Queen Victoria had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already an established constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality. Victoria married her first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together and earning her the sobriquet "the grandmother of Europe". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and
Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated on 20 June 1887 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. It was celebrated with a banquet to which 50 European kings and princes were invited. On 20 June 1887 the Queen had breakfast outdoors under the trees at Frogmore, where Prince Albert had been buried. She then travelled by train from Windsor Castle to Paddington then to Buckingham Palace for a royal banquet that evening. Fifty foreign kings and princes, along with the governing heads of Britain's overseas