About HRH Queen Victoria –
Victoria was first past the post in a succession crisis when Princess Charlotte, the presumptive successor to King George, and her infant son died in childbirth.
Charlotte’s brothers – all of whom were single and busily shagging their way round Europe had earned the monarchy a bad name with their profligate spending and messy personal lives – raced to produce an heir. Edward married a widowed German princess and won the race. Born in 1819, Alexandrina Victoria was a direct successor to the crown.
Her father died when she was a child. Her ambitious mother allied herself with Sir John Conroy, who created the 'Kensington system' to isolate the young princess at Kensington Palace and put her under his control. When she ascended the throne at 18, she banned Conroy from her court and marginalised her mother. She married her cousin Albert, a German prince, which appears to have blossomed into a genuine love.
The monarchy’s reputation, because of her predecessors, was in the dirt, and the populace clamoured for a republic. A famine in Ireland, manipulated by English landowners, added to the ferment. Across Europe there was a growing public distaste at having to foot the bill for lavish Royal lifestyles.
Victoria started supporting charities, the arts, and civic reform to counter the view that British royalty wasn’t worth the expense. She and her family became celebrity influencers of popular culture, introducing such novelties as wedding dresses and Christmas trees.
Albert died, aged 42, in 1861. Victoria went into deep mourning and withdrew from the public eye. The republican movement grew during her isolation, and she was criticised for her absence from public life.
Victoria resumed her public duties by the late 1860s. Her later reign was consolidating her massive empire. She became Empress of India in 1877 and influenced foreign relations through her children and grandchildren marrying into European royalty.
England became the world’s most powerful nation, almost constantly at war, and the colonisation of the empire was achieved by the brutal subjugation of her subjects.
Victoria was first past the post in a succession crisis when Princess Charlotte, the presumptive successor to King George, and her infant son died in childbirth.
Charlotte’s brothers – all of whom were single and busily shagging their way round Europe had earned the monarchy a bad name with their profligate spending and messy personal lives – raced to produce an heir. Edward married a widowed German princess and won the race. Born in 1819, Alexandrina Victoria was a direct successor to the crown.
Her father died when she was a child. Her ambitious mother allied herself with Sir John Conroy, who created the 'Kensington system' to isolate the young princess at Kensington Palace and put her under his control. When she ascended the throne at 18, she banned Conroy from her court and marginalised her mother. She married her cousin Albert, a German prince, which appears to have blossomed into a genuine love.
The monarchy’s reputation, because of her predecessors, was in the dirt, and the populace clamoured for a republic. A famine in Ireland, manipulated by English landowners, added to the ferment. Across Europe there was a growing public distaste at having to foot the bill for lavish Royal lifestyles.
Victoria started supporting charities, the arts, and civic reform to counter the view that British royalty wasn’t worth the expense. She and her family became celebrity influencers of popular culture, introducing such novelties as wedding dresses and Christmas trees.
Albert died, aged 42, in 1861. Victoria went into deep mourning and withdrew from the public eye. The republican movement grew during her isolation, and she was criticised for her absence from public life.
Victoria resumed her public duties by the late 1860s. Her later reign was consolidating her massive empire. She became Empress of India in 1877 and influenced foreign relations through her children and grandchildren marrying into European royalty.
England became the world’s most powerful nation, almost constantly at war, and the colonisation of the empire was achieved by the brutal subjugation of her subjects.
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