biography about queen victoria

Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria was queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 to 1901 — the second-longest reign of any British monarch.

(1819-1901)

Who Was Queen Victoria?

Victoria's reign saw great cultural expansion; advances in industry, science and communications; and the building of railways and the London Underground.

Born Alexandrina Victoria on May 24, 1819, Queen Victoria’s father died when she was 8 months old. Her mother became a domineering influence in her life. As a child, she was said to be warm-hearted and lively.

Educated at the Royal Palace by a governess, she had a gift for drawing and painting and developed a passion for journal writing.

Despite a feisty temperament, Victoria was famously tiny in stature, measuring just 4 feet 11 inches tall. Later in life, her weight ballooned, with her waist reportedly measuring 50 inches.

Parents and Half-Sister

Queen Victoria was the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent, who was King George III 's fourth son. Her mother was Victoria Saxe-Saalfield-Coburg, sister of Leopold, king of the Belgians.

Queen Victoria also had a half-sister who was 12 years her senior, Princess Feodora, from her mother’s first marriage to Emich Carl, Prince of Leiningen. When Princess Feodora was 6 years old, her father died. Her mother remarried Queen Victoria’s father, the Duke of Kent, and promptly moved from Germany to England for the future queen’s birth.

Ascension to the Throne

At birth, Victoria was fifth in line to the throne. However, upon her father’s death in 1820, Victoria became the heir apparent, since her three surviving uncles — who were ahead of her in succession — had no legitimate heirs who survived childhood. When King William IV died in June 1837, Victoria became queen at the age of 18.

Lord Melbourne, Queen Victoria’s First Prime Minister

Lord Melbourne was Victoria’s first prime minister, who served in 1834 and again from 1835 to 1841. When she first took the crown at the young age of 18 in 1837, Melbourne helped teach Victoria the intricacies of being a constitutional monarch. He acted as the queen’s political advisor and confidant during the early years of her reign.

In 1840, when Great Britain was fighting wars with Afghanistan and China and facing a working-class movement, Melbourne helped the queen work with an uncooperative Conservative government and suggested she let her husband, Albert, take the reigns of state responsibilities.

Victoria ascended to the throne at age 18 on June 20, 1837, and she served until her death at the age of 81 on January 22, 1901. Under Victoria's reign, Great Britain experienced unprecedented expansion in industry, building railways, bridges, underground sewers and power distribution networks throughout much of the empire. Seven assassination attempts were made on Victoria's life between 1840 and 1882.

There were advances in science ( Charles Darwin 's theory of evolution) and technology (the telegraph and popular press), with vast numbers of inventions; tremendous wealth and poverty; growth of great cities like Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham; increased literacy; and great civic works, often funded by industrial philanthropists.

During Victoria’s reign, Britain expanded its imperial reach, doubling in size and encompassing Canada, Australia, India and various possessions in Africa and the South Pacific. The Queen was emblematic of the time: an enthusiastic supporter of the British Empire, which stretched across the globe and earned the adage: “The sun never sets on the British Empire.”

At various points in her reign, Victoria exercised some influence over foreign affairs, expressing her preference, but not pressing beyond the bounds of constitutional propriety. During this time, the British Empire experienced only a few small wars, exerting its authority over foreign possessions.

One of the major factors that helped Britain avoid European entanglements was the marriage of Victoria's children: either directly or by marriage, she was related to the royal houses of nearly every major European power. Though the English constitutional arrangement denied her powers in foreign affairs, she ruled her family with an iron hand that helped keep Great Britain away from the intrigues of European politics.

During Victoria’s reign, the political climate in British Parliament went through a major transition. The Tory Party split, forming the Liberal and Conservative parties, and started a succession of opposing administrations. Victoria played a crucial role as a mediator between arriving and departing prime ministers.

Though she detested Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone, she found ways to work with him, even during her mourning period. She was particularly fond of Conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who linked the monarchy to the expansion of the empire, which helped restore public opinion following Victoria’s long seclusion after the death of her beloved husband Albert.

Victoria continued in her duties up to her death. In keeping with tradition, she spent the Christmas of 1900 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, where her health quickly declined to the point that she was unable to return to London.

The Victorian Era

Life in Britain during the 19th century was known as Victorian England because of Victoria’s long reign and the indelible stamp it and her persona placed on the country. Her strict ethics and personality have become synonymous with the era.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

In 1840, Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the son of her mother’s brother. The couple met when Victoria was just 16; their uncle Leopold suggested they marry.

Since Victoria was queen, Albert couldn’t propose to her. So she proposed to him on October 15, 1839.

At first, the British public didn’t warm up to the German prince and he was excluded from holding any official political position. At times, their marriage was tempestuous, a clash of wills between two extremely strong personalities.

However, the couple was intensely devoted to each other. Prince Albert became Victoria’s strongest ally, helping her navigate difficult political waters.

After several years of suffering from stomach ailments, Victoria's beloved Albert died of typhoid fever in 1861 at the age of 42. Victoria was devastated, sleeping with a plaster cast of his hand by her side, and went into a 25-year seclusion. For the rest of her reign, she wore black.

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Queen Victoria's Children

Victoria and Albert had nine children together:

• Princess Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise (1840-1901), who married the future emperor of Germany Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia in 1858. On his death three months after taking the throne, their eldest son became Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.
• Prince Albert Edward Wettin (1841-1910), who succeeded his mother to the crown as King Edward VII in 1901.
• Princess Alice Maude Mary (1843-1878), whose daughter Alix married Nicholas II , the last Russian tzar.
• Prince Alfred Ernest Albert (1844-1900), who married the daughter of Tzar Alexander II of Russia. His oldest daughter, Marie, wed the crown Prince of Romania.
• Princess Helena Augusta Victoria (1846-1923)
• Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848-1939) created quite a scandal when she married a commoner, John Douglas Sutherland Campbell (later the Duke of Argyll).
• Prince Arthur William Patrick (1850-1942), who married Princess Louise Margarete of Prussia.
• Prince Leopold George Duncan (1853-1884)
• Princess Beatrice Mary Victoria (1857-1944)

Relationship with John Brown

John Brown was Victoria’s Scottish servant and one of her closest friends, with some suggestions that the two may have been lovers. Seven years her junior and many ranks below her, the queen said Brown was her dearest friend — an unthinkable relationship at the time. He became known as “the queen’s stallion” in the royal household and pledged his lifelong loyalty to her.

There were rumors that Brown and Victoria were lovers, especially after the death of Albert. Historians have since parsed through her journals — which were edited by her daughter Beatrice — and never found evidence of an affair. But one thing is clear: She loved him. When Brown died suddenly in March 1883, Victoria told his sister-in-law that he was the “best, the truest heart that ever beat.”

Relationship with Abdul Karim

Following Brown’s death in 1883, Victoria’s servant Abdul Karim ascended into the queen’s inner circle and became her closest confidant. Karim was the son of a hospital assistant in Northern India and was brought to England to serve at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 1887. He quickly impressed the queen with his cooking, and she asked him to teach her Urdu. Victoria lavished Karim with gifts including a private carriage, titles and honors. She also commissioned several portraits.

In letters to Karim, the queen referred to herself as “your loving mother” and “your closest friend.” However, historians do not believe that the two had a physical relationship.

Abdul’s great-grandson Javed Mahmood told The Telegraph in 2010 that they shared “a mother and son relationship. She became an Indophile in part because of her affection for him. But the prejudice of her family percolated down to Victoria’s staff.”

Victoria and Karim’s close relationship was scandalous to the royal family. Upon the queen’s death in 1901, they had all of the pair’s letters burned, and Victoria’s daughter Beatrice removed all references of Karim from the queen’s journals. Although the family followed through with the queen’s wish for Karim to be among a small group of mourners at her funeral, they later evicted Karim from the home Victoria gave to him and sent him back to India.

Karim’s relationship with Victoria was uncovered decades later by journalist Shrabani Basu, who visited the queen’s summer home in 2003 and noticed several paintings and a bust of Karim. Basu investigated their relationship and wrote a book, Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant .

Death and Successor

Victoria died after a lengthy period of poor health on January 22, 1901, at the age of 81. Her son, the future King Edward VII, and her eldest grandson, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, were both at her bedside.

Prince Albert Edward Wettin, Victoria’s eldest son, succeeded her to the British throne as King Edward VII upon her death in 1901.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Victoria
• Birth Year: 1819
• Birth date: May 24, 1819
• Birth City: London, England
• Birth Country: United Kingdom
• Gender: Female
• Best Known For: Queen Victoria was queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 to 1901 — the second-longest reign of any British monarch.
• World Politics
• Astrological Sign: Gemini
• Interesting Facts
• Queen Victoria was tiny, standing at 4 feet, 11 inches tall.
• Queen Victoria's reign lasted 63 years, surpassed by great-great granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II in 2015.
• Death Year: 1901
• Death date: January 22, 1901
• Death City: Near Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
• Death Country: United Kingdom

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Queen Victoria Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/royalty/queen-victoria
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: March 15, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014
• We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist.
• Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves.
• I don't dislike babies, though I think very young ones rather disgusting.

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Queen Victoria Biography

Short Biography of Queen Victoria (1819 –1901)

Queen Victoria was born 24 May 1819. Aged 18 she became Queen of Great Britain and she went on to rule for 63 years – at the time – she was the longest-serving Monarch in Europe. She ruled through a period of British imperialism with the British Empire expanding and she became Empress of India. She came to epitomise an era of social conservatism and economic expansion.

She was the granddaughter of George III, and her father, Edward was fourth in line to the throne. However, her father’s three brothers all died without leaving any living relatives. She was crowned Queen on 20 June 1837 and ruled until her death 63 years later in 1901.

Her early life until the age of 18 was closeted and carefully controlled by her mother and her assistant John Conroy. Her mother, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld kept Victoria very close and allowed her little real-life experience. She was brought up with a strict set of rules and regulations known as the ‘Kensington System’. Victoria described her childhood as “rather melancholy.” In 1830 her grandfather George III died. He was succeeded by King William IV, but in 1837, he also passed away, meaning the crown passed onto Victoria who was aged only 18, and somewhat unprepared for the role.

One of her first decisions was to cut free from her mother and gain more independence from the controlling atmosphere she had been brought up in. She also took her new duties very seriously. On her ascendency to the throne, she said:

“Since it has pleased Providence to place me in this station, I shall do my utmost to fulfil my duty towards my country; I am very young and perhaps in many, though not in all things, inexperienced, but I am sure that very few have more real good will and more real desire to do what is fit and right than I have.”

Queen Victoria, Extract from the Queen’s Journal, Tuesday, 20th June 1837.

After her coronation, Queen Victoria met many potential suitors from Royal houses across Europe. She fell in love with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in Germany. There were married in 1840. Victoria and Prince Albert had a very close, intimate relationship and she described the intensity of feelings towards her beloved husband. She wrote in her diary shortly after their marriage.

“MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert … his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before!”

– Queen Victoria.

In the same year as her marriage, Queen Victoria gave birth to her first child – a daughter named Victoria. They had nine children in total. She found pregnancy and childbirth difficult and once exclaimed. “An ugly baby is a very nasty object – and the prettiest is frightful.”

Queen Victoria and Nineteenth-Century Britain

The 19th Century was a time of unprecedented expansion for Britain in term of both industry and Empire. Although her popularity ebbed and flowed during her reign, towards the end of her crown, she had become a symbol of British imperialism and pride.

The Victorian period also witnessed great advances in science and technology. It became known as the steam age, enabling people to easily travel throughout the UK and the World.

Queen Victoria was emblematic of this period. She was an enthusiastic supporter of the British Empire. She celebrated at Lord Kitchener’s victory in the Sudan; she supported British involvement in the Boer War. She was also happy to preside over the expansion of the British Empire, which was to stretch across the globe. In 1877 Queen Victoria was made Empress of India, in a move instigated by the imperialist Disraeli. Famously, at the end of the Victorian period, people could say ‘the sun never set on the British Empire.’

Queen Victoria was conservative in her politics and social views. She opposed women’s rights and was socially conservative. This led to an unfortunate episode. When she saw a servant who appeared to be pregnant, Victoria claimed she was having an affair. The Queen actually made her take a test to prove she was a virgin. The test was positive and the growth in her stomach was actually a form of cancer; a few months later the servant died, and Queen Victoria suffered a decline in her popularity as a result of this episode.

In the early part of her reign, she became a close friend and confidant of the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne. She spent many hours talking to him and relied on his political advice. Lord Melbourne was a Whig, with conservative attitudes. He tried to shield Queen Victoria from the extreme poverty that was endemic in parts of the UK.

Queen Victoria was also highly devoted to her husband, Prince Albert; together they had nine children. When Prince Albert died in 1861, at the age of 41, Queen Victoria went into deep mourning and struggled to overcome this loss. She became reclusive and was reluctant to appear in public. Parliament and Benjamin Disraeli had to use all their persuasive power to get her to open parliament in 1866 and 1867. Her hiding from the public led to a decline in popularity. However, by the end of her reign, her popularity was restored. This was partly due to the rise of Great Britain as the leading superpower of the era.

