Queen Victoria - Accession

Queen Victoria succeeded as Queen of Great Britain in 1837, after the death of her uncle King William IV. Hers would be the longest in British history.

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The young Queen Victoria welcomes the Lord Chamberlain and
the Archbishop of Canterbury, who brings news of her accession.

Victoria Becomes Queen

King William IV died in the early hours of June 20, 1837 and the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chamberlain hastened to Kensington Palace to inform the new queen of her accession. Victoria received them at around 6 am, in her dressing-gown and welcomed her reign with quiet dignity, although covered with a shawl and her hair falling upon her shoulders and her feet hurriedly thrust on her slippers.

Read more about Queen Victoria's Accession to the British Throne.

Queen Victoria Gains her Independence From the Duchess of Kent

The moment she became queen, Victoria made two simple requests: the first was that she be left for hour alone – one thing that has been denied to her all her life; the second was for her bed be moved to a room of her own, away from her mother’s chambers.

How did Queen Victoria break free from her mother and his companion John Conroy? Continue reading here. 

Watch A Two-Part Documentary of Queen Victoria's Life and Reign.

Great Britain Separates from Hanover

An important and welcoming result to the accession of a female sovereign during those days was the separation of the crowns of Great Britain and Hanover, the latter passing to William IV’s next surviving brother, the very unpopular duke of Cumberland.

More about the separation of the crowns of Britain and Hanover here. 

Queen Victoria Plunges into a Life of Zest, Freedom, and Gaiety

The new queen entered with zest upon her freedom, her new interests, and her new duties.

“I have,” she wrote, “so many communications from the ministers, and from me to them, and I get so many papers to sign every day, that I have always a very great deal to do. I delight in this work.”

Read The Queen's gay life after her accession