Victoria of Breotonia, Queen of Arendaal

Victoria of Breotonia ("Victoria the Rose") (1740 - 1805) was the second wife of King Edvard IV of Arendaal, the Musical King and thus the Queen Consort of Arendaal between 1764 and 1782. A daughter of the King of Breotonia, she married King Edvard IV a year after the death of his first wife, Evelynn of Anglyn, with whom he had no issue.

Victoria and Edvard would go on to have several children, including Queen Helene I of Arendaal and Viktoria, Queen of Franken.

While Edvard IV was still in mourning for his wife of sixteen years, Queen Evelynn, Princess of Anglyn, his ministers began casting about for another potential bride for the King to provide him with an heir.

In 1764 the young Breotonian Victoria arrived in Arendaal and the couple married some days later at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Emyn Arnen. The site was an unusual choice for an 18th century Monarch, most of whom prefered the Chapel at Versailles Palace. However, Edvard IV insisted on the site given that he had "wed and lost" his first wife at Versailles and wished to avoid painful memories of the loss. The move would prove popular with the public, given that the venue was in the heart of the Aren capital, thus sparing well wishers the journey to a Palace several miles outside the city of Emyn Arnen.

King Edvard IV was handsome and outgoing, but the loss of his first wife made him sullen and ill-tempered during the first months of his marriage to Victoria. Despite his grief, Victoria was soon praised for conquering the heart of the King "bit by bit".

Within the first six months the wedding the King had become sincerely attached to his wife. The couple's first child, the future Helene I, was born within a year of their marriage. Victoria was also praised for her unjealous nature: it was her idea to name the couple's third daughter 'Eveline', in honour of the King's first wife.

Although the couple's marriage was a happy one, although Queen Victoria, like her predecessor, Evelynn of Anglyn, was often distressed by King King Edvard IV's casual affairs. The vigorous, lusty Edvard, accustomed to having his own way, routinely took mistresses. His behaviour was more tempered with Victoria than with his first wife, probably given the couple's children together. The King's mistresses were rarely his mistresses for long, and exerted little influence over him or over courtly life in general. Queen Victoria reigned supreme at Court and ladies whom she suspected of 'familiarity' with King Edvard IV were routinely dismissed from Royal Palaces.

According to the King's biographer, "King Edvard IV may have sometimes have treated his Queens inconsiderately, but never cruelly. Queen Victoria was undoubtedly the love of his life. It was on the mother of his children that he most dotted, most lavished affection, and most cared for."

The couple dotted on their children. During the disastrous reign of her daughter Queen Helene I, Victoria remarked that her own indulgence was to blame for Helene's incautious behaviour. After Helene's death, her two illegitimate children, Duke Harald of Svealand and Countess Marguerite of Goteborg, were raised by their grandmother Queen dowager Victoria.

Victoria of Breotonia was most famous for her beauty and sense of style, her musical patronage and her love of gambling. In her extroverted nature she suited the handsome and outgoing King Edvard IV. She was reported to have died in debt, even though both her own and her husband's family were immensely wealthy. Like Evelynn of Anglyn she was among the greatest trend-setters of the 18th century. The 18th century Aren Court was particularly famous for its elaborate and spectacular fashions, which were most prominently displayed by the Queens and Princesses of Arendaal. As Queen Consort, she was expected by tradition to spend money on her attire, so as to outshine other women at Court and to remain the leading example of fashion at Versailles.

Also like Queen Evelynn, Victoria proved an influential musical patron. She shared her husband's devotion to music and supported his patronage of countless musicians, the most famous of whom was the Aren composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the Wieser composer Joseph Haydn.

Family, Marriage and Children
Princess Victoria of Breotonia married King Edvard IV of Arendaal in 1764 as his second wife. Their children included:
 * Helene I of Arendaal (1765 - 1790) - who succeeded her father as ruler of Arendaal in 1782
 * Viktoria of Arendaal, Queen of Franken (b. 1773) - Consort of Sebastian IV von Franken

Other Royal Relations

 * Queen Beatrix I of Arendaal - mother-in-law
 * Thomas of Franken, Prince Consort of Arendaal - father-in-law
 * Hathor III of Arendaal - brother-in-law (Edvard IV's brother)
 * Trigve, Prince of Arendaal - brother-in-law (Edvard IV's brother. Father of Karl V
 * Evelina of Arendaal, Empress of the Talemantine Empire - sister-in-law (Edvard IV's sister). Consort to Stefano Emanuelle IV of the Talemantine Empire
 * Adelaide of Arendaal, Queen of Anglyn - sister-in-law (Edvard IV's sister and her brother's wife). Consort to Alfred IV of Anglyn
 * Elisabeth of Lorraine, Queen of Arendaal - husband's sister-in-law (wife of Hathor III)
 * Francoise of Montelimar, Princess of Arendaal - husband's sister-in-law (wife of Prince Trigve)
 * Karl V of Arendaal - nephew by marriage (Edvard IV's nephew)
 * Rurik, Prince of Arendaal - nephew by marriage (Edvard IV's nephew)
 * Evelynn of Anglyn, Queen of Arendaal - husband's first wife
 * Harald, Duke of Svealand - grandson (Helene I's illegitimate son)
 * Marguerite, Countess of Göteborg - granddaughter (Helene I's illegitimate daughter)

Ancestors
's ancestors in four generations: