Born two months premature on 8th January 1864 at Frogmore House, Prince Albert Victor entered the world weighing less than four pounds! However, despite his difficult start, the small Prince grew up to be a big personality and went on to live a life full of potential scandal. Join me as I look at the life of the king that should have been.

As the eldest child and first son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and his wife Alexandra, Prince Albert Victor was automatically second in line to the British throne. In her journal, Queen Victoria wrote of how relieved she was that the two were safe, also with how difficult it was without her “beloved” Albert, “I could not sleep for a long time for agitation. Again without my beloved one this very interesting important event, which he had looked forward to with such anxiety, has taken place. I felt so bewildered & so longing to share my joy over the happy event with him. Instead of which I am alone & forlorn-”.

Just as his birth had been, the baby’s christening on 10th March was also overshadowed by Prince Albert’s death, which had taken place just over two years earlier. Perhaps showing her level of control, Queen Victoria demanded that the baby have the names Albert Victor Christian Edward, after her husband and herself; as well as his maternal grandfather, King Christian IX of Denmark; and his father, Prince Albert Edward.

Known simply as ‘Eddy’ by his family, the prince and his brother, Prince George, grew up under the care of their tutor, Reverend John Neale Dalton. With just over a year difference in their ages, the two brothers got on well and together participated in a number of academic subjects, games and military drills. However, the differences between them soon became evident when Eddy began failing to pay attention and keep up in class. In a letter, Dalton describes the princes state of mind as “abnormally dormant” but there are several suggestions that the prince may have been either partially or completely deaf just like his mother.

From birth, the brothers were destined for different lifestyles. As the ‘spare’, George was free to follow more of his passions and have a military career, whereas as the future king Eddy had a much more structured life ahead of him. As George was planning to begin his military career, Dalton desperately tried to convince the Queen and the Prince of Wales to let the boys go together. At first, Queen Victoria had been completely against the suggestion but was fully onboard once Dalton explained how “Prince Albert Victor requires the stimulation of Prince George’s company to induce him to work at all”. Just as they were preparing to head off in 1877, Albert Victor fell ill with typhoid fever (the disease that had killed Prince Albert in 1861). Fear swept through the royal household but eventually it turned into relief as the thirteen year old began making a full recovery. Although two months later than planned, Prince Albert Victor and Prince George boarded HMS Britannia as its newest Naval Cadets, accompanied by Dalton.

Just two years later, in 1879, the princes were ready to head off on their first world tour abroad HMS Baccnante. However, as the tour came to the end, so did the brothers time together. George continued in the navy while eighteen year old Eddy left to continue his education at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1883, James Kenneth Stephen was employed to act as a tutor and companion to the Prince, with the aim of increasing his academic abilities. Unfortunately for the Prince, Stephen soon found himself disappointed by his new student: “I do not think he can desire much benefit from attending lectures at Cambridge […] he hardly knows the meaning of the words to read”. But while their student-teacher relationship proved strained, many believe that they had been involved in either a romantic or sexual relationship, although this cannot be proven.

Like most people of his social class, Prince Albert Victor was exempt from all exams and instead became heavily involved in the undergraduate lifestyle. At the centre of this was his tutor, Oscar Browning, who often held parties and “made pets of those undergraduates who were handsome and attractive”. The Prince also developed a close friendship with Daltons grandson, Alfred Fripp, who ho later became his doctor and royal surgeon.

During his time at Cambridge, the Prince also served as a cadet in the 2nd Cambridge University Battalion until he left the university in 1885 to become an official in the 10th Hussars. In March 1887, he was posted to Hounslow, where he was promoted to captain.

