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While Queen Victoria experienced the opulence of royalty, her early years before she took the throne were filled with hardship and sorrow. She lived a restricted life with a difficult mother, facing traumatic events that would influence the queen she later became.
10. Her Father Passed Away Before She Reached Her First Birthday
Victoria never had the chance to know her father, as he passed away before she was even one year old, before she could form any memories of him. This tragic event marked the beginning of a series of misfortunes that ultimately led her to the throne.
At the time of her birth, no one imagined that Victoria would become queen. Her father was the fourth son of the king, and she was far behind in the line of succession. It was only after the deaths of three uncles and five cousins that she became the rightful heir to the English throne.
John Conroy, the secretary to her mother, was determined to see Victoria rise to the throne. Even while she was third in line, Conroy began a campaign to promote her as the future queen. He pushed Parliament to refer to her as the 'heir presumptive,' trying to cement her position in the public's mind before she could be displaced.
Conroy's efforts caused a rift within the royal family. Her uncle, King William IV, attempted to take custody of Victoria in an effort to control the heir to the throne. In response, Conroy launched attacks against the king, branding him a degenerate who sullied his court with his illegitimate children.
At just five years old, Victoria had no understanding of why she was so significant. Yet, by that age, her family was already embroiled in bitter disputes, each faction vying for control of her future.
9. Her Mother Struggled to Handle Her
Victoria was a determined and headstrong child. She resisted every command her mother gave. Her mother, in turn, dubbed her 'Pocket Hercules' for her fierce will. While it may have sounded endearing, the nickname came not from affection but from the constant battles within a troubled household.
'Today the little mouse was so unmanageable that I nearly cried,' her mother wrote in her diary. During Victoria’s early years, her mother’s journal was filled with desperate pleas for help in dealing with the tantrums and defiance of her toddler.
Victoria’s earliest memory was of a confrontation with her mother. After she had gotten into trouble, her mother warned her that her uncle would punish her if she cried. Ever rebellious, Victoria spent the following weeks screaming as loudly as she could whenever her uncle passed by.
8. She Was Forbidden to Play With Other Children
Unable to manage her daughter and fearful of the king’s influence, Victoria’s mother entrusted near-total control to John Conroy. Following his advice, at just five years old, Victoria was placed under the 'Kensington System,' which isolated her from everyone except Conroy himself.
Victoria was kept under constant surveillance. Every action she took was reported to Conroy, and her caretakers were given strict instructions to prevent any external influences from reaching the princess. Aside from her siblings and Conroy’s daughter, she was forbidden from playing with other children. She couldn’t even be left alone for a moment. At night, a governess was required to remain awake and watch over her while she slept.
Conroy boasted about his system, presenting it as the ideal method for raising a well-behaved and virtuous child. However, Victoria despised it. She endured a miserable childhood, and for the rest of her life, she would never harbor as much hatred for anyone as she did for John Conroy.
7. John Conroy May Have Been Her Father
Despite her intense hatred for him, Victoria may have shared more traits with Conroy than she realized. Throughout her life, rumors swirled that her true father wasn’t Prince Edward. Many speculated that her mother had an affair with the trusted adviser she kept so close, and that Victoria was actually the illegitimate daughter of John Conroy.
The Duke of Wellington claimed that Queen Victoria had all but confirmed these rumors. He alleged that she had confided in him, revealing that she had caught her mother and Conroy engaged in 'some familiarities.' Even if Conroy wasn’t her biological father, their relationship clearly went beyond mere professionalism.
Some contemporary historians have embraced these rumors as fact. They argue that Victoria’s diagnosis of hemophilia B, a genetic condition, suggests a possible connection. She was the first in her family to carry the disease and passed it on to her children.
While this isn’t definitive proof, the rumors certainly affected Victoria. Deep down, she likely wrestled with the unsettling possibility that her greatest enemy might also be her biological father.
6. Her Mother Attempted to Usurp the Throne
King William IV did everything in his power to prevent Victoria’s mother from becoming queen regent. If he passed away while Victoria was still underage, her mother would have assumed control. William IV publicly declared that he would live until Victoria turned 18—and he did, driven by sheer obstinacy.
Once it became clear that she wouldn’t become queen regent, Victoria’s mother took a more direct route to seize power. After a long journey, Victoria contracted typhoid fever. For five weeks, she was unable to walk, bedridden with clumps of hair falling out, begging for medical help. Yet, despite her pleas, neither her mother nor Conroy allowed anyone to bring in a doctor.
They saw her declining health as an opportunity. As their daughter suffered, Victoria’s mother and Conroy pushed her to sign documents appointing Conroy as her adviser and treasurer, granting him control over all her affairs. They pressured her relentlessly. Conroy even threatened to imprison her and starve her if she refused to sign the papers.
At last, Victoria’s governess, Louise Lehzen, could no longer stand by. She secretly arranged for a doctor to attend to Victoria. Though Victoria was on the brink of death, she managed to survive and refused to sign the papers.
