After Queen Victoria‘s beloved husband passed away in 1861, the monarch was bereft with grief.
The void Prince Albert left was soon filled, however, by an unexpected figure which shocked courtiers and her family.
John Brown, a Scottish gillie who had previously accompanied Victoria when horse riding at Balmoral before she was widowed, managed to break through societal boundaries and befriend the Queen.
Victoria, who was known to be difficult and snobbish, was unexpectedly taken by the ‘refreshingly different’ and ‘masculine’ servant, Tom Quinn wrote in his book, Scandals of the Royal Palaces.
John was often blunt towards the Queen and would even lose his temper with her. As such, he behaved towards her in ways others usually would not.
Victoria came to see the strapping servant as Albert’s ‘replacement’, Mr Quinn detailed.
The monarch thought so highly of John that she even had precious mementoes of him placed in her coffin after she passed away – 124 years ago today – on January 22, 1901.
Here MailOnline looks into Victoria’s relationship with John Brown and how he managed to fill the space in her heart that Albert left.
Scottish gillie John Brown with Queen Victoria mounted on a horse
Queen Victoria’s coffin being carried into St George’s Chapel 124 years ago
After Queen Victoria passed away in 1901, items relating to her beloved servant were placed in her coffin, by her request.
She wore John Brown’s mother’s wedding ring on her right hand and held a photograph of him in her left.
There was also a lock of the Scotsman’s hair and some of his letters he had written to her.
The unexpected friendship began when Victoria and Albert first leased Balmoral in 1848 and John worked as a gillie – an outdoor servant.
John became an increasingly important part of Victoria’s life after her husband passed away.
He was even present during an attempted attack against the monarch in 1872. He spotted Arthur O’Connor lurking with a shotgun near Buckingham Palace while Victoria rode in a carriage.
The servant managed to intervene and stop 17-year-old O’Connor from causing any harm.
This event only furthered John’s presence in Victoria’s life and he was awarded the Devoted Service Medal.
His personality charmed her as well as him possessing values that were just as ‘traditional’ as Albert’s, Mr Quinn wrote.
John accompanying Victoria and her daughter, Princess Louise, at Balmoral
John Brown photographed as he poses in a kilt, with ceremonial pistols on his hip
John Brown (seen centre in a kilt) standing next to Queen Victoria’s carriage as she prepares to step off it at Windsor to review 52,000 volunteers, 1881. To the left is her son, the future King Edward VII
John would treat Victoria in ways other people would never do and was often blunt towards her.
‘Brown often treated her with disdain; he would scold her and lose his temper and she loved it,’ Mr Quinn revealed in his book.
The Scottish servant wore full Highland dress, after Victoria insisted on it, and was often seen in photographs wearing a kilt and full-length kilt socks.
The relationship developed so much that Victoria even began to see the servant as her late husband.
She was convinced ‘he was a human figure in which the spirit of her late husband had taken up residence,’ the author wrote.
It was also claimed that John was sleeping in a room adjoining the Queen’s bedroom.
John even got away with joking around and teasing Victoria, which only made her more fond of him.
Some senior figures were willing to resign over the pair but if anyone expressed views against their unlikely companionship, the monarch would rage against them.
Queen Victoria mounted on her horse while her beloved servant stands nearby
Dame Judi Dench as Queen Victoria and Billy Connolly as John Brown in the 1997 drama Mrs Brown
Victoria would respond to any warnings about the relationship being inappropriate with anger and would purposely have John accompany her.
She did, however, listen to the advice of courtiers when it came to the publication of a book about her feelings towards John.
According to Mr Quinn, who described it as a ‘great love letter to Brown’, its contents shocked her family and advisors and in the end it was not published.
The exact nature of their relationship has always been subject to speculation, though never officially confirmed.
In 1885, it was claimed that Victoria’s chaplain, Reverend Norman Macleod, had made a startling revelation on his deathbed about the pair.
He claimed that he presided over the marriage of Victoria and Mr Brown at Crathie Kirk – where Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Laurence would wed a century later – in Scotland.
The alleged marriage of a monarch to a servant has been disputed but some historians, such as biographer A.N. Wilson, believe the ceremony did take place.
The strapping Scottish gillie, John Brown, photographed
The grave of Queen Victoria’s faithful servant John Brown, at Crathie Kirkyard near Balmoral
When John passed away in March 1883 after falling ill with an infection, the monarch was devastated.
She was already addicted to opium, according to Mr Quinn, but after her loyal servant’s death became even more dependent on the drug.
John was buried in Crathie Kirkyard and his tombstone included a touching tribute from Victoria.
It read: ‘This stone is erected in affectionate and grateful remembrance of John Brown, the devoted and faithful personal attendant and beloved friend of Queen Victoria in whose service he had been for 34 years.’
