Duke of Edinburgh Alfred
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Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 184430 July 1900) was the sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1893 to 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and
Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Albert I of Belgium ...
. He was known as the
Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...
from 1866 until he succeeded his paternal uncle Ernest II as the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
.


Early life

Prince Alfred was born on 6 August 1844 at Windsor Castle to the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria, and her husband,
Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Albert I of Belgium ...
, the second son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Nicknamed Affie, he was second in the line of succession to the British throne behind his elder brother, the Prince of Wales. Alfred was baptised by the
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, William Howley, at the Private Chapel in Windsor Castle on 6 September 1844. His godparents were his mother's first cousin,
Prince George of Cambridge Prince George of Wales (George Alexander Louis; born 22 July 2013) is a member of the British royal family. He is the eldest child of William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales. George is the eldest grandchild of King Charle ...
(represented by his father, the Duke of Cambridge); his paternal aunt, the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (represented by his maternal grandmother, the
Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, the wife of Prince Edward. He inherited the dukedom o ...
); and Queen Victoria's half-brother, the Prince of Leiningen (represented by the Duke of Wellington, Conservative Leader in the Lords). Alfred remained second in line to the British throne from his birth until 8 January 1864, when his older brother Edward and his wife Alexandra of Denmark had their first child,
Prince Albert Victor Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (Albert Victor Christian Edward; 8 January 1864 – 14 January 1892) was the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) and grandson of the re ...
. Alfred became third in line to the throne and, as Edward and Alexandra continued to have children, Alfred was further demoted in the order of succession.


Entering the Royal Navy

In 1856, when he had reached the age of 12, it was decided that Prince Alfred, in accordance with his own wishes, should enter the Royal Navy. A separate establishment was accordingly assigned to him, with Lieutenant J.C. Cowell, RE, as governor. He passed a special entrance examination in July 1858, and was appointed as naval cadet in at the age of 14. In July 1860, while on this ship, he paid an official visit to the Cape Colony, and made a very favourable impression both on the colonials and on the native chiefs. He took part in a hunt at Hartebeeste-Hoek, resulting in the slaughter of large numbers of game animals. On the abdication of King Otto of Greece, in 1862, Prince Alfred was chosen to succeed him, but the British government blocked plans for him to ascend the Greek throne, largely because of the Queen's opposition to the idea. She and her late husband had made plans for him to succeed to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg. Prince Alfred remained in the navy, and was promoted to lieutenant on 24 February 1863, serving under Count Gleichen on the
corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
.Heathcote, p. 9. He was promoted to
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
on 23 February 1866 and was appointed to the command of the frigate in January 1867.
Lord Charles Beresford Admiral Charles William de la Poer Beresford, 1st Baron Beresford, (10 February 1846 – 6 September 1919), styled Lord Charles Beresford between 1859 and 1916, was a British admiral and Member of Parliament. Beresford was the second son of J ...
described him as having "a great natural ability for handling a fleet" and noted that he "would have made a first-class fighting admiral."


