Queen Victoria's reign

Queen Victoria is the second-longest reigning monarch in British history. She became queen on 20 June 1837 at the age of 18 and spent six decades on the throne. She ruled until her death on 22 January 1901. What was she like as a queen? Find out here...

Queen Victoria with Prince Albert and their children in 1846. After a painting by F Winterhalter. Victoria’s husband, Albert, “carved out for the crown a moral kind of authority as the nation’s first and model family,” says Sarah Gristwood. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Retaining the royals: why has the British monarchy survived – and thrived?

The opening of the Great Exhibition by Queen Victoria on 1 May 1851. (The Print Collector/Getty Images)

“A wonder of the world”: Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition at the famous Crystal Palace

Queen Victoria in her coronation robes.

8 facts you might not know about Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria, 1876

Top 11 monarchs in British history

Queen Victoria. (Getty Images)

Queen Victoria timeline: 9 milestones in the monarch’s life

Attempted assassination of Queen Victoria (1819-1901). On the evening of Wednesday 10 June 1840 Victoria and Prince Albert were travelling in a carriage along Constitution Hill near Buckingham Palace, London, when Edward Oxford fired a pistol at the Queen

The man who tried to assassinate Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria with her children and grandchildren. Kaiser Wilhelm II is pictured left in the front row. (Photo by Bettmann via Getty Images)

Friends, family and rivals: Queen Victoria and the European empires

Thomas Sully's portrait of Queen Victoria in 1838, the year after she ascended the throne. (Photo by Bridgeman Art Library)

The young Queen Victoria’s struggle to gain the throne

Left: Historian Lucy Worsley at Kensington Palace, the childhood home of Queen Victoria, ahead of her interview for the History Extra podcast. Right: Queen Victoria sits for a portrait photograph. (Photo by W&D Downey via Getty Images)

Lucy Worsley on Queen Victoria: your questions answered

Lucy Worsley. (Photo by David Levenson/Getty Images)

Queen Victoria by Lucy Worsley

Historians Joanne Paul, Olivette Otele and June Purvis dissect the results of our recent poll: 100 women who changed the world.

Video: 100 women who changed the world

Podcast Website large 100 Women

100 women who changed the world

The results of the poll: 100 women who changed the world. (Photos by Getty Images/Alamy)

Quiz: 100 Women Who Changed The World

The Library Queen Victoria’s Indians

Which woman has had the biggest impact on world history?

100 Women Who Changed the World: the results