The Queen Victoria Fanfiction Rumor

A persistent and amusing rumor that circulates in Sherlockian circles is that Queen Victoria herself was a massive fan of the stories. According to the legend, she was so charmed by A Scandal in Bohemia that she subtly hinted to the Prime Minister that Conan Doyle should be knighted. While Doyle was knighted in 1902, historians later revealed it wasn't for his fiction at all—it was for writing a dry, political pamphlet defending Britain's actions in the Boer War. Doyle was reportedly furious that his knighthood was for political propaganda rather than his creative genius.