Victoria became queen because a series of deaths in her family left her, though not originally expected to rule, as the next legitimate heir, so she automatically succeeded her uncle King William IV when he died on 20 June 1837, aged 18.

Not born to be queen

  • Victoria was born in 1819 as the only child of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George III, which initially placed her only fifth in line to the throne.
  • At that time, it was assumed that one of her uncles or their future children would inherit, so she was not originally raised as the obvious future monarch.

A succession crisis

  • In 1817, Princess Charlotte, the only legitimate grandchild of George III and heir to the throne, died in childbirth, triggering a succession crisis because there was suddenly no clear next generation of heirs.
  • George III’s unmarried or childless sons then rushed into respectable marriages to produce legitimate heirs, and Victoria’s parents married for this reason, making any child of theirs potentially crucial to the succession.

Why others were ruled out

  • Victoria’s uncles ahead of her in line either had no surviving legitimate children or their marriages did not meet the legal requirements of the Royal Marriages Act, which meant their offspring could not inherit the crown.
  • Her uncle William, Duke of Clarence (later William IV), and his wife Adelaide had several pregnancies, but their children died in infancy or were stillborn, leaving Victoria as William’s only surviving legitimate heir.

The moment she became queen

  • In the early hours of 20 June 1837, King William IV died, and as his legitimate niece and next in line, Victoria immediately became queen by law.
  • Around 6 a.m. at Kensington Palace, she was woken and formally told by senior officials that the king was dead and that she was now queen, a scene she later recorded in her diary and that contemporaries remembered for her calm self-possession.

Prepared for the role

  • Because she was recognized as heir presumptive from childhood, Victoria received a carefully controlled education focusing on constitutional monarchy, languages, and statecraft so she could fulfill her future duties.
  • When she appeared before the Privy Council later on the day of her accession, observers were struck by her confident manner and clear sense of responsibility, which helped make the accession of a young woman widely popular.

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