Hello my dear readers.
I recently had to spend all day with a friend looking for the perfect wedding dress. And in the next store, while she was trying on one of dozens of amazingly beautiful dresses, I walked among the others, and my inquisitive mind asked me the same questions: when did the tradition of wearing a white dress appear? Who even came up with this? And for what?
Do you know the answer? No? Then I will share with you. It was Victoria, Queen of England. And today I want to tell you about how she grew up, what influenced her, who she loved and why this great woman was called the "woman of the era."
Content:
Ready? Then let's go!
How it all started!
You know, they say that we are shaped in childhood: by events, environment and attitudes. The biography of the future Queen of Great Britain begins with her birth on May 24, 1819, and her life immediately begins with doubts: the baby could not choose a name for a very long time. But as a result, she was named Alexandrina Victoria.
Moreover, to say that the childhood of the future Queen of Great Britain was dreary is to say nothing. It would seem that if you are a princess - do what you want. As in our Soviet cartoon: "Do you want a cake, do you want ice cream ...". But Victoria grew up away from other children, she was not allowed to talk to other people and show feelings. She slept only in her mother's bedroom, because she was afraid that the baby would be attacked, and she played exclusively with dolls and her beloved spaniel.
The heiress to the throne of Great Britain received a classic education: she knew languages, arithmetic, geography, history, music, drawing. She studied the foundations of the state, law and legislation. As she later admitted, not a single problem related to the administration of the country was unfamiliar to her.
So the future Queen was brought up until her 18th birthday.
Rise of the Queen!
Victoria learned that it was her time to become queen in the early hours of June 20, 1837, at the age of 18. She was awakened and told that the Archbishop of Canterbury wanted to see her. As soon as she entered the hall, he fell to one knee, and she immediately understood: she was the new queen. Victoria became the first monarch who chose Buckingham Palace as their residence. In addition, it was she who became the ancestor of the ruling House of Windsor in Britain to this day.
Love is in the air!
Having risen to the throne of Great Britain, Victoria flatly refused to marry and did not even want to hear anything about it. But, as they say, we assume, but fate ... The love and fate of the Queen's whole life was her cousin - Prince Albert.
He came to visit Windsor, and after 5 days the queen invited him to marry. Albert was so subdued by Victoria, her will and Puritan upbringing, modesty and determination, that he agreed to everything without a doubt.
Their relationship can be called ideal. Of course, like any married couple, they experienced both quarrels and insults, but all this passed, and only one thing remained - love. Victoria later wrote to her uncle that she was the happiest woman in the whole world.
Having fallen under the influence of her husband, she began to change. In place of a young inexperienced girl, a wise woman appeared, focused on managing her state.
Victorian era!
The period of Victorian rule even got its own name: the Victorian era. It can be considered one of the most significant in history. No ruler in the history of England has made so many significant changes in all spheres life.
Rapid population growth contributed to urban sprawl. Initially hostile to Albert's idea of a railway network, she later agreed, and in the 1950s the whole of Great Britain was covered with a network of railway tracks. This could not fail to favor the industrialists, because it made the delivery of goods and raw materials faster and more convenient. There were more factories, warehouses and shops.
The middle class became the dominant class. This led to the fact that such values as sobriety, diligence, frugality, thriftiness and punctuality have become the norm for everyone.
New colonies were conquered, the country received dividends from the old ones. This era had a great influence on the history of countries such as Canada, India, Egypt and many others.
Want some more? Here are some facts from the life of the great queen.
- In the family circle, little Victoria was called Drina.
- Victoria's height is 1.52cm.
- During the coronation of Victoria, a black swan was seen over London. This set off rumors that the queen would not last long on the throne. "Ha ha ha" I want to say)).
- At least 5 attempts were made on Victoria.
- Victoria and Albert had 9 children!!!
- Albert died at the age of 41 from typhus. Until the day of her death, Victoria - and the whole country along with her - wore mourning for him.
What can I add? To be honest, I just get goosebumps just looking at the photo of this woman. Confidence and the ability to combine a magnificent ruler, and a loving wife and mother is a unique gift that Victoria possessed completely. The real "mother of Great Britain".
Now there are hundreds of books that can be read online in the public domain. What's more, there are dozens of movies that you can watch online (by the way, you can watch an interesting video about Victoria's life below). And today I know exactly what I will add to my to do-list.
If you are as inquisitive as I am, if you want to know much more about the history of England - then subscribe to my blog mailing list: there is still a lot of interesting things ahead of you.
See you soon!
Artist Alexander Bazano
Victoria
Alexandrina Victoria
Alexandrina Victoria
Years of life: May 24, 1819 - January 22, 1901
Reigned: June 20, 1837 - January 22, 1901
Father: Edward August
Mother: Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Husband: Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Sons: Edward, Alfred, Arthur, Leopold
Daughters: Victoria, Alice, Elena, Louise, Beatrice
Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873) Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at a costume ball. May, 1842
According to the wife of a Russian ambassador, the royal house of England in the first third of the 19th century reminded her of a lunatic asylum led by a king - an unrestrained drunkard. True, things were no better for the predecessors. Representatives of the Hanoverian dynasty were distinguished by unworthy behavior, some of them were simply mentally abnormal.
And if things had continued like this, perhaps today the institution of the British Monarchy would have to be mentioned exclusively in the past tense.
George III (June 4, 1738, London - January 29, 1820, Windsor Castle, Berkshire) - King of Great Britain and Elector (from October 12, 1814 King) of Hanover from October 25, 1760, from the Hanoverian dynasty.
The long (almost 60 years, the second longest after the reign of Victoria) reign of George III was marked by revolutionary events in the world: the separation of the American colonies from the British crown and the formation of the United States, the Great French Revolution and the Anglo-French political and armed struggle, which ended with the Napoleonic Wars. George also went down in history as a victim of a severe mental illness, due to which a regency was established over him from 1811. Despite the fact that the "mad" George III had 12 children, none of them managed to leave legitimate offspring. Heirs succeeded each other on the throne at a feverish pace. At some point, it really seemed that the third of the royal sons, Edward, Duke of Kent, had every chance to get the crown over time, but fate wanted his daughter, Victoria, to head the British Empire, and she was the head of this neither more nor less - 64 years.
Princess Victoria, 1823 and 1834
Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent (eng. Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, November 2, 1767 (17671102) - January 2, 1820), the fourth son of King George III, father of Queen Victoria.
In 1791-1802 he served in Canada, from 1799 he commanded British troops in America. In 1799 he received the title of duke and the rank of field marshal. Participated in the Napoleonic Wars (was the commandant of Gibraltar during the naval war with France). Constant financial difficulties forced him to settle in Brussels in 1816, where he was subjected to great hardships. In 1818, after the death of his niece Princess Charlotte, who put the Hanover dynasty in danger of extinction, he married Victoria, the daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Franz, widowed Princess of Leiningen (1786-1861). In this marriage, a daughter, Victoria, the future Queen of Great Britain, was born. Shortly before his death, he returned to England, died 6 days before his father.
Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess of Kent (German: Victoria von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld; August 17, 1786 (17860817), Coburg - March 16, 1861, Frogmore House) - Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, mother of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. To her son-in-law, the husband of her daughter Victoria, Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, son of Ernst of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, she was an aunt.
Winterhalter Francois Xavier.The Young Queen Victoria1842
Victoria was born at Kensington Palace on May 24, 1819. Her parents made a long and difficult journey from Bavaria specifically for the baby to be born in London.
Victoria with her mother
Edward sincerely rejoiced at the appearance of a strong and healthy first-born, for the mother of the future monarch, this girl was a special child. Despite the fact that Victoria of Saxe-Coburg already had two children - Karl and Theodora, from her first marriage to Emich Karl of Leiningen, she was well aware that only this newborn could seriously enter into a dynastic battle for the British crown.
Queen Victoria, after Franz Xavier Winterhalter
The name of the baby was chosen for a long time. At first, her parents decided to name her Georgina Charlotte Augusta Alexandrina Victoria. However, the Prince Regent, being the godfather of the baby, for some secret reasons known only to him, refused to give her his name - George, offering to leave only the last two, and as a result, the girl was named Alexandrina Victoria. The first name was given in honor of the Russian godfather of Emperor Alexander I, while the second, which became the main one, was given in honor of the mother. Much later, when Victoria had already become queen, her subjects did not really like that their ruler was called in the German manner.
Stephen Catterson Smith (1806-1872)Princess Victoria, Aged Nine, In A Landscape
In the meantime, this child has become a truly royal gift to the country and, moreover, a kind of atonement for the previous sins of the Hanoverian dynasty. True, Victoria's childhood could not be called either frivolous or cloudless. When she was only 8 months old, her father, who was famous for his excellent health, suddenly died of pneumonia. And shortly before his death, a fortuneteller predicted to Edward the imminent death of two members of the royal family, to which he, without thinking for a second that he himself might be among the “sentenced”, hastened to announce publicly that he would inherit the royal title and his descendants. And suddenly, having caught a cold while hunting, he becomes seriously ill and very quickly departs to another world, leaving only debts to his wife and children.
Queen Victoria John Partridge.
And so the family had to save literally on everything. As a child, Victoria, whom everyone at home, except for her mother, called Drina, wore the same dress until she grew out of it, and was firmly convinced that the ladies who endlessly changed outfits and jewels are not mere windings, but highly immoral persons. Subsequently, already in power, she was never fond of toilets, and the famous decorations of the British crown were more of a tribute to prestige.
L'accession au trône de la reine Victoria le 20 juin 1837
Konigin Victoria von England.Alexander Melville
As a girl, Victoria always slept in her mother's bedroom, as the Duchess of Kent lived under constant fear that her daughter might be assassinated. At first, her upbringing differed little from the upbringing of any noble lady. Her home education can be called classical - languages, arithmetic, geography, music, horse dressage, drawing. By the way, Victoria painted beautiful watercolors all her life.
Queen Victoria, 1838 - Alfred-Edward Chalon.
When she was 12 years old, she first learned about the brilliant prospect that awaits her. And since that moment, the methods of her upbringing have undergone very significant changes. The frighteningly long list of prohibitions that formed the basis of the so-called "Kensington system" provided for the inadmissibility of talking to strangers, expressing one's own feelings in front of witnesses, deviating from the established regime once and for all, reading any literature at one's discretion, eating too much sweetness, and so on, so on. other. The German governess, whom the girl, by the way, loved and trusted very much, Louise Lenhsen, diligently recorded all her actions in special “Books of Conduct”. For example, an entry dated November 1, 1831 characterizes the behavior of the future queen as “naughty and vulgar."
Engraving of Queen Victoria (Kings and Queens series) W.C. Ross, W. Holl
On June 20, 1837, King William IV died and his niece Victoria ascended the throne, who was destined to become both the last representative of the unfortunate Hanoverian dynasty and the ancestor of the ruling House of Windsor in Britain to this day. There has been no woman on the English throne for more than a hundred years.
Queen Victoria receiving the news of her accession to the throne, June 20, 1837. From the picture by H. T. Wells, R.A., at Buckingham Palace
On a summer afternoon in 1837, 18-year-old Victoria, seated in a "golden carriage", went to Westminster Abbey for her coronation, the ceremony of which turned out to be unrehearsed.
Queen Victoria, 1838. Thomas Sully
Embarrassed, Victoria whispered to the courtiers: "I beg you, tell me what I should do?" Even the ring that she was supposed to wear was not enough, and the archbishop almost sprained the queen's finger. Moreover, on the same day, a black swan was seen in the sky over London, and this circumstance gave reason to say that Victoria would not sit on the throne for a long time. It wasn't long before the young queen made it clear that the question "I beg you, tell me what should I do?" left in the past. During the government crisis that erupted after the change of monarch, Prime Minister Lord Melbourne, who raised the question of the removal of two court ladies, whose husbands belonged to the previous government, received the following answer from Victoria: - I will not give up any of my ladies and leave them all. not interested in their political views.
Victoria in her Coronation.Franz Xavier Winterhalter
Constitutional doctrines were taught to Victoria in her youth. She knew her duties perfectly, and therefore she never tried to make adjustments to them or ignore those state decisions that were taken by the entire cabinet of ministers. But this by no means negated the full and universal accountability to Her Majesty “in each given case, so that she knows what she gives her royal assent." More than once, in her messages to the government, she reminded in a threatening tone that in case of violation of her right to be privy to all matters on which decisions are made, ministers risk being "removed from office."
Victoria holding a Privy Council meeting. Sir David Wilkie
In 1839, Tsarevich Alexander, the future Emperor Alexander II, arrived in London to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Queen. The tall blue-eyed handsome man was 21 years old. Impeccable manners, courtesy, and finally, a uniform of exceptional beauty, like a glove that sat on a Russian prince, caused a real stir among the ladies. It also turned out that the heart of the queen is not made of stone.
Queen Victoria .1839
But no matter how well they went, that was the end of it. It is possible that the increased attention of the young queen to the heir to the Russian throne caused alarm in British government circles. Despite the efforts of Russian diplomacy to get closer to England, the arrival of the Tsarevich was further evidence of this. Prime Minister Melbourne advised Victoria to stay away from Russia. It was he who began to sow the first seeds of distrust and apprehension, which were successfully continued by the future advisers of Victoria, who asserted: “Russia is constantly growing stronger. It is rolling like an avalanche towards the borders of Afghanistan and India and represents the greatest danger that can exist for the British Empire.
Queen Victoria 1843.Franz Xaver Winterhalter
In January 1840, the queen made a speech in parliament, which she was terribly worried about. She announced her upcoming marriage.
Franz Xaver Winterhalter - Prince Albert the Prince Consort (1819-61).
Her chosen one was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. He was Victoria's maternal cousin, they were even taken by the same midwife at birth, but for the first time the young people had a chance to see each other only when Victoria was 16 years old. Then a warm relationship immediately developed between them. And after another 3 years, when Victoria had already become queen, she no longer hid the fact that she was passionately in love.
The couple spent their honeymoon at Windsor Castle. These delightful days the queen considered the best in her long life, although she herself reduced this month to two weeks. “It is absolutely impossible for me not to be in London. Two or three days is already a long absence. You have forgotten, my love, that I am a monarch." And soon after the wedding, a desk for the prince was also placed in the queen's office.
Queen Victoria painted by Franz Zavier Winterhalter on her wedding day.
The young queen did not possess beauty in her conventional sense. But her face was intelligent, her large bright, slightly protruding eyes looked intently and inquisitively. All her life she in every possible way, however, almost unsuccessfully, struggled with fullness, although in her youth she had a rather elegant figure. Judging by the photographs, she has completely mastered the art of looking presentable, although she wrote to herself, not without humor: "We, however, are rather short for a queen."
Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-1873). Portrait Queen Victoria 1843
Her husband Albert, on the contrary, was very attractive, slim and elegant. And besides, he was known as a "walking encyclopedia."
Prince Albert Franz Xavier Winterhalter
He had the most diverse interests: he was especially fond of technology, loved painting, architecture, and was an excellent swordsman. If Victoria's musical tastes were unpretentious and she preferred operetta to everything, then Albert knew the classics well.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert 1854
However, the difference in tastes in no way prevented the relationship of the spouses from becoming the standard of an almost exemplary family. No betrayals, no scandals, not even the slightest rumors discrediting marital virtue.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert 1861
True, it was said that Albert's feelings for his wife were not as ardent as hers. But this did not affect the strength of their union. They were an example of an ideal marriage. Everyone had only to follow them - not only bad examples are contagious!
Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873. Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and Princess Victoria. 1841-45.
In the meantime, as an exemplary wife, the queen, without any hesitation, at the end of the same “wedding” year of 1840, presented her husband with her first child - a girl who, by tradition, was named after her mother Victoria Adelaide.
Are you satisfied with me? she asked Albert, barely recovering herself.
Yes, dear, he replied, but won't England be disappointed to know that the baby was a girl and not a boy?
I promise you that next time there will be a son.
Victoria of the United Kingdom.Franz Xaver Winterhalter
The royal word was firm. A year later, the couple had a son who was to become King Edward VII and the founder of the Saxe-Coburg dynasty, which during the First World War, in order not to annoy compatriots with a German sound, was renamed the Windsor dynasty.
Queen Victoria with Prince Arthur. Franz Xavier Winterhalter (2)
In 1856, the Queen addressed the Prime Minister with a message, the purpose of which was to constitutionally recognize and secure the rights of Prince Albert. Not without delay, only a year later, by the decision of Parliament, Prince Albert received a special “royal patent”, which henceforth called him the prince consort, that is, the prince consort.
Prince Albert.
In her desire to raise both the status and authority of Albert, the queen acted not only as a devoted and loving woman.
Prince Albert.Alexander de Meville
If at first she, with her characteristic irony, wrote: “I read and sign papers, and Albert gets them wet,” then over time his influence on Victoria, and therefore on state affairs, steadily increased, becoming undeniable. It was Albert, with his penchant for technology, who managed to defeat the queen's prejudice to all sorts of new products.
Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London in 1851.
Victoria, for example, was afraid to use the railway built in the north of the country, but convinced by her husband of the unconditional prospects and necessity of railway travel, she quite consciously acted as an ardent supporter of the country's transition to industrial rails, giving impetus to its rapid industrial development. In 1851, again at the initiative of Albert, the First World Exhibition was held in London, for the opening of which the famous Crystal Palace was built.
The exhibition was a huge success. With the money received from the fair, the South Kensington Museum was built, later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Queen Victoria with Prince Arthur in front of the Duke of Wellington, his godfather. Franz Xaver Winterhalter
Her Majesty Queen Victoria with the Prince of Wales and Princess Victoria, fig. W. Drummond
Queen Victoria and Princess Beatrice
Although there were many people at court who did not like the prince consort and considered him to be both a bore, and a miser, and a petty pedant, and in general a person with a difficult character, no one ever questioned the almost incredible impeccability of the royal matrimonial union. Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine what a tragedy the death of Albert at the age of 42 turned out to be for Victoria. Having lost him, she lost everything at once: as a woman - love and the rarest spouse, as a queen - a friend, adviser and assistant. Those who studied the multi-volume correspondence and diaries of the queen could not find a single divergence in their views.
Queen Victoria,Prince Albert,and children by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. The Royal Family - painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter
Winterhalter Franz Xavier. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert with the Family of King Louis Philippe
Victoria wrote several books of memoirs about him and about their lives. On her initiative, a grandiose cultural center, an embankment, a bridge, an expensive monument were built - all in his memory. The queen said that she now considers her whole life as a time for the implementation of her husband's plans: "His views on everything in this world will now be my law."
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.Franz Xaver Winterhalter
Prince Albert John Partridge.
Very gradually and difficultly, causing the irritation of her surroundings, Victoria returned to her immediate duties. Apparently, therefore, many considered that now she would be on the throne a purely decorative figure.
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) after Baron Heinrich von Angeli (1840-1925)
William Charles Ross
And they were wrong. Victoria managed to build her life in such a way that the grieving widow in her in no way interfered with a woman politician, and of the highest rank. Thanks to her, Bismarck, during the Franco-Prussian War, abandoned the idea of bombing Paris.
Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck-Schönhausen (German Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck-Schönhausen; April 1, 1815 - July 30, 1898) - prince, politician, statesman, first chancellor of the German Empire (Second Reich), nicknamed the "Iron Chancellor". He had the honorary rank (peacetime) of the Prussian Colonel General with the rank of Field Marshal (March 20, 1890).
And she firmly stood for the policy of the kulak in relation to Ireland, where in the late 60s a wave of terrorist attacks swept in protest against British rule.
But even among the loyal subjects of the English there were critics who were convinced that the country had made a “fetish or an idol” out of the queen, that any dissent was anathema in England, and the opinion of the monarchy, as far from being the only form possible in England, was called nothing more than a betrayal. the interests of the nation. Yes, the word "socialism", perhaps, was the most hated for the queen, but the whole country began to think the same way.
Queen Victoria and John Brown Walking, 1866 by Sir Edmund Landseer
Fate turned out to be favorable to the queen, bringing Benjamin Disraeli to the post of prime minister in the 70s. With this smart, prudent politician, the queen could have any number of differences, except for one - they were both true apologists for imperial politics.
Benjamin Disraeli (since 1876 Earl of Beaconsfield; English Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield,; December 21, 1804, London - April 19, 1881, ibid) - English statesman of the Conservative Party of Great Britain, 40th and 42nd prime minister minister of Great Britain in 1868, and from 1874 to 1880, member of the House of Lords since 1876, writer, one of the representatives of the "social novel".
Queen Victoria was a supporter of the most active steps to expand the territories subject to England. To solve this grandiose task, all means were good - this is what Prince Albert once taught his wife - cunning, bribery, power pressure, speed and onslaught. When she and the Prime Minister acted in concert and together, the results were obvious.
Flatters Johann Jacob-Queen Victoria-Victoria and Albert Museum
In 1875, an incredibly clever intrigue brings Britain a major stake in the Suez Canal. Whereas France, which had the same views on the canal, has to retreat. “The deed is done. He is yours, madam, - the channel,” the queen reads the victorious report of the prime minister and a smile appears on her face.
Yair Haklai.Bust of Queen Victoria by Count Gleichen at Victoria and Albert Museum
The following year, India appears among the overseas possessions of England - the main pearl in the imperial crown. Great Britain is knocked down from a triumphal step by Russia's successes in the war with Turkey in 1877-1878. The Russians then had a stone's throw to Istanbul. The Treaty of San Stefano, according to which part of the Balkan Peninsula goes to the Slavic peoples, is perceived by Victoria as a tragedy. She was not afraid to go into conflict with Russia, and now English ships are heading for the Dardanelles. Disraeli, in turn, seeks the convocation of the Berlin Congress, where, succumbing to massive pressure, Russia was forced to retreat. The queen, who by then was 60 years old, looked triumphant.
Statue of Victoria at Cubbon Park in Bangalore, India
During these years, she, who did not like fashionable events, more often than usual is shown to the people, surrounded by a large family. Not a single lady who has ever sat on the throne has succeeded with such a high return in placing both the natural course of life and the most ordinary female joys at her service. And the British were almost glad to see in this gray-haired, blurry woman with a puffy face the mother of the whole nation.
Linda Spashett. Busts of Victoria and Albert, 1863. Town Hall, Halifax, West Yorkshire, England.
On June 20, 1887, the 50th anniversary of Victoria's reign on the throne was celebrated. 50 European kings and princes were invited to the solemn banquet.
HK CWB Victoria Park. Queen Victoria Statue.
The "Diamond Jubilee" of the Queen in 1897 was conceived as a festival of the British Empire, to which the rulers of all British colonies with their families were invited. The solemn procession was attended by military detachments from each colony, including soldiers sent by Indian princes. The celebrations were marked by great outpourings of affection for the queen, who by then was already confined to a wheelchair.
June 24, 1819 at Kensington Palace Archbishop of Canterbury Charles Manners-Sutton conducted the christening ceremony for a baby who was exactly one month old. The girl was given two names - Victoria in honor of her mother, and Alexandrina in honor of the godfather, who became a Russian emperor Alexander I.
In Europe, the Napoleonic Wars had recently died down, and the English royal family was full of gratitude to the Russian ruler for his help in the fight against the French emperor.
The period of good relations will not last long, and Alexander's goddaughter, having taken the throne, will try not to remember her middle name. The British Empire and Russia will continue to alternate brief warm spells with years of bitter conflict.
Conception of national importance
Victoria Alexandrina was born due to state necessity. In the royal family of Britain at the beginning of the 19th century, what the hell was going on. The formal monarch was George III, however, since 1811 he was incapacitated due to severe mental illness.
George III produced a dozen and a half children, but his only legitimate granddaughter was Charlotte of Wales. On November 6, 1817, the 21-year-old princess died after an unsuccessful birth, during which the child did not survive.
The shadow of a dynastic crisis rose over the empire to its full height. The sons of George III were no longer young, but from their older brother George, who acted as regent for a crazy father, they received a categorical order - to immediately acquire wives and give birth to an heir.
In pursuance of this order fourth son of George III, Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, in 1818 he married daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Franz Victoria.
The groom was 51 years old, the bride was almost 32. In addition, Victoria was a widow with two children. But these little things did not play a role - she could give birth to a child, and everything else was unimportant.
On May 24, 1819, Victoria gave birth to a girl. To the delight of the parents, according to the doctors, the child was absolutely healthy. Yes, it was not a boy, but in the current situation there was no choice
Empire's last hope
At the time of Alexandrine's birth, Victoria was fifth in line to the throne. But after eight months, she became the fourth - her father, Prince Edward, died of pneumonia.
She was 10 years old when, after the death of one Victoria's uncle George IV and the reign of another uncle, William IV She became heir to the throne.
Uncle Wilhelm came to the throne at 65 - before him, none of the English kings ascended the throne so late. He lived happily for many years actress Dorothy Jordan who bore him 10 healthy children. But the actress could not be the mother of the heir to the throne, and therefore, in his old age, Wilhelm married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. The couple had two girls, but they did not survive. The only heir was his niece Victoria.
Queen Victoria at age four. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
Uncle Wilhelm, talking with the courtiers, promised to live until Victoria came of age, so that her niece would somehow have time to prepare for the role of queen. He kept his promise - Wilhelm died a month after Victoria turned 18.
Mother was terribly worried about Victoria, for her health and morality. In order to protect the child from vice, Victoria Sr. loaded her daughter with classes with teachers, isolated her from secular entertainment. She did not have a separate bedroom, she was not allowed to cry in public and talk to strangers. Subsequently, the "hedgehogs" of the mother, the so-called "Kensington system", will affect Victoria's attitude towards the moral standards of society as a whole.
“Therefore, I am a queen”
Even in her youth, Victoria showed the talent of a writer. Its development was facilitated by the fact that the girl kept a diary for many years. On June 20, 1837, she wrote in it: “At 6 o’clock, Mother woke me up and told me that the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Coningham were here and wanted to see me. I got out of bed and went to my living room (in one bathrobe) and alone and saw them. Lord Coningham then told me that my poor uncle, the king, was no longer with us, and left at 12 minutes past 3 that morning, therefore I am the queen."
Victoria receives the news that she has become queen from Lord Coningham (left) and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
On the first day in the documents, the young queen was called Alexandrina Victoria, but, at her request, they later began to be called simply Queen Victoria.
Victoria's coronation took place on June 28, 1838, and she became the first monarch to choose Buckingham Palace as her residence.
The laws required the young queen to find a husband with whom she could procreate. Becoming a spouse, he did not become a king. However, Victoria was not enthusiastic about the prospect of marriage. In conversations with those close to her, she admitted that she was very tired of her mother's guardianship, but she considered marriage "a shocking alternative."
Russian-English novel
In the spring of 1839, a Russian delegation arrived in Great Britain, headed by Tsarevich Alexander.
The handsome man in a perfectly fitting Russian military uniform was 21 years old, Victoria turned 20. After the ball in honor of the Russian Tsarevich Adjutant Alexander Colonel Yurievich wrote in his diary: “The next day after the ball, the heir spoke only about the queen ... and I am sure that she also found pleasure in his company.”
A couple of days later, Yuryevich wrote: “The Tsarevich confessed to me that he was in love with the queen, and he is convinced that she fully shares his feelings ...”
Yes, the goddaughter of Alexander I, brought up in strictness and longingly talking about marriage, fell in love with the Russian heir to the throne.
Both the British and the Russians were horrified - it was a real disaster. Russia could lose an heir who could simply turn into the husband of the English queen. But if the Russians, at least theoretically, had someone to replace Alexander, then in Victorian Britain there was no alternative.
But some of the Russians or the British must have had a crazy thought: if Alexander and Victoria unite the two crowns, then ... Yes, such a “then” never occurred to any science fiction writer.
In fact, everything turned out to be more prosaic. The young people were reminded that duty is above personal feelings, they were allowed to say goodbye, after which they were taken away from each other.
Albert
Soon, Victoria was offered a more suitable, from the point of view of politics, candidacy for the suitors - 20-year-old Albert Franz August Emmanuel of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha who was her cousin.
Victoria had seen Albert before, and now she brought down all her girlish unspent feelings on him.
Five days later, Victoria asked Albert to marry her. “I will be happy to spend my life next to you,” the young man replied.
Wedding of Victoria and Albert. Painting by George Hayter. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
On February 10, 1840, they became husband and wife. Victoria wrote in her diary: “I have never, never spent such an evening!!! My dear, dear, dear Albert... his great love and affection gave me a feeling of heavenly love and happiness that I never hoped to feel before! He took me into his arms and we kissed each other again and again! His beauty, his sweetness and softness—how can I ever be truly grateful for such a Husband! ... It was the happiest day of my life!”
Albert really became the love of her life for Victoria. She was disgusted by the state of pregnancy, did not have warm feelings for newborns, but, nevertheless, over the next seventeen years she gave birth to her husband nine children.
