fwo_484068 - GREAT BRITAIN - VICTORIA 1/2 Penny Victoria “old head” 1900

GREAT-BRITAIN - VICTORIA

(20/06/1837-22/01/1901)

Victoria (1819-1901) was the daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, and granddaughter of George III. She succeeded her uncle Guillaume IV in 1837 and married her cousin Albert, Prince of Saxe-Coburg in 1840, against her mother's advice. She had nine children by him but became a widow in 1861. While respecting the rules of the parliamentary system, she tried to impose her views in the field of foreign affairs. Her favourite, Disraeli, had her given the title of Empress of India in 1876. Respected and loved, active and authoritarian, Victoria appeared in her time as the symbol of imperialist England. His reign marks the height of British power.