Biography:
Queen Victoria is the last representative of the Hanoverian dynasty, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, who ruled the state for 63 years. On the eve of Victoria’s birth, the Hanoverian dynasty needed an heir. Both legitimate children of King William IV died in infancy. The throne was claimed by William’s four elderly brothers and the only legitimate granddaughter of George III, Charlotte of Wales. But in 1817, the 21-year-old princess died in childbirth, so the unmarried sons of George III, including Victoria’s father Edward, Duke of Kent, urgently created families to prolong the family line.
The wife of fifty-year-old Edward was the German princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, belonging to the ancient Vetin family, who had ruled on the borders of Meissin on the Elbe since the 11th century. By the time of the wedding, Princess Victoria was already a widow, raising two children, Charles and Theodora, from her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen. The Duke and Duchess of Kent spent some time after the wedding in Germany, and when Victoria became pregnant, Edward took his wife and her children to England. Princess Victoria of Kent was born on May 24, 1819 at Kensington Palace in the capital of Great Britain.
Eight months later, the girl’s father died of pneumonia. William IV, who was childless by this time, was appointed Prince Regent. The Princess was brought up at Kensington Palace according to a strict system developed by the Duchess of Kent. Victoria was never left alone, she shared a bedroom with her mother and studied daily under the guidance of her governess, Baroness Lehzen, in German, English, French, Latin, arithmetic, music and painting. At the request of her mother, the girl was forbidden to talk to strangers and cry in public.
The widow’s family was completely dependent on the former servant of the Duke of Kent, John Conroy, who managed the duchess’s financial affairs. In 1832, young Victoria, together with her mother and executor, began to travel daily around the country in order to meet future subjects.
Childhood:
She was born on 24 May 1819 in Kensington to Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld . Her paternal grandfather was King George III and her grandmother was Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz . On her mother’s side, her grandfather was Franz, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , who was a maternal cousin of the Russian Emperor Ivan VI and the Prussian King Frederick William II . The maternal grandmother was the daughter of Count Reuss-Ebersdorf from the Reuss family of Henry XXIV Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf . On 24 June 1819, Victoria was baptized at Kensington Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton . Her godparents were the Russian Emperor Alexander I , the Queen of Württemberg and her grandmother the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld . Victoria was named Alexandrina in honor of the Russian Emperor Alexander I , and Victoria in honor of her mother . At birth, Victoria was fifth in the line of succession after her father and his older brothers: Prince Regent George Augustus Frederick , Frederick, Duke of York and William, Duke of Clarence .
Beginning of reign:
By the time of the death of William IV on June 20, 1837, the only heir, as expected, remained Victoria, to whom the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were the first to swear allegiance after the tragic event. The young queen’s first order was a request to leave her alone for an hour. After the coronation, which took place in Westminster Abbey in the presence of 400 thousand subjects, and moving to Buckingham Palace, Victoria removed her mother and John Conroy from affairs and settled them in the far part of the palace.
In the same year, the Treasury launched the issue of coins with the image of the new ruler. Prime Minister Lord Melbourne became a close associate of the Queen. In the first years of Victoria’s reign, an annual annuity was assigned, which amounted to 385 thousand pounds sterling.
By the time Victoria came to the throne, the United Kingdom was a constitutional monarchy with a developed legislative branch in the form of Parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers. But over time, the queen began to contribute to the government, appointing ministers and influencing the activities of political parties. In 1842, during the famine in Ireland, Victoria donated personal funds to support the hungry; in 1846, duties on imported bread were abolished, after which flour products began to cost less.
Domestic and foreign policy:
The era of Queen Victoria’s reign was marked by the flourishing of industry, the army, scientific and cultural activities in Great Britain. By gradually reducing the influence of the monarchy, the queen increased her status among the population. Having become a symbol of power, Victoria gained power over the minds of her subjects. The ruler, by her example, influenced the formation of a Puritan system of education in society, a respectful attitude towards the family, which radically distinguished Victoria from previous kings who became famous for their immoral exploits and subjected the monarchy to ridicule.
In the age of Queen Victoria, strict regulations appeared on the behavior of citizens in society and restrictions on marriage, which subsequently led to an increase in the number of ladies without a husband and children. Rules of decency forbade people of different sexes to remain alone in the same room, and for a father and an adult daughter to live in the same house in the absence of the mother. Young girls were not allowed to talk to strangers. Women suffered and often died due to the inability to receive treatment from male doctors. The doctors could not properly examine the patient, nor could they ask her awkward questions regarding her health.
However, architecture, fashion, literature, painting and music flourished during the Victorian era. In 1851, the first International Industrial Exhibition was held in London, and later the Engineering Museum and the Science Museum were created. Under Victoria, the length of the railway line increased to 14.5 miles. The number of city residents exceeded the number of rural residents twice. Urban infrastructure was developed: street lighting, sewerage, water supply, sidewalks, bridges and the first metro appeared in megacities. The books “Capital” by Karl Marx and “The Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin were published in England .
