Queen Victoria is considered to be one of the greatest monarchs of modern history whose inspiring life continues to fascinate millions around the world even today. She was the empress of an empire that spanned continents for a period of sixty-three years which makes her a significant part of British memoir. Her era was known as the Victorian era and was marked by a period of aggressive expansion and her influence in several government policies. She was popularly referred to as the Grandmother of Europe due to her far-reaching family ties with popular European kingdoms.

On her 201st birth anniversary, we take a look at some of the interesting facts about Queen Victoria.

  1. She was born as Alexandrina Victoria named after her grandfather Tsar Alexander 1 but preferred going by her second name or the nickname Drina.

  2. Queen Victoria was fifth in line of accession to the throne yet became the Queen of the British empire courtesy deaths in her family and lack of make heirs to the throne.

  3. Her childhood was marked by the ‘Kensington System’, a strict code of discipline imposed on a young Victoria by her mother, the Duchess of Kent.

  4. She met her future husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who happened to be her first cousin, at the age of 16. She proposed to him after four years of companionship and the couple got married in 1840.

  5. Queen Victoria set the trend of wearing a white gown on the wedding when she chose the unorthodox colour for her marriage ceremony.

  6. She was 18 when she was informed about the death of her uncle King William IV and that she would be the next Queen of England.

  7. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had nine children between 1940 and 1957 and the majority of the children married into major European kingdoms.

  8. Queen Victoria could speak English, German, French, Latin and Italian fluently. She conversed with her Indian servants in Urdu and Hindi.

  9. The concept of Christmas Tree came into existence when Queen Victoria, along with her husband, brought trees into their Windsor palace and decorated them on Christmas eve.

  10. In 1842, she became the first member of the Royal family to ride a train when she travelled from Slough to Paddington in West London.

  11. The death of her husband in 1861 turned her life upside down as she mourned his passing away for 40 years. She stopped making public appearances and spent the rest of her life wearing only black.

  12. She is the second-longest monarch of the Royal British empire with a reign of 63 years, with only Queen Elizabeth II managing more years at the helm of British affairs.

Queen Elizabeth’s legacy lives all around the world with several roads, hill, mountains and stations named after her. She truly remains one of the most famous rulers in modern history.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 24, 2020 12:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).