Prince Albert Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
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Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the consort of Queen Victoria from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his death in 1861. Albert was born in the Saxon duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to a family connected to many of Europe's ruling monarchs. At the age of twenty, he married his first cousin Victoria; they had nine children. Initially he felt constrained by his role as consort, which did not afford him power or responsibilities. He gradually developed a reputation for supporting public causes, such as educational reform and the abolition of slavery worldwide, and was entrusted with running the Queen's household, office, and estates. He was heavily involved with the organisation of the
Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary The Crystal Palace, structure in which it was held), was an International Exhib ...
of 1851, which was a resounding success. Victoria came to depend more and more on Albert's support and guidance. He aided the development of Britain's constitutional monarchy by persuading his wife to be less partisan in her dealings with Parliament—although he actively disagreed with the
interventionist foreign policy Interventionism refers to a political practice of intervention, particularly to the practice of governments to interfere in political affairs of other countries, staging military or trade interventions. Economic interventionism refers to a diffe ...
pursued during Lord Palmerston's tenure as
Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
. Albert died in 1861 at age 42, devastating Victoria so much that she entered into a deep state of mourning and wore black for the rest of her life. On her death in 1901, their eldest son succeeded as Edward VII, the first
British monarch The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...
of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, named after the ducal house to which Albert belonged.


Early life

Prince Albert was born on 26 August 1819, at Schloss Rosenau, near Coburg, Germany, the second son of Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his first wife,
Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...
. His first cousin and future wife, Victoria, was born earlier in the same year with the assistance of the same accoucheuse,
Charlotte von Siebold Marian Theodore Charlotte Heidenreich von Siebold (12 September 1788 – 8 July 1859) was a German physician.Ulrike Enke: Geburtshelferin der englischen Königin. In: Hessisches Ärzteblatt. 8, 2009, ISSN 0171-9661, S. 525–526, Volltext (PDF; 1 ...
. He was baptised into the Lutheran Evangelical Church on 19 September 1819 in the Marble Hall at Schloss Rosenau, with water taken from the local river, the Itz. His godparents were his paternal grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld; his maternal grandfather, the Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg; the Emperor of Austria; the Duke of Teschen; and Emanuel, Count of Mensdorff-Pouilly. In 1825, Albert's great-uncle, Frederick IV, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, died, which led to a realignment of the
Saxon duchies The Ernestine duchies (), also known as the Saxon duchies (, although the Albertine appanage duchies of Weissenfels, Merseburg and Zeitz were also "Saxon duchies" and adjacent to several Ernestine ones), were a group of small states whose numb ...
the following year and Albert's father became the first reigning duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Albert and his elder brother, Ernest, spent their youth in close companionship, which was marred by their parents' turbulent marriage and eventual separation and divorce. After their mother was exiled from court in 1824, she married her lover,
Alexander von Hanstein, Count of Pölzig and Beiersdorf Maximilian Elisäus Alexander von Hanstein, Count of Pölzig and Beiersdorf (9 June 1804, Burghaig, Kulmbach – 18 April 1884, Schmölln) was a Thuringian count. He was the stepfather of Albert, Prince Consort, and grandfather of Hans Poelzi ...
. She presumably never saw her children again, and died of cancer at the age of 30 in 1831. The following year, their father married his niece, his sons' cousin
Princess Marie of Württemberg Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...
; their marriage was not close, however, and Marie had little—if any—impact on her stepchildren's lives. The brothers were educated privately at home by Christoph Florschütz and later studied in Brussels, where Adolphe Quetelet was one of their tutors. Like many other German princes, Albert attended the University of Bonn, where he studied law, political economy, philosophy and the history of art. He played music and he excelled at sport, especially fencing and riding. His tutors at Bonn included the philosopher Fichte and the poet Schlegel.


