She ’s the monarchassociated withBritain ’s great age of industrial and economic forward motion , and mountains , lake , roads and city all over the world are name for her . But Queen Victoria was a complex character , and neither herpath to royaltynor her sovereignty itself were simple or straightforward .
Born May 24 , 1819 , Victoria became the Queen of theUnited Kingdomof Great Britain and Ireland at just 18 age old and she went on to dominate for 63 years . The British Empire expanded under her linguistic rule and she take the title of Empress of India in 1877 . And while you may be well aware of her unprecedented linguistic rule and her marriage ceremony to Prince Albert , you may not know what in truth made Victoria tick . Here are 10 facts about the " Grandmother of Europe . "
1. Her Real Name Wasn’t Victoria
In type it helps combat her straight - laced repute , Queen Victoria , who was actually name Alexandrina Victoria ( for her godfather , czar Alexander I ) had anawesome sobriquet : ' Drina .
2. She Had a Famously Strict Childhood
One fact about Queen Victoria that ’s often state is that her childhood was less than idyllic . Her father , Edward , Duke of Kent ( the quaternary Logos of George III ) died of pneumonia less than a year after her giving birth . Victoria ’s mother , aware that her girl may have to take the commode at a young age , felt a nonindulgent code of discipline was the only surefire way to ensure the young lady ’s potential royal achiever . The Duchess engage what is now known as the " Kensington System , " a stiff set of rules designate to keep the lady friend ’s morals and reason in top shape . Among the many restrictions , Victoria had to slumber in her mother ’s room , follow a specific fitness regimen and wipe out a strictly controlled diet .
But according to experts , Victoria ’s no - nonsense raising may not have been such an anomaly . " do it to say , there were many forms of experimentation with childrens ' educational activity in the nineteenth century , " suppose Jamie L. Bronstein , prof of history at New Mexico State University . " [ Nineteenth - century philosopher ] John Stuart Mill ’s Church Father , James Mill , also bring up him in a conservatory surround , leave in his having a nervous breakdown ; Bronson Alcott , father of Louisa May Alcott , had his own educational theories that he tried out on baby . "
3. She Was Small In Stature, But Mighty In Every Way
She may have been the pouf of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Empress of India , but the iconic monarch was a petite powerhouse at just 4 invertebrate foot , 11 inches ( 1.2 meters , 28 centimeters ) , improbable .
4. Her Ascent To the Throne Was Remarkable
It take a passel of unexpected twists and turn for Victoria to shore the crown at the age of 18 . At parentage , Victoria was fifth in line for the potty , making her a somewhat unlikely contender . When her Padre died in 1820 , her three surviving uncles were ahead of her insuccession , but none of them went on to have legitimate heirs who survived childhood . When King William IV , brother of and successor to Victoria ’s grandfather , George III , go bad in June 1837 , Victoria assumed the function of poof at just 18 long time old .
5. She Didn’t Just Wear the Crown; She Got Stuff Done
" There ’s a popular perception of Victoria as the ' idealistic ' constitutional monarch — meaning that she hug a strictly ceremonial use in political science , " Arianne Chernock , associate professor in the Department of History at Boston University and the writer of " The Right to Rule and the Rights of cleaning woman : Queen Victoria and the Women ’s Movement , " says via e-mail . " But in fact , Victoria was quite engaged in political processes , and exerted pressing on issues close to her pith ( especially takings refer to imperial government activity ) . This was true both before and after Albert ’s death in 1861 . Even when she was in mourning , she followed affairs of state tight . "
6. Her Controversial Political and Social Views Were Nuanced and Mysterious
" There ’s also a pop perception of Victoria as a ruler who was outspoken in her opposition to cleaning lady ’s rights , " Chernock says . " While it is true that in private ( her correspondence ) , she kvetch about the’mad , wicked folly’of women ’s rights , she never made these view public during her lifetime . As such , most Victorians did n’t know what she thought about women ’s issues . For this reason , she was something of a white screen on to which different group could throw their own attitudes and beliefs . "
7. She Was the First Known Carrier of Hemophilia, the “Royal Disease”
Although she was the first in her family tocarry hemophilia B , a rip coagulation disorder , Victoria was n’t actually a haemophile . However , because of her retentive list of descendents circularize across Europe , the disorder was patently passed among royal family throughout the continent , and a 2009 study even linked the hemophilia mutation to Russia ’s regal family , the Romanovs .
8. She Was a Serious Trendsetter
If you ’ve ever fallen down a Pinterest rabbit hole , drivel over white wedding clothes in the spring and admire Instagram - worthy Christmas trees in the wintertime , you have Victoria to thank for both of those time - take up and age - older trend . According toVoguemagazine , Victoria made it well-defined she desire a pristine white dress for her nuptials to Albert , a color scheme that was n’t the norm at the sentence . It ’s not that she want to appear angelic ; she really just wanted to glint a spotlight on the surgical gown ’s arresting lacework . She also made it clear that she want no one else to bear white at the case . As for the Xmas tree , Victoria and her hubby popularized the tradition in 1848 when Albert sent decorated trees to schools and army barracks around Windsor .
" Because she was the first milkweed butterfly in England to reign in the age of the steam - power mass media , people knew more about the daily life of the monarchy to a much greater degree than they had about premature monarchs , " Bronstein says . " As a new queen and the first reign queen since Queen Anne over a hundred before , people were interested in her aliveness , her manner , her identity element as a female parent and wife , as well as a monarch . And her sovereignty coincided with the greatest extent of the British empire , so she elicited global enthrallment . "
9. Despite What You’ve Heard, She Wasn’t Much of a Prude
Google the parole " puritan " and one of its top synonyms is — you gauge it — " Victorian . " But Bronstein says that words connection is n’t really fair or accurate . " People seem to associate the priggish era with primness , " Bronstein says . " She was n’t a prude and her nine children — much more than an ' inheritor and a spare ' — are testimonial to that fact . "
10. Her Descendents Eventually Battled One Another
" Because she did have so many children , her children marry into royal families all over Europe , " Bronstein says . " By the time of WWI , Victoria ’s grandchildren included both Kaiser Wilhelm II and King William V , the empress of Russia , the world-beater of Spain , the queen of Norway , the queen of Greece … and in all probability others that I am forget right now . So her grandchild commanded armies on both sides in WWI . "
