2 March 1882 Assassination attempt on Queen Victoria

On 2 March 1882, Roderick Maclean, a poet apparently offended by Victoria’s refusal to accept one of his poems, shot at the Queen as her carriage left Windsor railway station. Apparently, two schoolboys from EtonCollege struck him with their umbrellas, until he was arrested by a policeman.

He was found not guilty by reason of insanity which left Victoria extremely angry, but was so pleased by the many expressions of loyalty after the attack that she is quoted as saying it was “worth being shot at—to see how much one is loved”.