Britain's most powerful period was the "Empire of the Sun Never Sets", a period in which the British royal family was ruled by a queen who reigned for a total of 63 years (June 20, 1837 to January 22, 1901).
She was Queen Victoria, and her reign was also known to the British as the "Victorian era".
The Victorian era is considered the culmination of Britain's Industrial Revolution, when Britain's economy accounted for 70% of the world's total.
In the middle of the Victorian era, Britain reached the top of the world of great power,
At that time, its industrial production capacity was the first in the world,
Moreover, its foreign trade volume exceeds that of any other country in the world, and it can be described as the world's trade center.
The rise of the United States, that was years later.
Queen Victoria died in 1901 at the age of 82.
She and her husband have a total of 9 children, 5 daughters and 4 sons.
About her 5 daughters, I have previously written an article that interests you can read here:
Queen Victoria's 5 Daughters: A 35-Year-Old Died Early, a Childless
Throughout Victoria's entire life, she is actually lucky and unfortunate, but she has been resolved by her strength, optimism and wisdom.
Fortunately for her, her father was the king's fourth son, and there was little hope of succeeding to the throne, but history dramatically brought the throne before her, and she became a queen for a generation.
Her misfortune is that:
Less than 1 year old, her father died of illness,
At the age of 42, her husband, who had been assisting her in her career, died, and she has been alone ever since.
In old age, one of her daughters died young at the age of 35, and she tasted the pain of a white-haired man sending a black-haired man.
But she survived strongly and gracefully to the age of 82 and ushered Britain into an era of prosperity.
During the reign of Queen Victoria, China was also ruled by a woman for a long time, and this woman was Empress Dowager Cixi, who was born in November 1835.
In 1861, the 31-year-old Xianfeng Emperor died, after which Empress Dowager Cixi and Empress Xiaozhenxian began to bow to the government, and Empress Dowager Cixi was only 27 years old.
After tasting the taste of power, Empress Dowager Cixi was out of control, and until her death, she was the ruler behind the scenes.
At the end of 1908, the Guangxu Emperor died, Cixi chose the three-year-old Puyi as the new emperor, and soon after the 74-year-old Empress Dowager Cixi fell ill and died, her reign was declared over.
Counting down, Empress Dowager Cixi ruled for a total of 48 years.
Cixi was able to govern mainly because the emperor was still young, so she was able to hold power in her hands.
Cixi was a person who was very greedy for luxury and power, and her rule put the Qing Dynasty into an even more backward situation.
Queen Victoria, the rightful heir to the throne, created prosperity in Britain.
When Victoria was 18 years old, her uncle died of illness, so she became the first heir to the throne and became the Queen of England.
Since then, Victoria has engraved her name deeply in British history, and in general, Victoria is a very wise king,
During her reign, Britain's Industrial Revolution was in full swing, producing a wealth of industrial products and expanding the size of the city.
Moreover, Britain's navigation technology was also at the forefront of the world at that time, and Britain was called the "Empire of the Sun Never Sets".
Although England was very wealthy at the time, Victoria's personal life was not squandered, and the royal family's expenses were always within budget.
Queen Victoria is not tall, even a little short (actual height: 5 feet and 1.25 inches, about 1.55 meters),
But her tiny body was filled with tremendous energy.
While performing her complicated royal duties, Victoria still gave birth to 9 children with her husband, and all of them grew up healthy.
However, some historical records record that Victoria actually has some aversion to childbearing, which is estimated to be a child who has to spend a lot of energy to take care of, and she has a lot of business to do.
He lost his father at 8 months
Victoria was born when her father was 52 years old.
After Victoria was born, the elderly Prince Edward was very happy, and he originally wanted to give his daughter the name Elizabeth, but did not get the consent of the regent (his eldest brother) at the time.
In order to welcome the arrival of his daughter, Prince Edward renovated his house, and the room prepared for the little princess was very brightly colored and looked noble.
Prince Edward's life was very regular, he had thought that he would live a long life, and would grow up with his daughter until he saw her become queen, but fate was uncertain, he did not wait for Victoria's first birthday, and in January 1820, Edward died of wind and cold.
In this way, Victoria was less than 1 year old and had no father.
But fortunately, she has a strong and optimistic mother.
Victoria's mother, Named Victory, had a marriage before marrying her father Edward and had 2 children with her ex--- a son and a daughter.
So, Victoria has a half-sister who is 11 years older than her.
Victoria's mother not only insisted on breastfeeding her daughter, but also followed the latest scientific advice to vaccinate her against smallpox.
You know, smallpox was terrible in that era, and several emperors in China died of smallpox.
These two decisions benefited Little Victoria for the rest of her life.
Although she is relatively short, her physique has always been good. Victoria's mother was by her side until she became an adult, and Victoria once said:
"I never had my own room before I became an adult, I stayed in my mother's room all the time"
To be precise, her bed was next to her mother's bed.
From the current point of view, Victoria's mother was a little over-caring for her. However, combined with the historical environment at that time, her mother made some sense in doing so.
At that time, the palace where they lived was very large, and if a person lived in a room, one was worried about safety, and the other was worried that Victoria would be afraid.
If you have fear from an early age, it is obviously very detrimental to becoming a competent queen in the future.
Although Victoria later recalled that she did not have a separate room before the age of 18, she seemed to be overly restricted.
In fact, it was the full-time companionship of her mother and the governess before she became an adult, and her heart became very full and full of security.
Victoria's uncle, Leopold, had previously married Princess Charlotte, the only daughter of George IV (Victoria's uncle), but Princess Charlotte later died in childbirth.
Leopold was suddenly alone, but the British Parliament was extremely generous in deciding to allocate him (Victoria's uncle) 50,000 pounds a year for living expenses.
When Victoria was not yet an adult, the uncle funded £1,000 a year as a mother-daughter travel fund.
Later, Leopold became king of Belgium. Leopold had taught Victoria:
"High-status figures are a bit like actors on stage--- they have to try to please their audiences."
When Victoria was 5 years old, her uncle arranged for her to be a governess named Lai Chun. Lai Chun is considerate and meticulous to Victoria, but not strict. Her influence on Victoria was profound.
At first, the appearance of her face made Victoria very unaccustomed, and often made her feel tired, but then she gradually got used to it.
Shortly after celebrating his 18th birthday, on June 20, 1837, Victoria's uncle died.
When the news of the king's death came, Victoria was about to ascend the throne as queen. She needed to make a public appearance at a meeting of the enthronement committee, which was attended by about 220 people:
These include cabinet ministers, senior government officials and members of the old royal family.
Surprisingly, Victoria walked into the parlor alone, without anyone accompanying her. When she appeared in the parlor, everyone was surprised:
In front of them was a slender, fair-skinned young girl who looked only 15 years old.
She wears a long black dress, a simple hairstyle, and a shiny face that looks clean.
She sat down calmly on the throne, and then presided over the meeting calmly, as if she had been in this role for many years.
Victoria's performance at that time greatly exceeded the expectations of the people present at the time, and everyone was convinced of her.
After Victoria swore an oath to rule the kingdom according to law and custom, one by one, her ministers stepped forward, knelt down on one knee, swore allegiance, and then performed a kiss and hand salute.
After the meeting, she met with the mayor and representatives of the city of London, appearing sharp and decisive, very assertive, and calm, like an older queen.
From the day she became Queen, she no longer shared a room with her mother, and soon after, she moved to Buckingham Palace.
Nine months after Victoria ascended the throne, her cabinet began deliberating on a coronation for the populace, and after discussion, the budget for this coronation was £70,000, which is a compromise figure:
Victoria's uncle William IV, whose coronation was relatively shabby at the time, cost only £30,000,
George IV's coronation was ridiculously extravagant, costing £240,000.
The coronation procession has a centuries-old tradition, and since 1660, no single route has been as long as Victoria's.
According to statistics, at that time, 400,000 people came to London to watch the royal ceremony.
At the age of 17, Victoria met her cousin ----- Prince Albert for the first time, three months younger than her, and this meeting was arranged by her uncle.
Prince Albert had an older brother above him, so he didn't need to inherit the throne.
Albert had a bad childhood, and his mother, Louise, married the Duke of Coburg, 17, at the age of 16.
The Duke of Coburg still did not change his temperament after marriage, and Louise later went out of the wall. However, the Duke of Coburg felt that there was nothing wrong with his cheating, but his wife's cheating could not be forgiven, and he demanded that his wife leave the house and never see her two sons.
Later, Louise and her lover went to live in Paris, France, but died at the age of 30.
In this case, Albert's childhood was simply unbearable, not at all happy, and I don't know how many times he even wished to disappear from this world.
In his loneliness, Albert fell in love with reading, and he also liked music, the same as Victoria.
Albert was considered by the royal family to be the ideal marriage partner at the time:
He had ancient and pure blood flowing from him, handsome features, and a tall figure.
He studied at Bourne University for 18 months and spoke English as fluently as the UK.
When Victoria was 20 years old, she and her cousin Albert became engaged.
At this time, although Victoria was not tall, her eyes and skin were beautiful, and her figure was just right.
After the Queen's marriage, Parliament voted to give the Queen's husband £30,000 a year.
£30,000 is not a small amount, which is comparable to the full income of Albert's father, the Duchy of Coburg.
