THE VICTORIANS AND THE EMPIRE

When Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, the British Empire was a loose assortment of colonies mostly accrued for reasons of trade. By the time of her death nearly 64 years later, the Empire had expanded to become a coherent and dominant show of economic and political strength. As head of state, Victoria had presided over nearly a quarter of the world’s population.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Union flag was raised right across the map: from the farthest reaches of North America, across the Caribbean, over large swathes of Africa, throughout the Indian subcontinent and as far distant as Australia and New Zealand. The cliché was that Britain’s influence, power and control was so far-reaching, so all-encompassing, that the Sun never set on its empire. And it was true.

“The loss of America in the 18th