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142-695: This sea is named after Queen Victoria . Russian Arctic explorer Valentin Akkuratov claimed that a branch of the Gulf Stream reached as far north as the Queen Victoria Sea. The Queen Victoria Sea is located at 81° north latitude and 38° east longitude . The Arctic Ocean farther north of the sea is frozen year round. The sea stretches as far west as the Sjuøyane in Svalbard and as far east as Rudolf Island in

284-533: A Husband ! ... to be called by names of tenderness, I have never yet heard used to me before—was bliss beyond belief! Oh! This was the happiest day of my life! Albert became an important political adviser as well as the Queen's companion, replacing Melbourne as the dominant influential figure in the first half of her life. Victoria's mother was evicted from the palace, to Ingestre House in Belgrave Square . After

426-401: A civil list allowance of £385,000 per year. Financially prudent, she paid off her father's debts. At the start of her reign Victoria was popular, but her reputation suffered in an 1839 court intrigue when one of her mother's ladies-in-waiting, Lady Flora Hastings , developed an abdominal growth that was widely rumoured to be an out-of-wedlock pregnancy by Sir John Conroy. Victoria believed

568-463: A priest . Only after her brother Adolphus Frederick succeeded to the ducal throne, in 1752, did she gain any experience of princely duties and of court life. When George III succeeded to the throne of Great Britain upon the death of his grandfather, George II , he was 22 years old and unmarried. His mother, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha , and his advisors were eager to have him settled in marriage. The 17-year-old Charlotte appealed as

710-558: A Life in the Highlands , a sequel to her earlier book, which she dedicated to her "devoted personal attendant and faithful friend John Brown". On the day after the first anniversary of Brown's death, Victoria was informed by telegram that her youngest son, Leopold, had died in Cannes . He was "the dearest of my dear sons", she lamented. The following month, Victoria's youngest child, Beatrice, met and fell in love with Prince Henry of Battenberg at

852-530: A bedroom with her mother every night, studied with private tutors to a regular timetable, and spent her play-hours with her dolls and her King Charles Spaniel , Dash . Her lessons included French, German, Italian, and Latin, but she spoke only English at home. In 1830, the Duchess and Conroy took Victoria across the centre of England to visit the Malvern Hills , stopping at towns and great country houses along

994-473: A bill granting Ireland home rule , but to Victoria's glee it was defeated. In the ensuing election , Gladstone's party lost to Salisbury's and the government switched hands again. In 1887, the British Empire celebrated Victoria's Golden Jubilee . She marked the fiftieth anniversary of her accession on 20 June with a banquet to which 50 kings and princes were invited. The following day, she participated in

1136-540: A bomb made in England. The ensuing diplomatic crisis destabilised the government, and Palmerston resigned. Derby was reinstated as prime minister. Victoria and Albert attended the opening of a new basin at the French military port of Cherbourg on 5 August 1858, in an attempt by Napoleon III to reassure Britain that his military preparations were directed elsewhere. On her return Victoria wrote to Derby reprimanding him for

1278-699: A brief ministry led by Russell, Derby returned to power. In 1866, Victoria attended the State Opening of Parliament for the first time since Albert's death. The following year she supported the passing of the Reform Act 1867 which doubled the electorate by extending the franchise to many urban working men, though she was not in favour of votes for women. Derby resigned in 1868, to be replaced by Benjamin Disraeli , who charmed Victoria. "Everyone likes flattery," he said, "and when you come to royalty you should lay it on with

1420-452: A crisis involving the repeal of the Corn Laws . Many Tories—by then known also as Conservatives —were opposed to the repeal, but Peel, some Tories (the free-trade oriented liberal conservative " Peelites "), most Whigs and Victoria supported it. Peel resigned in 1846, after the repeal narrowly passed, and was replaced by Lord John Russell . Internationally, Victoria took a keen interest in

1562-695: A formal engagement, but assumed that the match would take place in due time. Victoria turned 18 on 24 May 1837, and a regency was avoided. Less than a month later, on 20 June 1837, William IV died at the age of 71, and Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom. In her diary she wrote, "I was awoke at 6 o'clock by Mamma, who told me the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were here and wished to see me. I got out of bed and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing gown) and alone , and saw them. Lord Conyngham then acquainted me that my poor Uncle,

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1704-462: A good morning, in the pretty blue and white room where I had the pleasure to sit and read with you The Hermit , a poem which is such a favourite with me that I have read it twice this summer. Oh! What a blessing to keep good company! Very likely I should not have been acquainted with either poet or poem was it not for you. Charlotte did have some influence on political affairs through the King. Her influence

1846-476: A grand service of thanksgiving in St Paul's Cathedral on 27 February 1872, and republican feeling subsided. On the last day of February 1872, two days after the thanksgiving service, 17-year-old Arthur O'Connor, a great-nephew of Irish MP Feargus O'Connor , waved an unloaded pistol at Victoria's open carriage just after she had arrived at Buckingham Palace. Brown, who was attending the Queen, grabbed him and O'Connor

1988-405: A handful of guests were present. George III and Charlotte's coronation was held at Westminster Abbey a fortnight later on 22 September. Upon her wedding day, Charlotte spoke little English. However, she quickly learned the language, albeit speaking with a strong German accent. One observer commented, "She is timid at first but talks a lot, when she is among people she knows." Less than

2130-399: A limited circle from six to ten o'clock. Johann Christian Bach , eleventh son of the great Johann Sebastian Bach , was then music-master to the Queen. He put difficult works of Handel, J. S. Bach, and Carl Friedrich Abel before the boy: he played them all at sight , to the amazement of those present. Afterwards, the young Mozart accompanied the Queen in an aria which she sang, and played

2272-402: A memorial tablet "placed by his grateful Sovereign and Friend, Victoria R.I." On 2 March 1882, Roderick Maclean , a disgruntled poet apparently offended by Victoria's refusal to accept one of his poems, shot at the Queen as her carriage left Windsor railway station . Gordon Chesney Wilson and another schoolboy from Eton College struck him with their umbrellas, until he was hustled away by

2414-469: A month after Leopold's birth Albert complained in a letter to Victoria about her "continuance of hysterics" over a "miserable trifle". In early 1855, the government of Lord Aberdeen , who had replaced Derby, fell amidst recriminations over the poor management of British troops in the Crimean War . Victoria approached both Derby and Russell to form a ministry, but neither had sufficient support, and Victoria

