'Horribly naughty' In the spring of 1819, the Duke and Duchess of Kent hurried from their rented accommodation in Amorbach, Bavaria, to return to the Duke's native land, 'in order,' he wrote, 'to render the Child [my wife] bears, virtually as well as legally English.' Thus, the robust English Princess Alexandrina Victoria was born on 24th May 1819 in Kensington Palace, London. Just after her baptism, however, the debt-ridden Kents moved from London to Devonshire, where they found it easier to live cheaply. The death of the Duke of Kent less than a year later brought the infant Victoria, her mother, and her half-sister Feodora, back to Kensington Palace, where they lived a quiet life away from the bustle and intrigues of court life. ...Queen Victoria would describe her childhood as particularly dreary... Although later in life Queen Victoria would describe her childhood as particularly dreary, her early upbringing enforced regular habits and was thus similar to that of any upper-class English girl of her time; her days were filled with lessons in languages, writing, music, history, drawing, arithmetic, geography and religion. As a child, Victoria ate a simple diet, retired early, and was given plenty of opportunity to exercise in the fresh air. Princess Victoria was very fond of her many pets (though she teased the canaries), of playing dressing-up, and riding horses - the faster the better. In 1828, at the marriage of her sister to Prince Ernest of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Victoria lost one of her best-loved companions, and her relationship with her governess, Louise (afterwards the Baroness) Lehzen, grew even closer. From 1830, Lehzen began to monitor Victoria's conduct through a series of 'Behaviour Books'. Victoria herself was obliged to record assessments of her attitude and comportment throughout the day. Although she was often 'good' at her lessons or in her conduct, there were numerous notations through 1832 in which Victoria's behaviour is described negatively, often extravagantly so: for example, she was 'naughty and vulgar' on 1st November, 1831 and (each word is underlined four times) 'VERY VERY VERY VERY HORRIBLY NAUGHTY!!!!!'; in late September 1832. Victoria's own journal, which she began keeping from July 1832, however, blandly remarks on this day, 'The heat was intollerable'[sic]. Top

Melodramatic flair Princess Victoria became a dedicated journal-writer at the age of 13, and maintained her journal throughout her long life. Victoria also wrote a variety of 'compositions' that reveal her character, her interests, and her education through didactic tales such as those written by the novelist and educator, Maria Edgeworth. ...Queen Victoria is famous for never being amused... One of her stories, written at the age of ten, is titled 'Sophia and Adolphus: in the Style of Miss Edgeworth's Harry and Lucy'. In this tale, Victoria mimics Edgeworth's plot in the first volume of Edgeworth's Harry and Lucy Concluded (1825), but imbues her story with a melodramatic flair not found in Edgeworth's rationalist prose. Unlike Edgeworth's impetuous and faulty character Lucy, who must learn self-denial and self-control from the example of her brother, Victoria's Sophia is the heroine of the tale. In Victoria's pencil sketch illustrating the story, Sophia's central position and direct gaze at the viewer highlights her leading role in the narrative. Princess Victoria was a fine water-colourist, a hobby she indulged throughout her adulthood. She attended the theatre and musical concerts, and these visits constituted some of the greatest joys she experienced in her youth. After a performance, she would sometimes paint the costumes and gestures of the dancers and singers she had watched on stage. Although Queen Victoria is famous for never being amused, this myth could not have originated from her early years. The pages of her journal are filled with expressions of pleasure: 'I was very much amused indeed!' she exclaimed within her journal, in rapturous admiration of Giulia Grisi's performance as Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello. Top

