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0:30

Welcome to Rex Factor! This

0:41

week, Prince Albert Biography.

0:49

With your hosts, Graham Duke and

0:51

Ali Hood. Hello!

0:56

Hello! And

0:59

welcome to Rex Factor reviewing all

1:01

the Queen and Prince consorts of

1:03

England from Elswith to Prince Philip.

1:05

Follow us on Twitter, X and

1:08

Instagram at RexFactorPod, email [email protected] and

1:10

sign up for bonus content and

1:12

ad-free episodes at patreon.com/RexFactor. Discord.

1:16

And join our Discord channel, exclusive to Privy Councillors. Now,

1:19

as you've heard, this week we are, well, we're

1:22

not reviewing Prince Albert, the consort

1:24

to Queen Victoria, we're going to be doing two

1:26

episodes on Albert. From your perspective,

1:28

we are reviewing him this week. Right,

1:30

I thought it was another one of your traps. It's

1:33

the first one since Anne Boleyn

1:35

actually, where we're doing more than one

1:37

episode. Oh really? Yeah,

1:40

so Albert, we decided there's quite a bit to

1:42

him, so we're going to do a biography episode

1:45

this week and then review episode next week. Yeah,

1:49

but both recording today. But your perspective,

1:51

it's all today. Yeah,

1:53

because people are probably not too surprised about that. He's

1:55

one of the biggest names in British royal history, highly

1:58

notable consort, probably the most notable male. console.

2:02

Yeah, you know I confuse him a lot with

2:04

Prince Philip which is I think why I'm more

2:06

surprised that we're here because I

2:08

sort of feel like it's really quite as recently

2:10

as you think. Now

2:12

I imagine a lot of

2:14

people probably have some preconceptions about already, maybe not always

2:16

one of those popular figures in

2:19

British history, perhaps ironically

2:21

due to Victoria's, perhaps

2:23

excessive memorialization of

2:25

him. So this is chance to put

2:28

him center stage, maybe see him in a new

2:30

light, albeit Victoria's light is hard to avoid completely.

2:34

So without further ado let's get Alberting. Prince

2:38

of Coburg. Prince

2:40

Albert was born on the 26th of August 1819 in Schloss Rosenau near

2:42

Coburg, son

2:46

of Duke Ernest I of Saxe Coburg

2:48

and Gotter and Princess Louise of Saxe

2:51

Gotter-Altenburg. Now Coburg

2:53

is central Germany so you've got Frankfurt to

2:55

the west, Nuremberg to the south, fairly

2:57

close to Meiningen so similar a chariot to Adelaide

2:59

that we did. Oh I

3:02

forgot your present. Oh,

3:05

thank you. Speaking of

3:07

a third part of Germany. So hang

3:10

on, what's going on this point

3:12

1823? 1819.

3:16

So he's born just a few years

3:18

after Waterloo so we're just post Napoleonic

3:20

Wars when he's born. So what is

3:22

going on there politically is it? It's

3:24

still duchies and mini-states,

3:26

still lots of small

3:28

states. So it's real

3:30

power then? When he's

3:33

whatever he is, Prince

3:35

Coburg, whatever, this

3:37

is a title that means power rather than

3:39

just a title that means money. Well,

3:42

except yes. So it's the same

3:45

situation, Drion, that we've had for a lot of

3:47

the Hanoverian consorts. So yes he's

3:49

a prince and he's got the status

3:51

but equally it's not much bigger than

3:53

English County. Yeah, yeah,

3:56

yeah. And we will see without

3:58

Albert's lifetime that the move towards of unified

4:00

Germany is brewing now

4:02

post Napoleon. Yeah,

4:07

well let's not get to that. Albert's

4:10

parents had an unhappy marriage unfortunately so his

4:12

mother was just 16 when

4:14

she married his father who's 33 and his

4:17

father continued to live the life that he

4:19

was living before so basically just hunting

4:21

and womanizing. Right. They

4:24

live largely separate lives particularly after

4:26

Albert's birth, him being the second

4:28

son, so they've got an air and a spare with

4:30

Albert soon. Oh yeah. He's all

4:33

need to put the effort in. So

4:35

his mother Louise is left miserable and

4:37

isolated and she herself takes a lover.

4:41

Oh thank goodness I thought you were going to say he locks her up again. Well,

4:44

not locked up but it does result in

4:46

her being banished from court when

4:49

Albert is just five years old. Just something in the water for

4:51

this sort of 150 years of the Hanoverians.

4:54

Just something in central Germany.

4:56

Yeah. I mean no wonder

4:58

all those brothers grim fairy tales had princesses

5:00

locked in her eyes. Could

5:03

you be like, excuse me, who's the princess in

5:05

this town? Oh, nobody's just a home. Sorry,

5:08

I don't quite follow. No, no,

5:10

no, but seriously, presumably the hair will come

5:12

down in a little minute. Where are your

5:15

magic frogs? Yes,

5:17

Albert, only five years old when his mother

5:19

is banished. Duke and then this his father

5:21

would have divorced her straight away except rather

5:23

cynically he's waiting for her uncle to die

5:26

because he's the Duke of Goethe. Right. And

5:29

thus because he's her husband and she is

5:31

the heir he will inherit that title and

5:34

monies as long

5:36

as they're still married. So he stays married to her

5:38

long enough for the uncle to die and once that

5:40

happens a few months afterwards he does divorce her in

5:42

1826. He

5:48

doesn't sound like a pleasant chap.

5:51

Louise secretly marries her lover that same

5:53

year and Duke and this goes on

5:55

to marry his own niece. Oh, right.

5:57

Okay, so like winning

5:59

by. Your actions there? Yes. Though

6:01

tragically Albert never sees his mother again. She's barred

6:03

from having access to her son since she dies

6:05

of cancer when he's 12 in 1831, ages 30.

6:10

A few years later. That's

6:12

tragic. Albert very much his mother's son, both in

6:14

appearance and in a more sensitive

6:17

nature. He started writing a

6:19

journal when he was just 6 years old and admitted

6:22

that he was prone to bouts of weeping. Oh,

6:25

God aloud. He's left with a

6:27

lifelong aversion to sexual impropriety after

6:30

these infidelities that so disrupted his childhood. He's got

6:32

a horror about it. And

6:34

in his form of disorder he's trying to all

6:36

cries everything. You can see it.

6:38

See what's... He

6:40

does retain a lifelong affection for his

6:42

mother's memory, so one of his first gifts to Victoria

6:44

is a small pin that his mother had given him

6:47

shortly before her departure. What

6:50

is with that? As a gift? A

6:53

pin? Yeah. I mean I guess

6:55

it's quite... it's probably quite a well decorated pin. But

6:58

it's still a pin. It's like when you

7:00

come and it's found a peg or something.

7:05

I don't... What type

7:07

of pin? Like a drawing board pin or...?

7:10

Yeah, I mean I assume it's bigger than

7:12

just literally a small pin.

7:14

Oh, thanks. I'll probably put my

7:16

finger on it. I would prefer that as a

7:18

gift. Imagine, you know,

7:20

what luxury to just ram a sharp

7:22

bit of metal through some absolutely gorgeous

7:24

diamonds and use those as sort of

7:27

cork board pins. Hmm. That's...

7:29

yeah, there you go. Let's assume it

7:31

was that then. Okay. Now,

7:35

as you're saying, whilst terrible in the

7:37

domestic sphere Albert's father is otherwise quite

7:39

an enlightened ruler so he develops a

7:41

great library, an art collection in Coburg,

7:43

founds artistic and educational establishments. And

7:46

he ensures a good education for his son. So

7:48

unlike British princes, Albert and his older brother are

7:50

taught alongside other children. Oh, right.

7:53

So they sort of widen their social

7:55

horizons a little bit and they also

7:57

enjoy very diverse curriculums. They study modern

7:59

and classical languages. mathematics, science, the arts.

8:02

They have occasional visits from a mineralogist and

8:05

Albert takes to collecting and categorising rocks

8:07

as his hobby. Education

8:09

is wasted on the young isn't it? I've reached that

8:11

age. I mean I'd much rather just let me roll

8:14

around my own filth until I get to the point

8:16

where I want to learn. I'd love that. He

8:21

and his brother who's his closest companion throughout his

8:23

childhood also used their own money to study music

8:26

because the local church organist after their father refused

8:28

to waste money. Is it what with the oldies?

8:31

Study music. Because

8:33

his dad dad wouldn't pay for it. So

8:36

he used his pocket money? Yeah. I'm

8:39

not sure why his dad thought that was a waste of

8:41

money given that he's otherwise you know endowing

8:44

the arts but... Yeah

8:47

what a strange line to draw. Albert

8:51

is taller than his brother but has quite

8:53

a weak constitution so even as a young

8:55

man he'd fall asleep in the corner at

8:57

social occasions and go to bed early. I

9:00

mean I like him a lot. He's

9:03

a natural intellect however so he thrives when he and

9:06

his brother go to study at the University of Bonn

9:08

which is then at the height of its academic fame.

9:11

So he studies law, political economy, philosophy

9:14

and the history of art and which his tutor

9:16

just a few years earlier had taught Karl Marx.

9:19

Really? So Albert and Karl Marx are just

9:21

a few years off being a... Oh

9:23

my word! ...buddy buddies. Was

9:28

it... had Karl... no he hadn't published anything by that point.

9:30

No, he was a very pretentious

9:32

student. Yeah he wouldn't...

9:35

okay oh yes it's still a student. It's

9:38

not like the teacher was going on. You

9:40

never guess who he was in there. This

9:43

is probably the happiest period in Albert's life. And Ayn

9:45

Wilson has suggested that Albert may have been kind of

9:47

perpetually frustrated and not being able to do more with

9:50

his studies and pursue his passions. Well

9:54

I can... really? I mean what

9:56

else have you got to Do?

9:58

Well to eat the... I guess just... The beer.

10:01

On. Academic in in selecting Isis

10:03

beard way sensitive to do anything

10:05

I know the best time. You

10:07

can be a polymath just by

10:09

declaring that as more than one

10:12

time Grassley I am. Bomb

10:15

it. He still got time to do

10:17

that. Disney's I Only Can Do isn't

10:19

does himself. He says well site has

10:22

long determines what's his life plan is

10:24

going to be as the second song

10:26

and copa. He's got limited prospects because

10:28

his brother's going to inherit, so Alba

10:30

isn't going to come into the. Title

10:33

or particular role else but pretty

10:35

much from birth. There are plans

10:37

that he will one day marry

10:39

Victoria. Me: So

10:42

his ambitious uncle Leopold had been

10:44

husband to Princess Charlotte, the door

10:47

to the Prince Regent, He

10:49

can't be done with until both. and eighteen seventeen.

10:52

Oh there, when I'm at what's

10:54

names off, alarms off. Galvanizing idea.

10:56

Yeah yeah. so Charlotte desplat to

10:58

all of the other. I'm kind

11:00

of in sons and it's a

11:02

tight brides in middle age to

11:05

join but his son access so

11:07

Leopold was the husband, he was

11:09

the other. that so he was

11:11

himself would have been consult. A

11:13

can where we took of him because he's Albert's uncle.

11:17

Oh. Okay,

11:20

So but he still very on ice

11:22

ice. yes I'm so he still sort

11:24

of has a bit of an influence

11:26

because he was had this status in

11:28

Britain. Meanwhile his sister so Albert's arms

11:30

victoire Marisa due to can't and gives

11:33

birth to Victoria. The.

11:35

Victoria. So.

11:38

Album: Victoria actually First cousins.

11:42

Okay, can we what? backwards. From there

11:44

we go on. Albert's father is due

11:46

to earnest and then he's got a

11:48

brother Leopold and a sister Victoire Ill

11:50

Leopold married Princess Charlotte. The. Dice

11:53

Victoire. my city to Kent

11:55

and his mother is Victoria.

12:00

Early So album Victoria First

12:02

cousins and it's open this

12:04

of Coburg. Triumvirate.

12:06

Have right? Okay, an Mtv Toys

12:09

born just three months before Albert.

12:11

So they even said same midwife.

12:16

Is this case a bit creep is

12:18

that little bit of it is not

12:20

a not a toy now but so

12:23

obviously no sign on the yes but

12:25

not Erin even even ignoring the biggest

12:27

obstacle his their first cousins is a

12:29

will to have it so set in

12:31

stone. So. Early on and

12:33

even as the same. Midwife

12:35

Midwife means is that a coincidence that

12:37

be charming and an episode of Blue.effect

12:39

is totally creepy and a genetic tampering

12:42

indeed. So Leopold, his uncle Leopold both

12:44

the tour and smile. But and he

12:46

keeps close eye on both of them

12:48

and is quite a big influence on

12:51

both of them. So he basically the

12:53

size for Albert right? You're gonna live

12:55

the life that I should have lived.

12:57

You are gonna be consult because one

12:59

de Vito between Sumida. Has been to the

13:02

perfect date with. The get another

13:04

crack at this as raising raising appropriately an

13:06

hour but don't know about this until of

13:08

see much later than he does exactly when

13:10

he is top plan except seats A but

13:13

it isn't county to happen. The fact that

13:15

Leopold wants it tap and doesn't mean that.

13:17

It. Will happen at this is sitting

13:19

on his wife spent out is

13:21

due to. My. K

13:23

on Saturday. So Leopold as got

13:26

hope the victorious Uncle Williams fool

13:28

will live long enough to avoid

13:30

that being the regency. Because.

13:32

This William dies before Victoria turns

13:34

eighteen. that toys mother and her

13:36

term told us it on Conroy.

13:39

He's kind of oh yeah, Control

13:41

will probably arrange a mouse Victoria

13:43

and that might not be to

13:45

Allah. unfortunately. As well as having

13:47

to wait for William to be old enough rather

13:50

Sir William to be old enough, as well as

13:52

having to hope that William live long enough. he

13:55

goes without from that will him is not as e

13:57

bay well disposed will to tote bags and would also

13:59

hope that Tory marry somebody else. Right,

14:03

okay. Why? Well

14:06

I guess he's known them for a while obviously

14:08

because we've had Leopold over

14:10

there before, we've had Vic-12, Tory's

14:12

mother over there. This guy's a rotter isn't

14:15

he? Oh no, well William

14:17

IV is the one that, oh no no

14:19

no, Leopold. Yeah. No, that's, he's the father

14:21

of the rotter, so this Leopold's quite a

14:23

liberal-minded chump. Okay, right. So

14:26

William IV doesn't particularly like the Coburgs. Like

14:28

a lot of people they sort of see them

14:31

as slightly Aravis, Suf and this little duchy but

14:33

somehow have made themselves very important in

14:35

England. So in 1836 William invites some rivals,

14:37

so does the sons of the Prince of

14:39

Orange to come to court for his birthday

14:41

and he's got a mind that perhaps they

14:43

will be. Is that being imagined if we

14:45

had a Dutch influence more than that would

14:48

be cool. So Leopold sees the

14:50

danger so breaks with protocol and has Ernest

14:52

bring his son's eye Albert and brother to

14:54

England despite the fact that they're not particularly

14:56

welcome or indeed invited. Just

14:58

to put them about the place. Just to basically

15:00

say look, young male.

15:03

Different one. So

15:05

at the age of 17 Victoria and Albert meet for

15:07

the first time. Here we are.

15:10

They're very different characters, Albert is shy,

15:12

serious, got something of a fish out

15:14

of water in social

15:16

situations. In contrast Victoria is

15:18

full of energy, vivacious, non-loving.

15:23

I mean you keep telling me this but... Young Victoria.

15:26

So at Victoria's own birthday ball which occurs

15:29

while they're over there she dances five times,

15:31

twice with Albert but noted that

15:33

the exertions and late nights saw Albert turn

15:35

as pale as ashes and

15:37

he had to go to bed early while she stayed

15:40

up until 3.30 in the morning and declared that she

15:42

felt all the better for it the next day. Oh

15:45

man this is a reflection of

15:48

my life. So

15:50

not perhaps the best of starts in Albert's

15:52

seduction campaign but it wasn't all bad. She

15:54

also noted that they shared a love of music and

15:56

she being a short woman only about five foot tall

15:58

she's always quite attractive to them. tall and lasting man,

16:01

which is... How

16:03

tall is he? I don't know

16:05

actually, but he's recently more than her. Yeah.

16:09

So she wrote about him in her diary.

16:11

He is extremely handsome. His hair is about

16:13

the same colour as mine, his eyes are

16:15

large and blue and he has a beautiful

16:17

nose and a very sweet mouth with fine

16:19

teeth. But the charm of

16:21

his countenance is his expression which is most

16:24

delightful. Ah, that is so

16:26

lovely. I like though that that still

16:28

has a bit of an echo of

16:30

those sort of medieval descriptions. Yeah, yeah.

16:32

He's like, and his teeth,

16:34

fine nose and noble shoulders.

16:37

Victoria always feels something of an affinity with her

16:39

Coeberg relations because her father dies when she's just

16:41

a baby. She doesn't know her father, so her

16:44

mother obviously as a Coeberg, Leopold's a big part

16:46

of her life. As

16:48

she dismisses the other rivals, the Prince of

16:50

Orange's sons, is very plain. So

16:54

that's a settled-back argument. So

16:56

after the visit Victoria does suggest to Uncle

16:58

Leopold that she's team Albert all the

17:00

way. I must thank

17:02

you my beloved uncle for the prospect of great

17:05

happiness you have contributed to give to me in

17:07

the person of dear Albert. Allow

17:09

me then, my dearest uncle, to tell you how

17:11

delighted I am with him and how much I

17:13

like him in every way. He

17:16

possesses every quality that could be desired to

17:18

render me perfectly happy. He is

17:20

so sensible, so kind and so good and

17:22

so amiable too. He has

17:24

besides the most pleasing and delightful exterior

17:27

and appearance you could possibly see. Yes,

17:31

and full parking. So

17:36

it all sounds like it's a done deal. The

17:38

stumbling block unfortunately for Albert comes when Victoria does

17:40

ascend to the throne the following year in 1837

17:42

at 18, so she's reached a majority. So

17:47

having been kept under close confinement by her mother and

17:49

Conroy in what was known as the Kensington system, her

17:52

newfound freedom of powers is actually

17:54

quite appealing and now she's in charge. She

17:57

Doesn't feel quite in such a rush to get married.

18:00

Oh. No I said I dreaded to sort

18:02

of marrying that I was so accustomed to have

18:04

my own way that I thought it was tend

18:06

to on us and agree with anybody. See.

18:11

Me that is healthy isn't it?

18:13

Not to discuss, just ever chill

18:15

out. Early eighteen. Sense.

18:19

That he's been clean for with exactly is

18:21

not total disaster for Albert though his does

18:23

as his sleepy display at the to his

18:25

birthday sodini to the bit of toughening up

18:28

so Leopold lane to since due to do

18:30

two more semesters bomb then goes off on

18:32

a tour of Italy with or Leopold secretary

18:34

Bones. Of

18:37

a that a done a hell as. I'll

18:39

have any bearing on toughening of up knows

18:41

I mean troops. A moderate success. He pokes

18:43

up a little bag as with the exercise,

18:45

an outdoor license sort of stuff, and he

18:47

gets to see a bit more of the

18:50

world. But these by no means more worldly.

18:52

So is getting up at six o'clock in

18:54

the morning to study sons, us and son

18:56

social limitations only to it's water and he's

18:58

off to bed by nine o'clock at night.

19:02

I start ups isn't the all some

19:04

will physically will it take to in

19:06

the ancient art surround them. Lake

19:09

Garda. Of my. Is. It

19:11

like gotta was a cold lake. ominous one on.

19:14

Colmers. And of them have those women. Have

19:17

on his return the toys still

19:19

resistance marriage and city even starting

19:21

to get irritated at Leopold perpetual

19:23

interference. Says he

19:25

tells an independent of might use

19:27

and my grits repugnant to change

19:29

my present position. There is no

19:31

anxiety of instant this country's perception

19:33

of it. Now

19:37

but seeming rejects it becomes the subject

19:39

of much else it on. Have known

19:41

after the last minute was assumed that

19:43

he was as much like a counter

19:45

that the longer it doesn't happen the

19:47

more people going to animals guy on

19:50

the area sabah complaints to Leopold the

19:52

this is perpetual limbo continued it would

19:54

place. me in a very difficult position and

19:56

once in a certain extent ruined all the prospects

19:58

of my feet to life I was tempted

20:00

to go for the German accent, I thought, no I don't have a

20:03

cookie for that. Yeah,

20:05

the trouble with doing German accents

20:07

is it's just a whisper away

20:09

from some 60s Nazi's, isn't it?

20:12

You can never quite tread that much. Also, for some reason

20:14

I always slip into Russian a little bit when I'm

20:16

doing it. There are certain sounds where I go German and

20:19

then others I sort of think to the

20:21

arse. Yeah, well it would have got you

20:23

a gig as a Bond villain. I'm

20:25

not sure if I'm doing Russian or German. Doesn't

20:28

really matter. So

20:31

Albert's a bit worried now, he's saying I'm not going

20:33

to put up with this for too long. And reports

20:35

of her stubbornness and her trivial interest means that he's

20:37

even starting to question if this is necessarily the best

20:40

match for him anyway. Oh, she

20:42

likes partying and chatting and gossiping rather

20:44

than serious business. Oh dear. Oh Albert.

20:48

However, by 1839 Victoria's facing pressure domestically to

20:50

marry. So she has a very close relationship

20:52

with her first Prime Minister Lord Melbourne, but

20:54

that starts to attract a little bit of

20:57

scurrilous gossip. Just because she's not

20:59

married. Not married and he's a bit of an

21:01

old rogue. And

21:04

particularly when she causes a political crisis

21:06

by effectively refusing to appoint Robert Peel

21:09

as Prime Minister over disputes about the appointment

21:11

of ladies. Oh,

21:13

the bedchamber crisis. So

21:16

the rather sexist perception is that she needs

21:18

a husband. I don't know. I

21:21

need him to hurt her a little bit. Oh

21:23

God, yeah. Leopold decides to slice her action

21:25

as needed as well from Albert's perspective. So

21:27

he ranges for another visit in October 1839

21:30

and thankfully the second visit is a

21:32

triumph. Okay. So when Victoria first

21:35

sees Albert again watching him from the top

21:37

of the staircase at Windsor, she is smitten.

