Editing Queen Victoria (section)

== Accession and early reign ==
[[File:Victoriatothrone.jpg|alt=Drawing of Conyngham and Howley on their knees in front of Victoria|thumb|left|Victoria receives the news of her accession from Lord Conyngham (bowing) and the Archbishop Howley (right). Painting by [[Henry Tanworth Wells]], 1887.]]

Victoria turned 18 on 24 May 1837, and a [[regency]] was avoided. Less than a month later, on 20 June 1837, William IV died at the age of 71, and Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom.{{Efn|Under section&nbsp;2 of the Regency Act 1830, the [[Accession Council]]'s proclamation declared Victoria as the King's successor "saving the rights of any issue of His late Majesty King William the Fourth which may be borne of his late Majesty's Consort". {{London Gazette|issue=19509|date=20 June 1837|page=1581|mode=cs2}}}} In her diary she wrote, "I was awoke at 6&nbsp;o'clock by Mamma, who told me the [[William Howley|Archbishop of Canterbury]] and [[Francis Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham|Lord Conyngham]] were here and wished to see me. I got out of bed and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing gown) and ''alone'', and saw them. Lord Conyngham then acquainted me that my poor Uncle, the King, was no more, and had expired at 12 minutes past 2&nbsp;this morning, and consequently that ''I'' am ''Queen''."<ref>St Aubyn, pp. 55–57; Woodham-Smith, p. 138</ref> Official documents prepared on the first day of her reign described her as Alexandrina Victoria, but the first name was withdrawn at her own wish and not used again.<ref>Woodham-Smith, p. 140</ref>

Since 1714, [[Great Britain|Britain]] had shared a monarch with [[Kingdom of Hanover|Hanover]] in Germany, but under [[Salic law]], women were excluded from the Hanoverian succession. While Victoria inherited the British throne, her father's unpopular younger brother, [[Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover|Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland]], became [[King of Hanover]]. He was Victoria's heir presumptive until she had a child.<ref>Packard, pp. 14–15</ref>

[[File:Sir George Hayter (1792-1871) - Queen Victoria (1819-1901) - RCIN 401213 - Royal Collection.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Victoria wears her crown and holds a sceptre.|[[Coronation portrait of Queen Victoria|Coronation portrait]] by [[George Hayter]]]]

At the time of Victoria's accession, the government was led by the [[British Whig Party|Whig]] prime minister [[Lord Melbourne]]. He at once became a powerful influence on the politically inexperienced monarch, who relied on him for advice.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 66–69; St Aubyn, p. 76; Woodham-Smith, pp. 143–147</ref> [[Charles Greville (diarist)|Charles Greville]] supposed that the widowed and childless Melbourne was "passionately fond of her as he might be of his daughter if he had one", and Victoria probably saw him as a father figure.<ref>Greville quoted in Hibbert, p. 67; Longford, p. 70 and Woodham-Smith, pp. 143–144</ref> [[Coronation of Queen Victoria|Her coronation]] took place on 28 June 1838 at [[Westminster Abbey]]. Over 400,000 visitors came to London for the celebrations.<ref>{{Citation |title=Queen Victoria's Coronation 1838 |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/The%20Royal%20Collection%20and%20other%20collections/TheRoyalArchives/QueenVictoriaeducationproject/QueenVictoriasCoronation1838.aspx |publisher=The British Monarchy |access-date=28 January 2016 |archive-date=3 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203025327/http://www.royal.gov.uk/The%20Royal%20Collection%20and%20other%20collections/TheRoyalArchives/QueenVictoriaeducationproject/QueenVictoriasCoronation1838.aspx |url-status=live}}</ref> She became the first sovereign to take up residence at [[Buckingham Palace]]<ref>St Aubyn, p. 69; Waller, p. 353</ref> and inherited the revenues of the duchies of [[Duchy of Lancaster|Lancaster]] and [[Duchy of Cornwall|Cornwall]] as well as being granted a [[civil list]] allowance of £385,000 per year. Financially prudent, she paid off her father's debts.<ref>Hibbert, p. 58; Longford, pp. 73–74; Woodham-Smith, p. 152</ref>

At the start of her reign Victoria was popular,<ref>Marshall, p. 42; St Aubyn, pp. 63, 96</ref> but her reputation suffered in an 1839 court intrigue when one of her mother's ladies-in-waiting, [[Lady Flora Hastings]], developed an abdominal growth that was widely rumoured to be an out-of-wedlock pregnancy by Sir John Conroy.<ref>Marshall, p. 47; Waller, p. 356; Woodham-Smith, pp. 164–166</ref> Victoria believed the rumours.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 77–78; Longford, p. 97; St Aubyn, p. 97; Waller, p. 357; Woodham-Smith, p. 164</ref> She hated Conroy, and despised "that odious Lady Flora",<ref>Victoria's journal, 25 April 1838, quoted in Woodham-Smith, p. 162</ref> because she had conspired with Conroy and the Duchess in the Kensington System.<ref>St Aubyn, p. 96; Woodham-Smith, pp. 162, 165</ref> At first, Lady Flora refused to submit to an intimate medical examination, until in mid-February she eventually acquiesced, and was found to be a virgin.<ref>Hibbert, p. 79; Longford, p. 98; St Aubyn, p. 99; Woodham-Smith, p. 167</ref> Conroy, the Hastings family, and the opposition [[Tories (British political party)|Tories]] organised a press campaign implicating the Queen in the spreading of false rumours about Lady Flora.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 80–81; Longford, pp. 102–103; St Aubyn, pp. 101–102</ref> When Lady Flora died in July, the post-mortem revealed a large tumour on her liver that had distended her abdomen.<ref>Longford, p. 122; Marshall, p. 57; St Aubyn, p. 104; Woodham-Smith, p. 180</ref> At public appearances, Victoria was hissed and jeered at as "Mrs. Melbourne".<ref>Hibbert, p. 83; Longford, pp. 120–121; Marshall, p. 57; St Aubyn, p. 105; Waller, p. 358</ref>

In 1839, Melbourne resigned after [[Radicals (UK)|Radicals]] and Tories (both of whom Victoria detested) voted against a bill to suspend the constitution of [[Jamaica]]. The bill removed political power from plantation owners who were resisting measures associated with the [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|abolition of slavery]].<ref>St Aubyn, p. 107; Woodham-Smith, p. 169</ref> The Queen commissioned a Tory, [[Robert Peel]], to form a new ministry. At the time, it was customary for the prime minister to appoint members of the [[Royal Households of the United Kingdom|Royal Household]], who were usually his political allies and their spouses. Many of the Queen's [[ladies of the bedchamber]] were wives of Whigs, and Peel expected to replace them with wives of Tories. In what became known as the "[[bedchamber crisis]]", Victoria, advised by Melbourne, objected to their removal. Peel refused to govern under the restrictions imposed by the Queen, and consequently resigned his commission, allowing Melbourne to return to office.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 94–96; Marshall, pp. 53–57; St Aubyn, pp. 109–112; Waller, pp. 359–361; Woodham-Smith, pp. 170–174</ref>