Queen Victoria Family Tree: Her Nine Children and Their Descendants

The Queen Victoria family tree begins with her parents, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Victoria married her first cousin Prince Albert in 1840, and they had nine children between 1840 and 1857. Those children married into royal and noble families across Europe, which is why Victoria became known as the "grandmother of Europe." The present British royal family descends from her eldest son, Edward VII.

Victoria's parents and early life

Victoria was born on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace. She was the only child of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Her father died in January 1820, before she was a year old.

Victoria was not born to be queen, but her father's three older brothers left no surviving legitimate children. When her uncle William IV died on 20 June 1837, she succeeded him at the age of 18.

Marriage to Prince Albert

On 10 February 1840, Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace in London. Albert was her first cousin. He became one of the most influential figures of her early reign, and they had nine children. Albert died on 14 December 1861, and Victoria outlived him by nearly forty years. She died on 22 January 1901 at Osborne House, aged 81, and was succeeded by her son Edward VII.

Victoria and Albert's nine children

Eight of the nine children had children of their own. The table lists each child in birth order with their spouse and year of marriage.

#	Child	Born	Married	Spouse
1	Victoria, Princess Royal	1840	1858	Prince Frederick William of Prussia, later Frederick III, German Emperor
2	Albert Edward, later Edward VII	1841	1863	Princess Alexandra of Denmark
3	Alice	1843	1862	Louis of Hesse, later Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse
4	Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	1844	1874	Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
5	Helena	1846	1866	Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein
6	Louise	1848	1871	John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll
7	Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn	1850	1879	Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia
8	Leopold, Duke of Albany	1853	1882	Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont
9	Beatrice	1857	1885	Prince Henry of Battenberg

The family tree as an indented list

This simplified tree shows Victoria's children and a few of the grandchildren who became monarchs or royal consorts. Each indent is one generation.

• Queen Victoria (1819–1901) m. 1840 Prince Albert (d. 1861)
  • Victoria, Princess Royal (1840–1901) m. Frederick III, German Emperor
    • Wilhelm II, German Emperor
    • Sophia, Queen of the Hellenes
  • Edward VII (1841–1910) m. Alexandra of Denmark
    • George V, King of the United Kingdom
    • Maud, Queen of Norway
  • Alice (1843–1878) m. Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse
    • Alix, who became Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia
  • Alfred (1844–1900) m. Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
    • Marie, Queen of Romania
  • Helena (1846–1923) m. Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein
  • Louise (1848–1939) m. John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll
  • Arthur (1850–1942) m. Louise Margaret of Prussia
  • Leopold (1853–1884) m. Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont
  • Beatrice (1857–1944) m. Henry of Battenberg
    • Victoria Eugenie, Queen of Spain

The "grandmother of Europe"

Because so many of her children married into continental royal houses, Victoria's grandchildren sat on, or beside, several European thrones in the early twentieth century:

• Germany: Wilhelm II, German Emperor, son of the Princess Royal.
• United Kingdom: George V, son of Edward VII.
• Russia: Alix of Hesse, daughter of Alice, who became Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
• Greece: Sophia, another daughter of the Princess Royal, Queen of the Hellenes.
• Norway: Maud, daughter of Edward VII.
• Romania: Marie, daughter of Alfred.
• Spain: Victoria Eugenie, daughter of Beatrice.

The links run on into the present. Among today's monarchs, King Charles III, King Harald V of Norway and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden all descend from Victoria. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were themselves third cousins through her. If those cousin terms are confusing, our guide to what "once removed" means explains them.

From Victoria to King Charles III

The British crown has passed through Victoria's eldest son. Edward VII belonged to the house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, his father's house. On 17 July 1917, during the First World War, his son George V changed the royal house's name to Windsor.

• Queen Victoria (reigned 1837–1901)
  • Edward VII (1901–1910), her eldest son
    • George V (1910–1936), his son, who founded the House of Windsor
      • Edward VIII (1936), his eldest son, who abdicated the same year
      • George VI (1936–1952), his second son
        • Elizabeth II (1952–2022), his daughter
          • Charles III (2022–present), her son

That makes Charles III Victoria's great-great-great-grandson.

Hemophilia in Victoria's descendants

Victoria carried hemophilia, an inherited condition that stops blood from clotting normally. Her parents were not known to have it, and it appears to have arisen as a new mutation. Genetic tests on the remains of the Russian imperial family, published in a 2009 study, suggest it was the rarer form known as hemophilia B.

• Leopold, her eighth child, was the first in the family known to have the condition.
• Alice and Beatrice were carriers and passed it on. Alice's young son Friedrich died after a fall at the age of two.
• Russia: Alice's daughter Alix passed it to her son, Tsarevich Alexei.
• Spain: Beatrice's daughter Victoria Eugenie passed it to her sons Alfonso and Gonzalo.
• Prussia: Alice's daughter Irene passed it to her sons Waldemar and Henry. Waldemar, who died in 1945, is the last known descendant of Victoria with the condition.

Edward VII, Alfred and Arthur did not have hemophilia, so it did not pass down the line that leads to the present British royal family. No living member of Europe's present or former reigning houses is known to have symptoms.

Want to draw a tree like this for your own family? Start with our guide on how to make a family tree.