21:40

It was with some emotion that I

21:42

beheld Albert who is beautiful. Such

21:45

beautiful eyes, an exquisite nose

21:47

and a pretty mouth with

21:49

deliberate moustachios and slight but

21:51

very slight whiskers. It's

21:54

a cut. A beautiful figure

21:56

brought in the shoulders and a fine waist.

22:00

He went ahead of ourselves as well. The he.

22:03

Went. To a do like a shoulder. So

22:07

just five days after his arrival, Victoria

22:09

proposes managed to albert seep in. The

22:11

Queen seems to do the thought, as.

22:14

An episode of Frozen, The oh

22:16

first, Sophia within two minutes or

22:18

an hour. but of course accepts.

22:21

So Victoria has absolutely no fall

22:23

and passionately in love with our

22:25

but he perhaps his little bit

22:27

perplexed by the intensity of her

22:29

feelings said he admits I'm off

22:31

impossible to believe that I should

22:33

be the object so much of

22:35

that. He

22:39

never really comes to terms with the toys person and

22:41

he certainly not able to match it. Is

22:44

the dumbest? Those potatoes and small victory

22:46

being wooed Albert causes com being groomed

22:48

be her husband says the has a

22:50

sense of duty about it rather than

22:52

just being swept away by per. Se.

22:57

And recent Verdun happy to marry so he writes

22:59

to i parents don't fall off the engagement I

23:01

write to you on one of the happiest days

23:03

of my life to give me the most welcome

23:05

news possible. Victorian So good and kind to me

23:07

that I am often at a loss to believe

23:09

that such a fixing to be shown to me.

23:13

When to have done is so easy to.

23:15

Try. Out some called psychologists. Weather

23:18

is that. As. Much

23:20

as he was pretty fun on the yes.

23:23

Saddam out following year in eighteen forty

23:25

A and to date that is the

23:27

last wedding of the reigning monarch and

23:29

Britain. I've

23:31

always lived before. One,

23:34

it has a personality. there's some able contrast.

23:37

They clearly a highly compatible in the bedroom.

23:40

She described the wedding night sir

23:42

Lord Melbourne as a most gratifying

23:44

of the will during night swastika

23:46

Prime minister for a wedding night

23:48

sky laws and reflect in more

23:51

detail arrival. I

23:53

never never spend such

23:55

an evening. My Dearest

23:57

Dearest T. Out. Is

24:00

excessive. Love and affection gave me feelings

24:02

of heavenly love and happiness I could

24:04

never have hoped have felt before. He

24:07

class me in his arms and we

24:09

see each other again and again. To

24:11

be cooled by names of tenderness I've

24:14

never yet heard use to me before

24:16

was bliss beyond belief. Oh, this was

24:18

a spear stay my life. Can't

24:21

help but. I

24:23

am. I don't know why. This

24:26

toy yes specific. These turns me

24:28

into my seventy of child. I

24:30

get Lakers. Ah

24:32

state, Why is that is like

24:34

earth? Someone's put a Muslim Ken

24:37

Follett. I sat

24:39

tone it down to the soft core. Of

24:44

School Victoria. Birth

24:46

Death as the Say no Ray

24:48

Allen. With as is

24:50

very sense us ah it's so on

24:52

their honeymoon with toy What does help

24:54

save us He hopes to pull up

24:57

a stockings. And

24:59

at once again suicides. When.

25:01

They don't We did not

25:03

sleep much of mom. And

25:07

I beheld that beautiful angelic face by

25:10

my side. It was more than I

25:12

can express. He does look so beautiful

25:14

in is shirt with is beautiful fruit

25:16

seen. He had

25:18

a black they'll be tested home without any metal

25:21

on and looked more beautiful than it is possible

25:23

for me to say. Well

25:25

as. A D must have at a

25:27

pair of pants on. Because

25:30

otherwise you will be describing it as very look

25:32

for it with assert his throat. Goodness

25:35

gracious driving too fast. Or

25:40

their first child sees beings and seed

25:42

within days of the mountains or cake

25:44

and the numerous children aboard never more

25:47

than two years apart. So

25:51

it's pretty consistent. So.

25:55

That's how he does as a husband. Let's find out

25:57

how he gets on as consult I will do so

25:59

often. Break Break Prince

26:03

Consort Victoria

26:06

is in love with Albert but a sentiment

26:08

not necessarily shared with the rest of the

26:10

country for whom Albert's actually quite an unpopular

26:12

choice as consort He's seen

26:14

as a penniless groom from a pushy family

26:17

from an insignificant little duchy who'd already had

26:19

enough of Britain's money from the previous generation

26:22

Right Like the last male

26:24

consort Prince George of Denmark the egg husbands

26:27

Queen Anne He's mocked for

26:29

showing a want of manliness That's

26:31

always gonna happen though when he's not the lead

26:33

character lead man He's seen as a poor horseman

26:35

not very good at hunting and

26:38

perhaps not even a real Protestant given that some

26:40

of his relatives have married Catholics It

26:43

is just a complete reflection of the

26:45

nation's anxieties isn't it? It's not at

26:47

all I mean that

26:51

Presumably he didn't take any of this talk

26:53

because it's all nonsense Well,

26:55

I would have been a poor huntsman, but I mean He's

27:01

considered odd for dining so early in the day

27:03

and preferring to go for walks with his rifle

27:05

other than smoking drinking and gambling at the London

27:07

clubs Would

27:09

would me him and the egg

27:11

would So

27:15

in Parliament the Tory opposition uses Albert as

27:17

a way to weaken Melbourne's minority

27:20

government So they reduce Albert's annuity from

27:22

the proposed fifty thousand pounds a year,

27:24

which Leopold been granted Decades

27:27

earlier to thirty thousand pounds a

27:29

year While

27:31

his naturalization bill are you making him

27:33

a citizen though? It does

27:35

pass nevertheless provoke stronger debate than you would have

27:37

expected This

27:40

people question the Monarchy itself

27:42

and using every opportunity to needle. No because

27:44

this is in Parliament. So these are not

27:47

okay So they're not really questioning that I

27:49

think they're just is it but what's he

27:51

done to provoke this? Just

27:53

being where he's from in the foreign

27:55

male and also it's embarrassing to the

27:58

government. So there's a bit of everything Because

28:01

the government is failing to get through all

28:03

the things they're meant to get through. So

28:07

Albert reflected on this. Peel cut

28:09

down my income, Wellington refused me rank, the

28:11

Royal Family cried out against the foreign interloper,

28:14

the Whigs and Officer inclined to concede me just as

28:16

much space as I could stand on. Is

28:19

he writing all this in English? No.

28:22

Does he speak English? He

28:24

does speak English, generally

28:27

in private we'll be speaking German. Does

28:30

Victoria speak German? Yeah.

28:32

So they're speaking German to each other? Yeah, a lot of

28:34

the time, probably. So...

28:39

They are already foreigners. So,

28:43

I've seen some comments here. Could

28:49

at least speak the Queen's English. So

28:55

as the first male consort in over a century,

28:57

there's no real blueprint to follow what Albert's role

28:59

could or should be. Yeah.

29:03

Adjutam had initially been suggested for him

29:05

to give him the precedence over the rest of

29:07

Victoria's rallies and her uncles, but this was rejected

29:09

because it's a fear that he'd utilize his right

29:11

to sit and vote in the House of Lords.

29:14

Really? Any sign of that? Yeah,

29:16

probably fair. I mean, they wouldn't have known that at the

29:18

time, but yes. We'll see that

29:20

Albert definitely likes to exert his power. Does

29:23

that... If you're a duke, you can vote

29:25

in the House of Lords. That

29:27

was the case at the time. Okay. Oh,

29:30

no. Victoria

29:32

wanted to make Albert King's consort,

29:36

but Melbourne advises against it. For

29:38

God's sake, let's hear no more of it, ma'am. For

29:41

if you once get the English people in the way

29:43

of making kings, you will get them into the way

29:45

of unmaking them. I

29:47

like that one a lot. Very

29:49

much more. It's a good point.