The Victoria family in 1846 by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Left to right: Prince Alfred and the Prince of Wales; the queen and prince albert; Princesses Alice, Elena and Victoria. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
"We women are not made to rule"
Albert never showed such ardor. But he was a reliable friend, adviser, assistant. Possessing encyclopedic knowledge, he was always ready to tell his wife the necessary information.
Albert devoted a lot of time to patronage, caring for the life of the people, about education. He organized the construction of new schools, contributed to the development of all kinds of technical innovations and introduced his wife to them. Victoria was afraid to use the railway, but her husband overcame her prejudice.
Looking at her husband, Victoria wrote in her diary: “We women are not created to rule, if we were honest with ourselves, we would give up men's activities ... Every day I am more and more convinced that women should not take take over the kingdom."
Albert, Victoria and their nine children, 1857 From left to right: Alice, Arthur, Albert, Edward, Leopold, Louise, Victoria with Beatrice, Alfred, Victoria and Elena. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
With Albert, Victoria could afford to be just a weak woman. She survived several assassination attempts, and Albert, who was nearby, shielded her from bullets. And even though the intruders had time to neutralize before they had time to hit the target, her husband's readiness for self-sacrifice made Victoria love him even more.
In 1861, Victoria's mother died, and Albert, trying to alleviate his wife's suffering, took on her duties to the best of his ability. At the same time, he was busy preparing for an art and industrial exhibition and dealt with the behavior of his eldest son, who had an affair with an actress. By December, his health deteriorated, and doctors diagnosed him with typhoid fever. On December 14, 1861, Albert died.
Portrait of Queen Victoria by Henrietta Ward. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
There was no end to Victoria's grief. From that day on, she always wore black, and rarely appeared in public. She was nicknamed "The Widow of Windsor", or simply "The Widow".
She built a magnificent mausoleum for her husband, erected monuments in his honor throughout the country, tried to continue his undertakings by opening new schools, museums and hospitals. The famous Albert Hall in London is also named after Victoria's husband.
Glitter and suffocation of the Victorian era
The reign of Queen Victoria is the heyday of the power of the British Empire. The rights of the queen were limited, and parliament played the main role in governing the state, but Victoria, to the best of her ability, supported everything that contributed to strengthening the power of the empire.
She was not afraid of bloody wars, she willingly pitted countries against each other if it was beneficial to England. Drowning in the blood of rebellious Irish or gunning down the leaders of the Indian rebellion - Victoria blessed such actions without even wincing.
The external beauty of the "Victorian era" was fascinating - the behavior of ladies and gentlemen of that time is considered exemplary.
But it’s good to admire the norms of Victorian morality from the outside. The restrictions, absorbed by Victoria in childhood, with her light hand were introduced into English society, and led to amazing results.
By the 1870s, up to 40 percent of British women remained unmarried. All sorts of moral and ethical restrictions led to the fact that choosing the right groom was an almost impossible task.
It was unacceptable for a lady to show feelings in public - it was believed that this was the lot of women, as they say today, with low social responsibility. Marriage with a person on the other rung of the social ladder was considered an insult to the norms of public morality.
The courtship was turned into some bureaucratic ritual that could go on for years.
Those who were lucky enough to become spouses, public morality did not let go. Not only were displays of tenderness forbidden, but even communication in public had to be purely official, with the use of the words "Mr" and "Mrs." Pregnant women were prescribed isolation at home, because the public appearance of a lady with a tummy was also considered bad manners.
A widowed father was not supposed to live with an unmarried daughter - this was also considered a violation of moral standards.
British doctors could treat men with peace of mind, but again, problems began with women. How, tell me, could a physician make a competent diagnosis if he did not have the right to properly examine the patient? The fact that the lady undressed in his presence was out of the question.
Medical prejudices were defeated at the cost of human lives - an endless series of female deaths forced the British to gradually lift the taboo.
The reverse side of Victorian morality was the violent flowering of hot places - brothels, dens for opium smokers, where the British, stupefied by public morality, as they say, came off to the fullest. Arthur Conan Doyle did not invent Sherlock Holmes' addiction to cocaine, but took it from the life of the sunset period of the "Victorian era".
Parade for the "grandmother of Europe"
After the end of the East India Campaign in 1876, Queen Victoria became the Empress of India. Another unofficial title was the title of "grandmother of Europe". Her children intermarried with almost all the ruling royal families of the Old World, and gave birth to grandchildren who, a few decades later, would inflict a bloody massacre called the “First World War”.
In September 1896, Victoria surpassed her grandfather George III as the longest-reigning monarch in the history of England, Scotland and Great Britain.
Queen Victoria at 80, by Heinrich von Angeli. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
The following year, 1897, both this record and the "diamond jubilee" of the Queen's reign (60 years) were celebrated, turning the celebrations into a festival of the British Empire.
In London, the queen was greeted by the heads of all the dominions, the parade was attended by regiments from all over the colossal British Empire, which experienced its heyday under the Widow of Windsor.
The queen accepted congratulations, sitting in a carriage, and the British looked at her with adoration. Two or even three generations of citizens of the empire knew no other life than life under the rule of Queen Victoria.
"Bury me in white"
But she herself understood that along with the 19th century, her time was also running out. Health failed more and more. She carefully prepared instructions for her funeral, instructing her to be placed in a coffin in a white dress. In this form, she wanted to reunite with her beloved Albert.
Even during Albert's lifetime, they had a tradition of celebrating Christmas at Osborne House, a purpose-built palace on the Isle of Wight. In 1900, despite feeling unwell, she did not change her habit. In early January 1901, the Queen's condition deteriorated significantly. She ceased to navigate in time, poorly recognized others. It became clear that her days were numbered. On January 22, 1901, about half past five in the evening, Queen Victoria died.
On February 2, 1901, the official funeral ceremony took place, and on February 4, the coffin with her body was placed in the Frogmore mausoleum in Windsor Great Park, next to Albert.
The reign of Queen Victoria lasted 63 years, seven months and two days, and her great-great-granddaughter managed to surpass this record Elizabeth II who has been on the throne for over 65 years.
Actor Stephen Fry jokes about Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria managed to restore the reputation of the monarchy, which was badly tarnished during the years of the rule of her extravagant uncles. Moreover, Victoria has shaped an entirely new model for the relationship between society and the Royal Family through the introduction of the latter's civic functions.
Despite the diminutive growth of only 157 sentiments, about which Stephen Fry joked that Victoria "was more wide than long" (her impressive breasts reached 168 centimeters in coverage), this woman became a symbol of the soaring greatness of the British Empire. Together with her husband, Prince Albert and their nine children, Queen Victoria became the personification of a new, happy era in the history of Great Britain.
Waiting for the throne
Portrait of Princess Victoria and her mother
Alexandrina Victoria titled at birth Duchess of Kent. Her father was the fourth son of King George III, and little Victoria was fifth in line to the throne, ahead of her father and three elderly uncles.
Victoria's father died when the baby was only 8 months old, and, given the respectable age of the other applicants, baby Victoria had every chance of eventually taking the throne.
The princess was brought up in Kensington Palace. She was educated by a governess, Baroness Lehzen, who taught the future Queen languages, arithmetic, drawing and music.
Victoria's widowed mother kept a loneliness and was completely dependent on John Conroy- the servants of her deceased husband, who by any means aspired to power.
controlled childhood
Portrait engraving of Victoria in 1834
Very soon, young Victoria became first in line for the throne after her only surviving uncle, King William IV.
