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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 2

CHAPTER ONE 3

1. BIRTH&CHILDHOOD 3
2. THE ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 4
3.REIGN&MARRIAGE 5
4. DEATH AND SUCCESION 12
5. LEGACY 13

CHAPTER TWO 14

1.QUOTES ABOUT QUEEN VICTORIA 14

2. HOW I SAW HER STORY 15
3. THE QUEEN’S IMAGE THROUGH SOCIETY 16

CONCLUSION 19

BIBLIOGRAPHY 20
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INTRODUCTION

I chose to write about Queen Victoria because, despite the rumours that she was a
terrible leader, she showed devotion, willingness, wisdom and love for her country, people
and family. She made Britain a mighty empire which extended itself during the Victorian era.
Victoria improved women condition with her example of strength and made women stand up
for themselves shortly and be more respected because they deserved it. The Queen was a
warrior from different points of view: she fought for her country, her marriage and her
children.

Being a young woman to become a queen a lot of people tried to manipulate and
influence her, especially her mother who controlled her life by then. Victoria did not listen to
her mother or any other people she did what she did in her own way. I think that she kept like
a mask around people she did not trust to protect herself and to make them think that she is
either stupid or easy to manipulate. The truth was that she was just being simple to them and
she did not want to show her intelligence and power to those people.

In the 19th century women’s condition was not as it is today. Women did not have a
word to say in the country’s leadership and even at home. Then women could not stand for
themselves. Queen Victoria is the perfect example for a strong woman. Her example was
followed by other women and eventually woman got their rights.

Victoria is the perfect example of what a woman can do if she puts her mind to it. She
did not accept failure, she wanted constant improvement, and she wanted respect. By and with
all of these actions she gained a lot in her life.
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CHAPTER ONE
BIRTH&CHILDHOOD

Victoria (1819-1901), queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
(1837-1901) and empress of India( since May 1876 ).Victoria was the daughter of Prince
Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn and she was fifth in the line of succession after the four
eldest sons of George III: George, the Prince Regent (later George IV); Frederick, the Duke of
York; William, the Duke of Clarence (later William IV) and Victoria's father, Edward, the
Duke of Kent. Her Majesty was born at Kensington Palace on the 24th of May. She did not
have other siblings. Victoria was baptized in the grand saloon of Kensington Palace by the
Archbhisoph of Canterbury and she received the name of Victoria after her mother and
Alexandrina after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia. Not long after that
when the Princess was just an infant the Duke an Duchess of Kent went to Sidmouth. Nobody
would have guessed that their stay there was about to be tragic.

The Duke had a severe indisposition caused by delaying to change his wet boots after
walking through the snow. This lead to a chest inflammation and high fever which caused his
death eventually. Two days after the death of the Duke, The Duchess went back to London
with her daughter and her brother. On the same day the Prince Regent succeeded to the throne
by the death of his father. After a couple of days The Duke of York came to visit the Duchess
in order to give his condolences. The little Princess was confused by the astonishing similarity
between her father and the Duke and reached out to him with her hands. He was deeply
touched by that and he promised to be a father to her. The widowed Duchess decided that her
child should be brought under her own eye. Her mother was extremely protective, and
Victoria was raised isolated from other children under the ”Kensington System ”, an
elaborate set of rules and protocols designed by the Duchess and Sir John Conory, who was
rumoured to be the Duchess's lover .

The system forbade the princess to meet other people whom her and Sir Conory
considered unwished (including most of her father's family). Victoria had followed a home
trending after the best English traditions. She described her childhood as "rather melancholy".
Her schedule starts at eight in the morning when the family met for breakfast after that The
Princess takes a walk of an our through the gardens, from ten to twelve her mother intructs
her after that they have lunch and again lessons until four o’clock. Then again a short walk
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followed by the family dinner and after playing games with her nurse, having the desert, and
at nine she would got o her bed which was next to her mother’s.

King George IV presented himself at The Princess’s fourth birthday with a portrait of
himself set in diamonds. He also gave a State dinner party to the Duchess and her daughter. In
the following year the Parliament voted an annual grant of £ 60000 to the Duchess for the
education of the Princess.

After six years spent under the care of her tutors the Princess had admirable
accomplishments. She could speak French and German fluently, she had made some progress
in Latin and Mathematics. The princess was also an excellent dancer and singer and very
good at archery but she was not into riding because all animals bored her except for a donkey
which was a gift from her uncle the Duke of York.