2556-432: A pistol at the Queen, but it was loaded only with paper and tobacco and had too little charge. Edward Oxford felt that the attempts were encouraged by his acquittal in 1840. Bean was sentenced to 18 months in jail. In a similar attack in 1849, unemployed Irishman William Hamilton fired a powder-filled pistol at Victoria's carriage as it passed along Constitution Hill, London . In 1850, the Queen did sustain injury when she

2698-450: A policeman. Victoria was outraged when he was found not guilty by reason of insanity, but was so pleased by the many expressions of loyalty after the attack that she said it was "worth being shot at—to see how much one is loved". On 17 March 1883, Victoria fell down some stairs at Windsor, which left her lame until July; she never fully recovered and was plagued with rheumatism thereafter. John Brown died 10 days after her accident, and to

2840-784: A porcelain service that was later renamed "Royal Lily" in her honour. Another well-known porcelain service designed and named in her honour was the "Queen Charlotte" pattern. The Queen founded orphanages and, in 1809, became the patron (providing new funding) of the General Lying-in Hospital, a hospital for expectant mothers. It was subsequently renamed as the Queen's Hospital, and is today the Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital . Up until 1788, portraits of Charlotte often depict her in maternal poses with her children, and she looks young and contented; however, that year, her husband fell seriously ill and became temporarily insane. It

2982-664: A post was the client of a woman who sold offices. Charlotte particularly interested herself in German issues. She took an interest in the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–1779), and it is possible that it was due to her efforts that the King supported British intervention in the continuing conflict between Joseph II and Charles Theodore of Bavaria in 1785. When the King had his first temporary bout of mental illness in 1765, her mother-in-law and Lord Bute kept Charlotte unaware of

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3124-469: A private estate on the Isle of Wight that they had purchased in 1845 and redeveloped. Demonstrations by Chartists and Irish nationalists failed to attract widespread support, and the scare died down without any major disturbances. Victoria's first visit to Ireland in 1849 was a public relations success, but it had no lasting impact or effect on the growth of Irish nationalism. Russell's ministry, though Whig,

3266-559: A procession and attended a thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey . By this time, Victoria was once again extremely popular. Two days later on 23 June, she engaged two Indian Muslims as waiters, one of whom was Abdul Karim . He was soon promoted to " Munshi ": teaching her Urdu and acting as a clerk. Her family and retainers were appalled, and accused Abdul Karim of spying for the Muslim Patriotic League, and biasing

3408-461: A prospective consort partly because she had been brought up in an insignificant north German duchy and, therefore, would probably have had no experience or interest in power politics or party intrigues. That proved to be the case; to make sure, George III instructed her shortly after their wedding "not to meddle", a precept she was glad to follow. The King announced to his Council in July 1761, according to

3550-627: A protracted dispute between her granddaughter Queen Victoria , who claimed the jewels as the property of the British Crown, and Charlotte's now eldest-surviving son Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover , who claimed the jewels by right of being the most senior male member of the House of Hanover . The dispute would not be resolved in Ernest's lifetime. Eventually in 1858, over twenty years after the death of William IV and nearly forty years after Charlotte's death,

3692-420: A relatively balanced view of the conflict, and condemned atrocities on both sides. She wrote of "her feelings of horror and regret at the result of this bloody civil war", and insisted, urged on by Albert, that an official proclamation announcing the transfer of power from the company to the state "should breathe feelings of generosity, benevolence and religious toleration". At her behest, a reference threatening

3834-512: A solo work on the flute. On 29 October, the Mozarts were in London again, and were invited to court to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the King's accession. As a memento of the royal favour, Leopold Mozart published six sonatas composed by Wolfgang, known as Mozart's Opus 3 , that were dedicated to the Queen on 18 January 1765, a dedication she rewarded with a present of 50 guineas. Queen Charlotte

3976-589: A teenager, Victoria resisted persistent attempts by her mother and Conroy to appoint him to her staff. Once queen, she banned him from her presence, but he remained in her mother's household. By 1836, Victoria's maternal uncle Leopold, who had been King of the Belgians since 1831, hoped to marry her to Prince Albert , the son of his brother Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . Leopold arranged for Victoria's mother to invite her Coburg relatives to visit her in May 1836, with

4118-482: A tendency to embrace them and refuse to let them go. During the 1788 illness of the King, a conflict arose between the Queen and the Prince of Wales, who were both suspected of desiring to assume the regency should the illness of the King become permanent, resulting in him being declared unfit to rule. Charlotte suspected her son of a plan to have the King declared insane with the assistance of Doctor Warren, and to take over

4260-494: A trowel." With the phrase "we authors, Ma'am", he complimented her. Disraeli's ministry only lasted a matter of months, and at the end of the year his Liberal rival, William Ewart Gladstone , was appointed prime minister. Victoria found Gladstone's demeanour far less appealing; he spoke to her, she is thought to have complained, as though she were "a public meeting rather than a woman". In 1870 republican sentiment in Britain, fed by

4402-433: A year after the marriage, on 12 August 1762, the Queen gave birth to her first child, George, Prince of Wales . In the course of their marriage, the couple became the parents of 15 children, all but two of whom ( Octavius and Alfred ) survived into adulthood. St James's Palace functioned as the official residence of the royal couple, but the King had recently purchased a nearby property, Buckingham House , located at

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4544-674: A year later, the Princess gave birth to the Queen's first grandchild, Wilhelm , who would become the last German emperor. In March 1861, Victoria's mother died, with Victoria at her side. Through reading her mother's papers, Victoria discovered that her mother had loved her deeply; she was heart-broken, and blamed Conroy and Lehzen for "wickedly" estranging her from her mother. To relieve his wife during her intense and deep grief, Albert took on most of her duties, despite being ill himself with chronic stomach trouble. In August, Victoria and Albert visited their son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales , who

4686-613: Is believed she did not visit him again after June 1812. However, Charlotte remained supportive of her spouse as his illness worsened in old age. While her son, the Prince Regent , wielded the royal power, she was her spouse's legal guardian from 1811 until her death in 1818. Due to the extent of the King's illness, he was incapable of knowing or understanding that she had died. During the Regency of her son, Queen Charlotte continued to fill her role as first lady in royal representation because of

4828-467: Is likely to have enhanced the emotional strain felt by Charlotte. Her eldest son, George, was appointed prince regent in 1811 due to the increasing severity of the King's illness. Charlotte died in November 1818, with her son George at her side. George III died a little over a year later, probably unaware of his wife's death. Princess Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was born on 19 May 1744. She

