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Queen Victoria

August 15, 2013 by · Comments Off on Queen Victoria 

Queen Victoria, Queen Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India.

Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III. Both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne at the age of 18, after her father’s three elder brothers had all died leaving no legitimate, surviving children. The United Kingdom was already an established constitutional monarchy, in which the Sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments. Publicly, she became a national icon, and was identified with strict standards of personal morality.

Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together and earning her the nickname “the grandmother of Europe”. After Albert’s death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration.

Queen Elizabeth

December 24, 2011 by · Comments Off on Queen Elizabeth 

Queen ElizabethQueen Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband is expected to spend a second night in a hospital where he is recovering from a heart procedure, palace officials said Saturday.

Prince Philip, 90, had a coronary stent put in late Friday to fix a blocked artery, though the palace has refused to say if he had a heart attack.

On Saturday, Philip — also known as the Duke of Edinburgh — received visits from the queen and his four children at Papworth Hospital, where he was admitted after experiencing chest pains at the queen’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

The illness has cast a shadow over the royal family’s traditional Christmas gathering at Sandringham — the first to include Prince William’s new wife, Catherine. Buckingham Palace said Philip is not expected to attend church Sunday with his family, but that the service will go on as planned.

A helicopter brought Elizabeth to her husband’s side at Papworth Hospital, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) from London, shortly after 11 a.m. (1100 GMT, 6 a.m. EST) on Saturday. She was accompanied by three of her children — Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Prince Andrew.

Philip is “in good spirits, but he is eager to leave,” Buckingham Palace said. After spending 45 minutes with Philip, the royals traveled back to Sandringham by helicopter, it added.

The palace said Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, arrived by car at the hospital 45 minutes after the queen for a separate visit and that no other family members were expected to visit on Saturday.

Doctors said Philip could have had a heart attack, but without more information it was impossible to know for sure.

Coronary stenting is standard procedure both to fend off a heart attack or save a patient already in the midst of one, said Dr. Allan Schwartz, chief of cardiology at New York-Presbyterian, Columbia University Medical Center.

Philip, who in November marked 64 years of marriage to the queen, has been known to enjoy good health throughout his life and rarely misses royal engagements. Upon his 90th birthday in June, he announced plans to cut back his official duties.

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