29:51

Most likely, Melbourne's more concerned

29:53

that letting Albert be titled king, even

29:56

with the consort caveat, will give him pretty much power.

30:00

really our friend or the person then well

30:02

or just the fact that it's a man and

30:05

a young female Queen and I think we don't want

30:08

the point is not that whoever marries Victoria gets

30:10

to be king no

30:13

but I wonder like people aren't

30:15

scared of Queen consorts having

30:17

like yeah but that's being called

30:19

Queen those are what they are women yeah it's

30:22

just reflects a little sexism then hmm the

30:24

assumption is he's a husband he's gonna try

30:26

and take control and we

30:28

can't give him any kind of official

30:30

position well that's why the egg was

30:32

so genius hmm because he just he

30:35

was he was the blueprint fine guys

30:37

just yeah so

30:40

for most of the rain Albert is actually simply

30:42

styled his royal hind as Prince Albert which

30:44

is an oddity that irks Victoria it

30:47

is a strange omission in our Constitution that while

30:49

the wife of a king has the highest rank

30:51

and dignity in the realm after her after

30:54

her husband assigned to her by law the

30:56

husband of a Queen Regent is entirely ignored

30:58

by law yeah so

31:01

it's actually not until 1857 that Albert officially becomes

31:04

Prince consort but

31:06

it's something because otherwise he's technically

31:14

he was in danger of being outranks wise children

31:16

basically well

31:18

I suppose it's like being

31:20

given a bronze award but

31:23

even then he's only has Prince console given to

31:25

him as a title because Victoria does so eventually

31:30

see I'm just gonna give him something just

31:33

makes it hmm little x-men which

31:35

I think we mentioned our chat with Ellie would occur

31:37

a few months ago he's written

31:39

the only Prince Prince

31:43

is George and Philip never actually given

31:45

the title Prince consort they're only ever

31:48

just Prince George Prince Philip oh right

31:50

that's why the thought of his

31:53

royal high as Prince Albert didn't sound odd because

31:56

it's what we're used to Yes,

32:04

although they are consorts and princes,

32:06

George and Philip, they never actually

32:08

titled Prince Consort. In

32:12

real terms as well as titles Albert's early role is

32:14

severely limited and in many ways for a consort they

32:16

are very traditional so he can't use his own staff.

32:18

Melbourne imposes his own private secretary so he can keep

32:20

a bit of an eye on him. The

32:24

Royal household remains in control of Victoria's

32:26

old governess, Baroness Laysen. Victoria

32:28

herself resists sharing any

32:31

of her work with him, she is keen

32:33

to maintain those boundaries. So

32:36

in essence his role is to look presentable in the

32:38

background and see to the production of Royal offspring. And

32:41

he could be doing his fun science experiments if he wanted

32:43

to. But

32:46

at least I suppose it serves to

32:48

highlight the inequalities when

32:50

it's reversed. Well actually this isn't terribly

32:52

fair. Shall we have another look at

32:54

this? When it's happening to me it's

32:56

much worse. Well

32:59

yeah, although this does come as something of a shock

33:01

to Albert who had assumed that he would be sharing

33:03

power with Victoria and as the man of course be

33:05

the senior partner in the relationship. Instead

33:07

something of a cock to shock

33:09

he's got to endure Victoria's enthusiasm

33:11

for high society but... Oh thank

33:14

God. But the

33:16

food, drink and balls don't suit Albert.

33:19

So Benjamin Hayden observed him in 1842 looking like a cowed

33:22

and kept pet, frightened to sit,

33:24

frightened to stand. While

33:28

the phrase Prince Albert slept was quite a

33:30

common journal entry for guests at late night

33:32

revels. Well

33:35

literally they go to a party and

33:37

it's like oh everyone's dancing and having a great

33:39

time. Prince Albert slept. I

33:43

see. It meant like a euphemism

33:45

if you're having a party and someone was calling

33:47

you look, Prince Albert's asleep. Well

33:49

maybe it could become mine. So

33:53

frustrated with his lot Albert complained in the

33:55

letter, I'm only the husband and not the

33:57

master in the house. So

34:01

he sulks when Victoria refuses to discuss business with him.

34:05

This doesn't sound good. However,

34:07

he's not an easy man to sideline. Over

34:09

the next few years he is able to

34:12

successfully establish his dominance both within the Royal

34:14

household and the monarchy. So

34:16

Lays and the old governess is persuaded to

34:18

retire after Albert blames her for a serious

34:20

illness to their first child, Vicki, in 1842.

34:24

So after this, Albert is left in

34:26

full control of the Royal household which

34:28

he modernises, tackles and efficiencies with stereotypical

34:30

Germanic order. OK, it's given him

34:32

a job and he's getting hurt. Given him a

34:34

job. And indeed it's after the

34:37

arrival of their first child and the successive

34:39

ones that come afterwards that his royal power

34:41

grows. So after Vicki is born

34:43

he attends the Privy Council for the first

34:45

time in Victoria's stead. OK.

34:48

Because he can't go up to Lays, there he goes now. He's

34:50

given the key to the Royal Boxes for

34:52

the first time and within months he has

34:55

become Victoria's private secretary and soon her closest

34:57

advisor. Oh, that's

34:59

lovely. Good. So something has forced

35:01

a complete solution. But

35:04

when you say given the key, is he actually

35:06

given the key? Literally a physical key to

35:08

unlock it. Right. That

35:11

sounds like that will have a ceremony attached. Yeah.

35:17

His natural aptitude and passion for

35:19

administration combines with Victoria's distaste for

35:21

such activities and of course her

35:23

perpetual pregnancies. Yeah. Just if

35:25

you had this and they'll do the jobs. Exactly.

35:28

So she's increasingly happy to share if

35:30

not cede power with him or to him.

35:34

So it really now does become Victoria and

35:36

Albert, the dual monarchy in which they're privately

35:38

and publicly seen as a duo.

35:40

So they receive ministers together and they even work

35:42

at twin writing desks. Oh, that's

35:45

nice. So

35:47

Albert is now able to exert his influence

35:49

on transforming the monarchy. So he wants to

35:51

get away from the unpopular excesses and reactionary

35:53

behaviour from the previous Hanoverian

35:56

monarchs. And he wants it to be one

35:58

which can accommodate all the huge sort of... social, economic

36:00

and political chains that's going on

36:02

in the country. He finds a

36:05

natural ally and mentor in Robert Peel, is

36:07

the conservative leader and becomes Prime Minister, not

36:09

the Hill afterwards. Both of them

36:11

recognise the growing importance and power of the

36:13

middle class electorate because we've had the 1832

36:16

group before that, just a few years earlier,

36:18

which greatly increases who can vote in elections.

