On this day in history, January 22:
Britain's Queen Victoria died in 1901. During her nearly 64-year reign, the longest in the nation’s history and the longest ever of any female monarch, she presided over a period of industrial progress, political reform and empire-building that became known as the Victorian Era.
The only child of the impoverished Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, she grew up under the care of a German governess. She spoke only German until age three, and then learned French and English. She was not permitted to interact with other children and became melancholy.
At age 11, learning she was next in line to assume the British throne, Victoria said, "I will be good.” She was only 18 when she became queen on June 20, 1837, receiving the news in her dressing gown upon the death of her uncle, King William IV.
Victoria had a contradictory character. Though she had good manners, she also could be selfish. Her prudery became legendary. She had a nice voice and spoke well without any trace of a German accent, as well as a rare but radiant smile.
With big blue eyes, cupid-bow mouth, receding chin, and smooth light-brown hair that darkened with age, she stood less than five feet tall and was slender as a girl. By the time she was 26, she was plump and remained so. Those she disliked found her somber and terrifying, but her servants and ladies idolized her.
Prince Albert
Queen Victoria read her own speech at her first Parliament on November 20, 1837. Her coronation was held seven months later, and then her first cousin Albert, the German son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, visited London. They were married on February 10, 1840. “He is so sensible, so kind, and so good, and so amiable, too,” she wrote.
Their marriage was a happy one and restored the prestige of the crown. Prince Albert was named regent in the event of the queen's death in childbirth, and was made prince consort. He described his functions as "the husband of the queen, the tutor of the royal children, the private secretary of the sovereign and her permanent minister."
She was guided by Prime Minister Lord Melbourne and then by her husband. She was devoted to him and accepted his decisions on all issues. They had nine children, through whose marriages descended many of the royal families of the continent as she became known as the “grandmother of Europe.”
In 1861, her beloved Prince Albert died. “I stood up,” she said, “kissed his dear heavenly forehead and called out in a bitter agonizing cry: 'Oh! my dear darling!' and then dropped on my knees in mute, distracted despair unable to utter a word or shed a tear." She was shattered, retiring into seclusion in a period of mourning that never really ended, earning her the nickname the “Widow of Windsor,“ who wore black for the rest of her life.
Prime Minister Disraeli
In the late 1860s, Queen Victoria returned to public life. She was often at odds with Prime Minister William Gladstone and welcomed his successor, Benjamin Disraeli, in 1874. He called her "the Faery" and admitted he loved her.
This encouraged Victoria to make inquiries about officially assuming the title of Empress of India, which she did on May 1, 1876. Aided by the Rothschilds, Disraeli also bought the majority of the Suez Canal shares from the bankrupt khedive of Egypt, to her delight.
In 1882, a third attempt was made on Victoria's life. The Zulus in Africa also gave her trouble, and the Sudanese killed British General Gordon in Khartoum. In 1897, the war in the Sudan climaxed with British Lord Kitchener's victory at Omdurman. Victoria was thrilled, writing "Surely, Gordon is avenged.”
Death of Queen Victoria
In 1887, the British Empire celebrated Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, marking the 50th anniversary of her reign with a banquet to which 50 kings and princes were invited. When a conspiracy to blow up Westminster Abbey was discovered, it became known as the Jubilee Plot.
In 1897, Victoria's Diamond Jubilee was commemorated as the apotheosis of her reign and a grand festival of the British Empire. The prime ministers of all the self-governing dominions and colonies were invited, and the procession included troops from every British overseas possession.
In 1899, the Boer War erupted, and it overshadowed the final years of her life as the enemy was able to humiliate the British Empire, the greatest power on earth. “Great events make me quiet and calm,” she said. “It is only trifles that irritate my nerves.”
In her lifetime, she gave birth to four boys and five girls, had 40 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren. On January 22, 1901, with her children and some grandchildren at her bedside, she died in the arms of her eldest grandson, German Kaiser Wilhelm, and passed into history. Her last word was "Bertie."
The Victorian Era
Her reign, called the Victorian era, was marked by British imperial expansion and a restoration of dignity and popularity to the royal family, creating the concept of the "family monarchy" with which the growing middle class could identify.
She was succeeded by her son, Prince Albert, who became King Edward VII. He took the family name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, making her the last monarch in the house of Hanover. She is the great-grandmother of King George VI, the great-great-grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II, and the great-great-great-great-grandmother of Princes William and Harry.
As queen, she saw slavery abolished in the colonies, the Reform Bill passed, the Poor Law reformed, the Corn Laws repealed, the Suez Canal acquired, successful wars fought in the Crimea, Egypt and the Sudan, and constitutions created in Canada and Australia.
A woman who gave her name to an age, Victoria reigned as Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India until her death. She presided over the Pax Brittanica, the greatest expansion in history of the British Empire, which reached its zenith at more than 12 million square miles and 450 million people, one-quarter of the world's population, most of whom venerated her. “The important thing is not what they think of me,” she once said, “but what I think of them.”
SOURCES:
Evans, Joan, The Victorians. 1966.
Evans, R.J., The Victorian Age, 1815-1914. 1968.
Longford, Elizabeth, Queen Victoria: Born to Succeed. 1965.
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