Queen Victoria: the story of a great ruler

Victoria's youth

Since her birth in 1819, baby Alexandrina Victoria was fifth in line to the throne. In front of her stood her father and his three brothers, who had no children.

The girl spent her entire childhood in melancholy, because she was raised in strictness, forbidding her to communicate with other children and even show herself at court.

After the death of her father, Victoria could have sat on the throne, but her two uncles took it in turn. And the girl herself and her mother became toys in the hands of her father’s servant, John Conroy. He protected the princess with a set of strict rules and turned her childhood into a dull time.

Portrait of young Victoria.

King William IV also reigned briefly, so Victoria became queen immediately after her 18th birthday. She immediately got rid of the unnecessary things - she expelled her mother and forbade John Conroy from visiting Buckingham Palace.

From the age of 13, Victoria kept a diary in which she described in detail all the events of her life. In it, on June 20, 1837, she recorded that her uncle had died and she had become queen.

Biography of Queen Victoria: Child of State Importance

If you think that the life of a ruler is a continuous holiday and pleasure, when you can do whatever you want, then you are deeply mistaken. When the notorious Russian cartoon character said “Do you want ice cream, do you want cake!”, unfortunately, he did not clarify that this only happens in fairy tales. One of the queen's many biographers, Giles St. Aubyn, wrote that she was always very busy. She had to write at least two and a half thousand words a day, which is approximately five pages of neat A4 typewritten text.

Interesting

From mid-summer 1832 until her death, Queen Victoria of England kept a personal diary, in which she made entries daily. Over the course of her life, she collected one hundred and twenty-two volumes of notes. According to the research of another biographer, Christopher Hibbert, she entrusted her youngest daughter Beatrice with the notebooks. She had her own view of things, so she edited and rewrote the diaries herself, correcting whatever she pleased. In this case, the originals were immediately burned. Nevertheless, most of the notes survived.

The political birth of a symbol of Great Britain

The nineteenth century was a turning point for the country, as well as for the crown itself. During the years of Queen Victoria's reign in England, a smooth and gradual transition began from absolute to constitutional monarchy, which we can observe today. The electoral system was gradually improved, and the House of Commons gained strength, while the influence of the House of Lords and the august monarch himself decreased.

Therefore, in those days, the queen already had a symbolic rather than a decisive role. She actively took up the promotion of family values and morality, which had been discredited by entire generations of the Hanoverian dynasty before her. It was this woman, while on the throne, who decided to establish a new principle of a “family” monarchy, which would attract and lead the middle class.

Origin: When and where was the Queen born?

Surprisingly, this future great woman was born according to a kind of order. Her father was the fourth eldest son of George III - Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, Earl of Dublin from the Hanoverian dynasty, who was never, and should not have become, king. He was only the fifth in the strict order of “candidates”; he lived for a long time in Canada, and then in Brussels, where he experienced terrible financial difficulties (he was starving). His direct granddaughter Charlotte Augusta of Wales was the only legitimate granddaughter of Ruler George. Therefore, when she gave her soul to God in 1817, the family became seriously worried. The heirs were only children (almost all of them were already elderly), after whose death there was no one else to continue the dynasty. The king ordered Edward to urgently marry and give birth to a child of any gender.

It would seem that such a thing is impossible by order, but the history of Queen Victoria proves the opposite. The prince had to quickly look for a bride. The choice fell on the young widow Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, who was incredibly beautiful. On a chilly spring morning, at exactly fifteen minutes past four, in the modest and dull Kensington Palace on May 24, 1819, she gave birth to a girl named Victoria. At baptism, she also received a second name - Alexandrina, in honor of her godfather - the Russian Emperor Alexander the First, with whom the British crown was friendly at that time. Not long ago the Napoleonic Wars died down, and the help of the Allies was truly invaluable.

After the death of Charlotte Augusta, the girl's father Edward became fourth in line of succession, and she herself became fifth. Just eight months later, dad died, and in the twentieth year, both daughters of the Duke of Clarence (paternal uncle) died, and after another seven, the Duke of York died. When George IV also died in the thirtieth year, William IV sat on the throne, and the girl herself became first in line. True, if he had not lived to see the princess come of age, her mother would have taken the regency position. Wilhelm considered her incapable of ruling the country, so he promised to hold out until the heiress turned eighteen.

The severity of the upbringing of the future ruler

The early years of Queen Victoria's life were spent in melancholy and loneliness, which she herself wrote about in her diaries. She grew up in gloomy Kensington Palace and was brought up with principles bearing the same name. She was not allowed to play or meet other children at all, and her mother and her friend and manager (lover?) John Conroy created a whole series of protocols and rules for her. She studied science, as well as many languages, but at home she was obliged to speak only English, she practically never visited the court, and she could play with dolls or her beloved spaniel named Dash only in strictly designated minutes.

From the thirty-second until the thirty-fifth, the Duchess and her favorite took the girl all over Britain. During the trip we stayed in the best mansions. The young princess was greeted so cordially that even William became worried. However, the little girl herself did not like such dubious “entertainment” at all. She was constantly on the go, either receiving boring ladies and gentlemen, or smiling at someone, and it was difficult to rest or sleep.

Queen Victoria - Coronation

First of all, the Queen received an annuity from Parliament in the amount of £385, which made her the richest in the world. She used the money wisely and paid off all her father's debts first.

In 1838, she was crowned, and about 400 thousand people came out to watch the ceremony. At the beginning of her journey, Victoria was very popular, but then several careless steps alienated her a little from the people.

Coronation of Victoria (1838).

The case of her mother's maid of honor, Flora Hastings, received particular publicity. The woman’s stomach began to ache and grow, which gave rise to rumors about her relationship with John Conroy. Victoria easily believed this because she hated Conroy. However, after Flora's death, it was revealed that she was innocent and her stomach was growing due to a tumor. The public then booed the queen at her performances and had a negative attitude towards her.

