Queen Victoria was frail and elderly in 1900, but insisted on organising the christening of her latest godson, Louis "Dickie" Mountbatten, on 17 July. The event was held in a specially converted drawing room in Frogmore House on the Windsor Castle estate. The day was extremely hot and the Queen, wearing her usual long, heavy black dress, would have been sweltering, However, she had thought of a way of cooling down.
She had ordered that a bucket of ice should be placed under her own chair and the chairs of all the principal guests. The official christening picture, with the future Lord Mountbatten in the arms of his great-grandmother, does not reveal the icebuckets hidden under the long Victorian skirts, but they must have been effective because Queen and baby both look cool. It is easy to understand how a bucket of ice insulated by heavy skirts could have a cooling effect, but presumably the men, who were in formal attire, only got cold feet, since cold air does not rise.
Another puzzle is where the ice came from, since refrigeration was still in its infancy. The most likely source is Windsor Castle's icehouse, built in 1670 and used for keeping the royal household's supply of fish, game, poultry, wine and butter cool for the summer. Vast supplies of ice were gathered in winter and kept in elaborate stores with triple sets of doors for insulation. On summer's grand occasions, ice sculptures were made to cool the air for guests.
