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Queen Victoria
Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India
Victoria, (Alexandrina Victoria) 1 (May 24, 1819 - January 22, 1901) was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover. As well as being the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, she also held the title of Empress of India. Victoria is the longest reigning yet of any British monarch, at sixty-three years, seven months, and two days (June 20, 1837 - January 22, 1901).
A Canadian provincial capital bears the name Victoria in her honour, as does a Hong Kong city, an Australian state, and several other geographic areas. Victoria's name has become associated with the larger part of the 19th century, the so-called Victorian Era, and with the Victoria sponge cake. Today, the term Victorian can mean stiff, formal, and elegant in style and etiquette.
Birth and background
Victoria was born on May 24, 1819 at Kensington Palace, London. Her father was His Royal Highness Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George III. Her mother was Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent (née Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg), sister of King Leopold I of the Belgians and widow of Emich, 2nd Prince of Leiningen. As a granddaughter of the British monarch in the male line, she was styled Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria of Kent at birth.
Leopold's first wife, Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, was the only child of the Prince Regent (future King George IV). After Charlotte's death in 1817, there was a scramble by George III's younger sons to beget a legitimate heir to the realm. The Duke of Kent, marrying at the age 50, became the father of the ultimate heiress.2
The Duke and Duchess wanted to name their daughter "Georgiana Charlotte Augusta Alexandrina Victoria". However, the Prince Regent refused to allow his (George) or Charlotte's name to be bestowed upon the possible future monarch. He announced she would be named Victoria Alexandrina after her other godfather, Alexander I of Russia. On January 23, 1820, when Victoria was only eight months old, her father died.
Until the age of three, Victoria spoke only German (the first language of her mother as well as Victoria's governess). At an early age she was schooled in English to ensure she would speak it flawlessly. She later learned to speak Italian because of her love for opera. She was also reportedly quite proficient in Greek, Latin and French.
When Victoria was ten, her uncle King George IV died childless. His brother acceded to the throne as William IV and, as William also stood without legitimate children, Victoria became Heir Presumptive. Her mother was terrified that someone might try to poison or kill Victoria, being the only legitimate heir. She made sure Victoria never went anywhere without a bodyguard, and moved Victoria's bed into her room, to make sure no one made any attempts on her life at night.
The young monarch
At the age of eighteen, she ascended to the throne following the death of William IV, on June 20, 1837. In her early days, she was largely dependent for advice on the Prime Minister, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, with whom she forged a strong relationship.
Victoria and Albert
Victoria met her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha when she was sixteen. Aside from their lineage, they had both been delivered by the same doctor, Frau Siebold. She asked him to marry her (because she was Queen, he couldn't ask her to marry him) and the wedding took place on February 10, 1840. There was some friction at first, as Albert wished to take an active role in the administration of the realm. Eventually, they reached a compromise, and their marriage became an outstandingly happy one.
While Victoria was clearly infatuated with her husband, the true nature of Albert's feelings for her are still debated. Biographers have suggested Albert was not in love and married Victoria out of duty (their families desired the union) and to gain social status (being a minor prince). Whether it was a love match on both sides or not, the fact remains that Victoria was devastated by Albert's death of typhoid in 1861. She kept a painting of him in his coffin by her bed, and wore only black for the rest of her life. She issued an edict that no successor ever be crowned King Albert. This is why her son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and her great-grandson, Albert Frederick Arthur George, were crowned as Edward VII and King George VI respectively.
Anti-semitic cartoon of Queen Victoria receiving the imperial crown of
India from
Disraeli, represented as a Jewish peddlerwoman, 1876
Victoria blamed the Prince of Wales for Albert's death. She and Albert always regarded him as unfit to take responsibility, yet never allowed him the kind of role that would have helped him prepare for rule. As a joke of the day went, "How is the Queen like the weather? Because she reigns [rains], and reigns, and reigns... and never gives the poor son [Sun] a chance." With the extra time on his hands he became a playboy, whilst the queen withdrew into semi-permanent mourning and was popularly known as "the widow of Windsor". Her withdrawal from public life increased the profile of her children, most notably, Bertie and his wife Alexandra. She was known to keep dachshund dogs. She also was fond of chess.3
Mrs Brown
As well as being known as the Widow of Windsor, Queen Victoria was also known as "Mrs Brown" because she relied increasingly on a Scottish retainer, John Brown. The nickname was long perceived as a joke. The recently discovered diaries of Lewis Harcourt, a politician of the time, may lend credence to the story. The diaries contain a report that one of the Queen's chaplains, Rev'd Norman Macleod, made a deathbed confession to Harcourt repenting of his action in presiding over Queen Victoria's marriage to John Brown. Debate continues over whether the marriage actually happened. Some scholars insist that Victoria would never have married a servant and even doubt that the relationship was even romantic. They doubt the veracity of Harcourt's account and question why a royal chaplain would confess to a politician. Others are equally certain that Victoria was in love with Brown and regard Harcourt's account as confirmation that a marriage actually occurred. Supporters of the Brown marriage theory regard Harcourt as a well-placed source with no obvious reason to place a false story in his private diaries. In the final analysis there is no way to be absolutely certain of the truth. (Victoria requested that mementos of both Prince Albert and John Brown be placed in her coffin, a request which horrified her family, who disliked Brown intensely).