The first grief she fully experienced was the death of the Duke of York. The Princess
was only eight years old and his loss affected her a lor because he was always kind and
affective with her. At that time she did not know that the Duke’s death would bring her closer
to the throne. By the age of ten she became aware of her nearness to the British throne. She
realised it by reading English history when some questions made a connection with the
succession to the crown.

THE ACCESSION TO THE THRONE

She had become queen in a very tortuous way. George III died in 1820 and George IV
ruled for ten years, after the crown passed to another of Victoria’s uncles, William IV. It was
around the time that William became King that Victoria was made aware of her place in the
succession. She became queen at such an early age, and also she was the first female to
became a monarch by being her uncle’s heir presumptive. Her mother, the Duchess was
aware that her daughter a future monarch and tried to keep Victoria away as long as possible
from the court and her late husband relatives.
To limitate her daughter’s power the Duchess and Sir John Conory in the autumn of
1835 tried to force Victoria, who was very ill at the time to sign a document that would make
Conory her personal secretary which meant that she came to the throne at the age of 21
instead of 18.The Regency Act made for Victoria's mother to act as regent in case William
died while Victoria was still a minor. King William distrusted the Duchess to be regent, and
in 1836 he declared in her presence that he wanted to live until Victoria's 18th birthday, so
that a regency could be avoided. After a month when Victoria reached her majority King
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William died. Victoria was woken up on the same morning and informed that she was the
Queen. 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. I got out of
bed and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing gown) and alone, and saw them. Lord
Conyngham then acquainted me that my poor Uncle, the King, was no more, and had expired
at 12 minutes past 2 this morning, and consequently that I am Queen." ( St Aubyn, pp. 55–57;
Woodham-Smith, p. 138 )
The coronation took place after a year she succeeded to the throne on 23 June 1838.
The ceremony was held at Westminster Abbey and was witnessed by a huge crowd estimated
to 400,000 people coming to London from the rest of the country. The ceremony cost £
79,000 more than her uncle’s William IV which was £ 30,000. The programme was one of the
typical medieval coronation supposed to start with the ritual of the Queen’s Champion but the
challenge was omitted and the Champion was made a baronet instead. The ceremony lasted
five hours and required two dresses for the Queen.

REIGN&MARRIAGE

In her early reign she was popular until her reputation suffered in a court intrigue in
1839 when one of her mother’s ladies-in-waiting was rumoured to be pregnant with Sir John
Conory. The Queen believed the rumours. She hated Conory and the lady because they took
part with the Duchess of Kent in the Kensington System. She took Lady Flora to a medical
examination and found virgin. After that Sir Conory organised a press campaign implicating
the Queen in the spreading of the rumours. Lady Flora died in July and it was revealed that
she had a tumour.
Even if Victoria was a queen she needed to be married and have heirs. As an
unmarried queen she had to live with her mother. Victoria isolated her mother in an apartment
at the Buckingham Palace and often refused to see her. The Queen complained to the Prime
Minister Viscount Melbourne about her mother's close proximity promised ”torment for many
years”, Melbourne said it could be avoided by marriage, which Victoria called a „shocking
alternative”. She had two options: her cousins Ernst or Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
The youngest, Albert was only three months younger than Victoria who recalled that
even as a small boy he had been told that one day he should marry her one day. In April 1836
Victoria’s mother invited Ernst and Albert at the Princess’s 17th birthday at the suggestion of
Baron Stockmar. Young Victoria found Albert extremely handsome and they talked, laughed,
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played the piano. After that Albert left in Brussels and Victoria wrote to her uncle Leopold
that she cried at Albert's departure and thanked him for bringing Albert to her birthday
because he gave her a lot of happiness. Victoria showed interest in Albert's education for the
future role he would have to play as her husband. On Victoria’s accession, Albert wrote to
wish her ‘a long, happy and glorious’ reign and later sent her presents from abroad. Victoria
was enjoying her independence and she was determined not to be rushed into a bad decision.
After consultations with Leopold and Baron Stockmar, she invited Albert and Ernst to
England again in 1839. They arrived at Windsor Castle in October and when Victoria saw
Albert she made up her mind.
A few days later she summoned him to her private room and proposed to him, as
protocol required. He accepted immediately and they kissed over and over again. All the talk
was in German, though Albert’s English would soon improve. They were married on 10
February 1840, in the Chapel Royal of St. James’s Palace, London. She wore a white dress of
heavy silk satin, trimmed with Honiton lace. She had a white lace veil and wore a diamond
necklace and earrings as well as a sapphire brooch given her by Albert and she carried a
wreath of orange blossoms, a symbol of fertility. Albert was in a British field marshal’s
uniform and was escorted by a squadron of Life Guards. She spent the evening after their
wedding lying down with a headache, but wrote in her diary:” I NEVER, NEVER spent such
an evening!!! MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert ... his excessive love & affection
gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before!
He clasped me in his arms, & we kissed each other again & again! His beauty, his sweetness
& gentleness – really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such a Husband! ... to be
called by names of tenderness, I have never yet heard used to me before – was bliss beyond
belief! Oh! This was the happiest day of my life”.
Victoria was pregnant within a couple of months of the wedding, although she would
always detest pregnancy and childbirth, she and Albert had nine children: Victoria, German
Empress; Edward VII; Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse; Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and
Gotha; Helena, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein; Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll;
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn; Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany; Beatrice,
Princess Henry of Battenberg. This is where si got the title of „the grandmother of Europe”
beacuse her children ruled over a big part of Europe by marrying important leaders of other
countries. Albert became an important political adviser as well as the Queen's companion,
replacing Lord Melbourne as the dominant, influential figure in the first half of her life.
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During Victoria's first pregnancy in 1840, 18-year-old Edward Oxford attempted to

