| Edward VII was the eldest son of Queen Victoria of England. He was born 9 November 1841, but did not succeed to the throne until his mother died in 1901.
Albert Edward (known as "Bertie") was a high-spirited, boisterous boy who did not do well in rigid Victorian education. He also was a bit of a womanizer (Victoria apparently attributed the death of Prince Albert, Edward's father, to traveling while in bad health to Oxford to get Bertie out of some kind of trouble involving a woman, leaving Albert vulnerable to the typhoid which killed him).
Edward did marry in 1863; his bride, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, had six children with him, but did not seem to mind afterwards when her husband had many affairs, including one with well-known actress Lily Langtry. Edward also lived luxuriously in other senses, enjoying good food, wine, gambling, hunting, and attending races. Nonetheless, he was popular and the national response was relieved when he recovered from a severe case of typhoid he contracted in 1871.
When Victoria died, Edward became king (under his middle name rather than his first). After the drabness of Victoria's later years, the people of England seemed to like having a fun-loving monarch, and called him "King Teddy." After many years touring Europe's hot spots, Edward spoke many languages and kept up on foreign affairs; he was able to work for the Entente Cordiale agreement between Britain and France, and that work earned him the name "Edward the Peacemaker."
Edward died of chronic bronchitis on 6 May 1910 and was succeeded by his son George V.
| 
