“We will not have failure –only success and new learning.”
(Queen Victoria)

• On the throne, the British Queen Victoria was for 63 years. I must say that this is a record time for the monarch.  Her birthday in Canada is still considered a national holiday.
• As the Queen of England, Victoria never learned to speak English purely. Her mother was the daughter of a German duke, and so German was always heard at home.  Accordingly, Victoria perfectly knew German, but not English.
• Victoria was a mother of many children. She had 9 children.But the queen could not bear small children.  She was always squeamish about babies.  But she loved older children.  This is evidenced by the fact that when Victoria’s eldest daughter got married and left home, her mother wrote her eight thousand letters.
• People called Victoria the “widow.” And indeed: for 40 years of her life, she lived as a widow.  After her husband Albert Saxe-Coburg-Gotha died, the queen constantly wore a black dress.
• An interesting story is told about the British Queen. This incident occurred in the 19th century when Victoria attended a diplomatic reception in London.  Her guest was an African leader.  When a bowl of water was given to everyone for washing their hands, the leader was confused.  Not knowing what to do, he began to drink the brought water.  The queen found a way out of a situation that did not allow her guest to be compromised.  She simply followed suit, and all the courtiers followed her.
• During the first pregnancy, Queen Victoria was assassinated. The 18-year-old offender missed twice, after he was captured and convicted of high treason.  He was the first of 8 people who tried to take the queen’s life.
• Victoria herself made an offer to her future husband Albert.
• The queen was not tall, about 150 centimeters. In her youth, she was a slender and mobile girl, but with age – and after the birth of nine children – impressively grew stout.  Towards the end of Victoria’s life, her waist circumference was the same 150 centimeters as her height, as current historians judge by the size of her clothes and, in particular, her underwear.
• In 1887, at the age of 68, and by this time about ten years bearing the title of Empress of India, Victoria suddenly became interested in this country and began to study the Hindustani language under the guidance of her Indian servant. There are notebooks in which Victoria practiced writing in this language.
• Queen Victoria kept diaries from the age of thirteen. Until Victoria ascended the throne, her mother, Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeldskaya, carefully checked the record.  Victoria continued to keep diaries all her life – the last entry was made 10 days before her death – and filled out 121 notebooks.  Shortly before her death, the queen requested that one of her children reread her notes and extinct everything that could be regarded as inappropriate.  This task was undertaken by the daughter of Victoria Beatrice, and as a result of her censorship, most of Queen Victoria’s diaries were destroyed.