Queen Victoria

[NoviceDisher]

So what's the scoop on her ? I have watched Mrs.Brown and The Young Victoria. I know she was raised by her mother and her secretary Sir.John Something who was controlling. She had to hold hands to go down the steps, share a room with her mother till she became queen at 18 ?. She married her first cousin ? Had lots of kids and the entire European royalty is related through her.

Any books to recommend ? Any documentaries ? Any series ? I really find her fascinating because of the childhood, becoming queen at a young age, large family, actually ruled a huge empire.

TIA !

[Principessa]

She indeed is an interesting person, even in the medical science. The latter is based on the occurrence of hemophilia in her progeny.

[Kaiserin]

This one



is a very good read.

I find it interesting that she ist best known as the matronly black widow she was for such a long time, and that only after the Young Victoria movie, people became more interested in her marriage years.
After all, she is the ancestor of so many royal & noble families, and she managed to get an era called after her - who else can say that? Elizabeth I., Ceasar and Napoleon.

[Celia]

Elizabeth Longford's biography is terrific --Born to Succeed.  Very accessible yet thorough. 

[Princess BlueEyes]

This one



is a very good read.

I find it interesting that she ist best known as the matronly black widow she was for such a long time, and that only after the Young Victoria movie, people became more interested in her marriage years.
After all, she is the ancestor of so many royal & noble families, and she managed to get an era called after her - who else can say that? Elizabeth I., Ceasar and Napoleon.

I found this a good book also and worth reading.

[Princess BlueEyes]

So what's the scoop on her ? I have watched Mrs.Brown and The Young Victoria. I know she was raised by her mother and her secretary Sir.John Something who was controlling. She had to hold hands to go down the steps, share a room with her mother till she became queen at 18 ?. She married her first cousin ? Had lots of kids and the entire European royalty is related through her.

Any books to recommend ? Any documentaries ? Any series ? I really find her fascinating because of the childhood, becoming queen at a young age, large family, actually ruled a huge empire.

TIA !

Princess Victoria met her cousin Prince Albert at a very young age. They met several times throughout their childhood and teens. Prince Albert
Francis Charles was born at Schloss Rosenau, in Bavaria. He was the younger son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. 
He married his cousin, Queen Victoria in 1840 and was unpopular with some and parliament did not want to grant him what Victoria believed was a suitable allowance. Both Victoria and Albert seem to have been headstrong and impassioned, keen to direct the marriage on their own terms and for about two decades they appear to have had a very public contest for control.
Albert never had great public popularity during Victoria's reign; however he used his influence with discretion and intelligence. He took an active interest in the arts, science, trade, and industry. He masterminded the Great Exhibition of 1851, to celebrate the great advances of the British industrial age, the expansion of the empire, and then used the profits to help to launch the South Kensington museum complex in London. It wasn't until 1857 that he was officially recognized by the nation and awarded the title 'prince consort'.

The marriage appears to have been based on support, trust, and fidelity and produced nine children.  Eight of Victoria's children married into other European royal families and sat on the thrones of Europe, those of Great Britain, Prussia, Greece, Romania, Russia, Norway, Sweden and Spain earning Queen Victoria the moniker ‘Grandmother of Europe’.

1.  Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise, Princess Royal married Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia the Future Emperor of Prussia.
2.  Albert Edward Duke of Cornwall and the Duke of Rothesay. He became the Prince of Wales married Princess Alexandra of Denmark and became King Edward VII
3.  Alice Maud Mary married Prince Ludwig of Hesse who went on to become the Grand Duke Louis XIV
4.  Alfred Ernest Albert, Duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha married Marie Alexandrovna, Grand Duchess, Russia
5.  Helena Augusta Victoria married Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein
6. Louise Caroline Alberta Duchess of Saxony married John Campbell, Duke of Argyll, and Marquis of Lorne
7.  Arthur William Patrick, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn married Duchess Louise Margaret of Prussia
8.  Leopold George Duncan, Duke of Albany married Princess Helena Frederica of Waldeck and Pyrmont
9.  Beatrice Mary Victoria married Prince Henry of Battenberg

[luvcharles]

The eldest girl, Victoria, did indeed marry Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia but they became Emperor and Empress of Germany not Prussia.  Their eldest child was Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Alice - the second daughter had a number of daughters herself - the most famous being Alexandra - last Empress of Russia. Through her eldest daughter, another Victoria, Alice is the great-grandmother of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

[Visenya]

Someone feel free to correct me, but wasn't her mother disliked by George, to the point that during a dinner he said that he hoped to live until Victoria was of age so her mother wouldn't be her regent?