Placating others The apocryphal story of how Victoria learned that she was the future Queen of England, which ends with Victoria making a solemn gesture and vowing 'to be good', cannot be corroborated (at least three competing versions of the event exist); many years later, the Queen herself remembered the moment differently: 'I cried much on learning it - & even deplored this contingency.' In 1830, the anticipated death of George IV (which would make Victoria heiress presumptive to the throne) spurred the Duchess of Kent to revise the so-called 'Kensington System' - the method of educating Victoria in seclusion - and to publicise her daughter's moral and intellectual strengths by organising a series of examinations by three esteemed clerics. Princess Victoria performed well on her examinations, much to her mother's satisfaction; the Archbishop of Canterbury concluded that 'no change [in her educational program] could be made for the better.' ...her carefully monitored life allowed her little freedom. Certainly it was not easy to be the object of such intense scrutiny. Victoria had many opportunities to practice the virtue of patience, as her carefully monitored life allowed her little freedom. Victoria's restraint is revealed within her daily journal, as her struggles with her mother (which can be followed through the Duchess of Kent's extant letters) never explicitly appear within it. This self-control is all the more remarkable because Victoria was a passionate child and a strong-willed girl. Yet, she longed to please and placate those about her, including her mother, Lehzen and Uncle Leopold, her mother's brother. In his frequent letters, Leopold, who became King of the Belgians in 1831, often commented upon Victoria's appearance and public conduct. His counsel attempted to prepare his young niece for the demands and responsibilities of her eventual station. In 1836, he reminded her that 'high personages are a little like stage actors - they must always make efforts to please their public.' Victoria's short stature concerned Leopold (she never quite reached five feet in height), and he often warned her against eating too quickly and too much. Victoria took this advice to heart and tried to persuade him to visit her - in part to witness her reformed eating habits: 'I wish you could come here, for many reasons, but also to be an eyewitness of my extreme prudence in eating, which would astonish you.' Top

Female influences Although Princess Victoria welcomed her uncle's advice, as she grew older her mother's smothering concern and criticisms became increasingly irritating to the sensitive girl. Nearly forgotten today, Feodora (the second child of her mother's first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen) was well-loved by Victoria, and the two sisters maintained a lively correspondence throughout their lives. The emotional 15-year-old Victoria grieved deeply when Feodora and her young family departed England after one of her infrequent visits: 'I clasped her in my arms and kissed her and cried as if my heart would break; so did she, DEAREST Sister.' Louise Lehzen remained Victoria's confidante throughout the entire youth of the princess, and into her first years as Queen. This strong bond would ultimately cause problems within Victoria's relationship with her mother, and with Prince Albert, but in the early years, Lehzen was nearly perfect in Victoria's eyes. During a serious illness in 1835, the Duchess of Kent and Sir John Conroy attempted, among other schemes, to convince Victoria that she would not be fit to rule until she was aged 21 (although legally she would gain her majority at 18). Lehzen fortunately was on hand to nurse Victoria, and supported her refusals of her mother's designs. Although the Duchess of Kent is never accused within her journal, Victoria gushes that 'My dearest best Lehzen has been & still is (for I require a great deal of care still) MOST UNCEASING & INDEFATIGABLE in her great care of me.' Top

Male companionship With her father having died when she was eight months old, there were few men whom Victoria saw with any regularity during her early years. As a consequence, the rare occasions when she was allowed male companionship were much-anticipated treats for the Princess. One man she did see regularly was her father's former equerry and her mother's closest advisor, the ambitious Sir John Conroy. Victoria's hatred of this man and his manipulations was deep-seated and permanent. Her Uncle Leopold, however, functioned as a steady, although ultimately remote, father-figure for Victoria throughout her girlhood. Victoria delighted in the visits that various male cousins from her mother's side of the family would occasionally make. Her first cousins Ernest and Albert of Saxe-Coburg Gotha travelled to London with their father (another brother of the Duchess of Kent) to help Victoria celebrate her 17th birthday. The studious Albert, who would later captivate Victoria and turn her attentions from her first Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, was a rather dull guest for the lively Victoria at this time. He was prone to fits of fainting, and preferred quiet evenings to the balls that Victoria delighted in. In 1836, Victoria was quite enamoured of three Persian princes seeking asylum in England. She coyly related to her journal a delightful bit of flattery she received from these 'exotic' visitors: '[The Princes] were asked by Sir Gore [their translator] what struck them most, or what had made the most impression on them in England. The reply was Windsor Castle, and me.' The significance of the loss of her father when she was an infant, and of the lack of male company in her childhood, cannot be underestimated when judging Victoria's character and growth into a woman; she would seek male attention and companionship for the rest of her life. Top

Find out more Books Victoria, The Young Queen by Monica Charlot (Basil Blackwell, 1991) A Royal Conflict: Sir John Conroy and the Young Victoria by Katherine Hudson (Hodder & Stoughton, 1994) Queen Victoria, A Personal History by Christopher Hibbert (HarperCollins, 2000) Becoming Victoria by Professor Lynne Vallone (Yale University Press, 2001) Places to visit Kensington Palace, where Victoria was born and grew up. Kensington Gardens, London, W8 4PY. Tel: 020 7937 9561 Top