KING EDWARD VII 1901 - 1910

Prince Albert Edward, the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was born on 9th Nov.1841 at Buckingham Palace. To his family and friends, this Prince was known as "Bertie". Bertie was christened in St.George's Chapel, Windsor, on 25th Jan.1842. His mother and father embarked their first son on a strenuous educational regime devised by Prince Albert (his father). Driven hard in his youth, the heir to the throne was often overtired and rebellious. Bertie wanted a career in the army, but being the heir to the throne, he was denied this.

The Prince met Princess Alexandra (his future wife) on 24th Sept.1861 and they married at St.George's Chapel, Windsor, on 10th March 1863. They had 5 children. Prince Albert Victor, Prince George, Princess Louise, Princess Victoria and Princess Maud. During his mother's reign, Bertie undertook public duties but was always excluded by his mother from acting as her deputy until 1898.

At 50 years of age, Edward became King on the death of his mother, Queen Victoria in 1901. The new King's interests lay in foreign affairs and military and naval matters. Fluent in French and German, Edward VII made a number of visits abroad. He was also related to nearly every Continental sovereign and came to be known as the "Uncle of Europe." Edward played a part in encouraging military and naval reforms, pressing for the reform of the Army Medical Service and the modernization of the Home Fleet.

King Edward VII died on 6th May 1910 at the age of 68 and he lay in state at Westminster Hall, where a quarter of a million people filed past his body. He was buried in St.George's Chapel, Windsor, on 20th March 1910.

(Info from Royal.uk)