
Queen Victoria
Profile
Alexandrina Victoria was born on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace, London, and was the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent, and Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Victoria was fifth in the line of succession after the four eldest sons of King George III: George, the Prince Regent; Frederick, Duke of York; William, Duke of Clarence; and her father, Edward, Duke of Kent. She was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace. Victoria was named Alexandrina after her godfather, Tsar Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother.
Since the Duke of Kent was one of fifteen children, there was no reason to expect a crisis in the line of succession would develop within one generation but that is exactly what happened. Despite their strict upbringing, the seven surviving sons of George III were more inclined to taking mistresses than making suitable marriages and had produced a large number of illegitimate children who could not inherit. The Prince Regent had contracted an illegal marriage with his mistress, Maria Fitzherbert, while his brother, Frederick, who was next in line, had entered into a loveless marriage with his cousin, Frederica Charlotte of Prussia, and was unlikely to produce children.
Realising the need for an heir, the prince regent was practically blackmailed into making a dynastic marriage with Caroline of Brunswick but the couple put aside their mutual dislike long enough to produce a daughter, Charlotte. As the only legitimate grandchild of George III, much expectation was placed on the young girl’s shoulders, however her tragic death in childbirth in 1817 was a harsh blow. Since it was unlikely George and Caroline would produce further children, there was a frantic search for brides for the king’s unmarried sons who weren’t exactly in the first flush of youth.
The third son, William, Duke of Clarence, married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, while the fourth son, Edward, Duke of Kent, married Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The seventh son, Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, married Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, while the fifth son, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, who had already married to his first cousin, Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, renewed his efforts to produce an heir before his brothers.
The brothers achieved their goal but with mixed results: Augusta of Cambridge, gave birth to a son, George, on 26 March 1819, while Adelaide of Clarence had a premature daughter, Charlotte, the following day. The Duchess of Kent gave birth to a girl on 24 May 1819, and three days later, Frederica of Cumberland had a boy, another George. Sadly, Adelaide’s daughter died a few hours after her birth, leaving Alexandrina Victoria of Kent fifth in line to the throne after her father and his three elder brothers. The only way Victoria could be displaced now would be if her parents produced a son or if Adelaide had more children. Adelaide would fall pregnant on three more occasions, however none of the infants survived.
Victoria was only a few months old when her father died on 23 January 1820 and he was followed a few days later by her grandfather, George III, who died on 29 January. The prince regent succeeded as George IV but his reign only lasted seven years and he was succeeded by his brother, William, as Frederick of York, had already died on 5 January 1827. As the highest ranked surviving grandchild of George III, Victoria became heir presumptive while her mother would act as regent should Victoria succeed as a minor. William had no love for the Duchess of Kent though, and he informed her at a dinner that he had every intention of staying alive until Victoria reached eighteen.
Victoria’s childhood was a lonely affair as she was kept in isolation from the rest of the family by her protective mother who believed the court was an immoral place. Victoria spent her days studying with her tutors and playing with her large doll collection until she retired to the bedroom she shared with her mother. The Duchess of Kent also organised a series of trips around England and Wales, much to William’s annoyance, and Victoria’s dislike.
In 1836, the Duchess of Kent’s youngest brother, Leopold I of Belgium, began to promote a match between Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the son of the Duchess of Kent’s older brother, Ernst. William disapproved of the match, favouring Alexander of the Netherlands, however Victoria preferred Albert who she found handsome and charming. Since Victoria was only seventeen, no formal announcement of the engagement was made but it was a foregone conclusion.
