a biography of queen victoria

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Queen Victoria

By: History.com Editors

Updated: November 9, 2022 | Original: November 9, 2009

Queen Victoria ruled the British Empire for nearly 64 years, after ascending the throne just weeks after turning 18. She was the second-longest-reigning English royal in history, topped only by her great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II . While short in stature–she was barely 5 feet tall–Victoria was a giant in shaping the modern monarchy, leaving her mark on what has come to be called the Victorian Era .

Early Life and Ascension to the Throne

Alexandrina Victoria was born on May 24, 1819, at London’s Kensington Palace to Edward, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George III , and his wife, Princess Maria Louisa Victoria, who was of German descent. Named for her godfather, Russian Tsar Alexander I, she was fifth in line for the crown at birth.

Before Victoria turned 1, Edward died of pneumonia. When King George died, her uncle, William IV, was named king, and, because Edward’s brothers had no surviving legitimate heirs, Victoria became first in line to the throne. In preparation for her daughter’s reign, Victoria’s mother soon aligned with courtier John Conroy, and the two forced Victoria to follow what came to be known as the Kensington System. The set of strict, manipulative rules were as isolating as they were demanding on the girl, a gifted artist and avid diarist who was made to share her bedroom with her mother and was never left alone.

Just a few weeks after turning 18, Victoria ascended the throne as Queen of England on June 20, 1837, following William’s death, with the coronation taking place a year later on June 28, 1838. She almost immediately dismissed Conroy and moved into Buckingham Palace, which had been owned by William, making her the first monarch to reside at the estate.

“I shall do my utmost to do fulfil my duty towards my country,” she wrote in her diary soon after taking the crown. “I am very young and perhaps in many, although not all, 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.”

British Prime Minister Lord Melbourne became her trusted advisor and confidante, and, under her rule, Victoria began to win back public approval of the monarchy as she worked to modernize the empire, supporting the arts and charities and championing industrial advancements. In fact, she was the first monarch to ride a train, in 1842, at the age of 23, writing that the “motion was very slight, and much easier than a carriage—also no dust or great heat.”

WATCH: How Department Stories Liberated Victorian-Era Women

Family and Descendants

Victoria married her first cousin, the German Prince Albert, on February 10, 1840, whom she loved dearly. "I never, never spent such an evening!!” she wrote in her diary following their wedding night. “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!"

Along with Melbourne, Albert carried great influence in setting the queen’s priorities and projects, which largely centered on arts, sciences, trade and industry. Among Albert’s projects was the Great Exhibition of 1851 , which brought 6 million people to London in celebration of global industry, technology and culture and is considered the first World’s Fair.

The couple had nine children from 1840-1857: Victoria, Edward, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold and Beatrice. Nearly all of them married into European royal families and many of her 42 grandchildren, including Kaiser Wilhelm II , the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruled monarchies across the continent.

Notable great-great-grandchildren include Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, King Constantine II of Greece, King Michael I of Romania, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, King Harald V of Norway, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. King Charles III is her great-great-great-grandson.

Albert’s Death and Victoria’s Later Years

Albert died in 1861 at the age of 42 from typhoid fever. Devastated, Victoria spent the next 10-plus years in seclusion, and wore black as a symbol of mourning for the rest of her life.

While in isolation, her popularity sank, but once she returned to public life, her penchant for foreign policy based on peace, support of charities that focused on the poor, health care and education, and wide expansion of the British Empire—along with her survival of at least seven assassination attempts during that led her to carry a chain mail “bulletproof” umbrella —won over public opinion.

Acting on advice from British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, Victoria took the title of Empress of India in 1877, extending the empire’s imperialist reach. In 1887, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee , which marked the 50th anniversary of her accession, followed by the Diamond Jubilee, taking place a decade later in 1897, on the 60th anniversary, cemented her image and popularity among her subjects, earning her the nickname “Grandmother of Europe.”

During Victoria’s nearly 64-year reign, the British Empire was at its largest and most powerful. The empire included India, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, and covered one-fifth of the globe and accounted for roughly one in four people on Earth. Locations around the world, from Victoria, Canada to Victoria Falls, Zambia to Queensland, Australia are named in her honor. The Victorian Era is noted for advancements in the arts and industry, inventions including telephone and telegraph and political reform and change.

She also helped shape popular culture: It was Victoria who started the trend of a bride wearing white on her wedding day and a widow wearing all black in mourning. Albert and Victoria made decorating Christmas trees customary. She is also credited with restoring the public’s view of the monarchy.

Victoria died January 22, 1901 at the age of 81, with her heir Edward VII and Emperor Wilhelm II at her side. She was succeeded by her oldest son, Edward VII, and was buried next to Albert at the Frogmore Mausoleum near Windsor.

“Queen Victoria (r. 1837-1901),” Royal.uk .

“How Queen Victoria remade the British monarchy,” National Geographic .

“Queen Victoria: From Pampered Princess to Elderly Empress: Wife, Mother, and Queen,” Historic Royal Palaces .

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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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Biography Online

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.

Queen Victoria – A Life

Queen Victoria at Amazon.com

Queen Victoria Pictures

Queen Victoria Pictures at Amazon.com

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Further reading

• Quotes of Queen Victoria
• Queen Victoria at BBC
• Queen Victoria Biography from Encyclopedia Britannica

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

Queen victoria:.

Born: 24 May, 1819, Kensington Palace

Died: 22 January 1901 (aged 81) Osborne House, Isle of Wight

Reign: 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901

Despite monarchy being largely constitutional at the start of Queen Victoria’s ascension, her 63-year reign saw her preside over the abolition of slavery, the expansion of workers’ welfare, the speedy innovation of industrial engineering and the invention of the telephone.

Behind the famous image of the stout old lady in black, Victoria was a passionate romantic woman who was frequently amused.

Woman in a man’s world: The prime ministers loved and detested

Queen Victoria was never meant to rule. She was the fifth in line to the throne and became heir presumptive to her uncle George IV after both her father, Prince Edward and grandfather King George III died within a year of each other.

Brought up in a world of manipulative men, Victoria married a controlling husband, Prince Albert at just 21 years of age. Victoria’s formidable personality saw her undergo a battle of wills with guardians and politicians from the day she became Queen. One of the first men Victoria found herself in conflict with before ascending the throne was her advisor Sir John Conroy, who conspired with the young princess’ mother the Duchess of Kent, to gain influence once Victoria became Queen.

Lord Melbourne (William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne) was Victoria’s first prime minister in 1837 who greatly influenced her, coaching the young Queen in ways of politics and who became a trusted friend. The friendship was formed through Melbourne’s wit, fatherly attitude, and ability to make the young Victoria laugh, a skill she admired in men. It was this quality, Victoria appreciated in her seventh prime minister Benjamin Disrael i, a Conservative politician whose ideological views of expanding the British Empire were popular with both the queen and the public.

Read more about Kings and Queens

The 'Godmother of Europe': Queen Victoria's family ties across the continent

The theatrical statesman treated Victoria as an equal, demonstrating deference as well as a surfeit of charm and an inclination to gossip which the Queen loved. Conscious of Victoria’s diminutive stature Disraeli even had the feet of a dining table chair at his private Buckinghamshire home sawn down by two inches, so that the royal feet wouldn’t be left dangling.

Despite the image of Victoria as an emblem of emotional constraint and propriety, the Queen disliked reserved people. The buttoned-up liberal Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, who succeeded Disraeli and served Victoria from 1868 for 12 years over four consecutive terms, was a man she particularly loathed. Victoria saw Gladstone as a threat to the monarchy itself. She wrote in her diary ‘Mr Gladstone is a very dangerous man and so very arrogant, tyrannical and obstinate with no knowledge of the world or human nature’. When Gladstone stayed at Balmoral neither the Queen nor Gladstone could stand the idea of talking to each other and instead corresponded by heated letters despite occupying the same building.

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Mourning to emancipation.

In 1861 the deaths of Queen Victoria’s estranged mother and husband Prince Albert left her distraught, and she left London to escape into a self-inflicted prison of solitude. Widowed aged 42, she turned her delirium into an extreme form of hero-worshipping, turning Prince Albert, a man she often battled with, into a demigod. Even her grown-up children were dragged into her orbit of morbid mourning, forcing them to visit the room their father died in on every anniversary of his death.

Victoria’s marriage to Albert had infantilised her as she relied on him for everything, whether seeking Albert’s approval for what dress she should wear to daily political decisions. After Albert’s death, Victoria was finally free and able to become her own woman. Her journey to liberation began in her favourite German town of Coburg in Bavaria, a place where her German lineage from the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha had its roots and where she felt most at home. The region of Saxe-Coburg was also the birthplace of her husband Albert and her mother Princess Victoria. In Queen Victoria’s journal, she confessed her love for Germany. ‘If I were not who I am my real home would be here’.]

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Victoria the mediator: germany v prussia.

Before 1871 Germany was not a unified country but a series of small Duchy city-states in need. Victoria was worried that the German regions would be bullied by the northern kingdom of Prussia to become a militaristic nation rather than a peaceful federation.

In the summer of 1863 Queen Victoria, in her first diplomatic role since the death of Albert, attended a gathering of the rulers of both Prussia and Austria. In the same hall where her parents were married, she met the Emperor of Austria Franz Joseph and they drank a toast to the unity of Germany.