4970-426: Is named for Charlotte's native Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom are impaled with her father's arms as a Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz . The arms were: Quarterly of six, 1st, Or, a buffalo's head cabossed Sable, armed and ringed Argent, crowned and langued Gules ( Mecklenburg ); 2nd, Azure, a griffin segreant Or ( Rostock ); 3rd, Per fess, in chief Azure, a griffin segreant Or, and in

5112-471: Is now thought that the King had porphyria , though bipolar disorder has also been named as another possible underlying cause for his condition. Sir Thomas Lawrence 's portrait of Charlotte at this time marks a transition point, after which she looks much older in her portraits; the assistant keeper of Charlotte's wardrobe, Charlotte Papendiek , wrote that the Queen was "much changed, her hair quite grey". The French Revolution of 1789 probably added to

5254-604: The Allan Ramsay portrait of Queen Charlotte hangs in the main lobby of the hospital. The Queen Charlotte's Ball , an annual debutante ball that originally funded the hospital, is named after her. A lead statue probably of Queen Charlotte, dating to c.  1775 , stands on Queen Square in Bloomsbury , London, and there are two statues of her in Charlotte , North Carolina: at Charlotte Douglas International Airport and at

5396-631: The British Relief Association , more than any other individual famine relief donor, and supported the Maynooth Grant to a Roman Catholic seminary in Ireland, despite Protestant opposition. The story that she donated only £5 in aid to the Irish, and on the same day gave the same amount to Battersea Dogs Home , was a myth generated towards the end of the 19th century. By 1846, Peel's ministry faced

5538-481: The Christmas tree to Britain and its colonies. Initially, Charlotte decorated a single yew branch, a common Christmas tradition in her native Mecklenburg-Strelitz, to celebrate Christmas with members of the royal family and the royal household. She decorated the branch with the assistance of her ladies-in-waiting and then had the court gather to sing carols and distribute gifts. In December 1800, Queen Charlotte set up

5680-543: The Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. When Louis Philippe made a reciprocal trip in 1844, he became the first French king to visit a British sovereign. Louis Philippe was deposed in the revolutions of 1848 , and fled to exile in England. At the height of a revolutionary scare in the United Kingdom in April 1848, Victoria and her family left London for the greater safety of Osborne House ,

5822-531: The Great Exhibition ) and Napoleon I 's tomb at Les Invalides (to which his remains had only been returned in 1840), and were guests of honour at a 1,200-guest ball at the Palace of Versailles . This marked the first time that a reigning British monarch had been to Paris in over 400 years. On 14 January 1858, an Italian refugee from Britain called Felice Orsini attempted to assassinate Napoleon III with

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5964-1099: The Queen Charlotte Islands (now known as Haida Gwaii ) in British Columbia , Canada, and Queen Charlotte City (now known as Daajing Giids ) on Haida Gwaii; Queen Charlotte Sound (not far from the Haida Gwaii Islands); Queen Charlotte Channel (near Vancouver , Canada); Queen Charlotte Bay in West Falkland; Queen Charlotte Sound , South Island, New Zealand; several fortifications , including Fort Charlotte, Saint Vincent ; Charlottesville, Virginia ; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island ; Charlotte, North Carolina ; Mecklenburg County, North Carolina ; Mecklenburg County, Virginia ; Charlotte County, Virginia ; Charlotte County, Florida ; Port Charlotte, Florida ; Charlotte Harbor, Florida ; and Charlotte, Vermont . The proposed North American colonies of Vandalia and Charlotina were also named for her. In Tonga,

6106-601: The Royal Lodge . Certain personal assets that the Queen had brought from Mecklenburg-Strelitz were to revert to the senior branch of that dynasty, while the remainder of her assets, including her books, linen, art objects and china, were to be evenly divided among her surviving daughters. At the Queen's death, the Prince Regent claimed Charlotte's jewels, and on his death, they were in turn claimed by his heir, William IV . On William's death, Charlotte's bequest then sparked

6248-458: The abolition of slavery . The Queen commissioned a Tory, Robert Peel , to form a new ministry. At the time, it was customary for the prime minister to appoint members of the Royal Household , who were usually his political allies and their spouses. Many of the Queen's ladies of the bedchamber were wives of Whigs, and Peel expected to replace them with wives of Tories. In what became known as

6390-642: The presbyterian Church of Scotland than the episcopal Church of England . Disraeli also pushed the Royal Titles Act 1876 through Parliament, so that Victoria took the title "Empress of India" from 1 May 1876. The new title was proclaimed at the Delhi Durbar of 1 January 1877. On 14 December 1878, the anniversary of Albert's death, Victoria's second daughter Alice, who had married Louis of Hesse , died of diphtheria in Darmstadt . Victoria noted

6532-535: The " bedchamber crisis ", Victoria, advised by Melbourne, objected to their removal. Peel refused to govern under the restrictions imposed by the Queen, and consequently resigned his commission, allowing Melbourne to return to office. Though Victoria was now queen, as an unmarried young woman she was required by social convention to live with her mother, despite their differences over the Kensington System and her mother's continued reliance on Conroy. The Duchess

6674-535: The "undermining of native religions and customs" was replaced by a passage guaranteeing religious freedom. In the 1874 general election , Disraeli was returned to power. He passed the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 , which removed Catholic rituals from the Anglican liturgy and which Victoria strongly supported. She preferred short, simple services, and personally considered herself more aligned with

6816-478: The British Empire as civilising and benign, protecting native peoples from more aggressive powers or cruel rulers: "It is not in our custom to annexe countries", she said, "unless we are obliged & forced to do so." To Victoria's dismay, Disraeli lost the 1880 general election , and Gladstone returned as prime minister. When Disraeli died the following year, she was blinded by "fast falling tears", and erected

6958-533: The British escort party. On 22 August, they reached Cuxhaven , where a small fleet awaited to convey them to England. The voyage was extremely difficult; the party encountered three storms at sea and landed at Harwich only on 7 September. They set out at once for London, spent that night in Witham , at the residence of Lord Abercorn , and arrived at 3:30 pm the next day at St. James's Palace in London. They were received by

7100-459: The Duchess and her ambitious and domineering comptroller , Sir John Conroy , who was rumoured to be the Duchess's lover. The system prevented the princess from meeting people whom her mother and Conroy deemed undesirable (including most of her father's family), and was designed to render her weak and dependent upon them. The Duchess avoided the court because she was scandalised by the presence of King William's illegitimate children. Victoria shared

7242-510: The Duke of Kent married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , a widowed German princess with two children— Carl (1804–1856) and Feodora (1807–1872)—by her first marriage to Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen . Her brother Leopold was Princess Charlotte's widower and later the first king of Belgium . The Duke and Duchess of Kent's only child, Victoria was born at 4:15 a.m. on Monday 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria

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7384-625: The Franz Josef Archipelago. The islands of Kvitøya and Victoria Island are located at the southern limit of this Arctic sea. To the south lies the Barents Sea . This Arctic -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days—which

7526-588: The Hanoverian succession. While Victoria inherited the British throne, her father's unpopular younger brother, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland , became King of Hanover . He was Victoria's heir presumptive until she had a child. At the time of Victoria's accession, the government was led by the Whig prime minister Lord Melbourne . He at once became a powerful influence on the politically inexperienced monarch, who relied on him for advice. Charles Greville supposed that

7668-527: The International Trade Center. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , was chartered in 1766 as Queen's College , in reference to Queen Charlotte. It was renamed in 1825 in honour of Henry Rutgers , a Revolutionary War officer and college benefactor. Its oldest extant building, Old Queen's (built 1809–1823), and the city block that forms the historic core of the university, Queen's Campus , retain their original names. Queen Charlotte

7810-471: The King and his family at the garden gate, which marked the first meeting of the bride and groom. At 9:00 pm that same evening (8 September 1761), within six hours of her arrival, Charlotte was married to George III. The ceremony was performed at the Chapel Royal , St. James's Palace, by the archbishop of Canterbury , Thomas Secker . Only the royal family, the party who had travelled from Germany, and

7952-585: The King displayed declining mental health, Queen Charlotte slept in a separate bedroom, had her meals separate from him, and avoided seeing him alone. Charlotte and her husband were music connoisseurs with German tastes, who gave special honour to German artists and composers. They were passionate admirers of the music of George Frideric Handel . In April 1764, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , then aged eight, arrived in Britain with his family as part of their grand tour of Europe and remained until July 1765. The Mozarts were summoned to court on 19 May and played before

8094-530: The King gradually became permanently insane, the Queen's personality altered: she developed a terrible temper and no longer enjoyed appearing in public, not even at the musical concerts she had so loved; and her relationships with her adult children became strained. From 1792 she found some relief from her worry about her husband by planning the gardens and decoration of a new residence for herself, Frogmore House , in Windsor Home Park. From 1804 onward, when

8236-457: The King sane on the orders of the Queen. In the Regency Bill of 1789, the Prince of Wales was declared regent should the King become permanently insane, but it also placed the King himself, his court and minor children under the Queen's guardianship. The Queen used this Bill when she refused the Prince of Wales permission to see the King alone, even well after he had been declared sane again in

8378-455: The King, was no more, and had expired at 12 minutes past 2 this morning, and consequently that I am Queen ." Official documents prepared on the first day of her reign described her as Alexandrina Victoria, but the first name was withdrawn at her own wish and not used again. Since 1714, Britain had shared a monarch with Hanover in Germany, but under Salic law , women were excluded from

8520-571: The Nawab of Arcot , were to be evenly distributed among her surviving daughters. The furnishings and fixtures at the royal residence at Frogmore, along with "live and dead stock...on the estates", were bequeathed to her daughter Augusta Sophia along with the Frogmore property, unless its maintenance would prove too expensive for her daughter, in which case it was to revert to the Crown. Her daughter Sophia inherited

8662-600: The Queen against the Hindus. Equerry Frederick Ponsonby (the son of Sir Henry) discovered that the Munshi had lied about his parentage, and reported to Lord Elgin , Viceroy of India , "the Munshi occupies very much the same position as John Brown used to do." Victoria dismissed their complaints as racial prejudice. Abdul Karim remained in her service until he returned to India with a pension, on her death. Victoria's eldest daughter became empress consort of Germany in 1888, but she

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8804-582: The Queen as "Mrs. Brown". The story of their relationship was the subject of the 1997 movie Mrs. Brown . A painting by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer depicting the Queen with Brown was exhibited at the Royal Academy , and Victoria published a book, Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands , which featured Brown prominently and in which the Queen praised him highly. Palmerston died in 1865, and after

8946-508: The Queen in the spreading of false rumours about Lady Flora. When Lady Flora died in July, the post-mortem revealed a large tumour on her liver that had distended her abdomen. At public appearances, Victoria was hissed and jeered as "Mrs. Melbourne". In 1839, Melbourne resigned after Radicals and Tories (both of whom Victoria detested) voted against a bill to suspend the constitution of Jamaica . The bill removed political power from plantation owners who were resisting measures associated with

9088-707: The Queen proposed to him on 15 October 1839, just five days after he had arrived at Windsor . They were married on 10 February 1840, in the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace , London. Victoria was love-struck. She spent the evening after their wedding lying down with a headache, but wrote ecstatically in her diary: I NEVER, NEVER spent such an evening!!! MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert ... his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before! He clasped me in his arms, & we kissed each other again & again! His beauty, his sweetness & gentleness—really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such

9230-528: The Queen's seclusion, was boosted after the establishment of the Third French Republic . A republican rally in Trafalgar Square demanded Victoria's removal, and Radical MPs spoke against her. In August and September 1871, she was seriously ill with an abscess in her arm, which Joseph Lister successfully lanced and treated with his new antiseptic carbolic acid spray. In late November 1871, at

9372-412: The Queen. The writer Frances Burney , at that time one of the Queen's attendants, overheard her moaning to herself with "desponding sound": "What will become of me? What will become of me?" When the King collapsed one night, she refused to be left alone with him and successfully insisted that she be given her own bedroom. When the doctor, Richard Warren , was called, she was not informed and was not given

9514-539: The aid of the new anaesthetic, chloroform . She was so impressed by the relief it gave from the pain of childbirth that she used it again in 1857 at the birth of her ninth and final child, Beatrice, despite opposition from members of the clergy, who considered it against biblical teaching, and members of the medical profession, who thought it dangerous. Victoria may have had postnatal depression after many of her pregnancies. Letters from Albert to Victoria intermittently complain of her loss of self-control. For example, about

9656-433: The base Vert, a bordure Argent ( Principality of Schwerin ); 4th, Gules, a cross patée Argent crowned Or ( Ratzeburg ); 5th, Gules, a dexter arm Argent issuant from clouds in sinister flank and holding a finger ring Or ( County of Schwerin ); 6th, Or, a buffalo's head Sable, armed Argent, crowned and langued Gules ( Wenden ); Overall an inescutcheon, per fess Gules and Or ( Stargard ). The Queen's arms changed twice to mirror

