Monday, May 24, 2010

Victoria Day


The third monday in May is known as Victoria Day - and is a holiday here in Canada. To celebrate this long weekend which has become the unofficial start of summer, here's a trivia challenge about this long-lived queen.

1. What were Queen Victoria's given names?
Victoria Alexandra
Alexandrina Victoria
Victoria Charlotte Augusta
Georgia Charlotte Augusta Alexndrina Victoria

2. Who were Queen Victoria's half brother and sister?

Mary and Edward
Victor and Augusta
Alexander and Elizabeth
Charles and Feodora

3. Until the age of three, what language did Queen Victoria speak?

English
German
French
Spanish

4. Why was Queen Victoria never left alone when she was a child?

Her mother feared that Victoria's uncles would try to kill her in order to become king.
She was afraid of being alone.
Her mother was extremely overprotective.
She was afraid to have her mother out of her sight.

5. Who was Victoria's first prime minister?
Lord Melbourne
Tony Blair
Winston Churchill
Lord John Russell

6. Who did Queen Victoria want to put her into her coffin?

Her sons.
Members of her family.
Her previous, still-living Prime Ministers
Her men-at-arms.

7. After Prince Albert died, what did Queen Victoria wear for the rest of her life?

Purple
White
Red
Black

8. Queen Victoria had nine children and they all married into royal families which gave Britain ties to almost every European nation. This caused Victoria to be known as:

The Grandmother of Europe
The Queen who Reigned for 63 Years
The Godmother of Europe
The Iron Lady

9. What reigning monarch is Queen Victoria's great- great granddaughter?

Queen Mary
Princess Anne, the Princess Royal
Elizabeth II
Princess Diana

10. What previous monarch did Queen Victoria find extremely vain?

Queen Mary I
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Mary II
Queen Anne

ANSWERS:

1. Alexandrina Victoria

Georgiana Charlotte Augusta Alexandrina Victoria was the name first proposed for Queen Victoria but the Prince Regent who would later be George IV refused to allow his name, George, or his daughter's name, Charlotte Augusta, to be used as a name for the young princess. Victoria was named Alexandrina after the Russian Czar, Alexander I. Queen Victoria's mother wanted Victoria to come before Alexandrina but the Prince Regent said that no name would come before that of the Russian Czar. After a long debate the Prince Regent told the priest who was baptizing Queen Victoria that the baby's name would be Alexandrina Victoria. Queen Victoria's mother thought it an insult that the princess should only have two names. As a child Queen Victoria was called Drina.

2. Charles and Feodora

Charles and Feodora were Victoria's mother's, Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg's, children from her first marriage to Prince Emich Charles of Leiningen.


3. German

Princess Victoire did not like any of Queen Victoria's uncles and preferred to keep Victoria away from them. Victoria spoke German until she was three years old when her uncle the future King Leopold of Belgium told Princess Victoire that if Victoria was to become England's Queen she would need to speak English and be English. He said that Victoria could not show any signs of being anything but English, or the English people would not accept her.

4. Her mother feared that Victoria's uncles would try to kill her in order to become king

Princess Victoire was afraid that any of Queen Victoria's uncles would kill Victoria just so they could be King when George IV died. If Princess Victoire could not be with Victoria she had one of her maids of honor stay with Victoria.


5. Lord Melbourne

Victoria's first prime minister was Lord Melbourne. They became close friends and he helped her learn her role as queen. Because of her loyalty to Melbourne, the queen supported his party, the Whigs, early in her reign. Later her husband, Prince Albert, persuaded her that the monarch should not favor any particular party.

6. Her sons

Queen Victoria left elaborate instructions for her funeral. Among these were that her own sons would lift her into her coffin. This was done when she died.


7. black

Victoria mourned for Albert the rest of her life. She wore black every day and had his rooms kept exactly as they would have been if he had still been alive. Victoria even had hot water brought to his dressing room each morning for shaving.


8. The Grandmother of Europe

Because it was Victoria's children that linked almost all of Europes royal families together, Victoria became known as the Grandmother of Europe.


9. Elizabeth II

Elizabeth is the daughter of George VI who was Queen Victoria's great-grandson. George VI was the son of George V who was Victoria's grandson. George V was the son of Edward VII who was Victoria's son.


10. Elizabeth I

Queen Victoria had dolls of all of the previous reigning monarchs. Upon being told that after Elizabeth I's death 2,000 dresses had been found, Queen Victoria threw down the doll of Elizabeth I and tore up the doll's skirt. Queen Victoria remarked that she no longer liked Queen Elizabeth because she must have been extremely vain to have owned 2,000 dresses.

12 comments:

  1. I truly only knew the answer to #7 & #9. On the others I had two top picks. I still missed three. Sigh. But now I know! Thanks :)

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  2. Wow, very interesting. Hope you have a wonderful holiday and thanks for sharing.

    Mason
    Thoughts in Progress

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  3. Great quiz! I've always found it odd how there's no Victoria Day in the UK but there is in Canada!

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  4. Elspeth - Thanks for this! I love learning about other places and times, and these are things I didn't know about Her Majesty. Hmm.... very interesting stuff!

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  5. Very interesting! And...I failed. :) Hmm. I've always loved her for her relationship with Albert, which I thought was so touching.

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  6. I know a little about Victoria and Albert, but now I knew even more. Enjoy your start to summer!

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  7. I only knew a couple of answers - sad :(

    She was sure a fascinating lady!

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  8. Wow, that's really sad because I'm Canadian and I got almost every question wrong.

    CD

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  9. That was great! I did lousy but Victoria isn't my time period. I can't believe the thing about Elizabeth I and all those dresses. She must have reacted to the fact that her father kept her without for so long. jeesh.

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  10. I’m not too great with American history, but I’m really lousy at Canadian history. At least now I feel a little smarter. Thanks for the interesting trivia.

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  11. I was so bad in history class. Too bad the teachers didn't make it more interesting. I've probably learned more here than I ever did in class.

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