However, despite this, all the early years of the princess passed under the yoke of the strictest rules, called " Kensington system". This system, in particular, meant that the young heir to the throne would share a room with her mother and not be able to be alone. invented the system John Conroy, who thus hoped to manipulate Victoria in order to gain more power and influence over her.
When Victoria was 13 years old, she went on a tour of the Midlands with Conroy and her mother, the purpose of which was to introduce the future Queen to the public. The princess found this trip extremely tiring, and her character became more and more stubborn and willful. At that time she began to lead diary. Her first entry in it was the following: “Men, women, children, the country, houses - everything is black around ... And now I see how one building is on fire”.
Victoria becomes Queen
Victoria came to the throne only a few weeks after her 18th birthday. Her first order was to leave her alone for an hour, something she had been denied for years.
Victoria moved to Buckingham Palace, making it his official royal residence in London. The first manifestation of her strong will was the removal of her mother, who was immediately sent to the distant chambers of the palace. Her next step was the expulsion from the state apartments of John Conroy, the courtier who poisoned her childhood. The Queen's confidant was her first prime minister, Lord Melbourne, who had a fatherly affection for the young Victoria. Shortly after Parliament awarded her an annuity of £385,000, Queen Victoria became richest woman in the world.
Victoria was crowned Westminster Abbey, near which a crowd of 400 thousand people gathered, suffering to catch the eye of the newly proclaimed Queen.
Victoria wore a robe of white satin and red velvet. The ceremony lasted as long as 5 hours and was not flawless: this was due to the fact that the rector of the abbey, who was present at previous coronations, was absent due to illness. As a result, Victoria was mistakenly awarded the orb at the wrong moment, and the Archbishop of Canterbury put the ring on her wrong finger, after which it took an hour to remove it. After the ceremony, Victoria returned to Buckingham Palace for a family celebration and watched the fireworks from her mother's balcony.
Beginning of the reign
At the beginning of her reign, Queen Victoria made a number of rash acts, allowing emotions to get the better of reason. So, for example, young Victoria believed in false reports about the pregnancy of her lady-in-waiting, Lady Flora Hastings, for which she was booed by the public. On another occasion, Victoria found herself in the midst of a political crisis when the Whig government fell and Lord Melbourne resigned. Tory politician Robert Peel agreed to become Prime Minister on the condition that Victoria replace some of her ladies-in-waiting Whigs with Tories. The Queen refused and reappointed Lord Melbourne to the post. This decision by the Queen was subsequently heavily criticized as unconstitutional.
Prince Albert and Victoria
Victoria fell in love with her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha when he visited Great Britain in 1839. In her diary on October 15, 1839, she wrote: “He was so kind and so affectionate; ABOUT! The feeling that I fell in love, an angel like Albert loves me, is too great a joy to describe in words!
As head of state, the Queen herself proposed to her lover, and the couple got married the following year. On the day of the wedding, Victoria was wearing White wedding dress, and a multi-level wedding cake was prepared for the guests of the ceremony. This marked the beginning of a new tradition among brides who had previously dressed in their best evening gown for the wedding. It cannot be said that an idyll reigned in this marriage - very often, communicating with her husband, Victoria lost her temper. Albert, on the other hand, took on the role of a “moral mentor” of his wife, which, on the one hand, irritated her very much, but, on the other hand, allowed her to often resort to his support.
Assassination attempts on Victoria
Queen Victoria, who often traveled in an open carriage, had a total of 8 assassination attempts.
During the first assassination attempt, a teenager named Edward Oxford shot her as she drove out of Buckingham Palace with Albert. The shooter was detained by witnesses of this scene. And although the Queen was in shock with horror, she found the strength to smile at the audience during the return trip through Hyde Park.
Here is what Victoria wrote in her diary on this occasion, June 10, 1840: “I saw him aiming another gun at me. I bent my head and another shot immediately followed, just as loud as the previous one..
Oxford was declared insane and sent to Bedlam - a hospital for the mentally ill in London, whose name has become a household name. In 1867 he was released from the hospital and deported to Australia. All the attackers on the Queen acted alone and were subsequently recognized as mentally ill.
The Royal Family
Victoria became pregnant for the first time shortly after their marriage and 9 months later gave birth to a daughter named Victoria.
The Queen hated the process of childbirth and suffered from postpartum depression. However, this did not prevent her from giving birth to nine children in 16 years of marriage with Albert. As a shrewd diplomat, she helped her children tie the knot with the royal families of Europe. Unfortunately, Victoria was a carrier hemophilia gene, which was passed down to her 10 male descendants, including son of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarevich Alexei.
Love for Scotland
During their first visit to Scotland, the couple of Victoria and Albert fell in love with this country with all their hearts. Scotland seemed to them a romantic and untouched land, and the Scottish Highlands reminded Albert of his native Germany.
As a result, the royal couple acquired in Scotland Balmoral Manor, and from 1853 to 1856 Albert personally oversaw the construction of a new Neo-Gothic castle there. To this day, this castle remains a private residence for members of the royal family. Victoria's frequent visits to Scotland helped to strengthen the monarchy in that country.
New Royal Traditions
Queen Victoria started many royal traditions. In 1852, she first appeared at the opening of Parliament in a luxurious Irish parade carriage. The ceremony was held in the new building of the Palace of Westminster (the former was destroyed in a fire in 1834). The Queen led the procession and delivered a speech in Parliament. The protocols and traditions laid down then have since been carefully observed by all subsequent British monarchs.
Together with Albert, Victoria rebuilt the system of constitutional monarchy in order to prevent the growing republican movement.
She became the patron of 150 different institutions, including dozens of charities, and Prince Albert strongly supported the development of educational museums. The royal couple made public visits to industrial cities such as Leeds and attended military training camps to support military personnel. Together, Victoria and Albert were able to stop the rumor that the royal family does not justify its content.
Victoria Cross
Reward "Victoria Cross" was introduced by the Queen to encourage acts of military heroism during the Crimean War. This award was presented for special merits in battle, regardless of the rank and type of troops.
The Crimean War was fought by an alliance of several countries, including Great Britain, against Russia. The Queen was then suspected of secretly supporting the Russian Tsar. But Victoria managed to allay these suspicions by showing increased attention to the care of wounded soldiers. In addition, she personally presented the first Victoria Crosses to 62 military personnel at a grand decoration ceremony in Hyde Park in 1857. This was the first time in history that officers received awards together with ordinary military personnel.
royal photos
During the reign of Victoria, a set of 14 portrait photographs of the royal couple was published.
Total sold over 60 thousand copies this set, despite the rather high price of four pounds and four shillings for each at that time. This led to the birth of a culture of photographing famous people. Women imitated the style of dressing of Queen Victoria, and men copied the hairstyle and shape of the mustache of Prince Albert.
Death of Albert
Prince Albert has died at the age of 42. Victoria was inconsolable with grief and wore mourning for the rest of her life.
After the death of Albert, Victoria withdrew from public life, but continued to correspond and receive ministers and official visitors. She ordered the construction of monuments in honor of Prince Albert throughout the country and throughout the British Empire, including the famous Prince Albert Memorial in London. She became very close to John Brown, as her servant at Balmoral Castle, which caused rejection from her children. In the press, Victoria was derisively called "Mrs. Brown", but despite all the speculation, the Queen flatly refused to break off this friendship.
Victoria returns to public life
When her son Edward fell ill with typhus, the Queen fell into despair.
