June 28

The United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland monarch, Queen Victoria’s coronation was held on the 28th in 1837. She had a very long reign and gave her name to the Victorian Age. In all the depictions that I have seen of her, she seems to be always wearing a rather dour expression. This might be because she became a grandmother when she was 39 and a great-grandmother at 59. On the other hand, it could be that at the time of her sitting for her portraits she had just run out of the Vin Mariani, a cocaine laced beverage, of which she was so terribly fond. I have thus far been unable to verify that she actually said, “We are amused” instead of “We are not amused”. Nevertheless, I am reasonably sure that she found the Vin Mariani quite amusing indeed.