assassinate her while she was riding in a carriage with Prince Albert on her way to visit her
mother. Oxford fired twice, but either both bullets missed or, as he later claimed, the guns had
no shot. He was tried for high treason, found not guilty on the grounds of insanity. On 29 May
1842, Victoria was riding in a carriage when John Francis aimed a pistol at her, but the gun
did not fire. The assailant escaped; however the following day, Victoria drove the same route,
though faster and with a greater escort, in a deliberate attempt to provoke Francis to take a
second aim and catch him in the act. As expected, Francis shot at her, but he was caught, and
convicted of high treason. 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. Edward Oxford felt that the
attempts were encouraged by his attempt in 1840. Bean was sentenced to 18 months in jail. In
a similar attack in 1849, William Hamilton fired a powder-filled pistol at Victoria's carriage
as it passed along Constitution Hill, London. In 1850, the Queen did sustain injury when she
was assaulted by a possibly insane ex-army officer, Robert Pate. As Victoria was riding in a
carriage, Pate struck her with his cane, crushing her bonnet and bruising her forehead. Both
Hamilton and Pate were sentenced to seven years transportation.

The Prime minister Viscount Melbourne's support in the House of Commons

weakened through the early years of Victoria's reign, and in the 1841 general election the
Whigs were defeated. Sir Robert Peel a member of the Conservative party became prime
minister, and the Whigs were replaced. In 1845, Ireland was hit by a potato blight. The next
four years, meant the deaths of over a million Irish people and the immigration of another
million in what became known as the Great Famine. Irish people called Victoria "The Famine
Queen". In January 1847 she personally donated £2,000 (equivalent to between £178,000 and
£6.5 million in 2016) to the British Relief Association.

By 1846, Peel's ministry dealt with a crisis involving the repeal of the Corn Laws.
Many Tories; by then known also as Conservatives; were opposed to the repeal, but Peel,
some Tories, most Whigs and Victoria supported it. Peel resigned in 1846, after the repeal
almost passed, and was replaced by Lord John Russell. Internationally, Victoria was
interested in the improvement of relations between France and Britain because they were
related by marriage through the Coburgs. She made and hosted several visits between the
British royal family and the House of Orleans. In 1843 and 1845, she and Albert stayed with
King Louis Philippe I at château d'Eu in Normandy. When Louis Philippe also visited Britain
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in 1844, he became the first French king to visit a British sovereign. Louis Philippe was
deposed in the revolutions of 1848, and fled to exile in England. At the height of a
revolutionary scare in the United Kingdom in April 1848, Victoria and her family left London
for their safety and settled at Osborne House. Victoria's first visit to Ireland was in 1849 and it
was a public relations success, but it had no lasting impact or effect on the growth of Irish
nationalism.