For various reasons, several attempts were made on the life of Queen Victoria. These were mostly between 1840 and 1882. She was always unharmed, but her courageous attitude helped to endear her to the public.

Personality of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria was successful in portraying a public image of an aloof Queen who embodied the virtues of the British Empire. In person, away from the public glare, she was known to be a combination of honesty, plain-speaking but also prone to emotional outbursts and quite obstinate.

“Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves.”

– Queen Victoria

Despite her social conservativism, she was passionate about her husband and greatly enjoyed spending time in close proximity. However, even their relationship could be punctuated with loud, emotional arguments. Despite perceptions of her being dry and serious, members of the household stated she could have a great sense of humour and laugh uproariously.

The death of her husband in 1861 was a huge blow and she was deeply affected with grief. She wore black and mourned for several years. Her grief was so intense, it affected the nation. She struggled to overcome the grief and Albert’s early death led to a further worsening of relationships with her first son Edward VII – whom Victoria blamed for his playboy lifestyle causing stress for his father Albert.

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. “Biography of Queen Victoria”, Oxford, UK. www.biographyonline.net, 23rd May 2014. Last updated 8 March 2019.

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Queen Victoria

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Queen Victoria of Great Britain (r. 1837-1901) was one of the most loved of all Britain's monarchs. Her longevity, devotion to her role as figurehead of an empire , and recovery from the death of her beloved husband Prince Albert won her a unique status as the ever-present symbol of 19th-century Britain, an era of tremendous political, industrial, and social changes.

The last of the British Hanoverian monarchs, Victoria reigned for 63 years. She weathered the storms of life – outliving three of her children – and survived assassination attempts, family scandals, gossip over her relationship with her beloved servant John Brown, and reformers who wanted to topple the Crown. Britain and the British Empire would never be quite as great again when Victoria died in January 1901. Queen Victoria was succeeded by her eldest son who became Edward VII of Great Britain (r. 1901-1910).

The Hanoverians & Succession

The royal house of Hanover had taken over the British throne in 1714 following the death of Queen Anne of Great Britain (r. 1702-1714), who had no children. The Hanoverians were also electors of Hanover, a small principality in Germany, and so both George I of Great Britain (r. 1714-1727) and George II of Great Britain (r. 1727-1760) were very much Germans ruling in Britain. George III of Great Britain was the first Hanoverian to be born in Britain and to speak English as his first language; he was succeeded by two of his sons: George IV of Great Britain (r. 1820-1830) and William IV of Great Britain (r. 1830-1837).

William IV died of cirrhosis of the liver and pneumonia on 20 June 1837, but he had no surviving legitimate children. As planned, the British Crown passed to his niece Victoria, daughter of George III's late fourth-eldest son, Edward Augustus , Duke of Kent (1766-1820) and Marie Louise Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (later to become Saxe-Coburg-Gotha). This niece became Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland .

Alexandrina Victoria was born in Kensington Palace on 24 May 1819. She had no memories of her father who died in 1820 and her mother, therefore, grew in importance, as did her mother's younger brother Prince Leopold who became King of the Belgians in 1831. A third key figure in the young Victoria's childhood was her German governess Baroness Louise Lehzen (1784-1870). Victoria's education was limited to that of a lady of the period and was not that of a future monarch, but Victoria was intelligent and keen to learn. The celebrated royal biographer C. Woodham-Smith gives the following summary of Victoria's character, abilities, and weaknesses:

She was not an easy character, possessing remarkable qualities allied with emotions so intense as, at times, to reach violence ... She spoke and wrote several languages with considerable fluency. Physically she was strong ... She was obstinate – obstinacy was her chief failing – but she could be converted and when she gave way she did so with a good grace. Honesty, generosity, loyalty were her good qualities; she never bore malice and it was rare to come into close contact with her without being inspired with devotion. (431)

Victoria's childhood had been a lonely and relatively impoverished one (considering her future position) and was led primarily in apartments in Kensington Palace. She had not been allowed to cavort with her cousins, the crowd of illegitimate children of William IV that went under the invented family name of FitzClarence. Victoria's only real company were her 132 dolls. This sheltered life, where Victoria "longed sadly for some gaiety" (diary entry quoted in Cannon, 337) all changed with her succession in 1837.

Victoria had just turned 18 when she became queen. The succession meant that the British and Hanover titles were split, as no female was permitted to rule the principality if there was a male heir, no matter how remote. Accordingly, George III's fifth son Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale (1771-1851), became the new King of Hanover. Victoria was the last of the British Hanoverians as her children were classed as part of her husband Prince Albert's' family of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (which was later renamed Windsor).

Prince Albert & Personal Life

The magnificent coronation was held in Westminster Abbey on 28 June 1838. To guide her in her political role, Victoria had Lord Melbourne, prime minister in 1834 and from 1835 to 1841. The queen called her first prime minister "Lord M". Small in stature (4ft 11 in / 1.5 m tall) and with large blue eyes and a rather small mouth, the young queen was independent-minded and determined to take on fully her role as a constitutional monarch. The monarchy was by now severely limited in terms of political power but remained an important figurehead and point of intervention when the politicians could not agree. As Walter Bagehot (1826-1877) noted in his famous work of 1867, The English Constitution , Victoria, in regard to government, retained "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn" (Cavendish, 412). Victoria began her reign favouring the Whig party, but Albert's influence ensured she soon rose above party politics. As Whig and Tory prime ministers came and went during her long reign, the queen's extensive experience of state matters made her a valuable sounding board and source of wisdom.

On 10 February 1840, Victoria married her cousin Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1819-1861) after a one-year engagement. The wedding took place at St. James' Palace. The union had been championed by Albert's uncle King Leopold, but Victoria found herself greatly attracted to the prince who she described as "beautiful" (written in italics and underlined for emphasis in her diary). Unusually for monarchs, Victoria and Albert were of the same age, but as sovereign, the protocol required Victoria to ask Albert to marry her and not vice-versa. He agreed and was eventually given the title Albert, Prince Consort as Victoria remained the outright sovereign. Albert, nevertheless, read Victoria's state papers and gave her advice when required; he described himself as "the private secretary of the sovereign and her permanent minister" (402).

The royal couple had nine children: five girls and four boys, the eldest of whom, Albert Edward (b. 1841), known as 'Bertie', became Prince of Wales. Victoria, despite her experience, always feared the risks of childbirth and the forced absences from her role as monarch. Pregnancy, she said, was the "shadow-side of marriage" (Phillips, 217). The royal family deliberately set out to provide the nation with a role model of respectability and family duty; this was in stark contrast to the previous Hanoverian monarchs. 'Bertie' proved a disappointment in this department and had a highly unsuitable affair with the courtesan Nellie Clifden just when his parents were trying to arrange his marriage to Princess Alexandra of Denmark (a union which did go through in 1863).

Facing Radicalism

Victoria's succession was not looked upon favourably by everyone. Radicals and republicans were in the minority, but their views manifested themselves in an assassination attempt on the queen whilst riding in a carriage in London. On 10 June 1840, an 18-year-old took two pistol shots at the royal couple but missed with both. On 30 May 1842, a second assassin – although bizarrely his gun was not loaded – accosted the queen in Pall Mall and was apprehended with Victoria unharmed. Later that summer, on 3 July, yet another young would-be-assassin took a potshot at the queen, but he had not loaded his gun well, and he, too, missed his target. On 19 May 1849, an Irish assassin shot at the queen as she drove home in her carriage, but he also had not properly loaded his gun. There would be a few more attempted attacks on the queen, one madman even managing to strike Victoria with a stick that left her badly bruised in the face. Through it all, Victoria seemed to live a charmed life.

The period was a testing one for many monarchs in Europe with revolutions attempting to depose sovereigns, sometimes with success, as happened in France. It can be considered one of Victoria's many achievements not only to have weathered the radical storm but to actually have increased the popularity of the monarchy through her reign.

Tragedy & Withdrawal

The queen suffered her greatest tragedy on 14 December 1861 when Albert died of typhoid fever (or perhaps really the final phases of stomach or bowel cancer). The Prince Consort, already ill with stomach pains and tired out worrying about 'Bertie's' escapades, had got caught in the rain out visiting a new architectural project, and his condition deteriorated from there. He was just 42 years of age. Perhaps the queen never really recovered from her loss; she once wrote, simply, and encompassing all that Albert had meant to her in just four words: "He was my life" (Phillips, 217). In a sense, for the next few years, Victoria herself died. The queen could not bring herself to attend Albert's funeral, and she wore black for the remaining second half of her long life. The queen made sure that Albert and the causes he had championed were not forgotten. The fallen prince was commemorated in countless public buildings, perhaps most notably with the Royal Albert Hall in London, first opened on 8 April 1871.

Until the early 1870s, the queen withdrew from public life and spent a great deal of time at Windsor Castle or Balmoral, her and Albert's favourite royal residence and one which had been designed by the Prince Consort. The queen conducted her role in government via correspondence. Blaming 'Bertie' for his role in his father's demise, Victoria restricted his public royal roles as best she could so that the Prince of Wales and heir was, at least in official circles if not the pleasure haunts, an absent figure, too. Unimpressed with her son, Victoria described the prince as having "a small, empty brain" (Cannon, 345). This royal vacuum gave ammunition to republicans who were calling for the abolition of a monarchy that could not perform its already limited role.

The mystery surrounding the hidden queen, who became known as the 'widow of Windsor', led to unkind rumours such as an unsuitable relationship existed with her colourful and plain-speaking Scottish servant John Brown (1826-1883). The queen even gained the nickname 'Mrs Brown'. By the time Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) took office for a second time (1874-80) and established himself as Victoria's favourite prime minister, the queen was slowly returning to a more public role as the head of state. The queen also travelled abroad for rest, notably to Biarritz and the Côte d'Azur in France, greatly helping these places become fashionable resorts for Europe's well-to-do.

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Victoria was unfortunate to outlive three of her children. Princess Alice (b. 1843) died of diphtheria on 14 December 1878, in a cruel coincidence, the same date as Albert's death. In March 1884, the queen's youngest son Leopold, Duke of Albany (b. 1853) died after a bad fall. Leopold had suffered from haemophilia and possibly also epilepsy. In July 1900, Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1844) died of throat cancer aged 55.

Empire & Wars

Britain was involved in the Crimean War (1853-6) where Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire and others joined to defeat Russia. Victoria had opposed the war and personally visited wounded combatants being treated in hospitals back home. The conflict saw the creation of the Victoria Cross (1856), the highest British military award, and it was the queen's decision to have the words "for valour" added to the front of the medal.

Through the 19th century, the British Empire became the largest the world had ever seen, and it ranged from massive territories like Canada, India , and Australia to small outposts like Barbados, Gibraltar, Aden, Hong Kong, and Fiji. Most of the eastern half of Africa was under British rule in an almost uninterrupted line from Cairo to Cape Town.

Britain's empire-building was relentless, but there were some serious setbacks along the way. India was almost lost during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857-8, but, regaining control, the East India Company possessions were taken over by the British government. Victoria was made Empress of India on 1 June 1877. In the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War, almost an entire British army was destroyed at the Battle of Isandlwana. In 1885, the great military hero General Gordon was killed defending Khartoum and its residents against the self-proclaimed Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad. This disaster in the Sudan was an infamous episode of military and political dilly-dallying.

Most of the colonies had to be defended – against other powers and insurrections from local populations – and so there was a conflict somewhere in the empire in every single year of Victoria's reign. The empire was about wealth and resource extraction, and these usually came at the expense of the indigenous peoples. Many colonies were only too glad to gain their independence in the 20th century. Colonization had brutal consequences, but the records do show that Victoria did seem to take a genuine interest in her subjects, who totalled one-fifth of the world's population.

Other Reign Events

Victoria's reign witnessed an extraordinary series of innovations and social and economic changes, many of which were displayed in one form or another at the Great Exhibition of 1851, held in the Crystal Palace, a massive purpose-built hall of glass and cast iron. Prince Albert's pet project and triumph , over 6 million visitors marvelled not only at the weird and wonderful machines but thousands of exhibits from around the world, everything from the latest set of false teeth to the fabulous Koh-i-Noor diamond.

Britain's first national census was conducted in 1851, and it revealed that now more people lived in towns and cities than in the countryside. People moved around much more, too. By the end of the 19th century, Britons could travel around with much greater ease with the arrival of the railways , the motor car, and the London Underground. Life at home was more pleasant, too, with the invention of the electric light, gas fire, gramophone, and radio. People also became more connected thanks to the penny post system, and more people could write than ever before because free schools were made available to all from 1891. The 1867 Reform Act and its successor of 1884 both greatly increased the number of males who could participate in elections. In contrast to the progression in Britain's democracy, the new structure for Parliament (necessary after the great fire of 1834) was a riot of medieval and Tudor architecture . The queen officially opened the new building on 3 February 1852.

