Editing Queen Victoria (section)

== Early life ==

=== Birth and ancestry ===
{{Multiple image
| align             = left
| image1            = Sir William Beechey (1753-1839) - Victoria, Duchess of Kent, (1786-1861) with Princess Victoria, (1819-1901) - RCIN 407169 - Royal Collection.jpg
| caption1          = Victoria as a child with her mother, after [[William Beechey]]
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| image2            = Denning, Stephen Poyntz - Princess Victoria aged Four - Google Art Project.jpg
| caption2          = Portrait by [[Stephen Poyntz Denning]], 1823
}}

Victoria's father was [[Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn]], the fourth son of [[King George&nbsp;III]] and [[Queen Charlotte]]. Until 1817, King George's only legitimate grandchild was Edward's niece [[Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796–1817)|Princess Charlotte of Wales]], the daughter of [[George, Prince Regent]] (who would become George IV). Princess Charlotte's death in 1817 precipitated a [[succession crisis]] that brought pressure on Prince Edward and his unmarried brothers to marry and have children. In 1818, the Duke of Kent married [[Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld]], a widowed German princess with two children—[[Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen|Carl]] (1804–1856) and [[Princess Feodora of Leiningen|Feodora]] (1807–1872)—by her first marriage to [[Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen]]. Her brother [[Leopold I of Belgium|Leopold]] was Princess Charlotte's widower and later the first [[king of Belgium]]. The Duke and Duchess of Kent's only child, Victoria was born at 4:15&nbsp;a.m. on Monday, 24 May 1819 at [[Kensington Palace]] in London.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 3–12; Strachey, pp. 1–17; Woodham-Smith, pp. 15–29</ref>

Victoria was christened privately by the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Charles Manners-Sutton]], on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace.{{Efn|Her godparents were Tsar [[Alexander I of Russia]] (represented by her uncle [[Frederick, Duke of York]]), her uncle [[George, Prince Regent]], her aunt [[Queen Charlotte of Württemberg]] (represented by Victoria's aunt [[Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom|Princess Augusta]]) and Victoria's maternal grandmother the [[Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf|Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld]] (represented by Victoria's aunt [[Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh]]).}} She was baptised ''Alexandrina'' after one of her godparents, Tsar [[Alexander I of Russia]], and ''Victoria'', after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina (or Georgiana), Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Prince Regent.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 12–13; Longford, p. 23; Woodham-Smith, pp. 34–35</ref>

At birth, Victoria was fifth in the line of succession after the four eldest sons of George&nbsp;III: George, Prince Regent (later George&nbsp;IV); [[Frederick, Duke of York]]; [[William, Duke of Clarence]] (later William&nbsp;IV); and Victoria's father, Edward, Duke of Kent.<ref>Longford, p. 24</ref> Prince George had no surviving children, and Prince Frederick had no children; further, both were estranged from their wives, who were both past child-bearing age, so the two eldest brothers were unlikely to have any further legitimate children. William married in 1818, in a joint ceremony with his brother Edward, but both of William's legitimate daughters died as infants. The first of these was Princess Charlotte, who was born and died on 27 March 1819, two months before Victoria was born. Victoria's father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old. A week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son as George&nbsp;IV. Victoria was then third in line to the throne after Frederick and William. She was fourth in line while William's second daughter, [[Princess Elizabeth of Clarence|Princess Elizabeth]], lived, from 10 December 1820 to 4&nbsp;March 1821.<ref>Worsley, p. 41.</ref>

=== Heir presumptive ===
Prince Frederick died in 1827, followed by George&nbsp;IV in 1830; their next surviving brother succeeded to the throne as William&nbsp;IV, and Victoria became [[heir presumptive]]. The [[Regency Act 1830]] made special provision for Victoria's mother to act as regent in case William died while Victoria was still a minor.<ref>Hibbert, p. 31; St Aubyn, p. 26; Woodham-Smith, p. 81</ref> King William distrusted the Duchess's capacity to be regent, and in 1836 he declared in her presence that he wanted to live until Victoria's 18th birthday, so that a [[regency]] could be avoided.<ref>Hibbert, p. 46; Longford, p. 54; St Aubyn, p. 50; Waller, p. 344; Woodham-Smith, p. 126</ref>

[[File:Princess Victoria and Dash by George Hayter.jpg|thumb|Portrait with her spaniel Dash by [[George Hayter]], 1833]]

