Victoria's love for Albert Queen Victoria wrote in her diary that she was attracted to Albert from the moment she met him in 1836: "He is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large & blue & he has a beautiful nose & a very sweet mouth with fine teeth."
In 1828 the Duke of Orleans was suggested, but he was a Catholic; in 1829, one of the princes of Orange. A serious onslaught of matchmaking came in 1836 when Victoria's two Coburg cousins, Albert and his brother Ernest, as well as both princes of Orange, were all invited to England to be vetted.
Marriage to Prince Albert
In 1840, at the age of 20, Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Arthur (Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught 1850-1942)
Arthur was the best behaved of the children and the Queen's favourite. He had a very active imagination, liked reading and playing with his toy soldiers.
The sixth child of Queen Victoria, Princess Louise was considered the most beautiful of the royal children and also the most unconventional.
It seems that Bertie, Queen Victoria's eldest son, was her least favorite child. Bertie was a disappointment to her from the very beginning. He never did well in his lessons, so his parents considered him stupid.
He was certainly a loyal and faithful husband. Victoria's adoration of her beloved was undimmed. But she was made to feel that she was inadequate, his intellectual and moral inferior. “I owe everything to dearest papa,” she told her daughter.
How did Victoria die? Victoria died of a cerebral haemorrhage, which is a type of stroke. However, the Queen had been growing weaker for several years before her death. Her eyesight had become clouded by cataracts, and she was a wheelchair user due to her rheumatism.
She was the longest-reigning British sovereign until her great-great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II surpassed the length of her reign in 2015. Victoria had seven paternal first cousins and 21 maternal first cousins.
The Duke of Sussex was the favourite uncle of Queen Victoria. He gave her away at her wedding to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1840. The Duke of Sussex died, aged 70 of erysipelas, at Kensington Palace in 1843.
To look in those dear eyes, and that dear sunny face, is enough to make me adore him.” Between 1841 until 1857, Victoria and Albert would have nine children together five girls and four boys. Their marriage was a happy one, despite the fact their personalities were very different.
Queen Victoria's legacy and her name became synonymous with the many positive events that took place at the time. Artists, writers, and poets flourished, many social, religious, and political movements started, and there was a move on border expansion and political reforms.
At the other end of the scale is Charles II, King of Spain from 1665 to 1700, who was determined to be the 'individual with the highest coefficient of inbreeding', or the most inbred monarch.
King Carlos I of Portugal allegedly had an illegitimate daughter who became one of the most famous and controversial royal bastards in the history of European royalty: Maria Pia of Saxe-Coburg and Braganza.
The entire Spanish royal dynasty went extinct because of inbreeding. From 1516 to 1700, nine out of eleven marriages in the Spanish branch of Habsburgs were incestuous. Charles II of Spain (1661–1700), the last male heir of the vast Spanish Empire, was infertile. He could barely speak and had difficulty eating.
Apparently, she heads to bed at 10.30pm each evening in order to get a good night's sleep. The bling is stunning, obviously. Regular exercise is also said to help with sleep and Kate leads an active lifestyle, often talking about how she loves to get outdoors – it's thought that she runs or walks every day.
The Queen was undeniably fond of her children, though her involvement with them was significantly less than might be expected of a modern mother.
Her final word was said to be “Bertie”, understood to be in reference to Prince Albert who died 40 years earlier. She also whispered that Turi, her Pomeranian dog, be brought to her. At age 81, Victoria died peacefully in her sleep.
His relationship with his mother cannot have been easy: he could never have matched up to his father in Victoria's eyes and, worse, she blamed him for her beloved husband's death, since Albert had been travelling to see Bertie and tell him off for his womanising, when he caught the cold which turned into the pneumonia ...
Victoria was prone to temper tantrums. Her mood swings were such that some historians claim she may have inherited the 'madness' of her grandfather, George III. Nevertheless, despite the arguments, Albert always managed to get back into Victoria's good books.
Royals have been marrying their cousins since time immemorial, traditionally as a means of strengthening political alliances. What might be surprising though is that members of the royal family have continued to marry their cousins, right up to the present day!
Prince Edward, 58, Earl of Wessex
Out of all of the kids, Prince Edward, now known as the Earl of Wessex, is believed to be the Queen and Prince Philip's favorite child. In fact, it was reported that Edward's portrait was the only one in Philip's study.
The throne clones: How the Royal Family inherited more than just their titles. As the pictures above shows, Princess Beatrice bears a striking resemblance to a young Queen Victoria. And she's not the only royal to share her royal features.
Victoria resented her mother's support for Conroy's schemes and being pressured by her to sign a paper declaring Conroy her personal secretary. The result was that when Victoria became queen, she relegated the Duchess to separate accommodations, away from her own.
Diana's royal roots
In addition, this royal connection means that Diana and her husband Prince Charles were very distant cousins, via several lines. In particular, they each descend from a daughter of Henry VII: Margaret, who married James IV of Scotland, and Mary, who married Charles Brandon.