1
Hintergrundtext
Bayern2Radio - Schulfunk
Queen Victoria and Her Age
Englisch I. ab 3. Lernjahr
Autoren: Ingrid Sacher und David Ingram
The Victorians
In the early 21st century, people associate the “Victorian Age“ with many different
things. Some think of the prudishness, taboos and moral rectitude that were typical of an
era for which virtuous behaviour meant the highest achievement. Politically-minded
people might think of the conquest of India, the colonisation of Canada, the Boer War or
the Opium Wars. Others think of Crystal Palace, industrial inventions and discoveries,
fog-filled London streets and Jack the Ripper. People who care about social issues think
of the social reforms, the important new legislation to help the poor and to combat child
labour, and also the beginnings of women's suffrage. Yet behind all of this was a small
but very powerful woman: Victoria, the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, and Empress of India.
Queen Victoria and Her Role in British History
Few women have played such a great role in British history. Victoria ran a whole empire
and a whole era was named after her. During her lifetime London became the most
important metropolis in the world, a centre of trade, manufacturing, banking and
transport, and its population swelled from 2 to 5 million inhabitants. Victoria lived for 81
years. Although she once wrote: “We women are not made for governing”, she ruled a
kingdom that became a huge empire for 63 years, and celebrated her Golden Jubilee in
1887 and even a Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Her official title – “By the Grace of God, of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith” –
became even more impressive when she received the title “Empress of India”.
She ruled over the British Empire, which at one point covered one quarter of the surface
of the globe – an empire “on which the sun never set”, and was the longest-reigning
British monarch. Indeed, her empire grew so quickly that Lord Palmerston, her Foreign
Secretary, once moaned that he was forced to “keep looking the damned places up on
the map”!
A great number of places were named after her: Victoria Falls, Victoria in British
Columbia, Canada, Victoria Island, the state of Victoria in Australia etc... During her
reign Britain reached the height of its commercial, political and economic leadership. Her
age was characterised by rapid political, social and economic changes: the invention of
photography, construction of the railways, and so on. Even though she was a firm
believer in the monarchy and determined to retain political power, Victoria also presided
over the transformation of the sovereign's political role into today's ceremonial one.
Victoria's Personality
A shy and promising young girl who was forced to lead quite a solitary life until she
came of age, Victoria developed into a very complex personality. She had several
talents: she was quite a good writer and even published two books, was a skilled
amateur artist who created excellent sketches and good water colours, and she was
also a gifted singer. The great composer Felix Mendelssohn praised her beautiful voice
© Bayerischer Rundfunk
2
which he said was “the finest singing voice of any amateur” he had heard. Despite these
talents, however, Victoria was a very mature and serious child. Throughout her life, she
worked hard and took her royal duties very seriously. Since she kept a regular diary, we
know that she tried very hard to prepare herself for her future role as queen:
“Today is my eighteenth birthday! How old! And yet how far am I from being what I
should be. I shall from this day take the firm resolution to study with renewed assiduity,
to keep my attention always well fixed on whatever I am about, and to strive to become
every day less trifling and more fit for what, if Heaven wills it, I'm some day to be.”
Before her coronation she wrote:
“I look forward to the event which it seems is likely to occur soon, with calmness and
quietness. I am not alarmed at it, and yet I do not suppose myself quite equal to all; I
trust, however, that with good-will, honesty, and courage I shall not, at all events, fail.” At
the same time, however – and this fact is often ignored because it seems so “unVictorian” – the young Queen was also very fond of going out to parties, dances and the
theatre, and Lord Melbourne, her most trusted advisor, encouraged her to do so. It was
only after she married Albert that she stopped all the socialising, largely because he
disapproved. Albert was conservative in his politics and had a strong influence on the
Queen's political ideas.
Victoria loved her people and felt protective towards them, especially people in the
country regions. She also had a soft spot for her troops, becoming very concerned
whenever wars arose. For instance, when British soldiers fought in the Crimean War of
1854-6, Victoria wrote: “I feel so proud of my dear noble Troops, who, they say, bear
their privations, and the sad disease which still haunts them, with such courage and
good humour... I regret exceedingly not being a man and to be able to fight in the war.