She had particularly a problem with the Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, who
often acted on his own without consulting the Cabinet, the Prime Minister, or the Queen.
Victoria complained to the prime minister Russell that Palmerston sent official dispatches to
foreign leaders without her knowledge, but Palmerston was retained in office and continued to
act on his own initiative, despite her repeated observations. It was only in 1851 that
Palmerston was removed after he announced the British government's approval of
President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte's coup in France without consulting the Prime Minister.
The following year, President Bonaparte was declared Emperor Napoleon III, by which time
Russell's administration had been replaced by a short-lived minority government led by Derby.
In 1853, Victoria gave birth to her eighth child, Leopold and then the last one Beatrice.
Victoria may have suffered from postnatal depression after many of her pregnancies.

In early 1855, the government of Lord Aberdeen, replaced Derby, but fell because of
the poor leading of the British troops in the Crimean War. Victoria approached both Derby
and Russell to form a ministry, but neither had sufficient support, and Victoria was forced to
name Viscount Palmerston as prime minister.

Britain was Napoleon III closest ally during the Crimean War so he paid a visit to
Queen Victoria and Albert in London on April 1855, so did they from 17 to 28 August the
same year. Napoleon III met the couple at Boulogne and accompanied them to Paris. On 14
January 1858, an Italian refugee from Britain called Felice Orsini attempted to assassinate
Napoleon III with a bomb made in England. The following diplomatic crisis destabilised the
government, and Palmerston resigned. Derby was named again as prime minister.

Victoria and Albert attended the opening of a new basin at the French military port of
Cherbourg on 5 August 1858, in an attempt by Napoleon III to reassure Britain that his
military preparations were directed elsewhere. On her return Victoria wrote to Derby
reproaching him for the deplorable state of the Royal Navy beside the French one. Derby's
ministry did not last long, and in June 1859 Victoria recalled Palmerston to office.
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Eleven days after Orsini's assassination attempt in France, Victoria's eldest daughter
married Prince Frederick William of Prussia in London. Victoria delayed the marriage
because her daughter was only 14 years old until she turned 17. About a year later, Princess
Victoria gave birth to the Queen's first grandchild, Wilhelm, who would become the last
German Kaiser.

In March 1861, Victoria's mother died, with Victoria by her side. Reading her
mother’s papers Victoria realised that her mother loved her deeply and her heart was broken.
To let his wife to grief Albert who was ill having a problem with his stomach, he took most of
her duties. In August, Victoria and Albert visited their son, the Prince of Wales, who was
attending to an army demonstration near Dublin, and spent a few days in Killarney. In
November, Albert heard a gossip that his son has slept with an actress is Ireland and he went
to confront him. By the beginning of December, Albert was not feeling well. He was
diagnosed with typhoid fever and died on 14 December 1861. Victoria was devastated. She
blamed her husband's death on worry over the Prince of Wales's philandering.

She said that he had been "killed by that dreadful business". She entered a state of
mourning and wore black for the rest of her life. She avoided public appearances, and rarely
came to London in the few next years. This sate of mourning earned her the nickname of „
Widow of Windsor ”.Victoria's isolation from the public has made the monarchy popularity to
decrease and encourage the growth of the republican movement. She still did her duties for
the government but alone and isolated in her royal homes: Windsor Castle, Osborne House,
and the private estate in Scotland that she and Albert had acquired in 1847, Balmoral Castle.
In March 1864, a protester stuck a notice on the railings of Buckingham Palace that
announced "these commanding premises to be let or sold in consequence of the late
occupant's declining business". Her uncle Leopold advised her to appear in public. She
agreed to visit the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at Kensington and take a drive
through London in an open carriage.

Through the 1860s, Victoria relied on a manservant from Scotland, John Brown.
Some rumours of a romantic connection and even a secret marriage appeared in print, and the
Queen was referred to as "Mrs. Brown". The story of their relationship was the subject of the
1997 movie Mrs. Brown. A painting by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer depicting the Queen with
Brown was exhibited at the Royal Academy, and Victoria published a book, „Leaves from the
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Journal of Our Life in the Highlands”, which featured Brown and in which the Queen praised
him highly.

