Victoria Hanover Queen of England
Queen Victoria was raised by a strict and domineering mother who shunned the frivolities
of the courts of George IV and William IV. William died when she was 18, at which point
she overruled her domineering mother and became a charismatic and independent queen.
By this time, the reputation of the monarchy was at a complete low, and the young queen
did much for its image. She did not wield much political power, and the government was
largely run by the ministers.Queen Victoria married Albert, a German prince. She was completely devoted to him,
but the English in general despised him. It was only after 17 years of marriage that he was
recognized with the title of "Prince Consort." When Albert died of typhoid, Victoria went
into a grief-stricken seclusion. Twenty-five years passed with an almost total void in the
monarchy -- hardly an unusual situation for the English government, which continued on
as normal. She did not emerge from her isolation for some 25 years, on the occasion of
her golden jubilee (which celebrated her 50th year on the throne).Victoria skillfully avoided conflict with other European powers, mostly because the large
majority of them were ruled by her children and grandchildren. She had family in the royal
houses of Germany, Russia, Greece, Rumania, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Belgium.
She kept strong ties to all of her descendants, and had a strong hand in the politics of the
other nations.(Victoria's was the most prosperous reign in English history. During her lifetime, Great
Britain encompassed Canada, Australia, India, and parts of Africa and the South Pacific,
nearly a quarter of all the land on Earth.)Victoria's England fought four wars during her reign -- the Indian uprising in 1848, the
Boer war with the Dutch in South Africa in 1881, and again from 1899 to 1902, the
Crimean war from 1853-56, and an Indian rebellion in 1857. The British won all of these
wars without significant difficulty. Great Britain managed to avoid becoming involved in
most of the conflicts in Europe from 1815-1914, even including the year 1848 in which
every other major European power had a revolution.The face of English politics changed much during Victoria's reign. Businessmen were
rising into power even as the gentry were losing their lands and money. Suffrage was
broadened and welfare and civil reform programs were implemented. Due to these
changes, the English people in general enjoyed a standard of living much higher than
in most other parts of the world.(During her reign, Victoria visited much of the world, including France. She was the
first English monarch to visit France since Henry VI in 1431.)Victoria maintained a lot of her energy and charisma long into her old age. She eventually
died in 1901 after lingering a short while. She was 81 years old and had ruled for 64 years,
the longest reign in English history.
Edward Wettin VII, King of England
Edward, as with other Hanoverian children, did not get along with his parents. Victoria saw the
worst in Edward, and he rebelled by indulging himself in every decadent luxury he could think up.
He was married to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, who tried to ignore his extramarital activities.Upon receiving the throne at his mother's death, he threw himself into the duties of the kingship.
Edward traveled extensively and made an excellent ambassador. He was crucial in negotiating
major alliances with Russia and France, and he was greatly aided by the fact that most of Europe's
royalty was related to him.(Edward VII's flamboyant dress style set many of the trends in fashionable circles.)
Edward's reign saw England moving steadily toward the ideal of the welfare state, and large
debates raged through parliament on how to pay for the various reforms. Edward flatly refused to
sanction a bill which would add taxes to the wealthy landowners. Eventually, the bill was passed
after Edward's death.
George Windsor V, King of England
George V
Born: 3 JUN 1865, Marlborough House, London, England
Baptized: 7 JUL 1865, St. George's Chapel, Windor Castle, England
Acceded: 22 JUN 1911, Westminster Abbey, London, England
Died: 20 JAN 1936, Sandringham House, Norfolk, England
Interred: 28 JAN 1936, St. George's Chapel, Windor Castle, EnglandFather: Wettin, Edward VII, King of Britain, b. 9 NOV 1841
Mother: Oldenburg, Alexandra of Denmark "Alix", Princess, b. 1 DEC 1844Married 6 JUL 1893, Chapel Royal, St.James Palace, England to von Teck, Mary (May), Queen of Britain
Child 1: Windsor, Edward VIII, King of Britain, b. 23 JUN 1894
Child 2: Windsor, George VI (Albert), King of Britain, b. 14 DEC 1895
Child 3: Windsor, Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary, Princess Royal, b. 25 APR 1897
Child 4: Windsor, Henry William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester 1st, b. 31 MAR 1900
Child 5: Windsor, George Edward Alexander, Duke of Kent 1st, b. 20 DEC 1902
Child 6: Windsor, John Charles Francis, Prince, b. 12 JUL 1905
When Albert, George's brother, died during the reign of Edward VII, George became the
next heir to the throne. Albert had been the far more charismatic and well educated of the
two. In contrast, George was a naval officer -- he had a rather vanilla personality, was not
particularly charismatic, and didn't have the trend-setting fashion sense of his father
Edward. He was married to Mary of Teck, whom he called May. She gave him four sons
and a daughter.George V was the king during World War I, during which he made several visits to the
front. It was during one of these visits that his horse rolled, breaking his pelvis. This
injury pained him for the rest of his life.George was a reasonably good leader, however, and managed to hold together the
government during the post-war depression of 1929-1931. He did this by pulling the
Labour, Conservative, and Liberal parties together into a coalition government. He also
weathered the changing face of the British Empire -- Ireland was divided, Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa became self-governing, and even India gained
some degree of self-determination.
George Albert Windsor VI, King of England
George VI
Born: 14 DEC 1895, York Cottage, Sandringham, Norfolk, England
Acceded: 12 MAY 1937, Westminster Abbey, London, England
Died: 6 FEB 1952, Sandringham House, Norfolk, England (died of cancer)
Interred: 11 MAR 1952, St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, EnglandFather: Windsor, George V, King of Britain, b. 3 JUN 1865
Mother: von Teck, Mary (May), Queen of Britain, b. 26 MAY 1867Married 26 APR 1923, Westminster Abbey, London, England to Elizabeth Angela
Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, Queen of BritainChild 1: Windsor, Elizabeth II Alexandra Mary, Queen of Britain, b. 21 APR 1926
Child 2: Windsor, Margaret Rose, Princess, b. 21 AUG 1930George was the brother of Edward VIII, and received the throne when Edward abdicated
to marry an American woman. He had a stammer, which did not help his almost
non-existent self confidence at all. After some speech therapy, he managed to overcome
the stammer, and he became a greatly loved king.After pursuing a policy of appeasing the German nation, Britain and France were forced
to declare war when Germany invaded Poland. By that time, Germany had already gained
a great deal of power and economic strength, and World War II promised to be a long
and costly conflict. George became a symbol and figurehead. He visited munitions
factories and bombed areas, and took advantage of the mass media that the newly
developing movie theatres provided.(George trained himself to use a revolver, vowing to defend his family and Buckingham
palace "to the death" in the case of a German invasion.)George was generally a shy and unimposing man, but he did well for the monarchy. He
greatly helped the popularity of the royal family. He died of cancer in 1952, leaving his
daughter Elizabeth the throne.
Lieutenant in the Amesbury Militia
Twin to Joseph