Oddly, Queen Victoria had some ideas which were greatly ahead of her time, despite her conservatism. For example, in the arena of royal marriage, she wrote as early as the 1870's that she saw no reason why a prince or princess could not marry someone of inferior rank. She even went so far as to accord the morganatic wives of princes the royal status they were denied in Germany, where royal rules were stricter.

It was in religion that Victoria was the most progressive. She did not believe in Satan or hell, attributing them to the posturing of the clergy. She also constantly criticized the British aristocracy's fear of Catholicism, calling it insulting to the "many good Roman Catholics" (quoted in Longford). Furthermore, she was quick to recognize the values and truths of Islam and Hinduism. When the Crown took over rule of India in the 1850's it was primarily through her (unconstitutional) intervention that freedom of worship was guaranteed to Hindus and Muslims.

Victoria was also strongly opposed to racism. She fumed that her (white) British officers and soldiers refused to serve alongside Africans and Indians. She is said to have trashed her office when the Court refused to accept the presence of the Munshi, her Indian servant. (Although it is not clear whether the Court's objections were racist, the Queen certainly thought they were.)

One area in which the Queen was notably conservative was on the question of women and the vote. She remained opposed to female doctors, except in obstetrics, and was opposed to female suffrage. It is the privilege of a woman in power to believe that women should obey men.