Palmerston died in 1865, and after a brief ministry led by Russell, Derby returned to
power. In 1866, Victoria’s first appearance after Albert’s death was at the State Opening of
Parliament. The following year she supported the passing of the Reform Act 1867 which
doubled the electorate by extending the franchise to many urban working men, though she
was not in favour of votes for women. Derby resigned in 1868, to be replaced by Benjamin
Disraeli, who charmed Victoria. "Everyone likes flattery," he said, "and when you come to
royalty you should lay it on with a trowel."( Hibbert, p. 318; Longford, p. 401; St Aubyn, p.
427; Strachey, p. 254 ) With the phrase "we authors, Ma'am", he complimented her.( Buckle,
George Earle; Monypenny, W. F. (1910–20) The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of
Beaconsfield, vol. 5, p. 49, quoted in Strachey, p. 243 ) Disraeli's ministry only lasted a matter
of months, and at the end of the year his Liberal rival, William Ewart Gladstone, was
appointed prime minister. Victoria found Gladstone's demeanour far less appealing; he spoke
to her, she is thought to have complained, as though she were "a public meeting rather than a
woman". ( Hibbert, p. 320; Strachey, pp. 246–247 )

In 1870, republican sentiment in Britain, fed by the Queen's isolation and boosted
after the establishment of the Third French Republic. A republican rally in Trafalgar Square
demanded Victoria's removal, and Radical MPs spoke against her. In August and September
1871, she had an injure in her arm, an abscess, which Joseph Lister successfully lanced and
treated. In late November 1871, at the height of the republican movement, the Prince of Wales
contracted typhoid fever, the disease that was believed to have killed his father, and Victoria
thought that her son would die too. As the tenth anniversary of her husband's death
approached, her son's condition got worse, and Victoria's distress continued. Happily the
Prince pulled through. Mother and son attended a public parade through London and a grand
service of thanksgiving in St Paul's Cathedral on 27 February 1872, and republican feeling
went down. On the last day of February 1872, two days after the thanksgiving service, 17-
year-old Arthur O'Connor (great-nephew of Irish MP Feargus O'Connor) waved an unloaded
pistol at Victoria's open carriage just after she had arrived at Buckingham Palace. Brown, who
was attending the Queen, grabbed him and O'Connor was later sentenced to 12 months'
imprisonment, and a birching. As a result of the incident, Victoria's popularity recovered
further.
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In the 1874 general election, Disraeli was returned to power. He passed the Public
Worship Regulation Act 1874, which removed Catholic rituals from the Anglican liturgy and
which Victoria strongly supported. She preferred short, simple services, and personally
considered herself more aligned with the Presbyterian Church of Scotland than
the Episcopal Church of England. Disraeli also pushed the Royal Titles Act 1876 through
Parliament, so that Victoria took the title "Empress of India" from 1 May 1876. The new title
was proclaimed at the Delhi Durbar of 1 January 1877.

On 14 December 1878, the anniversary of Albert's death, Victoria's second

daughter Alice, who had married Louis of Hesse, died of diphtheria in Darmstadt. Victoria
noted the coincidence of the dates as "almost incredible and most mysterious". In May 1879,
she became a great-grandmother (on the birth of Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen) and
passed her "poor old 60th birthday". She felt "aged" by "the loss of my beloved child".

On 17 March 1883, she fell down some stairs at Windsor, which left her lame until
July; she never fully recovered and was plagued with rheumatism thereafter. Brown died 10
days after her accident, and to the consternation of her private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby,
Victoria began work on a eulogistic biography of Brown. Ponsonby and Randall Davidson,
Dean of Windsor, who had both seen early drafts, advised Victoria against publication, on the
grounds that it would stoke the rumours of a love affair. The manuscript was destroyed. In
early 1884, Victoria did published "More Leaves from a Journal of a Life in the Highlands”, a
sequel to her earlier book, which she dedicated to her "devoted personal attendant and faithful
friend John Brown".( Hibbert, p. 444; St Aubyn, p. 424; Waller, p. 413 ). On the day after the
first anniversary of Brown's death, Victoria was informed by telegram that her youngest son,
Leopold, had died in Cannes. He was "the dearest of my dear sons", she lamented.( Longford,
p. 461 ).

In 1887, the British Empire celebrated Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Victoria marked the
fiftieth anniversary of her accession on 20 June with a banquet to which 50 kings and princes
were invited. The following day, she participated in a procession and attended a thanksgiving
service in Westminster Abbey. By this time, Victoria was once again extremely popular.

Victoria's eldest daughter became Empress consort of Germany in 1888, but she was widowed
within the year, and Victoria's grandchild Wilhelm became German Emperor as Wilhelm II.

