What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
During the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign, Europe was recovering from decades of brutal wars. The French Revolution and Napoleonic wars killed millions.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert came up with a unique plan to maintain peace and unity in Europe.
They had nine children in total, and many more grandchildren. During their lifetime, they arranged dozens of marriages between their descendants and other important European royals.
European leaders reshaped the major European states such as Germany and France, creating peace and a new balance of power. Great Britain was one of the strongest states at the time.
Prussia was the most powerful of the divided German states at that time. Queen Victoria believed that Prussia was most likely to unify and rule over Germany.
Her eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, was married to Prince Frederick III, who would become King of Prussia.
Princess Beatrice was married to Prince Henry of Battenberg.
Prince Leopold was married to Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont.
Princess Helena was married to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein.
Germany was the most divided and unstable nation at the time, so Queen Victoria married most of her children to the royalty of the different German states in the hopes of uniting them in the future.
Princess Alice was married to Louis IV and became the Grand Duchess of Hesse.
Prince Arthur was married to another Prussian royal, Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia.
The Russian monarchy was an autocracy, meaning that the one leader had absolute power. The British monarchy was a constitutional monarchy, so they were at least answerable to the constitution.
Queen Victoria's eldest son and heir to the throne married Alexandra of Denmark.
Her brother (right) was King George the I of Greece, so this marriage aligned the British royals with two important European monarchies.
Despite her concerns, the marriage was allowed. Alfred married Maria Alexandrovna, the Grand Duchess of Russia.
Complications arose when Queen Victoria's second son wanted to marry the daughter of the Russian tsar. She had grave concerns about an alliance with Russia.
King George V was the heir to the British throne and married a minor royal family member, Mary of Teck.
Queen Victoria's granddaughter, daughter of Princess Alice, married Nicolas II of Russia. They became the tsar and tsarina of Russia.
Despite this, Queen Victoria continued to make strategic matches for her 42 grandchildren. Some seven of them ended up on royal thrones.
Her eldest grandchild Wilhelm II became Emperor of Germany and married a German princess.
They met a tragic end when they were both murdered along with their children during the Russian Revolution. The rumor that one daughter may have escaped was the basis for the 1997 animated children's movie 'Anastasia.'
By the 1880s, Queen Victoria had successfully married all of her children into powerful royal families across Europe. But sadly, it didn't quite achieve the peace and unity she had hoped for.
Germany did unify, but only through a bloody war. In Russia, the royal family were losing power and the tsar was assassinated in 1881.
Marie of Edinburgh, daughter of Prince Alfred, married King Ferdinand I and became Queen of Romania.
Maud of Wales, daughter of King Edward VII, married King Haakon VII and became the Queen of Norway.
Despite the many powerful alliances created by Queen Victoria, it did not bring peace and unity to Europe. She died 13 years before World War I broke out.
The World Wars brought down monarchies all over Europe, and the British royals realized they needed to become more accessible and connected to their people in order to survive. Over the years, marriages became less about strategic political alliances and more about love.
The British royal family are closely related to almost every other royal family in Europe, so it's no wonder they started to look for love elsewhere!
Sources: (Vox)
See also: The British royal family's dark history
Her grandchildren went to war with each other, leading to the deaths of 10 million people and shattering European peace.
Queen Victoria was one of the longest-reigning monarchs in history, ruling for 64 years. She dedicated many of these years to arranging alliances with other powerful states around Europe. These alliances were achieved through marriages between her many children and grandchildren and members of other European royal families. The result was such a vast distribution of British royals around the continent that Queen Victoria became known as the "Grandmother of Europe."
Click through the following gallery to learn about the incredible number of marriages she arranged and the powerful positions her descendants claimed.
The royal weddings that changed European history
Queen Victoria controlled European politics through carefully arranged marriages
LIFESTYLE History
Queen Victoria was one of the longest-reigning monarchs in history, ruling for 64 years. She dedicated many of these years to arranging alliances with other powerful states around Europe. These alliances were achieved through marriages between her many children and grandchildren and members of other European royal families. The result was such a vast distribution of British royals around the continent that Queen Victoria became known as the "Grandmother of Europe."
Click through the following gallery to learn about the incredible number of marriages she arranged and the powerful positions her descendants claimed.