I believe that Victoria and Albert were the perfect love match. They loved each other deeply, something that was unusual among royalty, since royals weddings were a state matter rather than a love matter. Another example of royal love matches is Queen Victoria's granddaughter Princess Alix, (later renamed Alexandra) who married the future Tsar Nicholas II for love, despire the match not being accepted by both families. 

Victoria and Albert had 9 children: Victoria, Princess Royal, Prince Albert Edward (the future Edward  VII who succedded his mother because at the time England still favored males, and in case you're wondering, Victoria was only Queen because there was no other male available to inherit the throne), Princess Alice (Empress Alexandra's mother), Prince Alfred, Princess Helena, Princess Louise, Prince Arthur, Prince Leopold, and Princess Beatrice.

Victora hated being pregnant. She felt stuck and impotent because she had to stay in bed a lot and she was very controlling. She liked to be informed of everything and be in control of everything as well. Despite this, she had 9 children, and a staggering 42 grandchildren, giving her the nickname of "Europe's Grandmother." As a mother, she was loving but also stiff and stubborn when needed. As a person though, what better way to discribe her other than to quote Judi Dench portraying Queen Victoria in the movie Victoria and Abdul? 

 

 "...I have rheumatism, a collapsed uterus, I'm morbidly obese and deaf in one ear... I am cantankerous, boring, greedy, fat, ill-tempered, at times selfish and myopic, both metaphorically and literally..."

 

And that's why I admire her so much. She had many flaws and conditions. She must have been such an interesting person to meet, because I believe she was also nice. She loved Albert so much, and if she was capable of loving someone that strongly, other than herself, it means she loved her family. People show love in different ways, and because Victoria was so open in her diaries, we assume she was rude when she was not. She was like everybody else. I wish I could read her diaries, but they are expensive. Maybe someday I'll be able to afford them. I so look forward to the day I get to know her better than I already do. 

As Queen, Victoria was considered a good leader. She embodied the Victorian virtues of modesty, good morals, and decorum; she was seen as the mother of her people and was very much loved throughout all her reign. 

People accuse her for the Irish Famine, I believe, unfairly, as it's something that wasn't her fault. I think that people nowadays seem to forget that the United Kingdom has been a constitutional monarchy for more than 200 years, which mean the monarch had very few powers and shared them with the government. I think if there's someone to blame, blame the greedy politicians, not the queen. She actually cared and was really worried. She donated £2,000, (he equivalent of £61,000 today) to that cause. I don't believe it was her fault -- she has sneaky ministers that hid information from her.

She could barely leave the palace to see for herself, especially after the not one but EIGHT assassination attemps she survived. In one of them, in 1840, Albert protected her on a carriage ride and was shot.

He eventually recovered but it was a huge scare for Victoria. She thouht she would lose the love of her life. And sadly, she would...

Victoria's mother died in March 1861, and she was by her mother's side. She later read a letter from her mother saying how much she loved her and from what I've read in the past, apparently Victoria cried and she regreted not talking as much to her when she could.

A few months later, Albert became ill and was diagnosed with Typhoid Fever and died in December. Devastated over his death, Victoria blamed her son Edward, because when Albert was already ill, it was rumored that Edward was involved with an Irish actress and Albert went personally to Germany, where his son was staying, to confront him. Victoria believed this aggravated his illness, and eventually it killed him.

Victoria was very dependent on Albert and his death came as a horrible shock for her. She entered in this deep state of mourning, developed a severe depression, and withdrew from public life and avoided the state afairs and going to London. She also wore black for the rest of her life. She mourned Albert for 40 years, until her own death. 

the Queen ordered his room to be exactly as he left it and she had her maids place his clothes on his bed every day and had statues of him made to display all around the palaces, even thought she spent most of her time in Windsor, thus being nicknamed the "Widow of Windsor."

As a result of her seclusion, her popularity fell and the reign suffered with the Republican sentiments that arose. 

It was only in a few years later that Victoria finally came out of her bejeweled cage and restarted her public life. In the meantime, she befriended her Scottish servant John Brown. They got so incredibly close that there was speculation they were lovers and married in secret. Because of that, the press started to call her Mrs. Brown, but as always, she did not care what other thought of her. She published a book called Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands in which she praises John Brown a lot.

In 1876, Victoria became Empress of India, as at the time Britain was in possession of Indian territories. When Queen Victoria learned the facts of the Indian Rebellion in 1857, she strongly condemned the actions on both sides and showed herself to be very horrified with the atrocities. 

John Brown really liked Victoria. He helped her in her worst times and she showered him with gifts, incluiding two medals she created for him, the Faithful Servant medal and the Devoted Service medal, and she later had a portrait of him made. At some point, John gave her his mother's wedding ring, but I don't think she ever wore it. 

On the 2nd of March, 1883, after two days of being ill with erysipelas, John died. He had served the Queen for 18 years. 

Victoria fell once again in a deep sea of sadness...

And to make things worse, at the middle of the month, she fell from the stairs at Windsor castle and was confined to a wheelchair. She never really recovered from this and developed rheumatism. She walked with a stick for the rest of her life. 

In 1887, the British Empire celebrated Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee  (50 years of her reign) and it was during the celebrations that Victoria met Abdul Karim, an Indian man that was hired to be her servant. 

