Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom in 1837 at age 18 after the deaths of her uncles left her first in line to the throne as the only child of the Duke of Kent. She had a secluded upbringing under the supervision of her mother. Her first Prime Minister and tutor was Lord Melbourne, who helped develop her support of the Whig party. In 1840 she married her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and had nine children. After Albert's death in 1861 she entered a long period of mourning that saw criticism of her withdrawal from public duties. Her reign saw periods of reform, the growth of the British Empire, and technological changes like her first train trip in 1842.

2. Alexandrina Victoria was
born on May 24, 1819.
She was the daughter of
Prince Edward, Duke of
Kent and German
Princess Victoire of SaxeCoburg.
She was not an evident
successor to the throne.
She became Queen
beause she was an only
child and because her 3
uncles died with no heirs.
Victoria received a secluded
education, following the Kensington
system under the tight supervision of her
omnipresent mother.

4. LORD MELBOURNE
(1779-1848)
Melbourne was Victoria‟s
first Prime Minister and
tutor until 1841.
He was a Whig and
developed Victoria‟s
support of the party
although Prince Albert
would later advise her to be
more apolitical.
Melbourne’s major act:
Dissenters' Marriage Bill
1836: legalised civil marriage
outside of the Church

5. On October 15, 1839, Victoria proposes to Prince Alber
Their Wedding was celebrated on February 10, 1840

6. “ 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

7. In 1861, Prince Albert died at only 42. His
death plunged the Queen in a deep
mourning. She lived secluded and started
toneglect her royal duty. The people
knew/saw nothing about the Queen.
Rumors concerning her mental stability
started to emerge, radical voices started
to question the utility of the monarchy…

8. John Brown, the devoted servant who devotedly accompanied the Queen during her
mourning.

9. On Wednesday 13th June
1842, Queen Victoria became the
first reigning British monarch to
travel by railway !
Victoria would continue to use the
railways regularly.
Victoria's use of the train helped
make it popular with both the less
fortunate and the priviledged classes
of Britain.
Inside Queen Victoria's drawing room on the Royal Train
A locomotive decorated for
Victoria‟s Golden Jubilee
==>
"The Queen's First Trip by
Railway”. 1842. Illustrated
London News.
<==

10. THE GREAT EXHIBITION 1851
The Koh-I-Noor diamond on view at the Great Exhibition

11. Victoria as a dedicated mother
“I don't dislike babies, though I think very young ones rather disgusting”.
“An ugly baby is a very nasty object - and the prettiest is frightful”.

12. Queen Victoria with Princess Beatrice

13. Queen Victoria on Feminism (excerpt of her diary):
“I am most anxious to enlist
everyone who can speak or write to
join in checking this mad, wicked
folly of „Women‟s Rights,‟ with all
its attendant horrors, on which her
poor feeble sex is bent, forgetting
every sense of womanly feelings
and propriety. Feminists ought to
get a good whipping. Were woman
to „unsex‟ themselves by claiming
equality with men, they would
become the most hateful, heathen
and disgusting of beings and would
surely perish without male
protection.”

14. A Few Satirical Cartoons :
(The Queen‟s bathing machine)

15. Cartoon from Punch:
Disraeli prososing to exchange
Victoria‟s old Crown with the a Crown
embodying the Empire
(you can read „India‟ on the crown held
by the character on the left)

17. The Queen‟s Diamond Jubilee 1897:

18. The Queen‟s Funeral:
On 22 January 1901, Queen Victoria died at Osborne. Her funeral was held at St
George’s Chapel, Windsor

19. Robert Peel was a
Conservative stateman
was was the Queen‟s
PM between 1841 and
1846.
The repeal of the Corn
Law didn‟t get the
support of his fellow
Conservatives
"Albert said Sir Robert's
speech had been very
able, his proposal very
comprehensive and
excellent," Queen
Victoria wrote. "He had
been much cheered by
the opposition but was
received in complete
silence by the
Conservatives."

22. NO PERSECUTION NO INTIMIDATION !

23. William Ewart Gladstone (1809 – 1898)
was a British Liberal politician.
He served 4 times as PM between 1868
and 1894.
Gladstone's time saw many reforms
including the Disestablishment of the
Church of Ireland and the
introduction of secret voting as well
as the Third Reform Act.
Gladstone had poor
relationships with the Queen
who said in her diary “He
always addresses me as if I were a
public meeting”
and Disraeli who called him
« God’s only mistake »

24. « THE SUN NEVER SETS ON THE BRITISH EMPIRE »

25. EMPRESS OF INDIA 1877
The Munshi
Abdul Karim
who became
The Indian
intendant of
Victoria for 15
Years and
gained her
affection.

26. The other side of India‟s colonization …

27. Prestige and wealth abroad, poverty at home

28. Bibliographie:
An illustrated history of Britain, David McDowall, Longman
Queen Victoria: First Media Monarch, John Plunkett
www.punch.photoshelter.com
www.royal.gov.uk/
muse.jhu.edu/journals/vic/
http://www.victorianweb.org/