God Save the Queen
The young princess, Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, daughter of Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent and Strathearn and Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld turned 18 years of age on the morning May 24 1837. It was from this day forth that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland had avoided falling under a regency for the future Queen. At her birth, Victoria of Kent was fifth in line for succession to the throne after her father and his brothers – George, the Prince Regent, Prince Frederick, the Duke of York and Albany and Prince William, the Duke of Clarence. The Prince Regent and York were estranged from their wives (Caroline of Brunswick and Frederica Charlotte of Prussia, respectively) and unlikely to bare further children. On January 23 1820, Victoria’s father, the Duke of Kent and Strathearn died of pneumonia – Victoria was not even one year old. Six days later, on January 29 1820, King George III – Victoria’s grandfather – died having long suffered from cataracts, rheumatism, dementia and porphyria. George had steered Great Britain during the Seven Years War against France, Austria and Russia, the American War of Independence, the tumultuous French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars until his son, the Prince of Wales was named Prince Regent when George’s mental health deteriorated, likely due to dementia and porphyria. The source of this hereditary disease of the blood is still unknown (as is the source of Victoria’s haemophilia). The Prince Regent was crowned King at Westminster on July 19 1821. His wife Caroline was not crowned as Queen, though was present. George’s relationship with his wife had become strained and she left Britain for the Continent in 1814, but returned for her husband’s coronation in an attempt to assert her right as Queen Consort – which her husband and his Parliament had refused to recognise. He too died in 1830, and his brother York had died in 1827. This left Clarence as King William IV. William’s children had died in 1819 and 1821 – though he fathered many illegitimate children. He and his wife Adelaide failed to produce any heirs and so the Regency Act of 1830 named Victoria of Kent as heiress presumptive to the throne of Great Britain and Ireland.
On the morning of June 20 1837, King William IV died. Victoria was awoken by her mother that William Howley, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Francis, Lord Conyngham, wished to see her. Canterbury and Conyngham informed her of the death of her uncle, at 12 minutes past 2 the same morning and that as a result Victoria was Queen. The Kingdom of Hanover in Westphalia, which has been in personal union under Britain since 1714, had Salic law and as such, Victoria did not inherit Hanover as well as Britain. Hanover went to her father’s unpopular younger brother, the Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale. Victoria was crowned on June 28 1838 and took up residence in Buckingham Palace – the first monarch to do so. Originally called Buckingham House, the core of the modern Palace, was constructed by John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1703, during the reign of the last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne. Buckingham House was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a private residence for his wife Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – and from then known as “The Queen’s House”. In 1820, George IV began the renovations which turned into full expansion in 1826 when George decided to turn the house into a grand palace. William IV considered converting the palace into the new Houses of Parliament after the Palace of Westminster was destroyed by a fire in 1834. Due to the social convention of the time, Victoria, still unmarried, was required to live with her mother was consigned to an apartment in Buckingham Palace.
The subject of Victoria’s marriage was raised by her uncle, Leopold, the King of the Belgians since 1831, who sought to marry Victoria to his nephew, Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent and Strathearn, Albert’s father, Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and King Leopold were all children of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and his second wife Augusta, Countess of Reuss-Ebersdorf – making Victoria and Albert first cousins. Leopold arranged for his sister to invite her Coburg relatives to visit in May 1836 for the purpose of introducing Albert and Victoria. However, Victoria’s uncle disapproved of a Coburg marriage and instead presented Alexander of the Netherlands – the Prince of Orange’s second son – as a suitor for Victoria. In May 1836, the Coburgs visited Britain and Victoria was introduced to Albert. She described him as “extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful.” In contrast, she described poor Alexander as “very plain”. It is clear that Victoria was taken with Albert and wrote to her “best and kindest advisor”, Uncle Leopold thanking him for introducing her to Albert, whom she described as “the prospect of great happiness”. Albert visited Britain once more in October 1839 and she was fallen for him. On October 15 1839, Victoria proposed to her “dearest dearest dear Albert”. On February 10 1840, Victoria and Albert were married in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace. Now married, Victoria was no longer required to live with her mother and the Duchess of Kent and Strathearn was evicted from Buckingham Palace to Ingestre House in Belgravia. In 1840, the Duchess was given Clarence and Frogmore Houses after the death of Princess Augusta, Victoria’s aunt.
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