Victoria was the daughter of Prince Eduard, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III. Both the Duke of Kent and the King died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under the close supervision of her mother of German origin, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne at the age of 18, after her father's three older brothers died without leaving legitimate heirs alive. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy in which the sovereign had relatively few direct political powers. Privat, Victoria has tried to influence government policy and ministerial appointments. Publicly, it has become a national symbol, and has been identified with strict standards of personal morality.