The royal family played its own role in changes of behaviour, for example, Victoria popularised the use of chloroform during child labour and Prince Albert ensured the German Christmas tree took over from the traditional mistletoe rings as the centre-piece of many a family home.

The influence of Victoria spread even further thanks to her 31 grandchildren. One grandson became the German emperor as Kaiser Wilhelm II (r. 1888-1918), one granddaughter became Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia (1894-1917), and five others became queens of European kingdoms. Victoria had certainly left her mark both in Britain and abroad, so much so, she was known towards the end of her life as the 'matriarch of Europe'.

Death & Successor

The success of the British Empire and her longevity as a calm rock in the sweeping seas of change of the 19th century greatly helped boost Victoria's popularity which had waned somewhat during her mourning period for Albert. The esteem with which she was held in the public's gaze was best seen in the celebrations of Victoria's Golden and Diamond Jubilees (1887 and 1897, respectively). After the latter celebration, on 22 June, the queen noted in her diary:

A never to be forgotten day. No one ever, I believe, has met with such an ovation as was given me ... The crowds were quite indescribable ... The cheering was quite deafening, and every face seemed to be filled with real joy. (Phillips, 222)

Queen Victoria, suffering ill health and rheumatism in her final year, died shortly after a stroke at her holiday retreat, Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, on 22 January 1901. She was 82 years old. Inside her coffin, according to her wishes, was a veritable curiosity shop of mementoes: a lock of John Brown's hair, a dress embroidered by her daughter Alice, several photographs, some small figurines, and even a quantity of jewels. In her never-dying love for Albert, the queen was buried, too, with a cast of the Prince Consort's hand and his dressing gown. The late queen's face was covered with her wedding veil. Now, after 40 years of separation, Victoria was reunited with her husband, buried beside him in the Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore in Windsor Great Park.

The number of Victoria's British subjects had doubled during her reign, and few indeed could remember a time when she was not queen. The Victorian era was finally over. Next on the throne was Victoria's eldest son who became Edward VII of Great Britain and who ensured the pomp and spectacle of the monarchy returned in full.

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Bibliography

• Cannon, John & Hargreaves, Anne. The Kings and Queens of Britain . Oxford University Press, 2009.
• Cavendish, Richard. Kings & Queens. David & Charles, 2007.
• Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty. Simon & Schuster, 1997.
• Lewis, Brenda Ralph. Dark History of the Kings and Queens of England . Amber Books Ltd, 2012.
• Phillips, Charles. The Complete Illustrated Guide to the Kings & Queens of Britain. Lorenz Books, 2006.
• Starkey, David. Crown and Country. HarperPress, 2010.
• Woodham-Smith, Cecil. Queen Victoria. Plume, 1986.

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Biography of Queen Victoria, Queen of England and Empress of India

She ruled during a time of economic and imperial expansion

Hulton Royals Collection / Hulton Archive / Getty Images

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Queen Victoria (May 24, 1819–January 22, 1901), was the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the empress of India. She was the longest-ruling monarch of Great Britain until Queen Elizabeth II surpassed her record and ruled during a time of economic and imperial expansion known as the Victorian Era.

Fast Facts: Queen Victoria

• Known For : Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (r. 1837–1901), Empress of India (r. 1876–1901)
• Born : May 24, 1819 in Kensington Palace, London, England
• Parents : Edward, Duke of Kent and Victoire Maria Louisa of Saxe-Coburg
• Died : January 22, 1901 in Osborne House, Isle of Wight
• Published Works : Letters , Leaves From the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands , and More Leaves
• Spouse : Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (m. Feb. 10, 1840)
• Children : Alice Maud Mary (1843–1878), Alfred Ernest Albert (1844–1900), Helena Augusta Victoria (1846–1923), Louise Caroline Alberta (1848–1939), Arthur William Patrick Albert (1850–1942), Leopold George Duncan Albert (1853–1884), Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (1857–1944)

Queen Victoria's children and grandchildren  married into many royal families of Europe, and some  introduced the hemophilia gene  into those families. She was a member of the house of Hanover , later called the house of Windsor.

Queen Victoria was born Alexandrina Victoria at Kensington Palace, London, England on May 24, 1819. She was the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent (1767–1820), the fourth son of King George III (1738–1820, r. 1760–1820). Her mother was Victoire Maria Louisa of Saxe-Coburg (1786–1861), sister of Prince (later King) Leopold of the Belgians (1790–1865, r. 1831–1865). Edward had married Victoire when an heir to the throne was needed after the death of Princess Charlotte, who had been married to Prince Leopold. Edward died in 1820, just before his father did. Victoire became the guardian of Alexandrina Victoria, as designated in Edward's will.

When George IV became king (r. 1821–1830), his dislike for Victoire helped isolate the mother and daughter from the rest of the court. Prince Leopold helped his sister and niece financially.

In 1830 and at the age of 11, Victoria became heir-apparent to the British crown on the death of her uncle George IV, at which point the parliament granted her income. Her uncle William IV (1765–1837, r. 1830–1837) became king. Victoria remained relatively isolated, without any real friends, though she had many servants and teachers and a succession of pet dogs. A tutor, Louise Lehzen (1784–1817), tried to teach Victoria the kind of discipline that Queen Elizabeth I had displayed. She was tutored in politics by her uncle Leopold.

When Victoria turned 18, her uncle King William IV offered her a separate income and household, but Victoria's mother refused. Victoria attended a ball in her honor and was greeted by crowds in the streets.

When William IV died childless a month later, Victoria became Queen of Great Britain and was crowned June, 20, 1837.

Victoria began to exclude her mother from her inner circle. The first crisis of her reign came when rumors circulated that one of her mother's ladies-in-waiting, Lady Flora, was pregnant by her mother's adviser, John Conroy. Lady Flora died of a liver tumor, but opponents at court used the rumors to make the new queen seem less innocent.

Queen Victoria tested the limits of her royal powers in May 1839, when the government of Lord Melbourne (William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, 1779–1848), a Whig who had been her mentor and friend, fell. She refused to follow established precedent and dismiss her ladies of the bedchamber so that the Tory government could replace them. In the "bedchamber crisis" she had the support of Melbourne. Her refusal brought back the Whigs and Lord Melbourne until 1841.

Neither Victoria nor her advisers favored the idea of an unmarried queen, despite or because of the example of Elizabeth I (1533–1603, r. 1558–1603). A husband for Victoria would have to be royal and Protestant, as well as an appropriate age, which narrowed the field. Prince Leopold had been promoting her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861) for many years. They had first met when both were 17 and had corresponded ever since. When they were 20, he returned to England and Victoria, in love with him, proposed marriage. They were married on Feb. 10, 1840.

Victoria had traditional views on the role of wife and mother, and although she was queen and Albert was prince consort, he shared government responsibilities at least equally. They fought often, sometimes with Victoria shouting angrily.

Their first child, a daughter, was born in November 1840, followed by the Prince of Wales, Edward, in 1841. Three more sons and four more daughters followed. All nine pregnancies ended with live births and all the children survived to adulthood, an unusual record for that time. Although Victoria had been nursed by her own mother, she used wet-nurses for her children. Though the family could have lived at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, or the Brighton Pavilion, they worked to create homes more appropriate for a family. Albert was key in designing their residences at Balmoral Castle and Osborne House. The family traveled to several places, including Scotland, France and Belgium. Victoria became especially fond of Scotland and Balmoral.

Government Role

When Melbourne's government failed again in 1841, he helped with the transition to the new government to avoid another embarrassing crisis. Victoria had a more limited role under Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (1788–1850), with Albert taking a lead for the next 20 years of "dual monarchy." Albert guided Victoria to an appearance of political neutrality, though she didn't become any fonder of Peel. Instead, she became involved with establishing charities.

European sovereigns visited her at home, and she and Albert visited Germany, including Coburg and Berlin. She began to feel herself part of a larger network of monarchs. Albert and Victoria used their relationship to become more active in foreign affairs, which conflicted with the ideas of the foreign minister, Lord Palmerston (Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, 1784–1865). He didn't appreciate their involvement, and Victoria and Albert often thought his ideas too liberal and aggressive.

Albert worked on a plan for a Great Exhibition, with a Crystal Palace in Hyde Park. Public appreciation for this construction completed in 1851 finally led to a warming of the British citizens toward their queen's consort.

In the mid-1850s, the Crimean War (1853–1856) engrossed Victoria's attention; she rewarded Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) for her service in helping protect and heal soldiers. Victoria's concern for the wounded and sick led to her founding Royal Victoria Hospital in 1873. As a result of the war, Victoria grew closer to the French emperor Napoleon III and his empress Eugénie. Napoleon III (1808–1873) was president of France from 1848–1852, and when he was not reelected, seized power and ruled as an emperor from 1852–1870.

The unsuccessful revolt of Indian infantrymen in the army of the East India Company known as the Mutiny of the Sepoys (1857–1858) shocked Victoria. This and subsequent events led to British direct rule over India and Victoria's new title as empress of India on May 1, 1876.

In family matters, Victoria became disappointed with her eldest son, Albert Edward, prince of Wales, heir presumptive. The eldest three children—Victoria, "Bertie," and Alice—received better educations than their younger siblings did, as they were most likely to inherit the crown.

Queen Victoria and the Princess Royal Victoria weren't as close as Victoria was to several of the younger children; the princess was closer to her father. Albert won his way in marrying the princess to Frederick William, son of the prince and princess of Prussia. The young prince proposed when Princess Victoria was only 14. The queen urged delay in marriage to be sure that the princess was truly in love, and when she assured herself and her parents that she was, the two were formally engaged.

Albert had never been named prince consort by parliament. Attempts in 1854 and 1856 to do so failed. Finally in 1857, Victoria conferred the title herself.

In 1858, Princess Victoria was married to the Prussian prince. Victoria and her daughter, known as Vicky, exchanged many letters as Victoria attempted to influence her daughter and son-in-law. 

A series of deaths among Victoria's relatives kept her in mourning starting in 1861. First, the king of Prussia died, making Vicky and her husband Frederick crown princess and prince. In March, Victoria's mother died and Victoria collapsed, having reconciled with her mother during her marriage. Several more deaths in the family followed, and then came a scandal with the prince of Wales. In the middle of negotiating his marriage with Alexandra of Denmark, it was revealed that he was having an affair with an actress.

Then Prince Albert's health failed. He caught a cold and couldn't shake it. Perhaps weakened already by cancer, he developed what may have been typhoid fever and died on Dec. 14, 1861. His death devastated Victoria; her prolonged mourning lost her much popularity.

Eventually coming out of seclusion in February 1872, Victoria maintained an active role in government by building many memorials to her late husband. She died on January 22, 1901.

Her reign was marked by waxing and waning popularity, and suspicions that she preferred the Germans a bit too much diminished her popularity. By the time she had assumed the throne, the British monarchy was more figurehead and influence than it was a direct power in the government, and her long reign did little to change that.

Queen Victoria's influence on British and world affairs, even if often was a figurehead, led to the naming of the Victorian Era for her. She saw the largest extent of the British empire and the tensions within it. Her relationship with her son, keeping him from any shared power, probably weakened the royal rule in future generations, and the failure of her daughter and son-in-law in Germany to have time to actualize their liberal ideas probably shifted the balance of European history.

The marriage of her daughters into other royal families and the likelihood that her children bore a mutant gene for hemophilia affected the following generations of European history.

• Baird, Julia. "Victoria the Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire." New York: Random House, 2016.
• Hibbert, Christopher. "Queen Victoria: A Personal History. " New York: Harper-Collins, 2010.
• Hough, Richard. "Victoria and Albert." New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.
• Rappaport, Helen. "Queen Victoria: A Biographical Companion." Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2003.
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Queen Victoria: Biography

Queen Victoria is Britain's longest reigning monarch, on the throne for 64 years.

Alexandrina Victoria Wettin, of the Royal House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, was the daughter of Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George III, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield.

Victoria was born on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. She was fifth in line to the throne after her father and his three brothers at this time but they all died without legitimate children.

Read more about Kings and Queens

The life of Queen Victoria: A queen in a man's world

Her childhood was quite isolated as her mother was extremely protective until 1830, when she became the heir presumptive, and travelled the country being welcomed by the ordinary people despite Victoria not liking these journeys.

In 1837, at the age of eighteen, she ascended to the throne following the death of her uncle King William IV. In her early days, she was largely dependent for advice on the Prime Minister, William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne, with whom she forged a strong relationship.

Victoria met Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha when she was just sixteen, and found him appealing even then, and their families wanted to unite them. After their first meeting, she wrote: "[Albert] is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful." They were married on 10 February 1840.

During the first few months of her first pregnancy in 1840, Edward Oxford attempted to assassinate her while she was travelling in a carriage with Prince Albert. Oxford fired at the monarch twice but missed. He was tried for high treason and found guilty before being acquitted on grounds of insanity. The attempt on Victoria's life made her more popular with the English people.

Despite there being some friction between the royal couple at first, because Albert wished to take an active role in the administration of the realm, they eventually reached a compromise, and their marriage became an outstandingly happy one.

