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Victoria's Secret was named after the Victorian era, not really Queen Victoria herself. The Victorian era was big on outward respectability, with all these oppressed, hidden "secrets" that the store founder wanted to evoke.
That said, Victoria did have a very strong sex drive as a young woman - she loved having sex with her husband and hated when she became pregnant because she couldn't have sex with him again for a long time.
It's not sordid at all, it was entirely political, but it involved her Ladies of the Bedchamber and this determined who would be prime minister (basically, Queen Victoria offered the position to someone who demanded she dismiss some of her Ladies of the Bedchamber, because they were married to men of opposite political affiliation, but the queen refused because they were personal friends, not political bargaining tools).
A bit more to it:
Lord Melbourne who as almost like a father figure to the young QV resigned because a bill only passed the House of Commons. Queen Victoria was a Whig sympathizer and was upset at this turn of events. HM asked the Duke of Wellington (a Tory) to become PM but he refused. Next invited was Robert Peel (also a Tory), who stated he would accept the position only if HM would dismiss several ladies of her bedchamber so he could appoint replacements. The young QV had surrounded herself with ladies who were married to men who were Whigs, and the new Tory government would only hold slim majority in the House. Robert Peel realized he needed to be able to "buy" votes/loyalty by offering some Tory men a chance for their wives to wait at court. Also more practically Mr. Peel realized the couldn't allow HM to be surrounded by women of one party who would naturally promote Whig party interests.
Queen Victoria was having none of it; she considered *all* her ladies personal friends and companions and would not see *any* of them replaced. To her mind ladies of the bedchamber were personal appointments, not governmental.
Mr. Peel basically told QV if she wouldn't consent to what he wished he would be forced to resign. QV didn't and he did, which in the end prompted Lord Melbourne to return as PM. QV was delighted at this turn of events and also having gotten her own way.
In 1841 after her marriage to Prince Albert again the Tories won an election and Mr. Peel was PM. By this time QV relied less upon her ladies for companionship as Prince Albert was firmly installed as chief advisor and so forth. On the Prince's advice QV made up her mind to the change in government and allowed three of her ladies to be replaced by wives of Tories.
In her later years QV regretted her actions in the "Ladies of the Bedchamber" affair and said looking back would do things differently. It is important to remember just how unconstitutional QV's actions were; HM directly interfered with a duly elected government/workings of Parliament for no other reason than her own stubborn and spoiled self wishes. Over the course of her reign QV pushed that envelope more than a few times.
Really makes us look forward to Hillary's presidency, doesn't it?
In almost all European royal courts appointments to either the king's or queen's household were plum jobs that were fought, schemed, and plotted over and fiercely protected turf.
For one thing in an era when nobility was not supposed to engage in "work" being at court not only provided a paid position, but your servants and household were taken care of as well. Each of QV's ladies would have had maids/servants of their own who either directly or indirectly were paid from the Household while their mistresses were in attendance upon the Queen.
Secondly court life was where the action was for the nobility and anyone else looking to get on. Leaving aside Anne of Cleves, and Catherine of Aragon all of Henry VIII's other wives were either ladies in waiting to a current queen and or had family connections at court. It was to courtiers that Henry VIII doled much of the property/assets taken from the RC church after the dissolution of the monasteries.
Read a book years ago about life as a lady in waiting to English/British queens, cannot recall the title but it was interesting reading. The scandals, schemes, plotting put to rest the idea of those women standing around as nothing but ornaments.
Victoria's Secret was named after the Victorian era, not really Queen Victoria herself. The Victorian era was big on outward respectability, with all these oppressed, hidden "secrets" that the store founder wanted to evoke.
That said, Victoria did have a very strong sex drive as a young woman - she loved having sex with her husband and hated when she became pregnant because she couldn't have sex with him again for a long time.
I thought I read that Victoria's Secret was named, very cleverly, after Queen Victoria herself, whose secret was that she was a hot sexy babe. (It seems to run in her family.)
She did like to eat. Her choices of food actually set the diet of England. She took a liking to curries, which was then emulated throughout the country, ultimately resulting in such iconic ENGLISH dishes as chicken tika masala.
Victorian Era recipes are given in Classic Mrs Beaton's Book. I dont think that Indian Curries were consumed by Victorian era British population. Even the Britishers living in India in those days did not consume curries. Anglo-Indian cuisine (developed from descendents of British people living in India) is also very different then these Chicken Tikka Masala types.
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