The royal weddings that changed European history
Queen Victoria was one of the longest-reigning monarchs in history, ruling for 64 years. She dedicated many of these years to arranging alliances with other powerful states around Europe. These alliances were achieved through marriages between her many children and grandchildren and members of other European royal families. The result was such a vast distribution of British royals around the continent that Queen Victoria became known as the "Grandmother of Europe."
Click through the following gallery to learn about the incredible number of marriages she arranged and the powerful positions her descendants claimed.
Reshaping Europe
European leaders reshaped the major European states such as Germany and France, creating peace and a new balance of power. Great Britain was one of the strongest states at the time.
Strategic marriages
They had nine children in total, and many more grandchildren. During their lifetime, they arranged dozens of marriages between their descendants and other important European royals.
Princess Victoria
Her eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, was married to Prince Frederick III, who would become King of Prussia.
Prince Arthur
Prince Arthur was married to another Prussian royal, Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia.
Princess Beatrice
Princess Beatrice was married to Prince Henry of Battenberg.
Princess Helena
Princess Helena was married to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein.
The Russian Monarchy
The Russian monarchy was an autocracy, meaning that the one leader had absolute power. The British monarchy was a constitutional monarchy, so they were at least answerable to the constitution.
King Edward VII
Queen Victoria's eldest son and heir to the throne married Alexandra of Denmark.
Mission complete
By the 1880s, Queen Victoria had successfully married all of her children into powerful royal families across Europe. But sadly, it didn't quite achieve the peace and unity she had hoped for.
Germany did unify, but only through a bloody war. In Russia, the royal family were losing power and the tsar was assassinated in 1881.
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Her eldest grandchild Wilhelm II became Emperor of Germany and married a German princess.
Alexandra Feodorovna
Queen Victoria's granddaughter, daughter of Princess Alice, married Nicolas II of Russia. They became the tsar and tsarina of Russia.
Princess Maud
Maud of Wales, daughter of King Edward VII, married King Haakon VII and became the Queen of Norway.
The death of Queen Victoria
Despite the many powerful alliances created by Queen Victoria, it did not bring peace and unity to Europe. She died 13 years before World War I broke out.
A new approach
The World Wars brought down monarchies all over Europe, and the British royals realized they needed to become more accessible and connected to their people in order to survive. Over the years, marriages became less about strategic political alliances and more about love.
