Born in 1819, Victoria was the only child of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess of Kent. Tragically, her father died shortly after Victoria was born and her mother then fell under the alluring spell of John Conroy, her comptroller and personal secretary, a man upon whom the eyes of history have not looked favorably. He was considerably ambitious, apparently plotting with Victoria’s mother to keep the young princess locked away in Kensington Palace under the strict tutelage of her governess, Baroness Lehzen. Young Victoria had a secluded and lonely life. She was reared to be neither weak nor submissive, as in the tradition of the Whigs, but her freedom and joy was very much repressed under what became known as the “Kensington System,” a rigid series of rules intended to keep Victoria a puppet when she eventually became queen, as well as…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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