On 23 September 1896, Victoria surpassed her grandfather George III as the longest-
reigning monarch in English, Scottish, and British history. The Queen requested that any
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special celebrations be delayed until 1897, to coincide with her Diamond Jubilee, which was
made a festival of the British Empire. 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. The procession paused for an open-air service of thanksgiving held outside St Paul's
Cathedral, throughout which Victoria sat in her open carriage, to avoid her having to climb
the steps to enter the building. The celebration was marked by vast crowds of spectators and
great outpourings of affection for the 78-year-old Queen.

DEATH AND SUCCESION

Following a custom she maintained throughout her widowhood, Victoria spent the
Christmas of 1900 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Rheumatism in her legs had
rendered her lame, and her eyesight was clouded by cataracts. Through early January, she felt
weak. She died on Tuesday 22 January 1901, at half past six in the evening, at the age of
81. Her son and successor King Edward VII, and her eldest grandson, Emperor Wilhelm II of
Germany, were at her deathbed. Her favourite pet Pomeranian, Turi, was laid upon her
deathbed as a last request.

In 1897, Victoria had written instructions for her funeral, which was to be military
because she was a soldier's daughter and the head of the army, and the clothes should be
white instead of black. On 25 January, Edward VII, the Kaiser and Prince Arthur, Duke of
Connaught, helped lift her body into the coffin. She was dressed in a white dress and her
wedding veil. An array of mementos commemorating her extended family, friends and
servants were laid in the coffin with her, at her request, by her doctor and dressers. One of
Albert's dressing gowns was placed by her side, with a plaster cast of his hand, while a lock of
John Brown's hair, along with a picture of him, was placed in her left hand concealed from the
view of the family by a carefully positioned bunch of flowers. Items of jewellery placed on
Victoria included the wedding ring of John Brown's mother, given to her by Brown in
1883.Her funeral was held on Saturday 2 February, in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle,
and after two days of lying-in-state, she was interred beside Prince Albert in Frogmore
Mausoleum at Windsor Great Park.

With a reign of 63 years, seven months and two days, Victoria was the longest-
reigning British monarch and the longest-reigning queen regnant in world history until her
great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II surpassed her on 9 September 2015. She was the last
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monarch of Britain from the House of Hanover. Her son and successor Edward VII belonged
to her husband's House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

LEGACY

According to one of her biographers, Giles St Aubyn, Victoria wrote an average of

2,500 words a day during her adult life. From July 1832 until just before her death, she kept a
detailed journal, which was composed by 122 volumes. After Victoria's death, her youngest
daughter, Princess Beatrice, was appointed her literary executor. Beatrice took care of her
mother’s journals and edited them because some things should stay in the family and burned
te originals. Despite that Lord Esther transcribed the volumes from 1832 to 1861 before
Beatrice destroyed them. Part of Victoria's extensive correspondence has been published in
volumes edited by A. C. Benson, Hector Bolitho, George Earle Buckle, Lord Esher, Roger
Fulford, and Richard Hough among others. This are the material legacy left from her. But the
most important legacy was a great empire and a stable monarchy and also her children and
grandchildren who ruled all over the Europe. Around the world, places and memorials are
dedicated to her, especially in the Commonwealth nations. Places named after her include
Africa's largest lake, Victoria Falls, the capitals of British Columbia (Victoria) and
Saskatchewan (Regina), and two Australian states (Victoria and Queensland). The Victoria
Cross was introduced in 1856 to reward acts of valour during the Crimean War, and it remains
the highest British, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand award for bravery. Victoria Day
is a Canadian statutory holiday and a local public holiday in parts of Scotland celebrated on
the last Monday before or on 24 May (Queen Victoria's birthday).
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CHAPTER TWO

QUOTES ABOUT QUEEN VICTORIA

”The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them.”- Queen
Victoria

This quote shows that The Queen did not care about other people’s opinion about her. She
knew she was not loved by everyone, but it did not matter, it mattered what she thought about
them because she had power over them.

”We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist.”- Queen
Victoria
The Queen was motivated about the idea of success, and she could not see the failure maybe
that is why she gained so much on so many levels in her life because she focused on winning
and did not know the part where she could lose.

”The Queen is most anxious to enlist everyone in checking this mad, wicked folly of
'Women's Rights'. It's a subject that makes Queen so furious that she cannot contain herself”-
Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria was always trying to defeat women’s right. She always knew that women
were more powerful than most of men but they were just underrated, but she tried to stand up
for them in every way possible.

”Being pregnant is an occupational hazard of being a wife. ”- Queen Victoria

It is true that she hated to be pregnant because it is an awful journey in a woman’s life.
Despite this she had nine children.

