The Victorian cult of death is quite unique in English history. Never before or since have the English been so obsessed with the rites and rituals of deaths. Funerals and mourning: whole language rites and rituals of deaths Funerals and mourning: a whole language of dress, objects, and social formalities grew up around it  Queen Victoria herself set an example of irreproachable widowhood for her subjects to follow. After Prince Albert's death in 1861, she remained in mourning for over ten years. To the end of her life, she preferred to wear black. Many people thought she  e=carried things too far; it was with great difficulty that she was persuaded to re-enter public in 1871,