Duke of Edinburgh

In the Queen's Birthday Honours on 24 May 1866, the Prince was created
Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...
, Earl of Ulster, and Earl of Kent with an annuity of £15,000 granted by Parliament. He took his seat in the House of Lords on 8 June. While still in command of the ''Galatea'', the Duke of Edinburgh started from Plymouth on 24 January 1867 for his voyage around the world. On 7 June 1867, he left
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
, reached the
Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
on 24 July, on 5 August 1867 the island of Tristan da Cunha, and paid a royal visit to Cape Town on 24 August 1867 after landing at Simon's Town a while earlier. He landed at Glenelg, South Australia, on 31 October 1867. Being the first member of the royal family to visit Australia, he was received with great enthusiasm. During his stay of nearly five months he visited Adelaide, Melbourne,
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Brisbane and Tasmania. Several institutions (including Prince Alfred College,
The Alfred Hospital The Alfred Hospital, also known as The Alfred or Alfred Hospital, is a leading tertiary teaching hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. It is the second oldest hospital in Victoria, and the oldest Melbourne hospital still operating on its original site ...
, and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital) were named in his honour. On 12 March 1868, on his second visit to Sydney, he was invited by Sir William Manning, President of the Sydney Sailors' Home, to picnic at the beachfront suburb of Clontarf to raise funds for the home. At the function, he was wounded in the back by a revolver fired by Henry James O'Farrell. Alfred was shot just to the right of his spine and was tended for the next two weeks by six nurses, trained by Florence Nightingale and led by Matron Lucy Osburn, who had just arrived in Australia in February 1868. In the violent struggle during which Alfred was shot, William Vial had managed to wrest the gun away from O'Farrell until bystanders assisted. Vial, a master of a Masonic Lodge, had helped to organise the picnic in honour of the Duke's visit and was presented with a gold watch for securing Alfred's life. Another bystander, George Thorne, was wounded in the foot by O'Farrell's second shot. O'Farrell was arrested at the scene, quickly tried, convicted and hanged on 21 April 1868. On the evening of 23 March 1868, the most influential people of Sydney voted for a memorial building to be erected, "to raise a permanent and substantial monument in testimony of the heartfelt gratitude of the community at the recovery of HRH". This led to a public subscription which paid for the construction of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Alfred soon recovered from his injury and was able to resume command of his ship and return home in early April 1868. He reached Spithead on 26 June 1868, after an absence of seventeen months. He visited Hawaii in 1869 and spent time with the royal family there, where he was presented with leis upon his arrival. He was also the first member of the royal family to visit New Zealand, arriving in 1869 on . He also became the first European prince to visit Japan and on 4 September 1869, he was received at an audience by the teenaged
Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...
in Tokyo. The Duke's next voyage was to India, where he arrived in December 1869, and Ceylon (now
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
), which he visited the following year. In both countries and at Hong Kong, which he visited on the way, he was the first British prince to set foot in the country. The native rulers of India vied with one another in the magnificence of their entertainments during the stay of three months. In Ceylon a reception was given for him, by the request of the British, by Charles Henry de Soysa, the richest man in Ceylon, at his private residence which was consequently renamed, by permission, Alfred House; Alfred reportedly ate off gold plates with gold cutlery inlaid with jewels.


Potential matches

In 1862, Queen Victoria wrote to Victoria, Princess Royal that she wanted Alfred to marry
Princess Dagmar of Denmark Princess Dagmar of Denmark (''Dagmar Louise Elisabeth''; 23 May 1890 – 11 October 1961) was a member of the Danish royal family. She was the youngest child and fourth daughter of Frederick VIII of Denmark and his wife, Princess Louise of Swe ...
. She wrote: "I hear that the
Emperor of Russia The emperor or empress of all the Russias or All Russia, ''Imperator Vserossiyskiy'', ''Imperatritsa Vserossiyskaya'' (often titled Tsar or Tsarina/Tsaritsa) was the Absolute monarchy, monarch of the Russian Empire. The title originated in conn ...
has not given up his intention of asking for
Alix ''Alix'', or ''The Adventures of Alix'', is a Franco-Belgian comics series drawn in the ligne claire style by Jacques Martin. The stories revolve around a young Gallo-Roman man named Alix in the late Roman Republic. Although the series is re ...
or Dagmar for
his son His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, ...
. I should be very sorry if any thing were decided for Dagmar before you had seen her, as it would be one chance less for Affie." However, she decided against the match because of Germany's anger towards Denmark over the disputed territories of Schleswig-Holstein, especially since Alfred was the heir to Coburg. She wrote to Victoria, Princess Royal "Respecting Dagmar, I do not wish her to be kept for Affie. Let the Emperor have her." Dagmar later married Alexander III and became the Empress of Russia. Queen Victoria considered
Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia Olga Constantinovna of Russia ( el, Όλγα; 18 June 1926) was queen consort of Greece as the wife of King George I. She was briefly the regent of Greece in 1920. A member of the Romanov dynasty, she was the oldest daughter of Grand Duke Co ...
as a potential wife for Alfred. She wrote to Victoria, Princess Royal, "It is a great pity that Sanny's charming daughter is a Greek rthodox she would do so well". In 1867, Queen Victoria told Victoria, Princess Royal that "I had thought and hoped at one time for dear little Olga, who is now to marry
King George King George may refer to: People Monarchs ;Bohemia *George of Bohemia (1420-1471, r. 1458-1471), king of Bohemia ;Duala people of Cameroon *George (Duala king) (late 18th century), king of the Duala people ;Georgia * George I of Georgia (998 or ...
".