”Everybody grows but me.”- Queen Victoria

I think, that the Queen means by this quote that she tried to make everybody better and make
them to improve themselves but she left herself aside

”Just close your eyes—and think of England.” – Queen Victoria

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The Queen always thought about her country and made sacrifices for Britain to be where we
see it today, one of the most powerful countries

” Do not to let your feelings (very natural and usual ones) of momentary irritation and
discomfort be seen by others don't (as you so often did and do) let every little feeling be read
in your face and seen in your manner . . .” – Queen Victoria
I think that she meant that your feelings should not cloud your judgement and that it does not
matter what we feel, our feelings should not be seen. Only you should know what you feel
deep down in your heart because is other people do they will use it against you.

” That Book (the BIBLE) accounts for the supremacy of England” - Queen Victoria
The Queen believed in God because she was raised to do so. So were her children,
they were thought to have faith in God and trust him and never do anything that can upset
him.

HOW I SAW HER STORY

Queen Victoria showed that a woman could lead a country as well as a man could. Her
reign got a lot of benefits to the United Kingdom and also to other countries especially the
countries where her children ruled. She did a great job before her marriage with Albert despite
the rumours that Albert did the hard work, he was Victoria’s adviser but the decisions she
made were hers at the end of the day. Despite the rumours that she was not a good leader
Victoria showed the ones who did not believe in her that she was doing a great job. She loved
her country and proved that by leading it to success and prosperity. As John Ruskin described
the feminine virtues ”… the woman’s power is for rule, not for battle- and her intellect is not
for invention or creation, but for sweet ordering, arrangement and decision…Her great
function is Praise; she enters into no contests, but infallibly adjudges the crown of contest. By
her office, and place, she is protected from all danger and temptation… She must be
enduringly, incorruptibly good; instinctively, infallibly wise- wise not for self-development,
but for self-renunciation; wise not that she may set herself above her husband, but that she
may never fall his side”( John Ruskin,” Of Queen’s Gardens”, Sesame and Lilies, 1865.
Quoted in May, p.258. )
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She also enjoyed her family, her husband whom she dedicated her life and after his
death, she was devastated. As about her relationship with her mother, from the outside it
seemed like they hated each other. It is true that at some point Victoria did not want to talk to
her mother or see her anymore, after the marriage with Albert. After her mother died Victoria
realised how much she loved her. Reading what her mother wrote Victoria wished to see them
sooner. Even though, we can tell that the Duchess loved her daughter by simply see the
environment she raised her in. Victoria grew up by the Kensington System with the best tutors
but also with the close supervise of her mother who took part at most of her lessons and
sometimes did the lessons herself.
Even queens were not immune from the physical wear and danger of childbirth,
something that frustrated and infuriated Victoria. In the first 60 months of her marriage, she
was pregnant or recovering from birth. As about her children, she hated being pregnant
because it felt like a prison to her, it is true she found breastfeeding disgusting, it is also true
she called infants frog-like, despite this she had nine children she loved and dedicated her life
to them. Victoria and Albert took great care of their children. They were raised to be polite, fit
to rule and to have good manners. This education took the royal children on the thrones of
great countries like Denmark, Norway, Spain and many others. This thing made Victoria to
earn the name ” The grandmother of Europe”. In the 19th century, motherhood was idealised
as sacred; but the experience was frightening. As a Queen she needed to have heirs to succeed
her on the throne. Many royal families make a lot of children to ensure their dynasty so did
Victoria but it did not mean that she had children only for the throne, she loved them all
maybe not equally because some of them especially the girls were took from her at e very
young age to get married.

THE QUEEN’S IMAGE THROUGH SOCIETY

As for the Queen’s image, either political or personal, it was analysed by two popular
British middle-class periodicals: the ” Illustrated London News” ( ILN ) and ”Punch”. They
published about Queen Victoria between 1841 and 1861. Both of them enjoyed high
circulation figures and served as models for entrepreneurs. Furthermore both satisfied the
expectations and desires of a middle class. These were respectable press. According to
Richard Altick: ” the proliferation of newspapers in Victorian days bonded readers, now a
mass rather than a small select audience, by proving them with a common base of
information, a shared vocabulary centring on topicalities that novelist, among other writers,
could rely on as they chose their allusions…They responded most readily, spontaneously, and
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knowledgeably to intimations of the present moment. Indeed, it was exclusive concentration

