LISTQueenVictoria(royalcollectionPUBLICDOMAIN)1 RoyalCollection

Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria, one of history’s most celebrated monarchs, reigned as Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for 63 years (1837-1901).

Warm hearted and lively, Victoria had a gift for drawing and painting; educated by a governess at home, she was a natural diarist and kept a regular journal throughout her life. On William IV's death in 1837, she became Queen at the age of 18.

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.

Her marriage to Prince Albert produced nine children between 1840 and 1857. Most of her children married into other Royal families of Europe.

Victoria and her family travelled and were seen on an unprecedented scale, thanks to transport improvements and other technical changes such as the spread of newspapers and the invention of photography. Victoria was the first reigning monarch to use trains, she made her first train journey in 1842.

Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, on 22 January 1901 after a reign which lasted almost 64 years, then the longest in British history.
 

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Victoria’s church

St Mildred, Whippingham is Queen Victoria’s church. She had worshipped in the old church, dating from before the Domesday Book, but wanted a new and more splendid church for her family. Prince Albert worked with the architect to produce the beautiful and distinct design. Princess Beatrice was married to Prince Henry of Battenberg here in 1885. He died aged only 38 and Queen Victoria named the Battenberg Chapel in his memory, where he is buried in a magnificent sarcophagus. When Princess Beatrice died in 1944 she was buried with him.

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ScottishNationalGallery

Beloved friend

Crathie Kirk is popular with visitors due to its proximity to Balmoral and Crathie's granite kirk, opposite the gates of Balmoral Castle on the main road. It was built in 1895 with the proceeds of a bazaar held at Balmoral. From 1848, Crathie Kirk has been a place of worship for Queen Victoria and every British monarch since. Queen Victoria's personal attendant, John Brown was buried in Crathie Kirk graveyard.

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RoyalCollection

Proudest of my life

The coronation for Queen Victoria was held on Thursday, the 28th of June in 1838. It was a festive day for England when Queen Victoria went forth from her palace to the coronation at Westminster Abbey. Tens of thousands of her delighted and affectionate subjects thronged the streets along which the procession passed. Victoria kept a journal and wrote of her coronation day ‘I shall remember this day as the proudest of my life’.

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RoyalCollection

Best beloved

Victoria and Albert were married at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace at 1pm on Monday 10 February 1840. Victoria wore a white dress, which was seen as unusual at the time and she is often credited with the ‘white wedding’ trend. She loved her wedding dress so much that she wore it over and over again in different guises, she was even buried with her wedding veil covering her face. Many of her children chose to be married at Windsor, particularly during the Queen’s reclusive widowhood.

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LibraryOfCongress

A family home

In 1862 Sandringham was purchased for Queen Victoria’s eldest son, Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales and has been home to four generations of the Royal Family. The church of St Mary Magdalene is short walk from the house, the family attend services at the church when they are in residence and royal children are traditionally christened here. The church has memorials to many members and relations of the Royal Family from Queen Victoria onwards.

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NChadwick

Flower & church

In the 1830s, the young Princess Victoria was a frequent visitor to Tunbridge Wells. She enjoyed riding her pet donkey, called Flower, along Church Road and attended the races on the Common. In 1835, then aged 16, Princess Victoria attended worship at King Charles the Martyr church with her mother. They sat in the north gallery, where there is now a brass plaque commemorating Victoria's visit and a framed sketch by an anonymous member of the congregation at the time.

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Welsh services

In the 1870s St Benet Paul’s Wharf in the City of London was regarded as redundant and scheduled for demolition. Eminent Welsh Anglicans petitioned Queen Victoria to be allowed to use the building for services in Welsh. In 1879, Her Majesty granted the right to hold Welsh services here in perpetuity and this has continued ever since, with a service each Sunday morning.

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Seaside holidays

Before she became Queen, a young princess Victoria spent much of her time visiting Kent. Ramsgate was a popular holiday destination with the gentry in the 1800s. Victoria first came to Ramsgate aged four with her mother, she was allowed to play with other children and have donkey rides on the beach. Whilst there they worshipped at St Laurence, the east window is a memorial to her and the clock was installed to commemorate her Diamond Jubilee.

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SimonHarriyott