Queen Victoria's husband was initially a bit inaccessible to the royal family, but he had good knowledge.
He was interested in science, art, and philosophy.
Later, he finally found his own position, that is, to actively assist the queen, his wife.
By planning the Universal Exposition, the prince eventually made the queen praise him and let the queen discover her husband's talent.
The total proceeds of the fair that year amounted to 165,000 pounds, which was considerable at the time and greatly enriched the small treasury of the royal family.
The queen and her husband have a good relationship, the two often go for walks together in the morning, go on vacation together, and in many ways, the husband gives her a lot of good advice.
However, Prince Albert only lived to be 42 years old, and died young, and his youngest daughter was only 4 years old at the time.
Since her husband's death, Queen Victoria has been dressed in black, basically does not participate in any public social activities, and lives in seclusion.
Originally, when she was young, Queen Victoria enjoyed attending balls, and she even sometimes had fun at them until the early hours of the morning.
However, after her husband's death, she closed herself off.
She lost her daughter at the age of 59
Queen Victoria gave birth to 5 daughters and 4 sons after marriage.
The third child born to the second daughter, Princess Alice, Queen.
Princess Alice was very understanding, and before her maternal grandmother died, Alice spent a lot of time with her grandmother, often playing the piano for her in Frogmore's living room and taking care of her in the last stages of her life.
At the age of 19, Princess Alice married Prince Ludwig of Hesse, who later succeeded to the Grand Dukedom.
They married and gave birth to 2 sons and 5 daughters.
Prince Ludwig
After giving birth, Alice insisted on breastfeeding her baby in spite of royal traditions, a loving act that she did not want to be ridiculed by her mother, the Queen.
Alice was interested in the medical side, especially in obstetrics and gynecology.
At the suggestion of Nightingale, the mother of modern nursing, she established a nursing organization in Germany.
She had given birth to two sons, the youngest of whom was friedrich, who fell from a window as a child up to 20 feet tall.
The child, who had originally suffered from hemophilia, regained consciousness at one point after he fell out of the window, but the bleeding inside the brain could not be stopped.
After Friedrich's death, Alice focused more on her surviving son.
However, during these years, the husband had other women.
Later, the diphtheria epidemic spread in Britain, and Alice's eldest daughter Victoria was unfortunately infected, and later Alice's son was also infected.
Alice, on the other hand, took care of several sick children, and in order to encourage her son, she kissed her son, who was also suffering from diphtheria at the time.
She was very tired, which led to a decline in immunity, and after kissing the sick person, she was also infected with diphtheria.
On December 14, 1878, Princess Alice died of diphtheria at the age of 35.
This year, the Queen was only 59 years old, and she tasted the heartache of the white-haired people sending the black-haired people.
However, several of Princess Alice's children later married into the royal family:
One of their eldest daughters, Princess Victoria, Louise, later became Queen of Sweden;
The other daughter is the mother of Prince Philip of the United Kingdom;
The youngest daughter was Empress Alexandra, the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II;
Another daughter, Princess Eleni, marries the son of Princess Alice's sister;
The only son married the daughter of Princess Alice's younger brother Prince Alfred.
old age:
Victoria reached old age, became less restrained in eating, perhaps her husband died early, she was very lonely inside, and she could only rely on eating to relieve her boredom, so her figure was very blessed.
However, after the death of her husband, she appeared more independent in carrying out her duties as queen.
In the early 1860s, she told a visitor:
"When the prince was alive, he thought for me, and now I have to think for myself."
In the final stages of her life, she ruled over nearly a quarter of the world's population.
As a king, she did not appear to be aggressive, nor was she keen on lavish celebrations.
She simply dutifully performed the duties of a king, following laws and customs.
She knows how to listen, and she will use reason to analyze what decisions to make.
Undoubtedly, she was a wise monarch who made her ministers willing to serve her and made the British people love her.
Personally, she lost her father before she was 1, widowed at 42, and died a daughter at 59.
The misfortune of life will not be less because she is a queen.
At the age of 18 or the age of innocence and romance, she was put on the throne of the Queen, until she was 82 years old.
During her reign, England showed unprecedented prosperity, and in general she was a wise and wise king.
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Welcome to past highlights:
The king had 7 sons, but none of his male grandchildren succeeded to the throne, and only his granddaughters rose to the top
In 1953, at the coronation of the Queen of england, her husband first bowed to her and swore an oath, and then kissed the queen
The Queen of England's heart aches: Cousin Prince William and her husband's third sister and family all died in the air crash
The Queen's husband has 30 lovers? But it is certain that Prince Philip is truly in love with the Queen
The Queen of England has 4 children: 3 of them divorced, one is deeply involved in scandal, and the younger son is not careful