Portrait of Victoria with her spaniel Dash by George Hayter
Gallery of Queen Victoria
United Kingdom
Queen Victoria in youth
Gallery of Queen Victoria
United Kingdom
Victoria as a child
College/University
Career
Gallery of Queen Victoria
United Kingdom
Queen Victoria
Gallery of Queen Victoria
United Kingdom
Queen Victoria
Gallery of Queen Victoria
United Kingdom
Queen Victoria
Gallery of Queen Victoria
United Kingdom
Queen Victoria
Gallery of Queen Victoria
United Kingdom
Queen Victoria in youth
Gallery of Queen Victoria
United Kingdom
Queen Victoria
Gallery of Queen Victoria
United Kingdom
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
Gallery of Queen Victoria
United Kingdom
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
Gallery of Queen Victoria
United Kingdom
Wedding portrait of Queen Victoria
Gallery of Queen Victoria
1882
United Kingdom
Queen Victoria
Gallery of Queen Victoria
1894
Royal group at Palais Edinburgh, Coburg. Back row, right to left: Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, Victoria's grandson, Wilhelm II Emperor of Germany (1859 - 1941), Duke Alfred of Coburg, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught. Front row, left to right: - Queen Victoria (1819 - 1901), Empress Frederick (previously Princess Victoria).
Gallery of Queen Victoria
1895
Queen Victoria (1819 - 1901) with her family, (standing left to right) Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Prince Henry of Battenberg, Count Arthur Mensdorff-Pouilly, Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg, George, Duke of York; (seated left to right) Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen Victoria, Victoria Mary, Duchess of York holding Prince Edward of York, Prince Arthur of Connaught (hand on chin) and Prince Alexander of Battenberg.
Royal group at Palais Edinburgh, Coburg. Back row, right to left: Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, Victoria's grandson, Wilhelm II Emperor of Germany (1859 - 1941), Duke Alfred of Coburg, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught. Front row, left to right: - Queen Victoria (1819 - 1901), Empress Frederick (previously Princess Victoria).
Queen Victoria (1819 - 1901) with her family, (standing left to right) Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Prince Henry of Battenberg, Count Arthur Mensdorff-Pouilly, Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg, George, Duke of York; (seated left to right) Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen Victoria, Victoria Mary, Duchess of York holding Prince Edward of York, Prince Arthur of Connaught (hand on chin) and Prince Alexander of Battenberg.
Victoria receives the news of her accession from Lord Conyngham (left) and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Engraving after painting by Henry Tanworth Wells, 1887.
Albert, Victoria and their nine children, 1857. Left to right: Alice, Arthur, Prince Albert, Albert Edward, Leopold, Louise, Queen Victoria with Beatrice, Alfred, Victoria, and Helena.
Victoria's family in 1846 by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Left to right: Prince Alfred and the Prince of Wales; the Queen and Prince Albert; Princesses Alice, Helena, and Victoria,
Queen Victoria (1819 - 1901) at the christening of her great-grandson, the future King Edward VIII (1894 - 1972), with the baby's mother Mary of Teck and grandmother Alexandra at the White Lodge, Richmond Park, London, 16th July 1894.
Christmas with Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, their children, and Queen Victoria's mother, in 1848 (from Illustrated London News), 1848. Found in the collection of Royal Collection, London.
Queen Victoria portrait (Reigned 1837 - 1901). A niece of William IV, Princess Victoria came to the throne aged 18, three years later she married Prince Albert of Saxe - Coburg. Her lifetime saw the expansion of the British Empire. From Player's cigarette cards, based on a photograph by W. and D. Downey.
Queen Victoria and family at Osborne House, late 19th century. Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, (the future King Edward VIII) is on the extreme left in a sailor suit. Prince George's wife Mary has Princess Royal on her knee, behind her is Princess Margaret of Connaught. Prince George (the future George V) holds the Duke of York.
The Czar and Czarina of Russia visit Queen Victoria at Balmoral. The Czarina is the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Shown are (from left to right): Alexandra Feodorovna, Czarina of Russia; the infant Grand Duchess Olga; Nicholas II Alexandrovich Romanov, Tsar of Russia; Queen Victoria of England; and Albert Edward, Prince of Wales.
Photo shows two empresses now dead- left, the wife of Emperor Frederick II of Germany, mother of the ex-Kaiser Wilhelm, and right, Queen Victoria of England.
Queen Victoria was the first modern monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. She was also proclaimed the Empress of India, establishing the British Empire. She was the longest ruling British monarch until Queen Elizabeth II. The period of her reign is known as Victorian era, during which the United Kingdom enjoyed great prosperity and piece.
Background
Ethnicity:
Father was a British prince, while her mother was German-born
Victoria's father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of the reigning King of the United Kingdom, George III. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children - Carl and Feodora - by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen. The Duke and Duchess of Kent's only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a.m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Her father died when she was only a baby in 1920, and only a couple of days later King George III also passed away. When her uncle ascended the throne that year, Victoria was the third in line of successors, after the Duke of Clarence (William IV, ruled from 1830 until 1837) and the Duke of York (died 1827).