Marriage

During a visit to his sister Princess Alice, in August 1868 he met
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (russian: Мария Александровна; – 24 October 1920) was the fifth child and only surviving daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine; she wa ...
, then fourteen years old.Abrash, ''A Curious Royal Romance'', p. 389Van der Kiste, ''The Romanovs 1818–1959'', p. 58Sullivan, ''A Fatal Passion'', p. 13Papi, ''Jewels of the Romanovs: Family & Court'', p. 93 Princess Alice was married to Maria Alexandrovna's first cousin. The Grand Duchess was visiting her maternal relatives, the Princes of Battenberg, at
Jugenheim Seeheim-Jugenheim is a municipality in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district in Hesse, Germany. It has a population of approximately 17,000. Seeheim-Jugenheim consists of seven villages: *Balkhausen (population 693) *Jugenheim (population 4,448) *Malch ...
. On 23 January 1874, the Duke of Edinburgh married the
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (russian: Мария Александровна; – 24 October 1920) was the fifth child and only surviving daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine; she wa ...
, the second (and only surviving) daughter of Emperor
Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Gra ...
and his first wife
Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine Maria Alexandrovna ( rus, Мария Александровна), born Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (8 August 1824 – 3 June 1880), was Empress of Russia as the first wife and political adviser of Emperor Alexander II. She was one of the ...
, daughter of Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and
Princess Wilhelmine of Baden Princess Wilhelmine Louise of Baden (21 September 1788 – 27 January 1836), was by birth a Princess of Baden from the House of Zähringen and by marriage Grand Duchess consort of Hesse and by Rhine. Her descendants include the last emperor of Ru ...
, at the Winter Palace,
St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. To commemorate the occasion, a small English bakery made the now internationally popular Marie biscuit, with the Duchess' name imprinted on its top. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh made their public entry into London on 12 March. The marriage, however, was not a happy one, and the bride was thought haughty by London Society. She was surprised to discover that she had to yield precedence to the Princess of Wales and all of Queen Victoria's daughters and demanded that she take precedence before the Princess of Wales (the future Queen Alexandra) because she considered the Princess of Wales's family (the Danish royal family) to be inferior to her own. Queen Victoria refused this demand, yet granted her precedence immediately after the Princess of Wales. Her father gave her the then-staggering sum of £100,000 as a dowry, plus an annual allowance of £32,000.


Flag rank

Alfred was stationed in Malta for several years and his third child,
Victoria Melita Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , later Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia (25 November 1876 – 2 March 1936), was the third child and second daughter of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and of Grand Duchess ...
, was born there in 1876. Promoted rear-admiral on 30 December 1878, he became admiral superintendent of naval reserves, with his flag in the
corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
in November 1879.Heathcote, p. 10. Promoted to vice-admiral on 10 November 1882, he was given command of the Channel Squadron, with his flag in the armoured ship , in December 1883. He became Commander-in-Chief,
Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...
, with his flag in the armoured ship , in March 1886, and having been promoted to
admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
on 18 October 1887, he went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in August 1890. He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 3 June 1893. Percy Scott wrote in his memoirs that "as a Commander-in-Chief, the Duke of Edinburgh had, in my humble opinion, no equal. He handled a fleet magnificently, and introduced many improvement in signals and manoeuvring." He "took a great interest in gunnery." "The prettiest ship I have ever seen was the
uke of Edinburgh's flagship Uke may refer to: People * Uke Clanton (1898–1960), Major League Baseball first baseman who played for one season. Nicknamed "Cat", he played for the Cleveland Indians for one game on September 21, 1922 * Uke Rugova * Sıtkı Üke (1876–19 ...
HMS ''Alexandra''. I was informed that £2,000 had been spent by the officers on her decoration." Alfred was very fond of music and took a prominent part in establishing the Royal College of Music, created in 1882. He was a keen violinist, but had little skill. At a dinner party given by one of his brothers, he was persuaded to play. Sir Henry Ponsonby wrote: 'Fiddle out of tune and noise abominable.'


Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

On the death of his uncle, Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, on 22 August 1893, the duchy fell to the Duke of Edinburgh, since his elder brother (the Prince of Wales) had renounced his right to the succession before he married. Alfred thereupon surrendered his British allowance of £15,000 a year and his seats in the House of Lords and the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
, but he retained the £10,000 granted on his marriage to maintain Clarence House as his London residence. At first regarded with some coldness in the Duchy as a "foreigner", he gradually gained popularity. By the time of his death in 1900, he had generally won the good opinion of his subjects. Alfred and Maria's only son, Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, became involved in a scandal involving his mistress and apparently shot himself in January 1899, in the midst of his parents' twenty-fifth wedding anniversary celebrations at the '' Schloss Friedenstein'' in Gotha. He survived, but his embarrassed mother sent him off to Meran to recover, where he died two weeks later, on 6 February. His father was devastated. Alfred died of throat cancer on 30 July 1900 in a lodge adjacent to Schloss Rosenau, the ducal summer residence just north of Coburg. He was buried at the ducal family's mausoleum in the ' in Coburg. He was succeeded by his nephew,
Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany '' , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany , mother = Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont , birth_name = Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany , birth_date = , birth_place = Clare ...
(1884–1954), the posthumous son of his youngest brother,
Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, (Leopold George Duncan Albert; 7 April 185328 March 1884) was the eighth child and youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Leopold was later created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, and Baron Arklow. ...
. He was survived by his mother, Victoria, who had already outlived two of her children,
Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
and
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. She died six months later. Alfred was a keen collector of glass and ceramic ware, and after his death his widow gave his collection, valued at half a million marks, to the Veste Coburg, the enormous fortress on a hill top above Coburg.


Legacy


Australia

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney,
The Alfred Hospital The Alfred Hospital, also known as The Alfred or Alfred Hospital, is a leading tertiary teaching hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. It is the second oldest hospital in Victoria, and the oldest Melbourne hospital still operating on its original site ...
in Melbourne, Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, Prince Alfred Park in Sydney, Prince Alfred Square in Parramatta, and the
Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC) is one of Australia's leading yacht clubs with a strong elite sailing focus located in Pittwater Newport, New South Wales. The club was formerly located at Kirribilli before relocating to its present locatio ...
, now in the Sydney suburb of
Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...
, are named in his honour. The Alfred Hall in
Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
was built in 1867 for his visit, and one of the city's suburbs was renamed Alfredton. Many streets, avenues, roads, halls, parks and schools bear his name in other parts of Australia. He laid the corner stones of new town halls in the two biggest cities,
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
and Melbourne, and those buildings continue in use today.


Barbados

Prince Alfred Street in Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados, was named in his honour. It begins at the junction with Chapel Street and proceeds southward until reaching a car park along the Constitution river in the vicinity of the former James Fort.


Canada

Prince Alfred Bay Prince Alfred Bay is a waterway in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It lies off the western coast of Devon Island, forming a border of the Grinnell Peninsula, in the eastern high Arctic. Like Pioneer Bay Pioneer Bay is a waterway in Qikiqtaa ...
,
Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
, was named in his honour, as was Cape Prince Alfred in the North West Territories. Two islands in Ontario are named for Prince Alfred, one in the St Lawrence River near Brockville, and the other in Lake Nipigon north of Thunder Bay. The Prince Alfred Arch, a monument in Tangier, Nova Scotia, marks the spot Prince Alfred visited in 1861.