Marriage

The idea of marriage between Albert and his cousin, Victoria, was first documented in an 1821 letter from his paternal grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, who said that he was "the pendant to the pretty cousin". By 1836, this idea had also arisen in the mind of their ambitious uncle
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, who had been
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since 1831. At this time, Victoria was the heir presumptive to the British throne. Her father,
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, (Edward Augustus; 2 November 1767 – 23 January 1820) was the fourth son and fifth child of King George III. His only legitimate child became Queen Victoria. Prince Edward was created Duke of Kent an ...
, the fourth son of King George III, had died when she was an infant, and her elderly uncle, King William IV, had no surviving legitimate children. Her mother, the
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, was the sister of both Albert's father—the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha—and King Leopold. Leopold arranged for his sister, Victoria's mother, to invite the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his two sons to visit her in May 1836, with the purpose of meeting Victoria. William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of
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, second son of the Prince of Orange. Victoria was well aware of the various matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes. She wrote, " lbertis extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful."Victoria quoted in . Alexander, on the other hand, she described as "very plain". Victoria wrote to her uncle Leopold to thank him "for the prospect of ''great'' happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear Albert ... He possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy." Although the parties did not undertake a formal engagement, both the family and their retainers widely assumed that the match would take place. Victoria came to the throne aged eighteen on 20 June 1837. Her letters of the time show interest in Albert's education for the role he would have to play, although she resisted attempts to rush her into marriage. In the winter of 1838–39, the prince visited Italy, accompanied by the Coburg family's confidential adviser,
Baron Stockmar Christian Friedrich Freiherr von Stockmar (22 August 1787 – 9 July 1863) was a German physician and statesman, who was a leading player in the affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom under Victoria of the Unit ...
. Albert returned to the United Kingdom with Ernest in October 1839 to visit the Queen, with the objective of settling the marriage. Albert and Victoria felt mutual affection and the Queen proposed to him on 15 October 1839. Victoria's intention to marry was declared formally to 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 ...
on 23 November, and the couple married on 10 February 1840 at the
Chapel Royal The Chapel Royal is an establishment in the Royal Household serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the British Royal Family. Historically it was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarch. The term is now also applie ...
,
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. Just before the marriage, Albert was naturalised by Act of Parliament, and granted the style of ''Royal Highness'' by an Order in Council. Initially Albert was not popular with the British public; he was perceived to be from an impoverished and undistinguished minor state, barely larger than a small English county. The British Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, advised the Queen against granting her husband the title of " King Consort"; Parliament also objected to Albert being created a
peer Peer may refer to: Sociology * Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group * Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm" Computing * Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a net ...
—partly because of anti-German sentiment and a desire to exclude Albert from any political role. Albert's religious views provided a small amount of controversy when the marriage was debated in Parliament: although as a member of the Lutheran Evangelical Church Albert was a Protestant, the non-
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nature of his church was considered worrisome. Of greater concern, however, was that some of Albert's family were Roman Catholic. Melbourne led a
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and the opposition took advantage of the marriage to weaken his position further. They opposed a British peerage for Albert and granted him a smaller annuity than previous consorts, £30,000 instead of the usual £50,000. Albert claimed that he had no need of a British peerage, writing: "It would almost be a step downwards, for as a Duke of Saxony, I feel myself much higher than a Duke of York or Kent." For the next seventeen years, Albert was formally titled "HRH Prince Albert" until, on 25 June 1857, Victoria formally granted him the title Prince Consort. Victoria explained, in a letter to Lord Palmerston on 15 March 1857, that she was: "... inclined ... to content herself by simply giving her husband by Letters Patent the title of 'Prince Consort' which can injure no one while it will give him an ''English title'' consistent with his position, & avoid his being treated by Foreign Courts as a ''junior Member'' of the house ''of Saxe-Coburg''".