The future queen was baptized on June 24, 1819 and received the name Alexandrina Victoria, in the honor of her godfather, Russian Tsar Alexander, and her mother. Victoria spent most of her childhood at Kensington Palace, spending most of the time with her mother and Louise Lehzen, her governess. When her father died in 1820, Victoria’s mother decided to keep Sir John Conroy, who was her husband’s main attendant, as an advisor. However, his intention was to keep a high position in the monarchy, so he tricked the naïve Duchess to create the Kensington System together. This is a set of rules that were used to raise Victoria that included her to never be alone and to be isolated from the other children, as well as from her father’s family. Even King William IV was prevented from making a close relationship with Victoria. The King was determined to live until she turns 18 and becomes eligible for the throne, so he would stop the Duchess to become the Queen.
Education
Victoria was privately educated by her governess, who was born in Germany, which is why she learned to speak German as well as English. She compensated the lack of friends with dolls and two pets, a Spaniel called Dash and a pony by the name of Rosa. Young Victoria had a great talent for math, drawing and music.
The first time when Victoria had found out that she is to become a Queen was during a private history lesson he had at the Kensington Palace. Her comment to the newly-found information was short: “I will be good”. But when it became obvious that she is soon to ascend the throne, the Duchess and Conroy pressured her into appointing him as an advisor. However, the attempt to control her and break her will had a completely opposite outcome. King William IV died on June 20, 1837, less than a month after Victoria came out of age and she succeeded him on the throne, appointing Lord Melbourne as a prime minister and a trusted advisor.
Official documents prepared on the first day of her reign described her as Alexandrina Victoria, but the first name was withdrawn at her own wish and not used again. The first thing she has done in her reign was minimizing Conroy’s influence. This was hard for her because social convention demanded to continue living with her mother, who didn’t want to give up Conroy. The Queen had to order them to move to a remote part of the Buckingham Palace and was advised to get married since this was the socially acceptable way of cutting contact with them. This is exactly what the Queen did in 1840 when she married her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, whom she met a couple years earlier.
This turned out to be a great move, although it took some time for Albert to get accepted by the public. However, their popularity was growing with each day, as well as the strength of their partnership. Albert assumed Queen Victoria’s duties at the time of her first pregnancy in 1840, and with time became her trusted advisor. His influence on Victoria was so big that not only he changed her political sympathies from Whigs to Tories, but the Queen didn’t even wear a bonnet if Albert didn’t approve it. By 1856, the couple had nine kids (four boys and five girls), including Prince Albert Edward Wetting, their second child who was to become the next King of England.
Queen Victoria had a lot of trouble with the ministers during her reign. Most troubles were caused by Lord John Russel, who started his duty in 1846 and didn’t have the sympathy of the Queen, despite being Whig. Lord Palmerston, the Secretary of State for Foreign, was the cause of most problems, often acting without the consent of the Queen or the Cabinet. It was only in 1851, after announcing that British government supported Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte’s coup d’etat without consulting anyone, he was forced to resign.
The Queen also suffered a decrease in popularity in Ireland, although she loved the island and chose to spend her holidays there, launching Country Kerry as one of the most popular tourist locations in the process. However, when Ireland was hit by a potato blight in 1745, taking the lives of more than one million Irish people, her popularity decreased. Her majesty donated £5,000 personally, but the fact that Lord John Russell’s policies severely influenced the famine in Ireland were so big that she was even pronounced to be the “Famine Queen” by the extreme Republicans. She later refused to visit Ireland or establish a royal residence, which was described to be the wrong decision to the British rule in Ireland.
Perhaps the most important highlight of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s reign was in 1851 when an international trade show called the Great Exhibition was organized in Crystal Palace, a beautiful glass building in Hyde Park. The Great Britain displayed its technological achievements and wealth to the world and the exhibition was a great success. The money raised from it was used to fund the South Kensington Museum, which was later renamed to Victoria and Albert Museum.
The streak of weak ministries continued and the Queen was annoyed by this, which is why they encouraged coalition between the Peelite Tories and the Whigs, with George Hamilton-Gordon at the head of the ministry. This ministry brought the United Kingdom into the Crimean War, where they took the side of the Ottoman Empire fighting against Russia. There were some rumors that the Queen and the Prince preferred the Russians, causing a small decrease in their popularity. When the war finished, Victoria instituted the Victoria Cross, an award that is still the highest award for valor in the British armed services.
George Hamilton-Gordon was forced to resign after the war and was replaced by Lord Palmerston in 1855, who was replaced by Lord Derby two years later. During his ministry, the revolt of soldiers against the Britain’s policies and rule occurred in India. When the revolt was extinguished, the Crown instituted a direct rule over India, although the title “Empress of India” followed later.
In 1857, Albert was given the title of Prince Consort. His influence was great on Victoria until he suddenly died in 1861, at the age of 42. As she herself admitted, the Queen was devastated and depressed. She avoided the public appearance and setting foot in London, wearing black for the rest of her life and earning the nickname “Widow of Windsor” due to her seclusion. Considering that Albert returned ill from a trip regarding an indiscretion their son, Prince of Wales had committed in Ireland, the Queen blamed him for Albert’s death. She was very upset even with the presence of her son in the same room and this conflict was never resolved.
