Built by William the Conqueror, Windsor Castle has been a continuously inhabited royal residence for over one thousand years.
The British royal family named themselves after this wonderful old building, and in our new blog series looking at the monarchs associated with the House of Windsor, we begin with Queen Victoria.
Victoria and Albert
In 1837, arranged by her maternal uncle, Leopold, Victoria met her cousin, Prince Albert, the son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was one of a number of prospective suitors that Victoria met, but by far he was the one to whom she felt the most attraction. Upon meeting him she wrote to her uncle to thank him, “For the prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear Albert”. However, as Victoria was only 17 at the time, she was not yet ready to marry.
Victoria became Queen on 20th June 1837. Two years later she celebrated her 20th birthday, with a ball that took place at Windsor Castle. She was gifted a large urn, made out of malachite, by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, which can now be seen in the Grand Reception Room at the castle.
In October that same year, Prince Albert visited her again, this time at Windsor Castle. It was in the Blue Closet, part of the private apartments, on the morning of the 15th October 1839, that Queen Victoria sent for the Prince. With the royal tradition being that a reigning monarch could not be proposed to, she asked Albert for his hand in marriage, and he said yes. Following their wedding, they honeymooned at Windsor Castle.
Children and Family Life
Prince Alfred, future Duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the Queens second son, was born at Windsor Castle on 6th August 1844. He was the only one of Victoria’s children not to be born at Buckingham Palace. His christening took place in Windsor Castle’s Private Chapel, on 6th September 1844. Five of the Queen’s children would go on to be married at Windsor Castle.
The early years of Victoria’s married life to Prince Albert were beautifully captured in a painting by Sir Edwin Landseer, entitled “Windsor Castle in Modern Times”, which shows the couple, along with their first child Princess Victoria, and Prince Albert’s beloved greyhound, Eos.
The German tradition of a decorated tree at Christmas, which was introduced to Britain by Queen Victoria’s grandmother, Queen Charlotte, was further popularised by Prince Albert and their Christmases were celebrated at Windsor Castle.
Sad Times
Queen Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent, died in March 1861 at Frogmore House, in the grounds of Windsor Great Park.
Just six months later, in the Blue Room in Windsor Castle, Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, died of typhoid. King George IV and King William IV both died in the same room, and it became a shrine to her husband’s memory. The Queen would often use the room to pray.
Queen Victoria became known as the “Widow of Windsor”, mourning the death of her husband, and wearing black for the rest of her life. She died, at the age of 81, on 22nd January 1901. Her funeral took place on 2nd February, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and she was interred beside Prince Albert in the Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore, within the Home Park at Windsor.
She was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII, who was at her bedside when she died. We will look at his life in the next blog of our “House of Windsor” series.
Queen Victoria features in the “Monarchs of the House of Windsor Threepence Set”, which you can purchase HERE.