- When Victoria was born, the doctor exclaimed sadly, "Oh Madame, it's a girl!", to which The Queen replied, "Never mind, next time it will be a prince!".
- She was baptised in the Throne Room of Buckingham Palace on 10 February 1841 (on her parents' first wedding anniversary) by the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Howley. The Lily font was commissioned especially for the occasion of her christening.[6] Her godparents were Queen Adelaide (her great-aunt), the King of the Belgians (her great-uncle), the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (paternal grandfather, for whom the Duke of Wellington stood proxy), the Duke of Sussex (her great-uncle), the Duchess of Gloucester (her great-aunt) and the Duchess of Kent (her grandmother).
- On 19 January 1841, she was made Princess Royal, a title sometimes conferred on the eldest daughter of the sovereign. To her family, she was known simply as "Vicky".
- The royal couple decided to give their children as complete an education as possible. In fact, Queen Victoria, who succeeded her uncle King William IV at the age of 18, believed that she herself had not been sufficiently prepared for the government affairs. For his part, Prince Albert, born in the small Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, had received a more careful education, thanks to his uncle King Leopold I of Belgium.
- Shortly after the birth of Victoria, Prince Albert wrote a memoir detailing the tasks and duties of all those involved with the royal children. Another 48-page document, written a year and a half later by the Baron Stockmar, intimate of the royal couple, details the educational principles which were to be used with the little princess. The royal couple, however, had only a very vague idea of the proper educational development of a child. Queen Victoria, for example, believed that the fact that her baby sucked on bracelets was a sign of deficient education. According to Hannah Pakula, biographer of the future German empress, the first two governesses of the princess were therefore particularly well chosen. Experienced in dealing with children, Lady Lyttelton directed the nursery through which passed all royal children after Victoria's second year. The diplomatic young woman managed to soften the unrealistic demands of the royal couple. Sarah Anne Hildyard, the children's second governess, was a competent teacher who quickly developed a close relationship with her students.
- Precocious and intelligent, Victoria began to learn French at the age of 18 months, and she began to study German when aged four. She also learned Greek and Latin. From the age of six, her curriculum included lessons of arithmetic, geography and history, and her father tutored her in politics and philosophy. She also studied science and literature. Her school days, interrupted by three hours of recreation, began at 8:20 and finished at 18:00. Unlike her brother, whose educational program was even more severe, Victoria was an excellent student who was always hungry for knowledge. However, she showed an obstinate character.
- Frederick had received a comprehensive education and in particular was formed by personalities like the writer Ernst Moritz Arndt and historian Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann. According to the tradition of the House of Hohenzollern, he also received rigorous military training.
- Queen Victoria and her husband wanted to remove their children from court life as much as possible, so they acquired Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Near the main building, Albert built for his children a Swiss-inspired cottage with a small kitchen and a carpentry workshop. In this building, the royal children learned manual work and practical life. Prince Albert was very involved in the education of their offspring. He closely followed the progress of his children and gave some of their lessons himself, as well as spending time playing with them. Victoria is described as having "idolised" her father and having inherited his liberal political views.
- Upon the arrival of Victoria in Berlin, King Frederick William IV gave to Frederick and his wife an old wing of the Berlin Royal Palace. The building was in very bad condition, and it did not even contain a bathtub. The couple moved to the Kronprinzenpalais in November 1858. In summer, they resided at the Neues Palais.
- Victoria's move to Berlin began a large correspondence between the princess and her parents. Each week, she sent a letter to her father that usually contained comments on German political events. The majority of these letters have been preserved and have become a valuable source for knowing the Prussian court.
- Convinced that the marriage of a British princess to the second-in-line to the Prussian throne would be regarded as an honour by the Hohenzollerns, Prince Albert insisted that his daughter retain her title of Princess Royal after the wedding. However, owing to the very anti-British and pro-Russian views of the Berlin court, the prince's decision only aggravated the situation.
- Naturally, Victoria was not immune to these criticisms from conservatives. In fact, many suspected that she was behind the words of the heir's speech in Danzig.
- With the final victory over Denmark and the Treaty of Vienna (signed on 30 October 1864), it was decided that the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg would be administered by a joint Prussian-Austrian government. However, this new division became a source of conflict between Vienna and Berlin.
- In the international arena, Prime Minister Bismarck tried to build German unity around Prussia. His plans were to end the Austrian influence in the German Confederation and impose Prussian hegemony in Germany. Faithful to his objectives, Bismarck involved Prussia in the War of the Duchies against Denmark in 1864. However, the prime minister counteracted with the help of Austria in the conflict.
- The support of the British newspaper became a new source of problems for Frederick and Victoria. The article contained everyday details suggesting that Vicky revealed certain confidential information to the press. The authorities opened an investigation against her, and because of this pressure, Victoria's personal secretary, Baron Ernst von Stockmar, resigned his position.
- On 14 December 1861, Prince Albert died of typhoid fever. Because of her very close relationship with her father, Victoria was devastated by the news. She went with her husband to England to attend the funeral.
- Eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
- Was Queen Victoria's heir presumptive for a year, until the birth of her brother Albert. With the United Kingdom adopting absolute primogeniture in 2013, she presumably became the last female to be displaced as heir by a subsequent brother.
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