Queen Victoria’s ghostly encounters

Like many Victorians, Queen Victoria was a firm believer in the spirit world and would regularly discuss “magnetism, ghosts, dreams” [1]. Throughout the early years of her reign, Victoria would regularly sit with her Prime Minister and close companion, Lord Melbourne, to discuss various topics. On 6th May 1838, Lord M had spent some time talking about his own experiences with seeing ghosts as he half-dreamed at night and then as he was waking in the morning. Although according to Victoria these ‘visions’ were due to poor digestion, the young queen took a keen interest in hearing of his ghostly experiences.

According to Melbourne, he had been seeing the spirits of men and women, who “seemed to speak to him and he to them”. [2]. Victoria writes in her journal that the Prime Minister had been particularly spooked by “a fellow … [who] seems to open the curtains, and I say Halloo, who’s there? – and then they vanish” [3]. Unfortunately we will never know if these visions were due to a health condition or if they truly were ghostly experiences.

In October 1839 Queen Victoria became engaged to her German cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Much to Victoria’s surprise, on 8th November 1839 she discovered that Albert, too, was a believer of ghosts. Three years later, on 28th December 1842, Victoria, Albert and Lady Canning spent an evening sharing their spooky tales, with many “curious ones” coming from Albert himself.

According to Scottish folklore, Queen Victoria had her very own ghostly encounter when staying at Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire. It is said that Victoria had seen a green lady, surrounded by a green mist, float across the floor and picking up a child-like figure. The apparition then vanished into the fireplace, a sight witnessed by several others throughout the years. Although there is no official record of Victoria staying at the castle, it is possible that she visited while she was living at Balmoral. Nonetheless, I would be intrigued to see how Victoria reacted to seeing the apparition.

This story is one of many ghostly tales I will be sharing throughout October so be sure to subscribe to my website for email updates about my newest content!

© Queen.Victoria.Roses 2026

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Citation:

(1) RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W) 10 December 1837 (PRINCESS BEATRICE’S COPIES) retrieved 7 October 2026. Royal Collection Trust / © King Charles III

(1) RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W) 6 May 1838 (LORD ESHER’S TYPESCRIPTS) retrieved 7 October 2026. Royal Collection Trust / © King Charles III

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