She was the Empress of India and as such, she felt she needed to know more about the culture and language of India. She asked Abudul to teacher her Hindi and Urdu. He quickly became her personal servant, or as she used to call him: "the Munshi" (meaning teacher in Urdu).

He also told her many things about India, which left her completely fascinated about it. By his idea, she had a Durbar room (meaning court, a room filled with Indian riches) made in Osborne house, her favorite royal residence. 

The room was intricately designed, by an Indian architect called Bhai Ram Singh and had a carpet woven in Agra and a replica of the peacock throne also from Agra. The Queen possessed the Koh-i-noor diamond, which was believed to be set on the throne but the British soldiers smashed it, something she wasn't aware of. 

The royal household resented Abdul because he was Indian and was placed on a more supeior position than most of the household. He was regarded as the Queen's teacher and confidant, and she saw him as a son, but the other staff felt humilliated.

The other servants, furious with him, tried many times to warn the Queen of his origins and conspired against him, saying he was part of the Muslim Patriotic League to try and turn her against him. She dismissed the rumors and their complaints and called them out for being racist. 

In 1897, Victoria celebrated her Diamond jubilee and there was a massive procession with the troops from all parts of the empire. The parade stopped for a mass at the St Paul's Cathedral and Queen Victoria paraded around London in an open carriage, and she could see how much she was loved by her people. 

By 1900, Victoria felt very lonely. Some of her children died - Alice on the 14th of December, 1878 (coincidentally on the same day of the year as Prince Albert had passed in 1861), Alfred on the 30rd of July, 1900, and Leopold on the 28th of March, 1884  from hemophilia that he inherited from his mother, a desease that affects blood cogagulation that only males suffer from, while females are carriers. Queen Victoria's grandaughter Empress Alexandra passed it to her son, Alexei and many of the queen's grandchildren spread it through Europe, thus became called "the royal disease."

Albert and Jown Brown and her mother and her father were dead. She didn't have a very good relationship with her son and heir "Bertie" and had only Beatrice as her favorite child to console her. 

Victoria trusted and loved Abdul as a son that was totally devoted to her. The royal household once again thought this relationship between the Queen and the servant was much more than that, and it was controversial because of his race. the Queen fell ill and urged Abdul to go back to India, to the new property she bought for him in Agra, but he refused. He said he would stay by her side until she was gone. 

As usual, Victoria spent her Christmas at Osborne House and by the beginning of January she said she was feeling "weak and tired," and as the month went on, she felt "sleepy and confused." She had developed cataracts and rheumatism, and it was destroying her. 

Queen Victoria was in her deathbed and as a last request she asked to have her Pomeranian dog by her side. She was surrounded by her family including her son Bertie and her grandson the German Kaiser Wilhelm II when she muttered her last word: "Bertie." The Queen passed away a 6:30 PM in her bedroom in Osborne House on the 22nd of January, 1901.

Abdul was allowed to be in her presence one last time before being sent to India by the new King Edward IIV, who later had many of his photos with Victoria and letters from the Queen burned in an attempt to erase him from history.

The End.

My thoughts about Queen Victoria:

To me, Victoria is more than just one of the many monarchs of England or Europe. I'm not ashamed to say it; I love her with all the fibers in me. I admire her. Lately I have been looking at so many of her photos, and you know the most common ones we get are the ones from the photographer Alexander Bassano in 1882, and normally, royalty and aristocrats always pose in very proper positions, facing the sides and never smiling.

The other day I recalled the very rare photo of her smile on her Golden Jubilee  and that photo encouraged me to spend hours looking at photos of her, trying to find photos of her than I haven't seen before.

Then suddenly, I found a photo of her dated from 1862, of her facing the camera. I gasped and found myself crying. Literally. I was so overwhelmed by the emotion of having found such a photo. I have never seen one where she is directly facing me and her eyes touched my soul. I felt the pain in those eyes, she was recenly widowed and suffering from Albert's departure. 

And honestly, I don't think she never totally recovered from the depression she fell into with Albert's death. She mourned him for the rest of her life, 40 years without the person she loved the most. 

In her, I see a woman with insecurities, a woman hurt by those closest to her, a woman that had to carry on the burden of the crown and was alone. But she won the battle against those who wished her harm or abused her. It's no coincidence her name means Victory.

When looking at her photos, I just want to be able to jump into them, to the past and hug her tight and tell her how much she is loved, how everything will be okay. God knows she probably wanted a warm hug. 

She inspired me, she moves me. She makes me wish every day that I lived in the Victorian era and saw her in person -- even just a glimpse.

I love her, I respect and admire her, and no one is going to change that.

Forever, Victoria.

 Facts:

- When she died, her little crown - that she had made for her since the Imperial State Crown gave her migraines - was placed on her coffin and rests now at the Tower of London

- It was a request of hers that people wore white to her funeral

- There's many streets, monuments, parks and buildings named after her both in the UK and India and other commonwealth countries

- The lingerie brand Victoria's Secret, was actually named after her, the secret being her fancy undergarments

- The giant Amazon waterlily (Victoria Amazonica and V. Cruziana) was named in her honor

- The waterfall of the Zambezi river in Southern Africa was named after her. (Victoria Falls)