Queen Victoria: A Positive Force in 19th Century England
Queen Victoria took great pride in her role as the head of the British monarchy. She
reigned from 1837 to 1901-longer than any other British monarch. Queen Victoria had a positive
effect on nineteenth century England. Her influence in politics, strong family values, and
popularity through the public eye made her suitable to be the main symbol of the Victoria era.
Queen Victoria was very interested in politics. Britain had a constitutional monarchy,
meaning that the Queen ruled through the ministers of the British Parliament. She took her role in
government very seriously, even though she did not hold a lot of power. The monarchy
"possessed influence rather than power, and it was the government which ruled." (Fry 126).
Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, otherwise known as the
Prince Consort, was also interested in political matters. Although Victoria appeared to be the
more dominating force in the relationship, she was very devoted to her husband, never making
any decisions without his input. Albert was a very intelligent man who taught Victoria to be a
great public servant. Together, Victoria and Albert had influence over everything that the
political leaders allowed them to be involved in.
During Victoria's reign as Queen, many advances through legislation were made which
she and Albert were a part of. In 1841, Sir Robert Peel, the leader of the Conservative party,
came into power. Victoria disapproved of this new government as she was a strong supporter of
the Whigs (who later became the Liberals), due to her close relationship with Lord Melbourne,
who had been Prime Minister at the beginning of Victoria's reign. During Peel's time as Prime
Minister, the potato famine in Ireland was taking its toll on the Irish people. Victoria and Alb...