How Victoria Became Queen
George III was King of Great Britain from 1760-1820. He had seven sons, one of whom was Edward Duke of Kent who married Victoria a German princess and sister of Prince Leopold who later became King of the Belgians. She was a widow with two children, a son named Charles and a daughter named Feodora.
The Duke and Duchess of Kent had one daughter named Alexandrina after her godfather, the Tsar of Russian, and Victoria after her mother. She was born on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace and was 5th in line to the throne. Her father died less than a year later.
On the death of George III his eldest son George IV became King. He had no heir as his only daughter Charlotte, who was married to Prince Leopold, had died three years earlier.
George IV reigned from 1820-1830. As his eldest brother Frederick Duke of York had died childless in 1827, his brother William Duke of Clarence became King William iV.
In 1837 William IV died childless and Princess Alexandrina Victoria became Queen Victoria two weeks after her eighteenth birthday. She reigned until her death in 1901, the longest reign in British history. She was sovereign over the largest empire the world has ever seen