Cult of Albert

Prince Albert died on December 14, 1861 (at that time Victoria was 42 years old), Victoria spent almost 40 years as a widow. The memory of her deceased husband became almost a cult for her. She always wore a black dress (she is depicted in it in most of the most famous photographs), every morning she laid out her husband’s things and put them away every evening, published two books about her husband: “Early life of the Prince Consort” (1867) and “Leaves from the journal of our life in the Highlands" (1868). In 1884 she published More leaves from the journal of a life in the Highlands. After her husband's death, she rarely appeared in public and led a relatively secluded life. Among the people and in the army she was nicknamed “The Widow”, this nickname was immortalized, in particular, in the poems of Rudyard Kipling.

On June 20, 1887, all of England solemnly celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the reign of Queen Victoria (during this celebration, Irish nationalists were preparing a regicide, the so-called “jubilee plot”); in 1897, the 60th anniversary of her reign (combined with celebrations of the Queen's personal record, which, starting in 1896, surpassed George III, and her reign became the longest in British history).

Victoria died at Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight, on January 22, 1901, in the 82nd year of her life and 64th year of her reign, in the presence of her beloved grandson, the German Emperor William II. She was buried next to her husband in the Frogmore Mausoleum. She was succeeded by her son Edward VII.

The world's largest water lily is named in honor of Victoria - Victoria Amazonica (Victoria regia), found in British Guiana by a German botanist in the English service, R. G. Schomburg. Also named after the queen is one of the largest waterfalls in the world (Victoria Falls) and one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world (Lake Victoria). Asteroid (12) Victoria, discovered in 1850 by the English astronomer John Hind, is presumably named after Victoria.

Royal wedding

Victoria was matched in her youth with Prince Albert, her cousin. Having ascended the throne, the girl was at first in no hurry to get married, but according to the law, as an unmarried young lady, she had to rule together with her mother. To protect herself from an unpleasant debt, she decided to get married. Just in 1839, Albert came to her, and feelings flared up between them again.

Wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

The Queen legally proposed to him herself, and they married in 1840. Victoria was incredibly happy and thanked God for such a husband. He was her mentor and assistant, friend and lover until his death. Passion burned between them all the years of marriage, and her marriage can safely be called happy.

Personal life

Victoria met her future husband Albert, who was the girl’s cousin, back in 1836. The second meeting took place in 1839, after Victoria ascended the throne. The young queen's heart trembled; the girl truly fell in love. Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha did not remain indifferent either. The wedding took place on February 10, 1840 in the chapel of St. James's Palace in London. Appearing at the celebration in a white dress and white veil, Victoria became a trendsetter in wedding fashion. Before this, brides chose dresses in red or black.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

A warm relationship was established between the spouses, which Victoria repeatedly mentioned in her letters. The Queen called herself the happiest of women. Prince Albert was also pleased with his position. In the first years of his reign, the Prince Consort remained aloof from affairs, performing only the function of his wife’s secretary. But over time, Albert took on many responsibilities, including conducting international correspondence.

Wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

The popularity of the royal couple in the state was influenced by the release of a gift set containing 14 photographs depicting Victoria and Albert. A total of 60 thousand copies of the set were sold, which gave rise to the tradition of family photography. Queen Victoria's favorite dish was vanilla sponge cake with lemon zest and strawberries, which was later named after her.

At the end of 1840, the first daughter was born into the royal family, named Victoria according to custom. The Queen was disgusted with newborns, did not like the state of pregnancy and breastfeeding, but this did not stop her from becoming the mother of four more sons - Edward (1841), Alfred (1844), Arthur (1850), Leopold (1853) - and four daughters - Alice (1843), Helen (1846), Louise (1848), Beatrice (1857). Over time, the Queen of England managed to competently arrange the marriages of her children, thereby strengthening the ties between the ruling dynasties of Europe, which is why she began to be called the “grandmother of Europe.”

Queen Victoria with her children and husband

In 1861, Albert died of typhoid fever, and Victoria went into mourning for several years. Recovering from the loss, Queen Victoria took up British government affairs. In the mid-60s, Mr. John Brown, who was credited with a close relationship with Victoria, became the queen's confidant. After 1876, in honor of the 50th anniversary of her reign, Victoria ordered several servants from India. The exoticism captivated the queen, and the Hindu Abdul Karim became the ruler's favorite and personal teacher, an expert on Vedic culture.

The Queen's children lived to adulthood and gave Victoria 42 grandchildren and 85 great-grandchildren. Queen Victoria's famous descendants include Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, King Harald V of Norway, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Juan Carlos I of Spain and Queen Sofia of Spain. Queen Victoria became the first carrier in her family of the hemophilia gene, which was passed on to her daughters Alice and Beatrice. Of the royal sons, Prince Leopold became a hemophiliac. The disease manifested itself in Victoria's great-grandson, Tsarevich Alexei, the long-awaited son of Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, daughter of Princess Alice.

Children

It’s strange to hear this from a woman who became the mother of nine children, but Victoria always admitted that she hated pregnancy and childbirth. Having children was not easy for her; after giving birth, she was almost always tormented by postpartum depression.

In addition, Victoria was a carrier of the hemophilia gene, which she passed on to some of her male children. From Victoria, by the way, the disease passed on to one of her great-grandchildren, Tsarevich Alexei Romanov.

Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children.

Victoria saw her children as an excellent way to enter into profitable political alliances with European countries. Nine of her children became spouses of influential European figures. Its ancestry can be traced throughout the history of the 19th and 20th centuries. For example, the wife of Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna, is the daughter of Duchess Alice, the queen’s third child. In total she had 9 children, 42 grandchildren and 85 great-grandchildren.

Grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

Victoria and Albert had 42 grandchildren (20 men and 22 women), of whom two (the sons of Prince Alfred and Princess Helena) were stillborn, and two more (Prince Alexander John of Wales and Prince Harold of Schleswig-Holstein) died shortly after birth. Their first grandson was the future German Emperor Wilhelm II, who was born to their first-born Victoria on January 27, 1859. Their last grandson was Prince Moritz of Battenberg, born to their fifth daughter, Princess Beatrice (1857–1944) on October 3, 1891. Victoria and Albert's last living grandchild was Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, who was born on 25 February 1883 and died on 3 January 1981, almost 80 years after her grandmother's death at the age of 97.

