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I wonder whether the late Queen would be pleased to know that most of her quotes that have survived through history relate to her disgust at babies or her ill feelings toward marriage.
Who is Queen Victoria?
Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet "the grandmother of Europe" and spreading haemophilia in European royalty. After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, British republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond jubilees were times of public celebration. She died on the Isle of Wight in 1901. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, she was succeeded by her son Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Known as the Victorian era, her reign of 63 years and seven months was longer than any previous British monarch. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British Parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.
Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Victoria, a constitutional monarch, attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality.
Queen Victoria lived long enough to have her voice recorded, and we can hear it today on YouTube - a fact which is vaguely haunting.
In addition, and in adherence to my general policy of "if I know this, you have to also," I deem it worth mentioning that the British nobility and upper class had an odd custom during Queen Victoria's reign: cannibalism. But it wasn't just normal cannibalism (though I suppose we can't really rule that out,) they imported and ate Egyptian mummies. When a rich person's mummy arrived, there would be "unwrapping parties" among these folks.
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