Were she alive and well, Queen Victoria would be celebrating her 187th birthday today. She became the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain at the age of 18 and remained for almost 64 years until her death in 1901. So far in history, Queen Victoria has been the longest reigning British monarch.
Born Alexandrina Victoria, she was an only child and learned German first, then English at a young age, eventually learning Latin, French, Italian and Greek. She proposed to Prince Albert (as the lower class was not allowed to propose to the higher class) and they married in 1840. She had 9 children over their 21-year marriage, outlived 3 of them, and survived 7 assassination attempts including one during her first pregnancy with daughter Victoria.
Queen Victoria was the first known carrier of haemophilia in the royal line and many current and former kings and queens in the United Kingdom, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Romania and elsewhere are descended from her. One of her daughters, Princess Louise, married Canada’s first Governor General.
After her husband’s death, in a semi-permanent state of mourning, Queen Victoria wore black for the rest of her life, earning her the nickname of the “Widow of Windsor”.
I feel like after reading this post I should see some stars with the music that says “The more you know..” Remember those commercials??
Interesting facts though!