Victoria Of The United Kingdom
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Basic Information

She was the longest-reigning monarch in British history and gave her name to an era. She became the model of the modern era constitutional monarch. Of mostly German descent, she came to personify England; of royal blood, she came to represent middle-class respectability. Many of her nine children married into other royal families, making her in effect the "Grandmother of Europe". Her royal cipher, "V.R." stood for Victoria Regina; we know her as Queen Victoria.

She was born on May 24, 1819 in Kennignston Palace. Her father, Prince Edward Augustus, was the fourth son of King George III; but none of the older sons produced any legitimate children. Her own father died in 1820, leaving the infant Victoria as heir presumptive.

In 1837, Victoria turned 18. About a month later, on June 20, her uncle, William IV died and Victoria became queen. Early in her reign, the inexperienced queen relied heavily on her Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, but the minister's political party, the Whigs, fell out of power. The Queen feuded publicly with his replacement, Sir Robert Peel, who wanted to replace members of the Royal Household who were the wives of prominent Whigs with wives of prominent Tories.

Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on February 10, 1840. The couple were deeply attached to each other and had nine children together. When Albert died on December 14, 1861, of Typhoid fever, Victoria went into a period of mourning which lasted the rest of her life. She withdrew from public life and made very few public appearances for the rest of her reign. She blamed her son, Edward for her husband's death, since Albert had become ill after traveling to Cambridge to confront the prince about reports of his indiscretions.

After Albert's death, a man named John Brown (no relation), who was a gillie at Balmoral Castle, was appointed personal servant to the Queen. He an Victoria became close companions. Her other staff and her family became concerned about the influence he seemed to have over her and it was rumored the two were lovers, or perhaps had even been secretly married. Some people began referring to the Queen privately as "Mrs. Brown"; but whether he was ever more to her than a cherished friend and servant is a matter of conjecture.

On May 1, 1876, Victoria formally became "Empress of India" as Britain's holdings on the Indian subcontinent became incorporated into the British Empire. Then Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli is generally credited with creating the title.

In 1897. Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, the 60th anniversary of her reign, a festival that was celebrated across the entire Empire.

Victoria died on January 22, 1901 at the age of 81, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

Sources

Bibliography
2. Movie: Mrs. Brown (1997) — fictionalized version of Victoria's relationship with John Brown
3. Comic Strip: The New Adventures of Queen Victoria — does not have a whole lot to do with the historical Victoria, but it is fun with the occasional historical in-joke.

Game and Story Use

  • In any campaign set in Victorian Era England, even if she does not appear in person, Queen Victoria will have a definite presence
  • There were several assassination attempts made upon the Queen during her reign; the PC's may be involved with trying to thwart one of them.
    • Or perhaps trying to find if there is a common theme connecting them.
  • PCs who perform outstanding services to the Crown may receive knighthoods from the Queen.
  • Victoria's Diamond Jubilee might serve as a good backdrop for an adventure in that era.
  • Many of Victoria's children suffered from haemophilia; but strangely enough, none of her ancestors did. Was Victoria actually the illegitimate child of an unknown haemophiliac? Or was the illness a spontaneous mutation? Or is there a more sinister explanation?
    • Victoria and Albert were first cousins and came from families in which cousin marriages were far from unusual … when you cut your family tree down to a family bush, there's a lot less that you can hide underneath it.
    • Let's go for sinister!
      • You could tie it in to some dark secret involving Blood Magic, Vampirism, or a Curse.
        • Whether this is some hidden evil of the royal family, or the fallout from some powerful enemy they battled against, would be left up to the GM.
          • Perhaps Mr. Brown was there to guard her from some horrible evil, or, more dreadfully, perhaps he was the only one she allowed to see her transformations when the moon was high.
  • The PC's are recruited by the Queen/Disraeli/anti-monarchist elements to recover incriminating documents between her and Mr. Brown.
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