Queen Victoria’s diaries reveal her fears over Irish kidnap plot at Balmoral

QUEEN Victoria’s fears over a plot by Irish republicans to kidnap her from Balmoral have been revealed in her private diaries.

While the monarch initially dismissed the conspiracy as “too foolish!”, the threat was taken so seriously her trusted manservant John Brown was issued with a revolver to protect her.

Other security measures included sending troops from the 93rd Highlanders to protect her.

And Victoria later revealed her true concerns at the threat, writing that she was “much worried” about the journey when the time came to leave Balmoral.

The plot to abduct the monarch by the Irish militants of the time was recently unearthed at the National Archives at Kew in Surrey.

New diary extracts reveal Queen Victoria’s true relationship with loyal Scots ghillie John Brown

Scotland Yard had been alerted to an “audacious plan” that a number of men based in Salford would travel to Scotland to seize the Queen, before taking her hostage in order to obtain the release of prisoners.

Victoria’s response to the threat, which was never carried out, has now been revealed in her diaries, which remained largely unseen for 150 years until being digitised and posted online.

At the time, she was aged 48 and still mourning her beloved Prince Albert, who had died six years earlier.

One entry in the monarch’s diary reads: “Police and detectives have arrived and every precaution is being taken.”