Biography

When Victoria was born, the doctor exclaimed sadly, "Oh Madame, it's a girl!", to which The Queen replied, "Never mind, next time it will be a prince!".

She was baptised in the Throne Room of Buckingham Palace on 10 February 1841 (on her parents' first wedding anniversary) by the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Howley. The Lily font was commissioned especially for the occasion of her christening.[6] Her godparents were Queen Adelaide (her great-aunt), the King of the Belgians (her great-uncle), the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (paternal grandfather, for whom the Duke of Wellington stood proxy), the Duke of Sussex (her great-uncle), the Duchess of Gloucester (her great-aunt) and the Duchess of Kent (her grandmother).

On 19 January 1841, she was made Princess Royal, a title sometimes conferred on the eldest daughter of the sovereign. To her family, she was known simply as "Vicky".

The royal couple decided to give their children as complete an education as possible. In fact, Queen Victoria, who succeeded her uncle King William IV at the age of 18, believed that she herself had not been sufficiently prepared for the government affairs. For his part, Prince Albert, born in the small Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, had received a more careful education, thanks to his uncle King Leopold I of Belgium.

Shortly after the birth of Victoria, Prince Albert wrote a memoir detailing the tasks and duties of all those involved with the royal children. Another 48-page document, written a year and a half later by the Baron Stockmar, intimate of the royal couple, details the educational principles which were to be used with the little princess. The royal couple, however, had only a very vague idea of the proper educational development of a child. Queen Victoria, for example, believed that the fact that her baby sucked on bracelets was a sign of deficient education. According to Hannah Pakula, biographer of the future German empress, the first two governesses of the princess were therefore particularly well chosen. Experienced in dealing with children, Lady Lyttelton directed the nursery through which passed all royal children after Victoria's second year. The diplomatic young woman managed to soften the unrealistic demands of the royal couple. Sarah Anne Hildyard, the children's second governess, was a competent teacher who quickly developed a close relationship with her students.