Victoria and Albert had a common grandfather (Duke Franz of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld) and grandmother (Countess Augusta of Reis). In 1888, Princess Irene of Hesse, whose mother was the Queen's daughter, Grand Duchess Alice of Hesse, married Prince Henry of Prussia, son of the German Empress Victoria, the Queen's first child. Prince Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and Rhine, Alice's son, married Princess Victoria-Melita, daughter of Alice's brother, Prince Alfred of Edinburgh, in 1894.

Prince Albert (26 August 1819 - 14 December 1861) lived only 42 years and therefore managed to see only two of his grandchildren from his eldest daughter Victoria: William (1859-1941) and his sister Princess Charlotte (1860-1919), while the Queen Victoria (24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) lived long enough to see not only all her grandchildren, but also many of her 85 great-grandchildren.

Victoria, the Queen's daughter and first child of Victoria and Albert (21 November 1840 - 5 August 1901), was not only the mother of the Queen's first grandson, but also the grandmother of her first great-grandchild, Charlotte of Prussia's daughter, Theodora of Saxe-Meiningen (1879-1945) and grandmother The Queen's last great-granddaughter, Princess Catherine of Greece and Denmark (1913–2007), daughter of Sophia of Prussia and granddaughter of Victoria. After Catherine's death in 2007, Queen Victoria's only living great-grandson was Prince Carl Johan of Sweden (31 October 1916 – 5 May 2012), son of the Queen's granddaughter Margaret of Connaught, daughter of Arthur of Connaught, the Queen's third son.

Queen Victoria died in January 1901, surviving three of her own children: Princess Alice, who died in December 1878, Prince Leopold, who died in March 1884, and Prince Alfred, who died in July 1900. In addition to her four grandchildren, who died in infancy, Queen Victoria was survived by several other grandchildren:

Prince Sigismund of Prussia, who died in 1866 from meningitis;
Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Darmstadt, who died in 1873 due to an accident;
Princess Maria of Hesse and Rhine, who died in 1878 of diphtheria;
Prince Waldemar of Prussia, who died in 1879 from diphtheria;
Prince Albert-Victor, Duke of Clarence, who died of infection in 1892;
Prince Alfred of Edinburgh, who shot himself in 1899;
Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein, who died in Africa in 1900.

Family life

Queen Victoria was able to combine her motherhood as much as possible with concerns about the state. Albert helped her in this, who became her support and support. He helped her improve relations with her mother and became, in a way, a mediator between them. He also helped the queen survive several attempts on her life. Albert also taught his wife how not to become a pawn of Parliament, and he succeeded very well.

On the left is a still from the TV series Victoria (2016), on the right is a photograph of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert.

At first, Victoria was against Albert having access to government affairs. However, during her first pregnancy, her opinion changed. And since during her lifetime she became a mother nine times, her dependence on her husband grew with each pregnancy.

He was called “her permanent minister,” because he was with the queen all the time and helped her in all matters. They complemented each other perfectly, Albert was interested in scientific and intellectual issues, and Victoria was closer to the people.

The Royal Family.

The couple chose the Isle of Wight in Scotland as their residence and paid a lot of attention to this country. It reminded Albert of his native Germany, so they built a castle there for themselves.

On the other hand, the most vulnerable was Ireland, which suffered from the Great Famine. Over four years, more than 4 million Irish people died, but the Queen did everything she could to help the country. However, the Irish called Victoria the “Queen of Hunger.”

Attempts on the Queen's life: death and legacy

This woman’s life path was eventful, starting from early childhood. She grew up under strict rules, but this is what allowed her to last longer on the throne than others. Tempered by life's difficulties, she was never afraid of anyone and said everything she thought straight to their faces.

Seven shots in the air

Despite the fact that Queen Victoria ruled fairly and sensibly, she managed to survive several assassination attempts in her lifetime.

Unemployed Edward Oxford tried to shoot at the royal cortege in early June 1940. He pressed the trigger twice, but never hit the target. When the man was captured, he claimed that he did not intend to kill and did not aim at the ruler. The man was acquitted of insanity and placed in a hospital.
In May '42, John Francis shot the queen as she was leaving the church and ran away. On the second day he tried again, but managed to forget to load the pistol. As a result, he was sentenced to death, but was actually exiled to permanent settlement in Australia.
In early June of that year, John William Bean shot chewed paper and garbage at Victoria. When asked why he did this, he replied: “I’m tired of everything.” He was given a year and a half in prison to set him on the right path.
Unemployed Irishman William Hamilton simply raised an unloaded pistol onto the carriage with the Empress, and was immediately arrested. It was rumored that he dreamed of going to Australia, for which he had no money. He received seven years of settlement, after which he remained to live with the Antipodes.
In the fifties, the noble and wealthy gentleman Robert Francis Pathé hit the queen on the forehead with a cane at the entrance to the opera, in his words, because “he was depressed.” There was no injury, and the woman herself went to watch the performance, but the offender had to go to Tasmania for seven years, communicate with local “devils” and treat his nerves.
In February 1972, a young (17 years old) nationalist from Ireland tried to shoot the Queen. He was subsequently sent to a mental hospital and diagnosed as an “idiot.”

The last attempt on the life of the royal person occurred in March of the eighty-second year. He was the true king of all madmen of his time. Tramp Roderick McLean, having communicated with the Lord God himself, immediately understood what to do. He was given the number four and the color blue, as well as the assurance that after the death of the Empress he himself would ascend to the throne. He sat down at Windsor station and fired when Victoria got off the train. It is clear that he missed, so he went not to the throne, but to the psychiatric hospital.

The death of the ruler and the memory of the grandmother of Europe

The English monarch traditionally celebrated Christmas at her residence on the Isle of Wight. By that time, severe cataracts had developed in both eyes, she walked with a stick, as she had a severe limp, she was tormented by gout and excess weight. On January 22, 1901, Victoria died in the sixty-third year of her reign in the presence of her own son and heir, Edward VII, as well as her beloved Pomeranian (Spitz) named Turri. The funeral took place only on February 2 in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Great Park. She rests in the Frogmore Mausoleum, next to her dear husband.

