queenvic

=20

Victoria (Queen),=20 (1819-1901) =
Queen of the United Kingdom of = Great=20 Britain and Ireland (1837-1901) and empress of India=20 (1876-1901).=20

Born Alexandrina = Victoria on May=20 24, 1819, in Kensington Palace, London, Victoria was the daughter = of=20 Victoria Mary Louisa, daughter of the duke of = Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld; her=20 father was Edward Augustus, duke of Kent and Strathern, the fourth = son of=20 George III and youngest brother of George IV and William IV, kings = of=20 Great Britain. Because William IV had no legitimate children, his = niece=20 Victoria became heir apparent to the British crown upon his = accession in=20 1830. On June 20, 1837, with the death of William IV, she became = queen at=20 the age of 18.=20

Early in her reign = Victoria=20 developed a serious concern with affairs of state, guided by her = first=20 prime minister, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. Melbourne = was leader=20 of that wing of the Whig Party that later became known as the = Liberal=20 Party. He exercised a strongly progressive influence on the = political=20 thinking of the queen.=20

Marriage=20

In 1840 Victoria was = married to=20 her first cousin, Albert, prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, whom she = had known=20 for about four years. Although this was a marriage of state, it = was a=20 highly romantic and successful one, and Victoria was devoted to = her=20 domestic responsibilities. The first of their nine children was = Victoria=20 Adelaide Mary Louise, later empress of Germany. Their first son, = Albert=20 Edward, prince of Wales and later king of Great Britain as Edward = VII, was=20 born in 1841. When the conservative Prince Albert convinced her = that=20 Liberal policy jeopardized the future of the Crown, the queen = began to=20 lose her enthusiasm for the party. After 1841, when the Melbourne=20 government fell and Sir Robert Peel became prime minister, = Victoria was an=20 ardent supporter of the Conservative Party. Also under Albert's = influence,=20 she began to question the tradition that restricted the British = sovereign=20 to an advisory role. In 1850 she challenged the authority of Henry = John=20 Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, foreign secretary in the Whig = government=20 that had been in power since 1846. Her position was that the = sovereign=20 should at least be consulted on foreign policy. Palmerston, = independent=20 and self-assertive, ignored the request. Their struggle reached a = climax=20 in 1851, when the prime minister, Lord John Russell, who was also=20 displeased with Palmerston's arbitrary methods, dismissed him from = the=20 foreign office. Their altercations with Palmerston, one of the = most=20 popular political leaders in the country, caused Victoria and = Albert to=20 lose some of the esteem of their subjects. Their popularity = dwindled even=20 more in 1854, when they tried to avert the Crimean War. After the = war had=20 begun, however, they gave it their wholehearted support. In 1856, = shortly=20 before the end of the war, the queen instituted the Victoria = Cross, the=20 highest British award for wartime valor.
In 1857, Victoria had the title = of prince=20 consort bestowed on Albert. Four years later he died, and she = remained in=20 virtual mourning for much of the rest of her life. She avoided = public=20 appearances, letting the prince of Wales fulfill most of the royal = ceremonial duties. Her detailed personal interest in the affairs = of state=20 continued, however.=20

Reign After=20 1861=20

Several prime = ministers served=20 during the latter part of Victoria's reign, but only the = Conservative=20 Party leader Benjamin Disraeli, who held office in 1868 and from = 1874 to=20 1880, gained her confidence. He ingratiated himself with the queen = by his=20 cultivated personal approach and his gift for flattery. He also = allowed=20 her a free hand in the awarding of church, military, and some = political=20 appointments. She fully endorsed his policy of strengthening and = extending=20 the British Empire, and in 1876 Disraeli secured for her the title = of=20 empress of India. She rarely agreed with the brilliant leader of = the=20 Liberal Party, William E. Gladstone, who served as prime minister = four=20 times between 1868 and 1894. Victoria disapproved of the = democratic=20 reforms he enunciated, such as abolishing the purchase of military = commissions and legalizing trade unions, and his powerful = intellectualized=20 method of argument. She was also strongly opposed to his policy of = home=20 rule for Ireland. The Conservative leader Robert Arthur Talbot=20 Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, who served as prime = minister=20 three times between 1885 and 1902, more often found favor with the = queen.=20 Like Disraeli, he advocated protecting British interests and = increasing=20 British influence abroad.=20

