Victoria | The grandmother of Europe

Perhaps the best-known queen in the history of the United Kingdom, up until 2015, she was the longest running monarch and at one point, was related to every monarch in Europe. Her extensive reign was known as the Victorian era and saw a huge surge in industry, politics, science and military change. It was also a period of huge expansion for the British empire, so much so, that parliament made Victoria the Empress of India. As the final monarch of the House of Hanover, Victoria certainly made a big impact.  

Quick Facts 

Born: Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, 24th May 1819 at Kensington Palace, London 
Died: 22nd January 1901 (aged 81) at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, England 
Reign: 10th June 1837 – 22nd January 1901 
Parents: Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld 
Predecessor: William IV (uncle) 
Successor: Edward VII (son) 
Spouse: Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (until his death in 1861)  
Children: Victoria, German Empress; Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom; Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine; Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Helena, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein; Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll; Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn; Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg 
Royal House: Hanover 

Born Alexandrina Victoria on 24th May 1819 the only daughter of Prince Edward of Kent, the fourth son of King George III, and the Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield, it was never really considered that Victoria would come anywhere near the throne.  

Fifth in line for the throne 

George III had a bit of a crisis in the years leading up to Victoria’s birth, he had only one legitimate grandchild, the Princess Charlotte, however when she died in 1817, there was a succession crisis that brought pressure on Prince Edward and his siblings to marry and have children. This led to the marriage between Prince Edward and Princess Victoria, a widowed German princess with two children by her first marriage. Her brother, Leopold, had been married to the recently deceased Princess Charlotte and was later made King of Belgium.

At birth, Victoria was fifth in line for the throne after her three uncles, George the Prince of Wales, who would later become George IV, Frederick the Duke of York, William the Duke of Clarence, who would later be William IV, and her father.  

She was christened privately by the Arch Bishop of Canterbury and was named for her godfather, the Tsar Alexander I and her mother. There were other names proposed for the princess, but her uncle George vetoed the majority of them.  The Prince Regent, later George IV, had no surviving children after the death of Princess Charlotte and the Duke of York also had no children. Victoria’s other uncle, William, had several illegitimate children and two legitimate daughters, however both died in infancy.  

Victoria’s father died in January 1820 when Victoria was less than a year old. A week later, her grandfather George III died and was succeeded by her uncle, George IV. This made Victoria third in line for the throne after her uncles Frederick and William. Frederick died in 1827 followed by George IV in 1830, with the throne passing to William and making Victoria heir presumptive. The Regency Act of 1830 made provision for Victoria’s mother to act as regent in case William should die while she was still a minor, however, William and her mother had such a fractious relationship that he declared that he was determined to live until Victoria’s 18th birthday, so a regency could be avoided. He got his wish, and the Dowager Duchess was unable to accrue any more power.  

Life as the heir presumptive 

While most of the monarchs before Victoria, including her uncle William, relished their chance to get on the throne, Victoria’s life as heir presumptive was a miserable one. She kept extensive diaries in which she described her childhood as being a melancholy affair. Her mother was extremely protective and, along with Sir John Conroy, her Comptroller, raised her largely alone and away from others under the so called Kensington System. This system prevented Victoria from meeting people they deemed to be undesirable, which included most of her father’s family. The system was ultimately designed to make her dependent on them and Victoria was forced to share a bedroom with her mother and was only out of her sight while under the supervision of her tutors. Her only real company at this age was her King Charles Spaniel, Dash.  

As she approached her teens, Victoria’s mother and Comptroller took her across England, visiting several towns and villages to introduce her to the population. These journeys took on the style of a Royal Progress and took place in 1830, 1832, 1833, 1834 and 1835, much to the annoyance of King William IV who was concerned that they made his niece look like his rival rather than his heir. It wasn’t just the king who was opposed, Victoria also disliked the trips but was forced to continue.  

At various points in her early teens, her mother attempted to have Victoria promote Conroy to her private secretary, to no avail. Once she became queen, Victoria banned him from her presence, though he did remain a member of her mother’s household.  

