ANSWERS

1) A, C. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. THE Queen is a descendant of Victoria’s first son, Edward VII, while the Duke of Edinburgh is a direct descendant of Victoria’s third child, Princess Alice.

2) B. Wedding dresses. WHEN Victoria married her cousin Prince Albert in 1840, she wore a white wedding dress. Most brides favoured bright colours and thought white symbolised mourning. 3) True. IN FACT, she survived eight attempts on her life — once when she was four months pregnant with her first child.

4) D. His thighs. AFTEr their first meeting, Victoria wrote in her diary of her ‘extremely handsome’ husband-to-be, saying: ‘His hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth.’

5) D. The first British monarch to have a prime minister born during her reign. THAT was Queen Elizabeth II, when Tony Blair (born in May 1953) was elected in 1997.

Victoria was the longest-serving monarch in British history, ruling for almost 65 years (the current Queen broke this record in September 2015).

She was the oldest monarch in British history when she died aged 81 years, seven months, four weeks and 29 days (our Queen overtook her in December 2007).

And her linen knickers broke the record for underwear sold at auction when they went for £16,250 at Christie’s last year. 6) True. SHE was named Alexandrina — after her godfather, the russian Tsar Alexander I — and was known as ‘Drina’ in her childhood. It was not until her coronation that she took her second name, Victoria.