Consort of the Queen

The position in which Albert was placed by his marriage, while one of distinction, also offered considerable difficulties; in his own words, "I am very happy and contented; but the difficulty in filling my place with the proper dignity is that I am only the husband, not the master in the house." The Queen's household was run by her former governess,
Baroness Lehzen Johanna Clara Louise Lehzen (3 October 17849 September 1870), also known as Baroness Louise Lehzen, was the governess and later companion to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Born to a Lutheran pastor, in 1819 Lehzen entered the household of ...
. Albert referred to her as the "House Dragon", and manoeuvred to dislodge the Baroness from her position. Within two months of the marriage, Victoria was pregnant. Albert started to take on public roles; he became President of the Society for the Extinction of Slavery (which was still lawful in most parts of the world beyond the British Empire); and helped Victoria privately with her government paperwork. In June 1840, while on a public carriage ride, Albert and the pregnant Victoria were shot at by Edward Oxford, who was later judged insane. Neither Albert nor Victoria was hurt and Albert was praised in the newspapers for his courage and coolness during the attack. He was gaining public support as well as political influence, which showed itself practically when, in August, Parliament passed the Regency Act 1840 to designate him regent in the event of Victoria's death before their child reached the age of majority. Their first child, Victoria, named after her mother, was born in November. Eight other children would follow over the next seventeen years. All nine children survived to adulthood, which was remarkable for the era and which biographer
Hermione Hobhouse Mary Hermione Hobhouse (2 February 1934 – 17 October 2014) was a British architectural historian and prominent preservation campaigner. Family and early life Hobhouse was born on 2 February 1934 to Sir Arthur Hobhouse and Konradin Huth Ja ...
credited to Albert's "enlightened influence" on the healthy running of the nursery. In early 1841, he successfully removed the nursery from Lehzen's pervasive control, and in September 1842, Lehzen left Britain permanently—much to Albert's relief. After the 1841 general election, Melbourne was replaced as Prime Minister by Sir Robert Peel, who appointed Albert as chairman of the Royal Commission in charge of redecorating the new
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. The Palace had burned down seven years before, and was being rebuilt. As a patron and purchaser of pictures and sculpture, the commission was set up to promote the fine arts in Britain. The commission's work was slow, and the palace's architect, Charles Barry, took many decisions out of the commissioners' hands by decorating rooms with ornate furnishings that were treated as part of the architecture. Albert was more successful as a private patron and collector. Among his notable purchases were early German and Italian paintings—such as
Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ;  – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is know ...
's ''Apollo and Diana'' and Fra Angelico's ''St Peter Martyr''—and contemporary pieces from Franz Xaver Winterhalter and Edwin Landseer. Ludwig Gruner, of Dresden, assisted Albert in buying artworks of the highest quality. Albert and Victoria were shot at again on both 29 and 30 May 1842, but were unhurt. The culprit, John Francis, was detained and condemned to death, although he was later reprieved. Some of their early unpopularity came about because of their stiffness and adherence to protocol in public, though in private the couple were more easy-going. In early 1844, Victoria and Albert were apart for the first time since their marriage when he returned to Coburg on the death of his father. By 1844, Albert had managed to modernise the royal finances and, through various economies, had sufficient capital to purchase Osborne House on the Isle of Wight as a private residence for their growing family. Over the next few years a house modelled in the style of an Italianate villa was built to the designs of Albert and Thomas Cubitt. Albert laid out the grounds, and improved the estate and farm. Albert managed and improved the other royal estates; his model farm at Windsor ( Shaw Farm) was admired by his biographers, and under his stewardship the revenues of the
Duchy of Cornwall The Duchy of Cornwall ( kw, Duketh Kernow) is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch obtains possession of the duchy and the title of 'Duke of Cornwall' at ...
—the hereditary property of the Prince of Wales—steadily increased. Unlike many landowners who approved of child labour and opposed Peel's repeal of the Corn Laws, Albert supported moves to raise working ages and free up trade. In 1846, Albert was rebuked by Lord George Bentinck when he attended the debate on the Corn Laws in the House of Commons to give tacit support to Peel. During Peel's premiership, Albert's authority behind, or beside, the throne became more apparent. He had access to all the Queen's papers, was drafting her correspondence and was present when she met her ministers; he would even see them alone in her absence. The clerk of the Privy Council, Charles Greville, wrote of him: "He is King to all intents and purposes." In 1847, Victoria and Albert spent a rainy holiday in the west of Scotland at Loch Laggan, but heard from their doctor, Sir James Clark, that Clark's son had enjoyed dry, sunny days farther east at
Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were bought ...
. The tenant of Balmoral, Sir Robert Gordon, died suddenly in early October, and Albert began negotiations to take over the lease from the owner, the Earl Fife. In May the following year, Albert leased Balmoral, which he had never visited. In September 1848 he, his wife and their older children went there for the first time. They came to relish the privacy it afforded.


