Victoria (1837-1901)
Victoria was born on May 24, 1819 in Kensington Palace, London. She was the only daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of George III. Her father died shortly after her birth and she became heir to the throne as her three older half-brothers – George IV, Frederick Duke of York and William IV – died without legitimate children.
After the death of King William IV in 1837, she became Queen at the age of 18.
Queen Victoria is associated with Britain's Industrial Revolution, economic progress, and especially empire. At her death, Britain was said to have a worldwide empire on which the sun would never set.
In the early part of her reign, she was influenced by two men: her first prime minister was Lord Melbourne and then her husband, Prince Albert, whom she married in 1840. Both taught her a lot about how to be a ruler. In 'constitutional monarchy', the monarch had very few powers but could exercise a lot of influence.
Husband Albert took an active interest in art, science, commerce and industry. The project for which he is best remembered was the Great Exhibition of 1851, the profits of which helped establish the South Kensington Museum complex in London.
Her marriage to Prince Albert produced nine children between 1840 and 1857. Many of her children married into other royal families in Europe.
Edward VII (born 1841), married Alexandra, daughter of Christian IX of Denmark. Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born 1844) married Marie of Russia. Arthur, Duke of Connaught (born 1850) married Louise Margaret of Prussia. Leopold, Duke of Albany (born 1853) married Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont.
Victoria, Princess Royal (born 1840) married German Emperor Frederick III. Alice (born 1843) married Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and Rhine. Helena (born 1846) married Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. Louise (born 1848) married John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll. Beatrice (born 1857) married Henry of Battenberg.
Victoria bought Osborne House on the Isle of Wight (later presented to the nation by Edward VII) as a family home in 1845, and Albert bought Balmoral in 1852.
Victoria was deeply attached to her husband Albert, and after his death in 1861 at the age of 42, she fell into depression. She lost a devoted husband and her chief confidant in public affairs. For the rest of her reign, she wore black.
She rarely appeared in public until the late 1860s. Although she never neglected her official correspondence and continued to give audiences to her ministers and official visitors, she was unwilling to resume a full public life.
In 1866 and 1867 she led to the opening of Parliament privately, but was widely criticized for living in seclusion, and a fairly strong republican movement developed.
Between 1840 and 1882 there were seven attempts on Victoria's life - her brave attitude towards these attacks greatly strengthened her popularity.
Over time, the Queen gradually resumed her public duties, influenced by the personal requests of her family and the admiring attentions of Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister from 1868 and 1874 to 1880.
In foreign policy, the influence of the middle years of the Queen's reign was generally used to support peace and reconciliation. In 1864, Victoria pressured her ministers not to intervene in the Prussian-Danish War, and in 1875 her letter to the German Emperor (whose son had married his daughter) helped prevent the Second Franco-German War.
In the Eastern Question of the 1870s—the question of Britain's policy toward the declining Turkish Empire in Europe—Victoria (unlike Gladstone) believed that Britain, while pushing for necessary reforms, should preserve Turkish hegemony as a bulwark of stability against Russia. Maintain bi-partisanship in case Britain joins the war.
Victoria's popularity grew with increasing imperial sentiments from the 1870s. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the government of India was transferred from the East India Company to the Crown, the position of Governor-General was elevated to Viceroy, and Victoria became Empress of India under the Royal Titles Act passed by Disraeli's government in 1877.
During Victoria's long reign, direct political power moved away from the sovereign. A series of acts broadened the social and economic base of the electorate.
These Acts included the Second Reform Act of 1867; the introduction of the secret ballot in 1872, where voters could not be influenced by bribery or intimidation; and the Representation of the People Act 1884 – all householders and lodgers in lodgings worth at least £10 a year and occupiers of land worth £10 a year were entitled to vote.
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