tiny-librarian: 197 years ago today, May 24th, at 4:15 in the morning, a baby girl was born in this

tiny-librarian:197 years ago today, May 24th, at 4:15 in the morning, a baby girl was born in this room inside of Kensington Palace. She was the first, and ultimately only, child of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn and his wife Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She was given the name Alexandria Victoria; her first name after one of her godparents, Alexander I of Russia, and her second name after her mother.The Princess’ birth was the result of a succession crisis in the United Kingdom. Of the many sons of George III and Queen Charlotte, only  one had produced a legitimate child. George, Prince of Wales (The future George IV) had fathered a daughter, Princess Charlotte, but she had died two years before in childbirth. George had long been estranged from his wife, Caroline of Brunswick, since even before Charlotte was born and there was no hope of him having another child with her. This led his remaining brothers to abandon their mistresses and scramble about Europe looking for respectable Princesses that they could marry and have legitimate heirs with.After both of her Uncle-Kings (George IV and William IV) died, neither having left behind a legitimate child, the little princess born in Kensington Palace came to the throne as Queen Victoria.She would go on to rule the United Kingdom for sixty three years and two hundred sixteen days, giving her name to an Era and becoming the second longest reigning female monarch in history. The record was only broken recently by the current Queen, and her great-great granddaughter, Elizabeth II. -- source link

More pics about