Victoria I of the United Kingdom

Victoria I of the United Kingdom ( London, United Kingdom , June 20 , 1819 – Isle of Wight , January 22 , 1901 ) was a British queen.

He ascended the throne at the age of eighteen and remained on it longer than any other sovereign in Europe. During his reign, France knew two royal dynasties and a republic, Spain three monarchs and Italy four. In this long period, which is precisely known as the “Victorian era”, England became an industrial country and a leading power, proud of its ability to create wealth and stand out in a world increasingly dependent on scientific advances. and technicians. In the political field, the absence of internal revolutions, the deep-rooted English parliamentarianism, the birth and consolidation of a middle class and colonial expansion were essential features of Victorianism; Socially, its foundations were based on balance and commitment between classes, characterized by marked conservatism, respect for etiquette and rigid Christian morality. All of this protected and encouraged by the majestic and impressive figure, at the same time maternal and vigorous, of Queen Victoria, true protagonist and inspiration of the entire European 19th century .

Summary

[ disguise ]

• 1 Biographical summary
  • 1 Early years
  • 2 An eighteen year old queen
  • 3 Beginning of the reign
  • 4 Opium Wars
  • 5 Marriage
    • 5.1 Children
  • 6 Political beginnings
  • 7 Ireland
  • 8 Maturity
  • 9 Widowhood
  • 10 Recent years
• 2 Titles
• 3 Source

Biographical summary

Queen Victoria was born on May 19 , 1819 , the daughter of the Duke of Kent, a descendant of the German Hanoverian dynasty, and Princess Marie Louise of Saxe-Coburg. Victoria’s rigid reign lasted 64 years, putting the United Kingdom of Great Britain at the head of the world. William IV had no children, so his niece Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, at the age of 18. Queen Victoria restored prestige to the crown and was the living symbol of the social and economic successes obtained from it. Queen Victoria is the great-great-grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and her consort Prince Philip of Edinburgh , King Juan Carlos I of Spain and his wife Queen Sofia of Greece , Queen Margaret II of Denmark, King Charles XVI , Gustavus of Sweden and King Harald V of Norway. She reigned for almost 64 years, hers being the longest reign in British history . Victoria’s reign was marked by the great expansion of the British Empire. The Victorian Era – as her reign was called – was characterized by the Industrial Revolution , a period of significant social, economic and technological changes in the United Kingdom ; changes that ended up consolidating the United Kingdom as the leading power of her time.

Victoria, whose ancestry was almost exclusively German (except for her ancestor, Sophia of Hanover , was also descended through the female line from James I of England and VI of Scotland), and was the last monarch of the House of Hanover. Her son and successor, Edward VII , belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha .

Early years

Alexandrina Victoria was born at Kensington Palace , London , on 24 May 1819 , and was the only daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, fourth son of King George III , and Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. . She was baptized in the Dome Room of Kensington Palace on June 24 of the same year by Charles Manners-Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury, her godparents being her paternal uncles, the Prince-Regent (later George IV of the United Kingdom ) and Charlotte , Queen of Württemberg , Tsar Alexander I of Russia (in whose honor she received her first name) and her maternal grandmother, Augusta Reuss-Ebersdorf , Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld .

Despite the name with which she was baptized, she ended up being called only Victoria, although she was familiarly known during her early childhood years as Drina (diminutive of Alejandrina).

Victory at four years old

When he was barely 8 months old, his father, the Duke of Kent, died of a devastating pneumonia on January 23 , 1820 . Six days later, on January 29 , his grandfather, King George III , died, blind and insane, at Windsor Castle. His uncle and godfather, the Prince-Regent, ascended the throne as King George IV . Victoria was now third in the line of succession, preceded only by her two uncles, the Duke of York (separated from her wife for three decades, without issue) and the Duke of Clarence. The possibility of Victoria ascending the throne one day seemed very close. However, on December 10 of that same year, the Duchess of Clarence gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth Georgiana , relegating Victoria to fourth place in the line of succession. Tragically, on March 4 , 1821 , and at just 3 months old, the little princess died of seizures. The following year, in 1822 , the Duchess of Clarence gave birth to a pair of stillborn twins, and the difficulty of her birth left her unable to conceive again. Victoria, at 3 years old, was once again in the front row of the succession.

Despite her high position in the line of succession, Victoria spoke only German during her early years, the mother tongue of her mother and her governess. However, when it became clear that she would one day occupy the throne, in 1822 , she began to be taught English.