As an independent monarch, she negotiated on behalf of England and a peaceful Europe. She acted as an arbiter between two rival kingdoms led by William I of Prussia and the Emperor of Austria and succeeded in carrying out her late husband’s political work on her own to unify Germany. Rather than shutting herself away in a world of funereal indulgence as the English newspapers saw her, Queen Victoria was becoming intimately involved in European politics.

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Platonic love affair: john brown.

From being a young woman who was orphaned as a child Victoria had always sought father figures. At 45-years-of-age Victoria’s next ‘devoted soul’ and of whom she wrote in her journal longing to be ‘taken care of’, was in the form of Prince Albert’s Highland manservant, Mr John Brown.

The gruff, bearded, and straight-talking tall Scotsman was brought down from Balmoral to attend Victoria at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight in 1864. Some historians believe that Brown’s company at Osborne, beginning ten years after the death of Prince Albert, kept the depressed Queen sane. The still mourning Victoria found laughter and fun in her life again due to Brown’s company.

The Queen’s love of Scotland contributed to her fondness for the unmarried and kilted Brown, who was the only person allowed to carry and hug her. She loved the down-to-earth humour of Brown, in contrast to the stuffiness and decorous attitudes of her aristocratic brethren and royal aides.

During his 18 years of service to the Queen, Brown became her closest companion and best friend before his unexpected death at Windsor Castle from a bacterial infection in 1883. Queen Victoria wrote to Brown’s sister-in-law ‘He was the best, truest heart that ever beat,’. Later the bereft Victoria wrote in her journal ‘The comfort of my daily life is gone—the void is terrible—the loss is irreparable!’

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Scandal: queen victoria’s published journals.

Years before the confessionals of modern royals and in particular Lady Diana Spencer, Queen Victoria, a woman known for shying away from the public, decided to share her thoughts in published extracts of her private diaries. ‘Leaves from the journal of our life in the Highlands’ came out in 1868 and was an instant best seller.

The journals sold over 100,000 copies with John Brown depicted as its hero, while Victoria’s children got scant attention. Eldest daughter, Princess Vicki of Prussia felt her mother’s published adoration of John Brown was scandalous. In New York, a scurrilous pamphlet titled ‘John Brown’s Legs’ showed a cartoon of the Queen attending to Brown’s damaged knee.

A potential third journal and biography of John Brown prompted the horrified court and politicians to step in and request Victoria to put down her pen on the grounds that the books were ‘inappropriate’ and likely to suggest that her friendship with Brown could be misconstrued. Victoria’s children, in particular Princess Beatrice, deleted all reference to John Brown in her mother’s memoirs.

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The empress of india.

The exotic title bestowed on Queen Victoria was part of Prime minister Disraeli’s plans for Victoria to become a symbol of British power, both at home and across the world. Disraeli announced that Victoria was the Empress of India on the 1st of January 1877. She was delighted with the new title which made Britain an imperial power and created the impression the country was rich in the eyes of the public.

For eighty years the ‘Empire’ was the pride of Britain’s Conservatives and the envy of many beyond its borders. The title was a publicity coup in India where millions saw Queen Victoria almost as a goddess figure, even though she never visited the country in her entire life.

How different British monarchs celebrated their Jubilees

The golden and silver jubilees.

In 1887 at 68-years-of-age, Queen Victoria celebrated her Golden Jubilee. Free from her past with her beloved Albert, the Queen’s newfound zest for life and ruling a global population was characterised by her recreating a wing of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight as the Durbar Room, a celebration of Indian architecture and culture.

Victoria was at the height of popularity again as she marked the fiftieth anniversary of her accession with a banquet inviting fifty kings and princes. Nine years later, marking her Diamond Jubilee on 22 June 1897 the public’s affection for Victoria was still as strong. The Jubilee procession followed a route six miles long through London. The 78-year-old Queen paused in front of vast cheering crowds in an open carriage outside St Paul’s to avoid having to climb the steps to the building.

Four years later after a lengthy period of failing health, rheumatism and deteriorating eyesight Queen Victoria, Empress of India died on 22 January 1901 at Osborne House.

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Your guide to Queen Victoria and a timeline of her life – plus 16 fascinating facts

One of history's most iconic monarchs, Queen Victoria (1819-1901) ruled for more than 60 years. She was empress of the world's largest ever empire, and her name denotes an entire era of British history. Here, we bring you a guide to her life, plus 16 facts…

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At the time of her birth, Victoria was never expected to be queen. Yet upon the death of her uncle, King William IV, she succeeded him at the age of 18. She is remembered for her reign that spanned more than six decades, overseeing the expansion of the British empire for almost 64 years. Here are facts you need to know about the diminutive monarch – from her famed love and mourning for her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, to the many attempts on her life…

Queen Victoria: a biography

Victoria was born fifth in line to the throne.

“Plump as a partridge… more of a pocket Hercules than a pocket Venus”, is how the Duke of Kent described his spirited newborn daughter Princess Victoria when she was born on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace.

Yet though she went on to become one of Britain’s most iconic monarchs, Victoria’s birth did not herald national celebration. As the daughter of King George III ’s fourth son, at the time of her birth Victoria was only fifth in line to the throne. Expected to be just another minor royal relative who would end up married into a European royal family, Victoria’s arrival slipped under the radar somewhat. Few could have predicted that she would sit on the throne for more than 60 years. By the time Victoria reached her teens, however, the death of her father, his brothers and any other legitimate heirs left the young princess as King William IV’s closest surviving heir.

On 24 June 1819, the princess was christened in a low-key ceremony. Frustrated by his own inability to produce a surviving heir, Victoria’s uncle, the Prince Regent, only allowed a handful of people to attend. Also under the direction of her uncle, she was given the name ‘Alexandrina Victoria’. At the time, Victoria was far from a regal name – it was highly unusual and of French origin. When it became clear that Victoria would indeed accede to the throne, her name was seen to be completely inappropriate for a queen of England. She was advised to change it to something more traditional, but refused.

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Queen Victoria had an unhappy childhood

Victoria spent her formative years at Kensington Palace. However, in many ways the palace proved a prison for the princess, and her childhood there was far from rosy.

Following her father’s death from pneumonia when she was just eight months old, Victoria’s early life was dominated by her mother, the Duchess of Kent, and her ambitious adviser Sir John Conroy. Keen to establish himself as the power behind the throne in the event of a Regency (in which Victoria’s mother would rule with her if she acceded while still underage), Conroy sought to keep tight control of the princess. Both he and the Duchess had a hostile relationship with Victoria’s uncle, King William, and consequently kept Victoria isolated from the royal court, even preventing her from attending her uncle’s coronation.

The pair imposed a stifling code of discipline on the young Victoria, which came to be known as the ‘Kensington System’ . Along with a strict timetable of lessons to improve her moral and intellectual rigor, this suffocating regime dictated that the princess spent hardly any time with other children and was under constant adult supervision. Right up until the time she became queen, Victoria was forced to share a bedroom with her mother. She was forbidden from ever being alone, or even walking down stairs without someone holding her hand.

Later in life, Victoria reflected that she “led a very unhappy life as a child… and did not know what a happy domestic life was”. She retained a deep-seated hatred of John Conroy for manipulating her mother and imposing such rigid rules on her, later describing him as “demon incarnate”.

Victoria was only 18 when she became queen

“I went into my sitting room (only in my dressing gown) alone and saw them. Lord Conyngham then acquainted me that my poor uncle, the King, was no more, and had expired at twelve minutes past two this morning and consequently that I was Queen.”

This is how Victoria recalled the moment that would change her life forever. At 6am on 20 June 1837, the young princess was woken from her bed to be informed that her uncle, King William IV, had died during the night. This meant that Victoria, who was only 18 at the time, was now queen of England.

Although it came as a shock, Victoria took the news extremely stoically. Despite her young age she remained calm and had no need for the smelling salts her governess had prepared for her. In her first meeting with her privy council just a few hours later, Victoria’s new ministers towered over her – at just 4ft 11, she had to be seated on a raised platform in order to be seen. What Victoria lacked in height, however, she made up for in determination, and she quickly made a favourable impression.

• How tall was Queen Victoria? And what did she really look like?

Victoria had turned 18 less than a month before acceding to the throne. This was a crucial milestone, as it meant that she was able to rule under her own steam, rather than alongside her mother in a regency. She began her new life by moving away from her childhood home at Kensington to Buckingham Palace, in part to escape from the controlling influence of Conroy and her mother. Her relationship with her mother remained strained and distant for many years and she limited Conroy’s influence at court. Just two years after Victoria took the throne, he resigned his post and left for Italy amid shame and scandal.

In June the following year, Victoria was crowned in a five-hour-long ceremony at Westminster Abbey followed by a royal banquet and fireworks. “I shall ever remember this day as the proudest of my life” she recorded in her diary.

• Read more about the young Victoria's struggle to gain the throne

Queen Victoria proposed to Prince Albert

Though as a young woman she had many suitors , a key figure throughout Victoria’s life and reign was her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Victoria met the German prince at Kensington Palace when the pair were both just 17. The meeting of Victoria and Albert, who were also first cousins, had been masterminded by Victoria’s uncle, Leopold I of Belgium, who believed he could benefit politically from the match.

Yet despite the marriage brokering that had led the couple to meet, this was most definitely a love match. Victoria’s diary revealed that she found the young prince “extremely handsome”. She wrote, “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”. As royal tradition dictated that no one could propose to a reigning monarch, in October 1839 it was Victoria who proposed to Albert.