There is no finer death for a man than on the battlefield.” The Queen frequently visited
crippled soldiers in the hospitals, and introduced the Victoria Cross for gallantry.
Yet with all these positive traits, her personality was not without its share of
contradictions. Despite being fond of the lower classes, she did not really develop a
social conscience. She rejected many important Victorian values. Although she was a
devoted wife and mother of nine she disliked pregnancy and childbirth, hated babies,
and often felt uncomfortable in the presence of children, Victoria reigned over a society
that idealized both motherhood and the family. She resisted technological change during
a period when mechanical and technological innovations were reshaping the whole face
of European civilization. She disapproved of women's suffrage, and was also quite upset
about the revolutions that took place on the continent, believing that people should
always be obedient to their sovereign and to the law: “Revolutions are always bad for
the country, and the cause of untold misery to the people. Obedience to the laws and to
the Sovereign, is obedience to a higher Power, divinely instituted for the good of the
people, not the Sovereign, who has equally duties and obligations.”
Victoria's Life
Victoria was born in 1819 as the only daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, and his
German wife, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg. Her father died only a few months after
her birth, and she was brought up by her mother and her advisers. When her uncle, King
William IV died, she was only 18 years old, and the young princess was crowned in
1838. Throughout her life, Victoria was influenced by strong and powerful men who
advised her. The first was Lord Melbourne, but his influence diminished drastically when
she fell in love with her cousin Albert of Saxe-Coburg, to whom she proposed and whom
she married in 1840. Albert had such a great and decisive influence on her political,
© Bayerischer Rundfunk
3
moral and social views that the years of their marriage are often termed the “Albertine
Monarchy”, especially since he took over most of his wife's duties during her nine
pregnancies. Victoria herself was very proud of his achievements, and she said that he
was king “all but in name”. Parliament was opposed to making a German prince king,
but Victoria finally succeeded in giving him the title of “Prince Consort”. Albert was rather
conservative but had a social conscience, and taught the Queen to be more sympathetic
towards the working classes.
Victoria always found it difficult to reconcile her role as sovereign with motherhood. Her
marriage was a very happy one, and when her husband died of typhoid fever after 21
years of marriage in 1861, Victoria suffered from deep depression. The Queen was
totally despondent and withdrew from all public functions, but remained devoted to her
royal duties: she continued to give audiences to her ministers and officials (who quite
often had to travel to her favourite residences, Balmoral Castle in Scotland or to
Osborne House on the Isle of Wight). Nevertheless, her withdrawal from public view
made her quite unpopular, and a strong republican movement developed, calling for the
abolition of the monarchy which it felt was far too expensive. Victoria's reputation was at
its lowest in 1870, and seven attempts were made on her life between 1840 and 1882.
However, after her favourite Prime Minister, Disraeli, urged her to take an active part in
public life again, the Queen gave up her secluded lifestyle and re-emerged from her
shell. She travelled through Britain – often by rail – and also visited the Continent every
year. Indeed, she became the first English monarch to visit France since the coronation
of Henry VI in 1431. Amazed at the positive reaction from the public to her travels, she
wrote in her diary:
“Never, never can I forget this brilliant year, so full of marvellous kindness, loyalty and
devotion of so many millions, which really I could hardly have expected.” She was
greatly pleased when Disraeli presented her with the Suez Canal and made her
Empress of India. By the time of her Diamond Jubilee, she was immensely popular, and
when she died in 1901 at the age of 81 her country mourned her deeply.
Victoria, the Grandmother of Europe
Queen Victoria is often termed “the grandmother of Europe” since her children
intermarried with a lot of noble families all over the continent: one daughter married a
German emperor, and Victoria was also the grandmother of Germany's last Kaiser,
Wilhelm II. On her death she had 37 great-grandchildren! Victoria's son Edward VII and
her daughter Princess Alice later became the grandparents of Queen Elizabeth II and
her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh! Indeed, nearly all the members of today's
European monarchies can trace their ancestry back to Victoria. Unfortunately, Victoria
also passed on haemophilia, a dreadful disease, which many of her descendants –
including Tsar Nicholas of Russia's young son Alexey – suffered from.
© Bayerischer Rundfunk