Thursday Thirteen #29

Monday is Victoria Day (a holiday) here in Canada. Here are thirteen things about about Queen Victoria!

1. Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1837-1901) and empress of India (1876-1901). Her reign was the longest of any monarch in British history and came to be known as the Victorian era.

2. Queen Victoria was born on the 24 May in 1819. Her father died eight months after she was born.

3. Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, London.

4. Victoria was christened 'Alexandrina Victoria'. However, from birth she was formally addressed as Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria of Kent.

5. Victoria's first language was German. At three years old she learned to speak English and French. Later she learned to speak Hindustani because she was ruler of India as well.

6. Victoria didn't go to school. She was taught at home. As well as learning languages, Victoria studied history, geography, and the Bible. She was taught how to play the piano and learned how to paint, a hobby that she enjoyed into her 60s.

7. Queen Victoria came to the throne when she was only 18 years of age on June 20, 1837. Her coronation was a year later on 28 June 1838.

8. At the age of 21, Victoria married her cousin, Albert of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, a German Prince. They married on the 10th February 1840 at the Chapel Royal in St. James's Palace.

9. Victoria had nine children, 40 grand-children and 37 great-grandchildren, scattered all over Europe. Most of Queen Victoria's children married into other royal families of Europe.

10. Queen Victoria reigned for exactly sixty-three years, seven months, and two days (June 20, 1837 - January 22, 1901). She is the longest ever serving monarch.

11. Victoria was the only child of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (the fourth son of King George lll), and Princess Victoria Mary Louisa of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

12. Her husband Albert died in 1861 at the young age of 42. She mourned his death for almost 10 years. For the rest of her reign she wore black.

13. Queen Victoria was succeeded by her eldest son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (the current queen's great grandfather). He became King Edward VII.

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