Why did Queen Victoria have so many children?

[madmum]

This question is part of my daughter's homework. Does anyone know the answer?

Thanks

[Birchy]

Nein!

[kev100]

She was a shag happy bitch?

[jake-the-peg]

Two spring to mind.

Firstly in Victorian britain infant mortality was frighteningly high. even amoungst middle classes it was 13% (no that's not a mistake nearly 1 in 7). As ever it was vitally important for the monarchy for there to be an heir to succeed Victoria.

Secondly on a practical note this was an age before practical contraception as a result the average family size was 4.7 and much larger families were far from uncomon

[jimmer]

there's quite a lot to that question Madmum. In addition to what has already been said, Victoria's reign was a watershed in the relationship between the monarcy and the state through the reform act. I think other factors must also be important including George iii, Victoria's Grandfather. Many of his sons did not marry young so struggled to produce an heir to the throne. Victoria knowing this had occured in the recent past, lacking a family support structure and carrying the haemophilia gene may have hedged her bets. See:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_victoria

 

jim

[jimmer]

Sorry

 

Re the reform act. What i meant to say was Victoria, facing a reduced political role, adopted a symbolic maternal role for the nation (Victorian family values).

 

jim

[ursula62]

She was also madly in love with her husband, which could have had something to do with it!

[-=BigD=-]

I'm with kev100.

She loved it!

[Peter Pedant]

hi madmum

There are some very twentieth century ideas stuck onto poor old Victoria.

She didnt and couldnt control her fertility, unthinkable except by becoming 'estranged' from her husband [See Empress Elizabeth and Emperor of austria-hungary 'Sisi'. Now she was a mad one - and probably anorectic and had a bit in common with Diana)

Anne had ten pregnancy - one survived to ten years of age. George III wife had around 17 pregnancies, I think about ten survived.

And in the victorian age - survival in that class - became much commoner.

As for deciding to have a lot of children because of haemophilia - I dont think so - for a start V denied it was haemophilia

'this dread disease is NOT in our family'.....

[Pythia]

There's also the theory that she suffered something dreadful from PMT and that one way Albert could cope with her was to keep her pregnant as often as possible to avoid her heavy-duty mood swings. Plus they were terribly fond of each other ...

[Octavius]

She hated pregnancy, and wasn't too fond of kids either.  Artificial contraception was illegal at the time.

In a letter to her daughter Vicky:

"What you say of the pride of giving life to an immortal soul us very fine, dear, but I own I cannot enter into that; I think much more of our being like a cow or a dog at such moments."

Frequent pregnancies also disgusted the queen who  bore nine children in eighteen years.  That men were the cause of this suffering was a point to which Queen Victoria returned again and again.

In reality I guess we don't really know, she didn't even really like her children "We used to constantly see you and Bertie in bed and bathed--and we only see the younger ones [being bathed and in bed]--once in three months perhaps."

It is well noted that she adored Albert, and even Mr Brown in later years apparently, so maybe she just enjoyed the conceiving part as put so elegantly above(!)

.....within weeks of the marriage, Victoria was pregnant, the first of nine times that her role diminished with not only the lassitude of pregnancy but with the social need to sequester herself when bulky with child. It was what Victoria had dreaded, but the couple knew nothing of artificial contraception, which in any case was illegal, and the queen was a passionate Hanoverian....

See  here for more quotes from Victoria on pregancy.