The memory of this little woman's remarkable reign is still alive today. Many squares, streets, as well as settlements and geographical features were named in honor of her. This especially applies to the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. Her image has been repeatedly depicted in documentary and feature films, and her birthday is now considered an official national holiday in Britain. The famous blogger Andy Chef offers Victoria sponge cake. There are varieties of strawberries, raspberries, currants, types of succulents and tomatoes, also named after the famous English queen.

Widow

Victoria's happy marriage ended on December 14, 1861. Albert died of typhoid fever at the age of 42. Victoria had already lost her mother earlier this year, so she suffered the second blow even harder. The Queen put on mourning and did not take off her black dress until the end of her days. For this, people nicknamed her the “Widow of Windsor.”

All the queen’s depressions and illnesses worsened: for the first three years after Albert’s death, she almost did not leave the royal residence. She was stubborn in her grief and withdrew from royal ceremonial duties entirely.

She did not attend any events, which annoyed the ministers. At first she was forgiven for such stubbornness because of her grief, but then everyone just got tired of being lenient. The queen spent her days in melancholy and her nights in thoughts of death.

Victoria and Albert.

However, she continued to follow the political course that Albert helped her choose. She corresponded with ministers and made decisions on many issues in the life of the country independently.

Her first appearance in public after these events took place only in 1871. That year she organized a celebration to enhance the royal position. This act was prompted by the illness of her son and heir Edward. He, like his father, fell ill with typhoid fever, and meanwhile rallies against Victoria were raging in the country. However, after the festive parade, public sentiment towards the royal family improved significantly.

Interestingly, Canada has a public holiday - Victoria Day. After the death of the queen, it became a day of her remembrance. The holiday falls on the Monday preceding May 25 (previously celebrated on May 24 - Victoria's birthday).

Queen Victoria: symbol on the throne

The years of life of Queen Victoria of England are 1819−1901. Of these, 64 years on the throne. A long-liver of the British monarchy, she was an amazing woman, although at first glance she seems to be a rather ordinary figure, even bourgeois. She loved operetta and could dance to Scottish bagpipes. Having met Charles Dickens, she gave him a book of her home diaries, which she probably seriously considered to be a literary work. There is no sophistication or sophistication in it. But it was precisely such a person who was in the right place at the right time and played an extremely important role in the history of Europe.

Her titles themselves are impressive: “Her Majesty Victoria, by the grace of God Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India, Princess of Hanover, Duchess of Brunswick and Luneburg, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Saxony.” Is it possible to achieve more in life?

In John Galsworthy's novel The Forsyte Saga, one of the characters on the day of Queen Victoria's funeral in January 1901 thinks: “Yes! The century is passing! The century of the older generation of Forsytes, the century that was called Victorian, is passing away. It gave birth to the Victorian style in life and art.

It was a time of merciless colonial conquest and division of the world, primarily between England and France, the era of industrial superiority of England, which became the center of technical progress, the world's greatest forge, the country of railways. And the aging Victoria did not like electricity. And in London, oddly enough, electric lamps had already appeared on the streets, and candles were still burning in the houses of the highest nobility.

Even the typewriter caused anxiety and hostility in the queen. Victoria said: “Don’t give me typed reports!” (This meant reports on parliamentary meetings, which she necessarily got acquainted with, although she did not decide anything.) And a whole staff of her secretaries copied documents by hand so that she could read them. At the same time, the nation was not angry with her, despite her conservative eccentricities.

Under her, amazing people were prime ministers, such as Robert Peel, Henry John Palmerston, Benjamin Disraeli, William Gladstone. And she managed not to enter into serious confrontation with any of these major government figures. Victoria did not fall into either extreme: neither absolute pleasure in power, nor absolute disappointment and grief. The fact is that she had no real political power. There was someone else who cannot be characterized without looking closely at the fate of this woman.

Coronation portrait. (Pinterest)

By the time of her birth, the state of the English monarchy was very deplorable. During the revolution of 1640−1660. there was a break in eras: the Middle Ages gave way to the New Age. Feudal privileges are a thing of the past, and the aristocracy has ceased to play the most important role in society. Over the course of twenty revolutionary years, the country was rocked by terrible events, including the execution of King Charles I in 1649. However, the monarch had defenders at the trial, and most of them survived.

It gradually became clear that, despite the turning point in the economic, social, political, and religious fields, England was unable and unwilling to live without the institution of monarchy. By the way, in English history, the monarchy took despotic forms only occasionally, under individual rulers, for example in the 16th century under Henry VIII. In general, since 1215 it was limited by parliament. The constant disagreement between parliament and the monarch created a special atmosphere in which they did not prostrate themselves before the king.

Already in 1688, an event called the “Glorious Revolution” took place. By the way, this combination of words is put in quotation marks according to the Soviet tradition: what, they say, could be glorious in the return of the king? But everything is so clear! The nation yearned for order. Traditionally. Moreover, one of the most important British traditions is not to unnecessarily break what is stable and familiar. The Glorious Revolution is the invitation to the throne of a new king. True, they turned out to be a completely unsuitable person - the mediocre James II Stuart. Disappointed with him, he was sent into exile and lived the rest of his life in France.

Another king was invited to replace him - the husband of his daughter, the ruler of the Netherlands, William of Orange, who became William III. The United Provinces of Holland are the first republic in Europe to win this right in battles with monarchical Spain. But having established republican rule, the Dutch did not give up the idea of one-man rule. They came up with a position - stadtholder. This is not a king, but still a power whose actions are limited by the states general - the Dutch parliament. So the new English king already had relevant experience and knew that his power was not absolute.

William III reigned from 1689 to 1702, then his daughter Anna ascended the throne, leaving no heirs. When the Stuart dynasty came to an end in 1714, a new one was invited - the Hanoverian one. George I of Hanover was originally from Germany, but was distantly related to the Stuarts. Before Victoria's accession, George I, George II, George III, George IV and William IV were on the throne.

