Queen Victoria was Britain's longest reigning monarch until Queen Elizabeth II - her great great granddaughter. Born fifth in line to the throne, at a time when the Royal Family’s popularity was at an all time low, Victoria went on to be one of Britain’s most beloved monarchs. Today, she’s associated with an empire on which the sun never set, an overpowering love for her husband, and her crippling grief. But who was the real Victoria? What was it like for a young woman to hold so much power in a man’s world? Can she be credited with the developments of her age, or was she merely a figurehead? And how should we remember her today?

This is a Short History Of Queen Victoria.

Written by Nicole Edmunds. With thanks to Tracy Borman, historian, author of ‘Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History’, and joint curator for Historic Royal Palaces.

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