As the Queen prepares to overtake Victoria as our longest-reigning monarch, she is being compared with the Queen Empress. It is true that both women became icons of their country. Both represent an idea of stability and duty. But they are also extreme contrasts.
If Victoria were alive today, her behaviour would make the monarchy totter. Her depression, over-excitement, selfishness, partisanship, outspokenness, favouritism and laziness would become apparent, via the media, to the world.