9798-556: The cabinetmaker William Vile , silversmith Thomas Heming , the landscape designer Capability Brown , and the German painter Johann Zoffany , who frequently painted the King and Queen and their children in charmingly informal scenes, such as a portrait of Queen Charlotte and her children as she sat at her dressing table. In 1788, the royal couple visited the Worcester Porcelain Factory (founded in 1751, and later to be known as Royal Worcester ), where Queen Charlotte ordered

9940-971: The changes in her husband's arms, once in 1801 and then again in 1816. A funerary hatchment displaying the Queen's full coat of arms , painted in 1818, is on display at Kew Palace . Claims that Queen Charlotte may have had partial African ancestry first emerged in Racial Mixture as the Basic Principle of Life published in 1929 by German historian, Brunold Springer, who challenged her Thomas Gainsborough portrait as inaccurate. Based on her alternative portrait by Allan Ramsay and contemporary descriptions of her appearance, Springer concluded that Charlotte's "broad nostrils and heavy lips" must point to African heritage. Jamaican-American amateur historian J. A. Rogers agreed with Springer in his 1940 book Sex and Race: Volume I , where he concluded that Queen Charlotte must be "biracial" or "black". Proponents of

10082-515: The coincidence of the dates as "almost incredible and most mysterious". In May 1879, she became a great-grandmother (on the birth of Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen ) and passed her "poor old 60th birthday". She felt "aged" by "the loss of my beloved child". Between April 1877 and February 1878, she threatened five times to abdicate while pressuring Disraeli to act against Russia during the Russo-Turkish War , but her threats had no impact on

10224-408: The consternation of her private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby , Victoria began work on a eulogistic biography of Brown. Ponsonby and Randall Davidson , Dean of Windsor , who had both seen early drafts, advised Victoria against publication, on the grounds that it would stoke the rumours of a love affair. The manuscript was destroyed. In early 1884, Victoria did publish More Leaves from a Journal of

10366-512: The death of Victoria's aunt Princess Augusta in 1840, the Duchess was given both Clarence House and Frogmore House . Through Albert's mediation, relations between mother and daughter slowly improved. During Victoria's first pregnancy in 1840, in the first few months of the marriage, 18-year-old Edward Oxford attempted to assassinate her while she was riding in a carriage with Prince Albert on her way to visit her mother. Oxford fired twice, but either both bullets missed or, as he later claimed,

10508-418: The deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller , John Conroy . She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Victoria, a constitutional monarch , attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who

10650-402: The estrangement of the Prince Regent and his spouse . As such, she functioned as the hostess by the side of her son at official receptions, such as the festivities given in London to celebrate the defeat of Emperor Napoleon in 1814. She also supervised the upbringing of her granddaughter, Princess Charlotte of Wales . During her last years, she was met with a growing lack of popularity and

10792-583: The events or their conclusion with the Congress of Berlin . Disraeli's expansionist foreign policy, which Victoria endorsed, led to conflicts such as the Anglo-Zulu War and the Second Anglo-Afghan War . "If we are to maintain our position as a first-rate Power", she wrote, "we must ... be Prepared for attacks and wars , somewhere or other , CONTINUALLY." Victoria saw the expansion of

10934-640: The first known English Christmas tree at Queen's Lodge, Windsor . That year, she held a large Christmas party for the children of all the families in Windsor and placed a whole tree in the drawing-room, decorated with tinsel, glass, baubles and fruits. John Watkins , who attended the Christmas party, described the tree in his biography of the Queen: "from the branches of which hung bunches of sweetmeats, almonds and raisins in papers, fruits and toys, most tastefully arranged;

11076-501: The first room was dazzling, all furnished with beautiful Indian paper, chairs covered with different embroideries of the liveliest colours, glasses, tables, sconces, in the best taste, the whole calculated to give the greatest cheerfulness to the place." Charlotte treated her children's attendants with friendly warmth which is reflected in this note she wrote to her daughters' assistant governess, Mary Hamilton: My dear Miss Hamilton, What can I have to say? Not much indeed! But to wish you

11218-424: The following day, Victoria drove the same route, though faster and with a greater escort, in a deliberate attempt to bait Francis into taking a second aim and catch him in the act. As expected, Francis shot at her, but he was seized by plainclothes policemen, and convicted of high treason. On 3 July, two days after Francis's death sentence was commuted to transportation for life , John William Bean also tried to fire

11360-418: The following seventeen years, she and Albert had a further eight children: Albert Edward , Alice , Alfred , Helena , Louise , Arthur , Leopold and Beatrice . The household was largely run by Victoria's childhood governess, Baroness Louise Lehzen from Hanover . Lehzen had been a formative influence on Victoria and had supported her against the Kensington System. Albert, however, thought that Lehzen

11502-409: The fourth son of King George III and Queen Charlotte . Until 1817, King George's only legitimate grandchild was Edward's niece Princess Charlotte of Wales , the daughter of George, Prince Regent (who would become George IV). Princess Charlotte's death in 1817 precipitated a succession crisis that brought pressure on Prince Edward and his unmarried brothers to marry and have children. In 1818,

11644-636: The guns had no shot. He was tried for high treason , found not guilty by reason of insanity , committed to an insane asylum indefinitely, and later sent to live in Australia. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Victoria's popularity soared, mitigating residual discontent over the Hastings affair and the bedchamber crisis . Her daughter, also named Victoria , was born on 21 November 1840. The Queen hated being pregnant, viewed breast-feeding with disgust, and thought newborn babies were ugly. Nevertheless, over

11786-414: The height of the republican movement, the Prince of Wales contracted typhoid fever, the disease that was believed to have killed his father, and Victoria was fearful her son would die. As the tenth anniversary of her husband's death approached, her son's condition grew no better, and Victoria's distress continued. To general rejoicing, he recovered. Mother and son attended a public parade through London and

11928-549: The improvement of relations between France and Britain. She made and hosted several visits between the British royal family and the House of Orleans , who were related by marriage through the Coburgs. In 1843 and 1845, she and Albert stayed with King Louis Philippe I at Château d'Eu in Normandy; she was the first British or English monarch to visit a French monarch since the meeting of Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France on

12070-530: The ladies of the bedchamber most associated with the Whigs were replaced. In 1845, Ireland was hit by a potato blight . In the next four years, over a million Irish people died and another million emigrated in what became known as the Great Famine . In Ireland, Victoria was labelled "The Famine Queen". In January 1847 she personally donated £2,000 (equivalent to between £230,000 and £8.5   million in 2022) to

12212-510: The late occupant's declining business". Her uncle Leopold wrote to her advising her to appear in public. She agreed to visit the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at Kensington and take a drive through London in an open carriage. Through the 1860s, Victoria relied increasingly on a manservant from Scotland, John Brown . Rumours of a romantic connection and even a secret marriage appeared in print, and some referred to

