1. 08/01/2013 NEGRE Charlotte
1ère S 2 VALERIO Aurélie
QUELLEC Juliette
The stay of Queen Victoria in Hyères

2. Introduction:
 At the time (19th century) Hyères was very popular, as a typical British Winter
Resort. Especially lots of wealthy people came there.
 The reasons for these visits were that, among others, many British doctors
spoke highly of the downwind place of Hyères, and said that it was the best
place to cure pulmonary diseases (such as phthisis) thanks to its very warm
climate.
 It was indeed a very pleasant and sunny town, nearby the sea.
 Furthermore, another factor was the improvement in transport, and the
reduction of transportation time.
 After the death of her grandson and her son-in-law, Queen Victoria decided to
come to Hyères, among others to discover this well-known winter resort (the
most famous of the French Riviera), but as she was mourning, it wasn’t an
official visit but a private stay. Indeed, she didn’t want a big ceremony for her
arrival.
Contents :
1) Queen victoria (Biography & her influence)
2) The journey and her place of residence in Hyères
3) The Queen’s activities and entourage during her sojourn

3. Juliette Quellec
1) Queen Victoria
A) Biography :
Queen Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom from 1837 until her
death. Moreover, from May 1st 1876, she got the title of Empress of India.
Named Alexandrina Victoria after her godfather, Tsar Alexander II of Russia,
Victoria was born on May 24th, 1819, in London.
She was the daughter of Edward, the Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III, and
of Princess Victoria (from Germany).
Her father died when she was 8 months old, followed 6 days later by King
Georges III. Then Georges IV (his son) became King, and then William IV
(Georges IV’s brother). They all died very early.
Victoria, aged four
Painting by Stephen Poyntz
Denning, 1823
As a child she was educated at
home by a governess, she learnt
German, and she was particularly
talented at drawing and painting.
She became Queen when William
IV, her uncle, died, in 1837.

4. Juliette Quellec
Queen Victoria's coronation
portrait, Painted by Franz
Xaver Winterhalter, 1838
Supplied by Royal Collection
Trust
Eventually she was crowned
one year later, on June 28th
1838. She was then 19 years
old.
Victoria's family in 1846 by
Franz Xaver Winterhalter
In February 1840, Queen
Victoria married her cousin
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg.
During the next 17 years they
had 9 children together (5
girls and 4 boys). They all
married into royal and noble
families across the continent.
left to right: Prince Alfred and the Prince of Wales; the Queen and Prince Albert;
Princesses Alice, Helena and Victoria
In December 1861 Prince Albert died of typhoid (an infectious disease) at the
age of 42, and Victoria sank into depression. She plunged into deep mourning:
for the rest of her reign she wore black.
Victoria withdrew from public view until the end of the 1860s, spending much of
her time up at her Castle in Scotland.

5. Juliette Quellec
Britain's monarch
became Empress of
India in 1876, and she
was fascinated by India
and retained Indian
servants.
Queen Victoria with
Indian servants
British India :
Victoria
Empress silver
Rupee (coin)
1877
Victoria died on 22nd January, 1901 at Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight. She
kept her duties until her death. Her reign had lasted almost 64 years which is the
longest in British history.

6. Juliette Quellec
B) A popular monarch, a strong influence :
So her reign of 63 years and 7 months is the longest of the British monarchs and
the longest of any Queen in history. This period is known as the Victorian era.
We must notice that the United
Kingdom was already a
constitutional monarchy, so the
Sovereign held relatively few
direct political powers.
However, Victoria attempted to
influence government policy and
she had an important role in the
choice of certain ministers.
She became also a national icon
and was almost the symbol of the
Empire.
The Victorian Era was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and
military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great
expansion of the British Empire (with more and more colonies).
At the end of this period, Great Britain was said to have a worldwide empire so
vast that people could say “the sun never sets on the British Empire”.
Yet, republicanism temporarily gained strength, notably because of her mourning
after Albert’s death; however her popularity recovered in the last half of her reign.

