THE ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST
Victoria & Albert: Art & Love
The Royal Couple
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were first cousins. Her mother, Princess Victoria, and his father, Duke Ernst, were brother and sister, members of the ducal family of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.
The future Queen was born at Kensington Palace on 24 May 1819. Her father, Edward, Duke of Kent, died eight months later, leaving her fourth in line to the throne after her childless uncles, the Prince Regent (later George IV), the Duke of York and the Duke of Clarence (later William IV). Her knowledge of art was gained from the works that surrounded her at Kensington Palace, and those she saw at exhibitions in London and in the great houses in which she stayed with her mother during several ‘progresses’ around Britain.
Prince Albert was born at Schloss Rosenau, near Coburg in Franconia on 26 August 1819. He was the younger of the two sons of Prince Ernst of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and his wife Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. The couple divorced when Prince Albert was five years old. Prince Albert’s education, which he received with his brother Ernest until 1838, was more complete and more formal than that of his future wife. He attended university in Brussels and Bonn before spending six months on a Grand Tour of Italy, visiting Florence, Rome, Naples, Siena, Milan and Turin.
Victoria and Albert did not meet until 1836, when Prince Albert and his elder brother Ernest accompanied their father to the Princess’s 17th-birthday celebrations. Princess Victoria enjoyed the company of both her cousins, but she was most taken with Prince Albert whose handsome looks, sense of humour and intellect impressed her.
On 20 June 1837 Princess Victoria acceded to the throne following the death of her uncle, William IV. While the Queen was preoccupied by her new role, Prince Albert studied at the University of Bonn before embarking on his Grand Tour. The couple’s re-acquaintance was encouraged by their uncle, Prince Leopold, and when Prince Albert returned to England in the autumn of 1839 it was with the unspoken purpose of receiving a marriage proposal from the young Queen. She found him ‘very fascinating’, and they discovered a shared love of art and music. On 15 October Queen Victoria wrote in her journal of his acceptance of her proposal: ‘Oh! to feel I was, and am, loved by such an Angel as Albert was too great a delight to describe! He is perfection; perfection in every way – in beauty – in everything!’
Their engagement remained secret for a month until the public announcement was made on 23 November 1839. Prince Albert returned to Germany while preparations for the marriage were made. He arrived back in England on 7 February 1840, and their wedding took place at the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace three days later.
The Queen’s journals, which she diligently kept throughout her life, reveal her great love for her husband. The marriage was passionate and happy, but not without its difficulties, particularly in its early years. While Prince Albert adjusted to his role as consort, the Queen coped with pregnancies in quick succession. They had nine children in 17 years; Victoria, known as Vicky, was born in 1840, followed by Albert Edward, known as Bertie, (the future King Edward VII) in 1841. They were joined by Alice (1843), Alfred (1844), Helena (1846), Louise (1848), Arthur (1850), Leopold (1853) and Beatrice (1857).
Prince Albert’s constitution had never been strong and he was often unwell. During 1861 his health deteriorated and he died at Windsor Castle on 14 December, aged 42. The Queen was inconsolable and remained totally devoted to his memory throughout her long widowhood. Prince Albert was laid to rest in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore in Windsor Home Park where Queen Victoria was also buried in 1901.