Prince Albert (1819-1861)
Prince Albert was Queen Victoria’s Husband and her consort. Albert Francis Charles Augustus Emmanuel of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was born on 26 August 1819 at Schloss Rosenau, in Bavaria. He married his first cousin Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom when he was 20 years old. The young Queen of England had been born in the same year as Albert and had had the assistance of the same midwife who had helped deliver Albert. Victoria was presented with a choice of suitors. The Queen chose Albert and wrote, “Albert is 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.” As the Queen’s consort, he took on the responsibilities of running the Queen’s household and office. He also adopted many public causes such as the abolition of slavery.
Albert had a great interest in the arts, science, trade and industry. He founded the Great Exhibition of 1851, with a view to celebrating the great advances of the British industrial age and the expansion of the empire. Opponents of the exhibition suggested that foreign rogues and revolutionists would overrun England. Undeterred, Albert quietly persevered. The Queen opened the exhibition in a specially built glass structure now known as Crystal Palace on May 1 in 1851. The profits of this successful Exhibition, allowed Albert to help fund the museums in South Kensington including what would later be known as The Victoria and Albert Museum. By 1844, Albert had managed to modernise the royal finances. His careful management meant that he had managed to raise enough money to purchase Osborne House on the Isle of Wright.
Albert was a forward thinking man with fairly liberal ideas. He instigated reforms in university education, welfare and slavery. In 1857 he was finally given the title of ‘prince consort’.
In 1861 Queen Victoria’s mother died and Victoria was grief stricken. Albert took on most of her duties and responsibilities. However, at this time, he was not a well man and suffered from chronic stomach aches. Despite his ill health, Albert was able to gently intervene during the Trent Affair which threatened war between Britain and the United States helping to soften the British Diplomatic response.
On December 9th Albert was diagnosed with typhoid fever. On December 14th 1861 he died in the presence of Queen Victoria and five of their nine children.
Albert’s body was temporarily held in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. He was eventually moved to Frogmore House. Despite his request for no effigies of him many public monuments were erected after his death. The Queen’s grief was overwhelming and she withdrew from public life.
The Albert Memorial
After prince Albert died in 1861 at just 42 years of age, a memorial was designed and erected with the approval of Queen Victoria. The Lord Mayor of London, William Cubitt, appointed a committee to raise the funds needed to undertake the project. The initial proposal for an obelisk failed, and in May 1862 a committee of seven architects were appointed. They put forward a number of designs, and in 1863 the Queen made the final decision and with the governments consent over costs, George Gilbert Scott's design was approved. It is a statue of Albert holding a catalogue The Great Exhibition, and is robed as a Knight of the Garter. The statue faces south , towards the Royal Albert Hall. |