The Widow of Windsor 

"Queen Victoria is associated with Britain's great age of industrial expansion, economic progress and, especially, empire. At her death, it was said, Britain had a worldwide empire on which the sun never set" (The British Monarchy).

Of course we have all heard about Queen Victoria before. She is one of Britain's most popular monarchs and has contributed to a huge part of Britain's history. She is not only well known as a connector during the industrialisation, but also for her marriage with the German Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and the establishment of the British Empire.

Victoria became heir to the throne in 1837 at the young age of 18. Since she was a young girl when she became queen she felt very insecure and was scared that she might not be able to be a good ruler. That is probably the reason why her first Prime Minister Lord Melbourne, as well as her husband Prince Albert, had a great influence on her.

Most of Victoria's nine children married members of other European royal families. Precisely, we owe this national diversity that is nowadays part of the British monarchy to her as she did not only marry a German man herself but also agreed on her children's marriages to non-English people. Even today we can still find that kind of openness towards other nationalities in the English royal dynasty if one considers for example the marriage of Queen Elizabeth II to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Philip has Greek, Danish and German ancestors.

After the death of her beloved husband in 1861 Victoria sank into depression and became a very distant woman. She hardly ever appeared in public and decided to stay on her own. Moreover, she always wore black which she became very popular for.  

"She was persuaded to open Parliament in person in 1866 and 1867, but she was widely criticised for living in seclusion and quite a strong republican movement developed" (The British Monarchy).

Victoria later became 'Empress of India' and was a "very strong supporter of Empire" in general.
"In her later years she almost became the symbol of the British Empire"(The British Monarchy).
However, she also played a huge part in industrialisation, for example she supported the construction of railways and was the first monarch to use trains. She also cared about society which is why she supported quite a few charities and was eager to fund hospitals and schools.

Victoria died in 1901. Her reign of almost 64 years was the longest in British history until Queen Elizabeth II became longest-serving monarch in September 2015.



http://www.royal.gov.uk/historyofthemonarchy/kingsandqueensoftheunitedkingdom/thehanoverians/victoria.aspx

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