The couple had nine children. In 1853, she became the first monarch to use an anaesthetic, in the form of chloroform, while giving birth to her eighth child Leopold. She was so impressed by the pain relief that she used it again in 1857 when delivering her final child Beatrice despite the clergy being against the chemical as it went against biblical teachings.

The eldest, Bertie (Albert), was wild in his youth, and Victoria blamed the trouble he caused for her husband's death from typhoid fever, in 1861, at the age of 42. Victoria was completely devastated by Albert’s death, withdrawing from public life.

Relying increasingly on a Scottish retainer, John Brown, Victoria developed a reputation (which she did not altogether deserve) for being stern and lacking in humour.

Her favourite Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, persuaded her to assume the title "Empress of India," reflecting the fact that she had presided over a massive expansion of the British Empire and the continued rise of Britain as an industrial power.

Later, in 1887, her golden jubilee brought her to new heights of popularity, and she went on to celebrate a diamond jubilee ten years later.

Victoria died in 1901 , on the Isle of Wight. She was Queen of the United Kingdom for a record sixty-three years, seven months, and two days.

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• Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria: Biography, Reign and Facts

by World History Edu · March 28, 2019

Queen Victoria biography | Queen Victoria’s reign as a trusted British monarch spanned over 6 decades.

Reigning from 1837 to 1901, Queen Victoria was a monumental 19th-century matriarch that ruled the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Her longevity on the British throne was as staggering as the economic and territorial expansion she oversaw. Her 63-year rule puts her second only to Queen Elizabeth II as the longest-serving monarch in British history. Although history will forever remember her as one of the most beloved monarchs of the British crown, her child-rearing skills will always stick out like a swollen thumb. Perhaps her 9 children were a tar bit more than she could handle.

The article below presents everything that you need to know about Queen Victoria, in terms of the monarch’s biography, reign, and facts:

Her Childhood and Early Life

Born as Alexandrina Victoria on May 24, 1819, this future Queen of England was the only child of the Duke and Duchess of Kent and Strathearn.  Her father, Prince Edward , was the fourth son of King George III. Her mother was the beautiful German noblewoman by the name of Princess Victoria Maria Louisa of Saxe-Coburg . Unfortunately, Victoria got no chance of being raised by both parents because her father, Prince Edward, died 8 months after her birth. This meant that Victoria was raised entirely by her mother. Regardless of this, she did get a lot of help from the numerous court servants and aids, particularly from Germany. Her mother’s brother, Prince Leopold of Belgium, also played a very active role in Victoria’s upbringing.  Victoria learned a great deal of politics from this maternal uncle of hers.

Victoria becomes Heiress-Apparent to the British Throne

At the time of her birth, Victoria was the fifth in line for the British throne, behind her three uncles (Prince George, the Duke of Cornwall; Prince Fredrick, the Duke of York; Prince William, the Duke of Clarence) and her father. Very few of the household or the general public gave her much attention simply because no one ever expected her to one day become queen. Well, history proved otherwise. Upon her father’s death, she became the fourth in line to the throne. And in less than 11 years since her birth, the young Victoria had moved from being a long short from ever sitting on the British throne to becoming heiress apparent to the crown. Exactly how did Victoria rise up the inheritance line to become the Queen of England?

Even though King George III (Victoria’s paternal grandfather) had three sons in line for the throne, it turns out that none of those sons produced any children. The records show that Victoria’s parents purposely got married so as to bear children for the throne. And after King George III died in 1820, her uncle became George IV. Her uncle was not so much fond of the young Victoria and her mother. The two women remained relatively isolated under George IV’s rule. Princes and governesses from her mother’s family in Germany filled this vacuum by providing the young Victoria a lot of training and financial support.

Back in England, the general public and the British politicians and ministers did not take delight to King George IV’s unusual lifestyle of drinking and partying. One could say that the king was not the most beloved of kings the country had ever seen. Misfortune also struck his house, the House of Hanover, as his brother died in 1827. His brother was the Duke of York and one of the heirs to the British throne. Three years later, in 1830, King George IV died. And because he bore no heir to the throne, his second younger brother (King William IV) took the reins of the Empire in 1830. What this meant was that young Victoria was now heiress-apparent to the throne. She started gaining the public’s attention and was even given a fixed income (as tradition demands).

King William IV, unlike his predecessor, was a much kinder person to Victoria and her mother. However, his kindness and benevolence were not always taken in good faith by Victoria’s mother. On countless occasions, Victoria and her mother refused the income and household that William IV bestowed upon them.

Bitter Feud with her Mother and Sir John Conroy

Queen Victoria’s mother (the Duchess of Kent) had a very close relationship with her private secretary, Sir John Conroy. It is believed that Conroy had so much sway over the Duchess of Kent. Both Conroy and the Duchess hatched a plan to have greater control over the heir-apparent, Princess Victoria. In the plan would be appointed a private secretary to Victoria. As a result of this plan, Victoria’s mother somewhat became an unpopular figure in the royal family as well as in the public’s eyes. The duchess and Conroy shielded the young Victoria from other members of the family. Their intention was to make Victoria rely solely on them when she eventually became Queen. She even started denying King William IV access to his niece, the young Victoria.

In spite of all the rift between King William and Victoria’s mother, young Victoria was fond of both the King and his wife (Queen Adelaide). Also, the latter very much adored her niece, Victoria. Bar for Victoria’s mother and Conroy, King William IV and the entire royal family would have had a very lovely relationship with the heiress presumptive to the British Crown, Victoria.

However, all the plans that Victoria’s mother cooked fail. King William IV survived long enough for Victoria to attain the age of 18. This meant that there was not going to be any regency government led by Victoria’s mother.  And upon becoming Queen Victoria, the young queen became very resentful of her mother and Conroy. Her mother even pressured her into making her personal secretary. Eventually, Victoria saw through the plan of her mother. Conroy’s services were later terminated. And as time went on, the two women reconciled their differences. The birth of Victoria’s first child, Princess Royal Victoria, made things smooth for both Queen Victoria and her mother.

The house of Hanover made a very savvy decision by proactively looking for an heir long before King George III died. This decision paid dividends because had Victoria’s father (who was the fourth in line) not produced a child, the house of Hanover would have seen its worst nightmare come to being the moment William IV passed away. Victoria’s last surviving and childless Uncle, William IV, sadly passed away in 1837. The heiress to the throne, Princess Victoria, was a little bit north of 18 years at the time of his passing.

Exactly a month later, Victoria no longer went by the name Princess Victoria. The young woman was now Queen Victoria, queen of all Britain and her colonies. It was an unbelievable elevation for the young Victoria. The records show that upon hearing of her uncle’s death (William IV), Victoria shut herself indoors for quite some time in order to process everything.

Marriage to Prince Albert

Social convention dictated that the Queen resides with her mother because she was still single at that time. As a result of the fall out she had had with her mother, the Queen and queen mother did not see eye to eye. To avoid any further fall out with her mother, Queen Victoria thought it was best she got married in order to completely free herself from the clutches of her mother. Her beloved maternal uncle, Prince Leopold (later King Leopold, King of the Belgians) introduced her to his cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Albert was a gentleman and very often made the Queen laugh. As a Protestant, Albert was a perfect match for the Queen.

After several visits and interactions between the young Queen and Prince Albert, Queen Victoria eventually proposed to Prince Albert on October 15, 1839. On February 10, 1840, the two got married in the Chapel Royal of St. James’ Palace, London.

Prince Albert immediately hit the ground rolling as a husband to the Queen. He became her most trusted confidante and adviser. Prince Albert and the Queen worked tirelessly to portray to the general public traditional values of family and motherhood. Albert was also a very good father to their kids. In the space of about 19 years, Queen Victoria had nine children – five daughters and four sons. The first of their kids was Victoria and the last was Beatrice. The former was born on November 21, 1840, while the latter was born on April 14, 1857. The future King Edward VII (born 9 November 1841) was the second child of Queen Victoria.

• Life and Reign of King Edward VII
• Queen Victoria’s Husband – Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

The Queen’s parenting and child nurturing skills were tested time and time again. And in most cases, she failed miserably. She simply hated being pregnant and breastfeeding. This made her employ the services of wet nurses for her children. It would be later revealed that what the Queen had was a mild case of postnatal depression. She often shied away from being directly involved with the children. This role was perfectly carried out by her husband, Albert. As it was normal in most royal families, the children had several governesses to attend to them. Victoria’s childhood governess, Baroness Louise Lehzen of Hanover, played a huge role in the lives of her children. However, Prince Albert later terminated her services over some disagreements in her methods.

Queen Victoria’s Era – the Victorian Age

Aside from being a naturally gifted father, Albert served beside the Queen in truth and honesty. He played an influential role in preventing several political stalemates and embarrassments to Queen. He was also involved in diffusing the numerous tensions Queen Victoria had with some of her Prime Ministers. Albert’s strategy of gradually placing the Queen as an apolitical ruler was vital in building  Victoria’s public reputation over the next 20 years. Also, Albert was phenomenal in maintaining a very cool head all throughout the American Civil War. His calmness was crucial in diffusing tensions when Union forces abducted a foreign diplomat of the Confederate States on their visit to Europe.

The big royal family frequented Germany and other European countries a lot. Certainly, Victoria and Albert were received very warmly by the various European monarchs. These sorts of trips often helped her to shape the kingdom’s foreign strategy. In 1857, the Queen conferred the title of Prince Consort on Albert. This was after two attempts in parliament had failed.

Queen Victoria goes into a Decade-long Mourning and Isolation

Tragedy struck when the Queen mother, Victoria, passed away on March 1861.  Victoria’s mother’s death came as a huge shock to her considering the fact that their relationship got better during her marriage. She leaned strongly on her husband for comfort. Albert also stepped up by taking most of the Queen’s duties both domestic and abroad.

A few months after the Queen mother’s passing, the House of Hanover saw another scandal. The Prince of Wales, Prince Edward, was engaged in an affair with another woman in the lead up to his marriage with Alexandra of Denmark. Victoria and Albert quickly rushed in aid of their son. As usual, Albert aptly handled the situation to prevent any further public fallout. This and many more royal demands started to take a toll on the Prince Consort. On 14th of December 1861, Prince Albert died after succumbing to a cold that he caught on one of his numerous visits to his son, Prince Edward. Prior to the cold, Prince Albert had been in a fierce battle with cancer. Many historians believe that the sheer workload of his regal responsibilities was the most contributory factor to his death.

The news of her husband’s passing away turned the Queen’s life upside down. Some say, she never fully recovered from Albert’s death. She became very gloomy afterward and was always seen in black clothes. The very much active and jubilant Queen faded away and made way for a secluded and very sorrowful queen for close to a decade. The public at some point in time got impatient as the queen could not get over the death of her beloved husband. She had isolated herself so much so that the public started calling her the “widow of Windsor”. She also gained a lot of weight from taking comfort in eating. All of these further alienated her from the public.

Her lack of fondness for her children meant that she could not draw close to them in her time of emotional stress. Her children were either married off across Europe or were at best not serious like the Prince of Wales, Prince Edward. Therefore, the Queen’s only source of comfort and strength often came from her court advisers and ministers. One particular adviser of hers that filled the void left by Prince Albert was John Brown, the Queen’s manservant from Scotland.

When the queen got back to her feet (around the 1870s), she went straight into steering the affairs of the empire. She was instrumental in building strong relationships with countries abroad. However, some sections of the public criticized her for being too friendly with the Germans. Who could blame her for doing this? After all, she was in part German. She spoke fluent German. And the times she and Albert spent in Germany were one of the best in her life.

Queen Victoria’s Illness and Death

In the later years of her life, Queen Victoria was plagued by a number of illnesses. Most notable of them all was the rheumatism in her body. She gradually lost her eyesight to cataracts. She became really ill. Her second son’s (Prince Alfred) death in July 1900 was also too much for the ailing monarch. She constantly felt sad and weak. Eventually, Queen Victoria gave up the ghost and died on January 22, 1901, in the company of her eldest son, Prince Edward, and Emperor Wilhem II (her grandson). She chose white for her funeral procession. On February 4, 1901, Queen Victoria was interred beside her husband, Prince Albert, in Frogmore Mausoleum at Windsor Great Park.

Read More: What Caused the Death of Queen Victoria ?

Queen Victoria’s Legacy

Her longevity on the throne saw the affairs of the country grow in strength. Her era has famously been referred to as the Victorian Era. She was a huge matriarchal figure all across Europe. What she lacked in height, she made up for in a disciplined approach to managing the affairs of the royal family. One must remember that her time marked the beginning of Britain moving into a full constitutional monarchy. Therefore, Queen Victoria had very little real power over these politicians. However, her wise words and consultations are what set her apart. Her reign also saw about 11 different British Prime Ministers. She was a very affable and honest straight-talking person. Victoria always had an unflinching sense of having strong family bonds and values. She was a different type of monarch than the uncles and grandfather who reigned before her. Victoria will go down in history as the British monarch that restored British monarch’s image and reputation.