And by the way, her mother did try to add a regency even when Victoria ascended to the throne. She came to dislike her heir Edward VII blaming him for Albert's early death (Albert was en route to have a stern talking to his son about his ways with women). 

[Princess BlueEyes]

The eldest girl, Victoria, did indeed marry Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia but they became Emperor and Empress of Germany not Prussia.  Their eldest child was Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Alice - the second daughter had a number of daughters herself - the most famous being Alexandra - last Empress of Russia. Through her eldest daughter, another Victoria, Alice is the great-grandmother of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Thank you luvcharles. That was my mistake - I left that out of my post.
Crown Prince Frederick III did become German Emperor as well as King of Prussia.  His reign was for 99 days in 1888.

[Taffy]

Someone feel free to correct me, but wasn't her mother disliked by George, to the point that during a dinner he said that he hoped to live until Victoria was of age so her mother wouldn't be her regent?

And by the way, her mother did try to add a regency even when Victoria ascended to the throne. She came to dislike her heir Edward VII blaming him for Albert's early death (Albert was en route to have a stern talking to his son about his ways with women). 

I don't know for sure whether George expressed the sentiment (I think that was in Young Victoria or similar film) but certainly her mother wasn't well thought of and was a bit of a schemer by all accounts.

Its very well recorded that she hated Ed VII and as you say blamed him for the death of Albert at the time (I think Ed was up to no good and his father went to see him shortly before his death and the two were connected in her mind), he was also a man who to put it mildly took pleasure in life, which was rather in opposition to her rather uptight and moralistic stance.  I think they were closer in her later years though.

Victoria is an oddity in a lot of ways, she was monarch for a very long time, but whether she was actually any good or did anything marvellous I'm not really sure.  I think Albert did some great things in his time,  perhaps he more than she was the creator of the glories of the Victorian age.
I see a lot of comparisons between Victoria and Elizabeth II, and also their husbands.  They are both revered as much for their longevity as anything else, though EII is much more of an internationalist and world figure than Victoria ever was or could be.   Both Albert and Philip have had to fight mighty battles to be accepted by either the people or the establishment,  they also both used their time to modernise (a bit) and had really successful and far reaching projects that changed things - for Philip I particularly look at the DoE awards, WWF and Fields in Trust (the third is a smaller thing, but it has been instrumental in preserving school playing fields, parks and other public spaces for public recreation rather than being sold for building on and has been a massive legacy for children in the UK). 

[rosella]

It was Victoria's uncle, King William IV, (1830-37) who reputedly said that he hoped that he would live long enough for Vicky to ascend the throne without a regency, which he did. The Duchess of Kent kept carrying on about Victoria's Wicked and Dissolute uncles, the Hanovarians, though William's court was prim and proper enough, and young Victoria quite liked William and Adelaide, his wife.

Queen Victoria was an extremely honest person and that went so far as to be impatient and tactless with all her children, including criticising their looks. (She was also scathing about her own.) She criticised them, not just Edward ("Bertie") for various things including forgetting family anniversaries like the deaths of relatives. She did love them though, and she did become closer to Bertie in her old age.

[DowntownTO]

Any good library will have "Dearest Child" and "Dearest Mama", which are collections of letters between Queen Victoria and her daughter Vicki, the Princess Royal. They are thoroughly enjoyable. It's been decades ( ) since I read them but I still remember a letter from Vicki in which she describes her visit to a harem somewhere in, IIRC, North Africa  - fascinating. You really get a feel for Victoria the person.

[luvcharles]

I don't think that Victoria actually hated Edward but she was regularly disappointed in him and felt he didn't live up to his 'dearest papa'. She did support him through his many scandals but did stop him doing anything useful (something Elizabeth has sensibly not failed Victoria's example as she has actively encouraged Charles to create a role for himself). Edward, of course, was well-known for his womanising but he really cared about people as well and in many ways was denied the chance to contribute to his country until he became King. Reportedly Victoria's last word was 'Bertie' taken to be seen as an apology for denying for all those years but it certainly wasn't a 'hate' relationship.

Victoria was the symbol of the Empire and at the time of her death she was the Queen-Empress of the largest empire in history.

[Principessa]

A flighty fictional (love) story about Victoria with Romy & Magda Schneider:

Mädchenjahre einer Königin (Victoria in Dover; The story of Vicky)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51f5Edi7R3Y

This movie was shot before the Sissi trilogy which made Romy Schneider famous.

[Martina91]

A flighty fictional (love) story about Victoria with Romy & Magda Schneider:

Mädchenjahre einer Königin (Victoria in Dover; The story of Vicky)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51f5Edi7R3Y

This movie was shot before the Sissi trilogy which made Romy Schneider famous.

Oh I've seen it! Actually I have the dvd box