On 3 July, two days after Francis's death sentence was commuted to transportation for life, John William Bean also tried to fire a pistol at the Queen, but it was loaded only with paper and tobacco and had too little charge. There were rumors that Brown and Victoria were lovers, especially after the death of Albert. 55–65, quoted in Hibbert p. 217; Packard, pp. I only feel properly a mon aise and quite happy when Albert is with me. Albert imagined their large family as an example of the excellence that the European monarchies could stand for. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. 366, 372, 434, Potts and Potts, pp. [174] Gladstone attempted to pass a bill granting Ireland home rule, but to Victoria's glee it was defeated. Growing up in the shadow of her older siblings — sister Princess Victoria (known as Vicky), who married a German emperor, and Prince Albert “Bertie” Edward, who later became King Edward VII — Alice had an interesting life. Victoria and Albert had 20 grandsons and 22 granddaughters, two of whom (the youngest sons of Prince Alfred and Princess Helena) were stillborn, and two more (Prince Alexander John of Wales and Prince Harald of Schleswig-Holstein) died shortly after birth. [33] In her diary she wrote, "I was awoke at 6 o'clock by Mamma, who told me the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were here and wished to see me. [62] He was tried for high treason, found not guilty by reason of insanity, committed to an insane asylum indefinitely, and later sent to live in Australia. Seven years her junior and many ranks below her, the queen said Brown was her dearest friend — an unthinkable relationship at the time. Alice Maud Mary was born on April 25, 1843, at Buckingham Palace, the third child and second daughter of the Queen. 42, 50; Woodham-Smith, p. 135, Marshall, p. 46; St Aubyn, p. 67; Waller, p. 353, Longford, pp. During this time, the British Empire experienced only a few small wars, exerting its authority over foreign possessions. [22] Once queen, she banned him from her presence, but he remained in her mother's household. 150–156; Marshall, p. 87; St Aubyn, pp. 460–461, Marshall, pp. You can find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out Despite a feisty temperament, Victoria was famously tiny in stature, measuring just 4 feet 11 inches tall. Victoria's household was largely run by her childhood governess, Baroness Louise Lehzen from Hanover. 356–362, Hibbert, pp. 53, 58, 64, and 65, Under section 2 of the Regency Act 1830, the, St Aubyn, pp. Derby was reinstated as prime minister. 217–220; Woodham-Smith, pp. 341–342; Woodham-Smith, pp. However, many of her most famous quotes on motherhood came well into her career as a mother, long past the blush of her children's babyhood when she would remark upon them with delight in her diaries. The next month Alice began to display symptoms of the disease and she, too, died on December 14. The eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, little Victoria – or … Victoria and Albert's hopes of a liberal Germany would go unfulfilled, as Wilhelm was a firm believer in autocracy. The youngest of Victoria and Albert's brood, she was beautiful and precocious in her youth. [150] Disraeli also pushed the Royal Titles Act 1876 through Parliament, so that Victoria took the title "Empress of India" from 1 May 1876. [73] In 1850, the Queen did sustain injury when she was assaulted by a possibly insane ex-army officer, Robert Pate. Although Alice donned a magnificent white gown for the ceremony, before and after the wedding she was clad in black mourning clothes. Victoria was devastated. Victoria was an enormously prolific writer of letters and diaries—she's said to have written over 2,500 words a day for the entirety of her adult life—and many of the Queen's decidedly unsaccharine sentiments about motherhood come directly from her own hand. Born three weeks early, Vicky's poor health as a baby caused some of the first major friction between the couple, who disagreed of the best way to care for her. How Many Children Does Princess Margaret Have? [193], The Queen's Diamond Jubilee procession on 22 June 1897 followed a route six miles long through London and included troops from all over the empire. [216], Victoria was physically unprepossessing—she was stout, dowdy and only about five feet tall—but she succeeded in projecting a grand image. Censoring Queen Victoria: How Two Gentlemen Edited a Queen and Created an Icon, Victoria: The Heart and Mind of a Young Queen by Helen Rappaport, Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting by Carolyn Harris, Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days That Changed Her Life by Lucy Worsley, Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard, What the Cast of 'Victoria' Look Like In Real Life, This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. [98][219] Biographies of Victoria written before much of the primary material became available, such as Lytton Strachey's Queen Victoria of 1921, are now considered out of date. Indeed, of the three official volumes of Victoria's letters edited by Esher and Benson, less than half were actually written by the Queen—the remainder taking the form of correspondence written to her by the men in her life. [218] Only after the release of her diary and letters did the extent of her political influence become known to the wider public. 343–344; Longford, p. 389; Marshall, p. 173, Hibbert, p. 345; Longford, pp. [69] Albert, however, thought that Lehzen was incompetent and that her mismanagement threatened his daughter's health. [119] She entered a state of mourning and wore black for the remainder of her life. Prince Albert married his first cousin, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, at the age of 20, and after his untimely death at age 42, the queen's memory of him guided her for the next 40 years. 95–101; St Aubyn, pp. Despite living in another country, Alice remained close to her brother Prince Bertie and even attended his wedding in March 1863 even though she was heavily pregnant. [63] In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Victoria's popularity soared, mitigating residual discontent over the Hastings affair and the bedchamber crisis. Salisbury remained prime minister for the remainder of Victoria's reign. In 1840, Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the son of her mother’s brother. Victoria played a crucial role as a mediator between arriving and departing prime ministers. On his death three months after taking the throne, their eldest son became, Prince Albert Edward Wettin (1841-1910), who succeeded his mother to the crown as, Princess Alice Maude Mary (1843-1878), whose daughter Alix married, Prince Alfred Ernest Albert (1844-1900), who married the daughter of, Princess Helena Augusta Victoria (1846-1923). [103], On 14 January 1858, an Italian refugee from Britain called Felice Orsini attempted to assassinate Napoleon III with a bomb made in England. 1–17; Woodham-Smith, pp. 61–62; Longford, pp. 276–279; St Aubyn, p. 325; Woodham-Smith, pp. 1850), Leopold (b. 1843), Alfred (b. Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848-1939) created quite a scandal when she married a commoner, John Douglas Sutherland Campbell (later the Duke of Argyll). The concept of the "family monarchy", with which the burgeoning middle classes could identify, was solidified.[226]. [227] Of the 42 grandchildren of Victoria and Albert, 34 survived to adulthood. [134], In 1870 republican sentiment in Britain, fed by the Queen's seclusion, was boosted after the establishment of the Third French Republic. [11] Victoria shared a bedroom with her mother every night, studied with private tutors to a regular timetable, and spent her play-hours with her dolls and her King Charles Spaniel, Dash. Victoria and Albert also had 42 grandchildren and more than 80 great-grandchildren. He was her heir presumptive while she was childless. [38] Her coronation took place on 28 June 1838 at Westminster Abbey. 1846), Louise (b. 298–307, Hibbert, pp. 42–43, Kalakaua to his sister, 24 July 1881, quoted in Greer, Richard A. Beatrice transcribed and edited the diaries covering Victoria's accession onwards, and burned the originals in the process. He was "the dearest of my dear sons", she lamented. 384–385, Hibbert, p. 361; Longford, p. 402; Marshall, pp. Victoria was pleased when Gladstone resigned in 1885 after his budget was defeated.