Albert, Prince Consort (1819-1861)

[An Ard Ri]

I found this afterwards on the many languages of Victoria and Albert!
https://www.goethe.de/ins/gb/en/kul/.../21618144.html

[Prinsara]

I'm never sure about this... Victoria was not as fluent or as confident in German when she met Albert as you would expect a native German speaker to be. The only comparison I can think of is someone who moves to a different country as a young child, considering how much care was taken with her English at some point.

[Curryong]

Wasn’t there quite a vigorous and long debate about Victoria and how well she spoke German as she was growing up, on one of the Victoria threads? It was several months ago and I hope I’m not dreaming!

[Prinsara]

Originally Posted by Curryong

Wasn’t there quite a vigorous and long debate about Victoria and how well she spoke German as she was growing up, on one of the Victoria threads? It was several months ago and I hope I’m not dreaming!

Yes, I think so, since I was part of it. It was more the "Languages Royals Speak", I think.

It's interesting that every portrayal of Albert ever gives him the heavy accent, even after years in the UK. I'm not sure if any of his children were around at the point to say anything differently, though. It may be true and not just prejudice!

I like that Robert Hardy even made quite a lot of effort to ensure his accent was properly Coburg, though.

[Prinsara]

The Albert docudrama I happen to be watching, although I haven't seen enough to have an opinion yet.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=AtnyY2eg5Kc

[Prinsara]

And although I thought Hardy was great in Edward the Seventh and this whole thing (Victoria the ITV series) was crummy enough for me to lose interest in watching, Tom Hughes is fantastic. What an amazing performance as Albert. (It's astounding what making him a little more soft-spoken will do. And the "note-taking" scene is just...hilarious and really plausible.)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ms9MOT3NeBE

[CyrilVladisla]

Queen Victoria bought a grand piano in London in 1854 as a gift for Prince Albert.
http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/co...ct/nmah_606957

[CyrilVladisla]

Prince Albert wrote Invocazione All' Armonia between 1835 to 1841.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWImnNPB9WQ

[CyrilVladisla]

Prince Albert was given full access to Cabinet and State papers. From 1841 onwards he attended audiences which Queen Victoria held with her minsters.
Do you think that some of the ministers of Queen Victoria resented the fact that Prince Albert had access to Cabinet and State papers?

[Blog Real]

Portraits of Prince Albert:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...nterhalter.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...lbert_1848.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...alter_1842.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ridge_1840.jpg

[Prinsara]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

Prince Albert was given full access to Cabinet and State papers. From 1841 onwards he attended audiences which Queen Victoria held with her minsters.
Do you think that some of the ministers of Queen Victoria resented the fact that Prince Albert had access to Cabinet and State papers?

Yes, but more because he was a foreigner and less about the constitutionality of it.

I think some other ministers who appreciated his work thought it was natural that a man should be running things and a wife should be delegating to her husband, especially one in the unnatural position of Sovereign.

[CyrilVladisla]

Prince Albert and Queen Victoria etching together
http://www.maryevans.com/history/Que...lbert-10017703

[CyrilVladisla]

What was Prince Albert's life like before he met Victoria?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2rmMzvFIyQ

[An Ard Ri]

I'd imagine it was quite sad given the unhappy marriage and divorce of his parents.
Princess Louise his mother also sadly died of cancer on the 30th of August 1831.

[Prinsara]

Whether it objectively was or wasn't, I don't think Albert viewed it as unhappy, other than the sadness and trauma of his mother. He was very close to his brother and his tutor, they lived quietly in the country, he spent a lot of time outdoors, and he discovered he liked to work and learn things. He used to look back quite nostalgically at his peaceful life in Coburg once he was engulfed in his stressful one in Britain.

Why was Albert only a Serene Highness if there were no morganatic lines?

[SirGyamfi1]

Originally Posted by Prinsara

Whether it objectively was or wasn't, I don't think Albert viewed it as unhappy, other than the sadness and trauma of his mother. He was very close to his brother and his tutor, they lived quietly in the country, he spent a lot of time outdoors, and he discovered he liked to work and learn things. He used to look back quite nostalgically at his peaceful life in Coburg once he was engulfed in his stressful one in Britain.

Why was Albert only a Serene Highness if there were no morganatic lines?

I don’t think Albert was serene highness but rather H.H and Albert’s father did have illegitimate children.

[CyrilVladisla]

In November 1840, shortly after the birth of the Princess Royal, Prince Albert was given a key to Queen Victoria's boxes of government papers.
Did the fact that he held the key displease some government officials?

[CyrilVladisla]

On February 9, 1841 the ice cracked.
Prince Albert fell into the lake at Buckingham Palace.
http://www.skateguard1.blogspot.com/...hat-could.html

[Biri]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

On February 9, 1841 the ice cracked.
Prince Albert fell into the lake at Buckingham Palace.
http://www.skateguard1.blogspot.com/...hat-could.html

Exactly nine months before the birth of the Prince of Wales

[Curryong]

We don’t know whether the birth of the Prince of Wales (and therefore his conception) was right on the dot though or whether he was a little late (or early.) After all, babies do choose their own time (and date) of arrival.

Alternate history is a fascinating subject and if the nearly 22 year old Victoria had been left with just a baby daughter, her son not yet conceived, history would indeed have been changed. She would undoubtedly have been advised to marry again after five or so years of widowhood and there would have been another Consort and another family.

And trust Albert to have caught a cold due to the mishap. That man’s physical constitution seems to have been remarkably fragile!