Queen Victoria

Alexandrina Victoria was the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent, 4th son of King George III. She was born at Kensington Palace on 24 May 1819. Her father died a few months later, and her uncle Prince Leopold (later King of Belgium) became a father figure to her. King William IV was fond of his niece, but hated her mother, so he even wished that he lived long enough, so that Victoria would be old enough herself and her mother wouldn´t become Regent. His wish was fulfilled, Princess Victoria had just turned 18 years old when King William died in 1837 and she became Queen. Viscount Melbourne, a Whig politician, became her fatherly friend and mentor until she married German Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. Until his death in 1861, Prince Albert was more than an advisor to the Queen, he tried to gain as much influence as possible and helped to secure Queen Victoria´s position. His death made her a widow at the age of 42, she spent the remaining 40 years of her life mourning for her beloved husband. After the Queen had spent years almost without ever leaving Windsor Palace, she made public appearances again and visited Balmoral Castle in Scotland (bought and re-built by her and Albert) every year. In 1877, she became Empress of India. Queen Victoria was very popular among her subjects and by the time of her death on 22 January 1901 at Osborne House (Isle of Wight), she had become an icon and name-giver of a whole age. Her reign lasted for almost 64 years, the longest in British history.

Her signature didn´t change that much during her long reign; here are examples of her signatures on documents from 1839 (left) and 1894 (right).