36:21

Yeah, modernising all over the place then. Exactly,

36:23

so Albert wants to project a new

36:26

monarchy that's useful to the nation and

36:28

the Empire, embraces progress and technology in

36:30

any organisation or initiative that supports those

36:32

goals. And

36:35

the Royal Family itself is at the core of

36:37

Albert's vision, so you've got images shared widely in

36:39

the press of the growing brood, presenting

36:42

a moral model for families across

36:44

the country in contrast to the

36:46

dissolute on course. So

36:49

there's a family Christmas card, this is what we're

36:51

used to seeing? Yeah, I mean literally, we're family

36:53

Christmas cards. Yes, it's really a new start. Victoria

36:56

and Albert's a new dynasty, new start. This is

36:58

now the new Royal Family, it's not just a

37:00

continuation of the Hanoverians, even though technically. It

37:03

just wouldn't work in that

37:05

century. Well,

37:08

it feels so much more modern

37:10

now, with the Industrial Revolution, full

37:12

swing, empire, newspapers. However,

37:16

it's also not just an empty PR exercise,

37:19

Albert is a highly active force in British

37:21

public life and he's a very progressive figure,

37:23

embraces various causes and societies that advance public

37:25

and national good. So he campaigns

37:27

to the end of slavery, which

37:29

is illegal in Britain but is still practiced

37:32

by many countries globally. He

37:34

develops schemes for building affordable housing for

37:36

workers and helped to significantly increase the

37:38

number of subjects studied and students studied

37:40

at universities. However,

37:43

his greatest achievement is in organising the Great

37:45

Exhibition of 1851. So

37:49

as its new president, he seeks to

37:51

revitalise the Royal Society for the encouragement

37:53

of arch manufacturers and commerce. making

38:00

the annual exhibition of manufacturers international in

38:02

nature. So it'll be a platform for

38:05

nations across the world, obviously primarily for

38:07

Britain and the Empire, to display all

38:09

of their achievements.

38:14

Now he faces extensive opposition to

38:16

this. Everyone thinks it's not going to work and

38:18

it's all a big London nonsense, but Albert works

38:21

tirelessly to secure the funding and ensures that the

38:23

whole project is delivered on time and within budget.

38:26

He's just doing an expo, isn't he? Yeah, exactly. He's

38:28

built the Excel Centre and he's filling it with stuff

38:30

from Britain, so he can come and have a look.

38:33

Well, the building of the Excel Centre is

38:35

one of the problems, but Joseph Paxton's innovative

38:38

design of iron and glass, which is dubbed

38:41

the Crystal Palace, no it isn't the

38:43

Palace of Crystal, wows the millions

38:45

of people who attend alongside all these

38:47

various exhibits from across the world, which

38:49

really does show the very latest that

38:51

industry, technology, architecture, science, etc. has got

38:53

to offer. Cool.

38:55

It's kind of a real forefront of

38:57

everything that's happening right now. Nice.

39:01

It's the Steve Jobs Apple

39:04

launch. Yeah. Prince

39:07

of darkness. I've

39:10

got two Prince of's and I've got to think

39:12

of something, it's not really apt but... I'm

39:14

intrigued. A

39:17

lot of good stuff has happened, but Albert has

39:19

exhausted himself to secure this triumph, but in many

39:22

ways it's a model for his approach to all

39:24

things in life and as the decade progresses it

39:26

all starts to take its toll on him. So

39:30

the Great Exhibition is an international triumph, but

39:32

Albert's other attempts to influence British foreign affairs

39:34

are less successful. He

39:37

tried to promote a sort of progressive, conservative,

39:39

free trade, European unity, but

39:41

he's at odds with the Mercurial Lord of

39:43

Palmerston. Notorious

39:45

for his jingoistic gunboat diplomacy.

39:49

And he largely ignores Albertson treaties and is

39:51

a source of anguish throughout the decade. Things

39:56

set a particular low in 1854 with the outbreak of

39:58

the Crimean War. with Russia

40:00

in which Alberts desired to avoid war in

40:03

face of fervent anti-Russian sentiments and the public

40:05

seem vilified in the press while Palmerston is

40:08

deified. The situation with Palmerston

40:10

pretty much. I want

40:12

to get some views between Palmerston and

40:14

Gladstone. Which one's first? Palmerston. Palmerston.

40:17

They are around at the same time but yeah Palmerston

40:19

is the older. So unable

40:21

to influence foreign policy at home, Albert hopes

40:23

to influence German politics. Oh

40:26

yeah. So he wants to see

40:28

the unification of Germany. Okay,

40:31

that's an odds of the government. Well it

40:33

is a bit. He wants it to be an ally for

40:35

Britain so he hopes to steer it in a more liberal

40:37

direction. So one of his big ideas for that is to

40:39

marry his beloved eldest daughter Vicky to the future emperor Frederick

40:41

in 1858. Okay.

40:45

So he thinks cook him in the nest, she'll

40:47

just make it all liberal and then we'll be buddies. Yeah

40:50

marriage alliances again. However

40:52

Vicky not too surprisingly struggles to establish

40:54

a position of influence within the new

40:56

German. Oh it works. Well

40:58

we have a new German confederation

41:01

which is sort of the first step towards Germany. The

41:04

marriage does happen but I think

41:06

it's still two away from her husband

41:08

actually being emperor. Oh right. It

41:10

needs some people to drop off.

41:13

Yeah it's sort of like when William married Catherine.

41:18

You've still got Charles to come and the

41:20

Queen is still there so it's not like

41:22

she's immediately become the Empress of Germany. Okay.

41:26

And what's more politicians both in Germany

41:28

and Britain basically ignore all

41:30

of Albert's attempts to influence the direction of

41:32

travel. But I

41:34

mean that is that's the age now isn't it? But

41:38

he think he feels like he should be able to influence

41:40

all of this but it's just much more

41:42

frustration for him. Now

41:44

he also begins to tire of Victoria. No

41:47

he doesn't. Albert's cold

41:49

studious rationalism clashes with her more

41:51

expressive passionate nature and it leads

41:54

to increasingly frequent conflict. Increasingly

41:56

frequent conflicts and sort of passionate reconciliations

41:58

are shown. by the way, the number

42:01

of children. Now

42:03

the cycle seems to suit

42:05

Victoria. Passionate, outflow

42:08

of emotions and then come back together

42:10

again in love.

42:13

Bored but also it's just, I guess, her, she's so

42:15

expressive, she lets everything out and then a couple

42:18

of emotions and tears, happy tears and then we're

42:21

all back to normal. For Albert

42:23

it's exhausting because he's just kind of on the

42:25

level playing field the whole time and he doesn't

42:27

really want to have to deal with this. It's

42:32

pretty clear from her diaries and letters to

42:34

a modern audience that Victoria probably suffers from

42:36

post-natal depression. Obviously there's

42:38

no understanding of this at the time

42:40

so Albert is just bewildered by her

42:43

behaviour. Her emotion generally he finds hard

42:45

but when it's heightened by something

42:48

actually really going on he just has no idea.

42:51

He's lost his mother as a child and he had very few

42:53

female figures in his life growing

42:55

up generally so he doesn't really

42:57

have particularly strong emotional intelligence and

43:00

never comes to terms with this emotional side

43:02

of Victoria. So instead he just tries to

43:04

control and subdue it so he

43:06

resorts to long silences and sort of

43:08

admonitory notes rather than actually engaging in

43:10

the arguments. So he just

43:12

will walk off and then write her a letter about why

43:15

this is all so silly. By

43:18

1860 he's sort of almost trying to

43:21

avoid her company where possible, just

43:23

trying to do his own thing. So Victoria later admitted

43:25

that she had scarcely anything of his company. Overwork

43:30

and stressful relations at home takes its

43:32

toll on Albert. So while

43:34

Victoria's adoration for him remains unbimmed by 1860

43:37

he's 40 years old but looking more like

43:39

60. So as

43:41

early as 1837 he was feeling the

43:43

effects of baldness. So

43:46

he wrote that he was taking to a

43:48

greasy oil solution in an attempt to preserve

43:50

his upper follicles. To

43:52

save my hair from total ruin I've now

43:54

started a radical treatment. Mr. Methnacore

43:56

rubs in rectified spirits on my skin at night

43:59

and in the morning a very fatty oil.

