Queen Victoria Research Paper

Queen Victoria is associated with Britain's great age of industrial expansion, economic progress, and especially, empire. At her death it was said, “Britain had a worldwide empire on which the sun never set” (Axelrod-Contrada 23). Queen Victoria set the tone of the British Empire for later monarchs by ruling through a series of powerful prime ministers who took political control of Britain. In the early part of her reign, two men influenced her greatly: her Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, as well as her husband, Prince Albert, whom she married in 1840. Both men taught her much about how to be a ruler in a 'constitutional monarchy' where the monarch had very few powers but could wield much leverage. It was during Victoria's reign that the modern idea of the constitutional monarch, whose role was to remain above political parties, began to evolve. However, Victoria was not always non-partisan, and she would exploit opportunities to express her opinions, sometimes very forcefully, in private. Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, London, on the May 24, 1819. She was the only daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent. Her father died shortly after her birth, making her heir to the throne because
It was a long period of prosperity for the British people, including a largely developed middle class. Industrial improvements at home and large profits from oversea trading became major factors to the United Kingdom’s success. The Victorian Era is often characterized as the Pax Britannica, a long era of peace. The House of Commons was run by two major political parties, the Whigs and the Tories; later known as the Liberals and the Conservatives. Gothic revival architecture became increasingly significant during the Victorian Era. As mentioned earlier, Queen Victoria was part of the government, but the Prime Ministers were the ones who ran the