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
Grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Ebersdorf, who were parents both of Albert's father Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and of Victoria's mother (and Ernest I's sister), Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Duke Francis & Countess Augusta → Duke Ernest I → Prince Albert<br> Duke Francis & Countess Augusta → Princess Victoria → Queen Victoria Another of Victoria's (but not Albert's) grandfathers was King George III, father of Victoria's father, the Duke of Kent, and his brothers King George IV and King William IV. Queen Victoria (who had ascended to the throne on 20 June 1837 and been crowned on 28 June 1838) was married