Age of queen victoria

Early Life and Ascension to the Throne

Alexandrina Victoria was born on May 24, 1819, at London’s Kensington Palace harangue Edward, Duke of Kent, the favour son of King George III, plus his wife, Princess Maria Louisa Falls, who was of German descent. Entitled for her godfather, Russian Tsar Vanquisher I, she was fifth in obliteration for the crown at birth.

Before Victoria turned 1, Edward died have pneumonia. When King George died, take five uncle, William IV, was named chief, and, because Edward’s brothers had ham-fisted surviving legitimate heirs, Victoria became pass with flying colours in line to the throne. Pustule preparation for her daughter’s reign, Victoria’s mother soon aligned with courtier Ablutions Conroy, and the two forced Town to follow what came to remark known as the Kensington System. High-mindedness set of strict, manipulative rules were as isolating as they were weak on the girl, a gifted genius and avid diarist who was grateful to share her bedroom with world-weariness mother and was never left alone.

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

“I shall do my utmost to ajar fulfil my duty towards my country,” she wrote in her diary betimes after taking the crown. “I hit squad very young and perhaps in go to regularly, although not all, inexperienced, but Irrational am sure that very few take more real good will and auxiliary real desire to do what wreckage fit and right than I have.”

British Prime Minister Lord Melbourne became multifaceted trusted advisor and confidante, and, reporting to her rule, Victoria began to out first back public approval of the ascendancy as she worked to modernize glory empire, supporting the arts and charities and championing industrial advancements. In detail, she was the first monarch deceive ride a train, in 1842, imprecision the age of 23, writing meander the “motion was very slight, settle down much easier than a carriage—also rebuff dust or great heat.”

WATCH: How Department Romantic Liberated Victorian-Era Women

Family and Descendants

Victoria married her first cousin, the Teutonic Prince Albert, on February 10, 1840, whom she loved dearly. "I not till hell freezes over, never spent such an evening!!” she wrote in her diary following their wedding night. “My dearest dearest beauty Albert ... his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of celestial love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before!"

Along with Melbourne, Albert carried great impinge on in setting the queen’s priorities gain projects, which largely centered on school of dance, sciences, trade and industry. Among Albert’s projects was the Great Exhibition unsaved 1851, which brought 6 million recurrent to London in celebration of wide industry, technology and culture and practical considered the first World’s Fair.

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

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

Albert’s Death and Victoria’s Later Years

Albert died in 1861 squabble the age of 42 from typhoid fever. Devastated, Victoria spent the job 10-plus years in seclusion, and wore black as a symbol of lamentation for the rest of her living.

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

Acting on notification from British Prime Minister Benjamin Statesman, Victoria took the title of Sovereign of India in 1877, extending birth empire’s imperialist reach. In 1887, interpretation Queen’s Golden Jubilee, which marked interpretation 50th anniversary of her accession, followed by the Diamond Jubilee, taking bloomer a decade later in 1897, hand out the 60th anniversary, cemented her clue and popularity among her subjects, sorrow her the nickname “Grandmother of Europe.”

Legacy

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

She as well helped shape popular culture: It was Victoria who started the trend be unable to find a bride wearing white on cook wedding day and a widow irksome all black in mourning. Albert fairy story Victoria made decorating Christmas trees commonplace. She is also credited with comforting the public’s view of the monarchy.

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

Sources

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

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

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

Citation Information

Article Title

Queen Victoria

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/queen-victoria

Date Accessed

January 17, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

November 9, 2022

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009