12354-455: The latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond jubilees were times of public celebration. Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight , at the age of 81. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover , she was succeeded by her son Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . Victoria's father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn ,

12496-455: The matter was decided in favour of Ernest's son George , upon which Victoria had the jewels given into the custody of the Hanoverian ambassador. The rest of Charlotte's property was sold at auction from May to August 1819. Her clothes, furniture, and even her snuff were sold by Christie's . It is highly unlikely that her husband ever knew of her death; he died blind, deaf, lame and insane 14 months later. Places named after Charlotte include

12638-440: The opportunity to speak with him about it. When told by the Prince of Wales that the King was to be removed to Kew, but that she should move to Queen's House or to Windsor, she successfully insisted that she accompany her spouse to Kew. However, she and her daughters were taken to Kew separately from the King and lived secluded from him during his illness. They regularly visited him, but the visits tended to be uncomfortable, as he had

12780-648: The outbreak of the French Revolution. Charlotte had organized apartments to be prepared and ready for the refugee royal family of France to occupy. She was greatly distraught when she heard the news that the King and Queen of France had been executed. After the onset of his permanent madness in 1811, George III was placed under the guardianship of his wife in accordance with the Regency Bill of 1789 . She could not bring herself to visit him very often, due to his erratic behaviour and occasional violent reactions. It

12922-612: The poor state of the Royal Navy in comparison to the French Navy . Derby's ministry did not last long, and in June 1859 Victoria recalled Palmerston to office. Eleven days after Orsini's assassination attempt in France, Victoria's eldest daughter married Prince Frederick William of Prussia in London. They had been betrothed since September 1855, when Princess Victoria was 14 years old; the marriage

13064-1006: The property on Queen Charlotte in exchange for her rights to Somerset House . Most of the couple's 15 children were born in Buckingham House, although St James's Palace remained the official and ceremonial royal residence. During her first years in Great Britain, Charlotte's strained relationship with her mother-in-law, Augusta, caused her difficulty in adapting to the life of the British court. Augusta interfered with Charlotte's efforts to establish social contacts by insisting on rigid court etiquette. Furthermore, Augusta appointed many of Charlotte's staff, among whom several were expected to report to Augusta about Charlotte's behaviour. Charlotte turned to her German companions for friends, notably her close confidante Juliane von Schwellenberg . The King enjoyed country pursuits and riding and preferred to keep his family's residence as much as possible in

13206-489: The propriety of a Queen walking in town unattended." From 1778, the royal family spent much of their time at a newly constructed residence, the Queen's Lodge at Windsor, opposite Windsor Castle , in Windsor Great Park , where the King enjoyed hunting deer. The Queen was responsible for the interior decoration of their new residence, described by a friend of the royal family and diarist Mary Delany : "The entrance into

13348-501: The prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear Albert ... He possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy. He is so sensible, so kind, and so good, and so amiable too. He has besides the most pleasing and delightful exterior and appearance you can possibly see." However at 17, Victoria, though interested in Albert, was not yet ready to marry. The parties did not undertake

13490-550: The public diminished the popularity of the monarchy, and encouraged the growth of the republican movement. She did undertake her official government duties, yet chose to remain secluded in her royal residences— Windsor Castle , Osborne House, and the private estate in Scotland that she and Albert had acquired in 1847, Balmoral Castle . In March 1864, a protester stuck a notice on the railings of Buckingham Palace that announced "these commanding premises to be let or sold in consequence of

13632-463: The purpose of introducing Victoria to Albert. William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of Prince Alexander of the Netherlands , second son of the Prince of Orange . Victoria was aware of the various matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes. According to her diary, she enjoyed Albert's company from the beginning. After

13774-421: The regency. Prince George's followers, notably Sir Gilbert Ellis, in turn suspected the Queen of a plan to have the King declared sane with the assistance of Doctor Francis Willis and Prime Minister William Pitt , so that he could have her appointed regent should he fall ill again, and then have him declared insane again and assume the regency. According to Doctor Warren, Doctor Willis had pressed him to declare

13916-465: The royal family adopted the name Sālote (the Tongan version of Charlotte) in her honour, and notable individuals included Sālote Lupepauʻu and Sālote Tupou III . Charlotte's provision of funding to the General Lying-in Hospital in London prevented its closure; today it is named Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital , and is an acknowledged centre of excellence amongst maternity hospitals. A large copy of

14058-454: The rumours. She hated Conroy, and despised "that odious Lady Flora", because she had conspired with Conroy and the Duchess in the Kensington System. At first, Lady Flora refused to submit to an intimate medical examination, until in mid-February she eventually acquiesced, and was found to be a virgin. Conroy, the Hastings family, and the opposition Tories organised a press campaign implicating

14200-406: The situation. The Regency Bill of 1765 stated that if the King should become permanently unable to rule, Charlotte was to become regent. Her mother-in-law and Lord Bute had unsuccessfully opposed this arrangement, but as the King's illness of 1765 was temporary, Charlotte was aware neither of it, nor of the Regency Bill. The King's bout of physical and mental illness in 1788 distressed and terrified

14342-416: The spring of 1789. The conflict around the regency led to serious discord between the Prince of Wales and his mother. In an argument he accused her of having sided with his enemies, while she called him the enemy of the King. Their conflict became public when she refused to invite him to the concert held in celebration of the recovery of the King, which created a scandal. During this period, Queen Charlotte

14484-453: The strain that Charlotte felt. She had maintained a close relationship with Queen Marie Antoinette of France. Charlotte was 11 years older than Marie Antoinette, yet they shared many interests, such as their love of music and the arts, about which they were both enthusiastic. Never meeting face to face, they confined their friendship to pen and paper. Marie Antoinette confided in Charlotte upon

14626-440: The then rural towns of Kew and Richmond . He favoured an informal and relaxed domestic life, to the dismay of some courtiers more accustomed to displays of grandeur and strict protocol. Lady Mary Coke was indignant on hearing, in July 1769, that the King, the Queen, her visiting brother Prince Ernest and Lady Effingham had gone for a walk through Richmond by themselves without any servants: "I am not satisfied in my mind about

14768-401: The time of her engagement to George III in 1761, Charlotte had received "a very mediocre education". Her upbringing was similar to that of a daughter of an English country gentleman . She received some rudimentary instruction in botany , natural history , and language from tutors, but her education focused on household management and religion  – the latter taught by

