- Royals have a long line of traditions and history
- Queen Victoria broke with a tradtition
- She proposed to Prince Albert
When you're the Queen of England, you lead the way. And that's how it was for Queen Victoria when she was young, unmarried, and in the early years of her reign.
The Queen was just 18 when she took the throne in 1837, and virtually all of Europe's royal families wanted her to marry one of their young men. But she had fallen for the German Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and it was she who proposed to him.
How Queen Victoria proposed to Prince Albert
Victoria's uncle Leopold, King of Belgium, was the one behind her marrying Prince Albert. He orchestrated their first meeting in 1836, but the young Victoria truly did fall for Albert, who was also her first cousin.
Though having met him just once, Queen Victoria was infatuated. She met him for a second time in October 1839 and proposed on that occasion.
The proposal occurred behind closed doors on Oct. 15, 1839, at Windsor Castle. Albert had been visiting for five days when the Queen popped the question.
And it actually had to be the Queen who proposed. The official website of the Royal Family notes that tradition said "a reigning monarch could not be proposed to."
As for how she proposed, the royal webpage notes that, on the day of the proposal, the 21-year-old Victoria wrote in her journal that she invited Albert to her room and told him:
"It would make me too happy if he would consent to what I wished (to marry me); we embraced each other over and over again, and he was so kind, so affectionate; oh! to feel I was, and am, loved by such an angel as Albert, was too great delight to describe."
More On Queen Victoria:
Queen Victoria and husband Prince Albert's royal wedding
Both the bride and groom were 21 years old when they married at St. James's Palace on Feb. 10, 1840, a few months after the proposal.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert went on to have nine children together, and the monarch was known to love her husband dearly.
But, in 1861, he died relatively young at age 42, leaving the Queen in mourning for the remainder of her life — which lasted another 40 years. She died in 1901.
You can also click here to learn about the many failed assassination attempts on the Queen.
