Queen Victoria: main events of the biography

КОРОЛЕВА ВИКТОРИЯ: ОСНОВНЫЕ СОБЫТИЯ БИОГРАФИИ

Каплий Марина Алексеевна

студент, Белгородский государственный национальный исследовательский университет, РФ, г. Белгород

Шемаева Елена Викторовна

научный руководитель, доцент, Белгородский государственный национальный исследовательский университет, РФ, г. Белгород

What do we know about Queen Victoria (1819-1901)?

Many of us have probably heard of the Victorian era (1837-1901). The name of this time period was given by Queen Victoria. As you know, people make history. According to the English historian D. Cannedine, Queen Victoria personified the image of the mother of the nation, the moral ideal. It is Victoria who is recognized as the most influential woman of the 19th century and it was during her reign that many historical concepts arose, such as «Victorianism», «Victorians», «Victorian era». We mainly know her as a monarch who did everything for the good of his country. It was during her reign that Great Britain was at the height of economic prosperity, foreign policy power and domestic political stability. In the field of economics: the industrial revolution continued. In the spiritual realm: a strict moral code. In foreign policy: the absence of significant wars (except for the Crimean one); the seizures of colonies in Asia and Africa continued.

But what do we know about her childhood? About her personal life? About her children? How and where did she die?

Queen's childhood. Victoria became the last representative of the Hanoverian dynasty, which needed an heir. King William IV had two children, potential candidates for the throne, but they died as infants. There were plenty of pretenders to the throne – four elderly brothers of William IV and Charlotte of Wales, who died during childbirth. The sons of George III had a chance, so they urgently began to marry. Victoria's father, the Duke of Kent, Edward was no exception. At that time he was already over 50, he married the German princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld from the Vetin family. After the wedding, the newlyweds lived a little in Germany, and when the Duchess of Kent became pregnant, Edward moved all family members to England. He understood that a child must be born in England in order to have legal rights to the British throne.

On May 24, 1819, at 4:15 a.m., the cry of a newborn was heard at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was baptized at Kensington Palace on June 24, 1819 by the Archbishop of Canterbury Charles Manners-Sutton in a private ceremony. The first name was given in honor of the Russian godfather of Emperor Alexander I, the second, which became the main one, in honor of his mother. The girl had absolutely no memory of her father, because he died when she was only eight months old. Victoria was brought up in the palace, according to a special system developed by her mother. She was trained by the governess, Baroness Louise Lenchsen. Thanks to the baroness, the girl perfectly learned such languages as English, German, French, Latin, knew arithmetic, understood painting and music. From the age of 13, Victoria kept a diary in which she described in detail all the events from her life that have come down to our times and are a historical source.

Royal wedding.

In 1839, Albert, the queen's cousin, came to visit the queen. Feelings flashed between them. The queen herself proposed to him by law, and they married in 1840. At the wedding ceremony, the queen was wearing a white dress and veil. On the evening after the wedding on February 10, 1840, Victoria wrote in her diary: «My dear, dear, dear, Albert ... his great love and affection gave me a feeling of heavenly love and happiness that I never hoped to feel before! He put his arms around me and we kissed each other over and over! His beauty, his sweetness and softness – how can I ever be truly grateful for such a husband! It was the happiest day of my life». He was her mentor and assistant, friend and lover until his death.

Children.

Victoria has always admitted that she hates pregnancy and childbirth. It was not easy for her to have children; after giving birth, she was almost always tormented by postpartum depression. In addition, Victoria was a carrier of the hemophilia gene, which she passed on to some of her male children. From Victoria, by the way, the disease passed to one of her great-grandchildren –Alexei Romanov. In total, she had 9 children, 42 grandchildren and 85 great-grandchildren.

Widow. Victoria's happy marriage ended on December 14, 1861. Albert died of typhoid fever at the age of 42. At the beginning of this year, Victoria already lost her mother, so she suffered a second blow even harder. The queen put on mourning and did not take off her black dress until the end of her days. For this, the people called her «The Windsor Widow». «The world is dark for me», she wrote to her relative.All the queen's depressions and ailments worsened: for the first three years after Albert's death, she almost never left the royal residence. She was stubborn in her grief and completely relieved herself of royal ceremonial duties. She did not attend any events, which annoyed the ministers. Her first public appearance after these events took place only in 1871. Death. In the 90s, Victoria began to be seriously ill. She was diagnosed with rheumatism, due to which she ended up in a gurney. Doctors discovered cataracts and aphasia in the queen. In January 1901, Victoria no longer got out of bed, and on January 22 of the same year she died.

The memory of Britain's greatest Queen lives on. In her honor, films are made based on the biography of the empress –«Young Victoria», «Victoria». Evelyn Anthony, Christopher Hibbert, Lytton Streich praised the Victorian era in their writings. An incredible number of paintings and musical works have been written. Geographical objects, cities, states are named after Queen Victoria. In Canada, May 24 (Victoria's birthday) is still celebrated as a national holiday. A waterfall, the largest lake in Africa and the largest water lily in the world, is named after her.