On a lighter note, it was during her era that the Christmas tree tradition became popular. During the festive season, Victoria, along with all her family, would bring pine trees into Windsor Castle and personally decorate the tree with assorted sweets and candles. And most of the Christmas carols and hymns that we enjoy today were most likely written during the Victorian Era.

Pop culture references and On-Screen portrayal of Queen Victoria

In popular and urban culture, Queen Victoria holds the record of being the most featured British monarch on television and radio. Here are three very famous depictions of Victoria:

• 2016 ITV drama, Victoria . This drama series stars a host of spectacular actors and actresses such as Jordan Waller, Jenna Coleman, and Adrian Schiller.
• Blackadder’s Christmas Carol (1988). This was a light comedy with stellar acts from Rowan Atkinson and Stephen Fry. The movie highlighted Victoria’s generous side during the festive Christmas season.
• Mrs. Brown (1997) that starred Billy Connolly and Judi Dench. Dench’s performance was so good that it won her an Academy nomination for Best Actress.

11 Quick Facts about Queen Victoria

• Both her father (Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn) and her Grandfather ( King George III ) died in the same year, 1820.
• She is regarded as the “Grandmother of Europe” because all 9 of her children married royals and nobles across Europe.
• Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was her first maternal cousin. The two got married in 1840.
• She was the first British monarch to officially rule India. She went by the title: Empress of India.
• Queen Victoria is the 2nd longest-reigning British monarch.
• She was the last British monarch to hail from the House of Hanover.
• One of Queen Victoria’s uncles was Leopold, the future king of the Belgians.
• Queen Victoria had two other half-siblings: Prince Carl of Leiningen (1804-1856) and Princess Feodora of Leiningen (1807-1872). The prince and princess were Queen Victoria’s mother’s children from her first marriage to Charles, 2nd Prince of Leiningen (1763-1814).
• The Queen is said to be the originator of the “royal disease”, hemophilia, in the royal family. Hemophilia is a disease that prevents the blood from clotting after a cut to the skin. She passed this gene on to 3 of her children: Leopold, Alice, and Beatrice. These royal members went on to introduce it to the House of Windsor as well as other royal families across Europe.
• Queen Victoria was not the tallest of the British monarchs. She was a mere five feet tall.
• Throughout her reign, there were a total of six separate assassination attempts on her life.

Tags: Achievements of Victoria Queen Victoria Queen Victoria's Era Queen Victoria's illness and death Queen Victoria's legacy Queen Victoria's reign

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Queen Victoria Biography

Birthday: May 24 , 1819 ( Gemini )

Born In: Kensington Palace, London, United Kingdom

Queen Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 to until her death on 22 January 1901. She became the longest reigning monarch in England, British and Scottish monarchy, a record that stands till date. Her reign as the Queen of United Kingdom is known as the Victorian Era, for it was her stern and rigid view on morality, and the urge to watch United Kingdom ascend and become supreme and powerful on the world stage that helped define the age! During her reign, the United Kingdom experienced a massive expansion in almost every sphere - be it technological, communication or industrial. The underground railways that have become an integral part of British transportation system have its foundation dating back to the Victorian era. Similarly, loads of bridges, roads and rail lines that are present today first came into form under her rule. Industrial and technological feats apart, she worked to transform the face of United Kingdom by eradicating poverty and diminishing class difference. The literacy rate also experienced a massive rise during her reign.

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British Celebrities Born In May

Also Known As: Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent

Died At Age: 81

Spouse/Ex-: Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (m.1840-1861)

father: Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn

mother: Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

children: Alfred, Duchess of Argyll, Duke of Albany, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Edward VII , Prince Arthur, Prince Leopold, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom , Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom , Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, Princess Louise, Princess Royal, Victoria

Born Country: England

Empresses & Queens British Women

Died on: January 22 , 1901

place of death: Osborne, East Cowes, United Kingdom

City: London, England

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Who Was Queen Victoria? What Was She Famous For?

General Education

Queen Victoria of England is one of the most iconic figures of the British monarchy. Plenty of other kings and queens have captivated attention throughout history, but few have done so with the fervor of Queen Victoria, in part because her reign was one of the longest in British history.

Queen Victoria kept diaries from the age of 13. Because of this, we have detailed records of her thoughts, feelings, and actions throughout her reign in a way that we don’t for many other famous leaders. 

The length of her reign was just one piece of why Victoria is still so famous today. In this article, we’ll cover Queen Victoria facts, including her life story, important events in her reign, the Queen Victoria family tree, and why she remains such a popular figure today.

Queen Victoria’s Biography

Victoria, birth name Alexandrina Victoria, was born May 24, 1819 to Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Germany at Kensington Palace.

Victoria was born fifth in line to succeed the British throne , with her father as well as three uncles, George IV, Frederick Duke of York, and William IV, ahead of her. When her father died in 1820, just a year after she was born, she became fourth in line—and, because her uncles were aging and had no legitimate, living children, it became increasingly likely that she would rule the country one day . When young Victoria was told that she would likely become princess, and perhaps even Queen, she responded by saying, “I will be good.”

King George III, Victoria's grandfather, died in 1820 and her uncle George IV took the throne. Frederick, the Duke of York died in 1827, making William IV heir presumptive, or the next person in line for the throne. When George IV died in 1830, William IV took the throne and the role of heir presumptive passed to Victoria.  

A new Act made it possible for Victoria’s mother to rule as regent—a substitute ruler in case the true ruler is sick, absent, or otherwise unable to rule—but William IV doubted her mother’s ability to rule and wanted to live until Victoria’s 18th birthday so she could be the one to take the throne.

In 1837, one month after Victoria turned 18, William IV died. Victoria was crowned on June 28, 1838, and ruled for a total of 64 years, the longest reign in British history until Queen Elizabeth.

Important Events in Queen Victoria’s History

Victoria’s lengthy reign was marked by a number of important events in English history. Early in her time as Queen of England, she made a number of decisions that made her an unpopular ruler. However, as time went on, her strong personality, leadership, and commitment to her ideals won over the public.

May 1839 - Bedchamber Crisis

Two years after she took the throne, a series of events led to what would be called the Bedchamber Crisis. Early in 1839, one of Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting, Lady Flora Hastings, began experiencing abdominal pain. After repeated doctor visits, there was no apparent cause, and Hastings' enemies began to spread rumors that she was pregnant with John Conroy’s illegitimate child.

The rumors reached Victoria, who was no fan of Hastings and an especially bitter enemy of Conroy. As the rumor grew, pressure increased on Hastings, and she consented to an invasive examination. The examination revealed that she was not pregnant, but did not cite a cause for her pain and swelling.

Unfortunately, Hastings’ condition worsened. Before her death, she asked that a thorough examination be done, and the results published for the public to see. During her postmortem examination, it was revealed that she had an advanced, cancerous liver tumor .

Victoria’s actions in the case of Lady Hastings were a source of great controversy. Not only had she believed baseless rumors about her lady in waiting, but she’d pushed her toward an invasive medical exam that had failed to detect what was actually wrong with her. The public booed Queen Victoria when she went out on rides, starting her reign off on a poor foot.

Unfortunately, things got worse. Queen Victoria had surrounded herself with Whig supporters. In fact, many Tories believed she was a Whig herself, despite monarchs generally being regarded as non-partisan.

Lord Melbourne, a Whig and Queen Victoria’s longtime friend, was set to resign from his position as prime minister after a series of political defeats. He suggested Robert Peel, a Tory, to take his place. Because the Tories held a minority position in Parliament, Peel hoped that Victoria would make some changes to her household as a mark of confidence in the new party. He suggested replacing some of her Whig ladies in waiting with Tory ladies to signify that she was not showing favoritism toward the Whig party.

Victoria refused to make any changes, and Melbourne, along with many other friends of the queen, suggested that Peel was being unreasonable and pushing too hard. Due to a misunderstanding, they had assumed that Peel wanted Victoria to replace all of her ladies in waiting, effectively stripping her of friends and confidants, rather than just some of them. Peel responded by refusing to form a ministry, as he did not feel that he had adequate support from the queen.

Victoria’s refusal was considered to be unconstitutional, as it seemed that she was throwing her support behind the Whigs even though monarchs were expected to be neutral. Because Peel refused to form a ministry due to her lack of compliance with his wishes, Victoria was said to have denied him his lawful position. In fact, she reinstated Melbourne as prime minister because of Peel’s refusal to form a ministry.

Ultimately, Victoria and Peel were able to settle the disagreement. Victoria accepted a Tory woman into her household , and in 1840, she married Prince Albert, giving her a new companion. In 1841, the Tories won the majority, letting Peel take his position with authority.

June 1840 - Assassination Attempts

Queen Victoria was a frequent target for assassination beginning in 1840. The first person to make an attempt on her life was Edward Oxford, a teenager who fired a gun at her as she was on a carriage ride with Albert. The shot missed, and Oxford was seized by people nearby. To show that the royals were still confident in their people, they continued on their ride, smiling at crowds as they went. Oxford was found to be of “unsound mind,” and was sentenced to Bedlam for 24 years, before being deported to Australia.

John Francis made two attempts on the queen’s life within a day of one another. On May 29, 1842, his pistol failed to fire when he pointed it at Victoria while she was on another carriage ride, and, a day later, he tried again. This time his pistol fired, but he was caught by police and sentenced to be hanged until the queen changed his sentence to lifetime banishment.

In 1850, Robert Pate, a former British Army officer, attacked the queen with a cane. He hit her once before being subdued by the crowd. He was sentenced to seven years in a Tasmanian penal colony.

The final attempt on Queen Victoria’s life came in 1882. Roderick Maclean fired his pistol at the queen as she was leaving Windsor Station , and was tackled and beaten by boys from the nearby Eton school. He was found to be mentally unsound and institutionalized.

May 1857 - Sepoy Mutiny

The East India Company ruled India as a British colony. Throughout the 1800s, they eroded India’s previous ruling structure, replacing it with British control. In 1840, Lord Dalhousie introduced the doctrine of lapse , preventing a Hindu ruler from appointing a successor to their throne if they didn’t have a natural heir.

Combined with the practice of westernization, which replaced Indian customs with British ones, the erosion of India autonomy pushed the people of India toward revolution. In 1857, Indian soldiers in the employ of the East India Company began to fight back, standing up to the British army by attacking their superior officers , refusing to use rifle cartridges for fear they had been contaminated with animal fat that was against the Muslim and Hindu fighters’ religions, and seizing control of Delhi.

Though some have argued that the Indian fighters started the slaughter by killing the British officers who were oppressing them, some 800,000 Indian lives were lost compared to 6,000 British lives .

To end the bloodshed, the East India Company was dismantled, and rule of India was transferred to the British crown. In 1858, Victoria announced that Indian people would be given similar rights to British subjects and condemned violence on both sides.

Benjamin Disraeli was elected to Parliament in 1874 and took great pains to win over Queen Victoria, as they had had a previously tumultuous relationship. Because England had been pushing their expansive empire even further, Victoria wanted a title to reflect that. In response, Disraeli passed the Royal Titles Act, which gave the Queen the additional title of Empress of India in 1877. 

To celebrate her Golden Jubilee 10 years later, Queen Victoria brought on Abdul Karim, an Indian servant to help teach her Urdu and about Indian culture. Karim became a beloved mentor for Victoria, and as a result became an unpopular figure around the Royal Household, who felt that he should be treated as inferior.

June 1887 - Golden Jubilee

Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee celebrated 50 years of her reign on June 20, 1887. The queen dined with 50 foreign kings, princes, princesses, dukes, and duchesses from all around the world. 

A commemorative coin was produced, as well as a bust of the queen’s head, to be spread throughout the empire. During the Jubilee, the queen chose two Indian subjects as waiters, one of whom—Abdul Karim—later became her personal teacher.

June 1897 - Diamond Jubilee

In 1896, Queen Victoria became the longest-reigning monarch in British history, but elected to hold off on celebrations until the following year, the 60th anniversary of her ascension to the throne.

Unlike the previous jubilee, foreign heads of state were excluded from the event. Victoria and her advisors were afraid that Wilhelm II, Victoria’s grandson and German Emperor, would cause trouble at the event due to his erratic personality.

As part of a 17-carriage procession, Queen Victoria rode through many of London’s most famous landmarks and attended a Thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Cathedral .

Important Events in Queen Victoria’s Personal Life

Many of the Queen Victoria facts that make her so compelling relate to her personal life. Because she was queen for over 60 years, Victoria lived much of her life in the public eye, and, thanks to her diaries, we have a great insight into what her personal thoughts and feelings were.

Biographers and contemporaries of Queen Victoria have also chronicled her life and personality. She was known to be particularly stubborn, which, though it made her a resolute ruler, proved difficult in her early reign with issues like the Bedchamber Crisis. Victoria also had a great desire to be well-liked, but was unwilling to change herself or her opinions to suit public opinion—again, this is best demonstrated early in her rule, where public scorn for her treatment of her Lady Flora Hastings nonetheless did not prompt her to apologize until much later in life.