Reformer and innovator


Foreign affairs

Revolutions spread throughout Europe in 1848 as the result of a widespread economic crisis. Throughout the year, Victoria and Albert complained about Foreign Secretary Palmerston's independent foreign policy, which they believed further destabilised continental European powers. Albert was concerned for many of his royal relatives, a number of whom were deposed by revolutionaries. He and Victoria, who gave birth to their daughter
Louise Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...
during that year, spent some time away from London in the relative safety of
Osborne Osborne may refer to: * Osborne (name) Places Australia * Osborne, South Australia (disambiguation), places associated with the suburb in the Adelaide metropolitan area * Osborne, New South Wales, a rural community in the Riverina region Can ...
. Although there were sporadic demonstrations in England, no effective revolutionary action took place.


Domestic reforms

According to historian G. M. Trevelyan, regarding the Prince and home affairs: In 1847, Albert was elected
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of the University of Cambridge after a close contest with the Earl of Powis. He used his position as chancellor to campaign successfully for reformed and more modern university curricula, expanding the subjects taught beyond the traditional mathematics and classics to include modern history and the natural sciences. Albert gained public acclaim when he expressed paternalistic, yet well-meaning and philanthropic, views. In an 1848 speech to the Society for the Improvement of the Condition of the Labouring Classes, of which he was president, he expressed his "sympathy and interest for that class of our community who have most of the toil and fewest of the enjoyments of this world".The text of the speech was widely reproduced, e.g. "The Condition of the Labouring Classes". '' The Times'', 19 May 1848, p. 6. It was the "duty of those who, under the blessings of Divine Providence, enjoy station, wealth, and education" to assist those less fortunate than themselves. His progressive and relatively liberal ideas were expressed by his support of emancipation, technological progress, science education, the ideas of Charles Darwin, and the welfare of the working classes. Albert led reforms in university education, welfare and the royal finances and supported the campaign against slavery. He also had a special interest in applying science and art to manufacturing industry. The Great Exhibition of 1851 arose from the annual exhibitions of the Society of Arts, of which Albert was president from 1843, and owed most of its success to his efforts to promote it. Albert served as president of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, and had to fight for every stage of the project. In the House of Lords,
Lord Brougham Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, (; 19 September 1778 – 7 May 1868) was a British statesman who became Lord High Chancellor and played a prominent role in passing the 1832 Reform Act and 1833 Slavery Abolition Act. ...
fulminated against the proposal to hold the exhibition in
Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...
. Opponents of the exhibition prophesied that foreign rogues and revolutionists would overrun England, subvert the morals of the people, and destroy their faith. Albert thought such talk absurd and quietly persevered, trusting always that British manufacturing would benefit from exposure to the best products of foreign countries. The Queen opened the exhibition in a specially designed and built glass building known as the Crystal Palace on 1 May 1851. It proved a colossal success. A surplus of £180,000 was used to purchase land in South Kensington on which to establish educational and cultural institutions—including the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Imperial College London and what would later be named the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The area was referred to as " Albertopolis" by sceptics.


Family and public life (1852–1859)

