Born on May 24, 1819 at Kensington Palace, Victoria was the daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria Maria Louisa of Saxe-Coburg, a German territory. Her grandfather was the famous George III and her father was fourth in line for the throne. Edward, however, passed away when Victoria was only eight months old. Her father’s elder brothers all died without legitimate heirs, and so, with the passing of her uncle William IV, she became Queen of England at eighteen years of age.
During her childhood, her mother, for reasons unknown, shunned the courts of her two uncles: George IV and William IV. She grew up in a sheltered environment which bred many prejudices and a stubborn nature.
Family Life of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, on February 10, 1840. The British people did not like this German prince whom Victoria was so enamored with. It was not until after seventeen years of marriage that he was named the Prince Consort. Victoria and Albert were devoted to one another. Together, they raised nine children, many of whom went on to marry into other reigning families in Europe, making Queen Victoria the mother and grandmother of Europe.
She was deeply affected at the death of Albert, who passed at age 42 from typhoid fever. She wore black for the rest of her life and fell into a severe depression, withdrawing from public life for ten years. It was only after the persuasive efforts of her Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli and her children that she came out of her seclusion.
Political Position of Queen Victoria
While Victoria was quite popular with most of the British people, she was not without her enemies. There were seven assassination attempts between the years of 1840 and 1882.
Her goals during the middle part of her reign were focused on keeping peace. She is in part responsible for preventing a second Franco-German war with a letter to the German Emperor in 1875. The Emperor’s son was married to her daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal. In the 1870s, Victoria sought to uphold Turkish territory as a buffer between Europe and Russia.
Victoria was a strong supporter of the concept of Empire and was quite conservative on many political issues. Victoria was not in favor of female suffrage, though she displayed liberal tendencies by taking an interest in the poor, hospitals and education.
Records Broken by Queen Victoria
In 1842, she became the first monarch to use trains as transportation across country. She was also the most publicly-accessible monarch to date. She was the first British monarch to visit France since Henry VI in 1431 and most importantly, her reign lasted nearly sixty-four years and is the longest in British history, impacting history in a profound way.
Victoria was active even into her late years. In the Boer War, she inspected the troops and made a point to visit hospitals, just as she had done in the Crimean War.
She died on January 22, 1901 at Osborne House, of the Isle of Wight and was buried beside her beloved husband in Windsor at the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum.
The values and ideal of the Victorian age were so named because they were her values and ideals. She was truly an influential queen who continues to fascinate.