He possibly learned to speak Italian, Greek, Latin and French. His educator was the Reverend Jorge Davys and his governess, Luisa Lehzen . On January 5 , 1827 , the Duke of York died, placing 7-year-old Victoria no less than second in the line of succession.

An eighteen year old queen

Victoria receiving news of her accession to the throne from Lord Conyngham and the Archbishop of Canterbury

The tension in Victoria’s relations with her mother, which would increase with her accession to the throne, was already evident in her first act of government, which surprised the arrogant members of the council: she asked them if, as queen, she could do what that it really suited him. Considering her too young and inexperienced to calibrate her constitutional mechanisms, they answered yes. She, with a delightful youthful pout, ordered her mother to leave her alone for an hour and locked herself in her room. Upon her departure, he gave another order: that the absorbent duchess’s bed be immediately removed from her bedroom, since from now on she wanted to sleep without sharing it. The complaints, the maneuvers and even the veiled rupture of her mother could do nothing, her empire had ended and her willful and authoritarian daughter was going to impose hers. And not only in privacy; She would also give an unmistakable stamp to an entire era, which has been named precisely after her.

Beginning of the reign

He lived at Buckingham Palace . On June 26 , 1830, King George IV died, being succeeded by the Duke of Clarence as King William IV. As the new monarch had no legitimate surviving offspring, 11-year-old Victoria became heir presumptive to the throne. As the laws of the time were not prepared for the eventual accession of an infant to the throne, the Regency Act of 1831 was enacted , which stipulated that the Duchess of Kent, Victoria’s mother, would be the Regent of the kingdom during the reign. minority of the queen. Ignoring the precedent of George IV , Parliament did not create a Council to limit the powers of the eventual Regent.

In 1835 , at the age of 16, Victoria met her future husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha , who was also her cousin. King William IV disapproved of the union, but his objections had no effect on the young people. Some historians allege that Albert was not in love with the young princess at the time, and that his reasons for accepting the marriage were to gain a good social status (since he was just an obscure German prince) or a high sense of duty and loyalty to his family. family (which wanted the link). Whatever the reasons Alberto had for accepting the marriage, over the years he proved to be extremely happy.

King William IV died on June 20 , 1837 , and was succeeded by Princess Victoria. Since she had already turned 18, a regency was not necessary. Because the Salic Law prevailed in Hanover, this throne passed to her younger uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, thus ending the union between the United Kingdom and Hanover that had existed since 1714 . While the young queen had no children, the Duke of Cumberland was the heir presumptive to the throne. Victoria was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey on June 28 , 1838 .

At the time of his ascension to the throne, the Government was controlled by the Whigs, who had been in power, except for some small intervals, since 1830 . The Whig Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, exercised from the beginning a powerful influence over the politically inexperienced sovereign, who constantly turned to him for advice and help (the trust between the two became so much that some slanderers referred to the queen as the ” Mrs. Melbourne”). The Melbourne ministry, however, would not last long; He was rapidly growing in unpopularity and proving incapable of controlling the British colonies. In Canada , the United Kingdom had to suppress a series of rebellions ( 1837 ), and in Jamaica , local authorities protested against the English measures by not recognizing any law made by Parliament. In 1839 , faced with the inability to control these setbacks, Lord Melbourne resigned.

Queen Victoria in 1843

 

Queen Victoria and the prince at Windsor Castle

 

The British royal family in 1880

 

Queen Victoria in 1897 , during ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of her coronation

The queen commissioned Tory Sir Robert Peel to form the new Cabinet, but soon fell out with him over the Ladies of the Chamber Crisis. By then, the formation of the royal court was governed by the patronage system (that is, the Prime Minister chose the members who would serve the queen from among her supporters). Many of the queen’s ladies-in-waiting were wives of Whigs, and Sir Robert Peel demanded that they be replaced by wives of Tories. Victoria flatly refused to remove the ladies from her positions, as she had come to consider them very close friends. Sir Robert Peel felt that he could not govern under the restrictions imposed by the queen and eventually resigned as Prime Minister, leaving the way clear for Lord Melbourne to return to power.

Opium Wars

The marketing of opium by England and the United States to China generated a conflict of notable proportions. The Chinese considered that the West had nothing of value to trade with. But English and American merchants, strongly rooted in the English Crown, saw in opium the possibility of having exchanges. Opium and its derivatives ( morphine , heroin , etc.) are some of the most addictive drugs. A Chinese worker who became addicted—and by 1839 opium was already within the reach of workers and peasants—spent 2/3 of his salary on opium and left his family in misery.