In 1852, John Camden Neild, an eccentric miser, left Victoria an unexpected legacy, which Albert used to obtain the freehold of Balmoral. As usual, he embarked on an extensive programme of improvements. The same year, he was appointed to several of the offices left vacant by the death of the Duke of Wellington, including the mastership of Trinity House and the colonelcy of the Grenadier Guards. With Wellington's passing, Albert was able to propose and campaign for modernisation of the army, which was long overdue. Thinking that the military was unready for war, and that Christian rule was preferable to Islamic rule, Albert counselled a diplomatic solution to conflict between the Russian and Ottoman empires. Palmerston was more bellicose, and favoured a policy that would prevent further Russian expansion. Palmerston was manoeuvred out of the cabinet in December 1853, but at about the same time a Russian fleet attacked the Ottoman fleet at anchor at Sinop. The London press depicted the attack as a criminal massacre, and Palmerston's popularity surged as Albert's fell. Within two weeks, Palmerston was re-appointed as a minister. As public outrage at the Russian action continued, false rumours circulated that Albert had been arrested for treason and was being held prisoner in the Tower of London. By March 1854, Britain and Russia were embroiled in the Crimean War. Albert devised a master plan for winning the war by laying siege to Sevastopol while starving Russia economically, which became the Allied strategy after the Tsar decided to fight a purely defensive war. Early British optimism soon faded as the press reported that British troops were ill-equipped and mismanaged by aged generals using out-of-date tactics and strategy. The conflict dragged on as the Russians were as poorly prepared as their opponents. The Prime Minister,
Lord Aberdeen George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in ...
, resigned and Palmerston succeeded him. A negotiated settlement eventually put an end to the war with the Treaty of Paris. During the war, Albert arranged the marriage of his fourteen-year-old daughter, Victoria, to Prince Frederick William of Prussia, though Albert delayed the marriage until Victoria was seventeen. Albert hoped that his daughter and son-in-law would be a liberalising influence in the enlarging but very conservative Prussian state. Albert promoted many public educational institutions. Chiefly at meetings in connection with these he spoke of the need for better schooling. A collection of his speeches was published in 1857. Recognised as a supporter of education and technological progress, he was invited to speak at scientific meetings, such as the memorable address he delivered as president of the
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when it met at Aberdeen in 1859. His espousal of science met with clerical opposition; he and Palmerston unsuccessfully recommended a knighthood for Charles Darwin, after the publication of '' On the Origin of Species'', which was opposed by the Bishop of Oxford. Albert continued to devote himself to the education of his family and the management of the royal household. His children's governess, Lady Lyttelton, thought him unusually kind and patient, and described him joining in family games with enthusiasm. He felt keenly the departure of his eldest daughter for Prussia when she married her fiancé at the beginning of 1858, and was disappointed that his eldest son, the Prince of Wales, did not respond well to the intense educational programme that Albert had designed for him. At the age of seven, the Prince of Wales was expected to take six hours of instruction, including an hour of German and an hour of French every day. When the Prince of Wales failed at his lessons, Albert caned him. Corporal punishment was common at the time, and was not thought unduly harsh. Albert's biographer
Roger Fulford Sir Roger Thomas Baldwin Fulford (24 November 1902 – 18 May 1983) was an English journalist, historian, writer and politician. In the 1930s, he completed the editing of the standard edition of the diaries of Charles Greville. From the 1930s t ...
wrote that the relationships between the family members were "friendly, affectionate and normal ... there is no evidence either in the Royal Archives or in the printed authorities to justify the belief that the relations between the Prince and his eldest son were other than deeply affectionate."
Philip Magnus Sir Philip Magnus, 1st Baronet (7 October 1842 – 29 August 1933) was a British educational reformer and politician, who represented the London University constituency as a Unionist Member of Parliament from 1906 to 1922. He had previously ...
wrote in his biography of Albert's eldest son that Albert "tried to treat his children as equals; and they were able to penetrate his stiffness and reserve because they realised instinctively not only that he loved them but that he enjoyed and needed their company." Albert was a talented amateur musician and composer. For his wedding, he composed a
duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...
, ''Die Liebe hat uns nun vereint'' ("Love has now united us").
Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
described Albert playing the Buckingham Palace organ "so charmingly and clearly and correctly that it would have done credit to any professional". Following tuition from
George Elvey Sir George Job Elvey (1816–1893) was an English organist and composer. Life He was born at Canterbury on 29 March 1816, a son of John Elvey. For several generations, his family had been connected with the musical life of the cathedral city. A ...
, the organist at St George's Chapel, Windsor, Albert composed several choral pieces for
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
worship, including settings of the '' Te Deum'' and '' Jubilate'', and an
anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...
, ''Out of the Deep''. His secular compositions included a
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...
, ''L'Invocazione all'armonia'', and ''Melody for the Violin'', which Yehudi Menuhin later described as "pleasant music without presumption".


