On 26th August 1819, Queen Victoria’s beloved husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was born at Schloss Rosenau in Coburg, Germany.
To celebrate, let’s take a look at 15 facts about Prince Albert!
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- Albert and his future wife, Victoria, shared a midwife, Marian Theodore Charlotte Heidenreich von Siebold, who was Germanys first female gynaecologist!
- His full name was Prince Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel
- He was the younger son of Ernest I, Duke Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
- He had a broad education and was particularly interested in the natural sciences, languages, art and music.
- He was an accomplished organist, singer and composer, as well as an amateur painter.
- Albert first visited Kensington Palace on 18th May 1836, where he met Queen Victoria for the first time. The cousins met again in October 1839. They became engaged that same month and were married the following February in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace.
- In 1840 Prince Albert was made a Knight of the Garter and created a Privy Counsellor, and in 1857 he was officially given the formal title of Prince Consort.
- In 1847, he was elected as Chancellor of Cambridge University and helped to widen the curriculum. He also founded the Institution which later became the Imperial College in London, the first British university to be dedicated to scientific research.
- Albert designed many pieces of Victorias dresses and jewellery, including her sapphire coronet and emerald tiara (you can find out more about them over on my website!)
- Prince Albert supervised closely the redesigning of Osborne House and the building of the new Balmoral Castle.
- He was unusually hands on with his children and took an active interest in their education. At Osborne House he built them a Swiss Cottage, where they could learn everyday skills.
- He spoke out against slavery and child labour, and was instrumental in securing the abolition of duelling between Army officers.
- With the encouragement from The Queen, Albert brought order to the administration of The Royal Collection. He arranged for neglected pictures to be examined and restored and began the inventory of royal pictures that we all recognise today.
- As President of the Fine Arts Commission, Prince Albert bore the chief responsibility for the organisation of the scheme for the decoration of the new Palace of Westminster.
- Prince Albert presided over the preliminary planning of the great exhibition of 1851.
– Albert died from typhoid fever on 14 December 1861 at
Windsor Castle with Queen Victoria and five of his children at his bedside.
– His body was temporarily placed in the Royal Vault, St George’s Chapel and on 18th December 1862 he was buried in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore.
© Queen.Victoria.Roses 2024
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Such a heartbreaking moment when Victoria lost Albert. One wonders what England would have accomplished if Albert lived as long as Victoria did.