Claim: Queen Victoria took the title Empress of India on May 1 1876.

Victoria -LRB- Alexandrina Victoria ; 24 May 1819 -- 22 January 1901 -RRB- was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death . From 1 May 1876 , she adopted the additional title of Empress of India .   Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward , Duke of Kent and Strathearn , the fourth son of King George III . Both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820 , and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld . She inherited the throne at the age of 18 , after her father 's three elder brothers 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 avoided public appearances . As a result of her seclusion , republicanism temporarily gained strength , but in the latter half of her reign her popularity recovered . Her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration .   Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and was longer than that of any of her predecessors . It was a period of industrial , cultural , political , scientific , and military change within the United Kingdom , and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire . She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover . Her son and successor , Edward VII , belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , the line of his father .