Illness and death

In August 1859, Albert fell seriously ill with stomach cramps. His steadily worsening medical condition led to a sense of despair; biographer
Robert Rhodes James Sir Robert Vidal Rhodes James (10 April 1933 – 20 May 1999) was a British historian, and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament. Born in India, he was educated in England and attended ...
describes Albert as having lost "the will to live". Albert later had an accidental brush with death during a trip to Coburg in October 1860, when he was driving alone in a carriage drawn by four horses that suddenly bolted. As the horses continued to gallop toward a wagon waiting at a railway crossing, Albert jumped for his life from the carriage. One of the horses was killed in the collision, and Albert was badly shaken, though his only physical injuries were cuts and bruises. He confided in his brother and eldest daughter that he had sensed his time had come. Victoria's mother and Albert's aunt, the Duchess of Kent, died in March 1861, and Victoria was grief-stricken. Albert took on most of the Queen's duties despite his continuing chronic stomach trouble. The last public event over which he presided was the opening of the Royal Horticultural Gardens on 5 June 1861. In August, Victoria and Albert visited the Curragh Camp, Ireland, where the Prince of Wales was attending army manoeuvres. At the Curragh, the Prince of Wales was introduced, by his fellow officers, to
Nellie Clifden Nellie Clifden was a nineteenth-century actress, believed to be of Irish extraction. She is known for her brief sexual relationship with the 19-year old Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (Bertie), prior to his marriage to Princess Alexandra of Denma ...
, an Irish actress. By November, Victoria and Albert had returned to Windsor, and the Prince of Wales had returned to Cambridge, where he was a student. Two of Albert's young cousins, brothers King Pedro V of Portugal and Prince Ferdinand, died of typhoid fever within five days of each other in early November. On top of this news, Albert was informed that gossip was spreading in gentlemen's clubs and the foreign press that the Prince of Wales was involved with Nellie Clifden. Albert and Victoria were horrified by their son's indiscretion, and feared blackmail, scandal or pregnancy. Although Albert was ill and at a low ebb, he travelled to Cambridge to see the Prince of Wales on 25 November and discuss his indiscreet affair. In his final weeks Albert suffered from pains in his back and legs. Also in November 1861, the ''Trent'' affair—the forcible removal of
Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...
envoys from a British ship, the RMS ''Trent'', by Union forces during the American Civil War—threatened war between the United States and Britain. The British government prepared an ultimatum and readied a military response. Albert was gravely ill but intervened to defuse the crisis. In a few hours, he revised the British demands in a manner that allowed the Lincoln administration to surrender the Confederate commissioners who had been seized from the ''Trent'' and to issue a public apology to London without losing face. The key idea, based on a suggestion from '' The Times'', was to give Washington the opportunity to deny it had officially authorised the seizure and thereby apologise for the captain's mistake. On 9 December, one of Albert's doctors,
William Jenner William Jenner may refer to: *Caitlyn Jenner Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner; October 28, 1949) is an American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete. Jenner played college football for the G ...
, diagnosed him with typhoid fever. Albert died at 10:50 p.m. on 14 December 1861 in the Blue Room at Windsor Castle, in the presence of the Queen and five of their nine children. He was 42 years old. The contemporary diagnosis was typhoid fever, but modern writers have pointed out that Albert's ongoing stomach pain, leaving him ill for at least two years before his death, may indicate that a chronic disease, such as
Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is severe), fever, abdominal distension ...
, kidney failure, or abdominal cancer, was the cause of death.


