Osborne House, Isle of Wight, England, United Kingdomĭaughter of Duke Edward Augustus Hannover, Prince, Duke of Kent and Strathearn and princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Kensington Palace London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom Those gains came at a tremendous price: England was almost constantly at war during Victoria’s reign, and the colonialism practiced in her name involved brutal subjugation.Lithuanian: Aleksandrina Viktorija, Karalienė, Russian: Александрина Виктория, королева Over the course of the 19 th century, it grew by 10 million square miles and 400 million people. But under Victoria, it became a mighty empire and the world’s most powerful nation. She became Empress of India in 1877 and influenced foreign relations closer to home through her children and grandchildren, many of whom married into European royalty.Īt the beginning of her monarchy, Britain was seen largely as a trading power. Her later reign was largely devoted to encouraging peace in Europe and expanding and consolidating her massive political empire. Victoria resumed her public duties by the late 1860s. The republican movement grew during her isolation, and she was criticized for her absence from public life. She wore black for the rest of her life and withdrew from the public eye for years. Victoria was devastated and went into deep mourning. In 1861, tragedy struck when Albert died at 42. As a result, the queen and her growing family became beloved celebrities and influenced popular culture, introducing England to everything from white wedding dresses to Christmas trees. In contrast, Victoria expanded the monarch’s public role, supporting charities, the arts, and civic reform to counter the view that British royalty wasn’t worth the expense. Together with her husband, Victoria faced those challenges head-on, working to strengthen the position of the monarchy in England and throughout Europe, where there was also a growing distaste for royals who expected the public to foot the bill for their lavish lifestyles. And in Ireland, the potato famine between 18 fomented outright rebellion. The monarchy’s reputation had been badly damaged by Victoria’s predecessors, and the British populace clamored to replace the monarchy with a republic. Photograph by Roger Fenton, Getty Early reignĭuring her early reign, Victoria was heavily influenced by Lord Melbourne, the prime minister, and Albert, who was her closest political advisor and whom some historians believe was “king in all but name.” Together, they pursued an agenda of modernization and stability in an era of political upheaval. It was a genuine love match-she wrote that her wedding night was “bliss beyond belief”-and they went on to have nine children. In 1840, she married her cousin Albert, a German prince. As soon as she became queen, she banned Conroy from her court and marginalized her mother. Victoria broke free in 1837, when she turned 18 and rose to the throne. Designed to keep Victoria dependent and loyal to Conroy and her mother, the system resulted in an unhappy childhood-and a growing sense of resentment. He created what became known as “the Kensington system,” an elaborate set of rules that isolated the young princess at Kensington Palace and put him in control of her education and upbringing. Victoria’s father died when she was a child, and her ambitious mother allied herself with the scheming Sir John Conroy, a member of the royal household who seized the chance to gain power and influence through the future queen. Palace intrigue made for a miserable childhood. Born in 1819, Alexandrina Victoria was a direct successor to the crown. One of those brothers, Edward, hastily married a widowed German princess and became the first to produce an heir. Charlotte’s brothers-all of whom were single and had given the monarchy a bad name with their profligate spending and messy personal lives-raced to produce an heir. Victoria was the product of a succession crisis in England’s royal family that occurred when Princess Charlotte, the presumptive successor to King George, and her infant son died in childbirth. But when Victoria took the throne, the British monarchy was deeply unpopular. An estimated one in four people on Earth were subjects of the British Empire by the end of her rule. In the 19th century, Queen Victoria earned all those nicknames and more-testaments to the enduring influence of her 64-year (1837-1901) reign over the United Kingdom.ĭuring the period now known as the Victorian Era, she oversaw her nation’s industrial, social, and territorial expansion and became known as a trendsetter who made over European attitudes toward the monarchy.
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