The stamps from my album pictured here (catalogue values of $160, $110) are actually part of a previous series of Queen Victoria stamp that were issued between 1870 and 1897. These higher denominations used a different picture of the Queen, commonly referred to as "widow's weeds".
Apparently Queen Victoria was in mourning right from when Prince Albert died in 1861 right through to her own death in 1901. Mourning was already traditional in British culture, but like many other values in the Victorian era, it became exaggerated. In part, this was due to the example of Queen Victoria.
During this period of time, Queen Victoria largely kept to herself and distanced herself from government. This likely contributed to a shift in power and responsibility to parliament.
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