King of the French to Portsmouth in 1844, they saw the Isle of Wight, and early in 1845, the following year, they bought the estate of Osborne, afterwards adding to it considerably. It was to Sir Robert Peel that the first idea of buying the estate was due. The Queen, writing to her uncle, Leopold, King of the Belgians, shortly after, says:

"You will, I am sure, be pleased to hear that we have succeeded in purchasing Osborne, in the Isle of Wight, and, if we can manage it, we shall probably run down there before we return to town for three nights. It sounds so snug and nice to have a place of one's own, quiet and retired, and free from all woods and forests and other charming departments, who really are the plague of one's life."

The old house was pulled down, and the new one built, under the personal superintendence of Prince Albert, from designs by Cubitt. The chief features of the house are the two campanile towers, which stand up high above the trees, otherwise the building is not especially picturesque. The grounds were laid out by the Prince, and he also had a farm for scientific agriculture. When the Royal couple were finally settled in the house, the Queen wrote to her uncle, saying: "I wish you could be here, and hope you will come for a few days during your stay, to see the innumerable alterations and improvements which have taken place. My dearest Albert is so happy here, out all day planting, directing, etc., and it is so good for him. It is a relief to get away from all the bitterness people create for themselves in London."

This was just at a time when the bitterness and jealousy against Prince Albert were at their height, and his unpopularity was making itself felt in many directions—a source of great distress to the Queen.

The Queen and Prince were down at Osborne several times before their own house was actually finished, and they began to go on yachting trips from the island. One time they were so blown about in Portland Roads that they nearly came to grief, and Prince Albert was very seasick indeed. Another time they went even as far as the Channel Islands, and it speaks well for the Queen's capacity as a sailor that she was able to give lessons to her children, the Prince of Wales and Princess Royal, while on board. From the Channel Islands they passed to Falmouth, to present the little Prince to the inhabitants of his Duchy of Cornwall.

"A beautiful day again," wrote the Queen, "with the same brilliant blue sea. At a quarter to eight o'clock we got under weigh. There was a great deal of motion at first, and for the greater part of the day the ship pitched, but getting up the sails steadied her. From five o'clock it became quite smooth, and at half-past five we saw land; and at seven we entered Falmouth Harbour, where we were immediately surrounded by boats. The calmest night possible, with a beautiful moon when we went on deck; every now and then the splashing of oars and the hum of voices were heard, but they were the only sounds, unlike the constant dashing of the sea against the vessel, which we heard all the time we were at Jersey." In writing to Lord Melbourne on April 3, 1845, she says: "The Queen had intended to have written to Lord Melbourne from Osborne, to thank him for his last note of the 19th, but we were so occupied and so delighted with our new and really delightful home that she hardly had time for anything; besides which the weather was so beautiful that we were out almost all day. The Queen refers Lord Melbourne to Mr. Anson for particulars of the new property, which is very extensive, as she is not at all competent to explain about acres, etc. But she thinks it is impossible to imagine a prettier spot—valleys and woods which would be beautiful anywhere, but all this near the sea (the woods grow into the sea) is quite perfection; we have a charming beach quite to ourselves. The sea was so blue and calm that the Prince said it was like Naples. And then we can walk about anywhere by ourselves without being followed and mobbed, which Lord Melbourne will easily understand is delightful. And last, not least, we have Portsmouth and Spithead so close at hand that we shall be able to watch what is going on, which will please the navy and be hereafter very useful for our boys."

When they finally got into their house, in 1846, they gave a house-warming, which is thus described by one of the guests: "Our first night," she says, "is well spent. Nobody smelt paint or caught cold, and the worst is over.... After dinner we were to drink the Queen's and the Prince's healths as a house-warming. And after it the Prince said, very naturally and simply: 'We have a psalm in Germany for such occasions, meaning a prayer to bless our going out and coming in.'" So the Royal pair settled down in what was to them perhaps more of a real home than any other of their residences. The model farm was a great joy to the children, who grew up simply amid the trees and fields on the edge of the sea. The Queen herself took up the part of an ordinary country lady while at Osborne, and visited the poor in their homes, sitting by the bedsides of the sick and reading to them. The Prince passed his time as a country gentleman, looking after his estate and cultivating it. Many times were they visited by the crowned heads of Europe, and all the numerous relatives among the foreign royalties. Baron Stockmar, the Prince's tutor, was a welcome guest, and made shrewd observations on the development of the two he had first known as children. Many of the Queen's letters relating to the great events which made up her outer life are dated from Osborne. While she stayed in happy seclusion her hand was ever on the wheel, and she missed nothing, though the roar of wars and the terror of political upheavals might have seemed far distant.

It was fitting that she should die in a place so intimately connected with her domestic life, and where she had been more free from ceremonial than elsewhere. She died at Osborne on January 22, 1901, at half-past six in the evening. For some little time previously it had been noticed that she showed a tendency to sleepiness in the daytime, that she suffered from aphasia, and that her faculties were not as they had been; but, by the etiquette that hedges royalty, these things were kept as far as possible secret, and her death came as a shock to her people; so long had she reigned it seemed impossible to think of England without Victoria. The dining-room was made into a chapel by the removal of the furniture and draping of the walls with crimson. The coffin was set on a dais surrounded by tall silver candlesticks. Upon it was a pall of white satin and lace, and upon the pall a small crown and one of the Queen's robes of crimson velvet and ermine. Indian and Scottish attendants watched at first, and were afterwards replaced by the 1st Grenadier Guards. Victoria herself had chosen the manner of her funeral; she was to be buried with military honours as a soldier's daughter. On February 1 the coffin was borne forth to Cowes, there to be placed on the Royal yacht Alberta. Thus was her body borne to the mainland along an avenue miles in length composed of warships, British on the one side and on the other those of Germany, France, Portugal, and Japan. The minute-guns boomed and bells tolled, and the scene was one of the grandest and most impressive ever enacted on English shores.

Whippingham Church, built by the Queen not far from Osborne, is more like the model for a child's brick palace than anything else. Here is buried Prince Henry of Battenberg, once Governor of the island. The church is enriched inside with many memorial gifts from the Royal Family.