7. Juliette Quellec
Her Golden and
Diamond Jubilees
were times of public
celebration in all the
British Empire. (1887
and 1897)
Queen Victoria’s
arrival at St. Paul’s
Cathedral during her
1897 Diamond
Jubilee celebration
Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrated the 60th anniversary of her accession to
the throne. At the time, Victoria was extremely popular.
She left her marks on people, and we can notice
that even today, Victoria Day is a Canadian holiday
and a local public holiday in parts of Scotland
(celebrated on Queen Victoria's birthday : May 24th).
Also, The Victoria Cross was introduced in 1856 to
reward acts of valour during the Crimean War, and
it remains the highest British, Canadian, Australian,
and New Zealand award for bravery.
Victoria Cross
It should be noted that in India and in London there are Memorials in honor of
Queen Victoria:
In Kolkata, India
In front of Buckingham Palace

8. Aurélie VALERIO
2) Her journey and her place of residence in Hyères
A) Queen Victoria’s journey
Queen Victoria came to Hyères from the 21st of March to the 25th of April
1892. She crossed the English Channel on a ship to meet the city of
Cherbourg situated in the Basse-Normandie region.
Then she travelled during a whole day on a royal train, on the lines of the
Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée company.
The company of railways from Paris to Lyon and the Mediterranean sea

9. Aurélie VALERIO
This special train was composed of eleven carriages which included living
rooms, bedrooms and a bathroom decorated with marble and crystal.
A French train at the time
This special train was composed of eleven carriages which included living
rooms, bedrooms and a bathroom decorated with marble and crystal.
On the left, the Queen in the royal train carriage

10. Aurélie VALERIO
The Queen arrived at Hyères’ station at 9 o’clock in the evening. She didn’t
want an official reception but she was welcomed by the Prefect of the Var,
Hyères’ mayor and the vice British consul. Hyères’ inhabitants were delighted
to welcome Queen Victoria. They even put triumphal arches and decorations
around the railway station and on her way to the hotels.
Triumphal arch at Hyères’ entry
B) The residence of Queen Victoria in Hyères
Her majesty settled down for some days in the luxury hotels of Alexandre
Peyron. They were the Grand Hôtel of Costebelle, the Grand Hôtel of l’Ermitage
and the Grand Hôtel of Albion.
Costebelle’s
panorama
where
Queen Victoria
stayed in 1892

11. Aurélie VALERIO
Queen Victoria sojourned on the first floor of the Grand Hôtel of Costebelle in
flats composed of a bedroom, a restroom, a dining room, a dressing room, a
boudoir and rooms for servants. The furniture was imported from Great Britain for
the Queen’s comfort.
Queen Victoria admitted she was delighted with her sojourn.
Chronicle of Queen Victoria’s sojourn

12. Charlotte NEGRE
3) The Queen's activities and entourage during her
stay in Hyères
A visit at a time of deep mourning
When Queen Victoria arrived in Hyères, several deaths had just hit the royal
family:
Prince Albert Victor, elder son and heir of the Prince of Wales, so the Queen's
grandson, had died on January the 14th of influenza and pneumonia.
Then, just as she was about to leave for the French Riviera, her son-in-law Louis
also died, compounding her pain.
That's why she decided to have her sojourn private, so she could rest and forget
her pain, for a while; she refused any official ceremony or any local escort, and
had the false surname of «Lady Balmoral» when she had her private trips in
Hyères to keep her identity secret.

13. Charlotte NEGRE
Her entourage during her sojourn
During her sojourn, the Queen was accompanied by a part of the British court
and her family, who also sojourned at Costebelle:
her daughter Beatrice and her husband (Henry of Battenberg); her son Arthur,
his wife (the duke & the duchess of Connaught and Stratthearn) and their three
children (Margaret,Patricia & Arthur); and finally by the duke and the duchess of
Ruthland.
Queen Victoria was also accompanied by her personal court composed of:
.Baroness Lady Churchill, her dowager;
.her maid of honour Harriet Phipps;
.her secretary Lord Henry Ponsonby;
.her personal doctor, Dr Ried;
.her confident;
.her personal guard composed of about 10 turban-dressed Bongalo's men and
by her famous bearded Scottish highlander bodyguard, who always wore a kilt
and accompanied her during all her travels;
.her Indian Munshi servant, Hafiz Abdul Karim.
The influence of the latter over the Queen was so envied that when she died, her
son, King Edward, ordered palace guards to destroy all the correspondence she
used to send to her servant in order to erase all the record of their affectionate
relationship.
Queen victora and her Indian attendant Hafiz Abdul Karim