Victoria's marriage was the first of a reigning queen of England in 286 years

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's wedding , which took place in St James’s Palace chapel on 10 February 1840, was the first marriage of a reigning queen of England since Mary I in 1554. Victoria wore an 18-foot-long train carried by 12 bridesmaids and kicked off a modern-day tradition by wearing white. Outside, the nation erupted into huge public celebration. Victoria recorded how she “never saw such crowds of people… they cheered most enthusiastically”. She reflected on the event as “ the happiest day of my life”.

Over the course of their 21-year marriage, Victoria and Albert had a passionate, if sometimes tempestuous, relationship. Although the couple had blazing arguments, Victoria clearly adored her husband, describing him in her diary as “perfection in every way … oh how I adore and love him”.

• Read more about Victoria and Albert's marriage

Queen Victoria had nine children… but she hated being pregnant

Just over nine months after their wedding, Victoria and Albert’s first child, Princess Victoria, was born at Buckingham Palace. The queen soon after recorded how “after a good many hours suffering, a perfect little child was born… but alas! A girl & not a boy, as we both had so hoped & wished for”. The royal couple’s wishes were granted less than a year later, however, when Victoria gave birth to a male heir: Edward, known by the family as Bertie. Victoria and Albert went on to have a total of nine children – four boys and five girls .

Surprisingly, Victoria hated being pregnant, and historians have suggested that she may have suffered from post-natal depression. She compared pregnancy to feeling like a cow and wrote that “an ugly baby is a very nasty object – and the prettiest is frightful when undressed”.

Many of Victoria’s children were married into the royal families of Europe, yet throughout her life she maintained a close, perhaps even suffocating, relationship with them. She had a notoriously fractious relationship with her eldest son, the charismatic yet quick-tempered Bertie.

The 1839 'Bedchamber Crisis' got Queen Victoria into trouble

Victoria took the throne at a time when the monarch’s role was intended to be largely apolitical. Yet early in her reign, the inexperienced queen got into hot water for meddling in political matters, in an event termed ‘The Bedchamber Crisis’.

The first prime minister of Victoria’s reign was the Whig politician Lord Melbourne, with whom she enjoyed a remarkably close relationship. Melbourne held significant sway over the young queen, who appointed the majority of her ladies-in-waiting according to his advice.

In 1839, Melbourne resigned following several parliamentary defeats. Tory Robert Peel stepped forward to become prime minister, on one condition: he requested that Victoria dismiss some of her existing household – who largely held Whig sympathies and were loyal to Melbourne – and replace them with Tory ladies. As many of Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting were also her closest friends, she took offence at Peel’s request and refused.

The queen had already been criticised for her over-reliance on Lord Melbourne, and now she was widely condemned for being not just politically partisan, but unconstitutional. The tense situation was eventually defused by the ever-reasonable Prince Albert, who arranged for some of Victoria’s ladies to resign their posts voluntarily.

Queen Victoria spoke several languages

Perhaps in part due to her strict schooling under the ‘Kensington system’, Victoria proved herself to be a remarkably adept linguist. As well as being fluent in both English and German, she also spoke French, Italian and Latin.

As her mother and governess both hailed from Germany, Victoria grew up speaking the language and at one stage reportedly even had a German accent, which had to be erased by tutors. When she later married her German cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the couple regularly spoke German together. Although Albert was fluent in English, he and Victoria could often be heard talking – and indeed arguing – in German when in private.

Later in life, Victoria also experimented with some of the languages from across her vast empire. Following the arrival of Indian servants at Windsor Castle in August 1887, she was taught Hindustani and Urdu phrases by her favourite Indian attendant, Abdul Karim . The queen recorded in her diary: "I am learning a few words of Hindustani to speak to my servants. It is a great interest to me for both the language and the people, I have naturally never come into real contact with before".

The queen's relationship with her prime ministers wasn’t always easy

Over the course of the six decades she sat on the throne, Victoria saw many prime ministers come and go. Yet while she established a remarkably close bond with some, others failed spectacularly to win her favour.

Victoria’s first prime minister, Lord Melbourne, was keen to flatter, instruct and influence the young queen from the very beginning. The pair were so close that Victoria claimed to love him “like a father”. However, this intense friendship with ‘Lord M’ made the queen unpopular with many – she was criticised for being politically partisan and was even mockingly called her “Mrs Melbourne”. Later in her reign, Benjamin Disraeli similarly pulled out all the stops to win Victoria’s favour with charm and flattery. His tactics clearly worked, as the queen told her eldest daughter [also named Victoria] that he would “do very well” and was “full of poetry, romance and chivalry”.

Other ministers, however, received a much less enthusiastic response from her majesty: she found Lord John Russell stubborn and rude and referred to Lord Palmerston as a “dreadful old man”. As foreign secretary, Palmerston had invoked Victoria’s wrath by ignoring Albert’s suggested amendments to dispatches and apparently attempting to seduce one of her ladies-in-waiting. Victoria found Gladstone similarly infuriating, and with her characteristically sharp tongue dismissed him as a “half-crazy and in many ways ridiculous, wild and incomprehensible old fanatic”.

Britain's imperial conquests increased nearly fivefold during Victoria's reign

Over the course of her reign, Victoria witnessed a mammoth expansion of the British empire . During her first 20 years on the throne, Britain’s imperial conquests had increased almost fivefold. By the time she died, it was the largest empire the world had ever known and included a quarter of the world’s population. As the monarchy was seen as a focal point for imperial pride, and a means of uniting the empire’s disparate peoples, Victoria’s image was spread across the empire.

The queen herself took a great interest in imperial affairs. In 1877, prime minister Benjamin Disraeli pronounced her empress of India in a move to cement Britain’s link to the “jewel in the empire’s crown”. The queen had pushed for the title for several years, but, concerned about its absolutist connotations, Disraeli had been hesitant to agree. By 1877, however, Victoria had become so insistent he felt he could not resist any longer, for fear of offending her.

Queen Victoria was known as the “grandmother of Europe”

Over the course of their 21-year marriage, Victoria and Albert raised nine children together . As a means of extending Britain’s influence and building international allegiances, several of their sons and daughters were married into various European monarchies, and within just a couple of generations Victoria’s descendants were spread across the continent. Her 42 grandchildren could be found in the royal families of Germany, Russia, Greece, Romania, Sweden, Norway and Spain.

Warring First World War royals Kaiser Wilhelm (of Germany), Tsarina Alexandra (of Russia) and George V (of Britain) were all grandchildren of Victoria. Kaiser Wilhelm reportedly remarked that had his grandmother still been alive, the First World War may never have happened, as she simply would not have allowed her relatives to go to war with one another.

• Could Queen Victoria have prevented World War I?

Victoria’s widespread influence had unexpected genetic, as well as political, implications for Europe’s monarchies. It is believed that the queen was a carrier of haemophilia and had unwittingly introduced the rare inherited disease into her bloodline. Over subsequent generations the condition resurfaced in royal families across the continent. In an age of limited medical facilities, haemophilia – which affects the blood’s ability to clot – could have disastrous consequences. Victoria’s own son Leopold suffered from the disease and died aged 30 after he slipped and fell, triggering a cerebral haemorrhage. Three of the queen’s grandchildren also suffered from the disease, as did her great-grandson, the murdered heir to the Russian throne, Tsarevich Alexei.

• Listen | Deborah Cadbury shows how Queen Victoria sought to influence the future of Europe through the marriages of her descendants

Queen Victoria survived at least six assassination attempts

During the course of her 63-year-long reign, Victoria came out unscathed from at least six serious attempts on her life, some of which were terrifyingly close calls.

In June 1840, while four months pregnant with her first child, Victoria was shot at while on an evening carriage ride with Prince Albert. For a moment it seemed as though the queen had been hit, but Albert spurred the driver to speed away to safety and the would-be assassin, Edward Oxford, was apprehended.

Oxford – who was later acquitted on grounds of insanity – proved to be the first of many to target the queen while she was driving in her open-top carriage. In 1850, as the carriage slowed down to pass through the gates of Buckingham Palace, retired soldier Robert Pate ran forward and managed to strike the queen sharply on the head with a small cane. Although it transpired that the cane weighed less than three ounces, so could not have done much damage, the incident nonetheless unnerved Victoria. She escaped several more assassination attempts while riding in her carriage in 1842, 1849 and 1872.

Victoria was also infamously targeted by a stalker – a notorious teenager known in the newspapers as ‘The Boy Jones’. Between 1838 and 1841, Edward Jones managed to break into Buckingham Palace several times, hiding under the queen’s sofa, sitting on her throne and reportedly even stealing her underwear, before being caught.

Victoria mourned Prince Albert for 40 years

On 14 December 1861, Victoria’s life was rocked by the death of her beloved husband, Albert. As the prince was aged just 42 and generally enjoyed good health, his death from typhoid was highly unexpected. It came as a huge blow to the queen, who had been intensely reliant on his support, practically and politically as well as emotionally.

• Read more about Prince Albert's death

Following Albert’s death, Victoria retreated from public life , adopting elaborate mourning rituals that rapidly became obsessive. As time went on, the situation began to spiral out of control as it became clear the queen’s period of mourning would last much longer than the two years that convention dictated. Consumed by grief, Victoria fell into a state of depression and began neglecting her royal duties. As she repeatedly refused to take part in public events, her popularity began to deteriorate. The British people began to lose patience with their queen, questioning what the ‘Widow of Windsor’ did to earn her royal income. It was not until the 1870s that Victoria was coaxed back into gradually engaging in public life once more.

