Victoria | Biography, Family Tree, Children, Successor, & Facts (2024)

queen of United Kingdom

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Also known as: Alexandrina Victoria

Written by

Meredith Veldman Associate Professor of History, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.

Meredith Veldman,

Edgar Trevor Williams Secretary, Rhodes Trust, 1959–80. Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford, 1968–80; Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, 1945–80. Editor, Dictionary of National Biography, 1949–80.

Edgar Trevor WilliamsAll

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Last Updated: Article History

Quick Facts

In full:
Alexandrina Victoria
Born:
May 24, 1819, Kensington Palace, London, England
Died:
January 22, 1901, Osborne, near Cowes, Isle of Wight (aged 81)
Title / Office:
empress (1876-1901), India
House / Dynasty:
House of Hanover
Notable Family Members:
spouse Albert, Prince Consort
father Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathern, Earl of Dublin
daughter Victoria
son Edward VII

See all related content →

Top Questions

Why is Victoria famous?

Victoria was queen of theUnited KingdomofGreat BritainandIreland(1837–1901) and empress ofIndia(1876–1901). Her reign was one of the longest in British history, and the Victorian Age was named for her.

What was Victoria’s childhood like?

Victoria’s father died when she was a baby. She was raised by her mother at Kensington Palace and had a lonely childhood until she became queen at the age of 18.

When did Victoria marry?

Victoria married her first cousin Albert, prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, on February 10, 1840.

What were Victoria’s children’s names?

Victoria had nine children:Victoria(1840–1901), the princess royal; Albert Edward (1841–1910), whobecameKing Edward VII; Alice (1843–78); Alfred (1844–1900); Helena (1846–1923); Louise (1848–1939); Arthur (1850–1942); Leopold (1853–84); and Beatrice (1857–1944). Through their marriages, many of the royal families ofEurope were descended from Victoria.

Recent News

Victoria (born May 24, 1819, Kensington Palace, London, England—died January 22, 1901, Osborne, near Cowes, Isle of Wight) was the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1837–1901) and empress of India (1876–1901). She was the last of the house of Hanover and gave her name to an era, the Victorian Age. During her reign the British monarchy took on its modern ceremonial character. She and her husband, Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, had nine children, through whose marriages were descended many of the royal families of Europe.

Victoria first learned of her future role as a young princess during a history lesson when she was 10 years old. Almost four decades later Victoria’s governess recalled that the future queen reacted to the discovery by declaring, “I will be good.” This combination of earnestness and egotism marked Victoria as a child of the age that bears her name. The queen, however, rejected important Victorian values and developments. Although she hated pregnancy and childbirth, detested babies, and was uncomfortable in the presence of children, Victoria reigned in a society that idealized both motherhood and the family. She had no interest in social issues, yet the 19th century in Britain was an age of reform. She resisted technological change even while mechanical and technological innovations reshaped the face of European civilization.

Most significantly, Victoria was a queen determined to retain political power, yet unwillingly and unwittingly she presided over the transformation of the sovereign’s political role into a ceremonial one and thus preserved the British monarchy. When Victoria became queen, the political role of the crown was by no means clear; nor was the permanence of the throne itself. When she died and her son Edward VII moved from Marlborough House to Buckingham Palace, the change was one of social rather than of political focus; there was no doubt about the monarchy’s continuance. That was the measure of her reign.

Lineage and early life

On the death in 1817 of Princess Charlotte, daughter of the prince regent (later George IV), there was no surviving legitimate offspring of George III’s 15 children. In 1818, therefore, three of his sons, the dukes of Clarence, Kent, and Cambridge, married to provide for the succession. The winner in the race to father the next ruler of Britain was Edward, duke of Kent, fourth son of George III. His only child was christened Alexandrina Victoria. After his death and George IV’s accession in 1820, Victoria became third in the line of succession to the throne after the duke of York (died 1827) and the duke of Clarence (subsequently William IV), whose own children died in infancy.

Britannica QuizFit for a King (or Queen): the British Royalty Quiz

Victoria, by her own account, “was brought up very simply,” principally at Kensington Palace, where her closest companions, other than her German-born mother, the duch*ess of Kent, were her half sister, Féodore, and her governess, Louise (afterward the Baroness) Lehzen, a native of Coburg. An important father figure to the orphaned princess was her uncle Leopold, her mother’s brother, who lived at Claremont, near Esher, Surrey, until he became king of the Belgians in 1831.

