The Boy Jones – The Boy Who Stalked Queen Victoria

Stalkers are never fun – but they are nothing new, either. Even Queen Victoria was stalked a number of times during her long reign, most notably by Edward Jones – who became known in the nineteenth century media as The Boy Jones. And he has something of a strange story, to say the least. Jones became infamous (much to his family’s chagrin) for breaking into Buckingham Palace when he was just 14 years old. That was in 1838 and despite being discovered with various stolen items on him, he was acquitted at trial. He decided to do it again in1840, just ten days after the queen had given birth to Princess Vicoria. This time, he was given to months hard labour but never one to allow a punishment to act as a deterrent, he broke in once more, two weeks after his release from prison. This time he was found in the larders of the palace, stealing food. He was given a further three months for that. On all occasions, he would not give away his route into the palace. Here's a contemporary cartoon…