Meeting Albert 

As heir presumptive, Victoria had pressure to find a suitable husband. Her Uncle Leopold, who was the Belgian king, hoped for her to marry his nephew, Prince Albert from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who was Victoria’s cousin. However, King William wanted her to marry Prince Alexander of the Netherlands. Victoria’s diaries indicated that she was aware of these discussions happening without her but did write about enjoying Albert’s company more than Alexander’s. Post her and Albert’s first meeting, Victoria wrote to Leopold to thank him for the introduction, but insisted that as interested as she was, she was only seventeen and not yet ready to get married. The parties did not undergo a formal engagement but there was an assumption that a marriage would take place at some point.  

The pair did tie the knot after Victoria became queen. As an unmarried woman, she was required by social convention to live with her mother, though the pair had a difficult relationship. Victoria consigned her mother to a remote apartment in Buckingham Palace and refused to see or speak to her. It was eventually Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister in the early part of her reign who suggested getting married in order to free her from her mother. Despite Victoria’s eagerness for emancipation, she resisted attempts to be rushed into marriage.  

Albert visited Victoria for a second time two years after her ascension and Victoria proposed to him on 15th October 1839. They were married the following February and she wrote extensively in her diaries about how in love she was. Albert became an important political advisor, as well as Victoria’s main companion, replacing Lord Melbourne as the most influential figure in her life. Once married, her mother was evicted and sent to live in Belgrave Square, before being given both Clarence and Frogmore Houses. Albert took on a key role to reconcile the pair.  

Accession 

William IV was determined to live long enough to deny Victoria’s mother the Regency and kept to his word, dying a month after Victoria’s 18th birthday. He was 71 years old. At the time, the law in Hanover meant that women were excluded from the succession, so while Victoria inherited the British throne, her uncle Ernest, the Duke of Cumberland, took the Hanovarian one.  

It was on her accession that Victoria officially dropped Alexandrina from her name. It was never used again.Her coronation took place on 28th June 1838 at Westminster Abbey with over 400,000 visitors coming to London for the celebration. Despite being heir presumptive for a large portion of her childhood, Victoria was inexperienced when it came to politics and almost immediately, Lord Melbourne, the prime minister and leader of the majority Whig government became a powerful influence on her. Historians say that their relationship was similar to that of a father/daughter relationship and despite his influence, he was said to respect her.  

On getting the crown, Victoria became the first sovereign to take up residence at Buckingham Palace.  

Early scandal 

Despite Victoria’s reign being characterised as having strict standards of personal morality, she was beset with a scandal early on in her reign. The Bedchamber Crisis as it came to be known cantered around a rumour that surfaced in 1839 when one of her mother’s ladies in waiting suddenly experienced bloating. It was widely accepted that Conroy had impregnated her and Victoria, blinded by her distaste of Conroy, publicly talked about the rumours, lending more legitimacy to the claims. Eventually, the young lady was forced into an intimate examination which revealed that she was not only not pregnant, but also a virgin. A few months later, the woman died and a post-mortem revealed that she had a large tumour in her abdomen. This led to Victoria and her treatment of the lady in waiting being ridiculed by the public.  

Reign 

Victoria’s long reign had many lasting impacts on the United Kingdom. In 1845, she presided over the Irish Potato Famine, leading to her being known as the Famine Queen in Ireland. During the crisis, more than a million Irish people died and millions more emigrated, however, she did personally donate a large sum, almost £6 million in today’s money, to a relief fund, significantly more than any other donor. She also supported relief for the Roman Catholics.  

Victoria took a keen interest in improving relations with France, hosting several visits with French dignitaries. She was the first British or English monarch to visit the French monarch since Henry VIII visited Francis I. Similarly, King Louis Philippe, the French King was the first to visit a British sovereign. He was deposed in the revolution of 1848 and fled to England.  

