Queen Victoria

Welcome to the birthplace of a woman who ruled the world's largest empire for 64 years, yet stood barely 5 feet tall. Within this grand palace nestled in Kensington Gardens, Princess Alexandrina Victoria was born at 4:15 am on May 24, 1819. She grew up here under the Kensington System, strict rules that controlled every moment of her childhood. Her mother and an advisor kept young Victoria isolated, never allowing her to be alone. Everything changed at 6:00 am on June 20, 1837. An 18 year old Victoria was woken and told her uncle had died.

She was now Queen. Her first act was to demand an hour alone, something she had never been allowed. She immediately banished the man who had controlled her childhood. Victoria married her German cousin Albert in 1840. She proposed to him, as royal custom required. She wrote in her diary about feelings of heavenly happiness she never thought possible. They had 9 children. When Albert died of typhoid in 1861 at age 42, Victoria was devastated.

She wore black mourning clothes for the remaining 40 years of her life. She withdrew from public life for over a decade, earning the nickname the Widow of Windsor. Victoria survived at least 7 assassination attempts. After one shooting, she deliberately took the same route the next day to draw out the attacker and have him caught. She died on January 22, 1901.