Potatoes had been dropped at England within the late sixteenth century, and on the time, solely rich folks ate the “new vegetable.” However by Victoria’s reign, potatoes had grow to be an inexpensive and nutritious staple of Britain’s working-class food plan. Road distributors offered scorching baked potatoes in every single place, and round 1863, the basic fish and chips (fried potatoes) turned well-liked. 

Victoria’s love for potatoes was well-known, and politically, it price her. Within the nineteenth century, Eire was underneath British rule, however Victoria confirmed no enthusiasm for her Irish topics and visited Eire solely 4 instances. In 1845, a potato blight worn out Eire’s crop, which the queen blithely ignored. Over the following seven years, often called The Irish Potato Famine, roughly 1 million of Victoria’s Irish topics died of hunger. She confirmed no compassion and did little to assist them financially. 

Frail and wheel-chair certain, Victoria made her closing go to to Eire in 1900 to encourage Irish enlistment within the Boer Struggle. Throughout her go to, Irish revolutionary Maud Gonne wrote an article titled “The Famine Queen,” by which she blamed Victoria and her “legal coverage” that resulted in so many Irish folks dying of starvation. British authorities banned the article, however to this present day, the title and resentment in the direction of The Famine Queen linger on.