44:01

He thinks it will work out very well. What's

44:03

he doing to the spirits? Rubbing

44:05

on his head. Rectifying them? As

44:08

in, it will bring hair

44:10

back. Oh, bring hair around a rectification, right?

44:12

Yes, but no hair on top.

44:15

Oh yeah. Doesn't work.

44:18

Well, he's just got a high forehead. Very

44:21

high forehead. Becoming a bit of an

44:23

egg, I suppose, actually, isn't he? Yeah. Anyway,

44:28

it's to no avail, so he starts wearing a wig

44:30

when he's working to keep his head warm. Not

44:34

in a kind of like the George and Silly

44:36

big wigs. Just a

44:38

hat. A hat wig. Don't know why he just doesn't

44:40

wear a... He could do with a beanie, really, if

44:42

they didn't have beanies. Just puts up,

44:45

yeah. Wigs, I don't know

44:48

about wigs. He

44:50

suffers from increasingly frequent gastric attacks.

44:52

He stops exercising, so he's growing

44:54

a bit paunchy as a

44:56

result. And he is also... He's

44:59

also certainly suffering from depression. So

45:02

unlike Victoria, he's never very good at making friends,

45:04

so he finds himself increasingly lonely. So

45:06

he's devastated by Robert Peel's death in 1850,

45:08

with Victoria writing to Leopold that Albert feels

45:11

as if he has lost a second father.

45:15

The move to England deprived him of

45:17

his brother's company, also his German mentor,

45:19

Stockwell, Leopold. While the departure

45:21

of Vicky, the eldest daughter to Germany, robs

45:23

him in his own easy, real intellectual partner

45:25

in the family. Victoria,

45:28

of course, does present adoration and love to

45:31

Albert, but some have suggested it's something of

45:33

an inverted love, so it almost gives her

45:35

more satisfaction to show her love for him

45:37

than he actually gets from it. So

45:41

he sort of longs for a more spiritual companionship.

45:43

So he wrote rather poignantly at this time, I

45:45

am fearfully in want of a true friend and

45:47

comfort. Oh, yeah. Albert

45:51

and Victoria visit Coburg in 1860, which is

45:53

a nice friend, go back home,

45:55

but he's decidedly out of sorts. He

45:57

narrowly avoided a serious injury in the carriage

46:00

accident. but it is very badly shaken by

46:02

the incident, and on their last

46:04

day there he goes for a walk with his brother,

46:06

who later recalled, at one

46:08

of the most beautiful spots Albert stood still

46:10

and suddenly felt for his pocket handkerchief. Tears

46:13

were trickling down his cheeks and

46:15

he persisted in declaring that he was well aware that

46:18

he had been here for the last time in his

46:20

life. Most

46:23

ominously at a similar time Albert himself tells

46:25

Victoria, I do not

46:27

cling to life. You do, but I said

46:30

no store by it. I am sure

46:32

that if I had a severe illness I should

46:34

give up at once. I should not struggle for

46:36

life. I have no tenacity of life. That

46:40

was quite intro... well very introspective. And

46:45

I mean sometimes these things come true

46:47

and they are dead within a week or something. Is

46:50

he? Not a week, but

46:52

everything does come to a head the following year in

46:54

1861. In March Victoria is

46:56

paralysed with grief by her mother's

46:58

death, so Albert takes on yet more

47:00

of her duties even though he himself is not in

47:02

the text of the house. In November Albert

47:04

as well is hit by grief after the death of

47:07

two of his young cousins from typhoid fever within days

47:09

of each other. There's

47:11

that king of Portugal and young brother. And

47:13

the final blow is the revelation that their

47:16

eldest son, Bertie, suddenly from an actual headache

47:18

for Albert, had slept with a prostitute in

47:20

Ireland and was keeping a mistress. Now

47:24

this sort of behaviour is completely

47:29

normal at the time for a young aristocratic

47:31

man. In fact there's almost assumed behaviour, which

47:34

is why it's organised for him by some

47:36

older officers. So it's almost seen as a

47:38

right of passage, but of course Albert's repressed

47:40

childhood trauma relating to all things. Sexual

47:43

impropriety means that he has this

47:45

pathological fear of this

47:48

sort of business and thus is really

47:51

upset by it. So he wrote

47:53

to his son, with a heavy heart on a

47:55

subject which has caused me the deepest pain in

47:57

my life. Have

48:00

you been, uh, I'd

48:03

love to read that. Does

48:07

he actually say, or does he... I

48:09

think because it's known what's happened, I think it's just

48:11

a series of sort of moralizing. You know why I'm

48:13

angry. Now

48:15

Bertie apparently was suitably contrite and impressed Albert by

48:17

not giving the name of the officers. But

48:21

it's still all too much for Albert, so he wrote to Bertie

48:23

again. You must not, you

48:26

dare not be lost. The consequences

48:28

for this country and for the world at large will

48:30

be too dreadful. Be lost. As

48:33

in sort of morally and ethically and

48:35

spiritually. Despite

48:37

his poor health and let install me whether Albert

48:39

decides to pay Bertie a surprise visit at Cambridge.

48:42

So they go off for a walk together which was longer

48:45

than planned due to their getting lost. And

48:48

stay up late into the night, talk all. We

48:50

don't know what they discussed, apparently Albert does. Forgive

48:54

Bertie, I believe on to some terms. But

48:56

Albert returns home in a very sorry state. He's

48:59

absolutely soaked through pain in his back and legs,

49:01

sleeplessness and rheumatism that he kind of already had.

49:04

So just add some more on top of this general

49:06

state. So at the court position William

49:08

Jenner attends him and decides to stay

49:11

the night. But initially Victoria isn't too concerned. Is

49:13

that the Jenner... I'm not

49:15

sure if it's the relative but it's not

49:18

the inoculation one. I think that's Edward Jenner,

49:20

I think. This is William,

49:22

I think it's the other son or something. So

49:25

Victoria's not too worried about it but Palmerston

49:27

is now Prime Minister when he pops along.

49:29

He's a bit more worried. He

49:31

thinks that everyone's not taking it seriously enough. So he

49:33

brings in some other physicians to get a second opinion.

49:36

But the extra physicians, Septuagenerians,

49:39

derided by Lord Clarendon, is not fit

49:41

to attend a sick cat. What

49:44

do they do? Well they disagree

49:46

with the current approach.

49:48

I thought they were going to start slicing them open

49:50

and applying leeches or something. No,

49:53

they really go completely the

49:55

opposite way. The only nursing they do at

49:57

all is just intermittently top them up with

49:59

brandy. That

50:01

is old school isn't it? Yeah they otherwise don't give

50:03

him any treatment, he's even just wandering around in his

50:06

dressing gown with a fever. Are they getting paid for

50:08

this? Yeah.

50:11

And Albert's condition worsened. Oh, Kelsey, please. Despite

50:13

the brandy. Jenna tells

50:15

Victoria they've found a slight eruption on the lower part

50:17

of the stomach, signs

50:19

of gastric and bowel fever, i.e. typhoid

50:22

fever. His

50:24

daughter Alice, who's just 18, actually is the

50:26

one doing most of the nursing. So

50:29

he confides to her that he knew that he was

50:31

dying. He

50:34

becomes delirious and then Victoria is summoned and

50:36

when she comes in she cries out, this

50:39

is death! And he

50:41

dies late in the night on the 14th of December 1861 at the age

50:43

of just 42. Victoria

50:46

and five of their children. By

50:51

his side. God,

50:54

gotta be careful. Not long.