14. Charlotte NEGRE
Activites the Queen enjoyed to do in Hyères and its
surroundings
The Queen had a good and beautiful weather so she could take advantage of it
to visit and discover Hyères and its surroundings, which she began to do as early
as the day following her arrival. Her walks took up most of her days, as for most
other winter tourists and for the inhabitants of the Riviera.
The days of the Queen were organised in the following way:
In the mornings, after having her breakfast and after having ruled some
business, she went for a walk around the Costebelle hill.
She was often comfortably seated
on a “ barouche” (carriage) drawn
by a donkey, but sometimes she
went on foot.
Accompanied by her attendants,
she went through the woods and
paths of Costebelle, visiting the
neighbouring properties, to which
the neighbours had, for the
occasion, permitted access.
Queen victoria on her small donkey
barouche,accompanied by her attendants

15. Charlotte NEGRE
She visited several times, for examples, Mr Amène's orange-groove, Mr Villard's
villa Kermès Gardens, the count of Guinchen's palm-trees villa and garden
(which had been specially made for the use of the Queen and her small donkey
carriage), but she also visited the castle of San Salvadour (photo), the St Pierre
des Horts castle, Mrs Harding's Costebelle villa, Alexis Godillot's aquarium
(situated on the beach), ..
Saint Pierre des Horts castle Villa des palmiers, around 1863
She also really enjoyed visiting the fields of roses which she could smell the
scents of.

16. Charlotte NEGRE
In the afternoons, she mainly visited Hyères and its surroundings, and
discovered a new place nearly each day, having little trips.
She stopped several times at L'Almanarre to have a cup of tea next to the sea in
the small hut of Mrs and Mr Peyron, the owners of the Costebelle hotels, were
the Queen sojourned.
From Toulon to les Bormettes in la Londe, to Sauvebonne, to la Garde, to la
Crau ( especially la Castille), to le Pradet, she visited a lot of places and many
villas made available to the Queen and her family by their proprietors.
The cabanon of l'Almanarre ,Peyron family archives
On the 31st of March, she took part in an organised sale at the hotel Albion to
raise money for the Anglican chapel. She symbolically bought a photograph of
Louis Cartigny, last veterant of Trafalgar, who died at 101, just before the
Queen's arrival.

17. Conclusion:
 Victoria is the Queen of the United Kingdom since she accedes to the throne
in June 20th 1837, and she becomes the Empress of India in 1876.
Victoria is the Queen who has had the longest reign in the world.
She is active and authoritarian, and she symbolizes all over the world a
strong British power that has the vastest colonial empire of the world.
Her visit to Hyeres was strictly private, at the “Grand hotel de Costebelle”,
from March 21st to April 25th, 1892.
 Queen Victoria’s sojourn was the culmination of the English touristic presence
in Hyères and a lot of people wanted to see where the Queen had stayed.
Moreover, she appreciated her stay very much. Indeed, on the 26 th of April
1892, there was an official release in The Times which said: “Her Majesty left
Costebelle with regret, having enjoyed her stay in the beautiful country very
much and having met with the greatest attention and kindness during her
sojourn at Hyères. The way that has been respected her desire to live in
private has greatly contributed to her wellbeing and her satisfaction.”
 During her sojourn in Hyères, the Queen’s activities were about the same as
the simple wealthy winter tourists’, the major difference came from the grand
entourage she had.
 So she appreciated her stay very much, however she never came back.
This unique sojourn left its mark on Hyeres’ inhabitants’ memory, (even now,
it remains on their memory), as it represents for them a bright era, and as it
was exceptional to have this kind of visit…
And also, this sojourn links even more the resort of Hyères to Victorian
England, and there has been an important impact on the city of Hyères and
its inhabitants.
A kind of pilgrimage (“Victoriamania”) followed her visit which helped Hyères
to remain attractive for some more time.
Thus, this coming marked the apogee of this prestigious era of Hyères as a
resort.