These kings came, if you count from the British throne, from a remote province - disunited, politically backward Germany. Finding themselves on the English throne by the will of fate, they seemed to have gone crazy. During their reign, demonstrative debauchery reigned at court. Members of the royal family lived almost openly with operetta actresses, had many illegitimate children, and were fond of alcohol. The wife of the Russian ambassador wrote about the morals around William III: “This is some kind of madhouse with the owner - a heavy drunkard!” The royal house became like a nativity scene.

It is not surprising that in such a situation the question of succession to the throne arose more and more acutely. For some reason (maybe due to consanguineous marriages), the genetics of the Hanoverian dynasty were spoiled. More and more people were born mentally ill.

And then the birth of a healthy, mentally competent heir was planned. Duke Edward of Kent, the 50-year-old son of the reigning George III, made a strong-willed decision to stop the debauchery. He quit drinking and married a quiet, decent princess from Germany, the young widow Victoria-Charlotte of Saxe-Coburg. The couple's plans included having a child. And in 1819, a daughter was born, the king’s niece, named Victoria after her mother. When she was only eight months old, her father died. Apparently, he invested the last strength of his middle-aged body into this child.

By this time, George III had seven sons and six daughters, but not a single normal one among them. Victoria's parents hoped from the very beginning that she would inherit the throne. The fact that a girl was born did not seem to be a serious obstacle: there had already been queens on the English throne, including the brilliant Elizabeth I.

Victoria-Charlotte, who raised her daughter alone, was very worried that she would not be kidnapped, seduced, or spoiled at all: she had to remain a physically and mentally normal contender for the throne. Until this moment, the mother even slept in the same bed with her carefully protected daughter.

Victoria's first godfather was her uncle, the future King William IV, and the second, in absentia, was Russian Emperor Alexander I.

The girl was 11 years old when she was told that she might be the queen of England. This shocked her deeply. And she promised: “I will be good!” This became her motto for the rest of her life. She really turned out to be a good queen - the first powerless monarch in English history.

Wilhelm IV died in 1837. The coronation of 18-year-old Victoria was scheduled in Westminster Abbey - where William I the Conqueror, who created the English monarchy, was once crowned, where great rulers and great scientists are buried. During the coronation, the young provincial woman was confused and kept asking: “I beg you, tell me: what should I do now?” In general, the procedure was poorly organized. The ring - a symbol of power - turned out to be not enough. It was put on with effort, then taken off with even greater difficulty. But still, the accession to the throne took place.

Victoria was sweet, famous for her kind disposition, received the basics of education, learned to draw and wrote willingly (although in the end she did not draw or write anything significant). The problem of marriage had to be solved. Once upon a time, Queen Elizabeth Tudor, having outwitted everyone, never allowed herself to be married off. She either allowed or forbade discussion of this issue, went through candidates for suitors, but she herself never intended to get married - she was married to the English crown.

Victoria was a completely different type of woman. She needed male support and wanted to get married. Among the first suitors for her hand was Prince Alexander of Russia, the future Alexander II, nephew of her godfather. When they met, Victoria and Alexander liked each other. Returning to his homeland, the heir to the throne made it clear to the king that he was not averse to getting married. The answer of Nicholas I is known: “We need the future Russian Tsar, not the husband of the English Queen!” Many years later, Victoria married one of her sons, Alfred, to Alexander II's daughter Maria. It was a completely happy marriage, in which five children were born.

And to Victoria herself, when she was 20 years old, one of her uncles, Leopold, King of Belgium, sent her cousin, Duke Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, as a groom. Even if we make allowances for the complimentary nature of the court portraits, it is still clear that Albert was a real handsome man. He had excellent manners. It was probably important for Victoria that he, like her, was a provincial, and also a relative. In general, she liked him immediately.

During the next dance, she herself proposed to him. He happily agreed. Victoria later wrote in her diary: “I immediately thanked him.” All this was non-standard for dynastic, most often formal, marriages.

Later, all of England made fun of the way the queen began her letters: “We and our beloved Albert...” But these were good-natured ridicule.

The queen's wedding took place at the beginning of 1840. By the end of the year, the first child was already born - daughter Victoria, in the future - the wife of the German emperor. The Queen touchingly promised her husband that the second would be a boy. And so it happened: in 1841, the heir to the throne, the future Edward VII, was born. The Saxe-Coburg dynasty began with him.

In total, nine children were born in the family. One of the sons, Leopold, was sick with hemophilia (today it is clear that Victoria was a carrier of this gene, about which medicine knew nothing then). The disease, which affects men, also overtook a relative of the English royal house - Russian Tsarevich Alexei, son of Nicholas II. Leopold lived a relatively long time for a person with such a diagnosis - 29 years.

The Queen suffered greatly due to the child's illness. She had hysterics, as did her granddaughter, also a carrier of the hemophilia gene, Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, the last Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

It is known that Albert really wanted not only to occupy the position of the queen’s husband, but to play an independent role in the life of the country. In 1851, he began organizing the First World Exhibition, which took place in London, and put all his strength into it. The exhibition was very successful, but the figure of Albert remained in the shadows.

Victoria and Albert's wedding. (Pinterest)

He aspired to become a prince consort. This is the husband of the reigning queen, attached to monarchical power. On the hierarchical ladder he is higher than the Duke. The English Parliament refused to make such a decision. Victoria continued to insist. Two years before her husband’s death, she finally achieved the desired title for him.

Perhaps the fact that Albert was tormented by his situation brought his death closer. He died in 1861 at the age of 43. In recent years he was seriously ill and looked like an old man. The medicine of those years was very imperfect, and the diagnosis is still unknown.

What type of government arose in England under Queen Victoria? We can say that the dream of the English nation has come true. After the horrors of the revolution and a series of failed kings, the nation wanted to respect the monarchy again. Nobody needed absolutism with its prisons and beheadings in the courtyard of the Tower.

It is also important that Protestantism triumphed in England in a unique form of the Anglican Church. This denomination especially cultivated family values. And most subjects wanted the royal court to become an example of integrity.