Queen Victoria was also quite invested in expanding the British empire. Throughout her reign, England advanced its economic and colonial interests around the world, expanding colonies in Canada and Australia after the loss of the American colonies in the previous century. A desire to grow the empire shaped Victoria’s personal life as much as her political life, as she was dedicated to advancing England’s cause.

Queen Victoria’s Childhood

Queen Victoria’s childhood was a difficult one. Her father died just a year after she was born, and her upbringing was left largely to her mother and Sir John Conroy, her mother’s attendant. Together, they devised the “Kensington System,” named after the palace where they lived in London.

The Kensington System was deliberately designed to keep the young Victoria dependent on her mother. Her mother and Conroy were allied against the House of Hanover, which included Victoria’s father’s family, and aimed to keep the potential power of Victoria inheriting the throne amongst themselves.

One of the chief principles of the Kensington System was that Victoria was never allowed to be alone. She was always attended by her mother, governesses, and other authority figures, and prohibited from meeting or playing with other children with the exception of her half sister and Conroy’s own daughter. Victoria was almost never allowed to leave Kensington and grew to resent all those involved in her upbringing.

In fact, though the Kensington System was intended to make Victoria dependent on her mother and her associates, it backfired. When they attempted to bully her into taking on Conroy as her personal secretary, she refused. Following her coronation, Victoria requested one single hour alone—something that she had never experienced up until that point—and that her bed be removed from her mother’s room. She later banished Conroy from her apartments, and, after marrying Prince Albert, she evicted her mother from her palace entirely as there was no longer any societal pressure to have her there.

The Kensington System was also partially to blame for her later conflict with Lady Flora Hastings. Hastings had been one of Victoria’s mother’s ladies in waiting, leading the queen to distrust her.

Queen Victoria’s Coronation

Queen Victoria was crowned on June 28, 1838 . As part of the House of Hanover on her father’s side, she should also have inherited the crown of Hanover in Germany. However, because the Salic Law of Succession prevented a woman from ruling Hanover, the crown instead passed to her uncle, Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, who was an unpopular figure. Ernest also served as her heir presumptive until she had her first child.

Over 400,000 people attended Queen Victoria’s coronation. The ceremony lasted five hours and was uniquely chaotic . The Dean of Westminster, who usually administered the ceremony, was ill that day , and was replaced by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Archbishop, unfamiliar with the ceremony, placed the Coronation Ring onto the incorrect finger, which later took an hour to remove. Victoria was also handed the ceremonial orb at the wrong time, and the Bishop of Bath and Wells missed a page in the Order of Service , leading him to later recall Victoria to repeat the process to make it official.

Queen Victoria’s Wedding

Queen Victoria met and fell in love with her future husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, on one of his visits to Britain in 1839. As head of state, she had to propose to him. Victoria also had other unconventional traditions—she wore a white wedding dress and had a tiered wedding cake, two unique features that later caught on with other brides.

Albert, in marriage, became something like Victoria’s “moral tutor.” His presence softened her somewhat, and she reconsidered some of her earlier stances on things like the Bedchamber Crisis. 

Despite being fully in love with one another, Albert and Victoria’s marriage was not without problems. They fought frequently, and Albert was not initially allowed to participate in governing the country. However, within six months he was taking more of a role in running England, in part due to Victoria’s pregnancy with her first child.

The marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert also led to more political conflict with the Tories. Only five Tories were extended invites to the wedding, and the party later responded by rejecting the request to assign Albert rank within the government. The queen responded by saying “Monsters! You Tories shall be punished! Revenge! Revenge!”

Queen Victoria’s Family Tree and Children

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had nine children over their marriage, beginning with Victoria, Princess Royal, in 1840. Queen Victoria's other children were Albert Edward (1841), Alice (1843), Alfred (1844), Helena (1846), Louise (1848), Arthur (1850), Leopold (1853) and Beatrice (1857).

Though she had many children, the queen was not fond of being a mother . She despised being pregnant and particularly disliked breastfeeding. Victoria took a stern approach to being a mother, remaining distant from her children, who were primarily raised by Victoria’s own governess, Louise Lehzen.

Victoria also experienced postnatal depression after several of her pregnancies, contributing to her dislike of having children. Her experience after giving birth to Albert Edward was so intense that she experienced hallucinations, and wrote that she was affected for an entire year.

Victoria was also a carrier of hemophilia, which was passed on to 10 of Queen Victoria's children. Her son, Leopold, experienced the disease, and Alice and Beatrice were also carriers. This led to some speculation that Victoria’s father was not actually the Duke of Kent , as her ancestors showed no evidence of carrying the disease, but it’s more likely that her father experienced a spontaneous mutation that caused him to become a carrier, as spontaneous mutations occur more frequently in older men, and he was in his 50s when she was conceived. 

Queen Victoria’s Mourning Period

In 1861, Edward, Albert and Victoria’s oldest son, wanted to get some real military experience by spending time at an army camp in Ireland. While there, he spent three nights with Nellie Clifden, an actress. Prince Albert found out about the tryst and, though he was sick at the time, traveled to Ireland to reprimand his son. The two went for a walk in the rain, and, upon his return to England, Albert’s sickness worsened. He was diagnosed with typhoid on December 9, and died just five days later. 

Today, some have speculated that Albert actually suffered from Crohn's disease or abdominal cancer, as he had chronic stomach pain for two years prior to his death.

Albert’s death devastated Victoria, and she blamed Edward’s indiscretion for the loss of his father, writing that he had been “killed by that dreadful business” and claiming that she could not look at Edward without shuddering.

Victoria entered into a period of mourning that lasted the rest of her life. She wore black and stopped appearing in public for many years, earning the nickname the “widow of Windsor” for her reclusiveness. In fact, not appearing in the public eye began to erode the public’s confidence in her. She was criticized for remaining in seclusion, and was accused of having an affair with one of her servants, John Brown. 

Republicans called for her removal in the early 1870s with a rally in Trafalgar Square. In 1871, Edward contracted typhoid himself, and the queen became worried for his safety. He grew increasingly ill, but eventually recovered, and Victoria’s grand return to the public eye was at a thanksgiving ceremony celebrating her son’s recovery in 1872. This appearance helped renew confidence in her leadership, and republican opposition to her absent rule died down.

Queen Victoria’s Death

After 64 years as Queen of England, Victoria died on January 22, 1901. She was 81 years old, and beginning to experience health problems, including rheumatism and cataracts. According to her writing, she felt ill throughout January, and the condition, which included being dazed and confused, worsened throughout the month. Edward, her successor, and Emperor Wilhelm II, her grandson, were present at her deathbed.

Her funeral was executed in accordance with her wishes. She was given a military funeral to honor her father , a soldier, and wore a white dress with her wedding veil. She was buried with a variety of mementos from her loved ones, including one of Albert’s dressing gowns and a plaster cast of his hand, as well as a lock of hair from John Brown. The hair was concealed from public view with flower, likely because of the allegations that she had carried on an affair with him. 

Lasting Impacts of Queen Victoria’s Reign

There have been plenty of influential monarchs in English history, but Queen Victoria is one of the most famous. Part of that comes from her lengthy reign, the longest until her great-great-grandaughter, the current Queen Elizabeth II. But Victoria also presided over a great many important events of the 1800s, adding to her legacy.

Industrial Expansion

As the British Empire grew, so too did its industry. This was the Industrial Revolution, which shifted population from rural areas to being concentrated in cities. The poor were notoriously oppressed, with horrific sanitation conditions and incredibly high infant mortality— half of all children died before they reached five years old .

Despite the plight of the poor, the industrial revolution brought a new era of wealth to business owners throughout England, fundamentally changing the relationship between the classes. Though Victoria, as a monarch and therefore a member of the aristocracy, was not particularly involved in this revolution, Albert was particularly fond of technological advancement.

One area that Victoria was invested in was train travel. She found the experience far preferable to traditional travel by carriage , even if she had some reservations, and gave her approval. Because the queen favored trail travel, it grew in popularity regardless of class differences throughout England.

Empire and Foreign Relations

Queen Victoria ruled over a rapidly expanding empire. At the end of her reign, almost 25 percent of the world was part of the British Empire, giving rise to the phrase, “the sun never sets on the British empire.” 

Though Victoria herself promoted peace in many 19th-century conflicts, such as the Prussia-Denmark War, the century was far from bloodless. The empire’s relentless expansion led to colonial violence, and Victoria’s reluctance to intervene in the conflict between Bulgaria and Turkey—often referred to as the “Eastern Question” of the declining stability of the Ottoman Empire—indirectly supported the massacre of around 15,000 people .

Victoria believed that England should push the Turkish empire for reforms, but that they should support the existing government rather than those seeking independence from it.

Victoria Cross

Queen Victoria established the Victoria Cross, which originally honored acts of bravery during the Crimean War. Since then, the Cross has become the highest award of the British honors system.

Unlike many previous awards in the system, the Victoria Cross was based on merit rather than rank. Soldiers of any rank could receive the award for their actions during the war regardless of their birth or status within the military, and the Cross marked the first time in British history that officers and men were decorated together.

Some suspected Victoria of secretly supporting Tsar Nicholas I during the Crimean War, despite her government’s strongly anti-Russian stance. However, her involvement in the Crimean War, which included nursing wounded soldiers, helped put that suspicion aside. In fact, Victoria awarded 62 of the medals herself in 1857, showing support for the British army.

Changing Monarchy

Trust in the monarchy had begun to erode somewhat as people questioned whether the Royal Family earned their keep. During Victoria’s reign, the role of the monarch began to shift, as multiple acts and reforms strengthened the electorate at the expense of the queen .

The Second Reform Act of 1867 granted the right to vote to all men who owned houses in the boroughs as well as renters who paid more than £10 per year in rent. It also allowed more people in counties and agricultural landowners and tenants the ability to vote without such steep land requirements. This effectively doubled the voting populace of England, though women were still not granted the right to vote. Victoria personally opposed women’s suffrage, despite being a woman leader.

The Ballot Act of 1872 further strengthened the electoral base. Thanks to this act, ballots in local and regional elections were no longer public knowledge, and voters could not be punished or intimidated into choosing particular candidates.

The Third Reform Act, also known as the Representation of the People Act 1884, extended voting rights like those of the Second Reform Act to rural people as well as those in the boroughs. However, this still represented just 60 percent of men in England, as 40 percent still could not vote, and women were not yet given suffrage.

Social Change

Queen Victoria is remembered as a queen interested in social change, but only under certain circumstances. As previously mentioned, she opposed women’s suffrage despite her own position as a woman leader. And though she supported reformations for the poor, as well as supporting charities for education, hospitals, and poor, her interest was largely focused on England. When the potato famine struck Ireland, efforts from the British government were halfhearted and ultimately ineffective.

Though Victoria donated £2,000 of her own resources as aid, one story suggests that Sultan Abdulmecid intended to donate £10,000 until it was pointed out that this might embarrass the queen. However, Victoria did visit Ireland in 1849, helping ease some of the ill will brewing over the British government’s lackluster response to the crisis.

Though Victoria was patron of some 150 institutions, some of her support of the arts and intellectual communities faded after Albert’s death. But despite this, Victoria’s interest in her people helped restore confidence in the monarchy, even as power shifted away from the king and queen and toward the electorate.

What’s Next?

Trying to bolster your European history knowledge for your AP exam? Check out this guide to the AP European History test !

If you love history, these are the high school history classes you need to be taking.

Queen Victoria's reign was so long and wide-reaching that it left its mark on the history of the world. Learn more with this collection of AP World History notes !

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Melissa Brinks graduated from the University of Washington in 2014 with a Bachelor's in English with a creative writing emphasis. She has spent several years tutoring K-12 students in many subjects, including in SAT prep, to help them prepare for their college education.

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• World Biography

Victoria Biography

Born: May 24, 1819 London, England Died: January 22, 1901 Isle of Wight, England English queen

Victoria was queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 to 1901 and empress of India from 1876 to 1901. During her reign, England grew into an empire of 4 million square miles and 124 million people. As queen, she saw slavery end in the colonies, saw her country undertake successful wars in the Crimea, Egypt, the Sudan, and South Africa, acquired the Suez Canal, and established constitutions in Australia and Canada.

Early life and the throne

Alexandrina Victoria was born in Kensington Palace, London, on May 24, 1819. She was the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent (1767–1820), by Mary Louis Victoria (1786–1861). Her father died when she was very young and her early years were disrupted by family arguments. She grew up under her mother's care and that of Louisa Lehzen, her German governess. The education Victoria received from Lehzen was limited, and she spoke only German until she was three years old.

From 1832 Victoria's mother took her on extended tours through England. On May 24, 1837, she came of age, and on June 20, after the death of her uncle William IV (1765–1837), she inherited the throne. Her chief advisers at first were Prime Minister Lord Melbourne, a Whig (or a member of the liberal political party), and Baron Stockmar, a German sent to London by her uncle King Leopold of the Belgians as adviser to his eighteen-year-old niece. On June 28, 1838, her coronation (crowning ceremony) took place.

