47 Chapter 47: The Death of the Queen

Arthur was deeply moved. In the final stage of her life, Queen Victoria was concerned and cared for not the British Empire she had ruled for a lifetime, nor the many grandchildren and great-grandchildren around her, but Arthur.

Queen Victoria had poured all her love into Prince Albert, and after losing him, she had transferred all her love to the Duke of Argyll.

After losing the Duke of Argyll once again, Queen Victoria transferred this love intact to Arthur.

Perhaps Queen Victoria's mental and physical condition had suffered greatly due to the successive deaths of her husband and son, but no one could deny that Queen Victoria's love for Prince Albert, the Duke of Argyll, and Arthur was so pure and single-minded.

At this moment, everyone's gaze was focused on Arthur. Everyone knew that, apart from Queen Victoria, Arthur had become the protagonist today, and might even become the most watched nobleman in the world in the near future.

But don't underestimate Queen Victoria's influence. In the original history, it was because Kaiser Wilhelm II had held Queen Victoria's hand tightly in the final stage of her life that the British people, who had no good feelings towards Germany, generally had a good impression of him. Even if it wasn't for Kaiser Wilhelm II's obsession with defeating France and challenging the British Empire's naval power, perhaps everything would still have a chance to turn around.

Now, in the important stage of Queen Victoria's will, the priority mentioned is Arthur, and he has been with her all along.

In this situation, who would dare to reject any conditions that Queen Victoria promised to Arthur in the future?

According to Queen Victoria's towering reputation in Britain, coupled with Arthur's tragic background of losing his father and grandmother, even the Crown Prince Edward had to weigh whether he could bear the consequences of threatening Arthur.

"Arthur." After giving instructions to Crown Prince Edward, Queen Victoria turned her gaze to Arthur again, trying to maintain a smile as she said, "I entrust British New Guinea and New Zealand to you, hoping that you can manage these two regions well, combine them with Australia, and create a strong country, without having to worry about any dangerous situations in the future. Perhaps I won't be able to accompany you in the future, Arthur, but you have to walk down the path well. Grandmother will be watching you from heaven."

"If you emigrate, why not to India? Why must it be Chinese people? Does anyone really question the intelligence of Indians? They're not black."

"Grandmother, please don't say that." Even though Arthur's inner maturity was already high, he was moved to tears and snot in this situation, and could only tightly hold Queen Victoria's hands, showing his complicated and tangled emotions.

"Child, don't cry. You are the Duke of Australia, a distinguished nobleman that I am proud of. Even in any situation, you should not shed tears. Remember, you have millions of subjects waiting for your management and rule, and you cannot be like this in front of them." Queen Victoria smiled and gently wiped away Arthur's tears as she spoke.

The next step was Queen Victoria formally confirming her will. During this phase, Arthur was in a daze and did not listen to all of Queen Victoria's will.

Fortunately, this phase was open to everyone, and there were specialized personnel to record it to prevent any tampering with the will.

It wasn't until Queen Victoria finished all her wills that Arthur gradually came back to his senses. He looked at Queen Victoria, who was already exhausted, with mixed emotions of moved and reluctant. But death is not something ordinary people can stop. Seeing Queen Victoria's condition getting worse and worse, everyone understood that perhaps today is really the last day.

"Arthur, Arthur!"

In the midst of silence, Queen Victoria's weak shout sounded so hoarse.

"I'm here, I'm here! What do you want to say, grandmother? Arthur is here." Arthur quickly tightened his grip on Queen Victoria's hand and responded.

"Live well, and your grandmother and your father will pray for you in heaven. Arthur, you are a good boy, and your grandmother is proud of you." Queen Victoria's eyes gradually dimmed, and with the last bit of strength, she squeezed out a few words: "Albert, Arthur, I'm coming."

...

It's over, everything is over.

Queen Victoria, a great monarch who carried the British throne for sixty-three years, controlled the Indian throne for twenty-four years, and was extremely important to the British government and the British public, and created the Victorian era of the British Empire, bid farewell to everyone like this.

When Queen Victoria's hand finally fell completely, Arthur understood that he had lost his grandmother, who loved him the most, and perhaps he really had nothing to do with England anymore.

"Mother!" "Grandmother!" "Great-grandmother!" "Your Majesty!"

The panicked and heavy cries represented the feelings of everyone present.

When everyone rushed forward and even pushed Arthur to lie in front of Queen Victoria's bed, he gradually reacted that everything was so incredible and yet so real.

"Okay, everyone. The departure of Her Majesty the Queen is something that no one wants to see, but at least Her Majesty left with a smile, without any worries or troubles. Pray for Her Majesty, everyone, don't shout loudly here." William II stood up and said to everyone.

Although it is understandable that everyone is sad and devastated about the departure of Queen Victoria, in this situation, if everyone continues to scream like this, it will be somewhat disrespectful to her.

"Everyone, we are all reluctant to see Her Majesty the Queen leave, but this is not something we can decide. Her Majesty's departure is happy, she has the company of all her children and grandchildren, and she has fulfilled all her wishes. But the departure of Her Royal Highness the Queen is heavy for everyone, for the entire British royal family, and even for the entire British Empire. I suggest that all countries carry out some activities to commemorate Her Majesty the Queen, and all countries lower their flags for a week to commemorate Queen Victoria." Edward, the Prince of Wales, would not allow himself to be overshadowed by William II in this situation, so he continued to speak.

According to the status of England during Queen Victoria's era, it was completely acceptable for major European countries to lower their flags to commemorate her.

The reason why the Prince of Wales said this was partly to demonstrate the status and power of the British Empire, and partly to remind William II metaphorically that although he is currently the emperor at the top of the aristocracy, he should not forget that this is still English soil for the time being, and he, Edward, is also about to become the king of England and the emperor of India.