Over the years, Victoria was the subject of several assassination attempts. In 1840, just a few months into her marriage with Albert, 18-year-old Edward Oxford attempted to shoot at her while the newlyweds were riding in a carriage through London. He fired twice, but didn’t hit anything, he was tried for high treason but found not guilty by reason of insanity and was sent to live in Australia.  Two years later, there was another attempt on her life. John Francis attempted to shoot her, but escaped and to provoke him to try again, Victoria rode the same route the day after, only with more escorts. He took another shot and was captured and convicted. Two days after he was sent to Australia, John William Bean also tried to shoot her, but didn’t actually have ammunition in his gun, so was sentenced to 18 months in prison. In 1848, William Hamilton also tried to shoot her and she was injured when an ex-soldier assaulted her. Both received seven years in Australia. There were others throughout her reign, including an incident in Windsor when school boys from Eton beat the perpetrator with umbrellas until the police came and another, where her servant, John Brown, jumped in to aid her.  

It wasn’t just Victoria who was the subject of assassination attempts. In the 1850s, there was a diplomatic crisis when Britain’s closes ally, Napoleon III was attacked by an Italian refugee with a bomb that was traced back to England. The crisis destabilised the government so much, that Lord Palmerston, who was by that time prime minister, resigned. Eleven days after this attempt on Napoleon, Victoria’s eldest daughter, also Victoria, was married to Prince Frederick William of Prussia. The pair had been betrothed since the princess was 14, but Victoria had delayed the wedding for as long as possible and wrote of her heartbreak at seeing her leave for Germany. A year later, the queen welcomed her first grandchild, Wilhelm, who would become the last German Emperor.  

 Motherhood 

Victoria and Albert had nine children, their first, a daughter called Victoria was born on 21st November 1840. She was followed by Albert Edward (who would later rule as Edward VII), Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold and Beatrice.  

Victoria was said to have hated being pregnant and didn’t like new-born babies. Historians have debated whether she suffered from post-natal depression, as letters between Albert and Victoria showed that he was concerned for her health and was particularly worried about her frequent bouts of hysteria.  In 1853, Victoria gave birth to her eighth child, Leopold with the aid of chloroform, which was being used as an anaesthetic for the first time. She enjoyed the relief so much that she used it again in 1857 for the birth of her final child, Beatrice. This was done in direct opposition from the church, who considered it against biblical teaching and the royal doctors, who though it was dangerous.  

Eight of her nine children married into other European royal and noble families, which led to Victoria becoming known as the Grandmother of Europe. Of her 42 grandchildren, 34 survived to adulthood, with many of them ruling warring nations during WWI. Her living descendants include Queen Elizabeth II.  As well as being related to most of the noble families throughout Europe, Victoria’s line also introduced the blood condition haemophilia into the royal family. Her youngest son Leopold had Haemophilia B and at least two of her five daughters were known to be carriers. Perhaps the most famous of her affected descendants was Alexi Nikolayevich, the last tsarevich of Russia.  

The presence of the disease in Victoria’s descendants but not her ancestors has led to some to speculate that the Duke of Kent was not her true father as there is no documentary evidence of the disease being on her mother’s side. However, it has been noted that the mutation could have happened because the Duke was over 50 at the time of Victoria’s conception and haemophilia is seen more frequently in children of older fathers.  

Widowhood 

In March 1861, Victoria lost her mother and on inheriting her private papers, came to the conclusion that her mother had actually loved her deeply and the root of their conflict had come from Conroy. Albert was gravely ill at the time, but took on most of Victoria’s duties, allowing her time to grieve.  

Later that year, the pair visited their son Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, who they knew as Bertie. He was attending army manoeuvrers in Ireland and while there, Albert was made aware that his son had been sleeping around. The pair argued and by the beginning of December, Albert’s health failed, with him dying on 14th December 1861 of suspected typhoid fever. Victoria was devastated and blamed their son for his death, saying that it was the worry over Bertie’s behaviour that had caused him to become ill.  

Victoria entered a state of mourning and wore black for the remainder of her life. She avoided public appearances and rarely visited London earning her the nickname of the Widow of Windsor. Her weight increased due to comfort eating and her self-imposed isolation diminished her popularity. Though she continued to undertake all her official duties, she chose to remain secluded and spent her time either at Windsor Castle, Osborne House or Balmoral. Her Uncle Leopold, King of Belgium, urged her to return to public life and on his insistence, she started travelling to London to visit the gardens at Kensington and make a few public appearances.  