True to his word, William IV died on 20 June 1837, a month after Victoria’s eighteenth birthday, and she was crowned on 28 June 1838 at Westminster Abbey. Since Hanover operated under Salic Law, which excluded females from the throne, the Hanoverian title passed to Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, who would also be Victoria’s heir until she had a child. Much to Victoria’s chagrin, she was still required to live with her mother as she was unmarried so Victoria banished her to apartments in Buckingham Palace as far from her own as possible. The presence of her mother continued to plague Victoria and she was urged to marry to resolve the situation, however she refused to be hurried.
Victoria reigned for two years with the help of her prime minister, Lord Melbourne, however a series of ill-formed judgements, such as refusing to change her ladies-in-waiting when Sir Robert Peel’s government gained power and publicly accusing Lady Flora Hastings of being with child, led to her diminishing favour with the public. The strain of her position and a well-timed visit from Prince Albert in October 1839, prompted Victoria to propose marriage to him within five days.
Albert and Victoria were married on 10 February 1840 in the Chapel Royal of St. James’s Palace and it was obvious the couple were besotted with each other. Victoria’s hopes of delaying motherhood were thwarted when she discovered she was pregnant with her first child not long after their marriage. Victoria disliked being pregnant and found newborns ugly creatures, however she rather enjoyed the process of begetting them and went on to have nine children over a seventeen year period. Victoria’s children thrived and married into the royal houses of Europe, earning Victoria the nickname, Grandmother of Europe. However, her legacy also had a dark side as her children were carriers of haemophilia and porphyria, medical conditions which would plague her descendants.
Victoria’s mother died in March 1861 and despite their difficult relationship, Victoria mourned her loss greatly, however worse was to come when her beloved Albert died in December that same year, plunging Victoria into a deep depression. Drowning in her grief, Victoria withdrew from public life, isolating herself at Windsor where she continued to have Albert’s clothes laid out for him every morning. At Balmoral, Victoria became increasingly reliant on her manservant, John Brown, which led to salacious rumours she was having a romantic liaison with him or had even married him in secret. Victoria’s children disapproved of their mother’s association with Brown and while there is no evidence to suggest they were intimate, Victoria mourned his death keenly in 1883.
Slowly, Victoria was coaxed back to her royal duties and she attended the State Opening of Parliament for the first time since Albert’s death in 1866. During Victoria’s self-imposed exile, republicanism had been growing in popularity, fuelled by the establishment of the Third French Republic, however Victoria’s return to London renewed interest in the monarchy. As the tenth anniversary of Albert’s death approached, Victoria’s eldest son, Albert Edward, became gravely ill and Victoria began to fear she would lose him too. When the Prince of Wales pulled through, Victoria rejoiced with a public parade through London and a grand service of thanksgiving in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
As Victoria’s popularity increased once more, republican feelings began to dissipate but it seems grief was never far away as the queen would be soon mourning the loss of her second daughter, Alice, who died from typhoid on the anniversary of her father’s death. The following year, Victoria marked the birth of her first great-grandchild, Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen, lamenting how quickly the years seemed to be passing.
Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 1896 and upon her death on 22 January 1901, she had reigned for 63 years, 7 months and 2 days, making her the longest reigning monarch in British history until she was surpassed by her great-great granddaughter, Elizabeth II, in 2015.
Descendants
Victoria Explored
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert have appeared in countless books, films and television shows. It would be impossible to list everything in this section but we have chosen a few of our favourites.
Becoming Queen Victoria
Toward the end of the eighteenth century, monarchies across Europe found themselves in crisis. With mad King George III and his delinquent offspring tarnishing the realm, the English pinned their hopes on the only legitimate heir to the throne: the lovely and prudent Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Prince of Wales and granddaughter of the king.
Sadly, those dreams faded when, at age twenty-one, she died after a complicated pregnancy and stillbirth. While a nation grieved, Charlotte’s power-hungry uncles plotted quickly to produce a new heir. Only the Duke of Kent proved successful in his endeavor, with the birth of a girl named Victoria.


