Queen+Victoria

Victoria was the daughter of Edward, the Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg. She was born in Kensington Palace in London on May 24th, 1819.

Edward died when Victoria was eight months old, upon which her mother [|__[S1__]] a strict [|__[S2__]] that [|__[S3__]]  the courts of Victoria's uncles, George IV and William IV.

In 1837 Queen Victoria took the throne after the death of her uncle William IV. [|__[S4__]] her [|__[S5__]]  childhood, she [|__[S6__]]  a personality marked by strong [|__[S7__]]  and a wilful stubbornness. Barely eighteen, she refused any further influence from her domineering mother and ruled in her own stead.

Popular respect for the Crown was at a low point at her [|__[S8__]], but the [|__[S9__]] and straightforward young Queen won the hearts of her subjects.

On Feb 10th, 1840, only three years after taking the throne, Victoria took her first vow and married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Their relationship was one of great love and admiration. Together they bore nine children - four sons and five daughters: Victoria, Bertie, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold, and Beatrice.

Victoria was thoroughly [|__[S10__]] to Prince Albert, and completely [|__[S11__]]  to his will. Victoria did nothing without her husband's approval. Albert assisted in her royal duties. He introduced a strict [|__[S12__]] in court and made a point of [|__[S13__]]  behaviour. Albert also gave a more conservative [|__[S14__]] to   Victoria’s politics.

The general public, however, was not [|__[S15__]] with the German prince; he was excluded from holding any official political position, was never granted a title of [|__[S16__]]  and was named [|__[S17__]] only after seventeen years of marriage. His interests in art, science, and industry [|__[S18__]] him to organize the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851, a highly profitable industrial [|__[S19__]]. He used the [|__[S20__]], some £186,000, to purchase lands in Kensington for the [|__[S21__]] of several cultural and industrial museums.

Reflecting back into her childhood, Victoria was always [|__[S22__]] self pity. On Dec. 14th 1861 Albert died from typhoid fever at Windsor Castle. Victoria remained in [|__[S23__]] [|__[S24__]]  for ten years. This genuine, but obsessive mourning kept her occupied for the rest of her life and played an important role in the evolution of what would become the Victorian mentality.

Her popularity was at its lowest by 1870, but it steadily increased thereafter until her death. In 1876 she was crowned Empress of India by Disraeli. In 1887 Victoria’s Golden Jubilee was a grand national celebration of her 50th year as Queen. The Golden Jubilee brought her out of her shell, and she once again embraced public life. She toured English possessions and even visited France (the first English monarch to do so since the coronation of Henry VI in 1431).

Victoria's long reign witnessed an evolution in English politics and the expansion of the British Empire, as well as political and social reforms on the continent. France had known two dynasties and embraced Republicanism, Spain had seen three monarchs and both Italy and Germany had united their separate [|__[S25__]] into national coalitions. Even in her old age, she maintained a youthful energy and optimism that infected the English population as a whole. The national pride connected with the name of Victoria - the term Victorian England, for example, stemmed from the Queen's ethics and personal tastes, which generally reflected those of the middle class.