50:58

The doctors have received criticism for the inadequacy

51:01

of their treatment. But they were too sloshed

51:03

and they listened to the doctor. Albert

51:07

slept. Too

51:10

soon? It

51:16

may be that they understood more than they are actually

51:18

letting on because they knew that if they said anything

51:21

to suggest it was more serious,

51:23

Victoria would go into hysterics and Albert would just

51:25

completely give up. Oh, because

51:27

they'd already said it would. So they thought, let's

51:29

just say, yes! Fine. That's

51:32

brandy. Just hope for the best. So actually brandy

51:34

is not so bad. Just keep going. Prop him

51:36

up. Stick on Netflix. Now,

51:38

the diagnosis of typhoid fever is accepted for

51:40

a long time but Victoria

51:42

fused an autopsy. So

51:45

they didn't actually properly diagnosed

51:48

it. And there weren't any other infectious waterborne

51:50

diseases reported at that time at Windsor or

51:52

Sandhurst where he'd been. So

51:54

there's no other typhoid fever around where

51:56

Albert's been. In fact, they've caught

51:58

it. Well,

52:01

so some historians thought maybe for a while

52:03

it might have been an abdominal cancer. But

52:07

Helen Rappaport has theorised, and this needs to

52:09

be the one going into the most traction,

52:11

that his chronic stomach issues might indicate Crohn's

52:13

disease. So it's a

52:15

progressive information of the gut causing chronic pain,

52:17

cramping, digestive issues. So it was getting worse.

52:20

He'd always had issues, but it's getting worse.

52:23

And that probably leaves him vulnerable because obviously it's not

52:25

being treated in any way to a fever

52:27

or about pneumonia. Yeah, and it

52:30

explains the weakness. I think it eats

52:32

away your muscles. So pneumonia is what

52:34

actually kills him, which is

52:36

often the case. But that's perhaps

52:38

why he was in a bad state. Victoria,

52:42

infamously, is grief-stricken by Albert's death. So

52:44

the blue room at Windsor, where he

52:47

died, has turned into a shrine, while

52:49

his rooms at Osborne House even have fresh shaving water put

52:51

out for him each morning. Yeah, that's so

52:54

healthy, isn't it? Victoria declares

52:56

to Leopold, my life as a happy

52:58

one is ended. The world is gone

53:00

for me. I

53:03

can't help but think that Albert knew she'd go over

53:05

the top like this, and would

53:07

be saying, if we were haunting her, I'm just

53:10

too calm to have a

53:12

beer. He

53:14

appears to be like, Oh, no, this is

53:16

exactly what I didn't want. This is the

53:19

point. This is why I'm here. Actually,

53:22

tell you what, I'll come back in five years with a letter.

53:27

I think he did actually. I'm not sure if it

53:29

was at this point or earlier in their relationship, sort

53:31

of say, I don't want any fuss. No big fuss

53:33

in times there when I die. She goes very much

53:35

the opposite way. Well, it's black

53:37

for the rest of her life and

53:40

completely withdraws from public life for quite

53:42

a long time, only really ever emerging

53:44

to promote the extensive memorialization of Albert.

53:49

I don't mean to trivialize grief.

53:52

I never react differently. But

53:56

it's so, obviously, it's so

53:58

fit, so character. It

54:01

makes me think that in

54:04

some way she does need a companion in her

54:08

life to balance. Yeah, she's ballast.

54:10

Yeah, and so those, although it came from

54:12

a sexist place before and they're saying she

54:14

needs a husband, she needs a companion, she

54:16

needs a friend, really I think.

54:19

And maybe that, and every which

54:21

way she turned, there was rumour, because that's

54:23

what she was thinking from, what was

54:26

it, John Locke? John Pratt, John Brown. And

54:29

it was Her Servant.

54:32

The Indian Servant, yeah, I can't remember his name.

54:34

What's that, The Mushdie or something like that? That'd

54:38

be a great film. There is a film. Oh, is that? Yeah,

54:41

the GD Dench again. What,

54:44

Mr. Brown, Mrs. Brown? Yeah,

54:47

but also they've more recently did one

54:49

about The Indian Servant. Really? Hmm. Film?

54:53

Could do both of them. Could do both of them, it's

54:55

appropriate, isn't it? We can

54:57

have a lot of Victoria films, do you, too, much? I

54:59

don't, well, yeah, that's true, but I don't mind because it's

55:01

got Billy Connolly and Judy Dench. Yeah,

55:04

so we have statues or buildings in Albert's name

55:06

cropping up all over Britain and the Empire. She

55:10

does ultimately emerge again, but obviously that

55:12

is a story for Victoria's episodes. True.

55:16

For Albert, that's the end of the story. And

55:19

you didn't even cover the piercing. True,

55:22

yeah. Correspondence

55:24

corner. So

55:26

that was Prince Albert's biography, as he said. We will review him

55:28

next time, but you can get in touch to let us know

55:30

what you thought about him thus far. Find

55:33

us on Twitter, X and Instagram at

55:35

X.Pat.Rex. I

55:52

mean, what? Put a little crown on

55:55

it. A little bit of fella. Yeah, well, that's what

55:57

he did with it. Oh,

56:02

it's naughty, isn't it? It's so hard! What

56:05

do you know? Oh,

56:10

this is exactly what Albert would not have wanted.

56:15

How is this the smuthest episode? This

56:18

is exactly what

56:22

I'm literally setting out to avoid. If

56:27

you would like to support the podcast, be sure to

56:29

subscribe or whatever podcast provider you use, and

56:32

you can donate monthly to join the Privy Council and

56:34

get ad-free versions of the

56:36

main podcast and access to over

56:38

200 bonus episodes at patreon.com/refacto. They're

56:41

more bonus episodes than there are main episodes now.

56:44

Really? And of course we have a Discord channel

56:46

where you can chat with us and other listeners. Yeah.

56:49

Discord, right? Forget

56:51

this podcast nonsense. That's

56:53

where we exist. I

56:55

had no idea what these things were

56:57

until Rexx Factor. But

57:00

it's what the

57:02

Beatles could have been. It's what Facebook

57:04

should have been, rather. Yeah,

57:06

they were quite a way off Discord, weren't they? Yeah.

57:10

But it's still going, you know? Yeah. As

57:13

is the Rexx Factor podcast Facebook page. It just hasn't had

57:15

an update for quite a few years. Think

57:18

about arrogance, because I haven't been

57:20

there. Is it still Kermit?

57:22

It marks up Kermit Berg's like, yeah, no, look,

57:25

the Rexx Factor page hasn't been updated for a

57:27

while. Call it.

57:29

It's penniless. Call it a date.

57:34

And we have some new Privy Councillors to welcome to the fold. Thank

57:48

you. and

58:01

answered, Caitlin Hofmann, Kimberly Pagle,

58:03

Edward Porett, Sarah Brindner,

58:06

Leanne Pinchott, Sue Conlon,

58:09

Rob Wuss and Theresa Lacey.

58:12

Hello and welcome to The Fold. Er, Erica's

58:15

got a great name. Erica Campbell.

58:18

Yeah. I've just

58:20

got myself Erry. So Erry

58:22

Ca Ca Campbell. Or

58:26

you could just go Erry Campbell. Erry. Well

58:29

that would sound like Erry Ca Campbell. Erry

58:31

Ca Ca Campbell. Erry Ca Ca Campbell.

58:38

Heading into a jingle again. Yeah there you

58:41

go Spree V. That's

58:44

all from us today so next time we will

58:46

be reviewing Prince Albert and deciding whether or not

58:48

he has the right tractor. But until then, goodbye.

58:51

Goodbye.