Victoria The Queen
When Victoria was born, in 1819, the world was a very different place. Revolution would threaten many of Europe’s monarchies in the coming decades. In Britain, a generation of royals had indulged their whims at the public’s expense, and republican sentiment was growing. The Industrial Revolution was transforming the landscape, and the British Empire was commanding ever larger tracts of the globe.
Born into a world where woman were often powerless, during a century roiling with change, Victoria went on to rule the most powerful country on earth with a decisive hand.
Magnificent Obsession
After the untimely death of Prince Albert, the queen and her nation were plunged into a state of grief so profound that this one event would dramatically alter the shape of the British monarchy. For Britain had not just lost a prince: during his twenty year marriage to Queen Victoria, Prince Albert had increasingly performed the function of King in all but name.
Drawing widely on contemporary letters, diaries and memoirs, Rappaport brings new light to bear on the causes of Albert’s death and tracks Victoria’s mission to commemorate her husband in perpetuity. Richly compelling, this is the story of a magnificent obsession that even death could not sever.


Queen Victoria: Daughter, Wife, Mother, Widow
Who was Queen Victoria? A little old lady, potato-like in appearance, dressed in everlasting black? Or a passionate young princess, a romantic heroine with a love of dancing? There is also a third Victoria – a woman who was also a remarkably successful queen, one who invented a new role for the monarchy.
She found a way of being a respected sovereign in an age when people were deeply uncomfortable with having a woman on the throne.
Victoria: A Life
At the very epicentre of Britain’s changing place in the world: a solitary woman in an all-male world who understood politics and foreign policy much better than some of her ministers; a person possessed by demons, but demons which she was brave enough to conquer.
When Queen Victoria died in 1901, she had ruled for nearly sixty-four years. She was a mother of nine and grandmother of forty-two and the matriarch of royal Europe through her children’s marriages. To many, Queen Victoria is a ruler shrouded in myth and mystique, an aging, stiff widow paraded as the figurehead to an all-male imperial enterprise. But in truth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch was one of the most passionate, expressive, humorous and unconventional women who ever lived, and the story of her life continues to fascinate.

The Captive of Kensington Palace
Victoria is virtually a prisoner in Kensington Palace. Her mother and her mother’s chamberlain, Sir John Conroy, are her guards. They will not allow her to associate with anyone that has not been thoroughly and critically checked to make sure Victoria is not made harmed by their very presence. Even her governesses are under scrutiny. She is not even allowed to be alone!
Her best friends are her “dear” sister Feodora, married and living in Germany; her Uncle Leopold, her cousin-in-law and uncle as well as King of the Belgians; Lehzen, her faithful governess; the King and Queen, whom she is rarely allowed to see; and her cousins that she is also rarely allowed to see.


The Queen And Lord M
The young queen’s first few years are beset with court scandal and malicious gossip: there is the unsavoury Flora Hastings affair, a source of extreme embarrassment to the queen; the eternal conflict between Victoria and her mother, and the young queen’s hatred of Sir John Conroy.
Then there is the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne – ‘Lord M’ – worldly cynic and constant companion to the queen, himself a veteran of many a latter-day scandal. He proves to be her guiding light – until the dashing Prince Albert appears and she falls hopelessly in love.
The Queen’s Husband
From the cradle Victoria and Albert were destined for each other. Albert, as the younger son of a minor German duke, was acutely aware of what marriage to the Queen of England would mean in terms of his personal ambitions. Victoria wrestled with her desire for independence—until she saw Albert at Windsor in 1839. Then Queen Victoria fell in love.
Together they forged the Victorian Age—the impetuous Queen and her indomitable consort. Through the stormy first years, Victoria was in almost perpetual revolt against any encroachment on her powers of state and against the continual pregnancies she had to endure.


The Widow of Windsor
Albert was dead and the Queen, stricken with grief, prepared to spend the rest of her life mourning. Her Government and her family sought to bring her out of seclusion but she was determined to remain the Widow of Windsor.
The years which followed were some of the most momentous in British history, some of the Queen’s ministers the most famous. There was the great Palmerston who managed to keep a mocking ascendancy over her; Mr. Gladstone, Grand Old Man and People’s William, who prowled the streets at night in an attempt to lead prostitutes back to a life of respectability, and who was no favorite of the Queen, unlike the witty Disraeli, who charmed her completely.
My Name Is Victoria
‘You are my sister now,’ Victoria said, quietly and solemnly. ‘Never forget it. I love you like a sister, and you are my only friend in all the world.’
Miss V. Conroy is good at keeping secrets. She likes to sit as quiet as a mouse, neat and discreet. But when her father sends her to Kensington Palace to become the companion to Princess Victoria, Miss V soon finds that she can no longer remain in the shadows.
Miss V’s father has devised a strict set of rules for the young princess, which he calls the Kensington System. It governs her behaviour and keeps her locked away from the world. He says it is for the princess’s safety, but Victoria herself is convinced that it is to keep her lonely, and unhappy.