Empress of India
Her favourite Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, to whom she was affectionately known as The Fairy, persuaded her to assume, by Royal Proclamation of April 28, 1876, the title of "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. On January 1, 1877, at the first Imperial Assemblage (or Durbar) in Delhi, Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. She was not present, and she never visited India. 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.
In Calcutta is a large Victoria Memorial, which is still beloved by the locals - unlike other British Monuments in India.
Grandmother of Europe
Victoria was known as the Grandmother of Europe. All of her nine children married into royal families, and her descendants married into more royal houses as well. She often called her family "The Royal Mob" as they would often converge at royal events and weddings. Her descendants have married into the Royal houses of Spain, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Prussia, Russia, Romania, Yugoslavia and many others. She is known to have had an avid dislike of babies, finding them gross. She never nursed her own children, and is known to have had a disliking for her sons Edward and Leopold.
She was the first known carrier of hæmophilia in the royal line. It remains unclear how she acquired it. One theory is that it came about as a result of a sperm mutation from her father, who was 52 when Victoria was conceived. Alternately, she may have acquired it from her mother, though there is no known history of hæmophilia amongst her family or maternal ancestors. A third is that it came via Sir John Conroy, Victoria's mother's Irish secretary and reputed lover2. This theory is not deemed credible, however, as a male who is not a hæmophiliac cannot carry the gene for hæmophilia.
What is clear is that she passed it to at least three of her children, with tragic results. The most famous victim was Alexis, son of Nicholas II and Alexandra of Hesse, Victoria's granddaughter. Victoria's youngest son, Prince Leopold, was born with hæmophilia and died at age 31. Victoria was so overcome with grief, she lost the ability to walk, and was in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
Queen Victoria died in 1901, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight and was buried at Frogmore, Windsor Castle. She was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII.
Statue of Queen Victoria in the city centre, Bristol, England
Quotations
"We are not amused." - This quotation is attributed to Victoria, with varying stories. One has her saying it after viewing a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore. Other stories describe it as a reaction to a groom-in-waiting of hers, the Hon. Alexander Grantham Yorke, either to a theatrical production he put on, or to a risqué joke he told to a German guest and which the Queen asked him to repeat after the guest laughed loudly. In this account, she was not using the royal "we" but speaking for the affronted ladies of the court. [1] (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a940415.html)
"I will be good." - 10-year-old Victoria's spoken response in 1830 when her governess let her know that one day she would be Queen.
"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." - her response in her diary upon becoming Queen in 1837 at age 18.
Style and arms
Victoria's first official style as monarch was "Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith." The phrase "Empress of India" was added in 1876.
Victoria's arms were: Quarterly, I and IV Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or (for England); II Or a lion rampant within a tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland); III Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland). These same arms have been used by every British monarch since Victoria.
Children of Queen Victoria & Prince Albert
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes
|
| HRH The Princess Victoria, Princess Royal | 21 November 1840 | 5 August 1901 | married 1858, Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia; had issue
|
| HM King Edward VII | 9 November 1841 | 6 May 1910 | married 1863, Princess Alexandra of Denmark; had issue
|
| HRH The Princess Alice | 25 April 1843 | 14 December 1878 | married 1862, HRH Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine; had issue
|
| HRH The Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Edinburgh | 6 August 1844 | 31 July 1900 | married 1874, Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia; had issue
|
| HRH The Princess Helena | 25 May 1846 | 9 June 1923 | married 1866, HRH Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg; had issue
|
| HRH The Princess Louise | 18 March 1848 | 3 December 1939 | married 1871, John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll; no issue
|
| HRH The Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn | 1 May 1850 | 16 January 1942 | married 1879, Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia; had issue
|
| HRH The Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany | 7 April 1853 | 28 March 1884 | married 1882, Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont; had issue
|
| HRH The Princess Beatrice | 14 April 1857 | 26 October 1944 | married 1885, HRH Prince Henry of Battenberg; had issue
|
External Links
See also
Footnotes
1 Victoria's surname remained a mystery for much of her life until she had her aides investigate. They concluded that Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was only the Royal House name of Prince Albert, and not, as is often presumed, his surname. The general conclusion was that his actual surname, were he to have had to use one, would have been Wettin, which by marriage became Victoria's also and that of her children. Victoria was less than happy with the name, and all mention it was hidden for decades until rediscovered during the First World War. In 1917, both the Royal House name and the personal family surname was changed to Windsor.
2 According to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Victoria as a young girl caught her mother in a compromising position with John Conroy. It was widely rumoured that they became lovers prior to the Duke of Kent's death, and suggested that Conroy, not the Duke, was Victoria's biological father.
3 The Hereford Times of January 1889: "that the greatest solace the Empress Victoria has in her widowhood is Chess-- a game she frequently played with the Prince of Wales when they found themselves with a leisure hour. The Empress generally travels with a Chess Board and men."
cy:Victoria o'r Deyrnas Unedig
de:Victoria (Vereinigtes Königreich)
fr:Victoria du Royaume-Uni
la:Regina Victoria
nl:Koningin Victoria
ja:ヴィクトリア (イギリス女王)
pl:Wiktoria (królowa)
sv:Viktoria I av England
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