Who Was Queen Victoria? + Bonus Book Review
Who Was Queen Victoria?
During Queen Victoria's childhood, she was not allowed to play with children her age. She was never left alone, not even at night, so she shared a bedroom with her mother. She did not talk to adults unless her governor or her mother was present. She wasn't even allowed to walk down the stairs without her governor holding her hand! Queen Victoria was raised to be very dependent on other adults, but her governor quietly encouraged her to be independent from her mother.
In 1832, when Victoria was 13 years old, she began keeping a journal. She wrote almost every night until her death in 1901! From her journal entries, we could see that Victoria had begun to take notes about her people over which she would reign one day. She took notes about poverty, about miners, about trips to different countries. She was quite a passionate writer!
In August 1836, King William IV, the king at the time, turned 71 years old. He loved Queen Victoria, then seventeen, very dearly. Unfortunately, Queen Victoria's mother didn't want young Victoria to become queen, and so she tried to keep her away from him. This infuriated the king, and he made a promise: "I trust in God that my life be spared for nine months longer. I should then have the satisfaction of leaving the exercise of the royal authority to the personal authority of that young lady, heiress presumptive to the crown, and not in the hands of a person now near me (Victoria's mother), who is surrounded by evil advisers and is herself incompetent to act with propriety in the situation in which she would be placed." He succeeded. In May 1837, the king died, and Victoria began her reign.
In 1836, Victoria's cousins Albert and Ernest visited the palace. Five days after their arrival, the Queen sent for Albert. "You must be aware why I wished you to come here. It would make me too happy if you would consent to what I wish." That wasn't exactly a traditional proposal, but Albert said yes. Victoria and Albert were married on February 10, 1840, at St. James's Palace in London.
On November 21, 1840, Queen Victoria gave birth to Princess Victoria. Eight more children followed: Albert, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Arthur, Louise, Leopold, and Beatrice - five girls and four boys, quite a large family!
Eventually, Albert's heavy workload began to take its toll, and his health declined. Victoria's mother, too, was in poor health. The Duchess had surgery, and became very weak. She never fully recovered. When Victoria's mother died in 1861, Queen Victoria was devastated and went into a long period of grief. On December 14, 1861, Queen Victoria's beloved husband, Albert, also died. He was just forty-two years old. She was all alone.
As Victoria's children grew and had children of their own, her offspring married into royal families throughout the European continent. Queen Victoria eventually became known as the grandmother of Europe!
BONUS! Mini Book Review: Who Was Queen Victoria?
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (3/5)
This book, Who Was Queen Victoria, narrates the life of Queen Victoria, an independent, perseverant, and determined queen.
The book demonstrates many aspects of her life, including her childhood, her hobbies, her family, and much more!
I rate this book 3/5 stars because it doesn't give much information about the work that Victoria did. On the other hand, it gave a lot of information on her feelings and her personal life, so it was a bit more “in her shoes”.