Topic > Queen Victoria - 1290

Born on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace, Alexandrina Victoria was the only daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent and Victoria Marie Louise of Saxe-Coburg. At birth, Victoria was fifth in the line of succession after her father and three older brothers. Eight months after her birth, her father had died and she was next in the line of succession as her three uncles before her had no surviving legitimate children. In 1830, after the death of her uncle George IV, she became heir presumptive alongside her surviving uncle, William IV. The Regency Act of 1830 provided for the Duchess of Kent to act as regent in the event that William died while Victoria was still a minor. King William declared in 1836 in the presence of the duchess that he wanted to live until Victoria's 18th birthday, so as to avoid regency. Vittoria's childhood was described as “melancholic”. Her mother, who was overly protective of her daughter, formed the Kensington System. The system in practice allowed Vittoria to never leave her mother, guardian or governess. She was isolated from the other children and in this, the Duchess of Kent and her assistant, Sir Conroy, supervised and noted every action the heiress took, as well as who she was and was not allowed to see. During his daily rituals, his lessons often included French, German, Italian and Latin, but at home only English was spoken. On 24 May 1837, Victoria turned 18 and the regency was avoided as King William had hoped. On 20 June 1837 King William IV died at the age of 71; Victoria was then Queen of the United Kingdom. The government at the time was led by the Whig Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, who had profoundly influenced the Queen. Melbourne was a childless widower and regarded Victoria as his…half of paper…of his time, surpassing his grandfather George III by three days. She was also the last monarch of the House of Hanover. Victoria wrote an average of 2,500 words a day throughout her adult life. It included 122 volumes of his detailed daily life from July 1832 until before his death. Beatrice was named her executor shortly after her mother's death. Beatrice, having edited the diaries herself, burned the originals in the process. Even today, despite the destruction, most of the diaries still exist. Works Cited • Benson, EF Queen Victoria. New York: Marboro Books Corp., 1992. • “Victoria.” The international edition of the Encyclopedia Americana. Vol 28. 1996.• “Queen Victoria: Biography”. http://spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRvictoria.htm 9/7/11• “Queen Victoria”. http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria_of_the_United_Kingdom 7/9/11