An epidemic of addicts was thus generated in China , so the emperor had to take action on the matter, commissioning the mandarin Lin Hse Tsu to stop the opium trade and he burned their chests and risked a war ( 1839 ). Lin Hse Tsu sent a letter to Queen Victoria asking her not to traffic any more opium. Queen Victoria responded by sending the British Navy to him. This sparked the Opium Wars ( First and Second Opium Wars ), creating a stimulus for more merchants to go to China from the United States and England . Many of the fortunes of the United States were based on this drug trafficking, which was covert, since they said it was traded in tea or tobacco. It was called China Trade or Far East Trade.

Marriage

Victoria married Prince Albert at the Chapel Royal , St. James’s Palace, London , on 10 February 1840 . Four days earlier, on February 6 , the queen granted her husband the title of Her Royal Highness. Albert would be generally known as the “Prince-Consort”, although he only formally obtained the title in 1857 . From this exceptionally happy union (in which Alberto was an exemplary husband, since as far as is known he never failed to keep his nuptial vows throughout his marriage, unlike his father, Duke Ernest I of Saxony) . -Coburg-Gotha , who would even get divorced), 9 children were born.

Children

• Princess Victoria, Princess Royal (b. Buckingham Palace, 21 November 1840 – d. Friedrichshof, Germany , 5 August 1901 ), created Princess Royal; married in 1858 to Frederick III , Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia .
• King Edward VII(b. Buckingham Palace, 11-9-1841 – d. Buckingham Palace , 6 May 1910), his mother’s successor.
• Princess Alice(b. Buckingham Palace, 25 April 1843 – d. Neues Palais, Darmstadt, 14 December 1878 ), married in 1862 to Louis IV , Grand Duke of Hesse and Rhine. Their daughter, Alexandra , was She would marry her cousin Tsar Nicholas II , nephew-in-law of Prince Alfred.
• Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Edinburgh (b. Windsor Castle, 6 August 1844 – d. Schloss Rosenau, Coburg, 30 July 1900 ), Duke of Saxe- Coburg -Gotha upon succeeding his paternal uncle ( August 22 , 1893 ). Married in 1874 to Maria Alexandrovna , sister of Tsar Alexander III . His daughter Maria would marry Ferdinand I of Romania .
• Princess Helena(b. Buckingham Palace, 25 May 1846 – d. Schomberg House, London , 9 June 1923 ) , married in 1866 to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg .
• Princess Louise(b. Buckingham Palace, 18 March 1848 – d. Kensington Palace, 3 December 1939 ), married in 1871 to John Campbell , 9th Duke of Argyll.
• Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (b. Buckingham Palace, 1 May 1850 – d. Bagshot Park, Surrey, 16 May 1942 ), created Duke of Connaught, Strathearn and Earl of Sussex ( 1874 ) . Married in 1879 to Luisa Margaret of Prussia .
• Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (b. Buckingham Palace, 7 April 1853 – d. Cannes , France , 28 March 1884 ) , created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow ( 1881 ) . Married in 1882 to Elena de Waldeck-Pyrmont .
• Princess Beatrice(b. Buckingham Palace, 14 April 1857 – d. Brantridge Park, Balcombe, Sussex, 26 October 1944 ) , married in 1885 to Prince Henry of Battenberg and mother of the future Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain .

It is because of these conjugal unions of her children and grandchildren with other monarchs of Europe that the popular title of “the Grandmother of Europe ” has been conferred on Victoria . But this had a negative side since, since she was a carrier of hemophilia , she transmitted the defective gene to all of her descendants (due to being linked to the X chromosome ). The best-known carrier of said disease was Tsarevich Alexis of Russia . Now that she had found an ideal companion, not only in the family aspect, but also in the political aspect – since Prince Albert would be her closest advisor – she Victoria began to distance herself from both Lord Melbourne and his Ladies. of Whig Chamber. Thus, when Lord Melbourne lost the election of 1841 , with the Tories emerging victorious under the leadership of Robert Peel, another Ladies of the Chamber Crisis was not repeated. Victoria would continue to correspond with Lord Melbourne , although his role as royal advisor would pass to the Prince-Consort.

Political beginnings

Peel’s ministry was soon embroiled in a crisis due to the Corn Laws. Many Tories (by then also known as Conservatives) opposed repeal, but some Tories (the “Peelites”) and most Whigs supported it. Peel resigned in 1846 , after the repeal was narrowly approved, and was replaced by Lord John Russell. Russell’s ministry, although Whig, was not favored by the queen.

