Kings and Queens of England

Queen Victoria

Victoria was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 20,1837 until her death on January 22, 1901. She was born in Kensington Palace in London on May 24,1819. She was the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria Maria Louisa of Saxe-Coburg. Edward died when Victoria was eight years old. Victoria succeeded her uncle William IV, in 1837, at the age of eighteen. On her accession, Victoria made the Whig Prime Minister Lord Melbourne her political mentor. On February 10, 1840, Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Their relationship was one of immense love and admiration. Together they had nine children - four sons and five daughters: Victoria, Bertie, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold, and Beatrice. On December 14, 1861 Albert died from typhoid fever. Victoria never fully recovered from her husband’s death and she remained in mourning for the rest of her life. She remained in self-imposed seclusion for ten years. After the Indian Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, the government of India was transferred from the East India Company to the Crown. In 1876, she was crowned Empress of India. In 1887, Victoria’s Golden Jubilee was celebrated. She had completed 50 years as the British ruler. In 1897, her Diamond Jubilee was celebrated. She died from a cerebral hemorrhage on January 22, 1901 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth is the current Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She was born on April 21, 1926 at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, London. She was the first child of Albert, Duke of York, and his wife, formerly Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Her father succeeded to the British throne in 1936 as George VI. On November 20, 1947, Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten, the former Prince Philip of Greece. In 1948, she gave birth to a son, Charles. In 1950, she gave birth to a daughter, Anne. A second son, Andrew, was born in 1960, and a third, Edward, in 1964. Her father died on February 6, 1952. Elizabeth was crowned Queen on June 2, 1953. For more than 50 years, during a period of great change in Britain, Elizabeth has carried out her political duties as head of state, the ceremonial responsibilities of the sovereign and a large annual programme of visits in the United Kingdom as well as numerous foreign tours. Despite the controversies and scandals surrounding her children and other members of the royal family, the Queen remains a respected head of state. In 2002, she celebrated her golden jubilee (50 years on the throne) and in 2006 her 80th birthday. In 2005, Elizabeth gave her blessing to Prince Charles’s marriage to his longtime companion, Camilla Parker Bowles.

King William IV

William was King of Hanover and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 26, 1830 until his death on June 20, 1837. He was born on August 21, 1765 at Buckingham House. William was the third child and son of George III and Queen Charlotte. He served in the Royal Navy in his youth. He married Adelaide, eldest daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg. They had two daughters but they both died in infancy. When his elder brother King George IV died in 1930, he became the King. William died of heart failure on June 20, 1837. At his death he had no surviving children. William was succeeded in the United Kingdom by his niece, Victoria, and in Hanover by his brother, Ernest Augustus.

King George VI

King George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions from December 11, 1936 till his death on February 6, 1952. He was born on December 14, 1895 at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. He was the second son of King George V and Mary of Teck. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, who bore him two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. When King George V died in January 1936, his eldest son Edward became the King. But in less than a year he had to abdicate the throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, and his younger brother had to take over. During the Second World War, George visited troops, munitions factories, supply docks and bomb-damaged areas to support the war effort. As the Nazis bombed London, the royal family stayed put at Buckingham Palace. George died from lung cancer on February 6, 1952.