Since the 50s, Viscount Palmerston has been in charge of foreign policy affairs, who provided Britain with the status of a world arbiter in resolving controversial issues. The victories of the Prime Minister of England included ensuring the independence of Belgium from Holland, limiting Russian influence in the Black and Mediterranean Seas, thanks to which Great Britain opened a shorter route to India. After defeating China in the Opium Conflict, the United Kingdom was able to unlimited trade in opium in the five largest ports of the Middle Kingdom. In the mid-50s, England also took part in the Crimean War against Russia.
The closest occupied country, Ireland, repeatedly tried to secede from England through rebel activity, which led to the stationing of a large number of English troops on its territory. In 1856, British troops suppressed a rebellion in the Indian colony, strengthening the ruling regime on the peninsula. In 1876, at the suggestion of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, Queen Victoria was granted the status of Empress of India. The British Empire continued its aggressive expansion towards the countries of Africa and Asia. In the early 80s, Egypt and then Sudan were captured.
Personal life:
Victoria met her future husband Albert, who was the girl’s cousin, back in 1836. The second meeting took place in 1839, after Victoria ascended the throne. The young queen’s heart trembled; the girl truly fell in love. Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha did not remain indifferent either. The wedding took place on February 10, 1840 in the chapel of St. James’s Palace in London. Appearing at the celebration in a white dress and white veil, Victoria became a trendsetter in wedding fashion. Before this, brides chose dresses in red or black.
A warm relationship was established between the spouses, which Victoria repeatedly mentioned in her letters. The Queen called herself the happiest of women. Prince Albert was also pleased with his position. In the first years of his reign, the Prince Consort remained aloof from affairs, performing only the function of his wife’s secretary. But over time, Albert took on many responsibilities, including conducting international correspondence.
The popularity of the royal couple in the state was influenced by the release of a gift set containing 14 photographs depicting Victoria and Albert. A total of 60 thousand copies of the set were sold, which gave rise to the tradition of family photography. Queen Victoria’s favorite dish was vanilla sponge cake with lemon zest and strawberries, which was later named after her.
At the end of 1840, the first daughter was born into the royal family, named Victoria according to custom. The Queen was disgusted with newborns, did not like the state of pregnancy and breastfeeding, but this did not stop her from becoming the mother of four more sons – Edward (1841), Alfred (1844), Arthur (1850), Leopold (1853) – and four daughters – Alice (1843), Helen (1846), Louise (1848), Beatrice (1857). Over time, the Queen of England managed to competently arrange the marriages of her children, thereby strengthening the ties between the ruling dynasties of Europe, which is why she began to be called the “grandmother of Europe.”
In 1861, Albert died of typhoid fever, and Victoria went into mourning for several years. Recovering from the loss, Queen Victoria took up British government affairs. In the mid-60s, Mr. John Brown, who was credited with a close relationship with Victoria, became the queen’s confidant. After 1876, in honor of the 50th anniversary of her reign, Victoria ordered several servants from India. The exoticism captivated the queen, and the Hindu Abdul Karim became the ruler’s favorite and personal teacher, an expert on Vedic culture.
The Queen’s children lived to adulthood and gave Victoria 42 grandchildren and 85 great-grandchildren. Notable descendants of Queen Victoria include Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain , King Harald V of Norway, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Juan Carlos I of Spain and Queen Sofia of Spain. Queen Victoria became the first carrier in her family of the hemophilia gene, which was passed on to her daughters Alice and Beatrice. Of the royal sons, Prince Leopold became a hemophiliac. The disease manifested itself in Victoria’s great-grandson, Tsarevich Alexei, the long-awaited son of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna , daughter of Princess Alice.
Death:
In the mid-1990s, the Queen’s health began to decline. Victoria suffered from rheumatism, which confined her to a gurney. The ruler’s cataracts and aphasia began to progress. In mid-January 1901, Victoria felt weak and fell ill.
The Empress died on January 22, 1901 in the arms of her son Edward VII and grandson, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. The subjects took the death of the queen seriously. Her departure symbolized the end of an era that went down in the history of the state under the name “Golden Age.”
Memory:
Many cultural monuments are dedicated to Queen Victoria. Based on the biography of the ruler, films (Mrs. Brown, The Young Victoria, The Young Years of the Queen) and TV series (Victoria and Albert, Sherlock Holmes) are regularly created. Books by Christopher Hibbert, Evelyn Anthony, Lytton Strachey, art paintings and musical works are dedicated to the Victorian era.
The name of Victoria is present in the names of geographical objects, cities, and states. The Empress’s birthday is still a national Canadian holiday. Queen Victoria’s name was used in botany, astronomy, and architecture.