Victoria And Albert example essay topic
Hough died at the age of seventy-seven, after writing more than ninety books, one of which was Victoria and Albert. Born into a family filled with high-risk taking and great debt, Victoria was both the object of joy and anxiety. In Kensington Palace on May 24, 1819, Victoria was born to her parents Edward, the Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg. This after six and a half hours of labor, Victoria was described as "a pretty little princess as plump as a partridge" (5). About one month later, June 24, Victoria was christened in the Cupola Room in Kensington Palace. The Prince Regent was her godfather while her Coburg grandmother was to be her godmother.
The Prince Regent was to assign the name, but with a confusion taking place during the baptism, the Duke said, "Give her the mother's name, but it cannot precede that of the Emperor". (7) And so Victoria was baptized under royal order as Alexandria Victoria. In her childhood she was simply called Drin a later choosing to be called Victoria. At the time of her birth, Victoria was fifth in line to the throne after her uncles Prince Regent, Fredrick Duke of York, William Henry Duke of Clarence, and her father Edward Duke of Kent.
Due to illegitimate children, it looked as if Victoria would succeed. The duchess insisted on feeding Victoria herself. This was not common during this time as usually a wet nurse fulfilled this task. This was a convenience and economic for the Duke and Duchess as money was an issue.
A nursemaid was hired, Mrs. Brock, whom Victoria called "dear Bopp y" when she could speak. Due to her father's death just seven months after her birth, her mother was very strict. Victoria was brought up in a simple manner. She never has a room to herself and always slept in her mother's room until she came to the throne.
At 8: 00 a. m., Victoria would get up and have breakfast. She would then go for a walk or a ride in her pony cart. Following this time, she would start her lessons which mainly consisted of drawing, something she loved to do. Lunch would be after playing games or dolls with her mother and it is then believed that she would have a "lie down" or nap being four or five years old. As Victoria aged, John Conroy, who was teaching her basic lessons, hired a professional teacher, Reverend George Days. He was her teacher until the age of twelve.
Victoria's best friend was her step-sister, Feodor a, whom she got along well with for many hours. Victoria's mom was very much apart of her daily routine as security was love and the duchess was afraid of kidnapping. Victoria only had two friends while growing up and they were in her immediate family due to this fear of her mother's. Victoria had fair skin, curly hair, a poised head, bright blue eyes, dimpled cheeks, protruding chin, tiny pudgy hands and very small feet. Even at the age of seven she had an air of authority around her as if she was in training, but no one knew for sure if she would be crowned Queen of England.
At about nine or ten, Victoria was conscious of her status in society. Many people would take their hats off to her when greeting her. Even in her playing habits it was noticed that she demanded friends not call her by her first name, but she was allowed to call them by their name. Victoria had a great fear of bishops, but this was partially cured when the Bishop of Salisbury let her play with his badge of Chancellor of the Order of the Garter. It was not until Victoria was sixteen that it became clear that she would succeed King William IV as monarch to the throne. On Victoria's seventeenth birthday, it brought her one year closer to the qualifying age of succession; while William IV's health was very poor at this time as well.
Also during this time, Victoria was looking for a prince to call a husband. While there were the two sons of the Prince of Orange, the Duke of Ernest and Albert from Germany, Victoria decided on none at this immediate time. Victoria met Albert in May 1836. On June 20, 1837, Victoria was crowned queen, and in July she moved from Kensington Palace to Buckingham Palace. A year and eight days later, June 28, 1838, Victoria was crowned. In October 1839, Albert came again to visit the new.