Queen Victoria had a set of clothes laid out for Prince Albert each morning, right up until her own death 40 years later in 1901

Despite the decades that passed, Victoria never fully recovered from the loss of Albert. Although she had other intimate relationships – most notably a close friendship with her Scottish servant John Brown – she never remarried. She continued to wear black and sleep beside an image of Albert, and she even had a set of clothes laid out for him each morning, right up until her own death 40 years later in 1901.

Both Queen Victoria's golden and diamond jubilees were celebrated

Years after her damaging retreat from public life following Albert’s death, Victoria was eventually coaxed back into the limelight. Her golden and diamond jubilees of 1887 and 1897 were crucial to restoring her reputation. Designed to be show-stopping crowd-pleasers, these national festivities reinvented the ‘widow of Windsor’ as a source of national (and imperial) pride and celebration. Grand processions and military displays were jam-packed with patriotic pomp, while Victoria’s face was plastered on all manner of commemorative products.

During 1897’s diamond jubilee (marking Victoria’s 60th year on the throne), street parties, parades, fireworks and cricket games took place across the country. Some 300,000 of Britain’s poor were treated to a special jubilee dinner, while in India 19,000 prisoners were pardoned. During a royal procession to St Paul’s Cathedral, Victoria was reportedly so overwhelmed by the cheering crowds that she burst into tears.

Queen Victoria was buried with a lock of John Brown's hair

As she entered her eighties, Victoria was still actively taking on her royal duties. Yet, after six decades on the throne, her health finally began to decline. After being diagnosed with ‘cerebral exhaustion’, Queen Victoria died at the age of 81 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, on 22 January 1901. The queen had refused to be embalmed, so part of the preparations that followed her death included preparing the coffin to combat the smell and absorb moisture, by scattering coal across its floor. The queen's staff also cut off her hair, dressed her in a white silk dressing gown with garter ribbon and star and placed her wedding veil over her face, before summoning members of the queen's family – the royal dukes, the kaiser and the new king, Edward VII – to lift her body into the coffin.

The family then retired, leaving staff to carry out the queen’s secret instructions that were never to be revealed to her children. The wedding ring of the mother of her personal servant, John Brown, was placed on her finger; a photograph of Brown and a lock of his hair were laid beside her, along with Brown’s pocket handkerchief, all carefully hidden from view.

The queen was buried beside her beloved Prince Albert on 4 February 1901, in the mausoleum the queen had built for her husband at Frogmore , adjoining Windsor Castle.

Queen Victoria was succeeded by Edward VII, her eldest son

Victoria and Albert's first son and second child was named Albert Edward, although he was known as ‘Bertie’. As Prince of Wales, he had a love of society and 'good living' and was known for his hearty appetites, Bertie – who was crowned King Edward VII on 9 August 1902 – defied expectations by proving himself to be a very successful and well-loved monarch.

Think you know everything about Queen Victoria? Put your knowledge to the test in our Queen Victoria quiz !

Ellie Cawthorne is staff writer at BBC History Magazine .

This article was first published by HistoryExtra in 2016

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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

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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.
• The Relationship Between Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria
• How Was Queen Victoria Related to Prince Albert?
• Queen Victoria's Children and Grandchildren
• Biography of Prince Albert, Husband of Queen Victoria
• Women Rulers of England and Great Britain
• British Royal Weddings from Victoria to Meghan Markle
• Queen Victoria Trivia
• Germanic Trivia: The Houses of Windsor and Hanover
• Biography of Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife
• Women Rulers of the 19th Century
• Biography of Edward VII, Britain's Peaceful Playboy King
• How Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip Are Related
• Biography of Queen Alexandra
• Biography of Mary of Teck, Royal British Matriarch
• Empress Carlota of Mexico
• Queen Victoria's Death and Final Arrangements

The life of Queen Victoria and her family

Find out more about her fascinating life with Prince Albert and her nine children

Queen Victoria reigned over Britain for 63 years - the longest rule after Elizabeth II. Find out more about her fascinating life with Prince Albert and her children. 

Queen Victoria and her family were seen by the public as a harmonious and happy image of domestic life. 

How many children did Queen Victoria have? 

Queen Victoria (1819 - 1901) and Prince Albert (1819 - 1861) had a total of nine children. 

Princess Royal Victoria (21 November 1840 – 5 August 1901)

Victoria and Albert's first child, Victoria was given the title Princess Royal the year after her birth. In 1858, Victoria married Prince Frederick William of Prussia. He later succeeded his father as German Emperor in 1888, but his reign was cut short by cancer of the larynx within ninety-nine days of his coronation. Following her husband's death, Victoria lived as empress dowager before her death from breast cancer in 1901 at the age of 60.

Edward VII (9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910)

Edward was born a year after his sister and lived much of his life as the Prince of Wales. On the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901, Edward became king, marking the beginning of the Edwardian era. He reigned for nine years, overseeing military reforms and was known as "peacemaker" for fostering good relations with foreign powers. He died aged 68 on 6 May 1910 after several heart attacks and was succeeded his son King George V.

Princess Alice (25 April 1843 – 14 December 1878)

Princess Alice was known for her nursing - both with her father, Albert and in military hospitals during the Austro-Prussian War. During this time, she befriended Florence Nightingale and playing an active role in the region's military hospitals. Alice died from diphtheria in 1878 after it spread through the Hessian court just a year after becoming Grand Duchess of Hesse. She was the first of three of Queen Victoria's children to be outlived by their mother.

Prince Alfred (6 August 1844 – 30 July 1900)

Prince Alfred joined the Royal Navy at the young age of 14. He remained in the Navy throughout his life with his final rank of Admiral of the fleet in 1893. He was married to Maria Alexandrovna, the daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.

Princess Helena (25 May 1846 – 9 June 1923)

Princess Helena, Victoria and Albert's third daughter. She was married Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein in 1866 and remained in Britain. Helena was highly engaged in charitable institutions and was a founding member of the British Red Cross.

Princess Louise (18 March 1848 – 3 December 1939)

Princess Louise was the sixth child of Victoria and Albert, and 13 when her father died. She pursued a career as a sculptor and became a strong advocate of higher education and the feminist cause. 

Prince Arthur (1 May 1850 – 16 January 1942)

Prince Arthur served in the British Army for 40 years, rising to the rank of Commander-in-Chief of Ireland and Inspector-General of the Forces. He was Victoria's last surviving son remained active in the military into the Second World War.

Prince Leopold (7 April 1853 – 28 March 1884)

Victoria and Albert's youngest son, Prince Leopold, inherited the blood disorder haemophilia from his mother and was reputed to suffer from epilepsy, hindering his chances of joining the military. Instead, Leopold became a patron of arts and acted as his mother's unofficial secretary. 

Princess Beatrice (14 April 1857 – 26 October 1944)

As the youngest child, Princess Beatrice spent much of her life by her mother's side. Following the Queen's death in 1901, Beatrice became the editor of her mother's journals. She died in November 1944 and was Victoria's last surviving child.

When did Queen Victoria die?

After a reign which lasted almost 64 years, Queen Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, on 22 January 1901. Her son, Edward VII succeeded her. 

What did Queen Victoria die of? 

Queen Victoria died from a cerebral haemorrhage on Tuesday 22 January 1901 after feeling weakened over the Christmas period. Historians suggest that the cause of her death is likely related to her carrying the gene for haemophilia, a blood-clotting disease passed down from her parentage. Victoria also passed this genetic disorder onto three of her nine children. Haemophilia is sometimes called "the royal disease" for this reason. 

Queen Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Her body was transported to Portsmouth via the Solent, on the Royal Yacht 'Alberta'. Artist William Wyllie saw the procession from the HMS Majestic. 

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Where is Queen Victoria buried? 

Queen Victoria is buried at Windsor in England within the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum. This tomb was built explicitly for Albert and Victoria as a final resting place, instead of the traditional mausoleums in Westminster Abbey in London or St. George's Chapel in Windsor. 

Only Victoria and Albert are interred within the tomb, but the mausoleum contains other memorials, such as their second daughter Princess Alice and Victoria's father Edward, Duke of Kent. 

When was Queen Victoria born?

Queen Victoria was born on 24 May in 1819 at Kensington Palace, London. She was christened as Alexandrina Victoria and was formally addressed as Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria of Kent.

Queen Victoria and Albert

On 10 February 1840, Victoria Married her first cousin, Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The royal couple had first met a few days before Victoria's 17th birthday, four years earlier. 

Victoria and Albert are known for their incredibly close relationship, inspiring dozens of books, films and series.

While Victoria is seen as the ruler of Britain, Albert played an essential role in supporting public causes, such as military and educational reform and the abolition of slavery. He is known for the resounding success of the Great Exhibition of 1851, which showed the world Britain's technological achievements. This World's Fair laid the foundations for several public museums, such as the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum. 

In 1845, Prince Albert bought Nelson's Trafalgar coat for £150. He gifted it to the Royal Naval Asylum, where the Old Royal Naval College now stands. It has been on display in Greenwich ever since. 

Albert died in December 1861 aged 42, when the Queen was the same age. Victoria never recovered from his death. She dressed in black as a sign of mourning for the rest of her life.

How long did Queen Victoria reign?

