On Christmas Day in 2019 viewers were on the edge of their seats as they watched Prince Albert (played by Tom Hughes) fall through and get trapped under an icy lake in the ‘Victoria’ Christmas special. Although most of us believed this scene was added for dramatic effect, it was in fact based on a real life event that could have changed the future of the British Monarchy.
©️ Royal Collection Trust / HM King Charles III 2024
After having breakfast and seeing their daughter in the nursery on 9th February 1841- the day before their first wedding anniversary- Queen Victoria and Prince Albert decided to go for a private walk around the grounds of Buckingham Palace. It had been a particularly cold winter, which had caused the lake to freeze solid. A few weeks earlier, Queen Victoria had given Albert a new pair of ice Skates, which according to Victoria he put on “& helped me to walk across the ice, which was very smooth & hard, — to the island.’ Victoria remained on the bank of the island while Albert “skated all round the Lake”.
©️ Gareth Gatrell 2017
According to The Times, ‘He had not been on the ice more than two or three minutes, when, as he was proceeding at a rapid rate towards the spot where the Queen was standing, and had reached between three or four feet on the water’s edge, the ice suddenly broke, and, instantaneously he was immersed, head over ears, in the water.’
Source: Radio Times
Victoria wrote that “on coming close to the bridge, — quite a narrow place, I, standing alone on the bank, — said, “it is unsafe here”, & no sooner had I said this, than the ice cracked, & Albert was in the water up to his head, even for a moment below. In my agony of fright & despair, I screamed, & stretched out my arm, Miss Murray pulling me. My dearest Albert managed to catch my arm, & reached the ground in safety. Oh! how thankful I felt to see him at my side again & that God should have mercifully preserved him from such a great danger! He cut his chin a little, & was of course dripping with water, so that he ran home as fast as he could. It was a horrid experience, & I never felt anything so dreadful, as seeing my beloved one in the water, & thinking, as I did, that I should lose him before my very eyes unable to rescue him! I followed with Miss Murray as quickly as I could & poor Seymour arrived when all was over. When I got home, I found Albert running about to warm himself & looking very pale. He took a hot bath & went to bed for a bit, well wrapped up, but was able at ½ p. 1, to go down with me into the Hall, to receive Uncle Leopold”
Albert was naturally grateful for Victorias assistance and in a letter to the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Altenburg described how “some few yards of the bank I fell plump into the water, and had to swim for two or three minutes in order to get out. Victoria was the only person who had the presence of mind to lend me assistance, her lady being more occupied in screaming for help. The shock from the cold was extremely painful, and I cannot thank Heaven enough, that I escaped with nothing more than a severe cold.”
Fifteen years later, on 4th February 1856, Prince Albert suffered another ice skating accident, however this time it Victoria didn’t seem quite as concerned. Inner journal she writes that she ‘walked down to the skating pond, where Albert & the girls were skating’. While they were there ‘the ice cracked under Albert & he fell through, but as there are only 2 feet of water’ she adds that ‘it is a great comfort feeling there is no danger.’
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I watched that episode of “Victoria” and it was quite riveting. However, in the episode, Victoria wasn’t with Albert when he fell in. I remember her running to the area where Albert was ice skating and found he had broken through. I guess that made the scene more dramatic for the viewers. Either depiction would have been dramatic enough.
I haven’t seen that episode for a while but you’re right, it definitely added to the drama!