This was a love match made in heaven. At first, Victoria was dismissive of her cousin Albert, as she thought of him as a friend, but nothing more. When she met him later, it was love at first sight. Cupid's bow struck her right through the heart!
Alexandrina Victoria was born on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace. Her father, Prince Edward, had died when Victoria was a baby, and her mother, the Duchess of Kent, looked after her. At the time she was born, she was fifth in line to the throne, after the Prince Regent (George IV), the Duke of York, and the Duke of Clarence (William IV) and her father. All, except Victoria's father, died without leaving any off-spring, so she was next in line to the throne.
Victoria spent a very isolated childhood at Kensington Palace. Her mother took complete control over everything Victoria did, including who she could meet. Her mother insisted on sharing a bedroom with her and deciding on her every move. Sir John Conroy, was Chief Attendant to the Duchess of Kent during this time, and had a very negative impact on her life. Her mother tried to get Victoria to appoint him as her Private Secretary, but Victoria refused.
The Duchess of Kent and her brothers tried to engineer a marriage between the young Victoria and Prince Albert when she was seventeen. Although she had found him attractive and charming, she felt she was not ready to marry.
Above: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Left: Queen Victoria resplendent in her finery.
Less than a month after Victoria turned eighteen, King William IV died and Victoria became Queen. Her coronation was on 28 June 1838. She was still required to live with her mother as she was unmarried, but she banished her to a small apartment in Buckingham Palace. The only way to avoid her domineering was by marriage.
In October 1839, the Queen met Albert for a second time. She still found him charming and proposed to him five days after he arrived at Windsor.
Albert was the second son of Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his first wife, Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. He was born at Schloss Rosenau on 26 August 1819. Albert had a close relationship with his brother, but his parents did not have a good marriage. They separated and his mother was exiled from Court when he was five. The boys were home-educated by tutors and Albert studied law, political economy, philosophy and art history at the University of Bonn. In 1836, it was decided by his uncle, father and aunt that he should marry. The most suitable candidate would be Victoria, heiress presumptive to the British throne.
He was, at first, quite unpopular with the British public. He was not in the same aristocratic league as the Queen, and there was an anti-German feeling around at the time. A peerage was refused by Parliament, but Albert didn't want it. However, within time his popularity grew, especially as the public saw his affection for the young Queen and for their country, and the Queen was able to grant him the title Prince Consort.
Above left: Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales.
Above right: The young Queen Victoria in her Coronation robes.
Below left and right: The dashing Prince Albert, who tragically died while still quite young.
Victoria and Albert after their wedding.
The wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert took place on io February 1840 at the Chapel Royal in St James' Palace. Although heavy rain fell, crowds turned out to see the processions. The Queen made her way by carriage from Buckingham Palace to St James' Palace at 12 o'clock. As she entered her carriage, a twenty-one-gun salute sounded. After arriving at St James' she proceeded to the Queen's Closet, where she waited for thirty minutes until everything was ready and in place. Prince Albert's procession moved first. He wore a Field Marshal's uniform with large white satin rosettes on his shoulders. The Queen's procession glided through various rooms to the Chapel. The procession was made up of dignitaries, twelve bridesmaids, maids of honour, six gentlemen at arms and various other members of the royal household.
Victoria wore a dress of white satin, trimmed with orange flower blossoms. Her headdress was made up of orange blossoms and her veil was made of Honiton lace. She wore a very large pair of diamond earrings and a diamond necklace. The bridesmaids and train-bearers were in white. The ceremony was conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Duke of Sussex gave the bride away.
After the ceremony, the Queen crossed to where the Dowager Queen was standing and gave her a kiss. Then, Victoria and Albert left the Chapel and made their way back by carriage to Buckingham Palace. The royal couple had a wedding breakfast and a large wedding cake and then spent their honeymoon at Windsor Castle.
After the wedding, Victoria's mother was effectively banished and evicted from Buckingham Palace to Ingestre House in London's Belgravia. Albert did try to defrost relations between mother and daughter, but this only thawed gradually over the years.
Although Victoria mostly married for love, her children became pawns in a game of strategy with the other European royal families. She married her sons and daughters off so that Britain would have a foothold in many European countries, and therefore, making Britain more powerful and influential in European royalty. Her children were:
Child Became Victoria Empress Edward King Alice Grand Duchess Alfred Duke
Helena Princess Christian Louise Duchess Arthur Duke Leopold Duke Beatrice Princess Henry
Country/Region Married
Germany Frederick III
Britain Alexandra of Denmark
Hesse Louis IV, Grand Duke
Saxe-Coburg Grand Duchess Marie and Gotha
Alexandrovna of Russia Schleswig-Holstein Prince Christian Argyll John Campbell, 9th Duke
Connaught Louise Margaret of Prussia
Albany Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont
Battenberg Prince Henry
Of Victoria's grandchildren, twenty-six out of forty-two married into aristocratic European families, thus forming an alliance with these areas.
Princess Victoria.
Top: Princess Helena marries Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein.
Middle left: Princess Alice and Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse.
Middle right: Princess Arthur of Connaught.
Left: The wedding of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught to Louise Margaret of Prussia.
Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg.
World History
