Albert, Prince Consort

Full name
	English: Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel; German: Franz Albert August Karl Emanuel

Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Prince Consort
	Photograph by J. J. E. Mayall, May 1860
Consort of the British monarch
	10 February 1840 – 14 December 1861
Born	26 August 1819; Schloss Rosenau, Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, German Confederation
Died	14 December 1861 (aged 42); Windsor Castle, England, United Kingdom
Burial	23 December 1861; St George's Chapel; ; 18 December 1862 ; Frogmore Mausoleum
Spouse	Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (m. 1840)
Issue	Victoria, German Empress; Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom; Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine; Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Helena, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein; Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll; Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn; Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany; Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg;
Full name
Full name
	English: Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel; German: Franz Albert August Karl Emanuel
House	Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (until 1826); Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (from 1826);
Father	Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Mother	Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel;^[1] later The Prince Consort; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Albert was born near Coburg, in Germany. He was the son of Ernest I, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Anhalt. He was a clever child, and liked science, reading and mathematics.

He married Queen Victoria, his first cousin, on 10 February 1840. The wedding was held at St. James's Palace, the queen's official home in London. Both Victoria and Albert were deeply in love with each other. However, the queen kept Albert out of politics; he was not allowed to take part in the government of the country. In the end, this changed, and Albert often gave advice to the Prime Minister of the time.

Albert and Victoria had nine children together. Albert's favourite child was his first, Victoria, who became Queen of Prussia and Empress of Germany, in 1871. When his second child, Albert Edward (the future king Edward VII) was born in 1841, he took an active interest in his education. The two were never close, and Albert often overworked his elder son.

Albert came up with the idea of the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, London. The exhibition was meant to show Britain's industrial strength. It was a great success, and improved his popularity in England. It was held in the Crystal Palace, a huge glass and iron building. It burnt down in 1936, long after it had been moved from Hyde Park and rebuilt in a part of south London now called Crystal Palace.

In 1861, Albert caught a fever, whilst travelling to Cambridge to see his son. The fever was typhoid, a disease which was common in the 19th century. Like cholera, it was a disease of water contaminated by faecal bacteria. He died at Windsor Castle, on the 14 December 1861. Queen Victoria was very upset, and she spent the next forty years of her reign in mourning her dead husband. She avoided public appearances and rarely set foot in London in the following years.^[2] Her contribution to government was little in that long period after the death of her husband. It was during that long period when Germany and the United States transformed their countries so that, in the 20th century, Britain was no longer the leading country of the world, but just one of several leading countries. In the 19th century the monarch was an important part of government, and most countries still had monarchs.

Titles and styles

26 August 1819 – 12 November 1826: His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duke of Saxony
12 November 1826 – 6 February 1840: His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Saxony
6 February 1840 – 25 June 1857: His Royal Highness Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Saxony
25 June 1857 – 14 December 1861: His Royal Highness The Prince Consort^[3]

Albert, Prince Consort Media

Albert (left) with his elder brother, Ernest, and mother, Louise, shortly before her exile from court
Portrait by John Partridge, 1840
Armorial bookplate of Prince Albert
Portrait by Winterhalter, 1842
Etching by Queen Victoria and Albert of their first child, Victoria, the Princess Royal
Osborne House, Isle of Wight, UK
Early daguerreotype with hand-colouring, 1848
The Great Exhibition of 1851 was housed in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, 1854