, 70,000 Christmas trees were sold that year. The Victorian era was also the moment when Christmas became a more family-oriented celebration and the focus also shifted to children and their participation in the festivities. Although it was customary to give gifts in England since the 17th century, the great culture of giving gifts to children really blossomed only in the second half of the 19th century. The great culture of giving gifts to children only blossomed in the second half of the 19th century. Another new custom, which originated in Victorian England, was the sending of Christmas cards. John Calcutt Horsley was commissioned by Henry Cole to design the very first Christmas card in 1843, which featured a family raising their glass during Christmas dinner. The reform of the postal system, with the introduction of the penny post in 1840, made sending mail less costly, which ensured that the tradition quickly got adopted by the general population. Unfortunately for Victoria, Christmas would change for her in 1861. Relatively shortly after each other, Victoria's mother, Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and her beloved Albert had died. In the years that followed, there was a somber atmosphere surrounding Christmas at court. It was not until many years later that Victoria was able to enjoy Christmas again, due to the arrival of her many grandchildren. As we're nearing the end of 2022, I'd like to thank you for supporting my channel and to those who celebrate it, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and to all a happy and healthy 2023. Thank you for watching.