Victoria later described her childhood as "rather melancholy".<ref>Hibbert, p. 19; Marshall, p. 25</ref> Her mother was extremely protective, and Victoria was raised largely isolated from other children under the so-called "[[Kensington System]]", an elaborate set of rules and protocols devised by the Duchess and her ambitious and domineering [[comptroller]], [[Sir John Conroy]], who was rumoured to be the Duchess's lover.<ref>Hibbert, p. 27; Longford, pp. 35–38, 118–119; St Aubyn, pp. 21–22; Woodham-Smith, pp. 70–72. The rumours were false in the opinion of these biographers.</ref> The system prevented the princess from meeting people whom her mother and Conroy deemed undesirable (including most of her father's family), and was designed to render her weak and dependent upon them.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 27–28; Waller, pp. 341–342; Woodham-Smith, pp. 63–65</ref> The Duchess avoided the court because she was scandalised by the presence of King William's illegitimate children.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 32–33; Longford, pp. 38–39, 55; Marshall, p. 19</ref> Victoria shared a bedroom with her mother every night, studied with private tutors to a regular timetable, and spent her play-hours with her dolls and her [[King Charles Spaniel]], [[Dash (spaniel)|Dash]].<ref>Waller, pp. 338–341; Woodham-Smith, pp. 68–69, 91</ref> Her lessons included French, German, Italian, and Latin,<ref>Hibbert, p. 18; Longford, p. 31; Woodham-Smith, pp. 74–75</ref> but she spoke only English at home.<ref>Longford, p. 31; Woodham-Smith, p. 75</ref> At age ten, she wrote and illustrated a children's story, ''The Adventures of Alice Laselles'', which was eventually published in 2015.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/childrens-book-written-queen-victoria-published-after-185-years-n371591 |title=Children's Book Written by Queen Victoria Published After 185 Years|publisher=NBC News|date=8 June 2015}}</ref>

In 1830, the Duchess and Conroy took Victoria across the centre of England to visit the [[Malvern Hills]], stopping at towns and great [[country houses]] along the way.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 34–35</ref> Similar journeys to other parts of England and Wales were taken in 1832, 1833, 1834 and 1835. To the King's annoyance, Victoria was enthusiastically welcomed in each of the stops.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 35–39; Woodham-Smith, pp. 88–89, 102</ref> William compared the journeys to [[royal progress]]es and was concerned that they portrayed Victoria as his rival rather than his heir presumptive.<ref>Hibbert, p. 36; Woodham-Smith, pp. 89–90</ref> Victoria disliked the trips; the constant round of public appearances made her tired and ill, and there was little time for her to rest.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 35–40; Woodham-Smith, pp. 92, 102</ref> She objected on the grounds of the King's disapproval, but her mother dismissed his complaints as motivated by jealousy and forced Victoria to continue the tours.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 38–39; Longford, p. 47; Woodham-Smith, pp. 101–102</ref> At [[Ramsgate]] in October 1835, Victoria contracted a severe fever,<!--Longford and Marshall says typhoid; Hibbert says maybe typhoid or tonsillitis; Woodham-Smith says probably tonsillitis and that biographer Sidney Lee was the first to say typhoid--> which Conroy initially dismissed as a childish pretence.<ref>Hibbert, p. 42; Woodham-Smith, p. 105</ref> While Victoria was ill, Conroy and the Duchess unsuccessfully badgered her to make Conroy her [[Private Secretary to the Sovereign|private secretary]].<ref>Hibbert, p. 42; Longford, pp. 47–48; Marshall, p. 21</ref> As a teenager, Victoria resisted persistent attempts by her mother and Conroy to appoint him to her staff.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 42, 50; Woodham-Smith, p. 135</ref> Once queen, she banned him from her presence, but he remained in her mother's household.<ref>Marshall, p. 46; St Aubyn, p. 67; Waller, p. 353</ref>[[File:Victoria sketch 1835.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=Victoria's sketch of herself|Self-portrait, 1835]]

By 1836, Victoria's maternal uncle Leopold, who had been King of the Belgians since 1831, hoped to marry her to [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Albert]],<ref>Longford, pp. 29, 51; Waller, p. 363; Weintraub, pp. 43–49</ref> the son of his brother [[Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]]. Leopold arranged for Victoria's mother to invite her Coburg relatives to visit her in May 1836, with the purpose of introducing Victoria to Albert.<ref>Longford, p. 51; Weintraub, pp. 43–49</ref> William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of [[Prince Alexander of the Netherlands]], second son of [[William II of the Netherlands|the Prince of Orange]].<ref>Longford, pp. 51–52; St Aubyn, p. 43; Weintraub, pp. 43–49; Woodham-Smith, p. 117</ref> Victoria was aware of the various matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes.<ref>Weintraub, pp. 43–49</ref> According to her diary, she enjoyed Albert's company from the beginning. After the visit she wrote, "[Albert] is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful."<ref>Victoria quoted in Marshall, p. 27 and Weintraub, p. 49</ref> Alexander, on the other hand, she described as "very plain".<ref>Victoria quoted in Hibbert, p. 99; St Aubyn, p. 43; Weintraub, p. 49 and Woodham-Smith, p. 119</ref>

Victoria wrote to King Leopold, whom she considered her "best and kindest adviser",<ref>[[Queen Victoria's journals|Victoria's journal]], October 1835, quoted in St Aubyn, p. 36 and Woodham-Smith, p. 104</ref> to thank him "for the prospect of ''great'' happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear Albert&nbsp;... He possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy. He is so sensible, so kind, and so good, and so amiable too. He has besides the most pleasing and delightful exterior and appearance you can possibly see."<ref>Hibbert, p. 102; Marshall, p. 60; Waller, p. 363; Weintraub, p. 51; Woodham-Smith, p. 122</ref> However at 17, Victoria, though interested in Albert, was not yet ready to marry. The parties did not undertake a formal engagement, but assumed that the match would take place in due time.<ref>Waller, pp. 363–364; Weintraub, pp. 53, 58, 64, and 65</ref>