Two years later, in July 1889, Prince Albert Victors public persona was struck when police uncovered a male brothel in London Cleveland Street. As the ‘residents’ were arrested and interrogated, many of the men began revealing the names of their clients, which included many members of high society; including Arthur Somerset, an extra Equerry to the Prince of Wales. Soon rumours began spreading that a member of the royal family had also been involved. Although no names were mentioned, many people pointed the finger at Albert Victor, who was known for visiting female brothels and close ‘friendships’ with men. However, many people think the rumours had been started by Somersets lawyer, who was trying to clear his clients name. More suspiciously though, the Prince of Wales decided to intervene and all allegations were dropped and non of the clients were prosecuted. On top of that, Albert Victor headed on a seven month tour of India just three months later. While it was said to have been planned since spring, many believe it was a cover up.

That same year, Queen Victoria began planning the Prince’s future marriage. At the top of the Queens list of potential brides was her granddaughter, Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine. The Prince was Infatuated with his cousin and proposed to Alix during a joint trip to Balmoral. Believing the prince to be “too stupid”, she wrote to him in May 1890 rejecting his offer. Later that month, Queen Victoria made her grandson the Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Earl of Athlone as part of her birthday honours, possibly as a way of making him a more worthy husband. Although Victoria was disappointed, she was still determined to find him a wife. Her next suggestion was another granddaughter, Princess Margaret of Prussia. While the Prince of Wales had agreed to the match, his wife “would object most strongly and indeed has already done so”. As a result, nothing ever happened between the two.

Perhaps suggesting that the Prince was bisexual, he fell in love with Princess Hélène of Orleans, Daughter of the Count of Paris. Queen Victoria had initially been against the match due to the Princess’s catholic faith. However, being easily swayed by matters of the heart, she came round to the idea when they explained their love and how Hélène was willing to convert to the Church of England, while Albert Victor offered to renounce his succession rights. Unfortunately for the couple, Victorias approval wasn’t enough and the count’s disagreement put a halt to their relationship.

The final suggestion was Princess Mary of Teck. She was the daughter of Queen Victoria’s cousin, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a fact that gave her an advantage. Happy with the choice, Albert Victor proposed to the princess on 3rd December 1891 at Luton Hoo, the country residence of the Danish ambassador of Britain. Before long, wedding plans were put in place for 27th February 1892. However, things took a heartbreaking turn when the Prince fell ill with influenza during the 1889-1892 pandemic. As time passed, his symptoms worsened and eventually developed into pneumonia. Prince Albert Victor died at Sandringham House on 14th January 1892, less than a week after his 28th birthday. He was surrounded by his parents; his brother, George; his sisters, Maud and Victoria; three physicians and three nurses.

The nation was shocked by his sudden death and fell into a state of mourning. The Prince of Wales wrote to his mother, the Queen, exclaiming how “gladly would I have given my life for his”. George was equally as devastated and wrote “how deeply I did love him”. Alexandra never recovered from her son’s death and continued to keep his room as a shrine.

His funeral took place on 20th January at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. During the ceremony, Princess Mary placed her bridal wreath of orange blossom on his coffin. But despite Mary being his fiancé, the princess sisters treated Hélène as his true partner. His body was laid to rest in the nearby Albert Memorial Chapel. In her journal, Queen Victoria describes the level of his loss and life: “this terrible tragedy […] has not been seen since since the death of poor Pss Charlotte in 1817-” [Charlotte had been the Princess Diana of her day, suggesting that Albert Victor had made just as much of an impact on society]. A year later, Princess Mary went on to marry Prince George, who replaced his brother as second in line and later became King George V.

Since his death, Prince Albert Victor has continued to find himself involved with further scandalous events. In one occasion, Mrs Margery Haddon travelled from India to Britain claiming her son was his. Without the prince around to have his say, lawyers confirmed that there had been “some relations” between him and the woman but denied that she was telling the truth. As Margery was an alcoholic and had several failed marriages, the case was quickly dismissed from court on the grounds of little evidence. In more recent years, it has often been speculated that the Prince was involved in the murders of Jack the Ripper. There is little evidence to suggest that the Prince was to blame, particularly as he was in Scotland at the time they happened. It is also thought that the rumours began in the 1960s, 80 years after the murders took place.

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