Queen Victoria reigned for exactly sixty-three years, seven months, and two days (20 June 1837 - 22 January 1901). Her rule is the second longest after Queen Elizabeth II. 

Queen Victoria assassination attempts 

During Victoria's reign, eight assassination attempts were made on her life. All of them were unsuccessful.

The first attempt took place in 1840 when 18-year-old Edward Oxford fired at the Queen's carriage near Buckingham Palace in London. Oxford was accused of treason for his crime but was ultimately found not guilty for reasons of insanity. 

Three attempts were made in 1842, two by the same man - John Francis, an unemployed carpenter. He attempted to shoot the Queen after her Sunday morning service at Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, London. On his second effort, he was promptly arrested and sent to Van Diemen's Land (later known as Tasmania), where he became a successful carpenter, helping to build the Launceston General Hospital on the island.

One year later, Robert Pate, a former officer, used a brass-tipped cane to hit the Queen in the head. Pate's attack was the only attempt that caused Victoria actual harm, and the mark on her forehead supposedly remained for a decade. Pate was immediately arrested and also sentenced to seven years in the Tasmanian penal colony. The reasons for the attack remain unknown. 

A memorable final attempt took place in 1882 when a Scottish poet named Roderick Maclean shot at Queen Victoria's train carriage with a pistol as it left the Windsor train station. This was Maclean's eighth attempt at assassinating Victoria. Maclean was tried for high treason and was pronounced "not guilty, but insane." He was confined to an asylum until his death in 1921. 

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Queen Victoria

Article by Alan Rayburn , Carolyn Harris

Published Online February 7, 2006

Last Edited September 8, 2015

Queen Victoria succeeded to the throne at age 18, following the death of her uncle, William IV, in 1837. She was an ardent imperialist and took an intense interest in her colonial subjects. Queen Victoria favoured Confederation and acted as a unifying influence for Canada’s provinces. While the Queen never visited Canada, five of her nine children spent time in Canada, where her name has been given to numerous public buildings, streets, communities and physical features.

The future Queen Victoria was the only child of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767–1820), the fourth son of King George III, and Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1786–1861). Edward was the first member of the royal family to reside in Canada for a sustained period of time. He spent the 1790s in Québec City and Halifax , where he helped improve British North American defences and became commander-in-chief of the British North American forces. Prince Edward Island is named for him. After the death of his niece, Princess Charlotte, in 1817, Edward married at the age of 50. His marriage was necessary in order to continue the line of royal heirs after Charlotte's passing. Victoire was 20 years younger than Edward and the widow of Prince Charles of Leiningen. She had two children, Charles and Feodora, from her first marriage.

On 24 June 1819, Victoria was christened Alexandrina Victoria in honour of her godfather, Czar Alexander I of Russia, and her mother. Her father died of pneumonia before her first birthday, and she grew up at Kensington Palace in London under the guardianship of her mother. Victoire disapproved of Edward’s brothers, who were derided for their gambling and mistresses; and the young Victoria saw little of the royal family . She was, for example, not permitted to attend the coronation of her uncle and predecessor, William IV, in 1830. Victoria was educated at home and grew up to be stubborn and strong willed.

Accession to the Throne

Victoria became queen upon the death of William IV on 20 June 1837. There was an outpouring of popular enthusiasm about the 18-year-old monarch, whose respectability contrasted with her uncles George IV and William IV. After attending her coronation at Westminster Abbey on 28 June 1838, diarist Sir Charles Greville wrote, “It is, in fact, the remarkable union of naïveté, kindness, nature, good-nature, with propriety and dignity, which makes her so admirable and so endearing to those about her.” After the seclusion of her childhood, Victoria enjoyed her new position and was an enthusiastic participant in court balls and other entertainments.

Victoria came to the throne just months before the Rebellions of 1837–38 were mounted in Upper and Lower Canada . On 22 December 1837, the Queen wrote in her journal, "The news are, I grieve to say, very bad from Canada; that is to say rumours and reports by the Papers, though we have no Official Reports. But [Prime Minister] Lord Melbourne hopes it may not be so bad as it is rumoured. There certainly is open Rebellion." In honour of her coronation, the Queen granted amnesties to the rebels in Upper and Lower Canada ( see Amnesty Act ).

On 15 October 1839, Queen Victoria proposed to her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. They were married at St. James’s Palace on 10 February 1840. Victoria wore a white satin and lace dress, starting the fashion for white wedding dresses that continues to the present. Victoria was deeply in love with her husband, writing in her journal at the time of her wedding: “His beauty, his sweetness & gentleness — really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such a Husband!”

During the first years of her marriage, Victoria prevented Albert from becoming involved in her duties as sovereign , a stance that Albert resented. As their marriage progressed, Victoria became increasingly dependent on Albert, and he came to exert political and cultural influence. He advised Victoria on state documents, drafted her correspondence and reformed royal finances. Albert chaired the Great Exhibition, which showcased British and international trade at London’s Crystal Palace in 1851 and inspired similar displays around the world. He received the title of prince consort in 1857, though Sir Charles Greville remarked, "He is King to all intents and purposes."

Queen Victoria had nine children: Victoria (1840–1901), Albert Edward, the future Edward VII (1841–1910), Alice (1843–1878), Alfred (1844–1900), Helena (1846–1923), Louise (1848–1939), Arthur (1850–1942), Leopold (1853–1884) and Beatrice (1857–1944). Prince Albert was present in the delivery room for the births with government ministers and clergymen assembled in the adjoining room. Albert was likely the first royal father to be present for the births of his children. Current royal christening traditions, such as the use of the lily font and Honiton lace robe, date from the christenings of Victoria’s children.

Victoria popularized childbirth anaesthesia, then a controversial medical intervention, when she requested chloroform for the births of Leopold and Beatrice. She had little interest in young children — writing that “an ugly baby is a very nasty object — and the prettiest is frightful when undressed” — and Albert assumed a more active role in the children’s education and upbringing. Victoria became closer to her children as they aged. The royal family ’s public image conformed to 19th-century ideals of domesticity in the English-speaking world. Images of Victoria, Albert and their children celebrating Christmas and taking family vacations influenced broader parenting trends.

All four of Victoria’s sons spent time in Canada. Edward VII, the future king, undertook a highly successful tour of British North America and the United States in 1860 that set precedents for future royal tours , including engagement with Canadians from a variety of communities and backgrounds, and showcasing local culture. Alfred spent five weeks in the Maritimes in 1861; and Arthur spent a year with the Rifle Brigade based in Montréal in 1869–70. As Duke of Connaught, Arthur would return to Canada as Governor General from 1911 to 1916. Victoria’s daughter, Louise, was vice-regal consort from 1878 to 1883, when her husband, the Marquess of Lorne , became the fourth Governor General since Confederation . Leopold visited Louise in Ottawa and they visited Niagara Falls together. Louise and Lorne founded the National Gallery of Canada (1880), the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1880) and the Royal Society of Canada (1882) during their time in Canada.

Prince Albert died at Windsor Castle on 14 December 1861 from either typhoid fever or Crohn’s Disease . Victoria was devastated and began a long period of seclusion during which she refused to undertake most public duties. While the public was initially sympathetic, Victoria’s unwillingness to either resume regular public appearances or delegate responsibilities to her eldest son attracted criticism and increasing republican sentiment. Victoria’s popularity in Britain was restored in 1872 when she agreed to a public thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Cathedral after the future Edward VII recovered from a near-fatal attack of typhoid . In Canada, a day of thanksgiving was celebrated in honour of the heir to the throne’s recovery. Victoria’s popularity remained constant in Canada during her widowhood, as she had never visited in person and therefore Canadians did not experience a direct change in her public appearances. Victoria was a widow for 40 years and her best-known public image as “the widow of Windsor,” in which she appeared in simple black dresses and white bonnets, is one that endures.

Political Influence

As a constitutional monarch , Queen Victoria was expected to be above politics, but she nevertheless expressed her partiality for particular British prime ministers. During the early years of her reign, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, acted as a father figure and mentor to Victoria. Later in her reign, she favoured Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli — who provided her with entertaining political anecdotes — over the more reserved Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, whom she complained, “addresses me as though I were a public meeting.”

Victoria’s political opinions and priorities shifted after Albert’s death. During her 20-year marriage to Albert, she shared his commitment to such domestic reforms as reducing tariffs and raising the minimum working age to reduce child labour . Over the course of her widowhood, she became an enthusiastic imperialist and emphasized her role as “mother” of the British Empire.

Canada’s Confederation

It is fitting that Province of Canada delegates sailed to the 1864 Charlottetown Conference in Prince Edward Island aboard the Queen Victoria steamship. At the conference, Canadian delegates took the opportunity to propose British North American union to the Atlantic colonies . Victoria played a supportive role in the development of the Dominion of Canada, bringing together political figures from the British North American colonies through their shared loyalty to the Crown . She was broadly known as the “Mother of Confederation,” who believed that Confederation would reduce defence costs and strengthen relations with the United States. “I take the deepest interest in it,” Victoria told a Nova Scotian delegation in London, “for I believe it will make [the provinces] great and prosperous.” In 1857, Victoria selected Ottawa — then an obscure lumber town called Bytown — as the Province of Canada’s capital. She chose Ottawa again as capital for the Dominion in 1867 as it was sheltered from potential American invasions and stood on the border between English and French Canada.