on topics of the day that made Punch and the ILN, whose first issues appeared within a year
of each other, the most characteristics periodicals of their time ”( Richard Altick, ” The
presence of the present: Topics of the day in the Victorian Novel” Columbus: Ohio State
University press, 1991, p.21 ). These periodicals took different approaches. The ILN
presented a sober moral tone of early Victorian social relations. On the subject of monarchy
The ILN presented the Royal Family in ways that featured sovereignty. Punch took a
humorous perspective. Queen Victoria was an icon of British power and feminists for both
publications.
The ILN reported Queen Victoria first masquerade ball on 14 May 1842. This ball was
about to stimulate trade relations is London by mounting a massive living tableau of
Plantagenet era costume. Queen Victoria’s robe had over 60,000 pounds worth of precious
gems sewn into it. As an apology for the expense the ILN assured the readers of the Queen’s ”
charity and beneficence to suffering traders and artisans which her Majesty’s fête combines
with courtly enjoyment” so that Victoria could not be faulted for the extravagance (ILN, May
14, 1842, p. 7 ). Since then ILN associated itself with the life of the royal family. There were
two representation of the Queen that ILN approached: the first configures the Queen as a
sovereign body, a symbol of the British nation, a political identity and the second one was
about her ” ordinariness ” and feminists. These two ways of presenting the Queen were not
always distinct because the Queen is always a sovereign body but the part that I like more is
where the Queen is presented as a woman.
As about Punch it began weekly circulation in 1841, one year before ILN. Punch
relied on financial well-being. It gained the greatest reputations among readers when Henry
Mayhew who gone on a research about ” London labour and London poor ”. Punch made fun
of pomposity, pretentiousness and hypocrisy of the rich, with other words Punch laughed at
everybody but the working class. The weekly often attacked the Queen’s dependence on her
German Prince or the tax-payers of frequent royal births. Also Punch wrote an article about
the Great Exhibition in 1851 that proved Prince Albert’s ” Englishness”. The article was
almost anti-Albertan. Even though Punch was not a republican organ it was just a way to
make people laugh without taking it too far to make a direct attack to the monarchy. Their
critique was mean to relieve the pressures of cultural inhibitions and taboo.
With other words ILN presented the realism and Punch the parody. Each of them
contributed on the culture of those decades. Both of them made their audience but is was not
based on their differences but on their tone. Also is began the reader contribution to rise the
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number of the readers and their response. It was called ” Letters to the editor ” an exchange
between the readers and editors.
What I think about this two perspectives is that criticism is good in some cases. The
Queen certainly knew that not everybody liked her but she acted like a queen should and
focused on the well-being of her country and family. I think that she read most of the articles
about her but she was not bothered by the negative ones because she was aware she is not
perfect and everything she did would not please everybody, but she tried to please the
majority of the people. Being a queen takes a strong personality to deal with the critics and
negativism. Only a strong woman can take the attacks at her or her family and also she has to
be ready to take every hit and manage them. Even though she had the power to shut down
every newspaper or magazine that criticized her or to accuse someone of high treason for
speaking bad thing about her she did not do it because she knew that this is a part of being a
monarch and it was a contribution to the country’s culture.
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CONCLUSION

In the end, being a queen has a lot of responsibilities. Queen Victoria showed
how much strength a woman needs. Even though she had a country to rule, she took care of
her family. Her children learnt from her what responsibilities a monarch has, how a royal
family should act in public and how crucial your title is. Her children turned good in life and
also her empire who was and still is one of the greatest powers around the globe.

A woman hardest job is to be a good mother. Victoria was a successful queen and
also an excellent mother even if she had help from the nurses, the butlers and the teachers; her
children were also educated by her. Even after her husband’s death when she was devastated
she never forgot she was a queen even if she was devastated. She ruled over a country where
corruption was present in Parliament but she tried to reduce it as much as she could.

To sum up, being a successful woman takes all the time but it is worth it if it is on
the right cause. We have many things to learn from Victoria, most important to be strong and
to not show your feelings to those you do not trust.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria
 ”Queen Victoria: A personal history” Cristopher Hibbert De Capo Press November
2001
 https://archive.org/details/queenvictoria002839mbp
 http://www.historyinanhour.com/2014/06/20/queen-victorias-accession-throne/
 http://www.avictorian.com/childhood_Queen_Victoria.html
 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Victoria-queen-of-United-Kingdom
 https://www.royal.uk/victoria-r-1837-1901