The public did give the Queen initial respect to grief her husband but was becoming impatient as the time went by. Her hiding from public let to the decrease of the monarchy’s popularity. She didn’t actively participate in the work of the government, allowing the republican movement to grow. The Reform Act, one of the most important pieces of legislation of the 19th century, was brought in 1867, considerably increasing the electorate. When Benjamin Disraeli took the role of prime minister the following year, Victoria encouraged this, stating him to be one of her favorite politicians. However, he was soon replaced by William Gladstone, whom the queen despised. This inspired her to become more active and emerge from isolation.
When Disraeli returned to the Cabinet in 1874, there was an imperial sentiment throughout the country. German Empire was already proclaimed three years earlier, and this additionally inspired the Queen and Disraeli to pass the new Royal Titles Act in 1876, giving the queen the “Empress of India” title. Although it was officially referred to India, in practice it referred to the whole territory of Victoria’s reign, including lands in Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Pacific. Gladstone returned to the Ministry in 1880, proposing many electoral reforms, such as the Representation of the People Act in 1884, which once again brought an increase to the electorate. His Irish Home Rule Bill, that was supposed to grant a separate legislature to Ireland, was refused. Despite her role had become more limited than at the beginning of her reign, the Queen enjoyed great popularity.
In 1887, Queen Victoria celebrated a Golden Jubilee, the fiftieth anniversary of her ruling. A banquet was organized and more than 40 European Kings and Princes were present at the event. An assassination attempt was planned on the Queen, later to be known as the Jubilee Plot, but was discovered and stopped. This was the last of at least seven assassination attempts that Victoria survived.
It was during her last years when she really displayed that she was a modern monarch. The South African War (1899-1902) and the losses of her soldiers inspired her to do this, visiting military hospitals and holding medal ceremonies. She was extremely popular, and the advancing years enabled her to satisfy the middle and the poorer class. Queen Victoria became the longest ruling British monarch at the time.
Queen Victoria ruled for 63 years and 7 months, which made her the longest ruling British monarch at the time. It was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. The reign of Queen Victoria was called the Victorian Era, a period of prosperity and peace for the Great Britain.
When it comes to religion, Queen Victoria considered herself devoted but with a broad mind. She was equally willing to attend services in Presbyterian churches in Scotland and Lutheran services in Germany. She relized she reigned people of different races and religions, and she considered herself as the monatch of Christians, as well as Jews, Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists.
Politics
When she had started her reign, Queen Victoria's sympathies were obviously on the side of the whigs. However, when she married Prince Albert, she started to influence her significantly and she showed more sympathy for the Tories. She was very active and had better and worse relations with various governments during her reign.
Views
Queen Victoria was the first British modern monarch and led the country during the period of great prosperity and technological advancements, such as the telegraph and the railroad, which significantly affected her life. However, she didn’t feel good about innovations and didn’t welcome them. She opposed or simply ignored many important social, political and cultural currents of the later Victorian era. She was happy to let all the new directions in the world slide by her.
Queen Victoria never appreciated that the democracy advanced, and was herself opposed to female suffrage. However, she largely helped in creating a respectable monarchy, enabling its continuance as a political institution instead as a political power. In the times her political power was decreasing, her political value was growing.
She liked to be popular, although she never really tried to increase her popularity. The Queen wasn’t able to get a grasp on the working class as a whole, as it remained outside of her vision. On the other hand, sufferings of a single worker were more than able to get her sympathy.
Quotations:
"Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves."
"The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them"
“I am every day more convinced that we women, if we are to be good women, feminine and amiable and domestic, are not fitted to reign; at least it is they that drive themselves to the work which it entails.”
“We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist.”
Personality
Queen Victoria was a strong-willed woman with a great passion and attention to details. Although she is often described as too serious, her diaries have many entries where she described enjoying a good laugh. However, she was serious whenever the situation demanded that and was very proud for being a Queen. She was very wise and had incredible intuition. Many sources state that she was very insightul. The Queen liked the rules to be obeyed and respected and hated when someone breaches them. When she was displeased with someone, that someone would never forget it.
She lived surrounded by various mementos, including photographs, souvenirs, and miniatures. She took the death of Prince Albert so hard that she ordered Albert’s clothes to be laid out on the bed every night and fresh water to be brought every morning. Queen Victoria was so devoted to her husband that she even slept with a photograph of him.
Physical Characteristics:
Queen Victoria was a short woman with incredibly fair skin and beautiful blue eyes, which characterized the English royal family. She had regal bearing and a pleasant voice.
Interests
drawing, singing
Politicians
Lord Melbourne, Benjamin Disraeli
Writers
Charles Dickens
Artists
Sir Ediwn Landseer, Heinrich Anton von Angeli
Sport & Clubs
Northwich Victoria football club
Music & Bands
opera
Connections
Queen Victoria had nine children, four boys and five girls, with Prince Albert, whom she married in 1840. They had total of 42 grandchildren. It was rumoured that she secretly married one of her servants years after Prince Albert passed away but this was never confirmed.