This happened a year after the founding of the Third French Republic, which provoked a wave of anti-monarchist sentiment in Britain. When Edward recovered, the Queen carefully planned activities to increase support for the royal family. She ordered a public thanksgiving service and appeared before the public for the first time in a long time on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. This event marked the Queen's gradual return to public life.
queen turned empress
Cartoon: Prime Minister Disraeli presenting the imperial crown to Victoria
Victoria became Empress of India to strengthen the bonds between monarchy and empire.
She assumed the title on the advice of her seventh Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, whose advice in politics she completely trusted. Victoria approved of his imperial ambitions, which made Great Britain the most powerful country in the world. As a result, Victoria's popularity in Britain skyrocketed, and by the end of her reign she had become a true symbol of the empire.
New lover from India
In commemoration "Golden Jubilee"(50th anniversary of the reign) of Queen Victoria, she received Indian servants at her disposal. One of them, Abdul Karim, became her favorite and personal teacher ("munshi").
Karim taught Victoria the Urdu language and told her about the peculiarities of life in India, and also introduced her to the Indian dish for the first time " curry(the most popular dish in the UK these days). He was only 24 years old, but thanks to the efforts of this young man, Victoria was fascinated by India - a country that she ruled, but where she never visited. Despite the disapproval of politicians and members of the royal family, Victoria rewarded Karim with various honors and lands in India, and even took him with her on trips to the French Riviera.
Victoria's Golden Jubilee on the throne strengthened her image as ruler. In honor of this event, her face was emblazoned on a variety of products, ranging from mugs to mustard jars.
Although the anniversary celebrations were centered around the personality of the Queen, at the same time they demonstrated the greatness of Britain as a world power. Her Majesty's troops marched solemnly through London. In honor of the anniversary, Victoria arranged a real feast, which was attended by 50 foreign kings and princes, along with the heads of overseas British colonies and dominions.
Diamond Jubilee
Victoria's Golden Jubilee was followed by Diamond(60 years on the throne). In honor of him, celebrations were organized throughout the country.
The elderly Queen attended a number of events, although her health had deteriorated by that time.
Victoria decided to resort to new technologies and sent telegrams of thanks to the subjects of her Empire. She also attended the solemn procession to St. Paul's Cathedral. Street celebrations were held across Britain to mark the Jubilee, and Sydney Harbor in Australia was lit up. In India, 19,000 prisoners have been pardoned by the Queen.
End of the Victorian Era
Victoria passed away after several weeks of severe illness. Her son and heir Edward VII and grandson Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany were at her deathbed.
Although the Queen ruled over a vast Empire that spanned a quarter of the globe and had 400 million subjects, she never forgot the people who supported her. Before her death, Victoria asked that her late husband Albert's robe and a plaster cast of his hand be placed in her coffin. In addition, she ordered to put a lock of John Brown's hair and his photograph in her hand. She also ordered that Abdul Karim be among the main mourners at her funeral.
Until the very last days, Victoria remained an indomitable monarch, consistently putting her will into practice.
Sourced from bbc.co.uk. All images are from bbc.co.uk
After the reign of Elizabeth I, the royal throne of Great Britain was not occupied by a woman for more than a hundred years. By the will of fate in the 19th century, 18-year-old Victoria became queen. The period of her reign is marked by a whole era in the history of the country. She is rightfully considered the greatest English queen. And until 2015, her presence on the throne was the longest.
BORN EDIT
Queen Victoria's grandfather King George III, who ascended the throne in 1760, was very popular. He had 15 children - nine sons and six daughters. Having lost his mind due to a hereditary genetic disease, in 1817 he lived without a break in Windsor Castle, blind and almost deaf. The future of the crown was in doubt, despite the large number of children: representatives of the Hanoverian royal dynasty believed that everything was allowed to them and were distinguished by unworthy behavior.
Parliament was forced to appoint the king's son, George, Prince of Wales, as regent. He was the only one of all the royal sons who had a legitimate heir - a daughter, Princess Charlotte. But at 21, the princess died in childbirth. Her death brought the family to the brink of revolution. Then among the brothers of George started the race for children. All the royal sons were in a hurry to enter into legal marriages in order to acquire future heirs to the throne.
The king's fourth son was Edward, Duke of Kent, who married in 1818, at the age of 50, 32-year-old Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a dowager German princess who already had two children. On May 24, 1819, the Duchess gave birth to a girl. The Prince Regent, learning that his brother was the first to father a new heir to the throne, was furious. He turned the girl's christening into a farce and banned all the royal names chosen by her parents. The girl was named Victoria in honor of her mother, and George IV also ordered to always indicate the first name Alexandrina - in honor of the Russian emperor, who agreed to become a godfather. Until the age of nine, little Victoria will be called Alexandrina, this Russian name will quickly turn into Drina.
When the little princess was only eight months old, her father died, leaving behind many debts. He appointed his wife as sole guardian of his daughter. The mother brought up the future queen in the greatest severity. She had to sleep in the same room with her, strictly observe the regimen, the girl was forbidden to talk to strangers and cry in public. They feared for the little princess, because she was an obstacle on the way to the throne for the next applicants in turn. She lived like in a prison, but this did not break her will. Victoria received an excellent education, was fluent in several languages, including German, Italian, French. Her main mentor was Lord Melbourne.
Princess Victoria was third in the line of succession to the throne after her father's three older brothers. In 1827, the childless Duke of York dies, and in 1930, the Prince Regent. Victoria becomes the heir presumptive of her uncle William IV. The king was determined to live to see Victoria's 18th birthday in order to pass the throne to her. He kept his promise and passed away four weeks after the celebration of the coming of age of his beloved niece.
Lord Coningham and the Archbishop of Canterbury arrived at Kensington Palace to inform the princess of this. When Victoria entered the room where they were waiting for her, the first people of England knelt before her and said that she had become queen.
At 18, she became not only the most powerful girl in the world, but also the richest. Her coronation on June 28, 1838 was one of the most lavish in history.
Victoria's first step was simple - she ordered her bed to be moved from her mother's room. Her first and most loyal ally was the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, whose administration and government she decided to keep with her accession to the throne. On the first day of her reign, Victoria held a meeting of the Privy Council. Despite such a young age for the queen, from the first hours of her reign she demonstrated independence, fortitude and firmness of character, made decisions without the slightest hesitation, as if she had been on the throne for a long time.
A few weeks later, she moved to Buckingham Palace. Six months later, Parliament appointed her an annual allowance of 400 pounds. At 18, she became not only the most powerful girl in the world, but also the richest. Her coronation on 28 June 1838 was one of the most lavish in history.
Instability in government, where Tories and Whigs succeeded each other almost every year, characterized the early period of Victoria's reign. The Queen sought to create a strong two-party coalition and achieved her goal when Lord Aberdeen took over the government in 1852.
LOVE-MATCH
At first, Victoria paid much more attention to entertainment, balls and receptions than to government, but everything changed after her marriage, which she initially perceived as more of a necessity. But, having met her maternal cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Victoria fell passionately in love with him and proposed to him herself.
On February 10, 1840, they were married. Tens of thousands of people came to watch their queen's wedding. Two hundred lacemakers spent many days weaving her veil. Victoria personally drew sketches of dresses for the bridesmaids, which should be embroidered with white roses, and also provided for each of the girls a brooch in the form of an eagle, which was a symbol of Germany. The eyes of the bird were made diamond, the beak ruby, and the claws pearl.
