Which former army officer struck Queen Victoria with a cane in 1850?

Robert Pate was the former army officer who struck Queen Victoria with a cane in 1850.

Pate attacked Victoria on 27 June 1850 as she rode in a carriage near Constitution Hill in London. He struck her with a cane, crushing her bonnet and bruising her forehead. The incident was serious enough to injure the queen, though she continued with her public duties.

Pate had served as an officer in the British army and was regarded as mentally unstable. His assault became one of several attacks on Victoria during the early decades of her reign, when public access to the monarch could still bring her into close contact with assailants.

He was convicted and sentenced to seven years’ transportation. The episode is often confused with other attacks: Edward Oxford fired at Victoria in 1840, while John Francis made a separate attempt that same year. Neither man was the cane-wielding attacker of 1850.