'I resisted,' she wrote in her diary, 'in spite of my illness and their harshness.'
5. She Didn’t Find True Happiness Until She Became Queen
Becoming queen marked Victoria’s first real taste of freedom. She described that initial sense of liberation as 'the pleasantest summer I ever passed in my life.' Reflecting on her life before the throne, she wrote, 'I never was happy until I was 18.'
Victoria was still young when she ascended to the throne. Her innocence was evident during her coronation, where it manifested in some endearing moments. When Lord Rolle, a man nearly 90 years old, stumbled on the stairs, Victoria instinctively stood to help him. However, she was stopped and told that it wasn’t proper royal conduct.
'May I not get up and meet him?' Victoria protested. She stood from her throne and approached the elderly man, determined to prevent him from straining himself further. The crowd was moved by this small but powerful gesture, and through it, she won the affection of her people.
The coronation was a monumental experience. Victoria wrote in her diary, 'I shall ever remember this day as the proudest of my life.' Yet, as soon as it was over, she hurried home because her dog Dash hadn’t had his daily bath. In her very first act as queen, she bathed the pup herself in the tub.
4. She Expelled John Conroy From Her Life
One of Victoria's first decisions as queen was to banish John Conroy from the royal family. He had already tainted her childhood, and she was determined not to let him ruin her reign.
Conroy, still fighting for influence after failing to become her adviser, demanded a £3,000 yearly pension and a seat on the Privy Council. In an effort to avoid further scandal, the queen granted most of his demands but insisted he stay out of her and her family’s lives.
In his place, she offered Louise Lehzen, the governess who had saved her life, a position as her lady attendant. But Lehzen, loyal as ever, refused. 'My dear Lehzen will always be with me as my friend,' Victoria wrote, 'but will take no situation with me, and I think she is right.'
Instead, Victoria was determined to rule on her own, free from the influence of Conroy or her mother. After her first meeting with the Prime Minister as queen, she proudly noted in her diary that she had done so 'quite alone, as I shall always do with all my ministers.'
3. Her Mother Died The Same Year
Once Victoria became queen, her relationship with her mother barely existed. She allowed her mother to visit her home after Victoria had children, but they never experienced the warmth typical of a mother-daughter bond.
In 1859, Victoria’s mother fell gravely ill, a turn of events that affected Victoria more deeply than she had anticipated. 'I hardly myself knew how I loved her,' Victoria wrote, 'till I saw looming in the distance the fearful possibility of what I will not mention.'
Her mother did recover, but her health remained fragile, and she would continue to struggle with it for years. However, her fight came to an end in 1861, the same year as her husband’s death.
'My childhood all seems to crowd in upon me,' Victoria wrote the day her mother passed away. The sentiment was more truthful than she realized. Soon after, she visited her mother’s home and there, pieces of her past came flooding back.
For the first time since their separation, Victoria stepped into the home of the mother she had once believed hated her. Inside, she discovered every item from her childhood had been kept. She had preserved 'every pair of shoes she’d worn as a baby' and all of the toys she had once cherished.
'Never until then,' Victoria recorded in her diary that evening, 'did I know she loved me.'
2. Her Husband Died Young
Prince Albert passed away at the age of 42 from typhoid fever. He and Victoria had spent 21 joyful years together. Her joy faded with his death. For the following two years, she refrained from making any public appearances.
'This day last year found us so perfectly happy,' Victoria wrote in her diary, reflecting on the profound loss. After months of silence, she finally found the strength to write. 'With what a heavy broken heart I enter on a new year without him.'
She grieved for him throughout the remainder of her life. For the next four decades, she chose to dress solely in black. She instructed the servants to maintain his personal chambers exactly as they were during his lifetime. Each morning, by her command, the staff would bring hot water to his vacant room for his shave.
In a reflection of her own mother's actions, Victoria held her eldest son responsible for Albert’s death. From that moment, she could not bear to look at him, confessing, “I never can or shall look at him without a shudder.”
1. She Wed Her Cousin to Escape Her Mother's Influence
At the outset of her reign, Victoria's mother resided with her in the palace. By law, the young queen was obligated to live with her mother until marriage. However, her mother, aware of her limited time, expressed her concern, telling Victoria, 'The queen should forgive what displeased the princess.'
Victoria, however, was not one to forgive. Barely six months after becoming queen, she wed without waiting for the man to take the initiative. In fact, it was Victoria who proposed to him. Her mother was forced to leave the palace and was sent far away from town.
She married her cousin, Prince Albert of Belgium. Though it served a political purpose, Victoria truly loved him. She described him as someone who gave her 'feelings of heavenly love and happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before.'
On their wedding night, the couple shared an intimate and passionate evening that lasted until dawn. Without her mother and Conroy, Victoria experienced true happiness for the first time. She referred to the night as 'bliss beyond belief,' writing, 'Oh! Was ever woman so blessed as I am.'
