One who has a stiff upper lip displays fortitude in the face of adversity, or exercises self-restraint in the expression of emotion.
This is a quality usually attributed to the British people, and was particularly demonstrated by Queen Victoria herself.
During Victoria's reign from 1837 to 1901 Britain was, by quite a distance, the greatest power on the globe, and the great monarch ruled over a vast empire.
But there was one moment when Victoria, who was also Empress of India, couldn't maintain her stiff upper lip - when she wrote a letter following the death of her German son-in-law, Prince Henry, in 1896.
Victoria revealed her pain to Sir Matthew White Ridley, the then British Home Secretary.
Victoria is Britain's longest-reigning monarch. However, if Elizabeth II is still on the Throne on September 9th 2015 then she will overtake Victoria....
Heartbreaking letter over son-in-law's death which betrays Queen Victoria's stiff upper lip
By Andy Dolan
14th January 2009
Daily Mail
She was a monarch who exemplified the values of her age.
But a long-lost note penned by Queen Victoria reveals that even she could not always maintain the stiff upper lip for which her empire was famed.
The heartbreaking letter exposes a tenderness and emotional side seldom seen from the figurehead at a time when restraint, dignity and fortitude were the watchwords of the day.
Enlarge
This letter from Queen Victoria, following the death of her German son-in-law Prince Henry, exposes a tender and emotional side to the monarch
Penned following the death in war of her German son-in-law Prince Henry in 1896, the letter also hints at the existence of spin during Victorian times - as her public expressions of grief bore little similarity to the rawness of her private, handwritten words.
The letter - due to go to auction next month - was written after Henry died on January 20, 1896 of malaria while fighting in the Anglo-Asante War, in what is now Ghana.
He had been married to Princess Beatrice, the youngest of Victoria and Prince Albert's nine children, for just seven years.
Victoria revealed her pain to Sir Matthew White Ridley, Secretary of State for the Home Department, or Home Secretary, as he would now be known.
She wrote: 'I have, alas, once more to thank my loyal subjects for their warm sympathy in a fresh grievous affliction which has befallen me and my beloved daughter Princess Beatrice.
Queen Victoria (above) and Princess Beatrice (below). Prince Henry had been married to Beatrice for just seven years when he died
'The sorrow is overwhelming and to me is a double one, as I lose a dearly loved and helpful son, whose presence was like a sunbeam in my home, and my dear daughter loses a noble and devoted husband to whom she was united by the closest affection.
'To witness the blighted happiness of the daughter who has never left my side and has comforted and helped me is hard to bear.'
She thanked 'all the classes of my subjects' for the 'universal sympathy' which had 'helped and soothed us greatly', before concluding: 'My beloved child is an example to all in her courage, resignation and submission to the will of God.'
The letter was written on Valentine's Day, less than three weeks after Henry's death, from Osborne House, the Royals' home on the Isle of Wight where the monarch was to draw her last breathe five years later at the age of 81.
It is believed Victoria may have intended Sir Matthew to use it as a basis for a message of thanks for the public's support during her hour of need.
By contrast, the Court Circular noted only that Victoria was said to be 'deeply afflicted... by losing a most amiable and affectionate son-in-law, to whom she was most devoted'.
Prince Henry died of malaria while fighting in the Anglo-Asante War, which took place in modern-day Ghana
Victoria had spent her last four decades in almost unshakable mourning for her beloved Albert, who died of typhoid in 1861 when Princess Beatrice was aged just four.
From then on, she had done her best to make sure 'Baby' Beatrice remained by her side, telling her 'youngest daughters have a duty to widowed mothers'.
In the end, Beatrice did manage to break free by marrying Prince Henry of Battenberg, who agreed to set up home at the British court.
But the marriage turned sour and, frustrated at his role as a glorified page to his aging mother-in-law, the prince set sale for the war on Africa's Gold Coast, where he succumbed to malaria.
Victoria's letter had been hidden in a desk in a house in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, for almost a century.
Auctioneer Charles Hanson said the grandson of its original keeper, who wishes to remain anonymous, recently submitted it for auction after discovering it during a clear-out.
Mr Hanson, a regular on BBC's Bargain Hunt, said: 'We traditionally see Victoria portrayed with a stern character and cold emotions.
'But this letter exposes the love within the Royal family when Britain and her empire represented by far the strongest power in the world.'
How the original keeper of the letter came by it is not known, although his family believes his military background may have played a part.
It is expected to fetch around £1,000 when it is sold by Derby-based Hanson's Auctioneers at a sale in Lichfield, Staffs, on February 18.
Last July, Mr Hanson auctioned a pair of Victoria's 50in waist bloomers for £4,500, almost ten times more than expected. Two months later, a pair of Victoria's stockings fetched £8,000.
Queen Victoria remains the longest serving monarch, ruling for almost 64 years.