British=20 Idol =20

Victoria's popularity = among all=20 classes in British society reached its height in the last two = decades of=20 her reign. Her golden jubilee in 1887 and her diamond jubilee in = 1897 were=20 occasions for great public rejoicing. Her subjects were then = enjoying an=20 unprecedented period of prosperous complacency, and her = enthusiastic=20 execution of the Boer War increased her appeal at home and abroad. = Victoria died on January 22, 1901. Her 63-year reign was the = longest in=20 the history of England. Her descendants, including 40 = grandchildren,=20 married into almost every royal family of = Europe.=20

With her personal = example of=20 honesty, patriotism, and devotion to family life, Victoria became = a living=20 symbol of the solidity of the British Empire. The many years of = her reign,=20 often referred to as the Victorian age, witnessed the rise of the = middle=20 class and were marked by a deeply conservative morality and = intense=20 nationalism.=20

Victoria's = correspondence was=20 published in three series, Letters, 1837-61 (3 vol., 1907), = Letters,=20 1862-85 (3 vol., 1926-1928), and Letters, 1886-1901 (3 vol.,=20 1930-32).

"Victoria=20 (queen)," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 97=20 Encyclopedia.
(c) 1993-1996 = Microsoft=20 Corporation. All rights=20 = reserved.

Queen = Victoria=20
1837-1901=20

Victoria was born in = 1819, and was=20 the niece of her predecessor William=20 IV.=20

She married Albert, = Prince of=20 Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Their Children were: Victoria, Edward, = Alice,=20 Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold and = Beatrice.=20

Victoria was crowned = in 1837 by=20 William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury on the 28th June 1838=20 at
Westminster=20 Abbey, London, a month after she came of =
age, and released the country = from a=20 Regency by her
unpopular mother. After marrying Albert, Victoria=20 settled
down to a=20 frequently troubled reign, but always had a =
knack for survival. She became = known as the=20 Grandmother of Europe after marrying her family into every Royal = House in=20 Europe. She also gained a huge Empire. =20

The Victorian Era saw = numerous=20 innovations in Science,
Technology and the Humanities. Great Britain = became=20 the
most powerful=20 nation in the world in terms of both
military and industrial = prowess. The fact=20 that most, if not
all, the members of today's European monarchies=20 can
trace their=20 ancestry back to Victoria may well be an
indication of this=20 power.=20

Queen Victoria was = styled as "By=20 the Grace of God, of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, = Queen, Defender=20 of the Faith," until in 1877 when her style became "By the Grace = of God,=20 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, = Defender of the=20 Faith, Empress of India". =20

The composer Felix = Mendelsshon=20 wrote that Victoria had
the finest singing voice of any amateur he'd ever=20 heard.
Victoria was=20 a very skilled amateur artist, her sketches =
were very detailed and her = water colours=20 were extremely
well=20 done. Victoria published two books "Leaves from the=20
Journal of Our Life = in the=20 Highland", in 1868, and "More
Leaves from the Journal of A Life in the = Highlands", in=20 1884. =20

The desk still used by = the=20 President of the United States
in the White House's Oval Office was a gift from=20 Queen
Victoria. She=20 had it carved from the timbers of the H.M.S. Resolute, for = presentation to=20 President Rutherford B Hayes.=20

Victoria, British = Columbia, was=20 named after the queen, as
were Victoria Island in the Northwest Territories=20 and
Regina,=20 Saskatchewan. The Victoria Falls were named after the queen, as = was Lake=20 Victoria. In 1841, explorer James Ross named Victoria Land, = Antarctica,=20 after Queen Victoria. Portrayed by Anna Neagle in the 1937 film, = "Victoria=20 the Great". Anna Neagle also played Victoria in the 1937 sequel = "Sixty=20 Glorious Years". Portrayed by Irene Dunne in the 1950 film, "The=20 Mudlark".=20

Victoria died on the = 22nd of=20 January 1901 at the age of
82 from natural causes in Osbourne House, Isle of=20 Wight,
England.=20 She is buried at Windsor, Berkshire, England. =
Her funeral was attended by = Kings, Queens,=20 Princes, Dukes and Lords from all around the = world.=20

She died after = reigning for 63=20 years, she was the longest
reigning British monarch after ruling over a = British Empire=20 that covered a quarter of the globe.=20

= Titles:
Queen of = Great Britain=20 (1837-1901)
Empress of India=20 (1876-1901)

&nb= sp; &nbs= p; =20 Go to Successor
&nb= sp; &nbs= p; = ;=20 Edward = VII