In October her first cousin Albert Edward (1819–1861) of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, came to London. Victoria fell in love with him instantly, proposed to him, and they were married on February 10, 1840. It was a happy marriage and restored the influence of the Crown, which had weakened during the reigns of those that ruled before her. Prince Albert was granted a thirty-thousand-pound annual income by Parliament, the governing body of Great Britain. He also was named regent (acting ruler) in the event of the queen's death in childbirth, and in 1857 was made Prince Consort by Victoria.

In June 1842 Victoria made her first railway journey from Slough, the station nearest Windsor Castle, to Paddington, and in that same year she first went to Scotland, traveling by sea. In 1843 Victoria and Albert visited King Louis Philippe (1773–c.1850). She was the first English monarch to land in France since Henry VIII (1491–1547) visited Francis I (1494–1547) in 1520. King Louis Philippe's return visit was the first voluntary visit to England of any French ruler. In 1845 Victoria, with Albert, made the first of many trips to Germany, staying at Albert's birthplace, Rosenau.

Queen of England

In 1844 Queen Victoria had Osborne Palace built for her on the Isle of Wight and in 1848 Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Until the end of her life she spent part of each spring and fall in these places. In 1851 she and Prince Albert were much occupied with the Great Exhibition, a world's fair held in London and the first of its kind.

In 1856 Victoria and Albert visited Napoleon III (1808–1873) in Paris, and in 1857 the Indian Mutiny against British rule in India led to Victoria's writing that there now existed in England "a universal feeling that India [should] belong to me." In 1858 the British charter that opened trade with Asia, known as the East India Company, was dismantled. That same year Victoria's eldest child, Victoria, married Prince (later Emperor) Frederick of Prussia (today known as Germany). In March 1861 Victoria's mother died, and her eldest son, Albert Edward, while in camp in the Curragh in Ireland, had an affair with an actress called Nelly Clifden. The affair worried Victoria and Albert, who were planning his marriage to Princess Alexandra of Denmark. Meanwhile, Albert was suffering from typhoid fever, a terrible disease that causes fever and other symptoms and is easily spread, and died on December 14, 1861, at the age of forty-two.

In 1862 Victoria's daughter Alice married Prince Louis of Hesse, and a year later her eldest son, the Prince of Wales, married Princess Alexandra of Denmark. Victoria supported Prussia during its war with Denmark over Schleswig-Holstein (a state in northwest Germany) and she approved Russia's brutal crushing of Poland's national uprising in 1863. In 1865 in the Seven Weeks War between Prussia and Austria, Victoria was again pro-Prussian. In 1867 Victoria entertained the Khedive of Egypt and the Sultan of Turkey.

In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 between France and Prussia, Victoria was still pro-Prussian, though she welcomed the French empress Eugénie and allowed her and the emperor to live at Chislehurst. In 1873 Prime Minister William Gladstone (1809–1898) resigned, and in 1874, to Victoria's delight, Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) became prime minister, the chief advisor to the throne. He called the plump, tiny queen "The Faery" and admitted he loved her. That same year Victoria's son Prince Alfred married Marie, daughter of the Russian czar (king), who insisted she be called "Imperial," not "Royal Highness." This encouraged Victoria to look into officially assuming the title "Empress of India," which she did on May 1, 1876.

In 1875 Disraeli bought the majority of the Suez Canal, a key waterway for trade in the Mediterranean Sea, from the bankrupt Khedive of Egypt. That same year Gladstone roused the country with stories of "Bulgarian atrocities" where twelve thousand Bulgarian Christians had been murdered by the Turks. In 1877 Russia declared war on Turkey; Victoria and Disraeli were pro-Turk, sending a private warning to the czar of Russia that, were he to advance, Britain would join in the fight against Russia. In 1878 at the Congress of Berlin, Disraeli obtained, as he told Victoria, "peace with honour."

In 1887 Victoria's golden jubilee (fifty years in power) was celebrated, and ten years later, her diamond jubilee (sixty years in power) was magnificently celebrated. In 1899 the Boer War broke out, where British soldiers fought against Dutch forces in South Africa. In 1900 Victoria went to Ireland, where most of the soldiers who fought on the British side were recruited. In August she signed the Australian Commonwealth Bill, bringing Australia in the British Empire, and in October lost a grandson in the war.

On January 22, 1901, Queen Victoria died. At sixty-three years, Queen Victoria enjoyed the longest reign in British history. During her reign the British crown was no longer powerful but remained very influential. The Victorian age witnessed the birth of the modern world through industry, scientific discovery, and the expansion of the British empire. Her reign also witnessed the beginnings of pollution, unemployment, and other problems that would plague the twentieth century.

For More Information

Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.

Hibbert, Christopher. Queen Victoria: A Personal History. New York: Basic Books, 2000.

Rennell, Tony. Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria. New York: Viking, 2000.

Vallone, Lynne. Becoming Victoria. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001.

Weintraub, Stanley. Victoria: An Intimate Biography. New York: Dutton, 1987.

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10 Facts About Queen Victoria!

Ng kids travels back in time to meet her majesty, queen victoria….

Pop on your history hats as we learn about one of Britain’s most famous historical figures – Queen Victoria !

Here you’ll find our top ten facts about Queen Victoria, who until very recently was the longest-reigning queen in history – beaten only by the late Queen Elizabeth II !

10 facts about Queen Victoria

1) Queen Victoria was born on 24 May 1819 in Kensington Palace in London, England. Her full name was Alexandrina Victoria .

2) Queen Victoria was born to an English father, Edward , Duke of Kent , and a German mother, Princess Maria Louisa Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfald.

3) Victoria became Queen in June 1837 , when she was just 18 years old. Her coronation took place at Westminster Abbey a year later in June 1838, where everyone cheered “Long live the Queen!”

4) Did you know that Queen Victoria was a linguist? She spoke fluent English and German, and studied other languages, too, including French, Italian and Latin. Later in life, she also learnt the Indian language of Hindustani. Impressive, eh?!

5) Queen Victoria’s husband was Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha – her first cousin, who she married in February 1840. The royal couple met four years earlier, a few days before Victoria’s 17th birthday party.

6)  Victoria and Albert had a whopping nine children together – their names were Victoria, Edward, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold and Beatrice.

7)  Albert died in December 1861, when the Queen was 42 years old. The Queen never recovered from his death, and dressed in black as a sign of mourning for the rest of her life.

8)  Ruling for over 60 years, Victoria would become the  longest reigning British Monarch , and Queen of the  biggest empire in history . During her time as Queen, the British Empire included Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and India.

9)  There are lots of famous places and sites around the world named after this famous British Queen, such as the state of  Queensland  in Australia,  Victoria Falls  in Zambia and Zimbabwe, the city of  Victoria  in Canada, and  Victoria Square  in Athens, Greece.

10)  After a long and eventful life, Queen Victoria died in January 1901 , aged 81. She was buried beside her husband Albert at Frogmore Mausoleum near Windsor.

The life of Queen Victoria – in a comic!

Check out more Queen Victoria facts in this comic about her life…

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wow so cool and interesting

This is amazing! It helped me alot with my homework.

the comic is funny and helpfull

These are cool and interesting facts about queen Victoria

the comic was awesome thanks for everything you do you rock

Nice work Victorians is my first topic in year 6 in moorland primary scool.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were very romantic and that comic strip was hilarious!

amazing facts love it!

Very funny!

Simply spectacular

Wow awesome facts

Although this is true, a prince from India or Egypt or anywhere Arabic ruled for 84 years!! That was a long time ago and he first started ruling when he was only a baby!!!

awesome facts about queen Victoria this helped me to do my homework!!!!!

I loved the comic it was so funny but the writing was a bit to small. I zoomed in though.

awesome and interesting

funny comic indeed cool facts as well sooooooooo cool :)

It was cool!!

Cool, amazing I really leant something LOL

GOOD FACTS ABOUT QUEEN VICTORIA

It is sad that Albert died.

This comic could be a little bit bigger but other than that... OMG!!!! So cool

I'll have fun showing off my general knowledge with these cool facts!

These are some really good fact love them my teacher said they are the best facts

Really interesting

hi i like the story

epic so funny

that was the funniest thing i have seen on victorians LOL

i really think this is good because i am having a school assembly in my school so it is very handy because the subject we are doing are victorians and this website helps a lot and as well other one for kids. this website is good because i need to help my teacher some facts about. like queen victoria and other victorians. and this website is good as well because there is more facts than about victorians there is about tudors and the wives of henry viii that means eight (henry th eighth)

victora is not as great as elisabith

This really helped with my homework thank you national geographic

wow brilliant comic make some more but make writing bit bigger THUMBS UP !!!!!!!

it was really helpful for my work

This comic was educating and hilarious total LOL

WOW SHES OLD

Home work help is awsome

These are great facts! I love the comic as well. This is a good help for me as I am learning about Queen Vic

I liked the comment but it was just a bit small to me. Maybe its just because I have glasses and I cant see very well

Good but small writing

This website was so useful for my unfortunate summer homework, thanks so much national geographic ( also i love playing animal jam keep up the good work!)

Epic you should make more of these. :)

Awesome comic

nice comic.

Cool. Though I new all of the facts, awesome display

The comic is really funny! It explained it to me really well and in a amusing way!

Amazing comics please make more?

AMAZING you should create more.

Super duper funny

AWESOME ;) but too small writing :(

how could she have 10 children with her cousin yuck

Awesome Comic!! So funny! the writing could be a little bigger though ...........

WOW. That really helped me with my homework.

The comic was interesting but the font is really small.

Wow. Now I know all about her life - (more or less).

interesting and cool

Very good,funny,and interesting.So... THE QUEEN IS AMUSED!!!

very interesting.

i read the whole comic

You are GREAT Queen Victoria.

Amazing Comic.

Exciting and interesting facts!

5) her first cousin, WHOM she married in February 1840.

Love it! Awesome!

that was a great comic you should make more

the comic could be a bit bigger but other than that awesome!

THUMBS UP!!!!!!!!! sooo cool LOL on the comic!

i loved it, but the writing was a bit small and you got your dates wrong from your comic, but other than that cool, ill save this website.

dude this is sick it really helped me out ;)

I LIKE CHEESE AND MILK

cool comic dud

lol super cool

Great facts and comics I didnt no that she had nine children

It was very good

very good but it is small writing :)

Pretty cool facts!

Cool awesome comic guys

Not good. A bit boring.

AWESOME. TOO COOL !

That is very interesting:- :-) :-)

LOL! It is so funny!!!!

thanks realy helped me with my homework ! ;-)

helped me with homwork, thanks :-)

this help me with my homework!!!!!!thanks!!!!!!!!

This is rather bad quality it helps me with work but I could not read the comic so please make it so we can read it and I will enjoy it more thank you

I loved the comic I love history I got an A!!!!!!!!!!!

boooorrrrriiiinnnnggg

You can hardly read the stupid thing

Ha! You know that she was so small that she had to sit on a stool at the dinner table (I found that out at her holiday home in the Isle Of Wight).

Really...some good information!!! The comic made it look more good!!!!

helped my report.... THANKS!!!!! :)

Helped my homework.

great thanks its really good to know

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Accession to the throne

Marriage to albert.

• Relations with Peel
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• The Victorian Web - Queen Victoria
• GlobalSecurity.org - Victoria (r. 1837-1901)
• The Home of the Royal Family - Victoria (r. 1837-1901)
• World History Encyclopedia - Queen Victoria
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• Victoria - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

In the early hours of June 20, 1837, Victoria received a call from the archbishop of Canterbury and the lord chamberlain and learned of the death of William IV , third son of George III . Later that morning the Privy Council was impressed by the graceful assurance of the new queen’s demeanour. She was small, carried herself well, and had a delightful silvery voice, which she retained all her life. The accession of a young woman was romantically popular. But because of the existence in Hanover of the Salic law , which prevented succession by a woman, the crowns of Great Britain and Hanover became separated, the latter passing to William IV’s eldest surviving brother, Ernest , the unpopular duke of Cumberland.

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The queen, who had never before had a room to herself, exiled her mother to a distant set of apartments when they moved into Buckingham Palace . Conroy was pensioned off. Only Lehzen, of whom Victoria was still in awe, remained close to the queen. Even her beloved uncle Leopold was politely warned off discussions of British politics. “Alone” at last, she enjoyed her newfound freedom. “Victoria,” wrote her cousin Prince Albert , who later married her,

is said to be incredibly stubborn and her extreme obstinacy to be constantly at war with her good nature; she delights in Court ceremonies, etiquette and trivial formalities.…She is said not to take the slightest pleasure in nature and to enjoy sitting up at night and sleeping late into the day.

It was, in retrospect, “the least sensible and satisfactory time in her whole life”; but at the time it was exciting and enjoyable, the more so because of her romantic friendship with Lord Melbourne , the prime minister .

Melbourne was a crucial influence on Victoria, in many ways an unfortunate one. The urbane and sophisticated prime minister fostered the new queen’s self-confidence and enthusiasm for her role; he also encouraged her to ignore or minimize social problems and to attribute all discontent and unrest to the activities of a small group of agitators. Moreover, because of Melbourne, Victoria became an ardent Whig .

