Born on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace, Alexandrina Victoria was the only daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent and Victoria Maria Louisa of Saxe-Coburg. At birth, Victoria was fifth after her father and three older brothers. Eight months after her birth, her father had died and she was next in line because her three uncles before her had no surviving legitimate children. In 1830, following the death of her uncle George IV, she became heiress presumptive alongside her surviving uncle, William IV. The Regency Act of 1830 made special provisions allowing the Duchess of Kent to act as regent in the event William died while Victoria was still a minor. King William declared in 1836 in the presence of the Duchess that he wanted to live until Victoria's 18th birthday, in order to avoid regency. Victoria's childhood was described as "melancholic". Her mother, overly protective of her daughter, formed the Kensington system. The system effectively allowed Victoria to never leave the side of her mother, guardian or governess. She was isolated from the other children and, in this sense, the Duchess of Kent and her assistant, Sir Conroy, supervised and recorded every action of the heiress as well as who she was and was not allowed to see. During her daily rituals, her lessons often included French, German, Italian, and Latin, but only English was spoken at home. On 24 May 1837, Victoria turned 18 and the regency was avoided as King William had hoped. On June 20, 1837, King William IV died at the age of 71; Victoria was then Queen of the United Kingdom. The government at the time was led by the Whig Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, who had profoundly influenced the Queen. Melbourne was a childless widow and considered Victoria her o...... middle of paper...... of her time, surpassing her grandfather George III by three days. She was also the last monarch of the House of Hanover. Victoria wrote an average of 2,500 words per day during her adult life. She collected 122 volumes of her detailed daily life from July 1832 until her death. Beatrice was named his executor shortly after her mother's death. Béatrice, after having edited the diaries with her own hand, burned the originals in the process. To this day, despite the destruction, a large part of the newspapers still exist. Works Cited • Benson, EF Queen Victoria. New York: Marboro Books Corp., 1992. • “Victoria.” The Encyclopedia Americana International Edition. Vol 28. 1996.• “Queen Victoria: Biography”. http://spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRvictoria.htm 7/9/11• “Queen Victoria”. http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria_of_the_United_Kingdom 7/9/11