Victoria met with John A. Macdonald and four Canadian delegates in February 1867 as the British North America Act was passed before British Parliament. Macdonald recalled that Victoria said, “I am very glad to see you on this mission. […] It is a very important measure and you have all exhibited so much loyalty.” Macdonald invited Victoria to open Canada’s first session of Parliament in Ottawa on 1 July, but she was unable to attend.

Mother of the British Empire

It is estimated that one-fifth of the world’s land mass became part of the British Empire and Dominions during Victoria’s reign — supporting the axiom that the sun never set on the British Empire. During the last decades of her reign, Victoria’s role as “mother” to the British Empire became a central part of her image. She became Empress of India at the suggestion of Disraeli in 1877.

Although Victoria did not personally travel beyond Europe, she emphasized her personal relationship with Indigenous peoples around the world. In Canada, treaties were concluded between First Nations and the Crown as the “Great Mother.” As Canada expanded westward, so did Victoria’s empire. Royal visits by Victoria’s children to Canada’s west were an opportunity to affirm Victoria’s personal relationship with her subjects. Victoria’s son-in-law, Lord Lorne , was greeted as the “great brother-in-law” by First Nations communities when he travelled across the Prairies in 1881.

Canadian author Charles Dent wrote in 1880, “In Canada, loyalty has by no means degenerated into a mere feeble sentiment of expediency. Throughout the length and breadth of our land the name of Queen Victoria is regarded with an affectionate love and veneration which is felt for no other human being.”

Grandmother of Europe

Victoria’s children and grandchildren married into Europe’s royal houses, which resulted in the monarchies of Europe being closely interrelated by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Her granddaughters included five royal consorts: Empress Alexandra of Russia, Queen Marie of Romania, Queen Maud of Norway, Queen Sophie of Greece and Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain. Her eldest grandchild was Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. The marriages of Victoria’s descendants spread British cultural practices and political influence across Europe. Victoria’s youngest son, Leopold, suffered from hemophilia, an inherited blood disorder passed to males through the female line. Hemophilia became known as the “royal disease” as it spread through Victoria’s descendants to the German, Spanish and Russian ruling houses.

Victoria was the first British monarch to celebrate public Golden and Diamond Jubilees , which marked the 50th and 60th anniversaries of her accession to the throne. These jubilees were celebrated throughout the British Empire including thanksgiving holidays in Canada. The 1887 Golden Jubilee showcased Victoria’s role as “grandmother” of Europe and the guests included royalty from across the continent. The prime ministers of the 10 self-governing overseas provinces in addition to Canada gathered in London for the Golden Jubilee to hold what was, in effect, the first Commonwealth Conference, a forerunner of the modern day Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings.

The 1897 Diamond Jubilee emphasized Victoria’s role as head of the British Empire and Dominions. The Canadian cavalry rode five abreast at the Head of the Colonial Procession. Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier , who had received his knighthood from the Queen that morning, followed in a carriage. The Toronto Grenadiers and Royal Canadian Highlanders were also part of the parade. Victoria’s personal message to Canada on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee was “From my heart I thank my beloved people. May God bless them.” Canada’s gift to Victoria in honour of her Diamond Jubilee was the establishment of the Victorian Order of Nurses . The Diamond Jubilee also had a profound effect on Canadian popular culture as new songs were composed in the Queen’s honour and buildings named for her.

Victoria was Britain’s longest reigning monarch at the time of her death in 1901, a record that Queen Elizabeth II surpassed on 9 September 2015. Victoria remained actively engaged with the British Empire until her last days, closely following the South African War . She died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight surrounded by family. Her death was regarded as the end of an era. The Canadian government decided that Victoria Day , which had been celebrated as the Queen’s birthday in Canada since 1845, would be a permanent statutory holiday to honour her role as a “Mother of Confederation .”

Canadian Sites Named for Queen Victoria

Many of Canada's towns and cities, public buildings and institutions, parks and plazas, streets and physical features have been named for Queen Victoria — and under different iterations of her title: Queen, Empress, Victoria, Regina. Explorers, mapmakers and administrators assigned the name Victoria to a multitude of geographical features all over the Canadian map. Perhaps no individual has been more honoured in this way in Canada.

Victoria College (now part of the University of Toronto ) and Queen’s University in Kingston , Ontario , were named for the Queen during her reign, as was the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montréal . The Victoria General Hospital (built 1911) in Winnipeg was also named for her.

The best-known place named for the British monarch is the city at the base of Vancouver Island . In 1843, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) resolved to name its new fort overlooking the Juan de Fuca Strait for the Queen, though Fort Albert was the name it was assigned locally. Subsequently, a stern message from London insisted on the use of Fort Victoria . The town site of Victoria was established there in 1851–52; and in 1868, the expanding city became the capital of the colony of British Columbia (itself named by Queen Victoria).

The province of Alberta also had a Victoria northeast of Edmonton , where George McDougall had established a mission (1862) and the HBC had set up a post (1864). To avoid confusion with other Victorias, the name of this small community was changed to Pakan, the nickname of a Cree chief, in 1887.

The village of Empress, northeast of Medicine Hat , was named in 1913 in commemoration of the Queen's imperial title received from British Parliament in 1877 . The Marquess of Lorne and his wife, Princess Louise (the Queen's daughter), wanted to give the name Victoria to the capital of the North-West Territories in 1882, but chose instead the other half of her Latin title, Regina . In 1905, it became the capital of the new province of Saskatchewan . Manitoba has a rural municipality and a lake named Victoria and another municipality called Victoria Beach.

One does not travel far in Ontario before encountering Victoria Corners, Victoria Square, Victoria Harbour, Victoria Springs, Victoria Lake or just plain Victoria. Evidence of Victoria is less apparent in Québec , although the second-largest place in Canada with her name is in that province. Victoriaville , a town of more than 44,313 people (2013), was named for the queen in 1861. There are also seven physical features in Québec with the name Victoria, including Grand-Lac-Victoria at the head of the Ottawa River , south of Val-d'Or .

The Atlantic Provinces have numerous places and features with the name Victoria. Among these are a county in each of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia . Victoria is an attractive seaside village in Prince Edward Island , where there are also places called Victoria Cross and Victoria West. Newfoundland and Labrador has a Victoria . A town of nearly 2,000, it lies on the west side of Conception Bay .

The territories contain Victoria Island , Canada's second-largest island in the Arctic Archipelago (after Baffin ), and Victoria and Albert Mountains on Ellesmere Island . ( See also Place Names .)

Interested in the monarchy?

Further Reading

Margaret Homans, Royal Representations: Queen Victoria and British Culture (1999)

Christopher Hibbert, Queen Victoria: A Personal History (2001)

A.N. Wilson, Victoria: A Life (2015)

Helen Rappaport, A Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert, and the Death That Changed the British Monarchy (2012)

Recommended

Queen mother (hm queen elizabeth the queen mother), queen elizabeth ii, catherine (hrh the princess of wales).

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Victoria: A Life by AN Wilson – review

T owards the end of this subtle, thoughtful biography of Queen Victoria AN Wilson presents his defining argument. Victoria, he suggests, was an artist. He isn't talking here about her rather good watercolours, but something more profound. The queen, he claims, lived an entirely inward life, filled with characters and narratives of her own making: saintly Albert, bad Bertie, twinkly Disraeli and the wicked, wicked Boers. Just like that other epic storyteller Marcel Proust , Victoria stayed home (although, unlike the Frenchman, she never allowed herself to lie in bed) and conjured up a world that unfurled over the decades as larger-than-life characters bloomed, hovered and faded, leaving behind their own particular perfume.

It is the queen's inwardness, Wilson says, which makes her such an excellent subject for a biographer. There's no requirement to go puffing after her on endless banal state visits, bridge openings, or troopings the colour – because she didn't do them, or at least not much. Anyway, Wilson covered all that in The Victorians , his bestseller of 10 years ago that dealt with the 19th-century's outerworld of iron, brick and cotton bales. In this new book he prefers to stay indoors with Victoria in one of her freezing residences as she pours out millions of words into her daily journal and letters, sifting external events through what Wilson calls "the rich comedy" of her consciousness.

Like any artist whose vision was both protean – she was perfectly capable of believing six contradictory things before breakfast – and particular, Victoria has been a magnet for biographical rereadings in the 11 decades since her death. The best include Lytton Strachey 's surprisingly tender Queen Victoria of 1921 and Elizabeth Longford 's still highly readable Victoria RI of 1964. Then, in the 1990s, academic scholars got hold of the queen and the result was a poststructuralist Victoria – all fragments, gaps and jagged edges. Now, 20 years since that last serious flurry of biographical interest, Wilson picks up the pieces and puts the jigsaw back together again, creating in the process a Victoria for our own times.

And what those times require, it turns out, is a passionate pan-Europeanist. It has long been a given of Victorian scholarship that Prince Albert spent his short, strenuous life trying to graft German liberalism on to the British constitution to create a template of moderate monarchism that could withstand the challenge of revolution and nationalism alike. His grand idea was to export this model back to Protestant Europe as a gift-with-purchase whenever someone married one of his and Victoria's nine-strong nursery tribe. By this means every Duchy, Palatinate and hyphenated micro-kingdom would be given the tools it needed to stay safe in an uncertain world. They would also, in time, join up to form a central European hub that was rock-solid liberal.

