Queen Victoria famously fell in love with the Isle of Wight when she purchased Osborne House in 1845. Providing the royals with privacy to spend time as a family, the island became the setting for many of their happiest memories and it was here that the Queen retreated to following the death of her beloved husband in 1861. Over the next forty years the island continued to play a prominent role in the monarch’s life and was the location of her own passing in January 1901. On this page you can learn about lesser known aspects of Queen Victoria’s life on the Isle of Wight!
Two two new exhibitions arrive at Queen Victoria’s Isle of Wight residence, Osborne House, for 2026
‘The whole accident has upset us’: Tragedy strikes at Osborne House
Queen Victoria attends a fête at Carisbrooke Castle, 17th August 1899
A Royal Curiosity: Queen Victoria and the Blackgang Whale
An elephant at Osborne: King John of Abyssinia’s unusual gift to Queen Victoria
“I should like to live a little longer”: The death of Queen Victoria
“The white sails of the yachts had such a charming effect”: Queen Victoria and Cowes Week
Queen Victoria’s 35th birthday at Osborne House
Queen Victoria and clairvoyants
The Durbar Room at Osborne House
Princess Beatrice of Battenberg makes a ‘Charming Birthday Book’ for charity
A royal legacy: Princess Beatrice’s Isle of Wight Museum
Primrose Day: Queen Victoria’s gift to a friend
‘A great feeling of strangeness & unlikeness to Christmas’: Queen Victoria’s Christmas 1896
Chaos turned tradition: Queen Victoria’s final journey from her bed at Osborne to St George’s Chapel
‘This has indeed been a terribly sad Christmas for us all’: Queen Victoria’s final Christmas
© Queen.Victoria.Roses / Shannon McInulty 2026