Queen Victoria’s Knickers
Queen Victoria was Empress of half the world. She owned palaces and huge armies. Mighty sultans gave her precious jewels.
But she didn’t have any underpants…
Meet Lizzy, whose family are in the clothing industry. Very few people probably know that Queen Victoria made the wearing of underpants popular. At the beginning of her reign very few women wore them. But Queen Victoria made tartans, perambulators and chloroform fashionable. By the time she died just about every woman in Britain wore underpants like hers!
Dash and Victoria Find True Love
Dash and Victoria Find True Love tells the story of Dash, Queen Victoria’s dog who feels cast aside when Prince Albert comes to the palace but learns that his heart is bigger than he thought.
Read about the United Kingdom’s Queen Victoria meeting the love of her life, Prince Albert and how this affects her beloved dog, Dash. This beginning reader for ages 4-8 is 48 pages and fully illustrated.

Victoria The Great (1937)
Victoria the Great was made in 1937 and was based on Laurence Housman’s play Victoria Regina which had been highly successful on Broadway. Since it was unlawful for the royal family to be portrayed on stage at that time, Edward VIII commissioned producer Herbert Wilcox to turn it into a film instead to mark the centenary of Victoria’s reign.
The film, primarily focused on Queen Victoria’s early reign, starred Anna Neagle as Victoria and Anton Walbrook as Prince Albert and was primarily shot in B/W with the Diamond Jubilee scene at the end in full technicolour.


Mrs Brown (1997)
Mrs Brown (also known as Her Majesty, Mrs Brown) was a British award-winning film starring Judi Dench and Billy Connolly, and was the first major film to feature Queen Victoria since Victoria the Great in 1937.
The film was originally made for television but it was given a theatrical release instead and went on to make $13 million worldwide. Mrs Brown premiered at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival before its general release on 5 September 1997 and Dench went on to win the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.
The Young Victoria (2009)
The Young Victoria is a period film written by Julian Fellowes and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée which focuses on the early reign of Queen Victoria and her marriage to Prince Albert.
The film starred Emily Blount as Victoria and Rupert Friend as Prince Albert, as well as an array of British talent like Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent, Harriet Walter and Mark Strong, Eagle eyed viewers will also be able to spot Princess Beatrice of York, Victoria’s great-great-great-great-granddaughter, as one of Queen Victoria’s ladies at her coronation.


Victoria & Abdul (2017)
Victoria & Abdul is based on the book Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant by Shrabani Basu, about the real-life relationship between Queen Victoria and her Indian Muslim servant Abdul Karim.
The film was nominated for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the 90th Academy Awards, and Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (for Dench) at the 75th Golden Globe Awards.
Victoria & Albert (2001)
Victoria & Albert was a two-part British-American series which aired over two nights from 26-27 August 2001 on the BBC and focused on the relationship between Queen Victoria and Prince Albert from their first meeting as teenagers to his death in 1861.
The series starred Victoria Hamilton as Queen Victoria and Jonathan Firth as Prince Albert, as well as famous faces from British stage and screen, such as Diana Rigg, Peter Ustinov and Penelope Wilton.


Victoria (2016-2019)
Victoria is a British historical television drama series created and principally written by Daisy Goodwin, starring Jenna Coleman as Queen Victoria. The series premiered in the United Kingdom on ITV on 28 August 2016.
The series ran for three seasons and followed Victoria through the early years of her reign and her marriage to Prince Albert which proves to be tumultuous. Victoria strives to balance her duties as queen with her private family life as it continues to expand with the births of multiple children.
The series ended in 2019, although ITV have hinted they may return to the storyline at a future date.
Victoria
The diaries that Queen Victoria kept let a captivating story of her unparalleled love for Albert unravel. Their love expanded into a royal dynasty until his premature passing tore the world’s most powerful woman apart.
This biopic ballet was written by Cathy Marston for the Northern Ballet in 2019 and features Abigail Prudames as Queen Victoria, Joseph Taylor as Prince Albert and Pippa Moore as Princess Beatrice.
Winner of the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Dance.