These ideas turned out to be especially significant on the eve of world wars and the general crisis of civilization. It is no coincidence that over time, George VI, even before ascending the throne, became a participant in the First World War, and the current Queen of Great Britain, Elizabeth II, joined the women's self-defense unit at the end of the Second World War. These royals always realized that they should be an example for the nation.

And Queen Victoria was the first to feel it. Did she strive for power? Hard to say. She was capable of making independent decisions. Immediately after the coronation, she expelled the former ladies-in-waiting who had participated in court debauchery, and completely changed the composition of the servants. Decency and integrity meant a lot to her.

When one of Victoria's sons suffered from typhus, the whole nation was very worried about him. Therefore, after his recovery, Victoria and Albert sat down with the child in an open carriage and drove through the streets; and the mother every now and then took the boy’s hand and kissed it. Eyewitnesses to this scene could not hold back tears of emotion.

But one should not think that Victoria’s reign was completely cloudless. Under her in the 1830-1850s. there was so-called Chartism (from the word “charter”) - a workers’ movement that had mainly peaceful forms (petitions, marches, and so on). Victoria never dealt with this, believing that the ministers would sort everything out.

Anti-monarchist sentiments also arose in England. Seven attempts were made on Victoria's life. Apparently, not all attempts were real. Some had an element of theatricality. Indeed, after the miraculous rescue of the Queen and Prince Albert, who always remained safe and sound, people's love for monarchs flared up with renewed vigor.

When Prince Albert died in 1861, Victoria declared: “The world has grown dark for me!” - and until the last years of her life she wore mourning. The nation really liked how the queen played the role of an inconsolable widow, how she created the “cult of Prince Albert,” how she built his memorial. It took many years to build and opened in 1875. The height of the memorial is more than 50 meters. The Albert monument is four meters high. He is surrounded by another 169 figures: artists, painters, poets, writers, generals. All this even smells like Ancient Egypt. Evil tongues immediately formulated: “a great memorial to a small man.” But the widow’s love and respect for Albert’s memory endeared her to the English people.

In those years, Europe and the whole world were rocked by wars; England fought in the Balkans, the Black Sea, and Afghanistan. And Victoria was busy with her personal grief. And this suited the country. After all, the queen has become a symbol of stability, strength and reliability.

She was smart enough to stay calm when she didn't like something about politics. For example, at first she did not like Prime Minister Disraeli, who took this post in 1868.

Over time, he found an approach to her. After all, it was he who wrote the words: “People love flattery. They need to be flattered. But kings must be flattered like royalty.” Appearing at the queen's, who was getting fatter over the years, he first of all said that she was a sorceress, a fairy! And she listened with pleasure.

But Victoria probably also appreciated the business qualities of Disraeli - an intelligent man and a talented politician. What is his principle worth: “Rulers, members of the government should, in my opinion, be conservative, but act using liberal methods.”

Disraeli was not an aristocrat. Once, during a parliamentary debate, he left no stone unturned from the then Prime Minister Robert Peel. He screamed and almost sputtered. Aristocrat Pil could not answer in such a tone. Moreover, he had a letter in his pocket that compromised Disraeli. But he did not take it out - that would have been an undignified act.

All these political clashes were of little interest to Victoria. She cared about health, and later about her children’s marriages. I got everyone settled in. She had forty grandchildren. This is also a lot of work.

The nation loved the queen and forgave her a lot. Even the fact that 15 years after Albert’s death, the mysterious figure of John Brown appeared next to Victoria. And now English historiography is trying to characterize him as gently as possible. It was either the groom or the queen's chauffeur, a Scot, seven years younger than her. A very large man. She especially liked it when he wore a kilt, the Scottish national costume that resembles a skirt. Then she slightly increased his status - he became her personal valet.

When John Brown accompanied the Queen on her journey to Scotland, her subjects said: “So what? He protected her." They just didn’t want to think badly of her!

Then there was talk that sometimes Victoria and John Brown spent time in her bedroom. A striking explanation was found: this servant can summon the spirit of Albert; that's what they do.

And John Brown became more and more rude and insolent. The rest of the servants complained about him. Victoria, who was already approaching fifty, decided to hold Scottish balls at court. Everyone was ordered to wear Scottish suits. The queen could dance all night to the sound of bagpipes. However, she soon got tired of it. And John Brown died before her, in 1883.

At the same time, she always kept Albert’s memory alive. Every evening she laid out his home clothes and made his bed. And I cleaned it every morning. A photograph has already appeared - and in the first photographs Victoria is captured next to the portrait of her late husband. She stands in a thoughtful, beautiful pose. A very bourgeois image!

The Queen in 1882. (Pinterest)

Years passed, Victoria grew old. She started to get weird. She once married her eldest daughter to the heir of the German emperor, Frederick of Prussia. So, Victoria can eventually become an empress, and her mother is “just” a queen? Clever and cunning, Disraeli figured out how to solve this problem. England fought colonial wars in India, which was actually in the status of a British vassal. In 1876, the title of Empress of India was created and Victoria was ceremoniously crowned. She was happy, and warmly thanked the quick-witted Prime Minister.

In the last decades of her life, Victoria was physically weak, and she was carried in a special chair. This did not stop her from paying attention to the Indian Muslim Abdul Karim, who served as her waiter. By her order, he was appointed to the post of munshi - secretary. The Queen received him at any time and had long conversations with him.

She developed an unexpected passion for oriental luxury. Parliament was not very concerned because colonial wealth from India was pouring into the country. Victoria decorated her chambers with expensive Indian carpets and ordered toilets to be made from Indian fabrics with precious stones. She wrote to her daughter: “There was a Persian ambassador, I amazed him with the luxury of my toilet!” But she was already a very elderly lady. But the nation forgave her everything.

After all, the prosperity of England was beyond doubt. And the daring Disraeli came up with another thing - “on occasion” he bought the Suez Canal from the French. England and France seriously competed for influence in Egypt. Disraeli got his bearings in time and, although parliament was on vacation and could not allocate the necessary funds, he borrowed money from Rothschild and acquired a strategically important channel. And Disraeli reported to his “fairy” Victoria in the following spirit: “He is yours!” And she was very pleased.

