Queen Victoria

Victoria, the only child of Prince Edward (Duke of Kent) and Princess Victoria Mary Louisa of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, was born on the 24 May in Her father died eight months after she was born. Victoria's first language was German. At three years old she learnt to speak English and French. Victoria didn't go to school. She was taught at home. As well as learning languages, Victoria studied history, geography, and the Bible. She was taught how to play the piano and learned how to paint, a hobby that she enjoyed into her 60s.

Queen Victoria came to the throne when she was only 18 years of age on June 20, She inherited the throne upon the death of her uncle William IV who had no legitimate children. Her coronation was a year later on 28 June 1838.

At the age of 21, Victoria married her cousin, Albert of Saxe- Coburg Gotha, a German Prince. They married on the 10th February 1840 at the Chapel Royal in St. James's Palace.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had 9 children (4 boys and 5 girls). Victoria was known as the "Grandmother of Europe" because many of her children and grandchildren married into the royal families of other European countries.

Nicholas became engaged to Alix of Hesse in April Alexandra Fedorovna The second daughter of Queen Victoria, Alice Maud Mary, married Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse. Their sixth child, Princess Alix Viktoria Helena Luise Beatrice, married Nicholas II and became Tsarina of Russia.

Prince Albert died in 1861 at the young age of 42. Victoria mourned his death for almost 10 years. For the rest of her reign she wore black.

Whilst Victoria was Queen there was a tremendous change in the lives of British people: Britain became the most powerful country in the world, with the largest empire that had ever existed, ruling a quarter of the world's population. The number of people living in Britain more than doubled (from 16 million to 37 million), causing a huge demand for food, clothes and housing. Factories and machines were built to meet this demand and new towns grew up, changing the landscape and the ways people lived and worked. Railways, originally built to transport goods, meant that people could travel easily around the country for the first time. At the beginning of the Victorian period crossing the Atlantic took up to eight weeks. By 1901 it took about a week.

As the British Empire flourished so Victoria became more popular with the people, indeed in her later years she became almost synonymous with the Empire. In 1887 the Golden Jubilee was a grand national celebration of her 50th year as Queen, so was the Diamond Jubilee in The sense of national pride in both Queen and country led to the use of the term 'Victorian England'. Queen Victoria died on 22 January, 1901 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. She was 81. She is buried in a mausoleum at Frogmore, Windsor.

Quiz

Victoria had ________ brothers and sisters. She was christened Alexandrina Victoria. Her nickname was_________. Her mother was worried that she would be ____________ by one of her uncles so the princess was never left alone. Until the age of three she spoke only ______________.She learned to speak Italian because she loved opera Drina Vicky Ria frightened kidnapped murdered English Welsh German

Victoria and Albert had _____________children. ( Victoria, Bertie, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold, and Beatrice.) Victoria was so fussed over that she was not allowed to walk up or down stairs unless _______________. it was daylight it was Friday she was holding someones hand Victoria smoked cigarettes to ________________. make her cheerful keep flies away relax She was trained as a child to hold her head up when eating by a ______ tied under her chin. bunch of cloves sprig of holly sharp brooch

In 1863 Victoria was saved twice in carriage accidents by a _________ called John Brown. Brown was given the job of leading Victorias pony when she went riding. They became good friends. Englishman German Scot

When John Brown died in 1883 Victoria erected a statue of Brown at Balmoral. The queen was so sad that she could not ____________,for the rest of her life she used a cane or wheelchair. A flower was placed on Browns pillow every day until Victoria herself died. Because Victoria had disliked black funerals, London was decorated in purple and white. She was buried beside Prince Albert at __________. riding her horse walk for a year eat meat again Buckingham Palace Westminster Abbey Windsor Castle Queen Victoria died in 1901, at the age of 81. Her own sons lifted her into the coffin. She wore a white dress and her wedding veil.