Particularly offensive to Victoria was the Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston , who often acted without consulting the cabinet, the Prime Minister or the queen. In 1849 , Victoria introduced a complaint in Parliament, supported by Lord Russell, alleging that Palmerston had sent official dispatches to foreign leaders without his consent. She repeated her accusations in 1850 , but to no avail. It was not until 1851 that Lord Palmerston was relieved of his office; On that occasion he had announced the British government’s approval of President Louis- Napoleon Bonaparte’s coup d’état in France without prior consultation with the Prime Minister.

Ireland

The young Queen Victoria fell in love with Ireland and chose a holiday in Killarney , Kerry to visit . Thanks to this visit, the town became one of the first tourist attractions of the 19th century . Her love for the island was reciprocated by initial Irish affection for the young queen. In 1845 , Ireland was hit by the devastation of potato crops ; In four years, this plague cost the lives of a million Irish and the emigration of another million. In response to the so-called Irish Potato Famine (An Gorta Mor), the Queen personally donated £5,000 and was involved in various charities. However, the fact that the policy of Lord John Russell ‘s ministry was widely blamed for exacerbating the severity of the famine affected the queen’s popularity. Extremist republicans called Victoria the “Hunger Queen”, with mythical stories in which it was said that she donated as little as £5 to alleviate the hunger of the people, which were accepted by the Irish republicans.

Victoria’s first official visit to Ireland , in 1849 , was specifically arranged by Lord Clarendon , the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and head of the British administration, to attempt to distract attention from the famine crisis and also to put politicians on alert. British that with the presence of the queen the seriousness of the crisis in Ireland would be more than evident. Despite the negative impact of the famine on the queen’s popularity, she was still loved enough that at the conclusion of the nationalist party meetings everyone sang God Save the Queen. However, by the 1870s – 1880s acceptance of the British monarchy in Ireland had declined substantially, partly due to Victoria’s decision to refuse to visit Ireland in protest at the Corporation of Dublin ‘s decision not to congratulate her son. , the Prince of Wales (future Edward VII ), on the occasion of his wedding to Princess Alexandra of Denmark , or refusing to send his congratulations to the Princes of Wales on the birth of his eldest son, Prince Albert Victor .

He repeatedly rejected pressure from Prime Ministers, Lords Lieutenants and even members of the royal family, to establish a royal residence in Ireland. Lord Midleton , the former head of the Irish Unionist Party, writing his 1930 memoir Ireland : Fool or Heroine?, described this decision as demonstrably disastrous for the monarchy and British rule in Ireland .

He made his last visit to Ireland in 1900 , when he came to ask Irish people to enlist in the British Army and fight in the Second Boer War. Nationalist opposition to his visit was led by Arthur Griffith, who founded an organization called Cumann na nGaedhael to unite the opposition. Five years later Griffith used the contacts established in his campaign against the Queen’s visit to form a new political movement, Sinn Féin.

Maturity

In 1851 the first World’s Fair was held , known as the Great Exhibition of 1851 . Organized by Prince Albert, the exhibition was officially opened by the Queen on 1 May 1851 . Despite the fear of many, it was incredibly successful. The inventions and innovations shown there were later used to found the South Kensington Museum (later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum).

First tip

 

Prince Albert

 

The Royal Family

 

Victoria and Disraeli

Lord John Russell’s cabinet fell in 1852 , when the Whig Prime Minister was replaced by a Conservative, Lord Derby . Lord Derby would not remain in power for long, failing to maintain a majority in Parliament, and he resigned less than a year after taking office. By then Victoria was eager to put an end to this period of weak ministers. The queen and her husband vigorously encouraged the formation of a strong coalition between the Whigs and the Tory Peelites . Such a ministry managed to form with the Peelite Lord Aberdeen at its head.

One of the most significant acts of the new ministry was involving the United Kingdom in the Crimean War in 1854 , fighting on the side of the Ottoman Empire against Russia . Immediately before the United Kingdom entered the war, rumors that the Queen and Prince Albert preferred the Russian side diminished the royal couple’s popularity. Nevertheless, Victoria publicly declared her unequivocal support for the troops. After the war ended, the queen instituted the Victoria Cross, a decoration for bravery.

When his work during the Crimean War was questioned by many , Lord Aberdeen resigned in 1855 , being replaced by Lord Palmerston, with whom the queen had reconciled. However, Palmerston was also forced to resign from office due to his unpopular conduct during a military conflict, the Second Opium War , in 1857 . Lord Derby replaced him. One of the most notable events during Derby’s administration was the Sepoy Revolt against the British East India Company’s rule over India . After the mutiny was crushed, India was placed under the direct rule of the crown (although the title “Empress of India” was not immediately instituted). Derby’s second ministry was no better than his first; he resigned in 1859 , allowing Palmerston to regain power.

