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Alexandrina Victoria, the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent and
Victoria Maria Louisa of Saxe-Coburg, was born in 24th May 1819. The
Duke of Kent was the fourth son of George III and Victoria Maria
Louisa was the sister of King Leopold of Belgium. The Duke and
Duchess of Kent selected the name Victoria but her uncle, George IV,
insisted that she be named Alexandrina after her godfather, Tsar
Alexander II of Russia.
Victoria's father died when she was eight months old. The Duchess of
Kent developed a close relationship with Sir John Conroy, an
ambitious Irish officer. Conroy acted as if Victoria was his
daughter and had a major influence over her as a child.
On the death of George IV in 1830, his brother William IV became
king. William had no surviving legitimate children and soVictoria,
became his heir. William's health was not good and he feared that
Conroy would become the power behind the throne if Victoria became
queen before she was eighteen.
William IV died 27 days after Victoria's eighteenth birthday.
Although William was unaware of this, Victoria disliked Conroy and
she had objected to his attempt to exert power over her. As soon as
she became queen in 1837, Victoria banished Conroy from the Royal
Court.
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