Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Albert Francis Charles Augustus Emmanuel of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was born on August 26, 1819 in Schloss Rosenau, Bavaria. He was married to Queen Victoria and died in 1861.

Family

Albert was the nephew of Victoria's uncle Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (king of Belgium since 1830). Leopold was always interested in linking him with Victoria to enlarge the influence of the Saxe-Coburg dynasty.

Education

At Bonn University where he was educated, he attended i.a. lectures of August Wilhelm Schlegel and Gottlieb Fichte.

Before he got to know Victoria, Albert was trained for the duties and responsibilities of a prince: arts, sciences, politics, history, social behaviour at court and not to forget: the English language.

Marriage and Children

In October 1839, he and his cousin Victoria met for the second time. After a mere five days later, Victoria asked him to marry her, because he was too shy to ask her for her hand. Their first child, Vicky, was born on November 23, 1840. Eight other children followed during the next seventeen years.

Vicky (1840-1901)
Albert Edward 'Bertie' (1841-1910)
Alice (1843-1878)
Alfred 'Affie' (1844-1900)
Helena (1846-1923)
Louise (1848-1939)
Arthur (1850-1942)
Leopold (1853-1884)
Beatrice (1857-1944)

In 1858, Vicky married the Prussian Crown Prince Frederick William. Their son will be the later Emperor of Germany, Wilhelm II. The others were married into kingdoms all over Europe.

Contrary to the established norms of leaving the children to a nanny or a governess, Albert spent some time with them. Still, they had to undergo the strict education of court. Particularly the heir Albert Edward was under constant supervision.

After his death in 1861, Victoria did not recover and she wore mourning clothes for the rest of her life. In memory of her husband, she built the Royal Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens, which was completed in 1876. Another monument had already been inaugurated in Coburg on August 26, 1865.

Fear of Influence

The British establishment was apprehensive. The reason for that was that he was a man. They were afraid of too much foreign influence, German traditions invading the old English ones. So, even though he was respected as the 'German prince' there was a lot of mistrust. This only changed in 1857 (see Politics and All).

Politics and All

During Victoria's first pregnancy, Albert was named regent by Parliament in case that she died. This was the beginning of his growing influence in politics. He was i.a. responsible for the renovation of Buckingham Palace and the re-organisation of the Royal finances, which allowed the purchase of two country estates: Osborne House (Isle of Wight) and Balmoral Castle (Scotland). In addition, he cared for social matters such as welfare.

From 1843 on, Victoria officially addressed them both as 'we', and in 1857, Albert was announced 'Prince Consort'. Another example of his influence was the Great Exhibition, a World Exhibition at Hyde Park in 1851, which attracted six million visitors.

Even shortly before his death of a typhoid fever on December 14, 1861, Albert was still active. In October 1861, after two diplomats had been kidnapped from the British ship 'Trent', Albert acted as an agent in such a way that he prevented Britain from the risk of being drawn into the US Civil War. On December 1, he signed a paper whose factual formulations the Foreign Office took as a model for the Trent Affair.

Sources

Levine, Tom: Die Windsors: Glanz und Tragik einer fast normalen Familie. Frankfurt/Main: Campus Verlag, 2005.

Lotz, Jürgen: Victoria. Hamburg: Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, 2000.

BBC: Historic Figures: Prince Albert (1819 - 1861). 04. May 2010.[1]