The assumption has always been that by the time of Albert's early death in 1861 this project had stalled under pressures of working class democracy at home and Prussian militarism abroad. Wilson, though, has been back to the archives in Coburg and reconnected with the tap-root of Victoria and Albert's plan for a united, moderate Germany. He shows convincingly that, despite being poleaxed by grief at losing her "Angel", Victoria remained passionately engaged in what might be described as "the Coburg project". When the Schleswig-Holstein crisis blew up in the early 1860s she understood, in a way that her prime minister, Palmerston, did not, that buried in this parochial squabble between Prussia and Denmark were the first signs of the Bismarckian aggression that would eventually rip Europe apart. It was only thanks to the wise queen, suggests Wilson, that Britain did not blunder into a war with Germany at this point, 50 years before it was capable of winning.

Wilson pays proper attention to the Hanoverian side of Victoria's inheritance too. She was the granddaughter of King George III, which meant that whenever she behaved oddly courtiers began to wonder if she might be mad. Wilson believes that there were times, especially in the late 1860s, when Victoria was properly "out of her mind". Her letters to Gladstone, sometimes scrawled in blue crayon and barely stretching to two lines, read like dispatches from an interior world to which the drawbridge has been pulled temporarily shut.

In the end, though, Wilson doesn't put the queen's strange episodes down to porphyria , the heritable disease that is assumed to have caused her grandfather to clatter off into his own imaginary kingdom. Instead, he blames grief, the menopause and too much whisky: Victoria picked up the tippling habit from John Brown and never shook it off. And as to whether or not she actually slept with the man in the tartan skirt, Wilson thinks it doesn't really matter, although it's pretty clear he thinks she did. What interests him, rather, is the way that "Mrs Brown's" spectacular bad behaviour makes her the obvious, if unlikely, role model for her scoundrel heir, the hapless Bertie. Mother and son both did exactly as they damn well pleased, embarrassing their families and imperilling the monarchy as they acted on the prompts of their own emotional and erotic inner worlds.

This makes Victoria's constant criticism of Bertie as well as his siblings – arrogant Affie, wild Louise, selfish Leopold – seem hypocritical. But, Wilson insists, for Victoria, the political always remained intensely personal. She was critiquing her children not so much as real people but as characters in an imaginary dynastic drama, as vivid to her as the Guermantes were to Proust. As Prussia began to dominate Germany, the ageing queen continued to fret over the marriages of her grandchildren – all those oyster-eyed Victorias, Alices, Arthurs and Alfreds – who were to be sent out in a second wave to the four corners of Europe, carrying their fateful cargo of haemophilia, porphyria and sound constitutional principles.

Of course, anyone who gathered in the streets in 1897 to wave a flag as the queen passed by on her way to celebrate her diamond jubilee with a Te Deum on the steps of St Paul's was probably not thinking much about the Coburg project. Decades earlier she had thrown in her lot with Disraeli , that other great storymaker, who had turned her into the Empress of India, a suitably gaudy figurehead for the new age of popular, jingoistic Toryism. All the same, Wilson suggests in this shimmering and rather wonderful biography, as the elderly queen smiled and inclined her head to the ecstatic crowd, it was still possible to discern in that dumpling form traces of all the earlier versions of herself still buried deep inside. She had become nothing less than a symbol of Time itself, a reminder of the good intentions of the past and a warning about what might happen once she was gone and, with her, the dream of a united Europe.

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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 !

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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An eye-opening biography of Queen Victoria

Posted by Mal Warwick | Biography , Nonfiction | 0

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Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

When we think today of an English Queen, we tend to conjure up the benevolent figure of Elizabeth II, waving from the balcony at Buckingham Palace or from the back seat of a car. Of course, if we read English history—or if we’ve watched the popular Netflix series, The Crown —we know more than that. For example, we’re aware that the demands of constitutional monarchy strictly circumscribe the Queen’s role. Elizabeth II had no political role whatsoever. Her job was merely to accept the will of her subjects and deal with the hand Parliament dealt her. For her son, Charles III, it’s no different. But that was emphatically not true with her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria, who ruled Great Britain from 1837 to 1901, imprinting her name on an era. And Julia Baird makes that case with penetrating clarity in her masterful biography of Queen Victoria.

A strong-willed monarch

The power Victoria wielded as sovereign was considerable despite the fact that little in the English constitution prescribed it. In fact, Britain has no written constitution. Like the common law, it evolves through the years, shaped by the will of the men and women who rise to positions of leadership. And when Victoria was born two centuries ago (in 1819), vestiges of medieval customs and expectations still governed the relationship between the monarch and Parliament. And when Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837, a strong-willed and opinionated teenager, she seized on every opportunity to shape the course of British politics and foreign affairs.

As Baird asserts, it is eye-opening today “to discover what a robust and interventionist ruler Victoria was. She regularly stretched the boundaries of her role. She tried as hard as she could to ensure she and the foreign secretary would decide matters of foreign policy together, without their needing to be canvassed in the Cabinet. [And] she bypassed the prime minister to give her own directives to generals.” But she went even further. On several occasions Vitoria attempted to install men she favored as Prime Minister or block those she opposed. She was in no way limited to a decorative role. “It was not until after [her son] Bertie ascended the throne [as King Edward VIII] that this ceremonial and symbolic kind of monarchy would become the norm.”

Victoria, the Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire by Julia Baird (2016) 752 pages ★★★★★

Asserting the Crown’s influence over policy

For two decades, Victoria ruled jointly with her husband, Prince Albert. And their workload was prodigious. “In 1848,” for example, “twenty-eight thousand dispatches came to them from the Foreign Office alone, on everything from the Chartists and the European revolutions to the devastating impact of increased tariffs on sugar in the West Indies . . . and the ambitious king of Sardinia. Victoria and Albert jointly wrote letters, corrected drafts sent from the foreign minister and PM, fired off letters to a host of political figures, both domestic and foreign, and prepared memoranda on events. They were intensely involved in all correspondence with other countries.”

After Albert’s passing in 1861, ending their twenty-one years of marriage, Victoria ruled alone for another thirty-nine years. Although she was less attentive to detail than they had been together, she was no less involved in exerting her influence on the major questions of the day. In fact, if anything, she was even more assertive during the final three decades of the century. As Baird notes, “While the role of the monarch in British politics dwindled to one of constitutional consigliere as the franchise was expanded and the House of Commons grew in influence, Victoria continued to demand space.”

More than an “intimate biography”

Victoria, The Queen delivers the “intimate biography” promised in its subtitle. We follow Victoria’s life up close and personal through the birth of nine children and forty-two grandchildren, her cherished relationships with several men, and, one after another, the death of loved family and friends as the end of her long life approached. But there’s a lot more here. The author provides nothing less than a wide-ranging view of the Victorian Age. The book is full of vivid cameo portraits of many of the leading figures in British life in the nineteenth century. Charles Dickens. Florence Nightingale. Lord Tennyson. Charles Darwin. Oscar Wilde. And the storied Prime Ministers with whom Victoria alternately collaborated or resisted, especially Melbourne , Disraeli , Palmerston , and especially Gladstone .

Similarly, Baird offers insight into many of the signature events of the nineteenth century. The Continental revolutions of 1848 . Prince Albert’s inspired Great Exhibition of 1851 in the Crystal Palace. The Crimean War . The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, when the Crown seized India from the British East India Company, eventually making Victoria an empress. And the Boer War , when the British invented the concentration camp. The effect is panoramic.

About the author

Julia Baird is an Australian journalist and author as well as a television news reporter in Sydney. Until the age of ten, she grew up in the United States, where her father was a trade commissioner. She holds a BA and PhD in History from the University of Sydney, and she was a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She also has received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. Baird is the author of four nonfiction books on diverse subjects.

For related reading

You’ll find this book listed along with 10 great biographies .

For an excellent overview of British history, see The Shortest History of England: Empire and Division from the Anglo-Saxons to Brexit—A Retelling for Our Times  by James Hawes ( English history that’s not just about kings and queens ).

You might also care to check out 20 top nonfiction books about history and Top 10 nonfiction books about politics .

And you can always find my most popular reviews, and the most recent ones, on the  Home Page .

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The Best Books About Queen Victoria

Feed your royal curiosity with the most interesting stories about the iconic queen.

Every item on this page was chosen by a Town & Country editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.

Victoria: The Queen by Julia Baird

Even the most dedicated fans of Queen Victoria are sure to learn something new in this biography of the monarch. From Victoria's struggle to claim her own power as a vivacious but sheltered young woman, to her rule in a rapidly changing world, Baird delves into previously unpublished sources, including information about Victoria's controversial relationship with her servant John Brown, to craft an enlightening biography. 

Victoria: A Novel by Daisy Goodwin

Written by the writer and creator of Masterpiece's Victoria , Daisy Goodwin, this novel, based on the young life of the queen (and drawing from her personal diaries) is sure to hit the spot for anyone wishing for more episodes of Victoria . 

We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian Gill

They're known to history for their fairytale romance—a love story that transcended even death—but there was far more to the marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert than passion. Gill's book serves as a biography of one of the most famous marriages in history, both the fawning romance and the rough patches born of two strong personalities butting heads. 

Victoria: The Heart and Mind of a Young Queen by Helen Rappaport

This official companion piece to Victoria, written by the show's historical consultant, digs even further into Victoria's personal letter and journals, mining details from the queen's young life including her opinions of her suitors and the drama of court as well as photos and details from the filming of the show. 

Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams

Often overlooked in the history of Victoria's rise to the throne is her cousin, Princess Charlotte, whose unexpected death left England without an heir and led directly to Victoria's conception. CNN's official royal historian delves into the lives of both royal women in her biography, exploring all of the depths and similarities between the queen and the queen-who-could-have-been.

Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting by Carolyn Harris

Though Victoria was famously iffy on the prospect of having children, her life as a mother is perhaps one of the features she's best remembered for. From their medieval ancestors to Victoria and Albert all the way to William and Kate, this history examines the way royal parents have raised their broods and how their choices as parents have influenced the rise and fall of empires. 

More:   What Was Queen Victoria Like as a Mother?

Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days That Changed Her Life by Lucy Worsley

Rather than your typical chronological biography, Worsley examines the life of Queen Victoria through the lens of 24 days that made a particular impact on the queen, including the obvious (her birth, her wedding, Prince Albert's death) as well as the ephemeral (a particular Christmas morning, the wedding day of her youngest child, Princess Beatrice.) 

Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Craving a more Downton Abbey view of life at Victoria's court? Pulling from the letters and diaries of six members of the queen's household, this nonfiction book paints a portrait of the monarch's family and life in Osbourne house from a decidedly un-royal perspective. 

Lauren Hubbard is a freelance writer and Town & Country contributor who covers beauty, shopping, entertainment, travel, home decor, wine, and cocktails.

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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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Old News, Vintage News, Historical News, Retro News

Queen victoria survived eight attempts against her life.

From 1837 until 1901, Queen Victoria enjoyed a majestic 63-year reign, the second longest in British history. The Victorian Era saw many events and changes – some good and some bad. For Queen Victoria herself, her long reign included eight assassination attempts, all of which she survived.

June 10, 1840–Edward Oxford

The first attempt occurred on June 10, 1840, just months after Queen Victoria married Prince Albert and while the Queen was pregnant. The queen and Albert left Buckingham Palace in an open carriage, and Albert noticed “a little mean-looking man holding something towards us” as they drove through Hyde Park. Before he, or anyone else, had time to react, Edward Oxford fired a dueling pistol at the queen.

While he was only yards away, Oxford missed. He then took a second shot with a second pistol. When the queen ducked in preparation for the second attempt, that shot also missed. Bystanders in the park tackled Oxford to the ground. The queen and Albert carried on through the park, as Albert later described , “partly to give Victoria a little air, partly also to show the public that we had not, on account of what had happened, lost all confidence in them.”

After the attempt, Oxford was deemed guilty by insanity and spent the next 24 years in an asylum before being deported to Australia. He is the longest-surviving attempted assassin of a British monarch.

May 29, 1842–John Francis

During the afternoon, following a Sunday service at the royal chapel at St. James’ Palace, the queen and Albert traveled in a carriage down The Mall in London. During this trip, Albert saw “a little, swarthy, ill-looking rascal,” as he would later describe him.

This “rascal,” John Francis, lifted a pistol up toward the carriage and pulled the trigger. However, the flintlock pistol he had chosen to use misfired . Having failed to assassinate the Queen, Francis hid his pistol and disappeared into Green Park.

May 30, 1842–John Francis

Despite an armed assassin being on the loose in London, Queen Victoria was adamant that she would not hide away in Buckingham Palace until he was caught. It was decided that the queen and Albert would go for an evening drive around London . Albert wrote of the idea, “You may imagine that our minds were not very easy… we looked behind every tree, and I cast my eyes round in search of the rascal’s face.”

Constables were scouring the area for the would-be assassin. Before they found him, however, a gunshot rang out only five paces from the carriage. Francis, who had just made a second attempt on the queen’s life, missed and was arrested. He was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged and quartered. However, the queen ordered his sentence be changed to deportation in Australia.

July 3, 1842–John William Bean

The queen’s life again came under fire only weeks after the previous attempt. As she left Buckingham Palace for a Sunday service at the Royal Chapel, John William Bean waited with the crowds along The Mall. Bean suffered from a spinal deformity that made him stand barely four feet tall, and he was severely depressed . He desperately wanted change and believed that attempting to take the queen’s life would be a chance at a new start. Making his way to the front, Bean pulled a pistol from his coat.

Bean pulled the trigger as the queen passed, but his pistol misfired. Although someone in the crowd grabbed his wrist, he was able to escape. Afterward, the police rounded up everyone fitting the description of a short hunchback and found Bean at his home. Bean tried to explain that the queen’s life was never in danger since the gun had been loaded with more tobacco than gunpowder.

Bean was found guilty and sentenced to 18 months of hard labor.

June 19, 1849–William Hamilton

Following an evening of celebrations for the queen’s birthday, she wrote through Hyde and Regents Park with three of her children, including the Prince of Wales. Standing in the same spot where Edward Oxford had fired a pistol at Queen Victoria nine years earlier, William Hamilton fired a pistol at the royal party on their way back to Buckingham Palace.

Once again, the queen was unharmed, and Hamilton was taken into custody. He later explained that he had emigrated from Ireland to London due to the Great Hunger in the 1840s. Not able to find work, he felt that going to prison made a better prospect than unemployment. The gun he used was apparently only loaded with gunpowder; however, Hamilton pled guilty and was deported to Gibraltar for seven years.

June 27, 1850–Robert Pate

Robert Pate’s attempt is not necessarily an assassination attempt but an act of violence against the queen. Following a visit to Cambridge House with three of her children, Queen Victoria was to depart in a carriage for Buckingham Palace. Before they left, Pate walked through the crowd and hit the queen on the head with his cane. This left the queen with a bruise, a black eye, and a scar , but nothing more serious.

Pate had once served as an officer in the British Army and had become known around London as a bit of a lunatic . Goose-stepping around Hyde Park, his behavior was not in keeping with Victorian decorum. After he struck the queen, the crowd grabbed him and pulled him away. The queen declared, “I’m not hurt.”

Pate became the only ‘assassin’ to actually hurt the queen, and following his attack, he was sentenced to seven years in the Tasmania penal colony.

February 29, 1872–Arthur O’Connor

While the queen enjoyed a carriage drive around London, 17-year-old Arthur O’Connor climbed the fence surrounding Buckingham Palace and waited for her return with an assassin’s intentions. When she arrived, O’Connor ran toward the carriage holding a pistol. Just before he reached her, John Brown, the queen’s personal assistant, grabbed O’Connor by the neck and disarmed him. For his actions, Brown received a medal for heroism.

O’Connor claimed he never wished to hurt the queen but wanted to threaten her to release Irish political prisoners from British jails. It was found that the pistol he carried was broken and would not have worked. Despite this, he was sentenced to a year in prison, 20 strokes of a birch rod, and deportation to Australia .

March 2, 1882–Roderick Maclean

March 2, 1882, was to be the final attempt on Queen Victoria’s life. As she departed Windsor Station for Windsor Castle, crowds, including boys from Eton College, cheered as the carriage started to move. The queen wrote , “At the same time, there was the sound of what I thought was an explosion from the engine, but in another moment, I saw people rushing about and a man being violently hustled, rushing down the street.”

What had just occurred was Roderick Maclean firing a single shot at the Queen. He missed, and in defense of their queen, the Eton boys in the crowd pummeled Maclean until the police took him into custody. He was ultimately found not guilty due to insanity and spent the rest of his life in an asylum .

More from us:  FBI Files on Queen Elizabeth II Reveal IRA Threat During Her 1983 Visit to the United States

Whatever their various motives for trying to assassinate Queen Victoria, none of her attackers succeeded. Attempts on her life did little to slow down or stop the queen, as it was reported following the attack made by Robert Pate, only two hours passed before she returned to her official duties.

On This Day...

Blog Post #3: Victoria’s Legacy: The Monarch Who Defined an Era

On January 18, 2024

In Uncategorized

Date: January 22 nd , 2024 ( posted on January 18th)

Throughout this blog, battles, prime ministers, monarchs, conferences, foreign ministers, prime ministers, and key events have all been covered. Events have spanned across eras of time, beginning in the early 1700s and moving onward, and have covered various countries and territories. Yet despite all that has been covered, a fascinating era in Great Britain remains to be spoken about. The Era of the First British Monarch to Live in Buckingham Palace. The Era of Queen Victoria. This leads me to….  

On this day 123 years ago, Queen Victoria passed away, marking the end of the Victorian Era.  

Throughout her rule, British Prime Minister Lord Melbourne was her trusted advisor and confidante and with his aid, Victoria quickly won back the public’s approval of the monarchy and it’s status as she worked to modernize the empire, “supporting the arts and charities and championing industrial advancements” who were available to all classes (“Queen Victoria”). Her ability to win back public approval for the monarchy during her reign was closely tied to her efforts in modernizing the empire and promoting inclusivity. Recognizing the changing societal dynamics of the time, Queen Victoria strategically positioned the monarchy as a progressive force. Her patronage of the arts contributed to the flourishing of literature, music, and fine arts, fostering a vibrant cultural scene that resonated with the public across different social classes.  

Countless sources remark that during Queen Victoria’s reign, the British Empire was at its largest and most powerful. Her empire “included India, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa” and “accounted for roughly one in four people on Earth” (“Queen Victoria”). She remains the second-longest-reigning English royal in history, beaten only be her great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Victoria’s steadfast rule and commitment to public service left an indelible mark on the British monarchy and shaped the trajectory of the 19th century.  

“Queen Victoria – Children, Family Tree & Facts.” History.Com , A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2022, www.history.com/topics/european-history/queen-victoria.

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