It was in the 1860s, after the death of Albert that she began to rely heavily on one of her servants, John Brown. So close were the pair that some began to refer to her as Mrs Brown and there were rumours of a secret marriage between them. Though a romantic relationship was never confirmed, Victoria did publish some of her diaries, known as the Leaves, from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands, which featured Brown prominently.  

In 1865, the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston died and was replaced by Lord Derby, prompting Victoria to attend the state opening of parliament for the first time since Albert’s death. The following year, she supported the passing of a new Reform Act which doubled the electorate to working men, but she was famously not in favour of women’s suffrage. Lord Derby resigned in 1868 and was replaced by Benjamin Disraeli, who would go on to be a close friend to the queen, with her referring to him as her favourite prime minister. His first stint at prime minister would only last a few months before he lost the election and was replaced by his political rival William Gladstone. Victoria was said to find him much less appealing.  

In 1870 the Third French Republic took place, which caused low level unrest in Britain and led to Victoria falling ill in 1871. She made a full recovery in time to find out that the Prince of Wales had contracted typhoid fever. As the 10th anniversary of Albert’s death approached and the prince showed no sign of recovery, Victoria sank back into a depression and became fretful that she would also lose her son. He began to recover by 1872 and the pair, now reconciled, attended a public parade together to celebrate.  

Empress of India 

One of the biggest things to take place during Victoria’s reign was the expansion of the British Empire. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the East India Company, which had ruled much of the continent was dissolved and India was incorporated into the British Empire. Victoria spoke of her horror and regret at the war and openly campaigned for religious freedoms in India. It was this that led to Victoria gaining the title of Empress of India which was finalised in 1877.  

Disraeli returned as prime minister in 1874, passing the Public Worship Regulation Act, which removed catholic rituals from Anglican services, something Victoria was much in favour of, being more aligned with the Scottish Presbyterian Church than the Church of England. It was also Disraeli that pushed for the Royal Titles Act, which gave her the title of Empress. Between April 1877 and February 1878, she threatened to abdicate five times to pressure Disraeli into acting against Russia during the Russo-Turkish Ear, but her threats had no impact on the events, which ended with the Congress of Berlin. Disraeli’s expansionist foreign policy, which Victoria endorsed, led to the Anglo-Zulu War and the second Anglo-Afghan War. Victoria however saw the expansion of the British Empire as being a way to protect native peoples from other powers in a civilised manner and she welcomed all expansion.  

She was dismayed when Disraeli’s conservative government lost the general election of 1880 and Gladstone’s liberals returned. She described Gladstone as  “half-crazy and really in many ways, ridiculous old man.”  Disraeli died the following year and the queen wrote of her sorrow. Custom dictated that she could not attend his funeral, but she did visit his grave in the days following and erected a memorial tablet that read: “placed by his grateful sovereign and friend, Victoria R. I”. 

Later years and Jubilees 

On 17th March 1883, Victoria fell down the stairs at Windsor and was rendered lame for several months, never fully recovering. Ten days after the accident, John Brown died, and Victoria mourned by writing a book about him. Her private secretary advised her not to publish it and the manuscript was destroyed. She did however later publish her diaries which were dedicated to him.  

She received word on the first anniversary of Brown’s death that her youngest son, Leopold had died and the following month, Beatrice, her youngest child, asked for her permission to get married. Victoria tried to stop the plans, so that she could keep her daughter living with her, eventually though, she allowed the match on the condition that Beatrice and her new husband remained living with her.  

Victoria’s Golden Jubilee took place in 1887. She celebrated with a banquet in which 50 royals from around the world attended. The following day, she participated in a procession and thanksgiving service. That same week, she engaged two Indian Muslim waiters, one of whom was promoted to Munshi and began acting as her clerk and teaching her urdu. Her family and staff were appalled, but she dismissed their complaints as racism, he remained in her service until her death when he returned to India with a pension.  