Prince Albert was very attractive, punctual and methodical, with an encyclopedic knowledge. The couple loved each other passionately. He had a very strong influence on Victoria, thanks to which the queen realized her duty to the people and the state. She became a real monarch. Their relationship was the standard of a happy exemplary family, and marriage did not know any betrayals, no scandals, not the slightest rumor that could cast a shadow on them.
In the period up to 1857, Victoria and Albert had nine children: four sons and five daughters. The queen was in excellent health, and her pregnancies followed one after another. Victoria became the first reigning empress of England to give the country a male heir, and this event caused great joy in the palace.
The wise husband of Victoria had the tact to reconcile his wife with her stern mother, who turned out to be the most tender grandmother.
Albert built Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. This is where the royal family fled from the bustle of London. It was a family vacation spot where they had picnics, painted, spent time on a private beach with a jetty. Victoria and Albert celebrated their birthdays there, these were the happiest years of their family life.
VICTORIAN ERA
The period of the reign of Queen Victoria became a real flowering of the country, which turned from an agrarian into one of the most developed European states. The UK has experienced an economic and political upsurge. At this time, cities were transformed, street lighting, water supply and sewerage, sidewalks appeared, people learned about sanitation and hygiene. The music box, photography, mechanical piano, postcards, toys were invented.
It was Queen Victoria, together with Prince Albert, who introduced theatrical Christmas performances, gifts, and the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree. The example of this royal family became a role model in the country, it was a period of decency, the preservation of family values. The expressions "Victorian morality", "Victorian family" appeared.
Prince Albert immediately after the wedding became a confidant and adviser to Victoria. He personally was engaged in the choice of outfits for his wife, and she admired his refined taste. Frivolous balls and sumptuous receptions were replaced by economical family dinners. The emerging English bourgeoisie began to try on harsh moralism. Victoria's accession to the English throne coincided with a new rise in religiosity. Asceticism was manifested in clothing: men were supposed to wear a black frock coat with a stand-up collar without any jabot or lace. For women - a dark strict dress, no crinolines, neckline. During the Victorian era, there was an emphasis on ethics and family values.
During the years of Victoria's reign, Britain achieved tremendous success in industrial development, trade, finance, maritime transport and the expansion of the empire, and became a symbol of stability, decency and prosperity. Both contemporaries and descendants associated these successes with the name of the queen. Victoria became the first British monarch of the modern type.
In 1851, Prince Albert organized a grandiose project - a world exhibition, which was a huge success. The idea of the exhibition was to glorify everything new in the industry. The world has never seen anything like it. It featured over one hundred thousand exhibits. It was visited by six million people. For the first time, a public building was equipped with toilets and a steam machine for making ice cream. With the money received from the fair, the South Kensington Museum was built, later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum.
On the day of her death, the whole country felt a little orphaned. The Victorian era remained in the memory of posterity as a period of stability and prosperity of the British Empire.
In 1854 Great Britain entered the Crimean War on the side of the Ottoman Empire against Russia. Despite the fact that the war somewhat reduced the popularity of the royal family, Victoria publicly provided moral support to the troops and established a new award for valor - the Victoria Cross.
Due to the negative attitude of the British towards the war, Prime Minister Lord Aberdeen was forced to resign. His successor, Lord Palmerston, held out for two years and also lost his post due to an unpopular military conflict - the second opium war in China. Lord Derby, who succeeded him, crushed the sepoy uprising in India.
MOURNING FOR 13 YEARS
After 21 years of marriage, the queen was widowed. Infected with typhoid fever, 42-year-old Prince Albert died suddenly. This was the strongest blow for Victoria. At first, she avoided taking part in public ceremonies, practically living within four walls.
The queen never remarried and mourned the death of her husband all her life, constantly wearing a black mourning dress. In the people and in the army she was nicknamed "The Widow". She dedicated several memoirs to the memory of Albert and built the famous round exhibition hall Albert Hall. Her mourning lasted for a long 13 years, and she did not take off her black dress until the end of her life.
Victoria's removal from active political activity after her husband's death led to the growth of the republican movement. Only in the early 1870s did the queen begin to return to active work. At this time, the star of Benjamin Disraeli rose in the political sky. In 1874, he took over as prime minister, and two years later, on his initiative, Victoria assumed the title of Empress of India. Although the queen never visited this country during her entire reign, she always admired Indian culture.
"GRANDMA OF EUROPE"
Gradually, the life of Queen Victoria changed for the better. By the time of her 60th birthday, she already had 27 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter, she herself again became popularly loved. By the 50th anniversary of her reign - the golden jubilee - Victoria has become the queen that people wanted to see. She was a semi-magical figure, symbolizing the unity of the great empire. Her fortune, the largest in the world, could not be expressed in exact numbers. Throughout her life, Queen Victoria maintained excellent health, efficiency and punctuality. Despite the number of papers that she had to sign every day, she carefully delved into all matters, and not a single important decision was made without her participation.
In 1897, the Queen celebrated her "diamond jubilee". She has ruled for 60 years, and this date has become the apotheosis of her power and glory. 50 European kings and princes were invited to the solemn banquet. The anniversary was conceived as a festival of the British Empire, to which the governors of all British colonies with their families were invited. The solemn procession was attended by military detachments from each colony, including soldiers sent by Indian princes.
As was her wont, and contrary to the persuasion of the ministers, the queen flatly refused to put on her crown and ceremonial mantle. Nevertheless, her invariable widow's dress was this time embroidered with silver, and a black lace cap was decorated with a sprig of white acacia and a diamond aigret. And Victoria herself, and her reign, and Great Britain - everything was a mixture of extraordinary luxury and simplicity.
Queen Victoria very wisely and skillfully arranged the marriages of her relatives and intermarried with almost all the royal families of Europe. Thanks to this, she influenced all European politics, for which she received the affectionate nickname "the grandmother of Europe."
Through her eldest daughter Vika, she was related to Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was her grandson. Her granddaughter Alex married the Russian Emperor Nicholas II. One way or another, Victoria was connected through her children and grandchildren with the royal houses of Norway, Sweden, Greece, Romania, Spain and Mexico.
ORPHANED GREAT BRITAIN
The last years of Victoria's life were overshadowed by the death of her son Alfred, the serious illness of her daughter and the death of two grandchildren. The Queen celebrated Christmas in 1900 on the Isle of Wight, at Osborne House. There she died on January 22, 1901 at the age of 81, surrounded by numerous children and grandchildren. On February 2, she was buried in the Frogmore mausoleum, next to her beloved husband in a white outfit, according to her last will.
On the day of her death, the whole country felt a little orphaned. The Victorian era has remained in the memory of posterity as a period of stability and prosperity of the British Empire.
Her death was mourned by millions of Britons, because many in their long lives did not know other rulers and Victoria seemed to them the "eternal" queen. The long reign showed that a constitutional monarchy can become a symbol of the country and set the tone in political, social and family life. The reign of Victoria lasted 63 years 7 months and 2 days. The royal throne was inherited by her eldest son Edward. Victoria became the last queen of the Hanoverian dynasty and the ancestor of the royal House of Windsor, ruling to this day.
Queen Victoria has become Britain's most popular monarch. The state of Australia, the largest lake in Africa, the famous waterfall on the Zambezi River, the main city of the Canadian province of British Columbia and the capital of the Seychelles are named after her. As the most popular monarch, Victoria has the most monuments in England, the most famous of which is a monument near Buckingham Palace.