If she is still on the throne on Sept 9, 2015, the Queen - who overtook Victoria to become the oldest serving monarch in December 2007 - will take her place.
dailymail.co.uk
This is a quality usually attributed to the British people, and was particularly demonstrated by Queen Victoria herself.
During Victoria's reign from 1837 to 1901 Britain was, by quite a distance, the greatest power on the globe, and the great monarch ruled over a vast empire.
But there was one moment when Victoria, who was also Empress of India, couldn't maintain her stiff upper lip - when she wrote a letter following the death of her German son-in-law, Prince Henry, in 1896.
Victoria revealed her pain to Sir Matthew White Ridley, the then British Home Secretary.
Victoria is Britain's longest-reigning monarch. However, if Elizabeth II is still on the Throne on September 9th 2015 then she will overtake Victoria....
Heartbreaking letter over son-in-law's death which betrays Queen Victoria's stiff upper lip
By Andy Dolan
14th January 2009
Daily Mail
She was a monarch who exemplified the values of her age.
But a long-lost note penned by Queen Victoria reveals that even she could not always maintain the stiff upper lip for which her empire was famed.
The heartbreaking letter exposes a tenderness and emotional side seldom seen from the figurehead at a time when restraint, dignity and fortitude were the watchwords of the day.
Enlarge
This letter from Queen Victoria, following the death of her German son-in-law Prince Henry, exposes a tender and emotional side to the monarch
Penned following the death in war of her German son-in-law Prince Henry in 1896, the letter also hints at the existence of spin during Victorian times - as her public expressions of grief bore little similarity to the rawness of her private, handwritten words.
The letter - due to go to auction next month - was written after Henry died on January 20, 1896 of malaria while fighting in the Anglo-Asante War, in what is now Ghana.
He had been married to Princess Beatrice, the youngest of Victoria and Prince Albert's nine children, for just seven years.
Victoria revealed her pain to Sir Matthew White Ridley, Secretary of State for the Home Department, or Home Secretary, as he would now be known.
She wrote: 'I have, alas, once more to thank my loyal subjects for their warm sympathy in a fresh grievous affliction which has befallen me and my beloved daughter Princess Beatrice.
Queen Victoria (above) and Princess Beatrice (below). Prince Henry had been married to Beatrice for just seven years when he died
'The sorrow is overwhelming and to me is a double one, as I lose a dearly loved and helpful son, whose presence was like a sunbeam in my home, and my dear daughter loses a noble and devoted husband to whom she was united by the closest affection.
'To witness the blighted happiness of the daughter who has never left my side and has comforted and helped me is hard to bear.'
She thanked 'all the classes of my subjects' for the 'universal sympathy' which had 'helped and soothed us greatly', before concluding: 'My beloved child is an example to all in her courage, resignation and submission to the will of God.'
The letter was written on Valentine's Day, less than three weeks after Henry's death, from Osborne House, the Royals' home on the Isle of Wight where the monarch was to draw her last breathe five years later at the age of 81.
It is believed Victoria may have intended Sir Matthew to use it as a basis for a message of thanks for the public's support during her hour of need.
By contrast, the Court Circular noted only that Victoria was said to be 'deeply afflicted... by losing a most amiable and affectionate son-in-law, to whom she was most devoted'.
Prince Henry died of malaria while fighting in the Anglo-Asante War, which took place in modern-day Ghana
Victoria had spent her last four decades in almost unshakable mourning for her beloved Albert, who died of typhoid in 1861 when Princess Beatrice was aged just four.
From then on, she had done her best to make sure 'Baby' Beatrice remained by her side, telling her 'youngest daughters have a duty to widowed mothers'.
In the end, Beatrice did manage to break free by marrying Prince Henry of Battenberg, who agreed to set up home at the British court.
But the marriage turned sour and, frustrated at his role as a glorified page to his aging mother-in-law, the prince set sale for the war on Africa's Gold Coast, where he succumbed to malaria.
Victoria's letter had been hidden in a desk in a house in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, for almost a century.
Auctioneer Charles Hanson said the grandson of its original keeper, who wishes to remain anonymous, recently submitted it for auction after discovering it during a clear-out.
Mr Hanson, a regular on BBC's Bargain Hunt, said: 'We traditionally see Victoria portrayed with a stern character and cold emotions.
'But this letter exposes the love within the Royal family when Britain and her empire represented by far the strongest power in the world.'
How the original keeper of the letter came by it is not known, although his family believes his military background may have played a part.
It is expected to fetch around £1,000 when it is sold by Derby-based Hanson's Auctioneers at a sale in Lichfield, Staffs, on February 18.
Last July, Mr Hanson auctioned a pair of Victoria's 50in waist bloomers for £4,500, almost ten times more than expected. Two months later, a pair of Victoria's stockings fetched £8,000.
Queen Victoria remains the longest serving monarch, ruling for almost 64 years.
If she is still on the throne on Sept 9, 2015, the Queen - who overtook Victoria to become the oldest serving monarch in December 2007 - will take her place.
dailymail.co.uk