Legacy

The Queen's grief was overwhelming, and the tepid feelings the public had previously for Albert were replaced by sympathy. The widowed Victoria never recovered from Albert's death; she entered into a deep state of mourning and wore black for the rest of her life. Albert's rooms in all his houses were kept as they had been, even with hot water brought in the morning and linen and towels changed daily. Such practices were not uncommon in the houses of the very rich. Victoria withdrew from public life and her seclusion eroded some of Albert's work in attempting to re-model the monarchy as a national institution setting a moral, if not political, example. Albert is credited with introducing the principle that the British royal family should remain above politics. Before his marriage to Victoria, she supported the Whigs; for example, early in her reign Victoria managed to thwart the formation of a Tory government by Sir Robert Peel by refusing to accept substitutions which Peel wanted to make among her ladies-in-waiting. Albert's body was temporarily entombed in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. A year after his death his remains were deposited at the Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore, which remained incomplete until 1871. The sarcophagus, in which both he and the Queen were eventually laid, was carved from the largest block of granite that had ever been quarried in Britain. Despite Albert's request that no effigies of him should be raised, many public monuments were erected all over the country and across the British Empire. The most notable are the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
and the Albert Memorial in London. The plethora of memorials erected to Albert became so great that Charles Dickens told a friend that he sought an "inaccessible cave" to escape from them. Places and objects named after Albert range from Lake Albert in Africa to the city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, to the Albert Medal presented by the
Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
. Four regiments of the British Army were named after him:
11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars The 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 10th Royal Hussars (Pri ...
;
Prince Albert's Light Infantry The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Some ...
;
Prince Albert's Own Leicestershire Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry The Leicestershire Yeomanry (Prince Albert's Own) was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794 and again in 1803, which provided cavalry and mounted infantry in the Second Boer War and the First World War and provided two f ...
; and The Prince Consort's Own Rifle Brigade. He and Queen Victoria showed a keen interest in the establishment and development of Aldershot in Hampshire as a
garrison town A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
in the 1850s. They had a wooden Royal Pavilion built there in which they would often stay when attending military reviews. Albert established and endowed the
Prince Consort's Library The Prince Consort's Library in Aldershot Military Town in the English county of Hampshire was founded by Prince Albert to contribute to the education of soldiers in the British Army. Today it is the military specialist library of the Army Libra ...
at Aldershot, which still exists today. In 1851, botanist
John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...
named a tree from Patagonia, ''
Saxegothaea ''Saxegothaea'' is a genus comprising a single species, ''Saxegothaea conspicua''. It is a conifer in the podocarp family Podocarpaceae, native to southern South America. It grows in Chile and Argentina from 35° to 46° South latitude; in its nor ...
'' after one of the Prince's titles, with the Prince's permission. Biographies published after his death were typically heavy on eulogy.
Theodore Martin Sir Theodore Martin (16 September 1816 – 18 August 1909) was a Scottish poet, biographer, and translator. Biography Martin was the son of James Martin, a solicitor in Edinburgh, where Theodore was born and educated at the Royal High Scho ...
's five-volume '' magnum opus'' was authorised and supervised by Queen Victoria, and her influence shows in its pages. Nevertheless, it is an accurate and exhaustive account. Lytton Strachey's ''Queen Victoria'' (1921) was more critical, but it was discredited in part by mid-twentieth-century biographers such as
Hector Bolitho Henry Hector Bolitho (28 May 1897 – 12 September 1974) was a New Zealand writer, novelist and biographer, who had 59 books published. Widely travelled, he spent most of his career in England. Biography Hector Bolitho was born and educated in A ...
and
Roger Fulford Sir Roger Thomas Baldwin Fulford (24 November 1902 – 18 May 1983) was an English journalist, historian, writer and politician. In the 1930s, he completed the editing of the standard edition of the diaries of Charles Greville. From the 1930s t ...
, who (unlike Strachey) had access to Victoria's journal and letters. Popular myths about Prince Albert—such as the claim that he introduced
Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...
s to Britain—are dismissed by scholars. Recent biographers such as Stanley Weintraub portray Albert as a figure in a tragic romance who died too soon and was mourned by his lover for a lifetime. In the 2009 film '' The Young Victoria'', Albert, played by
Rupert Friend Rupert William Anthony Friend (born 9 October 1981) is an English actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in '' The Libertine'' (2004) and '' Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont'' (2005), both of which won him awards for best newcomer. He port ...
, is made into a heroic character; in the fictionalised depiction of the 1840 shooting, he is struck by a bullet—something that did not happen in real life.


Titles, styles, honours and arms


Titles and styles

In the United Kingdom, Albert was styled "His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha" in the months before his marriage. He was granted the style of '' Royal Highness'' on 6 February 1840, and given the title of Prince Consort on 25 June 1857.


British honours

* KG: Royal Knight of the Garter, ''16 December 1839'' * 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), ''6 March 1840''; Great Master, ''25 May 1847'' * 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 ...
, ''15 January 1842'' * KT: Knight of the Thistle, ''17 January 1842'' * KP: Extra and Principal Knight of St. Patrick, ''20 January 1842'' * KSI: Extra Knight of the Star of India, ''25 June 1861''


Military appointments

*
Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
of the British Army, ''8 February 1840'' * Colonel-in-chief of the
11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars The 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 10th Royal Hussars (Pri ...
, ''30 April 1840 – 1842'' * Colonel of the Scots Fusilier Guards, ''25 April 1842 – 1852'' * Captain-general and Colonel of the Honourable Artillery Company, ''1843'' * Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle, ''1843'' * Colonel-in-chief of the 60th (The King's Royal Rifle Corps) Regiment of Foot, ''15 August 1850 – 1852'' * Colonel of the 1st Grenadier Guards, ''23 August 1852'' * Colonel-in-chief of the
Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...
, ''23 September 1852''