New Zealand

The name of the small township of Alfredton (near Eketahuna in the lower
North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
of New Zealand) honours the prince. Alfred Street in central Auckland was named in his honour. The Bay of Plenty settlement of Galatea is named after his ship
Mt Alfred
in Wellington - adjacent to Mt Victoria named after his mother an
Mt Albert
after his father - is named after him.


South Africa

Prince Alfred sailed into
Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...
on 6 August 1860 as a midshipman on HMS ''Euryalus'' and celebrated his 16th birthday among its citizens. Seven years later he sailed into Simon's Town as the Captain of HMS ''Galatea''. In Port Elizabeth there is a Prince Alfred's Terrace. The Alfred Rowing Club was established in 1864 and was housed under the pier at Table Bay. It was named after Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, who visited the Cape in 1860. It is the oldest organised sporting club in South Africa. The opening ceremony of the South African Library was performed by Prince Alfred in 1860. An impressive portrait of the Prince hangs in the main reading room.
Port Alfred A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...
, on the Kowie River in the Eastern Cape, was originally known as Port Frances after the daughter-in-law of the Governor of Cape Colony, Lord Charles Somerset. Of all the passes built in South Africa by the famous Andrew Geddes Bain and his son, Thomas, Prince Alfred's Pass remains, for many people, a favourite because of its lavish variety winding through some of the world's most unspoiled scenery. In Simon's Town, the Prince Alfred Hotel was built in 1802 and renamed after the prince visited Cape Province in 1868. For more than two centuries Simon's Town has been an important naval base and harbour (first for the Royal Navy and now the South African Navy). The former hotel now houses the Backpackers' Hostel, opposite the harbour in the main street. In Cape Town during his visit in 1868, Prince Alfred ceremonially tipped the first load of rock to commence the building of the Breakwater. This was built by convict labour and formed the protective seawall for the new Cape Town Harbour, now redeveloped as the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and a popular tourist and shopping destination. A Prince Alfred Street can be found in
Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...
, Queenstown, Grahamstown and Caledon. The Port Elizabeth Chapter of the
Memorable Order of Tin Hats The Memorable Order of Tin Hats (M.O.T.H.) was founded in 1927 by Charles Evenden as a brotherhood of South African former front-line soldiers. The ideal is to help comrades in need, either financially or physically; and to remember all service ...
, a veterans association, is known as the Prince Alfred Shellhole.
Prince Alfred Hamlet Prince Alfred Hamlet is a small town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It was founded by Johannes Cornelis Goosen, who was born in the Klein Drakenstein and came to the Warm Bokkeveld as a young farmer. In March 1851 Goosen bought the ...
, a small town in the Western Cape province, is named after Alfred.


United Kingdom

One of the
stamp collectors Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is an area of philately, which is the study (or combined study and collection) of stamps. It has been one of the world's most popular hobbies since the late nineteenth ...
in the British royal family, Prince Alfred won election as honorary president of The Philatelic Society, London in 1890. He may have inspired his nephew George V, who benefited after the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) bought his brother Prince Alfred's collection. The merging of Alfred's and George's collections gave birth to the
Royal Philatelic Collection The Royal Philatelic Collection is the postage stamp collection of the British royal family. It is the most comprehensive collection of items related to the philately of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth, with many unique pieces. ...
. Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, the settlement on Tristan da Cunha, a British Overseas territory, was named after Alfred after he visited the remote islands in 1867 while Duke of Edinburgh. ''
Manta alfredi Manta or mantas may refer to: * Manta ray, large fish belonging to the genus ''Manta'' Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * Manta (comics), a character in American Marvel Comics publications * Manta (''Uridium''), a spaceship in the Br ...
'' is commonly known as Prince Alfred's
manta ray Manta rays are large rays belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' (formerly its own genus ''Manta''). The larger species, '' M. birostris'', reaches in width, while the smaller, '' M. alfredi'', reaches . Both have triangular Pectoral fin#AnchPect ...
.


