10 fascinating facts about Queen Victoria’s eldest child, Princess Victoria

“alas. a girl & not a boy, as we both had so hoped & wished for. We were, I am afraid, sadly disappointed, but yet our hearts were full of gratitude, for God having brought me safely through my ordeal, & having such a strong, healthy child.” At 2pm on 21st November 1840, Queen Victoria gave birth to her first child – Princess Victoria – at Buckingham Palace. Let’s take a look at 10 fascinating facts about Queen Victorias eldest child!

1. She could speak five languages at a young age. Early on it was clear that Princess Victoria had inherited her father’s intelligence. When she was aged just eighteen months, the princess began learning French and by the age of four she could also speak her father’s native language, German. As she got older she also learnt Greek and Latin.

2. Victoria met her future husband, Prince Friedrich of Prussia when she was just ten years old during the 1851 Great Exhibition. The two became engaged just four years later but didn’t marry until January 1858.

3. Victoria was interested in gardening and turned the previously Italianate gardens at Sanssouci, Berlin into a more English style.

4. As the wife of the future German Emperor, Victoria was in the perfect position to find suitable partners for her eight siblings. One of the matches orchestrated by Victoria was that of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and Princess Alexandra of Denmark.

5. Victoria was passionate about nursing. During the Franco-Prussian war she actively helped to nurse wounded soldiers and also organised for a new military hospital to be built. She later went on to set up nursing schools. However, her efforts were criticised by her father-in-law, Emperor Wilhelm I, who believed that only the Empress could preform such duties.

6. Victoria had inherited her father’s interest in the natural sciences. Although many people were sceptical, the Princess was fascinated by Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and Charles Lyell’s ‘Principles of Geology’. Victoria also enjoyed astronomy and often visited the Berlin Observatory.

7. Victoria and Fritz were strongly against antisemitism and would “demonstrate as clearly as we can what our convictions are” by attending services at synagogues.

8. Victoria believed in improving women’s education and founded a school for girls which was set on the English model and ran by British teachers.

9. Following her husbands death in 1888, Victoria was removed from Berlin court by her son, Kaiser Wilhelm II. Wanting to honour her late husband, Victoria built Schloss Friedrichshof in Kronberg, where she lived alongside her daughters following its completion in 1894. It was here that Victoria also formed her own court.

10. Following the marriages of her daughters, Victoria found herself isolated. She spent most of her time going on walks, painting and reading.

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