The five daughters of the famous sovereign, Queen Victoria of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, who gave her name to an era. Queen
Victoria, the last Hanoverian monarch of Britain, ruled for sixty-three years
from 1837 to her death in 1901. Her love for her husband, Albert, Prince
Consort, was legendary, as well as her offspring. Her five daughters and four sons
married into noble and royal families across Europe, as well as their numerous
descendants. Known as the “Grandmother of Europe”, Queen Victoria’s blood still
runs deep in almost every European monarchy of the present-day.
* Click each daughter's name to read their individual biographies *
The Daughters:
Victoria, Princess
Royal (1840-1901) was the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She
shared her mother’s fate of having a loving and happy marriage with Prince
Frederick William of Prussia, who became the German Emperor Frederick III and
the King of Prussia in 1888. She was only the “Empress Frederick” for three
months, as her husband’s reign was only three months long due to his death from
throat cancer. She had a troubled relationship with the oldest half of her
eight children, due to her strict and rigid parenting style, but the six of her
offspring that survived infancy did make impressive marriages into royal and
noble houses. Two of her children even became sovereigns, as her eldest,
Wilhelm II (who is infamous for his role in advancing World War I), ascended to
the German and Prussian thrones, and one of her younger daughters, Sophie,
married the King of the Hellenes (present-day Greece).
Princess Alice (1843 – 1878) was the second daughter and third
child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was known as the most
supportive, caring, and kind-hearted of the Queen’s daughters. She married
Prince Louis of Hesse and had seven children, five daughters and two sons, two
of whom died young. In 1877, Alice’s husband became the Grand Duke of Hesse and
by Rhine, making her a Grand Duchess. She was the first of the Queen’s children
to die, as she fell ill from diphtheria after the disease plagued her family.
She cared for her family for over a month before she tragically caught the
illness and died. Like her mother, she was a hemophilia carrier and passed the
disease on to one of her sons, who died from the illness after an accident at a
young age, and two of her daughters, whose children also suffered from the
disease. Her offspring included Alexandra Feodorovna, the last Empress Consort
of Russia as the wife of Nicholas II, Grand Duchess Elisabeth of Russia, and
Princess Irene, who married her Prussian cousin, Prince Henry.
Princess Helena (1846 – 1923) was the third daughter and fifth
child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Although she was regarded as the
least attractive, intelligent, and talented of the Queen’s daughters, she was
known as a strong-willed woman who spoke her own mind. She was also the most
active member of the royal family, and, along with making many public
appearances, she took control of a wide-ranging program of royal appointments.
She had a happy marriage with Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, who she
had six children with (four sons and two daughters). Her youngest surviving son
died after just eight days of life while her last child was stillborn. Helena’s
only descendant was an illegitimate granddaughter who died without children.
Princess Louise
(1848-1939) was the fourth daughter and sixth child of Queen Victoria and
Prince Albert. She was perhaps the most unconventional royal daughter of the
Queen, as she was a strong supporter of the feminist movement and had an
interest in political affairs, unlike most royal women of her time. Her
marriage was a controversial one within the royal family, as she was the first
royal to officially marry a subject, John, Duke of Argyll, for more than three
centuries. She was the only child of the Queen’s not to have children herself.
Since her husband served as Governor General of Canada for a period of time,
she became his viceregal consort and lived in Ottawa for a few years.
Princess Beatrice (1857 – 1944) was the fifth daughter and
youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was undoubtedly the
favorite of her parents and was known for her loyalty, dedication, and
kindness. Her mother was extremely attached to her and, as a result of her
dependence on her, she made Beatrice her official companion. Although the Queen
never wanted Beatrice to marry, she eventually gave in and allowed Beatrice to
marry the man she fell in love with, Prince Henry of Battenberg. The couple had
four children together, three sons and one daughter. Beatrice was a hemophilia
carrier and passed the disease to one of her sons, who died as a result of it,
and her daughter, Victoria Eugenie, Queen of Spain. Beatrice was the last of
the Queen’s children to die, sixty-six years after the first, her sister Alice.
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