Women on the throne.. Queen Victoria, grandmother of the European continent

Modern history has not known a queen who was able to bring about a major change for her people as Queen Victoria did during her rule of Britain, where she witnessed great development and expansion on the scientific, cultural, military and economic levels, and was able to establish the “empire on which the sun never sets.” With her wisdom, she was also able to spread her nine sons throughout the continent of Europe to marry into the most important royal and ruling families, until her grandchildren spread throughout the old continent, so she was given the title “Grandmother of the European Continent.”Birth and upbringing

Victoria was born on May 24, 1819, at Kensington Palace in London. Her father was Prince Edward, the fourth son of King George III, while her mother was Princess Victoria, who was of German descent. The little girl was named Victoria Alexandrina, after her godfather, Tsar Alexander I of Russia.

Victoria's upbringing was marked by much strictness and order, due to the events that put her in line for the throne, as she was fifth in line, but things changed quickly when her father died a year after her birth, as a result of chronic pneumonia, and shortly after that her grandfather King George died and her uncle William IV was appointed King of England, so Victoria became the heir to the throne of the country while she was a young child, because none of her uncles had legitimate children who could be placed in line for the succession to the throne.Victoria's mother began to deal with the idea that her daughter would eventually rule the country, so she hired a courtier named John Conroy to oversee her education and upbringing. He established a system that was later followed as a system for raising the children of kings and princes, which was the Kensington System, which consisted of a set of specific and strict rules that were followed with the utmost precision, so that Victoria was completely isolated from life outside the palace and placed under complete supervision in order to prepare her to become the country's queen.Victoria on the throne of England

In June 1837, William IV, King of England and Victoria's uncle, died at the age of 71, and the 18-year-old girl became Queen of the United Kingdom, becoming the first queen to reside in Buckingham Palace. Queen Victoria's coronation was accompanied by great joy among the English public; due to the enormous popularity that the young queen enjoyed since she was the crown prince, which increased after that; due to the good relationship between Victoria and the English people as a result of her moderate policies and the great economic openness that the country witnessed during her reign.

In 1840, Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, the love of her life and the source of her great happiness. He later became her political advisor, in addition to being a magic solution to get rid of the control of Queen Victoria's mother, who lived with her in the same palace, in addition to getting rid of the control of Lord Melbourne, her advisor and minister, and the man of strong character and great experience who completely controlled her from the time she assumed power until her marriage to Prince Albert.

Queen Victoria was the target of seven failed assassination attempts during her reign, the first in 1840 by Edward Oxford, then two years later by John Francis, who was convicted of high treason and exiled for life, and then another attempt by John William. She was also the target of an assassination attempt by the Irishman William Hamilton, but the attempt in 1850 by Robert Bate, a retired officer, resulted in severe bruising on her forehead, and the officer was captured and exiled for seven years.Although Queen Victoria hated childbirth and breastfeeding, she gave birth to nine children from her German husband, Prince Albert, whom she considered her heavenly happiness because of her great love for him, which made her write in her diaries that she had never felt this happiness with anyone else.

Queen Victoria was the first to wear a white dress at a wedding, which later became a custom in most countries of the world. Her nine children also married into royal families and families on the European continent, resulting in 42 grandchildren for Queen Victoria.

Some of these grandchildren and children ruled different places on the Old Continent, most notably: the King of Prussia, the Emperor of Germany, the Kaiser (Wilhelm II), the Queen (Elizabeth II), the Prince (Philip), the King of Romania (Michael I), the King of Greece (Constantine II), as well as the King of Spain (Juan Carlos I), the King of Sweden (Carl XVI), the King of Norway (Harald V), in addition to Queen (Margrethe II).

It is also mentioned that Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, died in 1861 at the age of 42 due to typhoid, which caused Queen Victoria to lose her balance, who lived in mourning for her husband, which prompted her to wear black for the rest of her life. She also entered into a long isolation that lasted ten full years until she was called (the widow of Windsor Castle). This period also affected Queen Victoria's popularity, and prompted a number of popular movements to demand a republican system. The state of depression also prompted the queen to eat a lot of food, which caused her to gain a lot of weight until she returned after a long period of protests and lack of confidence in the monarchy, to start again to appear and tour and build foreign and domestic policy and fix things quickly.Queen Victoria's Achievements

There is no doubt that Queen Victoria's reign, which approached 64 years, which was the second longest reign in British history, is the most prosperous and powerful period in the history of England ever, and that period was called the "Victorian Era", so many historians believe that the Victorian Era had an impact on Europe and the world, as the Industrial Revolution reached its peak, and Britain extended to the rest of the Old Continent, and then to the United States, which can be called the era of the first industrial revolution that moved Britain from being an agricultural country to one of the poles of industry in the world.

The era of Queen Victoria witnessed a number of innovations, inventions, and great scientific and technological development, as there was a boom in medicine and resistance to epidemics, and the emergence of a number of educational reforms that aimed to eliminate illiteracy in England, as history records that the Victorian Era moved Britain from the stage of desire to learn and eliminate illiteracy to the stage of good education, the prosperity of reading, and the rise of the level of culture among the classes of the people.The internal reforms carried out by Queen Victoria also had a major impact on political life in England after that, especially the (Reform Act) issued in 1832, which led to major changes in the electoral system and increased political awareness and social participation.

As for external openness, the British Empire reached its greatest expansion during the reign of Queen Victoria, until it came close to owning a quarter of the Earth's land, and Britain became the empire on which the sun never sets, which led to a huge increase in resources, tightening control over trade routes, and Britain gained the upper hand in political and economic dealings with the countries of the world.

Queen Victoria is also remembered for being the first queen to ride a train, in 1842 when she was not yet twenty-three years old, which prompted her to establish the largest railway network in the world. She is also credited with the title of Empress of India since 1877, and was called the "Grandmother of Europe", and overcame a number of assassination attempts and protests demanding the establishment of a republican system, and strengthened the idea of ​​the monarchy in the minds and hearts of the British in a way that had never happened before.Disadvantages of Queen Victoria's reign

Due to Queen Victoria's long reign of nearly 64 years, she went through a number of crises, most notably the death of her husband, Prince Albert, which led to her isolation for ten years, a period that was considered a major weakness in Queen Victoria's rule, and with it increased cries and demands to establish a republican system and eliminate the monarchy in the country.

It is said that at that stage the queen lost much of her focus and awareness, to the point that she was talking to herself, and closing the door for hours to talk to the picture of Prince Albert, which prompted people to call her (the widow of Windsor Castle), and sometimes (the mad widow).

The famine that struck Ireland in 1845, which lasted for about four years, is considered one of the worst crises in Queen Victoria's reign, as about a million people died, in addition to the emigration of another million from Ireland; As a result of the spread of the potato blight, which is known in history as (the Great Famine), which led to the title of (the Famine Queen) being given to Queen Victoria, who found no solution other than donating a huge amount of her own money to combat that famine.

Another thing that is attributed to the reign of Queen Victoria is the widespread spread of opium in Britain, which many historians consider evidence of the great corruption and social dissolution that also reached the palaces of princes, nobles and senior politicians in Britain, although Queen Victoria sought greatly to establish and impose a set of moral values ​​on English society such as friendship, responsibility, respect for the church and Sunday.The Secret Life of Queen Victoria

Despite Queen Victoria's deep grief over her late husband, Prince Albert, a number of stories and tales were woven and circulated about the secret life of the queen who did not lose her emotional temperament. These stories refer to a relationship between Queen Victoria and her Scottish servant (John Brown), who appeared in her life about three years after the death of Prince Albert. Although he was seven years younger than her, he was remarkably close to the queen. Their strong relationship was a path of comment and ridicule, to the point that Queen Victoria called her (Mrs. Brown) after she was nicknamed (Widow of Windsor Castle).

After a long relationship that lasted about twenty years between Queen Victoria and her servant John Brown, Brown died in 1883, but the king could not forget him easily, to the point that she ordered in her will to place a lock of his hair in her grave, in addition to a ring he had given her. Historical sources mention that John Brown's lock of hair was covered with flowers so that members of the royal family would not see it during the queen's funeral.

In 1887, Queen Victoria had another relationship with her Indian servant Abdul Karim, who was tasked with teaching her Urdu. She treated him kindly and brought him close to her, which angered and upset the royal family and a number of statesmen. However, the man’s relationship with the Queen of England continued for about 14 years until Queen Victoria’s death in 1901, as documented in a film titled (Victoria and Abdul Karim) that was shown in 2017.Queen Victoria Quotes

(Marriage gives a man a status that nothing else can give him.)

(I do not hate children, though I think little children are very disgusting.)

(Great events make me calm and quiet, but quiet things make me nervous.)

(It is not what people think of me that matters, but what I think of them.)

(A man hitting a woman is the most barbaric thing, and I think, as everyone thinks, that any attempt by fire, magic, or deceit is at least more thorough and more courageous.)

(I shall never forget my dear Albert, whose passion and passion gave me a feeling of divine love and happiness that I never wanted to experience before.)

Queen Victoria's Death

Queen Victoria had lived in mourning since the death of her husband, Prince Albert, and as she grew older, rheumatism began to make it difficult for her to move, and her eyesight began to decline noticeably, which led her to write her will in 1897. She requested a military funeral, and not to wear black when Her death and its replacement in white, and she also requested that her wedding veil be worn by Prince Albert, in addition to a set of mementos that she requested to be buried with her, such as Prince Albert's robe, and a set of jewelry, including a ring given to her by John Brown, in addition to a lock of John Brown's hair.

At the beginning of January 1901, Queen Victoria began to feel lethargic and dizzy, which did not leave her for days, until she died on January 22, 1901, at the age of 81, with her son Edward VII and her grandson Wilhelm II by her side.

Her funeral was held on February 2 and she was buried next to her husband, Prince Albert, in Windsor Park after a reign of 63 years and seven months, an era that bore her name and was associated with many achievements, inventions, discoveries, and political and social changes.