These little-known facts about Queen Victoria bring the indestructible monarch's story to life.
She was born fifth in line to the throne, making it unlikely that she would ever become queen to begin with.Wikimedia CommonsVictoria was actually her middle name. Her first name was Alexandrina.Wikimedia CommonsBut to her German-speaking family, she was mainly called "Vickelchen."Wikimedia CommonsShe was brought up under the restrictive “Kensington System” of parenting, which kept her in near-complete isolation in order to make her dependent upon her parents.Wikimedia CommonsShe was just 18 years old when she became queen.Wikimedia CommonsVictoria then promptly moved into Buckingham Palace and became the very first monarch to live there.Wikimedia CommonsShe proposed to her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who accepted. He could not propose to her because she was already queen.Wikimedia CommonsAlbert’s health was fragile, but Victoria privately believed he overplayed it — like a Victorian version of the "man flu."Wikimedia CommonsBut when Albert died of typhoid fever (or perhaps another chronic condition) in 1861 at age 42, the emotional Queen adopted some elaborate mourning rituals.Wikimedia CommonsThese included having a change of his clothes laid out every morning, and hot water brought in for his shave, as if he may reappear at any moment.Wikimedia CommonsShe spoke several languages, including French, Italian, and Hindustani.Wikimedia CommonsShe learned the Hindustani language from her Indian attendant, Abdul Karim, whom Victoria considered her true friend and most trusted confidant.Wikimedia CommonsHer family hated Karim’s presence and closeness with the queen, and after Victoria’s death, they burned all their correspondence and deported him back to India.Wikimedia CommonsHer face was on the first adhesive postage stamp, known as the Penny Black, issued in Great Britain on May 1, 1840.Wikimedia CommonsShe was prone to oversleeping.Wikimedia CommonsQueen Victoria was the first known carrier of the blood disease hemophilia, which would become known as the "Royal disease."Wikimedia CommonsShe hated the telephone, citing the new invention as cold and impersonal.Wikimedia CommonsEventually, she made peace with her severe upbringing and forgave her mother, who died the same year Albert did (1861).Wikimedia CommonsIn 1880, she had a retired ship, the HMS Resolute, made into a desk as a gift for then-President Rutherford Hayes. Most presidents since then have used the very same desk.Wikimedia CommonsShe was named the Empress of India, yet never got to set foot in the country.Wikimedia CommonsShe was the first British royal to travel by train.Wikimedia CommonsEventually, she got her own royal train car, the first in the world to feature an onboard bathroom.Wikimedia CommonsBefore Queen Elizabeth II beat her record in 2015, Queen Victoria was the longest reigning monarch in English history, serving for 63 years and seven months.Wikimedia CommonsThere were six attempts made on her life and she survived them all.Wikimedia Commons
Today, Queen Victoria might be at the height of her popularity — a whopping 117 years after her death. With a television drama about the 19th-century British monarch now airing and a film about her released last year, interest in the queen's life has spiked.
And in light of these dramas centered on the queen, many have surely been left wondering where the truth ends and fiction begins. The fascinating Queen Victoria facts above — about her family, her reign, and many things in between — will reveal just how incredible her life actually was.
