VICTORIA, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, only child of Edward, Duke of Kent (fourth son of George III.) ; born in Kensington Pal ace, May 24, 1819. Her mother, Victoria Maria Louisa (1786-1861), was the daughter of Francis, Duke of Saxe Coburg, and sister of Leopold, King of the Belgians. Her first husband, the Prince of Leiningen, died in 1814; and in 1818 she married the Duke of Kent. The duke died in 1820, leaving his wid ow in charge of an infant daughter only eight months old, who had been baptized with the names of Alexandrina Victoria. The Duchess of Kent fulfilled the important duties which devolved on her with admirable care and prudence. The princess' father having belonged to the Whigs, her political education was naturally derived from the members of that party; and to Viscount Melbourne belongs tho credit of having thoroughly instructed her in the principles of the British constitution. She ascended the throne of the United Kingdom on the death of her uncle, William IV., on June 20, 1837; her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, became King of Hanover, in virtue of the law which excluded females from that throne, and so the long connection between the crowns of England and Hanover was terminated. Victoria was proclaimed June 21, 1837, and crowned at Westminster, June 28, 1838. She found on her accession Vis count Melbourne at the head of the government; and on a change of ad ministration (1839) she refused to change, in accordance with precedent, the ladies of the bedchamber, the re sult being that Peel resigned and Mel bourne's administration was prolonged till 1841. The young queen was married at St. James' Palace (Feb. 10, 1840) to Prince Albert, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and second son of the then reigning duke.
The death of the Prince-Consort in 1861 led his widow to seclude herself for several years from public life, but, though she never afterward took so prominent a part in public life, she never neglected any of her essential duties as queen. Other severe trials were the deaths of the Princess Alice (of Hesse), of the Duke of Albany, and of the Duke of Clarence, her grandson. No former monarch so thoroughly com prehended the great truth, that the powers of the crown are held in trust for the people, and are the means and not the end of government. This enlightened policy entitled her to the glorious dis tinction of having been the most con stitutional monarch Great Britain has ever seen. Not less important and bene ficial was the example set by her Maj esty and the Prince-Consort in the practice of every domestic virtue. Their stainless lives, their unobtrusive piety, and their careful education of the royal children bore rich fruit in the stability of the throne. The progress made by the nation in the various elements of civilization and in material prosperity was unparalleled, and perhaps during no reign was there a greater measure of political contentment. In September, Connaught 1874, married in 1879 to Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia; Leopold, born 1853, created Duke of Albany in 1881, married to Princess Helena of Waldeck in 1882, died 1884; and Princess Beatrice, born 1857, mar ried in 1885 to Prince Henry of Bat tenberg, died 1896. In the fall of 1900 the queen's health began to fail, and she died in Osborne House, Isle of Wight, Jan. 22, 1901.