Queen Victoria was born as the only child of Edward, the Duke of Kent and Victoria Saxe-Saalfield-Coburg, sister of Leopold (King of the Belgians). As Victoria’s father died when she was only 8 months old, she was raised under the close supervision by her German-born mother Victoria-Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield, Duchess of Kent.
She was the Queen of Great Britain from 1837 to 1876 which is the second longest reign in British history. Under her reign, Britain went from a primarily agricultural society to an industrial one. Her children and grandchildren married into the royal families of almost all the monarchies of Europe. She was often called the Grandmother of Europe. A lot of famous places and sites around the world named after this British Queen, such as the state of Queensland in Australia, Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe, the city of Victoria in Canada, and Victoria Square in Athens, Greece.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT QUEEN VICTORIA:
- The full name of Queen Victoria was Alexandrina Victoria. But on the very first day of her reign, the first name was pulled back and then never used again.
- Queen Victoria’ was crowned as the queen of United Kingdom & Ireland in London’s Westminster Abbey at a very young age of 18.
- Queen Victoria wore a white dress on her wedding day and thus setting it as a trend worldwide for brides. On Feb 10, 1840, Victoria married her first cousin, Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a German Prince. The ceremony took place at London in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace. Queen enjoyed her marriage and had nine children over the next several years.
- Queen Victoria was a linguist; she spoke fluent English and German, and studied other languages, too, including French, Italian and Latin. Later in life, she also learnt the Indian language of Hindustani. Wow!!
- Victoria was named privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 at Kensington Palace. She was christened Alexandrina Victoria, after one of her godparents. “Drina” was her family nickname.
- Victoria was raised in isolation by her extremely protective mother under the set of instructions known as “Kensington System,” which prevented her from meeting people who were considered undesirable. She had described her adolescence as “rather melancholy.”
- On 20 June 1837, Victoria became the Queen of the United Kingdom. However, the official crowning took place on June 28, 1838, and she became the first empress to reside at Buckingham Palace.
- Victoria was deeply attached to her husband and was devastated after her husband’s death. From that day onward she wore only black and was in the state of permanent mourning. In December 1861, at the young age of 42, Albert passed away from typhoid fever. Victoria plunged into deep depression and pulled back from all the public appearances. Her seclusion earned her an additional name ‘The Widow of Windsor.’
- The Victoria Day is applauded on the last Monday on or before 24th May. On this day, there is a legal public holiday in Canada and some parts of Scotland.
- Queen Victoria had written down instructions for her funeral in advance which was to be military as befitting a soldier’s daughter, and she should be dressed in white instead of black. Queen Victoria died on Jan 22, 1901, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. She is buried in a Frogmore Mausoleum, Windsor beside Prince Albert.
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