14910-496: The two eldest brothers were unlikely to have any further legitimate children. William married in 1818, in a joint ceremony with his brother Edward, but both of William's legitimate daughters died as infants. The first of these was Princess Charlotte, who was born and died on 27 March 1819, two months before Victoria was born. Victoria's father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old. A week later her grandfather died and

15052-600: The usual form, his intention to wed the Princess, after which a party of escorts, led by the Earl Harcourt , departed for Germany to bring Princess Charlotte to England. They reached Strelitz on 14 August 1761, and were received the next day by Duke Adolphus Frederick IV, Charlotte's brother, at which time the marriage contract was signed by him on the one hand and Lord Harcourt on the other. Three days of public celebrations followed, and on 17 August 1761, Charlotte set out for Britain, accompanied by Adolphus Frederick and

15194-440: The visit she wrote, "[Albert] is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful." Alexander, on the other hand, she described as "very plain". Victoria wrote to King Leopold, whom she considered her "best and kindest adviser", to thank him "for

15336-441: The way. Similar journeys to other parts of England and Wales were taken in 1832, 1833, 1834 and 1835. To the King's annoyance, Victoria was enthusiastically welcomed in each of the stops. William compared the journeys to royal progresses and was concerned that they portrayed Victoria as his rival rather than his heir presumptive. Victoria disliked the trips; the constant round of public appearances made her tired and ill, and there

15478-446: The wedding of Victoria's granddaughter Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine to Henry's brother Prince Louis of Battenberg . Beatrice and Henry planned to marry, but Victoria opposed the match at first, wishing to keep Beatrice at home to act as her companion. After a year, she was won around to the marriage by their promise to remain living with and attending her. Victoria was pleased when Gladstone resigned in 1885 after his budget

15620-418: The western end of St James's Park . More private and compact, the new property stood amid rolling parkland not far from St James's Palace. Around 1762, the King and Queen moved to this residence, which was originally intended as a private retreat. The Queen came to favour this residence, spending so much of her time there that it came to be known as The Queen's House. Indeed, in 1775, an Act of Parliament settled

15762-409: The whole illuminated by small wax candles. After the company had walked round and admired the tree, each child obtained a portion of the sweets it bore, together with a toy, and then all returned home quite delighted." The practice of decorating a tree became popular among the British nobility and gentry , and later spread to the colonies. Among the royal couple's favoured craftsmen and artists were

15904-464: The widowed and childless Melbourne was "passionately fond of her as he might be of his daughter if he had one", and Victoria probably saw him as a father figure. Her coronation took place on 28 June 1838 at Westminster Abbey . Over 400,000 visitors came to London for the celebrations. She became the first sovereign to take up residence at Buckingham Palace and inherited the revenues of the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall as well as being granted

16046-531: Was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until her death in 1818. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . As George's wife, she was also Electress of Hanover until becoming Queen of Hanover on 12 October 1814. Charlotte was Britain's longest-serving queen consort , serving for 57 years and 70 days. Charlotte

16188-625: Was longer than those of any of her predecessors —constituted the Victorian era . It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom , and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire . In 1876, the British Parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India . Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III ), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld . After

16330-478: Was a patron of the arts and an amateur botanist who helped expand Kew Gardens . She introduced the Christmas tree to Britain, decorating one for a Christmas party for children of Windsor in 1800. She was distressed by her husband's bouts of physical and mental illness, which became permanent in later life. She maintained a close relationship with Queen Marie Antoinette of France, and the French Revolution

16472-661: Was an amateur botanist who took a great interest in Kew Gardens . In an age of discovery, when such travellers and explorers as Captain James Cook and Sir Joseph Banks were constantly bringing home new species and varieties of plants, she ensured that the collections were greatly enriched and expanded. Her interest in botany led to the South African flower, the bird of paradise, being named Strelitzia reginae in her honour. Queen Charlotte has also been credited with introducing

16614-493: Was assaulted by a possibly insane ex-army officer, Robert Pate . As Victoria was riding in a carriage, Pate struck her with his cane, crushing her bonnet and bruising her forehead. Both Hamilton and Pate were sentenced to seven years' transportation. Melbourne's support in the House of Commons weakened through the early years of Victoria's reign, and in the 1841 general election the Whigs were defeated. Peel became prime minister, and

16756-476: Was attending army manoeuvres near Dublin, and spent a few days holidaying in Killarney . In November, Albert was made aware of gossip that his son had slept with an actress in Ireland. Appalled, he travelled to Cambridge, where his son was studying, to confront him. By the beginning of December, Albert was very unwell. He was diagnosed with typhoid fever by William Jenner , and died on 14 December 1861. Victoria

16898-629: Was born into the ruling family of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , a duchy in northern Germany. In 1760, the young and unmarried George III inherited the British throne. As Charlotte was a minor German princess with no interest in politics, the King considered her a suitable consort, and they married in 1761. The marriage lasted 57 years and produced 15 children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood. They included two future British monarchs, George IV and William IV ; as well as Charlotte, Princess Royal , who became Queen of Württemberg ; and Prince Ernest Augustus , who became King of Hanover . Charlotte

17040-555: Was buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle . Her husband died just over a year later. She is the longest-serving female consort and second-longest-serving consort in British history (after Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh ), having served as such from her marriage (on 8 September 1761) to her death (17 November 1818), a total of 57 years and 70 days. On the day before her death, the Queen dictated her will to her husband's secretary, Sir Herbert Taylor , appointing him and Lord Arden as her executors; at her death, her personal estate

17182-573: Was caricatured in satirical prints which depicted her as an unnatural mother and a creature of the Prime Minister. In January 1789 The Times accused the Opposition of beginning "a most scurrilous attack on the queen, not only by private conversation, but through the medium of the prints in their interest". Queen Charlotte and the Prince of Wales finally reconciled, on her initiative, in March 1791. As

17324-487: Was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Charles Manners-Sutton , on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace. She was baptised Alexandrina after one of her godparents, Tsar Alexander I of Russia , and Victoria , after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina (or Georgiana), Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Prince Regent. At birth, Victoria

17466-716: Was consigned to a remote apartment in Buckingham Palace, and Victoria often refused to see her. When Victoria complained to Melbourne that her mother's proximity promised "torment for many years", Melbourne sympathised but said it could be avoided by marriage, which Victoria called a "schocking [ sic ] alternative". Victoria showed interest in Albert's education for the future role he would have to play as her husband, but she resisted attempts to rush her into wedlock. Victoria continued to praise Albert following his second visit in October 1839. They felt mutual affection and

