Here is my writing course assignment 7. It's an edit of my assignment 4--"Victoria, Queen of the World". My advisor thinks this is my best piece, so I may actually try to do something with it. :) Three more assignments, then I'm DONE! Finally! (It's just sad those 3 more assignments will probably take 6 months to complete with all the time given for editing and mailing back and forth. Ah well. The end is near!!!
Without further ado, "Victoria, Queen of the World".
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a princess? Some girls think that princesses sit around all day playing with a golden ball or singing and dancing. Other girls think that princesses are always beautiful and live happily ever after. Two hundred years ago there was a princess who wrote about her life in a journal, just like you may keep a diary today. Her name was Victoria, and though she would grow up to be a famous queen, she first had to survive the “Kensington System”.
Her Royal Highness Alexandrina Victoria was born May 24, 1819. Her father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and her mother was Princess Victoria Mary Louisa, Duchess of Kent. Her mother called her “Drina” because she was small and Alexandrina is a very long name!
Princess Drina’s childhood was not happy. Drina lived in London in a castle called Kensington Palace with her mother and Baroness Louise Lehzen. Her father died when she was a baby. Sir John Conroy, her mother’s advisor—someone who gives advice and manages the money—also lived in the palace with his family. The princess loved the Baroness (she called her “Lehzen”, pronounced “Letz-en”) very much, but she did not like Sir Conroy. He frightened her and Drina’s mother did everything he told her to do.
Drina’s mother was very protective. She and Sir Conroy set up the “Kensington System”, a strict set of rules that Drina had to obey. She was not allowed to be in a room by herself, she had to hold someone’s hand to go up or down the steps, and she had to share a room with her mother until she was eighteen! She did not know many children, except Sir Conroy’s, so she often had to play by herself or with Baroness Lehzen. She did not go to school with other children and her mother and Sir Conroy chose who she could play with. Princess Drina did not like the “Kensington System” so sometimes she would be disobedient on purpose. She would refuse to do her schoolwork, not listen to Sir Conroy, and be rude to her mother.
Even though Drina did not go to school, she still had lessons every day. Her mother and Baroness Lehzen, chose what she would study. The Baroness was her governess, a lady who lives with and teaches children who do not go to school. She also had tutors for some subjects, like mathematics, history, dancing, and religion. She wrote letters to her uncle Leopold too, telling him what she was learning. Leopold was the King of Belgium. He wanted to make sure that England, when Drina was queen, would continue to help his country.
Drina studied history, geography, and arithmetic as well as drawing, music, and the Bible. Girls did not study science when she was growing up. By the time she was eighteen Drina could speak and write in German, English, and French. She enjoyed reading books, playing the piano, and going to the theater. She also loved playing with her spaniel, Dash. The princess loved to draw and write, which was one reason why she kept a journal about her life. Sometimes she would add drawings, or illustrate, her entries. She continued to keep a journal, or diary, for the rest of her life!
Members of the royal family did not have jobs like your parents. The palace Drina lived in, including almost everything in it, belonged to her uncle the king. She and her mother were given an allowance to pay for their clothes, food, and to help take care of Kensington Palace.
When Drina was eleven, her uncle—King George the Fourth—died. Her other uncle, William, became the new king because George and his wife had no children. King William and Queen Adelaide did not have children either, so Princess Drina became “heir apparent”, meaning she would be the next ruler. Now her life was not so quiet and boring.
As “heir apparent” she was suddenly very important! Her uncles, King Leopold and King William, wanted her to study more about history and government so she would know how to be a good queen. Sir Conroy, though, did not want her to study because he thought she was too young to rule a country. He wanted her to sign a regency order which would give him and her mother the power to make the decisions. The princess did not want him telling her what to do when she was queen. She knew she could rule on her own. The young princess also decided that she did not want to be called Drina anymore. She thought it was childish and preferred her middle name, Victoria. Now she was called Her Royal Highness, Princess Victoria.
Victoria turned eighteen on May 24, 1837. She could now legally rule on her own without the help of Sir Conroy or her mother. There would be no regency. In her journal she wrote “Today is my 18th birthday! How old! And yet how far am I from being what I should be. I shall from this day…strive to become every day…more fit for what, if Heaven will it, I’m someday to be!” She met with the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, to plan what she would need to do once she became queen. As Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne was the leader of Parliament, which makes the laws in Great Britain. As queen, Victoria needed to work with the members of Parliament to accomplish her goals for improving the lives of her people.
Three weeks after Victoria’s birthday, her uncle William died. Princess Victoria was now Her Majesty, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland! Once she was queen, Victoria told her mother she would have her own bedroom and meet with her advisors alone, both things she was never allowed to do under the “Kensington System”. She and her mother moved into Buckingham Palace, which had just been finished, and Victoria quickly banished Sir Conroy from the Royal Court, ending his control over her forever.
Sidebar: June 28, 1838 was Victoria’s coronation where she was formally crowned queen. She ruled Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia, India, and parts of Africa and the Caribbean for 64 years. She is the longest reigning British monarch. She and her husband, Prince Albert, had nine children, 40 grandchildren, and 37 great-grandchildren. Her great-great granddaughter, Elizabeth, is the Queen of the United Kingdom today. Queen Victoria died January 22, 1901 when she was 81 years old. Little Princess Drina had grown up to be the most powerful woman in the world!
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