22 January 1901 – The death of Queen Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria German: Alexandrina Viktoria; B. 24 May 1819), who was the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death. Her reign as the Queen lasted 63 years and 7 months, longer than that of any other British monarch before or since, and her reign is the longest of any female monarch in history – Queen Elizabeth’s reign is coming up on 59 years.
God save the Queen!
Another interesting aspect of Victoria’s life was her role as a mother of nine and grandmother of dozens, In two generations. Her progeny ruled a huge chunk of Europe, not to mention the places where the sun never sets.
Right, the Princess Victoria, Princess Royal (1840-1901) was Queen Victoria’s first born. She married German Emperor Frederick III and was the mother of Kaiser Wilhelm II and seven other children who married into a variety of Europoean royal families. This portrait was painted by Winterhalter in 1867 when she was Crown Princess of Prussia.
Edward Albert, Prince of Wales, and later Edward VII (1841–1910) was Victoria’s second child, the longed-for male heir to the throne. He spent most of his life waiting to become king but he reigned only nine years after his mother’s death in 1901.
He and his Queen, Alexandra of Denmark, had six children who also married royals.
Among the descendents of Queen Victoria are the royal families of the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Spain. Among those families formerly on thrones, count the ex-royals of Greece, Russia and Romania, not to mention a passle of former principalities.