17608-464: Was defeated. She thought his government was "the worst I have ever had", and blamed him for the death of General Gordon during the Siege of Khartoum . Gladstone was replaced by Lord Salisbury . Salisbury's government only lasted a few months, however, and Victoria was forced to recall Gladstone, whom she referred to as a "half crazy & really in many ways ridiculous old man". Gladstone attempted to pass

17750-506: Was delayed by the Queen and her husband Albert until the bride was 17. The Queen and Albert hoped that their daughter and son-in-law would be a liberalising influence in the enlarging Prussian state. The Queen felt "sick at heart" to see her daughter leave England for Germany; "It really makes me shudder", she wrote to Princess Victoria in one of her frequent letters, "when I look round to all your sweet, happy, unconscious sisters, and think I must give them up too – one by one." Almost exactly

17892-523: Was devastated. She blamed her husband's death on worry over the Prince of Wales's philandering . He had been "killed by that dreadful business", she said. She entered a state of mourning and wore black for the remainder of her life. She avoided public appearances and rarely set foot in London in the following years. Her seclusion earned her the nickname "widow of Windsor". Her weight increased through comfort eating, which reinforced her aversion to public appearances. Victoria's self-imposed isolation from

18034-402: Was discreet and indirect, as demonstrated in the correspondence with her brother Charles. She used her closeness with George III to keep herself informed and to make recommendations for offices. Apparently her recommendations were not direct, as she on one occasion, in 1779, asked her brother Charles to burn her letter, because the King suspected that a person she had recently recommended for

18176-421: Was fifth in the line of succession after the four eldest sons of George III: George, Prince Regent (later George IV); Frederick, Duke of York ; William, Duke of Clarence (later William IV); and Victoria's father, Edward, Duke of Kent. Prince George had no surviving children, and Prince Frederick had no children; further, both were estranged from their wives, who were both past child-bearing age, so

18318-516: Was forced to appoint Palmerston as prime minister. Napoleon III, Britain's closest ally as a result of the Crimean War, visited London in April 1855, and from 17 to 28 August the same year Victoria and Albert returned the visit. Napoleon III met the couple at Boulogne and accompanied them to Paris. They visited the Exposition Universelle (a successor to Albert's 1851 brainchild

18460-478: Was identified with strict standards of personal morality . Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet " grandmother of Europe ". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, British republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in

18602-402: Was incompetent and that her mismanagement threatened his daughter Victoria's health. After a furious row between Victoria and Albert over the issue, Lehzen was pensioned off in 1842, and Victoria's close relationship with her ended. On 29 May 1842, Victoria was riding in a carriage along The Mall, London , when John Francis aimed a pistol at her, but the gun did not fire. The assailant escaped;

18744-573: Was later sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, and a birching . As a result of the incident, Victoria's popularity recovered further. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , the British East India Company , which had ruled much of India, was dissolved, and Britain's possessions and protectorates on the Indian subcontinent were formally incorporated into the British Empire . The Queen had

18886-441: Was little time for her to rest. She objected on the grounds of the King's disapproval, but her mother dismissed his complaints as motivated by jealousy and forced Victoria to continue the tours. At Ramsgate in October 1835, Victoria contracted a severe fever, which Conroy initially dismissed as a childish pretence. While Victoria was ill, Conroy and the Duchess unsuccessfully badgered her to make Conroy her private secretary . As

19028-535: Was not favoured by the Queen. She found particularly offensive the Foreign Secretary , Lord Palmerston , who often acted without consulting the Cabinet, the Prime Minister, or the Queen. Victoria complained to Russell that Palmerston sent official dispatches to foreign leaders without her knowledge, but Palmerston was retained in office and continued to act on his own initiative, despite her repeated remonstrances. It

19170-458: Was only in 1851 that Palmerston was removed after he announced the British government's approval of President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte 's coup in France without consulting the Prime Minister. The following year, President Bonaparte was declared Emperor Napoleon III, by which time Russell's administration had been replaced by a short-lived minority government led by Lord Derby . In 1853, Victoria gave birth to her eighth child, Leopold, with

19312-537: Was played by Frances White in the 1979 television series Prince Regent , by Helen Mirren in the 1994 film The Madness of King George , by Golda Rosheuvel in the 2020 Netflix original series Bridgerton , and by India Amarteifio in her younger years and Rosheuvel, in her older years, in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story . Strelitzia , a genus of flowering plants native to South Africa that has become ubiquitous in warm-weather regions worldwide,

19454-485: Was sometimes subjected to demonstrations. After having attended a reception in London on 29 April 1817, she was jeered by a crowd. She told the crowd that it was upsetting to be treated like that after such long service. The Queen died in the presence of her eldest son, the Prince Regent, who was holding her hand as she sat in an armchair at the family's country retreat, Dutch House in Surrey (now known as Kew Palace ). She

19596-472: Was still a minor. King William distrusted the Duchess's capacity to be regent, and in 1836 he declared in her presence that he wanted to live until Victoria's 18th birthday, so that a regency could be avoided. Victoria later described her childhood as "rather melancholy". Her mother was extremely protective, and Victoria was raised largely isolated from other children under the so-called " Kensington System ", an elaborate set of rules and protocols devised by

19738-558: Was succeeded by his eldest son as George IV. Victoria was then third in line to the throne after Frederick and William. She was fourth in line while William's second daughter, Princess Elizabeth , lived, from 10 December 1820 to 4 March 1821. Prince Frederick died in 1827, followed by George IV in 1830; their next surviving brother succeeded to the throne as William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive . The Regency Act 1830 made special provision for Victoria's mother to act as regent in case William died while Victoria

19880-563: Was the youngest daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg, Prince of Mirow (1708–1752), and his wife Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1713–1761). Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a small north-German duchy in the Holy Roman Empire . The children of Duke Charles were all born at the Unteres Schloss (Lower Castle) in Mirow . According to diplomatic reports at

20022-447: Was valued at less than £140,000 (equivalent to £12,300,000 in 2023 ), with her jewels accounting for the greater portion of her assets. In her will, proven at Doctor's Commons on 8 January 1819, the Queen bequeathed her husband the jewels she had received from him, unless he remained in his state of insanity, in which case the jewels were to become an heirloom of the House of Hanover. Other jewels, including some gifted to Charlotte by

20164-521: Was widowed a little over three months later, and Victoria's eldest grandchild became German Emperor as Wilhelm II . Victoria and Albert's hopes of a liberal Germany would go unfulfilled, as Wilhelm was a firm believer in autocracy . Victoria thought he had "little heart or Zartgefühl [tact] – and ... his conscience & intelligence have been completely wharped [ sic ]". Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818)

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