Victoria, Queen

Cultural  

1. A British queen of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. During her reign, Britain reached new heights in industrial and colonial power and diplomatic influence. Victoria became queen at the age of eighteen and soon married Prince Albert, who proved an enormous support to her; after his early death, she remained in official mourning until her own death forty years later. Victoria was known for her impartiality toward the two leading political parties of Britain, the Liberals and the Conservatives, which both produced extraordinary leaders during her reign (see Benjamin Disraeli and William Ewart Gladstone). She was also known for establishing strict standards of personal morality. (See Victorian period.)

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The term Victorian today sometimes recalls Queen Victoria's stands on personal moral issues and may suggest prudery or a moral self-satisfaction.

Queen Victoria's children and grandchildren married into many of the other royal families of Europe. Tragically, many of them passed on the disease hemophilia. Victoria carried the disease in her genes, and one of her sons died from it. The hemophiliac son of Nicholas II, the czar of Russia, was descended from Victoria. (See Grigori Rasputin.)

Example Sentences

The couple have praised hospital staff in Hastings who initially treated him and the specialist plastic surgeons at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead for rebuilding their son's jaw.

From BBC • May 29, 2026

Cadbury, along with other chocolatiers, was commissioned by Queen Victoria to produce thousands of tins of chocolate for British soldiers fighting in South Africa.

From BBC • May 12, 2026

Within weeks the piece traveled to London, where it was privately shown to Queen Victoria and hailed by the British press.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

In the lavish memorial erected by his grieving widow, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert is golden, but few world leaders are permanently gilded, and certainly not before their deaths.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

Affixed with a one-cent stamp bearing the likeness of Queen Victoria herself, a letter would reach its destination within hours of the time it was sent.

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood