The Assassinations of Queen Victoria is the extraordinary true story of eight separate attempts on Queen Victoria’s life during her 63-year reign. Blending dramatic AI reconstructions with expert analysis, we uncover the motives of the would-be assassins—from misguided fame-seekers to political radicals—and explore how Victoria’s resilience helped shape the image of the modern monarchy. It’s a gripping portrait of danger, defiance, and the unexpected threats lurking behind royal pageantry.

Having become queen at just 18 in 1837, by 1840 Victoria was married to Prince Albert and pregnant with her first child. To combat the unpopular kings who preceded her, she was determined to be seen by her public, taking regular carriage rides round Buckingham Palace where people would line the street in their thousands for a glimpse of the queen. But being visible made her vulnerable. Back then, there was no security or Royal Protection officers and while some police were positioned along the route, they were armed only with truncheons. Victoria was astonishingly unprotected and her first would be assassin took full advantage. Edward Oxford was a lowly potboy working in a London pub but had delusions of grandeur. He positioned himself on Constitution Hill and as Victoria’s carriage passed, he pulled a pistol from his pocket and fired. In the confusion, he had time to pull out a second pistol and fire again but fortunately no one was hit. The queen’s carriage came to a stop but she calmly commanded it to drive on while the police arrested Oxford. A lowly pot boy no more, Edward Oxford became national and international news but at his trial was found not guilty for reason of insanity and committed to the Bedlam asylum. Victoria on the other hand, became more popular than ever, praised for her bravery in facing down a gunman, she had kept calm and carried on.

The assassination attempt by Edward Oxford set a pattern for 7 further attempts on Victoria’s life. With the Queen refusing to take precautions, a succession of disillusioned, politically motivated and misguided young men took their chance. From Robert Pate who, in 1850, got close enough to strike her with a cane to Arthur O’Connor who managed to scale the wall of Buckingham Palace in 1872, only to be disarmed by one of Victoria’s servants, some came very close but Victoria survived all eight attempts on her life. And while her would be assassins ended up in asylums or shipped overseas, each attempt only emboldened Victoria and made her ever more popular with her people. She reigned for 63 years, dying in her own bed of natural causes in 1901.