ABSTRACT
Everyone is familiar with Queen Victoria's frosty observation. In consequence there is a common tendency to think of her as a grim Mrs. Grundy who frowned on all light entertainment throughout her reign. It is time to correct this erroneous view. Her famous saying was not occasioned by the lighthearted efforts of a Charles Matthews or George Grossmith to amuse her, nor even by the risqué jokes of some coarser comedian. The man who has left us the best account of his royal performances is the great French magician Robert-Houdin. When he came to England in 1848 one of his ambitions was to perform before the young Queen, still in her 20s. His opportunity arrived when he was asked to fill a gap at a grand charity fête being held in the magnificent grounds of a Fulham villa. The Queen headed an organizing committee consisting of most of the leading duchesses and countesses in the land.
