Why do you think one of the young queen's first acts is to reject her given name of Alexandrina in favor of Victoria?
Created: 01/11/17
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Victoria wanted to choose a name of her own, she didn't particularly like being under her mother's thumb so to speak and she wanted to be a Queen. Not someone her mother could control. In choosing her Victoria it was her first assertion that she was going to be independent of her mother and Conroy.
Join Date: 01/20/16
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I have a feeling she also chose it simply because no other queen was named Victoria. It was a way of quickly announcing her independence. I think she did not like the nickname "Drina" and was afraid that the nickname would be used to emphasize her youth and inexperience. "Queen Drina" would be dismissed and thought foolish and childish and in need of a regent. She was eager to be "grown up."
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I agree with all of the above - it was a way to assert her independence and set herself apart as someone different. She was also trying to separate herself from her German heritage, so I think she thought Victoria sounded more British. And she hated the nickname Drina, which to me made her sound like a dimunitive mule or pet of some kind!
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Actually, Victoria was a very unusual name in Britain at the time Victoria chose to use it as her regnal name. I remember being told that she was the first Victoria born in Britain (it being her middle name). I think that would be difficult to prove either way but suffice to say while Viktoria was used in Germany and variations of the name were in use across Europe, it was very unusual in Britain at the time. If anything it made her German heritage more overt not least as it was her German mother's first name.
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Until I read this book, I didn't realize that monarchs chose their names. I assumed they used their own. But when Conroy started suggesting names such as Anne and Elizabeth, I was surprised! I love that she chose to be called by her middle name. She had always disliked Alexandrina, especially the nickname of Drina. By choosing to be called Victoria, she was taking a big step along the path to independence, as well as rebelling against her mother and Conroy.
Join Date: 01/15/17
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I agree with much of what has already been stated. Although she identified with Elizabeth, she wanted to strike out on her own, to be independent, to stand out from the past. Victoria sounds more regal but also more mature. Being of diminutive stature, she wanted a name that stood tall, that stood for strength and maturity.
Join Date: 04/21/11
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First of all, her mother called her Drina which she did not like since her name was Alexandrina. It was also a way of saying I am me and not anyone else. The name Victoria was independence to her and not her mother's little girl. After all, she was now Queen -
Join Date: 02/05/16
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I agree with everyone, this was a way to mark her independence from her childhood, and from the influence of her mother and Conroy, and also to establish herself as unique (not another Elizabeth). But it's also interesting that this was the part of her given name that she got from her mother. Maybe on some level she also wanted to signal that she still loved her mother and yearned for her affection. Total speculation here!
Join Date: 06/15/11
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Agree with all of the above answers. She didn't particularly like the name anyway and most definitely had started to assert her authority with her mother. Deciding on her own name was sort of testing the waters in how far she could go with this new power she had.
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She was very independent and wanted to do things differently than what her mother and Conroy wanted. She had been kept under their supervision all her life and now she was the Queen. Changing her name was the start of her new life as the ruler of England.
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I believe it was a not so subtle way of creating a bit of independence. And, I think she just liked that name better, plus it was no one's but hers. it showed one of her first stabs, if you will, at having something HER way. We see a bit of the Queen's character here.
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I believe that she liked the "English" sound of Victoria - even though it was unusual at the time - and not the German Alexandrina, nor did she appreciate her mother's "Drina" nickname for her, which embarrassed her and made her feel childish. Maybe she liked the word "Victor" in her name, which possibly gave her sense of optimism and hope.
Join Date: 02/05/16
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Amy-H, I like what you said about the "Victor" in Victoria possibly giving her optimism and hope. That makes total sense to me. And she was victorious, after all. She did get past her early scandals to become independent of her mother and Conroy, to find love as well as a soul mate in her marriage, and to become the longest-reigning monarch, one who was much loved in her time. She vowed to "be good" as queen, and she achieved that.
Join Date: 10/09/14
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Definitely changing her name is a way to assert her independence and to convey the message that she would no longer be controlled by her mother - and let's not forget that almost all teenagers want to declare their new found sense of freedom from childhood!
The name Victoria also resonates with the idea of Victory - over her "handlers," her family history of madness and dissolute habits, and the established male hierarchy of Great Britain.
Join Date: 01/21/17
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I came into the discussion late so will be difficult to come up with new ideas. Choosing her name was her form of rebellion. She needed to prove to her mother that she could be her own person and was taking control of her life.
Join Date: 10/25/12
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Was using the name Victoria just a rebellion or a well thought out plan for her future? By choosing Victoria, she distanced herself from her German heritage and her Hanoverian predecessors as Leopold stated. And the name Victoria was all hers, the start of a new era. Did Victoria have that much insight at the age of eighteen? I don't know, but the name suited her and her reign.
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I like the ideas expressed that the name Victoria represented her independent nature and had a more regal connotation than Alexandrina. One has to admire her innate ability at such a young age to hold her own against her mother, Conroy and those who wished to control her and dictate how she would reign.
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