Titles, styles, honours and arms


Titles and styles

*6 August 184424 May 1866: ''His Royal Highness'' The Prince Alfred *24 May 186623 August 1893: ''His Royal Highness'' The Duke of Edinburgh *23 August 189330 July 1900: ''His Royal Highness'' The Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha


Honours

;British honours *KG: Royal Knight of the Garter, ''10 June 1863'' *KT: Extra Knight of the Thistle, ''15 October 1864'' *KP:
Knight of St. Patrick The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick is a dormant British order of chivalry associated with Ireland. The Order was created in 1783 by George III of the United Kingdom, King George III at the request of the then Lord Lieutenant of Irelan ...
, ''14 May 1880'' *GCB:
Knight Grand Cross of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...
(military), ''25 May 1889'' *GCSI:
Knight Grand Commander of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointments ...
, ''7 February 1870'' *GCMG:
Knight Grand Cross of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...
, ''29 June 1869'' *GCIE: Knight Grand Commander of the Indian Empire, ''21 June 1887'' *GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, ''24 May 1899'' *PC: Privy Counsellor, ''18661893'' *KStJ: Knight of Justice of St. John, 27 March 1896 *ADC:
Personal aide-de-camp Personal Aide-de-Camp to the King (or Queen) is an appointment in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. It is distinct from that of other aides-de-camp, in that it is only bestowed on members of the British royal family holding military r ...
to Queen Victoria, 9 December 1882 ;Foreign honours


Arms

Prince Alfred gained use of the
royal arms of the United Kingdom The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, or the royal arms for short, is the arms of dominion of the British monarch, currently King Charles III. These arms are used by the King in his official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom. Varia ...
, charged with an inescutcheon of the shield of the Duchy of Saxony, representing his paternal arms, the whole differenced by a label argent of three points, the outer points bearing anchors azure, and the inner a cross gules. When he became the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, his Saxon arms were his British arms inverted, as follows: the ducal arms of Saxony charged with an inescutcheon of the royal arms of the United Kingdom differenced with a label argent of three points, the outer points bearing anchors azure, and the inner a cross gules.


Issue


Archives

Alfred's letters to his third daughter, Alexandra, (as well as her sisters) are preserved in the Hohenlohe Central Archive (Hohenlohe-Zentralarchiv Neuenstein) in Neuenstein Castle in the town of Neuenstein, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.


Ancestry


Footnotes


References

* * McKinlay, Brian ''The First Royal Tour, 1867–1868'', (London: Robert Hale & Company, c1970, 1971) 200p. * Sandner, H., ''Das Haus Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha'', (Coburg: Neue Presse, 2001). * Van der Kiste, John, & Jordaan, Bee ''Dearest Affie'', (Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1984) * Van der Kiste, John ''Alfred'', (Stroud: Fonthill Media, 2013)


External links

* CC-By-SA">Creative_Commons_license.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Creative Commons license">CC-By-SA/nowiki> * ">- , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Alfred Of Saxe-Coburg And Gotha, Duke 1844 births 1900 deaths 19th-century British people">1900_deaths.html" ;"title="1844 births 1900 deaths">1844 births 1900 deaths 19th-century British people People from Windsor, Berkshire Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Dukes of Edinburgh Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria, Alfred Protestant monarchs Princes of the United Kingdom House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (United Kingdom) Royal Navy admirals of the fleet People associated with the Royal College of Music People associated with the Royal National College for the Blind Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights of St Patrick Knights of the Garter Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Knights of the Thistle Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Knights of Justice of the Order of St John Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur 3 3 3 Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Takovo Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Deaths from esophageal cancer Deaths from cancer in Germany Burials at the Ducal Family Mausoleum, Glockenburg Cemetery, Coburg British philatelists British shooting survivors Fathers of philately Earls of Ulster British princes Children of Queen Victoria Edinburgh Militia officers