Posted
on February 10, 2016
When
one of my daughters was staying in London for the summer, she told me
that she wanted to take me to the V & A Museum. “The Viennay?”
I asked. “I've never heard of that. What sort of museum is it?”
At
that point, I spotted the logo in a brochure she was handing me:
“Oh!
The V and A! Victoria and Albert!”
I
loved the museum, a lot. But today isn't really about the V & A
Museum. Instead, it's about the couple themselves.

Victoria
and Albert were a good pair. The Queen depended more and more on
Albert's advice; he took on responsibilities in running
the household, their many estates, and the office; and he supported causes such as
the worldwide abolition of slavery and education reform.
The
two had nine children, all of whom lived to be adults, and several of
whom had very long lives. The oldest son eventually became King of
England, Edward VII; the oldest daughter became German Empress and
Queen of Prussia.
Victoria
and Albert had 42 grandchildren! Four of them became reigning
monarchs, and five of them were consorts of monarchs. Back then, it
was really common for royal and noble families across Europe to
arrange marriages among their children, to keep the power “all in
the family” and to try to keep the peace among nations and empires
through intermarriage and familial relationships. Sometimes Victoria
is called “the grandmother of Europe.”

The
Victoria era was a time of huge changes – England gradually became
a modern constitutional monarchy, the modern idea of Christmas as a
time of gift-giving largely developed, ideas of universal education
and literacy grew and spread, developments in printing technologies
made visual art and literature available even to the masses.
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