Queen Victoria (1837-1901) was monarch of the British empire at a pivotal moment in its history. She had suffered under the Kensington system which saw her determined not to be dependent on her mother and other relations, and instead turn to the support of Lord Melbourne.

She was a passionate and headstrong lady, who hated the constant surveillance including every cough, every piece of bread and butter consumed, being forbidden the company of other children, and never allowed to be apart from either her mother, her tutor or her governess. When she became the monarch, it was the best day of her life. She could have a bit more control of her life.

At 20 years old, 2 years after gaining the monarchy, she found herself in the eye of a bit of controversy. In May 1839 the Bedchamber Crisis occurred when Melbourne was persuaded to stay on as Prime Minister. As monarch she was expected to avoid any hint of favouritism to a party out of power.

Not long after this, Lin Zexu the Chinese imperial commissioner tasked with halting the illegal export of opium, destroyed a million kilos of opium worth today billions of dollars beginning June 3, 1839.

It seemed that the British empire was quite beholden to its opium merchants. The British Chief Superintendent of Trade in China, Charles Elliot, promised the traders compensation for their loss from the British government. This promise, and the inability of the British government to pay it without causing a political storm, was an important cause for the subsequent British offensive.

Elliott, Matheson and Palmerston rallied support for war. The propaganda Matheson spread in London was that honest British merchants were being besieged, imprisoned, deprived of food, and actually threatened with death

The monarchy already weakened by the Bedchamber Crisis, had little sway in reacting against the upcoming Opium wars.

The Opium Wars led to the Taiping Rebellion in which 25-30 million Chinese died from 1850-64. British, French and American soldiers were involved in the Taiping conflict in which millions of Chinese had become addicted. Many provinces lost more than half their population.

On one front, the British helped quell the rebellion, on another front, they actually waged war. The Treaty of Tianjin of 1858 prolonged the war until 1860. The treaty 'legalized' opium, that is, it did not specifically outlaw opium.

In Dec 1861 the Prince Consort died of typhoid fever. Queen Victoria entered a state of mourning and wore black for the remainder of her life. I can't help but wonder if that is not the only reason that she wore black. Knowing that you helped murder 30 million or more around the world is not exactly a comforting thought.

In the middle years of her reign the Queen's influence was generally used to support peace and reconciliation. In 1864, Victoria pressed her ministers not to intervene in the Prussia-Austria-Denmark war. In 1875 a letter to the German Emperor helped to avert a second Franco-German war.

Tragedies that occurred during Queen Victoria's reign
* Great Famine (in Irish, An Gorta Mór) that cost the lives of over a million Irish people, and saw the emigration of another million.
* Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion, a war from 1850-64 in which 25-30 million Chinese died.
* 1st Sikh War (1845-46) Battle of Sobraon: 10,000 killed.
* Crimean War (1854-56) 300,000 killed.
* India, Sepoy Mutiny (1857) 150 000 killed.
* New Zealand (1800s) 200 000 killed.
* South Africa, Anglo-Zulu War (1879) 10 000 killed.
* Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902): 75 000 killed.
* Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901): 115 000

Other references
http://www.searchsa.com.au/Food_And_Wine/Food_Wine_Article.asp?sid=79
http://www.member.tripod.com/~american_almanac/opium.htm
http://www.archive.org/details/RedChine1964
http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2007/04/20/tata/
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2587855/opium_wars_second_clash...
http://jugalbandi.info/2008/04/reeking-of-fish-and-opium-sassoon-docks/
http://www.useless-knowledge.com/1234/jan/article129.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lamb,_2nd_Viscount_Melbourne
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_opium_war
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/donotmigrate/3560626/Queen-Victoria-t...
http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensoftheUnitedKi...
http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/mao.html
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a794461360&db=all
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstatz.htm#UK
http://books.google.com/books?id=0ql7CqEV6d4C&pg=PA43&lpg=PA43&dq=elliot...