Queen Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, who was the son of King George III. Although the king had 12 children, none of them had offspring who were eligible to inherit the throne.
The Duke of Kent, at the age of 50, married a German princess, Victoire of Saxe-Coburg who was 31 years old. She was the widow of Prince Emich Charles of Leiningen and together they had two children, Charles and Feodora. Prince Edward and Victoire were married in July of 1818.
On May 24, 1819 the Duchess of Kent gave birth to a daughter. The future Queen Victoria was christened Alexandria Victoria. That winter the her father, the Duke of Kent, caught a cold which turned into pnemonia. Victoria was 8 months old when he died. Within a week King George III died putting his son, King George IV on the throne.
Victoria was brought up at Kensington Palace and spoke only German until the age of three. She showed great interest in the Italian opera and history. When she was 11 years old she saw a royal family tree and supposedly stated, "I am nearer to the throne than I thought. I must be good." The person mainly responsible for keeping her under guard was a man named Jonh Conroy.
He wanted a major role in Victorias' government but she greatly detested the man all her life. Once, while recuperating from a journey, Victoria became very ill from tonsilitis. In an attempt to exploit the future queens weakness, John Conroy attempted to make her sign a document stating that he would become her secretary when she became queen. She refused stubbornly with all the strength she had left.
In 1830, George IV died and was succeded by his brother, William IV. When William died on June 20, 1837, Victoria became the eighteen year old queen of England. Two years after her accession to the throne, Conroy was involved in a great scandal. Flora Hastings, a lady-in-waiting, was presumed to be pregnant by Conroy when if fact she was really suffering from an illness which eventually killed her. As a result of the scandal, Conroy resigned his post in the Dutchess of Kent's household and left the country.
In 1839, Queen Victoria and her cousin Albert met and she fell in love with him at first sight. She proposed to him and a year later they were married. Although the public would not grant Prince Albert the title of King, Parliment officailly granted him the title "Prince Consort". Together they had 9 children, and had an extremely happy marriage. Alberts health was always poor and in November of 1861 he contracted typhoid fever and died the following month at the age of 42. Queen Victoria remained in seclusion for many years after his death and wore black for the rest of her life.
Some time after Alberts death a servant by the name of John Brown became one of the most important people in the queen's life. He remained her confidant for nearly twenty years until his death in 1883. Victoria erected a statue of Brown at Balmoral. The queen was so grief-stricken that she could not walk for a year and used canes and a wheelchair the rest of her life.
Queen Victoria died in 1901, at the age of 83. She was buried beside Prince Albert in the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum at Windsor Castle. She reinged for nearly 64 years, the longest reign in British history.