It cannot be said that Victoria was not interested in politics at all and did not have her own position. For example, her hostility towards the Russian Emperor Nicholas I is obvious. Back in the 1850s. he paid the Queen of England an unexpected visit. She was stunned by his sudden arrival: this is not customary in Britain. Victoria told Nikolai about her bewilderment in a very neat manner: “Oh, your visit is somewhat unexpected. We didn’t even have time to prepare decent quarters for you!” To which the Russian Tsar replied: “Throw me a bunch of straw in the corner - I’ll sleep on it!” The Queen felt sick from this formulation. Since then, she has shown dislike for Russia every now and then.

True, the news of the assassination of Alexander II the Liberator on March 1, 1881 became a tragedy for her. She then wrote in her diary: “I feel that something terrible could happen in Russia.” And I was not mistaken. Perhaps her very long-standing sympathy for the Russian prince, who became Emperor Alexander II, was realized in the marriage of Victoria's son Alfred and Alexander's only daughter Maria. The marriage was considered happy, they had five children.

But it can be assumed that Victoria’s attitude towards the Russian tsars also contained a tinge of envy. One of the ladies-in-waiting wrote about the martinet Nicholas I: “Today I saw His Majesty! Some kind of unearthly light emanated from him! I happened to see His Majesty touch his hair with his hand, and it was so sweet!” Of course, court nonsense. But Victoria so missed this unconditional worship! It is no coincidence that she gave Albert such an attitude after his death.

Is it not this secret dream of deification that explains her special relationship with Benjamin Disraeli? The Queen sent a bouquet of primrose to his funeral, telling the nation that the retired prime minister loved the flower. As often happens, after Disraeli's death, belated love for him flared up in society. And the queen’s act was so touching! People bought primrose and decorated their clothes, hats, even dog collars with it.

Victoria wrote detailed instructions for her own funeral. She ordered that in the coffin there should be photographs of her and Prince Albert, his nightgown, favorite rings and chains (not the most expensive ones, not family jewels, but simply favorite ones). A portrait of John Brown in a kilt and a lock of his hair were ordered to be placed in the left hand.

Victoria's funeral, which took place on February 2, 1901, is very accurately described by John Galsworthy. It was a farewell to the 19th century. The woman who embodied England's peaceful growth into a new era, where the monarchy cannot be tyrannical, luxurious and depraved in the medieval way, has left.

Since that time, the highest moral demands have been placed on the English royal family. It is significant that in 1917, the grandson of Victoria and Albert, George V, changed the name of the ruling dynasty from the German Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the more patriotic Windsor (named after Windsor Castle, the residence of British monarchs).

Shortly before World War II, Victoria's great-grandson Edward VIII abdicated the throne because he married an American divorcee. He was succeeded by his brother, George VI, a man with a great sense of national dignity.

We know what a shock the divorce of Prince Charles of Wales and the subsequent scandalous rumors concerning his ex-wife Princess Diana were for Great Britain.

The British, to this day, need respect for the monarchy under whose leadership their civilization was built. It was monarchical Britain that at one time was the leader in industrial production, on the seas, and in colonial conquests. The country managed to survive the collapse of the British Empire in 1949 with dignity. And in 1997, when the lease expired, the British peacefully left Hong Kong, transferring this territory to China. And again they showed the world self-respect and dignity.

And the beginning of the formation of just such a worldview, such a national culture, was the Victorian era, the center of which was a woman, a busy mother of many children, naive in many ways, but trying so hard to “be good.” As the wonderful English novelist George Orwell wrote, “People now cannot do without drums, flags, parades, and it is better if they idolize someone who has no real power. In England, the real power is with the gentlemen in bowler hats, and another person sits in a gilded carriage, symbolizing greatness. And as long as this situation persists, the appearance of Hitler or Stalin in England is excluded.”

Last years

In addition to the fact that Victoria was the Queen of Great Britain, since 1876 she began to be called the Empress of India. The Indian question has always worried England, because a large part of the British Empire was located there.

However, there were constant bloody wars between the British and the indigenous peoples. Victoria wanted to preserve the power and greatness of her country and was always ready for attacks from the outside.

Victoria in recent years.

After the 1880s, her health began to deteriorate. She fell down the stairs and could not get rid of the limp for a long time. However, in 1887, she, together with the entire British Empire, celebrated the golden jubilee of her reign, and in 1896, celebrated the diamond one on a grand scale. This term made her the longest reigning monarch of England at that time.

In 1900, she went to celebrate Christmas on the Isle of Wight, where she loved to be with Albert. Her health was very bad, and in 1901, on January 22, she died.

Victoria was the last representative of the Hanoverian dynasty. The “Victorian era” in England also ended with it. The Queen's memory was honored by almost 400 million subjects of the British Empire.

Legal receipt of the crown: the reign of Queen Victoria

In the thirty-first year, the Duchess-Mother's brother, Leopold I, sat on the Belgian throne and immediately decided to fulfill his old dreams: he was going to marry baby Victoria and his other nephew, Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was her cousin. This was considered normal practice in Europe among aristocratic families. This probably led to hemophilia, which Victoria’s granddaughter, Alisa, would later pass on to Alexei, the son of Nicholas II.

True, the current king had absolutely no intention of becoming related to the Coburgs. He wanted to marry his niece to the ruler of the Netherlands. The princess looked at the “parade of grooms” with a degree of healthy skepticism, but she liked her cousin. According to entries from her diary, he was very handsome, courteous, sweet and kind, which the girl did not fail to inform Uncle Leopold about in a letter of gratitude. It was too early to think about marriage before reaching adulthood, so they entered into a formal agreement and left it until better times.

Important

On July 20, 1837, old uncle King William IV gave a long life, and little Victoria, who was barely eighteen, became Queen of Great Britain. She was roused from her bed by Lord Conyngham and the Archbishop of Canterbury at six in the morning to deliver this pleasant but somewhat shocking news. On the very first day, she ordered to “forget” her middle name Alexandrina and never use it again, which was done.

