Queen Victoria

Grandmother of modern Europe, Queen of the British Empire, Empress of India, and leader during a period of impressive industrialisation and economic progress – the impact of Queen Victoria’s 63-year reign is undeniable

- Heidi Finnane

Our fascination with Victoria has never waned. Perhaps it’s the genuine love story between her and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha that piques our interest, or even the fact that the 4ft 11in queen bore nine children at a time when childbirth was still extremely risky. More recently we’ve been intrigued by her younger years, fuelled by film and TV programmes, including the current TV series, Victoria.

Born Alexandrina Victoria on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace, it seemed unlikely at her birth that ‘Drina’, as she was called by her mother the Duchess of Kent, would become queen. Fifth in line to the throne, her birth, like many other royal births before her, was triggered by a succession crisis – that of her grandfather King George III when Princess Charlotte, his only legitimate grandchild, predeceased him.

Victoria had an unhappy and sheltered childhood, dominated by her mother and her father’s former advisor, Sir John Conroy, who employed the Kensington System – a strict set of rules set upon Victoria requiring that she never spend time alone and had to share a room with her mother.