Victoria’s constitutionally dangerous political partisanship contributed to the first two crises of her reign, both of which broke in 1839. The Hastings affair began when Lady Flora Hastings, a maid of honour who was allied and connected to the Tories , was forced by Victoria to undergo a medical examination for suspected pregnancy. The gossip, when it was discovered that the queen had been mistaken, became the more damaging when later in the year Lady Flora died of a disease that had not been diagnosed by the examining physician. The enthusiasm of the populace over the coronation (June 28, 1838) swiftly dissipated.

Between the two phases of the Hastings case “the bedchamber crisis” intervened. When Melbourne resigned in May 1839, Sir Robert Peel , the Conservative leader, stipulated that the Whig assistants to the queen, her  ladies-in-waiting , be replaced with Tory women of his own political party . The queen imperiously refused, not without Melbourne’s encouragement. “The Queen of England will not submit to such trickery,” she said. Peel therefore declined to take office, which Melbourne rather weakly resumed. “I was very young then,” wrote the queen long afterward, “and perhaps I should act differently if it was all to be done again.”

The Albertine monarchy

Victoria’s wedding to Prince Albert served as a stage for displays of political partisanship: very few Tories received invitations, and the Tories themselves rejected Victoria’s request that Albert be granted rank and precedence second only to her own. Victoria responded violently, “Monsters! You Tories shall be punished. Revenge! Revenge!” Marriage to Albert, however, lessened the queen’s enthusiasm for Melbourne and the Whigs. She admitted many years later regarding Melbourne that “Albert thinks I worked myself up to what really became rather foolish.” Albert thus shifted Victoria’s political sympathies; he also became the dominant figure and influence in her life. She quickly grew to depend on him for everything; soon she “didn’t put on a gown or a bonnet if he didn’t approve it.” No more did Victoria rule alone.

Attracted by Albert’s good looks and encouraged by her uncle Leopold, Victoria proposed to her cousin on October 15, 1839, just five days after he had arrived at Windsor on a visit to the British court. She described her impressions of him in the journal she kept throughout her life: “Albert really is quite charming, and so excessively handsome…a beautiful figure, broad in the shoulders and a fine waist; my heart is quite going .” They were married on February 10, 1840, the queen dressed entirely in articles of British manufacture.

Children quickly followed. Victoria , the princess royal (the “Vicky” of the Letters ), was born in 1840; in 1858 she married the crown prince of Prussia and later became the mother of the emperor William II . The prince of Wales (later Edward VII ) was born in 1841. Then followed Princess Alice, afterward grand duchess of Hesse, 1843; Prince Alfred, afterward duke of Edinburgh and duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 1844; Princess Helena (Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein), 1846; Princess Louise (duchess of Argyll), 1848; Prince Arthur (duke of Connaught), 1850; Prince Leopold (duke of Albany), 1853; and Princess Beatrice (Princess Henry of Battenberg), 1857. The queen’s first grandchild was born in 1859 and her first great-grandchild in 1879. There were 37 great-grandchildren alive at her death.

Victoria never lost her early passion for Albert: “Without him everything loses its interest.” Despite conflicts produced by the queen’s uncontrollable temper and recurrent fits of depression, which usually occurred during and after pregnancy, the couple had a happy marriage. Victoria, however, was never reconciled to the childbearing that accompanied her marital bliss—the “shadow-side of marriage,” as she called it. Victoria explained to her eldest daughter in 1858:

What you say of the pride of giving life to an immortal soul is very fine, dear, but I own I cannot enter into that; I think much more of our being like a cow or a dog at such moments; when our poor nature becomes so very animal and unecstatic.

At the beginning of their marriage the queen was insistent that her husband should have no share in the government of the country . Within six months, on Melbourne’s repeated suggestion, the prince was allowed to start seeing the dispatches, then to be present when the queen saw her ministers. The concession became a routine, and during her first pregnancy the prince received a “key to the secret boxes.” As one unwanted pregnancy followed another and as Victoria became increasingly dependent on her husband, Albert assumed an ever-larger political role. By 1845 Charles Greville, the observer of royal affairs, could write, “It is obvious that while she has the title, he is really discharging the functions of the Sovereign . He is the King to all intents and purposes.” Victoria, once so enthusiastic about her role, came to conclude that “we women are not made for governing.”

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5 Things You May Not Know About Queen Victoria

By: Sarah Pruitt

Updated: August 15, 2023 | Original: June 28, 2013

1. She was barely five feet tall.

Queen Victoria’s outspoken nature and imposing reputation belied her tiny stature–the monarch was 4 feet, 11 inches tall. In her later years, she also grew to an impressive girth. Some accounts claim she had a 50-inch waist by the end of her life, a conclusion supported by the impressive size of a nightgown and pair of bloomers (underwear) belonging to Victoria that were auctioned off in 2009.

2. She proposed to her husband, Prince Albert, and not vice versa.

Victoria first met her future husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, when she was 16. He was her first cousin, the son of her mother’s brother; their mutual uncle, the ambitious Leopold, engineered the meeting with the idea that the two should marry.

Victoria enjoyed Albert’s company from the beginning, and with Leopold’s encouragement she proposed to Albert (as she was the queen, he could not propose to her) on October 15, 1839, five days after he arrived at Windsor on a trip to the English court. They were married the following year. Their marriage was passionate — she wrote in her diary that “Without him everything loses its interest” — and produced nine children. On the other hand, Victoria was notoriously disenchanted by pregnancy and childbirth, calling it the “shadow-side of marriage.”

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Queen Victoria’s 63‑year reign on the British throne would have been considerably shorter had any one of eight assassination attempts succeeded.

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As the United Kingdom celebrates the 60‑year reign of Queen Elizabeth II, take a look back at the country’s last Diamond Jubilee—Queen Victoria’s in 1897.

3. She was raised by a single mother, and later became a single mother herself.

Victoria was the only child of Edward, duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George III. Her father died of pneumonia in 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, and she was raised primarily at Kensington Palace, where she lived with her mother, the German-born Victoria Saxe-Saalfield-Coburg, duchess of Kent.

Third in line for the throne (after the duke of York, who died in 1827, and the duke of Clarence, third son of George III, who would become William IV), the future queen became estranged from her mother, who was driven by the influence of her advisor Sir John Conroy to isolate the young Victoria from her contemporaries as well as her father’s family. Instead, Victoria relied on the counsel of her beloved uncle Leopold, as well as her governess Louise (afterward the Baroness) Lehzen, a native of Coburg. When she became queen and moved to Buckingham Palace, Victoria exiled her mother to a distant set of apartments and fired Conroy. After Albert’s untimely death from typhoid fever in 1861, Victoria descended into depression, and even after her recovery she would remain in mourning for the rest of her life.

4. Queen Victoria was the first known carrier of hemophilia, an affliction that would become known as the “Royal disease.”

Hemophilia, a blood clotting disorder caused by a mutation on the X chromosome, can be passed along the maternal line within families; men are more likely to develop it, while women are usually carriers. Sufferers can bleed excessively, since their blood does not properly coagulate, leading to extreme pain and even death. Victoria’s son Leopold, Duke of Albany, died from blood loss after he slipped and fell; her grandson Friedrich bled to death at age 2, while two other grandsons, Leopold and Maurice, died of the affliction in their early 30s.

As Victoria’s descendants married into royal families throughout the Europe, the disease spread from Britain to the nobility of Germany, Russia and Spain. Recent research involving DNA analysis on the bones of the last Russian royal family, the Romanovs (who were executed in 1918 after the Bolshevik Revolution) revealed that Victoria’s descendants suffered from a subtype of the disorder, hemophilia B, which is far less common than hemophilia A and now appears to be extinct in the European royal lines.

5. At least six serious assassination attempts were made against Victoria during her reign—most of which while she was riding in a carriage.

In 1840, an 18-year-old named Edward Oxford fired two shots at the young queen’s carriage while she was riding in London. Accused of high treason, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Another would-be assassin, John Francis, made not one but two attempts to shoot the queen in her carriage in 1842. That same year, young John William Bean tried to fire a gun loaded with paper and tobacco at the queen, but the charge was insufficient.

Two more carriage attacks came in 1849 and 1850–the first by “angry Irishman” William Hamilton and the second by ex-Army officer Robert Pate, who hit the queen with his cane. Finally, in March 1882, a disgruntled Scottish poet named Roderick Maclean shot at Victoria with a pistol while her carriage was leaving the Windsor train station. It was supposedly Maclean’s eighth attempt to assassinate the queen; he was also found to be insane, and sentenced to life in an asylum. In the wake of an assassination attempt, Victoria’s popularity usually soared among the British public.

HISTORY Vault: Profiles: Queen Elizabeth II

Chart the unexpected rise and record-breaking reign of Queen Elizabeth II, which unfolded in the turbulent modern history of the English monarchy.

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Queen Victoria

• Occupation: Queen of the United Kingdom
• Born: May 24, 1819 at Kensington Palace, London
• Died: January 22, 1901 at Osborne House, Isle of Wight
• Reign: June 20, 1837 to January 22, 1901
• Nicknames: The Grandmother of Europe, Mrs. Brown
• Best known for: Ruling the United Kingdom for 63 years
• She was named after her mother as well Alexander I, the Emperor of Russia.
• Victoria's favorite pet growing up was her dog, a King Charles spaniel named Dash.
• Prince Edward Island in Canada was named after Victoria's father.
• She went by the nickname "Drina" while growing up.
• Victoria was told she would someday be queen when she was thirteen years old. She remarked "I will be good."
• In 1887, the United Kingdom celebrated the 50th anniversary of her reign with a big party called the Golden Jubilee. They celebrated again in 1897 with the Diamond Jubilee.
• Listen to a recorded reading of this page:

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The Queen wrote secret letter that’s hidden in a glass case and can’t be opened for 61 years

No one's allowed to open it for another six decades.

Jess Hardiman

The Queen may have passed away almost two years ago, but her legacy lives on in a number of ways – including, excitingly, a secret letter that can’t be opened for another six decades.

The letter itself is housed inside a glass case in the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney ’s Central Business District, which first opened back in 1898 in honour of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

In 1959, it was almost demolished to make way for a parkland and civic square, with parking and shopping beneath.

However, it was later restored by a Malaysian company called Ipoh Ltd in 1984, reopening its doors to the public in 1986.

Following a $48 million refurbishment in 2008, these days, the Queen Victoria Building is a ‘grand, contemporary shopping and dining experience’ spread across five levels.

But one of the most unique draws is, of course, Lizzie’s letter - the contents of which remain totally unknown.

Not even her personal staff knew what was written inside, with strict instructions to only be opened in 2085, which is still 61 years away.

It’s even sat inside a glass case in a restricted dome area of the Queen Victoria Building, meaning it’s not like anyone can take a cheeky look before then.

Elizabeth wrote the note in 1986, addressing it to the 'Right and Honourable Lord Mayor of Sydney, Australia'.

Only her instructions are visible: “On a suitable day to be selected by you in the year 2085 A.D, would you please open this envelope and convey to the citizens of Sydney my message to them.”

For now, however, the contents of the mysterious letter remain a secret, as we’ll sadly have to wait more than 60 years before it’s allowed to be opened.

The note was also signed ‘Elizabeth R’ which is how she used to sign official documents and letters.

The ‘R’ stands for ‘regina’, the Latin word for Queen, and is actually a letter King Charles uses himself since becoming monarch.

Obviously, Charles isn’t a queen, but his ‘R’ actually stands for ‘rex’... Yep, you’ve guessed it, Latin for ‘king’.

As explained by the Press Association back in September 2022 when Charles officially took the throne: “Before it was simply 'Charles'. Now it will be the name he has taken as King with an additional R for Rex – Latin for King – at the end.

“In criminal court cases, the R to denote the Crown now stands for Rex rather Regina (the Queen).”

Topics:  Royal Family , Australia , The Queen

Jess is Entertainment Desk Lead at LADbible Group. She graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics. You can contact Jess at [email protected] .

@ Jess_Hardiman

• Meghan Markle’s heartwarming tribute to Queen at funeral was hidden in incredibly simple gesture
• Queen Elizabeth made ‘remarkable’ gesture that broke strict royal protocol for Princess Diana
• Queen Camilla reveals her favourite phone app she's 'teased about' by everybody
• New Queen Camilla photo leaves fans baffled as people all make same hilarious mistake

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Buckingham Palace had clear response after Harry and Meghan made shock decision to leave Royal Family

Prince harry and meghan markle announced they were stepping down from royal duties back in 2020.

Mpox symptoms explained as UK prepares for outbreak after first European case is confirmed

The first case of mpox in europe has been confirmed.

Why Meghan Markle and Prince Harry quietly made ‘remarkable’ change to son’s official documents after he was born

Some have speculated that it could have been a dig at another couple.

Fatal risks of ‘raw-dogging’ on flights after doctor issues warning

Raw-dogging is the new summer trend which sees people struggling through long-haul flights.