Early Life

Queen Victoria, who served as queen of Great Britain from 1837 until her death in 1901, and as empress of India from 1876, was born Alexandrina Victoria on May 24, 1819, in London, England. Victoria was the only child of George IIIs fourth son, Edward, and Victoria Maria Louisa of SaxeCoburg, sister of Leopold, king of the Belgians.Taught by Lord Melbourne, her first prime minister, at a young age, Victoria had a clear grasp of both constitutional principles and the scope of her own prerogative, which she resolutely exercised in 1839 by setting aside the precedent which decreed dismissal of the current ladies of the bedchamber, thus causing Peel not to take up office as prime minister. In 1840, she married Prince Albert of SaxeCoburg and Gotha. The would have four sons and five daughters together.