Queen Victoria
She came to the throne at eighteen and reigned for sixty-three years, longer than any British monarch before Elizabeth II. An age is named after her: railways, steam, factories, the Great Exhibition of 1851 in the Crystal Palace, and an empire that by the end of her reign covered a quarter of the world’s land. Her marriage to Prince Albert gave her nine children and kinship with almost every court in Europe; after his death in 1861 she withdrew into mourning for ten years and hardly appeared in public, nearly costing the monarchy its standing. When she returned, the crown’s part had already changed to a ceremonial one, without the old power, and she took it.
She was born at Kensington Palace in London on 24 May 1819 at 04:15 in the morning. The hour was recorded by the court and announced officially: the birth of an heir to the throne was attested by witnesses.