Queen Victoria
At 4:15 am on Monday, the 24th of May 1819, a baby named Alexandrina Victoria was born inside Kensington Palace. Her father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, while her mother was Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The infant became fifth in line to the throne after four older uncles who were all sons of King George III. By 1830, three of those uncles had died without legitimate children, leaving the young girl as heir presumptive. Her mother and Sir John Conroy devised a strict set of rules known as the Kensington System to control her upbringing. This system kept the princess isolated from other children and prevented her from meeting people deemed undesirable by her guardians. She shared a bedroom with her mother every night and studied French, German, Italian, and Latin under private tutors. At age ten she wrote a children's story called The Adventures of Alice Laselles which remained unpublished until 2015. The constant round of public appearances during tours made her tired and ill yet her mother forced her to continue these journeys.
On the 10th of February 1840 Queen Victoria married her first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace. She proposed to him on the 15th of October 1839 just five days after his arrival at Windsor Castle. Their union produced nine children including Albert Edward, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold, Beatrice, and another daughter named Victoria. Albert became an important political adviser who replaced Lord Melbourne as the dominant influence in the early years of her reign. In 1840 eighteen-year-old Edward Oxford attempted to assassinate them while they rode in a carriage along The Mall. He fired twice but missed or the guns contained no shot. The attack caused her popularity to soar despite previous scandals involving Lady Flora Hastings. By 1853 she gave birth to her eighth child using chloroform for pain relief. This was controversial among clergy and medical professionals who considered it dangerous or against biblical teaching. She used the anaesthetic again in 1857 for the birth of her final child Beatrice.
Prince Albert died on the 14th of December 1861 from typhoid fever diagnosed by William Jenner. Victoria entered a state of mourning that lasted until her own death decades later. She wore black for the remainder of her life and avoided public appearances almost entirely. Her seclusion earned her the nickname widow of Windsor and diminished the popularity of the monarchy. A protester once stuck a notice on Buckingham Palace railings stating these commanding premises were to be let or sold due to declining business. In March 1864 she agreed to visit gardens at Kensington and drive through London in an open carriage after pressure from her uncle King Leopold. Throughout the 1860s she relied heavily on John Brown a manservant from Scotland. Rumours of a romantic connection appeared in print with some calling her Mrs Brown. A painting by Sir Edwin Landseer depicted them together while she published Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands featuring him prominently. When Brown died ten days after her fall down stairs at Windsor in 1883 she began work on his biography before advisors convinced her against publication.
In 1876 Parliament granted Queen Victoria the title Empress of India following the dissolution of the East India Company after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The new title was proclaimed at the Delhi Durbar held on the 1st of January 1877. Disraeli pushed this legislation through despite opposition from Gladstone who returned as prime minister later that decade. Between April 1877 and February 1878 she threatened five times to abdicate during the Russo-Turkish War but these threats had no impact on events concluding at the Congress of Berlin. Her expansionist foreign policy led to conflicts including the Anglo-Zulu War and the Second Anglo-Afghan War. On the 2nd of March 1882 Roderick Maclean shot at her carriage leaving Windsor railway station. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity yet she declared it worth being shot at to see how much one is loved. In 1894 Lord Rosebery became prime minister without consulting Gladstone who retired earlier that year. Salisbury remained prime minister for the remainder of her reign after replacing Rosebery in 1895.
The British Empire celebrated Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887 marking fifty years since her accession on the 20th of June. A banquet invited 50 kings and princes while a procession followed the next day ending with a thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey. Two days later on the 23rd of June she engaged two Indian Muslims as waiters one named Abdul Karim who taught her Urdu. Her family accused him of spying yet she dismissed their complaints as racial prejudice. By September 1896 she surpassed George III as the longest-reigning monarch in British history. The Queen requested celebrations be delayed until 1897 to coincide with her Diamond Jubilee. Prime ministers from all self-governing Dominions were invited to London for festivities. On the 22nd of June 1897 a six-mile-long procession included troops from across the empire pausing outside St Paul's Cathedral where she sat in an open carriage. Vast crowds gathered expressing great affection for the seventy-eight-year-old queen. These events restored her image after years of seclusion and republican sentiment had grown during the early 1870s.
In July 1900 Alfred Affie died leaving her journal entry Oh God My poor darling Affie gone too describing it as a horrible year full of sadness. Rheumatism rendered her legs disabled while cataracts clouded her eyesight by January 1901. She felt weak dazed and confused through early January before dying at 6:30 pm on the 22nd of January 1901 aged eighty-one. Her favourite pet Pomeranian named Turi was laid on her bed as a last request. Albert Edward succeeded immediately as Edward VII while Wilhelm II attended alongside him. Victoria wrote instructions in 1897 specifying a military funeral in white instead of black. Edward VII helped lift her body into the coffin dressed in a wedding veil with mementos placed inside including John Brown's hair and a picture of him concealed by flowers. Her funeral took place Saturday the 2nd of February in St George's Chapel Windsor Castle before interment beside Prince Albert in Frogmore Royal Mausoleum. A reign lasting sixty-three years seven months and two days made her the longest-reigning British monarch until Elizabeth II surpassed her on the 9th of September 2015.
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Common questions
When was Queen Victoria born and where?
Queen Victoria was born at 4:15 am on Monday the 24th of May 1819 inside Kensington Palace. Her father was Prince Edward Duke of Kent and Strathearn while her mother was Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.
Who did Queen Victoria marry and when did they wed?
Queen Victoria married her first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on the 10th of February 1840 in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace. She proposed to him on the 15th of October 1839 just five days after his arrival at Windsor Castle.
Why did Queen Victoria wear black for the rest of her life?
Prince Albert died on the 14th of December 1861 from typhoid fever diagnosed by William Jenner so she entered a state of mourning that lasted until her own death decades later. She wore black for the remainder of her life and avoided public appearances almost entirely earning her the nickname widow of Windsor.
What title did Parliament grant Queen Victoria in 1876?
Parliament granted Queen Victoria the title Empress of India in 1876 following the dissolution of the East India Company after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The new title was proclaimed at the Delhi Durbar held on the 1st of January 1877.
When did Queen Victoria die and how old was she?
Queen Victoria died at 6:30 pm on the 22nd of January 1901 aged eighty-one while suffering from rheumatism and cataracts. Her reign lasted sixty-three years seven months and two days making her the longest-reigning British monarch until Elizabeth II surpassed her on the 9th of September 2015.