Queen Victoria's Quiet Christmas in 1899

Queen Victoria present flowers to a convalescing  Boer War soldier, c1900. From Wellcome Images.

Queen Victoria's Christmas in 1899 was described as a quiet and uneventful one, spent with her at Windsor Castle.

In fact, this was the first time that the queen has spent Christmas at Windsor! She usually spends it on Osborne, her home in the Isle of Wight.

The Court Newsmen issued an announcement a few days before Christmas,explaining why the queen stayed at Windsor for the holidays:

"The arrangements made for The Queen's departure from Windsor have been postponed until after Christmas, as owing to the present state of affairs in South Africa, the Queen is unwilling to be at a great distance from London".

 Queen Victoria's decision to maintain close distance with her Cabinet reflected the serious situation brought about by the Boer War, which commenced in October 1899. She realized the "gravity of the crisis and of the anxiety  her Majesty feels for the welfare of the country."

The queen remains in relatively fair health. "Saturday morning she took her usual drive," reports The New York Times. A few days before Christmas, she received Lord Wolseley, who dined with her and Major General Sir Henry Peter Ewart, the crown's equerry, at Windsor. She had also presented a flag to the American hospital ship Maine.

 Joining the queen for Christmas were Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, his wife Louise Margaret, and the children of Princess Henry.

The usual fare  at the royal dinner table was served: "Not only was there a baron of beef arranged, but there was also a magnificent Christmas tree, with many colored candles, for the children, in which the Queen evinced the greatest interest," wrote the correspondent for the New York Times.

Despite the gloomy mood caused by the armed conflict in Africa, the queen expressed her desire that her "grandchildren who assembled about her today should not have their Christmas marred by the events which have saddened her own heart."

In fact, the presence of her grandchildren for this occasion "gladdened with Queen with solace she is always able to find in the companionship of her youngest descendants."