Victoria Adelaide Mary Saxe-Coburg (1840-1901)

German Monarch. Born Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise, the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Precocious and intelligent, "Vicky's" education was supervised closely by her parents, and her governess taught her to read and write before she was five. She was also taught French, German, and Latin at an early age. She married Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia on January 25, 1858 at the Chapel Royal, St. James Palace. The union was both a love match and a dynastic alliance, and the couple had 8 children. At the death of his father in 1888, Prince Friedrich became Emperor Friedrich III, and Victoria adopted the tile Empress Friedrich. Her husband, terminally ill with throat cancer, reigned only 99 days, and Victoria was left widowed. She lived in retirement at Friedrichshof, and her relationship with her son, Kaiser Wilhelm II, deteriorated as a result of political differences. She died of cancer of the spine at the age of 61, and was buried beside her husband.

Bio by: Kristen Conrad