She
gave her name to an era—a period of great change in Britain and the
world. It is not uncommon for an era to be named after a monarch—but
THIS monarch ruled longer than any other British king or queen, and
longer than any queen in the world.
Born
on this date in 1819, Queen Victoria ruled for more than 63 years!
And
during her reign, the British Empire expanded greatly, so that Queen
Victoria not only had the title of Queen of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, but she was also Empress of India.
The
empire spread all over the world, with dominions, colonies,
protectorates, mandates, and other territories administered by the
UK. During its heyday, it was often said that “the sun never sets
on the British Empire.”
Victoria
ruled so long, her empire celebrated her Golden Jubilee, the 50th
anniversary of her crowning...and ten years later, the empire
celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, her 60th anniversary. This
year, Elizabeth II is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee—the only
other monarch of the United Kingdom to rule as long. As a matter of
fact, Elizabeth II has a chance of passing Victoria as the
longest-ruling monarch, if she lives another four years. (She's 86
right now. It definitely could happen!)
It's
easy to imagine Queen Victoria as a woman very different than most
other women, but she was probably quite an ordinary woman who just
happened to be born to power. She ditched her first name,
Alexandrina, at age 18 when she was crowned queen; she liked to read,
dance, go to the opera and theater, and laugh; she leaned on advisors
to help her rule, but she also gave her strong opinions; she fell in
love with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and she eventually
married him; she adored her nine children and her 34 grandchildren.
Explore
some more...
“Wart Games” has gathered some links and online resources about Queen
Victoria.
Also
on this date:
No comments:
Post a Comment