Lord Melbourne had resigned over a political matter and the Tory Robert Peel was the natural choice to become Prime Minister. The same year the Queen became embroiled in the ‘Bedchamber Crisis’. The press intimated that Victoria had fabricated the rumours. The examination revealed that Lady Flora was a virgin and that the growth was a tumour. ![]() Seeing an opportunity to bring about Conroy’s fall, Victoria insisted that Lady Flora be examined. In 1839 Victoria responded to court gossip that suggested Lady Flora Hastings had become pregnant by Sir John Conroy. When appearing in public bystanders often called her ‘Mrs Melbourne’. As the monarch has to be politically neutral, many resented his influence on the young Queen and her reliance on his advice. Initially, the politically inexperienced Victoria relied heavily on the Whig Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne. However, her popularity very quickly declined. ![]() When Victoria became Queen she was very popular and over 400,000 people came to London to see her Coronation procession. One of her first acts as Queen was to ban John Conroy from her presence. Victoria had celebrated her 18th birthday in May 1837 which meant she could rule in her own right without a regent. King William IV died without legitimate issue on 20th June 1837. George’s brother William succeeded as King William IV and Victoria became heir to the throne. In 1827 Victoria’s uncle Frederick, Duke of York died and three years later King George IV passed away without issue. Victoria’s uncle George became King George IV and she became third in line to the throne. Her father died in January 1820, six days before the death of King George III. ![]() Path to the ThroneĪt the time of her birth Victoria was fifth in line to the throne. They continually pressured the young princess to appoint Conroy as her private secretary but she continually refused. Her mother wanted to keep Victoria wholly dependent on her and her comptroller Sir John Conroy.Īs she grew older Conroy and her mother sought to control her even more. Her mother was very strict and kept her young daughter isolated from other people. Victoria was educated by private tutors at home. At the time of her birth, she was fifth in line to the throne, after her father and her three uncles. Here is how their genetic legacy has shaped the royal families of Europe.Queen Victoria was born Alexandrina Victoria to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Saalfeld-Coburg at Kensington Palace, London. Though he died at age 42 from what many scholars now believe to have been stomach cancer, his values carried down through many of the European royal lines through his children and grandchildren with Victoria.Īfter Albert died in 1861, Victoria remained in mourning for the remaining 40 years of her life, becoming the longest reigning monarch in British history until her great-great granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Albert and Queen Victoria in 1854.Īlbert likewise played an active role in his children’s lives, seeking to mold their family into an example to the world of what royal families should be. An intellectually driven man-Albert prescribed himself an educational regiment requiring nine hours of study a day during his teen years-he not only served as regent during his wife’s nine pregnancies, he also had a significant role in encouraging scientific and technological innovation, and even helped organize the Great Exhibition in 1851. Though Albert had no official state powers as Prince Consort, he nonetheless had a major impact on the monarchy. In 1840, she married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, with whom she had a famously passionate connection. Just a month after her 18th birthday, the petite princess (she was barely five feet tall) became queen following the death of her uncle, King William IV. The daughter of Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent-fourth son of King George III-and German widow Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Victoria was the result of a succession crisis that left her as the only legitimate heir to the throne. ![]() After all, with nine children, 42 grandchildren, and 87 great-grandchildren, she more than earned the title "the grandmother of Europe."īorn on May 24, 1819, Alexandrina Victoria was quite literally born to be queen. And while many effects of her rule are still present in modern society, perhaps one of the most obvious remains the impact of her massive family tree on the current monarchies of Europe. Over the course of her 63 year reign, Queen Victoria made an indelible impact not only on Britain, but on the world.
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