Widowhood

The year 1861 was tragic for the queen: on March 16 her mother, the Duchess of Kent, died, and on December 14 her husband Albert, the Prince-Consort, died. The loss of her partner, friend, and advisor devastated Victoria, who maintained a semi-permanent state of mourning and wore the color black in her dresses for the rest of her life. She avoided public appearances and rarely set foot in London over the next few years, earning her the nickname “Widow of Windsor.” She considered her son, the Prince of Wales, an indiscreet and frivolous young man, to be the culprit of her father’s death.

Victoria began to trust more and more in a Scottish servant, John Brown; It has been alleged that there was a romantic relationship between them and even a secret marriage. A recently discovered diary records an alleged deathbed confession by the Queen’s private chaplain, who admitted to a politician that he had presided over a clandestine marriage between Victoria and John Brown . Not all historians trust the authenticity of the diary. However, when Victoria’s body was placed in her coffin, it was accompanied by two reminders according to her wishes. On the right side, one of Alberto’s gala dresses, while in her left hand a piece of Brown’s hair was pinned, along with a portrait of him. Rumors of a romance and secret union earned Victoria the nickname “Mrs. Brown.”

Victoria’s isolation from the public greatly diminished the popularity of the monarchy, and even encouraged the growth of the republican movement. Although she fulfilled her official duties, she did not actively participate in government, remaining confined to her royal residences, Balmoral in Scotland or Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Meanwhile, one of the most important pieces of 19th century legislation – the Reform Act of 1867 – was passed by Parliament. Lord Palmerston had been totally opposed to electoral reform, but his ministry ended with his death in 1865 . Lord Derby took over, being succeeded by Lord Russell. Later, Lord Derby returned to serve as Prime Minister, and the Reform Act was passed during his ministry.

Last years

In 1887 , the United Kingdom celebrated Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. The queen celebrated June 20 , 1887 —the fiftieth anniversary of her accession to the throne—with a banquet, to which fifty European kings and princes were invited. Although she could not have known about it, there was a plan by the Irish freedom fighters to blow up Westminster Abbey while the queen was there attending a Thanksgiving service. This assassination attempt, when discovered, was known as the Jubilee Plot. The next day, she participated in a parade that, in the words of Mark Twain , “stretched the limit of sight in both directions.” By then, Victoria was an extremely popular monarch. The scandal of a rumored affair with her servant had died down after John Brown’s death in 1883, allowing the queen to be perceived as a symbol of morality.

Victoria was required to accept a ministry from William Ewart Gladstone once again, in 1892 . After the last of his Irish Local Government Acts was rejected, he retired in 1894 , being replaced by the liberal imperialist Lord Rosebery. Lord Rosebery was succeeded by Lord Salisbury in 1895 , who served for the remainder of Victoria’s reign. On 22 September 1896 Victoria surpassed her grandfather George III as the longest-reigning monarch in English, Scottish or British history . In accordance with a request from the Queen, all special public celebrations for the event were delayed until 1897 , the year in which Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee was celebrated. The colonial secretary, Joseph Chamberlain , proposed that the jubilee be a festival throughout the British Empire .

Thus, they invited the prime ministers of all the autonomous colonies along with their families. The parade in which the queen participated included troops from each colony and British dependencies, together with soldiers sent by Indian princes and chiefs (who were subordinate to Victoria, Empress of India ) . The celebration of the Diamond Jubilee was an occasion marked by the great displays of affection that the people showed for the septuagenarian queen, who by then was confined to a wheelchair.

During the final years of Victoria, the United Kingdom was involved in the Second Boer War, which received enthusiastic support from the Queen. Victoria’s personal life was then marked by several personal tragedies, including the death of her son Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha , the fatal illness of her daughter Victoria, Empress of Germany. , and the death of two of her grandchildren. Her last public performance at a ceremony was in 1899 , when she laid the foundation stone for the new buildings of the South Kensington Museum, later known as the Victoria and Albert Museum . Her last trip outside of England was to Dublin in 1900 .

Following a custom she maintained throughout her widowhood, Victoria spent her last Christmas at Osborne House (which Prince Albert had designed himself) on the Isle of Wight (145 km southwest of London). He died a month later, in the arms of his grandson, the German Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany , on January 22 , 1901 , at the age of 81, after having reigned for 63 years, 7 months and 2 days, longer than any another British monarch up to that time. However, her great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II (b. 1926) reached her on September 9, 2015.

Queen Victoria’s funeral was held on 2 February 1901 ; After two days of national mourning, she was buried in Frogmore Mausoleum next to her husband.