What's so great about the Victorian era?

At the end of June next year, the official coronation procedure took place, and Victoria was the first to choose the magnificent Buckingham Palace for her residence. The liberal Lord Melbourne, who saw in her his never-born daughter, became her faithful friend and assistant. The new queen received income from two counties, as well as a certain amount for maintenance. Despite her desire for an economical lifestyle, she still paid off her father’s debts.

At the very beginning, the young and chaste queen was very popular among the people, which made her internal politics simpler. However, relations with his subjects deteriorated as a result of an unsightly story. One of the ladies-in-waiting’s belly began to grow, and the courtiers attributed “paternity” to Conroy. The young ruler hastened to join the condemners, and when the woman died, it turned out that she had a terrible liver tumor.

Then the people turned away from her. They started saying nasty things about Queen Victoria, they started laughing at her, which was the most unpleasant thing. In addition, Melbourne retired in 1939 when the law preserving slavery in the colonies was not passed. Tory representative Robert Peel was appointed prime minister, who was prohibited from changing the composition of the government. He was indignant, resigned, and then the previously resigned Melbourne returned to his place.

Foreign Policy and the Empress of India

First of all, Britain was interested in an alliance with France, with which it had previously been unable to reconcile. The decades-long conflict exhausted the economy, and the constant tension, “like a powder keg,” could not but affect the standard of living of citizens (military costs). Victoria willingly received representatives of the House of Orleans, and in 1943 and 1945 she even went to visit King Louis Philippe I. Thus, she became the first English monarch to visit the ruler of France.

In 1948, a revolution rumbled in France, and Bonaparte became Napoleon III. At the same time, King Louis hastened to flee the country to England. Queen Victoria and her court temporarily moved to a castle on the island, “purchased” for the occasion. But everything worked out, and the unrest did not affect Foggy Albion. The Irish nationalists became a bit raging, but their rallies did not attract popular support. Therefore, by the forty-ninth, the ruler had already arrived in Ireland in person, without fear of anything.

At the time, Britain nominally ruled half the world. However, in India, formal power did not belong to the government and the queen, but to the East India Company, which had a monopoly on trade. After the Sepoy Mutiny (Indian People's Rebellion) broke out, the company collapsed and all power passed to the English crown. Only in 74, when parliamentary elections were held in the country and Disraeli came to power, did something begin to change. Victoria was declared Empress of India on May 1, 1876.

What was life like for the princess after her coronation?

In 1837, when the great British ruler William IV died, the biography of Queen Victoria began a new round. But the years of reign of the heiress to the British throne received a very brief description.

A year after the funeral of William IV, at the end of June 1838, young Victoria was awaiting coronation. But, having become the queen of one of the most powerful and influential powers in the world, Victoria did not immediately begin to fulfill her direct duties.

For Victoria, her coronation was an opportunity to get rid of constant control from her mother and the ambitious John Conroy, who was aiming for the throne. In this regard, the young Queen Victoria, who dreamed of being alone for at least a few minutes, ordered everyone to leave her alone for one hour, after which she asked the servants to take her bed out of her mother’s chambers and move her and her advisor John to the other end of the castle. By the way, the permanent residence of the ruler of all British colonies, Queen Victoria, was the famous Buckingham Palace.

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But immediately after the official proclamation of her status, the newly-crowned empress began to resolve issues of far from royal importance. Now she was interested in balls, social events and receptions. As a matter of fact, it was at one of these events that Queen Victoria met her future chosen one, who became her husband and the father of her children. But more on that later.

Meanwhile, the queen's first confidant was handling all important matters. After the coronation, he became Lord Melbourne, who served as Prime Minister of the British Empire. He was not only the confidant of a special young girl, but also her mentor. Moreover, he treated her like a daughter, giving wise advice. Queen Victoria, in turn, could see in the face of this man the image of her own father, whom she lost in the first year of her life.

Having become the queen of all Britain, young Victoria received several sources of income at once:

Profit from the Duchy of Cornwall.
Revenues of the Duchy of Lancaster.
The civil list (a document about the allocation of part of the state treasury for expenses for the personal needs of the monarch), which stipulated Victoria's annual "salary" in the amount of 385,000 pounds sterling.

Despite the fact that Victoria Alexandrina did not need anything financially, she did not join the dissolute lifestyle that all the heirs of the Hanover family led before her.
On the contrary, being a wise and prudent woman, she gradually repaid her father’s debts and helped develop an already powerful power at that time. We recommend: Francoise Sagan: the life of a writer

Interestingly, the United British Kingdom before Victoria's coronation was considered a constitutional monarchy with strong restrictions on the part of representatives of the legislative branch. When Queen Victoria Alexandrina of Great Britain came to power, much changed in the structure of state power, and the empress was directly involved in governing the state. She could, on the advice of Melbourne, influence the work of the parties. Moreover, she was personally involved in appointing people to positions.

Childhood and youth

After the death of the only heir to the throne, Princess Charlotte of Wales, daughter of King George III of Great Britain, a struggle for power began in the country. The Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld had a wedding, after which the legal heir Victoria was born in one thousand eight hundred and nineteen at Kensington Palace in London.

The Archbishop of Canterbury christened her in the domed hall of Kensington Palace. Baptized under the name Alexandrina Victoria, she was fifth in the chain of heirs after her father and uncles.

After the death of her grandfather and father in 1820, Victoria became the next contender for the throne under the patronage of the Duke of Clarence, known as William IV. He took over the responsibilities of governing the country until Victoria came of age.

Victoria was brought up in a family with strictly established and strictly observed rules. Her mother forbade her to interact with new people, which resulted in her growing up melancholy and sad. She was home-schooled with personal tutors who taught her a variety of subjects and languages, including Latin, French, Italian and German. In her free time, Victoria played with her dolls and her spaniel Dash.

Beginning in 1830, her mother and Inspector Sir John Conroy began taking Victoria on trips around the country, stopping in small towns. Victoria truly despised and hated these trips.