Victoria’s childhood was made increasingly unhappy by the machinations of the duch*ess of Kent’s advisor, Sir John Conroy. In control of the pliable duch*ess, Conroy hoped to dominate the future queen of Britain as well. Persuaded by Conroy that the royal dukes, “the wicked uncles,” posed a threat to her daughter, the duch*ess reared Victoria according to “the Kensington system,” by which she and Conroy systematically isolated Victoria from her contemporaries and her father’s family. Conroy thus aimed to make the princess dependent on and easily led by himself.

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Strong-willed, and supported by Lehzen, Victoria survived the Kensington system; when she ascended the throne in 1837, she did so alone. Her mother’s actions had estranged her from Victoria and taught the future queen caution in her friendships. Moreover, her retentive memory did not allow her to forgive readily.

Victoria | Biography, Family Tree, Children, Successor, & Facts (2024)

FAQs

Who are the heirs to Queen Victoria? ›

Living
Name of descendantsBornThrough
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom1926Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Princess Alexandra of Denmark
Michael I of Romania1921Carol II of Romania
Princess Sophie of Prussia
9 more rows

How many children did Victoria gave? ›

Prince Albert and Queen Victoria had nine children, five girls and four boys, with 17 years between the oldest and the youngest.

What was the line of succession for Victoria? ›

On the day of Victoria's death, 22 January 1901, the line of succession to the British throne was: Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (born 1841), eldest son of Victoria. Prince George, Duke of York (born 1865), only surviving son of the Prince of Wales. Prince Edward of York (born 1894), eldest son of the Duke of York.

Which of Queen Victoria's children inherited the throne? ›

Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, on 22 January 1901 after a reign which lasted almost 64 years, then the longest in British history. Her son, Edward VII succeeded her.

What happened to Queen Victoria's son Bertie? ›

Bertie was refused by Victoria any political power or station until he became King Edward VII after her death, having spent 59 years as heir apparent. Upon ascending the throne on January 22, 1901, Bertie threw himself into the role of monarch with an energy and enthusiasm that won over much of the British population.

Is Prince Philip a descendant of Queen Victoria? ›

Prince Philip is related to Queen Victoria through his maternal line. His grandmother, Princess Victoria of Hesse and Rhine was born to Princess Alice, the daughter of Queen Victoria, and Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine on April 5th, 1863, at Windsor Castle in Berkshire.

What is the line of succession from Queen Victoria? ›

After a 63-year reign, often known as the Victorian era, she was succeeded in 1901 by her eldest son Edward VII. On his death in 1910, his second son acceded to the throne as George V (Edward's first son Prince Albert Victor died during an influenza pandemic in 1892).

Is Queen Victoria related to Queen Elizabeth? ›

Elizabeth is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother. Working backward in time, the tie can be traced: Elizabeth's father was George VI (1895 to 1952).

Who was with Queen Victoria when she died? ›

dazed, [and] confused". Her favourite pet Pomeranian, Turi, was laid on her bed as a last request. She died aged 81 on 22 January 1901, at half past six in the evening, in the presence of her eldest son, Albert Edward, and grandson Wilhelm II. Albert Edward immediately succeeded as Edward VII.

Why did Victoria's son Albert not become king? ›

Because Queen Victoria had made it known that she never wanted any king to rule as Albert and, by doing so, eclipse her Albert.

Are any of Queen Victoria's descendants still alive? ›

While there are many living great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, is, at 97 years, the eldest among them. Through extensive genealogical research and through autosomal DNA testing, my grandfather found out that he is a biological great-great-grandson of Victoria and Albert.

What happened to Queen Victoria's eldest daughter? ›

She was the eldest child and first daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was also the mother of Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor. She died on August 5, 1901 at 60 years old and was later buried to her husband in Potsdam.

Who was the succession to the throne after Queen Victoria? ›

His social activities involved him in several scandals. He succeeded to the throne as Edward VII following Victoria's death on January 22, 1901, and was crowned on August 9, 1902. His reign did much to restore lustre to a monarchy that had shone somewhat dimly during Victoria's long seclusion as a widow.

Who is the royal lineage from Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth? ›

Elizabeth is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother. Working backward in time, the tie can be traced: Elizabeth's father was George VI (1895 to 1952).

Which son of Queen Victoria became king? ›

Born on 9 November 1841, Prince Albert Edward was the second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Early in 1842 he was named 'Prince of Wales', the title by which he was known until he acceded to the throne as King Edward VII on 22 January 1901, following the death of Queen Victoria.

What is the relationship between Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria? ›

The most obvious of Queen Victoria's descendants is, naturally, the current queen of England. Directly descended from Edward VII, Queen Elizabeth is Victoria's great-great granddaughter.

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