Foreign honours


Arms

Upon his marriage to Queen Victoria in 1840, Prince Albert received a personal grant of arms, being the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom differenced by a white three-point label with a red cross in the centre, quartered with his ancestral arms of Saxony. They are blazoned: "Quarterly, 1st and 4th, the Royal Arms, with overall a label of three points Argent charged on the centre with cross
Gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...
; 2nd and 3rd,
Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...
of ten Or and
Sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaza ...
, a crown of rue in bend
Vert Vert or Verts may refer to: * Vert (heraldry), the colour green in heraldry * Vert (music producer) (born 1972), pseudonym of Adam Butler, an English music producer * Vert (river), in southern France * Vert (sport), a competition in extreme vers ...
". The arms are unusual, being described by S. T. Aveling as a "singular example of quartering differenced arms, hichis not in accordance with the rules of Heraldry, and is in itself an heraldic contradiction." Prior to his marriage Albert used the arms of
his father 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, in ...
undifferenced, in accordance with German custom. Albert's Garter stall plate displays his arms surmounted by a royal crown with six crests for the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; these are from left to right: 1. "A bull's head caboshed Gules armed and ringed Argent, crowned Or, the rim chequy Gules and Argent" for Mark. 2. "Out of a coronet Or, two buffalo horns Argent, attached to the outer edge of five branches fesswise each with three linden leaves Vert" for Thuringia. 3. "Out of a coronet Or, a pyramidal chapeau charged with the arms of Saxony ensigned by a plume of peacock feathers Proper out of a coronet also Or" for Saxony. 4. "A bearded man in profile couped below the shoulders clothed paly Argent and Gules, the pointed coronet similarly paly terminating in a plume of three peacock feathers" for
Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
. 5. "A demi griffin displayed Or, winged Sable, collared and langued Gules" for
Jülich Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', nl, Gulik, french: Juliers, Ripuarian: ''Jöllesch'') is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. As a border region betwe ...
. 6. "Out of a coronet Or, a panache of peacock feathers Proper" for Berg. The
supporters In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the Escutcheon (heraldry), shield and depicted holding it up. Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. H ...
were the crowned lion of England and the unicorn of Scotland (as in the Royal Arms) charged on the shoulder with a label as in the arms. Albert's personal motto is the German (Loyal and Sure). This motto was also used by Prince Albert's Own or the 11th Hussars.


Issue

Prince Albert's 42 grandchildren included four reigning monarchs:
King George V of the United Kingdom George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
; Wilhelm II, German Emperor; Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse; and Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and five consorts of monarchs: Empress Alexandra of Russia and Queens
Maud of Norway Maud of Wales (Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria; 26 November 1869 – 20 November 1938) was the Queen of Norway as the wife of King Haakon VII. The youngest daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, she was known as Pri ...
, Sophia of Greece, Victoria Eugenie of Spain, and
Marie of Romania Marie (born Princess Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh; 29 October 1875 – 18 July 1938) was the last Queen of Romania as the wife of King Ferdinand I. Marie was born into the British royal family. Her parents were Prince Alfred, D ...
. Albert's many descendants include royalty and nobility throughout Europe.


Ancestry


See also

*
John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
* List of coupled cousins * Royal Albert Memorial Museum


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* Eyck, Frank. ''The Prince Consort: a political biography'' (Chatto, 1959), a scholarly stud
online
* Haspel, Paul. "England's Unsung Hero of the American Civil War" ''North & South: The Official Magazine of the Civil War Society'' (July 2007), 10#2 pp 48–52; how Prince Albert aided the peaceful resolution of the 'Trent' affair in 1861. * Hough, Richard. ''Victoria & Albert: Their Love & Their Tragedies'' (1996) * Lalumia, Christine. "Scrooge and Albert" ''History Today'' (2001) 51#12 pp. 23–29. * LeMay, G. H. L. "Prince Albert and the British Constitution" ''History Today'' (1953) 3#6 pp. 411–416. * Rappaport, Helen. ''Magnificent obsession: Victoria, Albert and the death that changed the monarchy'' (Random House, 2011). * Walton, Oliver. "Distant patron: Prince Albert and the Development of the Coburg-Gotha Economy." ''Acta Oeconomica Pragensia'' 2008.1 (2008): 117–130
online


External links

* *
Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
at the
Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...
*
Prince Albert (1819–1861)
BBC History
UK Parliamentary Archives, Oaths of Prince Albert, Duke of Saxe, Prince of Saxe Coburg and Gotha
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