Hi Kids:

Do you know why we have a special long weekend in May in Canada? Do you know what it is called?

It is called Victoria Day and it is named after Queen Victoria who was born on May 24, 1819.

Queen Victoria was our Queen Elizabeth's great great Grandmother. Queen Victoria must have done some good things in her life to have a holiday named after her. We would say she left her mark in history. In other words, she changed things and was remembered for them.

Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert spent most of their lives working to support peace and getting along with others. They helped the poor and supported organizations that helped people. It is said they wrote many letters to leaders of other countries throughout Europe to stop many wars.

Regardless of the good she did, there are always people who were jealous. There were always people who were willing to talk about her if they felt she did something wrong. Seven times during her time as queen people even tried to kill her. There were lots of times Queen Victoria felt discouraged and upset. After her husband died, she must have felt like giving up, however Queen Victoria kept going and spent her life trying to do what was right. She was Queen for almost 64 years, longer than any other monarch has ever reigned in British history.