On the 23rd September 1896, Victoria surpassed her grandfather George III as the longest reigning monarch in British history. She requested that any special celebrations be delayed to coincide with her Diamond Jubilee which was to take place the following year.  

The Diamond Jubilee was made a Festival of the British Empire and the prime ministers of all the self-governing dominions were invited. The invitation was only extended to prime ministers and not heads of state to avoid having to invite Wilhem, her eldest grandchild. Victoria and Albert’s hopes for a liberal Germany were dashed as Wilhelm was a firm believer in autocracy and Victoria was less than pleased with her grandson’s personality and demeaner. Victoria wanted him excluded from the celebrations as she feared he would cause a scene. The Diamond Jubilee procession on 22nd June 1897 followed a route six miles long through London and included troops from all over the Empire. There was an open-air service outside St Paul’s Cathedral, throughout which Victoria stayed in her carriage so she didn’t have to climb the stairs to the building.  

Final days and legacy 

In July 1900, Victoria’s second son, Alfred (known to the family as Alfie) died. She wrote about her sorrow at length in her diaries and following a custom she maintained after the death of Albert, spent the end of the year at Osborne House, her personal holiday home on the Isle of Wight. By this time, she was suffering with rheumatism in her legs and had poor eyesight due to cataracts.  

After Christmas, she reported feeling weak and unwell and died on 22nd January 1901 at the age of 81 having reigned for 63 years, 7 months and 2 days. She was the longest reigning British monarch and the longest reigning queen regent in world history until her great-great granddaughter, Elizabeth II surpassed her in 2015. She was the last monarch of Britain from the House of Hanover.  

Her son Albert, who would succeed her as king Edward VII and her eldest grandson, Emperor Wilhelm II were at her deathbed along with her favourite pet, a Pomeranian called Turi who was on the bed with her as per her last request.  

Victoria left strict instructions for her funeral which was to be in a military style and was to be white in colour rather than black. On 25th January, her sons, Albert and Arthur, along with Wilhelm, transported her to her coffin. She had been dressed in white and wore her wedding vail. An array of mementos commemorating her family, friends, servants, and life were laid in the coffin with her at her request, including one of Prince Albert’s dressing gowns and a plaster cast of his hand. A lock of John Brown’s hair and a photo of him were placed in her left hand, concealed from view by flowers. Items of jewellery were also included, with John Brown’s mother’s wedding ring, which he had gifted to the queen, among them. She lay in state for two days and was then interred beside her husband at Windsor Great Park. Her son Albert succeeded her as the first monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, taking the name of his father’s royal house.  

Historians know much more about Victoria’s thoughts and feelings because she wrote extensively in personal diaries which covered almost every day of her adult life. After her death, her daughter Beatrice was appointed her literary executor and transcribed and edited the diaries that covered Victoria’s coronation onwards. She was described as being stout, dowdy and only around 5 feet tall, but was said to have an imposing figure. Despite being widely believed to have used the phrase “we are not amused”, Victoria was actually described as often being amused and having a roaring laugh.  

Her legacy included the gradual establishment of a modern constitutional monarchy in Britain, reforms of the voting system and a last impact on the world at large, with several places around the world being named after her. The Victoria Cross remains the highest award for bravery and was introduced in 1856 to reward those who fought in the Crimean War.  

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Places to visit 

Albert Memorial, London 

Balmoral Castle, Scotland 

Big Ben, London 

Buckingham Palace, London 
Victoria was the first to make this the official London residence of the monarchy. There is a statue to her found here. 

Guildhall, London
Under the Guildhall are some of London's largest medieval crypts, Victoria attended a banquet here. 

Kensington Palace, London 
Victoria's childhood home. 

Osborne House, East Cowes, Isle of Wight 
Victoria's official holiday home. 

Royal Albert Hall, London
Victoria officially opened the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences, as it was then known. 

Royal Glen Hotel, Sidmouth   
The hotel is set within a former family home, Victoria and her parents lived here for a brief time in her infancy. Her father and grandfather both died while she was living here. 

Royal Pavilion, Brighton

St James’ Palace, London 

Windsor Castle, Berkshire 
This was the royal family's principle residence.