Victoria,

Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, only child of Edward, Duke of Kent (fourth son of George III.), was born at Kensington Palace, 24th May 1819. Her mother, Victoria Maria Louisa (1786-1861), was the daughter of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg, and sister of Leopold, king of the Belgians. Her first husband, the Prince of Leiningen, died in 1814; and in 1818 she married the Duke of Kent. The duke died in 1820, leaving his widow in charge of an infant daughter only eight months old, who had been baptised with the names of Alexandra Victoria. The Duchess of Kent fulfilled the important duties which devolved upon her with more than maternal solicitude, and with admirable care and prudence; and by-and-by the Duchess of Northumberland was associated with her in the education of the young princess. The princess' father having belonged to the Whigs, her political education was naturally derived from the members of that party; and to Viscount Melbourne (q.v.) belongs the credit of having thoroughly instructed her in the principles of the British constitution. She ascended the throne of the United Kingdom on the death of her uncle, William IV. (q.v.), 20th June 1837; her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, became king of Hanover, in virtue of the law which excluded females from that throne, and so the long connection between the crowns of England and Hanover was terminated. Victoria was proclaimed 21st June 1837, and crowned at Westminster, 28th June 1838. She found on her accession Viscount Melbourne at the head of the government; and on a change of administration (1839) she refused to change, in accordance with precedent, the ladies of the bedchamber, the result being that Peel resigned and Melbourne's administration was prolonged till 1841. The young queen was married at St James's Palace (10th February 1840) to Prince Albert (q.v.), Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and second son of the then reigning duke.

The chief events of this long reign, whose jubilee was celebrated in 1887 and 'diamond jubilee' in 1897, may be traced in the articles on England, Great Britain, Ireland, the several colonies, India, and the successive premiers (see below), on the Corn Laws, Post-office, Reform, Jews, Army, Education, Volunteers, Crimean War, Abyssinia, Afghanistan, Zulus, Egypt, Transvaal. In 1876 'Empress of India' was added to the royal titles of the Queen. The death of the Prince-Consort in 1861 led his widow to live mainly in seclusion for several years, but, though she never afterwards took so prominent a part in public life, she never neglected any of her essential duties as queen. Other severe trials were the deaths of the Princess Alice (of Hesse), of the Duke of Albany, of the Duke of Clarence, and of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. She herself died at Osborne House, 22d Jan. 1901, and was buried in Frogmore Mausoleum beside her beloved consort. No former monarch so comprehended the great truth, that the powers of the crown are held in trust for the people, and are the means and not the end of government. This policy entitled her to the glorious distinction of being the most constitutional monarch Britain has ever seen. Not less important and beneficial the example set by her Majesty and the Prince-Consort in the practice of every domestic virtue. Their stainless lives, their unobtrusive piety, and their careful education of the royal children bore rich fruit in the stability of the throne. The progress made by the nation in the various elements of civilisation and in material prosperity was unparalleled; the empire was vastly extended and consolidated; and perhaps during no reign was there a greater measure of political contentment.

Her Majesty had four sons and five daughters: the Princess Royal, Victoria, born 1840, married 1858 to Frederick-William, afterwards Emperor of Germany (Vol. IV. p. 807); Albert-Edward, Prince of Wales, born in 1841, married in 1863 Alexandra, daughter of the King of Denmark, succeeded as Edward VII. 1901; Alice (q.v.), born in 1843, married in 1862 to the Grand Duke of Hesse, died in 1878; Alfred, born 1844, created Duke of Edinburgh 1866, married in 1874 the Russian Princess Marie, became Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1893, died 1900; Helena, born 1846, married 1866 to Prince Christian of Denmark; Louise, born 1848, married 1871 to the Marquis of Lorne (since 1900 Duke of Argyll); Arthur, born 1850, created Duke of Connaught 1874, married 1879 Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia; Leopold, born 1853, created Duke of Albany 1881, married Princess Helena of Waldeck 1882, died 1884; Princess Beatrice, born 1857, married 1885 to Prince Henry of Battenberg (1858-96). The premiers of the reign were:

See Early Days of the Prince-Consort (1867, by General Grey); Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands (1869, with the assistance of Sir Arthur Helps); More Leaves (1884); The Life of the Prince-Consort (5 vols. 1873-80, prepared under the Queen's direction by Sir Theodore Martin). Also books cited at ENGLAND, especially McCarthy's History of our Own Times (5 vols. 1879-97), and T. Humphry Ward's Reign of Victoria (1887); with Lives of the Queen by Mrs Greenwood (1883), Macaulay (1887), Barnett Smith (1886), R. Wilson (2 vols. 1888), and Jeaffreson (1893); as also that by R. R. Holmes (1897; new ed. 1901).