Victoria (1837-1901)

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and from 1 May 1876 the first Empress of India until her death. more...

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Her reign as Queen lasted 63 years and seven months, longer than that of any other British monarch to date. The period centred on her reign is known as the Victorian era.

Though Victoria ascended the throne at a time when the United Kingdom was already an established constitutional monarchy in which the king or queen held few political powers, she still served as a very important symbolic figure of her time. The Victorian era represented the height of the Industrial Revolution, a period of significant social, economic, and technological progress in the United Kingdom. Victoria's reign was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire; during this period it reached its zenith, becoming the foremost global power of the time.

Victoria, who was of almost entirely German descent, was the granddaughter of George III and the niece of her predecessor William IV. She arranged marriages for her nine children and forty-two grandchildren across the continent, tying Europe together; this earned her the nickname \"the grandmother of Europe\". She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover; her son King Edward VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Through her mother, she was also a first cousin thrice removed of Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress.

Early life

In 1817 a concern over succession arose when George IV's only legitimate child and George III's only legitimate grandchild, Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, died in childbirth, leaving no surviving children. George III had twelve surviving children. The younger sons of George III had not expected to figure in the line of succession to the throne of Britain, and therefore showed little interest in marriage. When Charlotte died, the remaining unmarried sons of King George III, now in their 40s and 50s, scrambled to marry and father children to guarantee the line of succession. As such, at the age of 50, The Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III, married a widow, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The couple's only child, Victoria, was born in Kensington Palace, London, on 24 May 1819. At birth she was fifth in line to succeed her grandfather George III to the British crown after her father's three older brothers and her father.

Victoria was baptised in the Cupola Room of Kensington Palace on 24 June 1819 by The Archbishop of Canterbury (Charles Manners-Sutton). Her godparents were The Prince Regent (her paternal uncle); the Russian Tsar (Alexander I, her fourth cousin (in whose honour she received her first name); The Princess Royal (her paternal aunt); and The Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (her maternal grandmother). Although christened Alexandrina Victoria—and from birth formally styled Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria of Kent—Victoria was called Drina within the family.

Read more at Wikipedia.org