Andrew Evans is still traveling, as National Geographic's Digital Nomad. This week he is in Calgary, Alberta, where he visited the the Glenbow Museum. Evans got a private tour of some of the museum items that are not on display. Lo and behold, there in a tray was a pair of Queen Victoria's underpants! Evans was in awe at the sight of the royal unmentionables.
But now, more than a century later, it all came to this—a busy street in Calgary, a museum of Blackfeet artifacts and old Mountie uniforms and tucked away upstairs, this monumental pair of women’s underwear, worn by the the longest-reigning female monarch of all human history.
Upon closer inspection, I would make a rough guess and report that Her Royal Highness boasted a 50-inch waist (or more), and at the time that she wore these flowing bloomers, the Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India carried a considerable girth. Standing so close to such an everyday object that belonged to one of the most powerful rules on Earth was “awesome” in that I was overcome with a sense of awe and wonder.
The occasion is an opportunity to link the Queen with the founding of Alberta, and make a few underwear puns, at NatGeo's Digital Nomad blog. Link -Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!
(Image credit: Andrew Evans, National Geographic Traveler)