Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Queen Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 -- 22 January 1901) was the sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she was the first Empress of India of the British Raj.

Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III. Both the Duke of Kent and the King died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne at the age of 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. She ascended the throne when the United Kingdom was already an established constitutional monarchy, in which the Sovereign held relatively few direct political powers. Privately, she attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments. Publicly, she became the iconic symbol of the nation and empire, and was identified with strict standards of personal morality.
Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. Their 9 children and 26 of their 42 grandchildren married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together and earning her the nickname "the grandmother of Europe". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the later half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration.
At 63 years and 7 months, her reign as the Queen lasted longer than that of any other British monarch, and is the longest of any female monarch in history. Her reign is known as the Victorian era, and was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military progress within the United Kingdom. Overseas, it was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover; her son and successor King Edward VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

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[emmers57]

3:59 sweet jesus! is she smiling?!

[lostsplendour]

@emmers57 Yes.

[johneunson]

in the paintings both albert and victoria look handsome, alas, photograhy was not as kind. was victoria really grieving for her mother? or was it the 'done thing' at court? (after all she wrote the rules on 'grieving etiquette') they did not have a warm loving relationship. some days ago a historian was interviewed on the radio, he suggested that, had not albert die when he did , he would have become a dictator.

[lostsplendour]

@johneunson When Victoria's mother died, Victoria was at her side. Through reading her mother's papers, Victoria discovered that her mother had loved her deeply; she was heart-broken, and blamed Conroy and Lehzen for "wickedly" estranging her from her mother. So she was genuinely grieving for her mother. About Albert, I heard about this and saw a documentary (on youtube) about him suggested that same idea.

[elrjames777]

@EricBree1978 Yes: but that is not the whole story. The monarch has the right to be consulted on any matter. Back in 1978 a 'battered wives' home was ordered to close and its director wrote to HMQ asking for help. The reply made it clear this was not a situation in which HMQ could personally intervene, but it went on to say that that HMQ had been assured the residents would not be evicted. Perhaps upon hearing of HMQ's interest a minister thought it best not to evict after all :-)

[EricBree1978]

@elazar79 Only in theory. In practice the British monarchs have no political power, cannot make political decisions and therefore their rule is just symbolic. It's the British Parliament which has the real power. So Victoria ruled half of the world only in theory, but not in practice.

[billym1974]

I don't know why, but i've always been fascinated by Queen Victoria. The name alone stirs something in me, ever since I was a little boy. Long Live the Empire!

[elazar79]

One Woman that rules half of the world

[elazar79]

Empress of India

[ABritt06]

I loved it

[1toscany]

As always, very well done.